Frustrating Candy (Old Post)

Originally posted in 2012 on one of my old blogs.

These candy buttons used to drive me crazy when I was a kid. I never could eat them without getting paper in my mouth AND in my teeth.

So Special, So Close (Old Post, Slightly Edited)

When I was a kid, I didn’t have to go very far…. I didn’t have to go far at all….. to go somewhere special. The candy store was right there on the corner of my block.

It’s funny how many non-candy items were sold there, and, most likely, at most corner candy stores. Come to think of it, didn’t their signs include the word SUNDRIES?

How many ice-cream sodas did I drink at that candy store?  How many sundaes did I consume? The best sundaes EVER! Chocolate ice cream, chocolate syrup, mixed fruit topping, nuts, whipped cream, and a maraschino cherry.  Eaten slowly to make it last, yet not too slowly, so the ice cream wouldn’t melt.Oh, for one of those sundaes NOW!

Chocolate egg creams.

Hot chocolate in thick cups.
Cookies.  Little cakes.  Potato chips.  Pretzels. Popcorn. Salted pumpkin seeds. Sunflower seeds. Ice cream bars and sandwiches, and Dixie cups that came with little wooden spoons.
And then there were all the non-food and beverage items.
Comics.Newspapers. Magazines.Paperback books. I remember buying my first two collections of Shakespeare at that store, “Four Great Comedies” and “Four Tragedies.” These books, published by Washington Square Press, were a great bargain at a quarter each! But I hated the way the covers felt.  Looking back, I think they may have just been a bit dusty! Of course, I bought some other books there as well!
And then there were all the toys. Balls. Airplanes (very fragile; or should I say FLIMSY!) Toy instruments. (I once bought a plastic flute; I think it was blue.)Hula hoops (when they were popular.) Yo-yos. Plastic dolls.
And many other things that I can’t think of at the moment. An amazing variety for a rather small store.
When I was a kid, I didn’t need to travel far to find magic and wonder.  Magic and wonder were right there on the corner of my block.

What I Don't Collect (Old Post, Edited)

It may seem at times that I collect just about everything,but that is far from being true. For one thing, I don't have time to collect everything
available for collecting. For another, there are some things I'm just not
interested in collecting.  However, I don't disparage those who do collect them.

I can’t list everything I don’t collect, but among them are:
Barbed Wire
Milk Bottle Caps
Stamps
Stickers
but other people’s collections of some of these things
are in my Collection Image Collection.

And there are items I will not add to my existing collections.
I’ll just name a few:
I refuse to add the Mucinex Mascot, Mr. Mucus, to my
Advertising Character And Trademark Collection.
I don’t add books that have to be returned to Open Library dot Org
to my Books With Girls’ Names Collection, nor do I include more than
one book about the same girl.
I don’t add lipstick tubes with no name given to my Lipstick Tube Collection.
Magnets that aren’t die cut do not go into my Refrigerator Magnet Collection.
Nothing later than 1949 will be added to my Vintage Print Media Collection.

I think setting certain limits on what I collect actually makes
 my hobby spicier than if I collected absolutely everything available.

A Bible That Is Falling Apart (Old Post)

 This post was written in August, 2017.

There is a saying: "A Bible that is falling apart usually belongs to someone who isn't."
I think that whoever came up with that saying was wise to include the word usually. There are some people who, although they possess a well-worn Bible, are still falling apart.  (Please do not think that I am judging them; I myself came very close to falling apart years ago during a time I will not blog about.)

Someone might have an old, worn, falling-apart, inherited Bible that stays on a shelf, unread.  In fact, all the Bibles he or she owns go unread.  Perhaps that person isn't actually falling apart, but he or she is, in my opinion, missing out on a great deal of consolation and strengthening.

On the other hand, some people who constantly read the Bible are still falling apart; they see only the admonitions and the passages about sin, and Hell, and so they despair. But much more often, thank God, a Bible that is falling apart does belong to someone who isn't.

I'll end this post by saying,"A Bible that is falling apart should be rebound."

