Recently, on a Sabbath afternoon, my sister and I went to a friend’s house to have lunch. When we arrived, our friend asked me if I knew how to cook fried rice and I said, “Yes.” In the back of my mind I was thinking, “In fact, it was the only thing I knew how to cook when I was a kid. So, call me an expert!”

I gave her a couple of pointers on how to cook it. While she was talking to my sister, I wasn’t paying attention to her cooking or to anything at all for that matter. I mean, I just woke up. It didn’t even phase me when she cracked open the eggs and put them in the skillet.

Then, my sister asked her, “What are you doing?”
“I’m making fried rice.”
“Allan, You didn’t tell her about the eggs?!”

It was then that I finally realize what just occurred. While the rice was in the pan, she put in the eggs. I felt (and I still feel) quite bad about the whole incident. Because of my mistake for oversight, I will reveal how to cook fried rice correctly.

Read the rest of this entry »

Warning: Spoiler Below!

I just read an article about an interview with Marc Cherry, the creator of Desperate Housewives. In it, he reveals that this second season, Bree Van de Kamp will be “starting her descent into alcoholism.” Cherry pointed out that this was planned and has been carefully building up since the first episode.

Causes

Now that I think of it, there have been numerous indicators of this. First, her husband cheated on her. Later, he suddenly died. She broke off her engagement with her boyfriend who killed himself and admitted to poisoning her late husband. To top things off, her kids are getting out of control! I wouldn’t blame her for drinking!

Signs

We can see subtle signs of alcoholism in the first season. Bree always grabs her wineglass when something is wrong. One example is the Guilty episode. The Van de Kamps were trying to cover up Andrew’s DUI and hit-and-run crime. So, they took his car to a bad part of town and hoped that the poor would steal it. We can find Bree with a wine glass at the beginning and the end of this episode to cope with the tension and guilt that she is feeling.

Read the rest of this entry »

Ladies, lets face it. Most of us do not know a lick about cars. If you’re like me, you let your husband deal with the car troubles. But what if something happens to our husbands? What if they are not around when we have a flat tire or when we suddenly hear a rattling noise in the engine? Do you try to flag a stranger on the highway to help a damsel in distress? Do you raise the radio volume to block out the ominous noises? I know I do! When my husband and I were on the verge of divorce, I wondered who would take care of my car. Should I put my trust in a mechanic who is essentially a stranger to me? I don’t have any car-enthusiast friends. Many reading this probably do not have one either.

I realized that whether or not I have someone to rely on for car issues, it is still important for me to know the basics. For all I know, I could be unknowingly damaging my car every day because of my ignorance or my denial. So, I did what many people do today. I looked for a self-help book at Amazon, Borders, and my local library. Most of what I found was too technical. Other books required previous knowledge on the basics. They were no use to me because that’s what I wanted to know: the basics!

Read the rest of this entry »