Sunday, February 19, 2012

Mind Games

Before I forget :-  I would like to thank my blogger friends who have shown concern about my fear of memory loss.  I have taken advice from as many people as possible . My fears are somewhat under control. I have been reading a lot also. Reading is helping me understand that there are a lot more factors than we can think of that effect our minds. I urge everyone to please be aware of how you treat your body and what you eat. My concern is mostly for the little ones as they depend on us. 


When it comes to research some people have this reaction: "The laboratory animals that we test chemicals on are too small for the doses given." Also some people say that the FDA has approved so it must be safe. My question is why is something considered safe in the US and not in the UK? Are we, as citizens less valuable to the government of the United States or do we not care about our health or our kids health especially emotional and mental health?
I do not know when and how artificial colors got into prepared food market. I am guilty of serving my kids sugary and colorful drinks and got for them colorful cereal as well. As soon as I read about the ban of artificial food colors in the UK I have become very careful. The strange thing is that manufacturers are using colors where they are not even needed. Why does a box of cereal that is supposed to have chocolate and peanut butter use artificial red and blue? To make the chocolate flavored cereal look extra chocolaty?
                                                         

                                                              Assorted Salt Water Taffy             

Believe me, I do not like to see a child cry. I do not have any control on what is sold either.  So what can I do when the end caps of shelves have colorful candy? I am suppose to be there to solve problems, handle complaints and make customers forget their problems. My conscience however tells me to warn moms to keep their kids away from artificial colors. Most of the time moms pay attention and listen carefully and  thank me saying that they will look up and or read more about additives. However, one mom said that her kids are not sensitive to the artificial colors. More over, for her, getting a seventy-five percent deal on left over Valentine's Day treats coated with red and pink frosted with blue,  purple and yellow crinkles was too good a deal to pass up.

Monday, February 13, 2012

Pain For Perfection - -

I keep getting flashbacks, I mean my memory is very vivid when it comes to certain conversations that my mother and father had in our backyard  in India. It would be a moonlit night and my father would be in his easy chair and my mother, sometimes my aunt too, would be sitting on the veranda steps and they would talk till midnight about life itself. They would discuss how certain kings lost their kingdoms to the British, because of their own negligence. Sometimes they would discuss how fine art was a result of struggles people went through. The last king of the famous Mogul Empire had lost everything to the British, because his own courtiers were unfaithful to him. That last king ended up dying far outside his kingdom. His name however lives because of his poetry. A lot of modern day singers have selected his poetry for their song and they are beautiful. Yet since the singers have not gone through the pains that the king/poet had to go through, one cannot hear the spark in their voices. One can only appreciate the beauty of the king's poetry.

                                                                                 

It is Grammy Monday today, I mean a lot of us have gone to work either to sleep or to discuss Adele.  When I first heard "Rolling in the deep", I thought of Adele as a forty some years old woman, who is hurting. I was shocked to find out that she is so young.  Yesterday during the Grammys she mentioned something about bad relationship, I came to understand that she is not just singing that song, she has lived that song. That is the reason that song touches so many people's hearts.

The results of what autotuning is doing to our young people and their songs will be visible only after comparing them to Adele. I hope that no one has to go through what Adele has gone through in her journey of such a young life. On the other hand, I wish that today's singers (including singers from India) try and understand that beauty in singing will be heard if they sing from their heart.

Last week they played a song on the radio, that had the glimpse of a shattered heart. At first I thought that some one was copying Adele. Then my mind went towards Heidi Klum, as she has just broken up with Seal. Then I laughed as Heidi Klum is not a singer. Within a second I said, "Could this be Katy Perry?"  Right after the song ended the announcer said, that it was Katy Perry. Growing up is hard, but music is harder.

Saturday, February 4, 2012

One from the general public - - -

Yesterday was wear red for Women's heart health day so I made it a point to wear a red shirt under my black cardigan. Little did I know that some associates  had planned to wear blue for the Giants. I felt a little left out, but I am not the one to let something like that bother me so I told everyone that I will try and wear blue on Sunday as I am working on Sunday. Case closed? Now I have to dig and find a dressy blue top. Times like these bug me a lot. I do not want to spend twenty-five to thirty dollars and buy a blue top that may not be even dressy enough. I am in trouble. Really? One of my coworkers said that I should be gutsy enough to say that I don't care for the Giants or the sports or even New York. The economy is so bad and the unemployment rate is so high.


                                       American Heart Month - Red Dress Pin (Estimated Ship Date 2/8/2012)I simply listen to what everyone has to say because it helps me understand people. I mean, our unemployment rate compared to Florida is not so bad. Exactly how many people have lost their jobs at Cape Canaveral, I wouldn't know but hey that was the pride and joy of America once upon a time and one of man's greatest achievements took place because of the people who work there. The issue however remains about the budget, then again what position does the general public have in saying where the money goes?
Ocean girl had posted a video that got my attention. Someone who lives oceans away from America is trying to understand the politics of the US.  This got me embarrassed. I used to get A plus in political science papers in college, but again that was college and they were just papers. How did Democracy get tarnished? Maybe it is a good thing that I did not become a teacher after all. What would I tell my students when they would ask what say do we have in how and where the money goes.  My husband made a remark while watching Howie Mandel on Pierce Morgan show. He said this guy seems to know that we need to pick someone from general public to be our leader.  I was not paying attention but if Howie Mandel said something like that he is a political genius, a germaphobe he may be.