Not Only In Comics (Old Post, Edited)

Many stories in the old “Little Lulu” comics followed this pattern:
Something was missing or damaged.
Lulu was blamed and spanked, usually by her mother, but sometimes by her father.
Lulu’s innocence was proven, too late, usually by her friend Tubby in his “Spider” persona.
The culprit frequently turned out, with sublime irony, to be Lulu’s father. I really shouldn't say "culprit," because his actions weren't intended to get Lulu into trouble.
The parent who had spanked Lulu unjustly, or, as Lulu put it, “For no reason at all” would apologize, and Lulu would always forgive. She would always reconcile with them. I think that was rather virtuous of Lulu.

Unfortunately, unjust punishments also occur, all too often, in real life. And if it happens repeatedly, the parent-child relationship can be seriously damaged.

I wish that parents would make it a point not to punish their children before finding out what really happened.

When I was a teenager, I heard this quote from H.L. Mencken on the tv show “Family”:
“Injustice is relatively easy to bear. What stings is justice.”
I said, “I don’t agree. I’d rather be grounded for a month for something I did, than sent to my room for an hour for something I didn’t do.”

Abigail: A Short Story

 This story originally appeared on one of my old blogs,
with the link to a prompt at the top.

Abigail

Myra walked into the auditorium.
How many times in the past had she walked into this same auditorium with her first graders?
How many children had she taught over the years?
But tonight there would be no children in the auditorium; there would only be adults.
Myra, on the eve of her retirement, was about to be given an award for her years of service.
An award she knew she did not deserve, and all because of one single child, one little girl.
Abigail Davis.
The one child she had failed. No, she hadn't flunked her or left back; that wasn't done to first graders in that school.
Myra had failed Abigail as a teacher. True, she had been young and inexperienced then;it was her first year of teaching.

But was that an excuse?
Shame, as it had so many times before, rose in her at the memory of that year.
But it was shame she knew she deserved.

How many times had she shamed Abigail?

"Everyone else in the class has already learned to read."
"By now you should know the difference between b and d!"
And perhaps the unkindest, no, the cruelest words she had spoken to Abigail,
"Shame on you! You're not trying!"

Myra tried to quiet her conscience with the thought that at least she had never paddled Abigail.
But she could take no credit for that; corporal punishment was strictly prohibited.
She had, however, made her wear a dunce cap on several occasions. That was the item on her mental list that made Myra cringe the most.

Several years afterwards, Myra learned about dyslexia.
But it was too late to apologize to Abigail. Her family had moved to another state.

Myra often wondered how Abigail had turned out.

But she was never to know.

I've Found It Hard To Wrap My Mind Around This (Old Post, Edited)

 I’ve loved Chaim Walder’s “Kids Speak” and “People Speak” books for years, but several years ago I noticed last week that his publisher, Feldheim, no longer had any of his books for sale. I couldn’t figure out why. Did he, after so many years, switch to another publisher?

Well, after searching, I found out what happened.

This may be painful to read. It was for me.

https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/haredi-author-chaim-walder-dies-by-suicide-after-sexual-abuse-allegations-1.10496355

So many people have felt shock, disbelief, and overwhelming sadness over this, and now I’m one of those people.

But how do I feel, now, about the books?
I'll be honest. I still read them, but I haven't bought any,
except used copies, since I learned of this tragedy.
More importantly, how do those whose stories were published feel?
And was Chaim Walder evil, or was he sick?
Are most child molesters and serial rapists evil, or sick?
I have no answer.
All I know is that whether these predators are evil or sick
makes no difference to the harm suffered by their victims.

Little Cat With Seven Names-Old Post, Edited And Updated

One of my favorite picture book is Virginia Kahl’s “Whose Cat Is That?” I've read it many, many times. As a matter of fact, I re-read it just today!

A white cat looking for a home of her own came to a village with seven houses.  At each home, she was adopted, and given a different name.  By the end of the day, her full name was Melinda Miranda Belinda Cassandra Arvilla Priscilla Jane. All those names reminded me of a childhood favorite, Little Girl With Seven Names, by Mabel Leigh Hunt. (Hence  the title of this post!)

Things were going along just fine until the country was overrun by mice and rats, and a law was passed that each household must have a cat of its own.

