Smile Maker Valentine's Day

Being in retail for my job puts all sorts of items for sale in front of me every week. I scan everything from 4th of July plates and cups to candy mice at Christmas, and from giant chocolate Easter bunnies to up to 250 Valentine's cards in a day. After scanning cards, candy, cups, plates, tablecloths, candles and every other consumable item concerned with the particular holiday in mind in this materialistic world we live in, I love to see love, and every Valentine greeting is soft, funny and pretty.

The mere thought of Valentine's day makes me smile, and I feel that it's the happiest and most fun of the annual holidays marked by cards, candy and gifts that is celebrated by American's. Of course, to state that Valentine's day is a holiday is a misnomer for some, for the word holiday actually means "holy day," and further described as being a religious festival or day of recreation (i.e.: day of no work). The origin of this annual occasion in the third century is unclear. It may have been started out of respect for a man named Valentine who was either imprisoned and sent the first "valentine" to his love, or was martyred for performing marriages for young soldiers, which was against the law. Pope Gelasius made February 14 St. Valentine's day at the end of the fifth century, so I guess we can call it a holiday, even though it is celebrated as neither here in the US.

Whatever the origin of the recognition of the day, the first valentine to be kept and documented as a valentine is a poem written by Charles, Duke of Orleans, in 1415 to his wife while he was imprisoned in the tower of London. Written valentine's notes began to be exchanged en masse sometime in the 17th century in Great Britian, and in America it became popular in the early 1700's, with mass-produced valentines produced by Esther H. Howland "Mother of the Valentine" in the 1840's. I prefer to make my own greeting cards, and I can only imagine hers with their lace, ribbons and colorful pictures. Once printing processes and the mail service were streamlined, mass production, as well as mass mailings of valentines could take place.

These days, approximately one billion valentine cards are sent each year, primarily in the countries of the US, Mexico, Canada, United Kingdom, France and Australia. This is the second highest number of greeting cards sent each year, less than two months after Christmas. Who buys and sends all these greetings? Women, of course, with 85% of the purchases made by them.

As I was scanning away at the hundreds of cards at WalMart this week, I began to formulate a card in my brain. There were funny cards, mushy cards, and just pretty designs that were in layers, with photographs and glitter. As I was picking up graphic ideas to put together my annual cards, I thought of a card to send to my brothers and sisters, and a few friends, that describes me, but turns the tables on the reader. I will close with the card, and with the note that I DO love the three things mentioned on the cover.

(cover - Red card stock with the individual words below written in a beautiful script and placed on a separate heart, possibly a doily)

My three favorite things:

You
Love
Food

(inside)
That doesn't sound right does it?

Happy Valentine's Day!

Analogies?

One writing technique that I enjoy and can fully appreciate is the use of analogies. I would prefer to be more fluent in this skill, and I understand that in order to become better at any aspiration, one must practice and use that trait, and often. Since I recently picked up a book by a new favorite author, Erica Bauermeister, and her words almost flow from one analogy to the next like bites out of a delicious chocolate bar, I've decided to approach different topics, food, personal descriptions and items using this manner.

Right now, I am as tired as a 50 year old palm tree, after being beaten by the winds and saltwater, season after season, with an aching trunk and withered leaves. I realize that I've already fallen in my weekly postings, not finding the time last week to post, and indeed, I am ready to go to bed now. My goal here is to write five analogies, taken from the items on my desk and around me.

The melted ice cubes in the drink looked like lava rocks, broken away from the side of a mountain, and sitting in a stream.

The flashing lights of the d-link cable system flickered as those on a police cruiser pulling over a speeding car.

The smells emanating from the nearby trashcan gave off the odors of a recently prepared soup - garlic, onion, chicken renderings and salt.

The coolness in the air of the office felt like the refrigerated section at the grocery store.

The pistachio nuts were perfectly crunchy and fresh, like a tortilla chip on the outside and firm butter on the inside.

My reference to analogies, however, may  be incorrect, and I am merely making similes. My 8th grade daughter informed me that analogies are word references and do not use the inference of "like." Analogy example for her:  green is to grass as blue is to the sky. Without much research, I can see her point, yet I will have to pursue it further to describe my word play completely and accurately.

I have a wariness of the teachers at her school who insist on placing the punctuation outside  the quotation marks, whereas I learned in journalism studies that it always goes inside the quotes. Regardless, I have titled my topic as Analogies until I find out otherwise.

