Golden Crisp

I was raised in a country where they had yummy chocolates and biscuits (cookies) and crisps (potato chips). Every Sunday, after Mass, we would walk to a little shop where my father would buy a newspaper and then treat his children (there are 6 of us) to a, well, a treat! We would all pick a chocolate bar or a bag of crisps and then eat it on the way home.

Sometimes some of us would not eat our treat right away, but save it until he/she got home and then torture us young innocents who had already eaten her treat by savoring it right in front of us and not even sharing a tiny morsel!

Torture I tell you! Torture!!!!

ahem, sorry, got a little carried away there...childhood memories can take you to dark places!!

When we moved to the US we could not find the treats that we were used to growing up. It was all very sad. American 'candy' was different. Some things were the same, but called different names. Like a Marathon bar is called a Snickers. Mars is called Milky Way, etc, etc, etc...

After a few years little stores would pop up here and there that carried the 'candy' from our youth. It was so exciting, but I could never find my one, true love. A Golden Crisp. So, one day, very recently, I mentioned that all I wanted was a Golden Crisp. Is that so much to ask?? For some reason I had a hankering and it would not go away. I needed my fix and I needed it now!!

Well, my childhood best friend, Chuckles, heard my plea and knew she just had to do something about it.

Well, what do you think my best friend did?

You got it. She sent me a little package of Golden Crisps.

Pure joy.

Now, how do I thank her? I want to send her something in return.

I've got some ideas. Do you?

ps...she even included a little hand written note.

She knows I like to feel like Jane Austen.

Happy Fourth!

Bleak House

Remember this book?

I mentioned it here.

I had to read it for my book club. Well, the meeting has come and gone and I finished the book. It was good. I was the only one in my book club who finished it. I guess it's that kind of book.

It is a book written by Charles Dickens in the 1850's. What I found most interesting about the book is the parallels to today's world. That some points and concerns (be them social, political or moral) are still points and concerns in today's society. That more than 150 years later we still feel the same way about certain things. That people still act a certain way. That certain things still need to change.

I also liked the characters and how they all intertwined with one another. That the reader saw them intertwine even though the characters themselves (some of them) never met or knew how a certain character had affected their life.

All in all I liked this book and would recommend it. However, I should point out that it is a meaty book and not for the light reader. If you have never read a classic before you might want to start with a Jane Austen before you dig into a Charles Dickens. If you like classics you will (hopefully) like this.

Read it and let me know!