The book has a happy ending…. otherwise I would never have read it again!… but before the  inspectors were convinced that there were seven different and distinct cats in the village, Melinda Miranda Belinda Cassandra Arvilla Priscilla Jane was one pissed-off pussycat!

Adapting A Game

This is taken, slightly edited, from one of my old blogs.
 For anyone unfamiliar with the Pollyanna books or movies, {there have been several film adaptations}the idea of the Glad Game is to find something to be glad about when things go wrong, or if you don't like the situation you're in. Hate Mondays? Well, according to Pollyanna, you can be glad because it'll be a whole week before you have another one. {In the Disney movie, "Monday" was changed to "Sunday.}

 The basic premise of the Glad Game is good, as far as it goes. The problem, however, is that before you can play it, there has to be something wrong. Pollyanna herself points this out in Pollyanna Grows Up. "Always, before, there have been bad things for folks to play the game on, and the badder they are the more fun 'tis to get them out-find the things to be glad for, I mean. But where there aren't any bad things, I shouldn't know how to play the game myself."

 So I decided to make my own adaptation of the Game. Instead of looking for things to be glad about, I look for things to be thankful for, and to thank God for WHATEVER happens, good or bad. This helps make the bad things seem not quite so bad. Even better, it helps me to notice the good things, the little, everyday blessings.

A Post Written During The Pandemic

Fandango's Flashback Friday

This post was originally published in 2020, with the title
Bored, Worried, And Lonely

Right now, there are many people who are finding life a bit lackluster. To say that it’s not easy being in quarantine would be, perhaps, the understatement of the century. We are bored, worried, and lonely all at the same time.

And when I say “we”, I’m definitely including myself. So how am I coping?

When I feel lonely, I remind myself that Social Distancing does NOT apply to my Guardian Angel. I send messages on Twitter. I read. If I can’t be with my flesh-and-blood friends, I can still be with my book friends.

When I feel worried, I pray. My Rosary has gotten more use than ever! And I read, to get my mind off my worries for a little while.

And when I feel bored, I work on a word puzzle…. I love cryptic crosswords! I play an online game, I exercise, I listen to music, I take a nap [I love naps!] or….. yes… you guessed it… I read!

I refuse to stay bored. I refuse to stay worried. I refuse to stay lonely.

All Kinds Of Collectors (Old Post, Slightly Modified)

People of all ages, from every walk of life, collect
things.
A four year old girl, for example, may just this week
have started collecting stickers, or perhaps paper
dolls, while her great-grandmother has been
collecting buttons for more than eighty years.

There are collectors who concentrate on only
one thing, such as postcards, while other
collect several, or even many, different things.
I, of course, belong to the latter group.

Wealthy people are able to collect costly items,
while those with less money content themselves
with things that are inexpensive, or even free.
Some collectors are completists, while others,
like me, are selective. I don’t add anything that
doesn’t appeal to me to any of my collections.

Some folks have only, or mostly, physical collections,
while others, again including myself, have mostly
online collections.
But all of us collectors hunt for things to add to our collections,and all of feel a thrill when we find an extra special item.

And I believe that our collecting hobbies make our
lives more spicy.

Ethnically Exclusive Clubs

I remember the time one of my high school teachers asked what we thought about ethnically exclusive clubs.

Up went my hand.

"Yes, Rochelle?" 

"It depends," I said.  "If everyone in the club has the same ethnic background, for example, if all of them are of Italian descent, then that is a group of people getting together to celebrate a common heritage.  And that is something very good. But if it is, let's say, a "whites only" or "no Jews allowed" or "no Italians allowed", like some Country Clubs, then it's wrong, and, I think, immature. Clubs like that make me think of a bunch of little kids saying (I sing-songed the next part)

"Nyah nyah nyah nyah nyah!  We've got a club and you can't be in it."

Comments About A Book: Old Post With New Material

I have mixed feelings about a book called "the teen-ager's guide to collecting practically anything" (title is in lower-case), by Norah Smaridge and Hilda Hunter .
The authors write, "The whole point of making a collection is to end up with something of interest to others."
And here I thought that the point, if any, to a collection is to collect something I, myself, am interested in. I thought that collecting was a hobby, something done for one's own amusement and enjoyment at one's leisure.
This book, however, seems to be aimed at teen-agers who want to collect for profit.
One thing that annoys me whenever I read this book is that the authors
criticize teens who collect things they consider to be trivial. They actually
say that these young collectors are at fault.
Since when is collecting what you want to collect a fault? And, ironically,
some of the things the authors describe as trivial have been sold for
a humongous amount of money.

