MY LONG AFFAIR WITH BOOKS: THE UNTOUCHED

With so many books on my shelves, there are certain ones that I either opened and soon got bored with or never opened at all. When I turned out the bookcases that morning and thought about the years of avid reading, to my dismay I saw that there were many untouched books too!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

WHO COULD PLAY BO NEXT? : SUITABLE CANDIDATES

Some people who left comments in my previous post; WHO COULD PLAY BO BRADY NEXT? and some Carbo fans on Twitter  and Facebook are divided over the above question but the most insistent opinion is that only Peter Reckell can play this memorable character. But for how long can DAYS keep Bo 'abroad on some mission' and Ciara painfully pining for her Daddy? To be honest, if Bo should resurface, I want Carly Manning to be on his arm; their story was ended unfairly and I want it revived- then I will watch DAYS again.

But for now, one of DAYS most popular characters is sorely missed and this 'absent Bo' thing going on has to stop. I know most people don't want a recast, but once again let's not forget that there was a Bo Brady recast years ago, Robert Kelker Kelly; so  if they could get a recast back then, they could do so again. Maybe when Robert is done terrifying Laura and Lulu in General Hospital, DAYS can recall him back to Salem!

My first possible was Lorenzo Lamas (Renegade, The Bold and The Beautiful) but later on I thought about my favorite actor in  Desperate Housewives - James Denton who also played the sinister Mr. Lyle in The Pretender. I can really see him as Bo!

The  fans who agreed DAYS should have a recast mostly rooted for  Robert Newman who played  Josh Lewis in Guiding Light. Hmm... actually, yes I can see him take on the role as well, with his long experience in acting (Guiding Light, General Hospital, Santa Barbara) and his somewhat resemblance to Peter Reckell, he's definitely suitable! 

                                     

A visitor here left an interesting suggestion for a recast, James Hyde who played Chief of Police/Ivy Crane's obsession Sam Bennet in Passions. Yeah, he too can do it, if he can play an officer of the law in Harmony, he can do the same in Salem! 

Another candidate in my short list is Clive Robertson who played my favorite character, Ben Evans and his evil twin Derek  in Sunset Beach. At 47, he's rather young for the role and has a rather thick British accent but surely that can be taken care of by a skilled accent coach?

                        

Last on my list is another English actor; James Purefoy and the only reason is that I found him rather masterful and dashing as Marc Anthony in Rome  and he came so close at being James Bond but alas was beaten by Pierce Brosnan and later Daniel Craig. Also rather young- 48- and with an accent but an actor currently playing a serial killer in The Following; just anything is possible.

In your comments below, PLEASE place your vote! 

Thanks. 

My Long Affair With Books

Today, after giving my bedroom a good sweeping, I turned out the book cases- three of them. As I brought out each cherished book for dusting and careful mending with the ever present reliable gum; reflection sank in over how many of them - and in different genres- I'd accumulated over the years. Reading has been a huge part of me since I was a child.

My late father- Allah rest his soul- was mostly responsible for this. He was an avid reader himself and when he went to England to study, he became a huge fan of British culture; including their literature. The first English classics I came in contact with while going into his bookcase were Great Expectations and Sense & Sensibility. I didn't go far in the book except for a few pages back then (I was 8 and cared more for books with pictures) but after watching the movie adaptation  he rented, I got  interested in the story but it was several years before I read the full version- I read the simplified version after seeing the movie. But it wasn't the case with Jane Eyre  and Little  Women(I

liked the T.V versions so much) that I insisted on reading the actual versions and I found myself really enjoying each page. But those were a few exceptions- Alice in Wonderland  included. Dad did not want to rush us so until I got to secondary school, the classics I now enjoy in full version were the simplified ones- particularly Shakspeare (in the form of Lamb Tales from Shakspeare).

Primary school:  Aside from the books mentioned above- my reading  preferences were mostly Enid
Blyton's books,  Nigerian folktales  and non-african tales (Cinderella, Peter Pan, Beauty and the Beast etc.) including   Macmillian's Pacesstters series'. But once I got to secondary school- I entered the full length era ; African and Non African. Chiamanda Adichie's Purple Hibiscus & Half of a Yellow Sun didn't exist then but there was Flora Nwapa's Efuru and  Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart and I discovered the Nancy Drew books

(sometimes I secretly longed to be just  like her).

But there were also what I called the 'more grown up books' which I had to hide from my parents. Well actually, I didn't have to hide my first romance book ; Barbara Cartland's Love in the Clouds because it belonged to my mother, hence it was lying around for all to see. (Presently I have over 40 second hand Cartland novels).