The Rewards of Reading

Today I went to Barnes and Noble because for budgeting or other unlikely reason the Bee Cave library is closed on Mondays  (probably so they don't have to have many full time employees to offer benefits to). I had just connected to an author via email, Erica Bauermeister, who is having a new book signing party in Seattle next week. I will be in Seattle also, but alas, will be leaving two days before the event. I reserved one of her books, published in 2009, at the Marble Falls library for pick up on Tuesday when I go there for my job with Symphony (sounds like a more glamorous job than it really is).

Having already parked the very un-obvious choice of automobile for me, a huge white van - the white whale - with Aeroflor Coating Services and a logo that is an airplane prop with wings emblazoned on the side, I remembered the Monday library closing. I decided to walk across the street and browse B+N and view the book reserved in Marble Falls. I asked about the organization of books by author, not knowing if it is ordered as a library is, as I normally Never purchase books unless my child needs it for school reading. I do like to shop here for 50% off all pocket calendars each year though, and this location has a Starbucks that we like to visit when shopping, and my daughters use at least 25% of their B+N gift cards from their grandaddy there.

Back to the book I reviewed - it was awesome and spoke directly to my soul! If anyone else is a Bauermeister fan you will understand when I say that I ate it up! The School of Essential Ingredients is the title, and it details the life a restaurant owner who holds a once-a-month cooking lesson and her students' interactions. But what Erica brings to the table is an incredibly detailed description of food - at least in the first 20 pages or so. I could smell the garlic and chicken fat, and inhale the cinnamon-orange-chocolate coffee. I could taste her first batch of mashed potatoes and see Mexican tamales she tried for the first time. Her analogies were incredible and I can't wait to get the book at the library tomorrow! At the same time, I will recommend to that library and to the other two that I frequent that they order her new book and previous ones as well. If you are a sensory reader - feeling what the characters feel with their senses - you will truly enjoy this book.

Thank You Notes

I was raised to write thank you notes for all sorts of gifts and graciousness while growing up. A note to the grandparents, aunts and uncles for Christmas gifts, to friends and family for birthday, graduation and eventually wedding gifts; and in my professional life to those who offered money to my causes or acts of kindness that I was able to use in my professional career.

After writing these notes for probably over 40 years, I have grown tired of this task. It could be that I have so many creative ideas to encompass and then I have to consider that I don't have the time to implement them that it distresses me. I also have a handwriting disability and don't care to write without a keyboard very much. Also, maybe now that it costs almost 50 cents to mail a thank you, couldn't I just send a text or email thank you instead? Another inhibitor is just the general boring nature of the thank you note, "Dear family member, Thank you so much for the blah-blah. I've enjoyed it so much and can't wait to enjoy it again. I will treasure it forever. Thank you again. Love, Alecia." What else is there to say besides making up some far-out way that I will enjoy it? I try to intersperse a bit of personality/drama/lifestyle into the note to hopefully make it better reading, but "dull" is just the way I would describe it.

But then, there's the plus side to the thank you note. The receiving of it. Snail mail has become so passe in the past ten years or so that it has become much more exciting to receive a piece of personal mail than it was in the past. Just reading a hand-written note makes it all worthwhile to the recipient, and that's why I still begrudgingly write thank you note after every Christmas, birthday or other special gift is received, and encourage my children to do the same. The benefit is definitely worth the effort. Got to go write them for 2012 Christmas gifts right now.

Happy New Writing Year!

A new year means a chance to change the date at the end when writing a check or a letter, the end of the government's tracking of the dollars you earned that year and in reality, that's about it. But we make such a fuss of it, people making resolutions about what to change in the new year, with little change actually occurring. Go on a strict diet, exercise more, be a nicer person and clean out the garage are a few common items. I heard on the radio the other day (which may be as close to fiction as the internet) that 50% of new year's resolutions are broken by the first week according to a random survey. My solution to that problem is to not make any resolutions until after the first week.

To make resolutions on January 1st is not the greatest of ideas because you may have eaten and drank too much the night before and not have had enough sleep. Planning to change when you are feeling guilty for a particular activity is not wise, especially when you have a few leftover treats in the refrigerator and pantry, and you can get pounds of candy for half price or less at Target and Wal-Mart. To make resolutions in the month of December can be challenging as well, for you are preparing for the holidays and again, possibly eating and drinking too much, spending a lot of money, and not getting enough rest. Once Christmas is past and the decorations are put away, with not much on the calendar except for baking Valentine's Day cookies, that's a good time to look at the past year and resolve to improve in the new one.

I'm not going to share all of my New Year's Resolutions but will tell any reader the one resolution that I hope to fulfill, and that is to write at least 50 posts in 2013. The other items that I will write out and resolve to do (while watching the Cotton Bowl with the Aggies playing tonight) will include better communication, more efforts to support my community and a usual eat and live healthy mandate. Happy New Year!