On the plus side, there are some fascinating anecdotes, and the authors do mention some interesting things to collect. I enjoy reading about collecting just about as much as I enjoy working on my own collections.

Would I have enjoyed this book when I was a teen-ager? As the saying goes, the jury is out on that one.

Having VS Owning

Having and owning are not always the same thing. If you take a book out of the library, you HAVE it, but you don't OWN it. Edited to add: People who admit to wrongdoing OWN up, but they don't HAVE up.
I love playing around with word usage!

Mixed-Up Machine

Originally posted in 2005

I remember a vending machine that dispensed coffee, tea, hot chocolate, and chicken noodle soup. Cream and sugar were optional with the first two. However,what the customer ordered wasn't always what he/she got! Sometimes the machine delivered a cup of sugar, with no tea or coffee, and every now and then the beverage flowed out before the cup landed.

And then there were some interesting combinations:
Tea with noodles.
Chicken soup with cream and sugar
Coffee and chocolate
{Now, I love mocha, but this mixture bore no resemblance, so far as the taste went, to mocha!}
Coffee/tea/chocolate combo, AKA Mocha Tea
Chocolate noodle soup
And, on rare occasions, the machine would deliver the works: coffee, tea, chocolate, soup, cream, and sugar all in the same cup.

And yet, even knowing that I might not get what I wanted, I kept ordering from that machine. Why? Cockeyed optimism? No. The truth is, rather than being annoyed by the machine's mix-ups, {and I use the word mix-ups in every way possible} I found them very funny!

My Very First Blog Post (Another World Fic)

This was originally posted on March 24, 2005, on the now long-gone AOL Hometown. 

SCENES AT A RESTAURANT

This is a work of fan fiction, written for entertainment purposes only, and not for profit. All characters are the sole property of Procter and Gamble Productions.

NOTE: This has no particular plot.  It is a set of vignettes with an inside joke.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 Carl and Rachel were at their favorite table at CARLINO'S.  A classical radio station played in the background.  Joe walked over.

"Guess what?" Joe said.

"What?" Rachel asked.

"I can finally afford that state-of-the-art dishwasher I've had my eye on."

"That's splendid," said Carl.

"Well," Joe said, "the manufacturer guarantees that people will be able to see their reflections in the dishes."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

At another table, Cass and Lila were finishing their minestrone and discussing a purchase Lila had tried to make over the phone.

"And you know," Lila said, "how much I hate being put on hold."

"I know," Cass said.

"And to make things worse, I got cut off."

"Now that's really annoying," Cass said.  "So what did you do?"

"I called them right back and complained.  And then I said, "My time is just as important as yours, and I can't spend all day trying to make a purchase.  So don't put me on hold again.  Don't you keep me hangin' on any more." "

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Back at Carl and Rachel's table, Joe said, "I hear you went antique shopping in Chicago yesterday.  So how'd you make out?"

"We found the most beautiful mahogany desk," Rachel said.

"It's being delivered tomorrow," added Carl.

 The announcer on the radio said, "And now, Mozart's  Jupiter Symphony."

"That's right up your alley," Joe remarked.

"Yes," Rachel said, "I get goosebumps whenever I hear a symphony by Mozart."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Later that day, Toni and Josie came in at the end of their shift.  The radio had been switched to a sixties rock station.

"And now," said the DJ, "a double play by Diana Ross and the Supremes."

"You know," Toni said, "I've always loved Diana Ross."

 

 

Was Winky Auditioning?

I opened a can of cat food, and Winky stood up and spread his front paws as if he were dancing, and meowed as if he were singing. You'd have thought he was auditioning for a cat food commercial! LOL!

To Think That These Things Were Once New!

Thanks to some books, I’ve been able to experience, at least vicariously, some of the excitement people felt at the introduction of movies, radio, and television. To think that these things were once new!

In “Heaven To Betsy,” the first of the Betsy-Tacy High School books, Maud Hart Lovelace tells us that “Moving Picture Entertainment had been only a rumor emanating from nearby St. Paul and Minneapolis. There, travelers said, pictures moved on a screen.” She goes on to say, a few sentences later, “Then talk of a moving picture called “The Great Train Robbery” rolled over the country like a tidal wave.”
I’m going to continue in my own words now. I love reading about how storefronts were painted red and yellow, and a piano, chairs, a screen and a projector brought inside.

Fast-forward [which none of the characters mentioned in this post were able to do!] to the time of the First World War. Jane’s brothers, Joe and Rufus, listen with great excitement and anticipation to hear the Arlington time signal on the wireless in “The Middle Moffat,” by Eleanor Estes.

And in Judy Delton’s “Kitty In High School,” set right after WWII, Kitty is fascinated to see a test pattern [presented for half an hour] on her friend Mimi’s family’s television.

I was able to find The Great Train Robbery on youtube, and a picture of a test pattern from the late 1940s on mediacollege.com. This may be the same as, or at least similar to, the one in “Kitty In High School.” [KSTP, the station mentioned in the book, was an NBC affiliate.]
So far, I haven’t found any online recordings of the Arlington time signal, but I’m still looking.

I find it almost as exciting, almost as interesting, to read about the early days of movies, radio, and tv as I do to listen to and or watch the more modern versions now.
I take back that word “almost.”

Jewish Fiction (Originally Posted In 2019 On A Now-Defunct Blog)

One of the many, many genres I enjoy reading is religious fiction in general. This post, however, will focus on the specific category of Jewish fiction.
So how do I, personally, define Jewish fiction?
Any work of fiction, whether it is a novel, chapter book, or collection of stories from a Jewish publisher is, of course, Jewish fiction.
But what about books from secular publishers?
Well, in that case, it’s not enough for the characters in the book to be Jewish. They should be shown celebrating Jewish holidays, observing the Sabbath, perhaps getting ready for a Bar or Bat Mitzvah.
The only indications that the family in “Amy Moves In” by Marilyn Sachs [a favorite book of mine, by the way] is Jewish is the use of some Jewish expressions, and the mention of matzah-brei [fried matzah]. Therefore, I don’t consider it to be Jewish fiction.
The same author’s “Peter and Veronica”, however, does qualify in my eyes as Jewish fiction, because a good portion of the book centers around Peter’s Bar Mitzvah.
I also feel that good Jewish fiction, in fact ANY good religious fiction, should include the characters secular interests. For example, Sydney Taylor’s wonderful book, “All-Of-A-Kind Family” begins with a chapter about Sarah’s lost library book. Such an incident can happen in Catholic literature, Protestant fiction, books without any religious themes, and… all too often… real life.
And it’s not always necessary for the main character in a book to be Jewish.
In “It Happened To Hannah”, by Ruth Rounds, Hannah, a little Methodist girl who has recently moved to a new neighborhood, finds a Jewish star necklace, and winds up
learning about Jewish customs. To me, that makes the book Jewish fiction.
But whether a book is a work of religious or secular fiction, it should, first of all, be a good story or collection of stories.

Signature PIECES Versus Signature ACCESSORIES

https://mymindmappings.com/2026/02/11/fowc-with-fandango-me/ 

The following is excerpted and adapted from an old blog post.

Yesterday I wrote about signature pieces. Today I'm writing about signature accessories, because I spicily believe in having a signature piece AND a signature accessory. And to me, the terms “signature accessory” and “signature piece” are not interchangeable. Let’s say, for example, that someone had a collection of plastic bead necklaces, red, yellow, green, blue, purple, and so on, and wore a different necklace every day. That would make plastic bead necklaces a signature ACCESSORY.  If, however, that person had ONE plastic bead necklace worn every day, then it would be a signature PIECE.

My own signature piece is the beaded bracelet with the brown stone attached that I blogged about yesterday. My signature accessories are solid red and red-patterned hair ribbons.

And which ribbon am I wearing today?

The one I removed the brown stone from yesterday!