The one I'm talking about is  the Mills & Boon & Mills & Boon Temptation  romance novels (more known as Harlequin these  days) and before you judge me for reading such stuff at the early age of 13; the girls in the senior class made me read my first Mills & Boon on a dare/bet. They heard that
I was a fast reader so they wanted to see if I could finish it by the next morning (I'm happy to say that I did) and I got a few more from them until I saved up my allowance to buy my own. In between there were also comics- mostly Beano, Whoopee & Chips, Superman, Batman, Tintin, Asterix and Archie. But comics were more to have a laugh and not actually while away the time (well, except Tintin & Asterix) so I stuck to books instead. Alas, against my better judgment I lent my classmates a lot of my precious Mills & Boon romance books and  never got them back. When  I began putting my foot down; my  books began disappearing from my school bag and no one came forward to expose the thief. It was one thing for my property  to be stolen from me but being ganged up against was simply foul. Embittered, I kept my books at home and stopped lending them (a regime I still practise today), in a bid to rebuild my library and show I will not be taken for a sucker again.

But I didn't limit myself to fiction; I discovered Greek myths in the World Books in the school library which in turn led me to The Iliad & The Odyssey much later and write a folktale based on one of them (which is  one of the stories in my own book- The Medicine Girl & other stories). I also paid more attention to Daddy's favorite magazine, Readers' Digest and one of his condensed books- Great Lives; Great Deeds where I read up on   very interesting people from the past, most especially Helen Keller. And I then discovered Danielle Steel through, (funny enough) the DSTV movie guide

when most of the adaptation of her novels were aired. Reading the summaries, I was not inclined to  read any of her books  since I felt most the plots were rather sad- Fine Things, Kaleidoscope, Heartbeat, Palomino) but I changed my mind after reading Jewels and I'm a huge D.S fan now.

Over the years, my library has grown bigger;  more classics (both English and American) and more up to date books like Dan Brown's Angels & Demons, The Da Vinci Code etc. The Harry Potter books of course and others like John Grisham, Barbara Taylor Bradford and I even dared to venture to the horror books- starting with Stoker's Dracula then Dean Koontz's Phantoms. When I began reading Stephen King's The Tommyknockers I was very bored so I discarded it, along with Dreamcatcher. But Misery, Pet Semetary, Skeleton Crew, Different Seasons, Green Mile proved more promising so I'm a King fan too.

 

I read mostly because I like stories and knowing more about people and it long inspired me to become a writer myself, (a picture of my two books are in this blog) and I'm currently working on my first novel. When I get depressed and feel I won't be a first rate novel; I pray and then I remember another writer whose dreams of becoming a journalist was never realized- Anne Frank- who kept a riveting diary the whole time her family were in hiding from the Nazis. I first came across her name in the World Book so I was happy to find her published diary in a book fair. If she could keep on writing the way she did in spite of living in fear every day; I should stop being such a whiner and keep trying- despite a certain non-supporter of my writing keeps saying!
When I was still a teacher, I did my best to make my students understand that they would get higher grades in English Language; especially in essay writing if they read more but unfortunately very few of them paid any attention and I was made out to be the bad guy. And some  people I know seem contemptuous when they see a book in my hand, making the word 'novel' seem like the word 'Hustler magazine'. What exactly is their problem; their lack of interest in books shouldn't be spread to others, should it? And alas, most kids in my country seem more inclined to read comics and watch movies instead of reading, even with this digital era of

e-books via Kindles. I don't own a Kindle by the way; hardcovers and paperbacks are more of my thing still.
 Sorting out my  books this morning, I gave a silent thanks to my Dad. He was not exactly an easy man to live with and hard to please but I'm glad he made us understand the pleasure of reading. If I wasn't an avid reader like him, I wouldn't be a writer today. Reading will always be a part of me. And my library will- God Willing-keep getting more additions. After all, one can never have enough books!





(except for the image of Nancy Drew  & the Kindle; all the  images of the books in this post are from my bookshelves)

Does the Zodiac REALLY tell us who we are?

I do not believe in Horoscopes... not just because of my religion but I always get the feeling they are expressively put there only to tell us what we want to hear.

The Zodiac is a total puzzle. According to its character profile; as a typical Libra I am romantic but particular, diplomatic but indecisive, ultimately happiest when in love, in reality I don't like being alone, I hate conflicts, will do absolutely anything to avoid confrontations  and  possess a high developed sense of objectivity and conflict resolution.  Except for the part of being in love (I haven’t been in love for years), the rest... all true.

After getting over the shock, I urged my colleagues to tell me their birth dates to get their Zodiac signs and read them their character profiles; all turned out accurate- a friend who’s a Scorpio admitted she does find it difficult to forgive when offended, a Scorpio trait. After that day, my fascination with the Zodiac was born.

Then I came across an article in an old copy of Marie Claire- the topic “How to Spot a Bastard” by using his Zodiac sign. Hear this, ladies...

 The Taurus Man... In a nut shell, he thinks he knows what’s good for you, a.k.a he’s arrogant and bossy.  

The Cancer Man, don’t ask what’s wrong with him, he’ll only say “nothing.” This means he is moody.

 The Scorpio Man will manipulate you until you become exactly what he wants you to be- which means he’s a tyrant. The Aries Man yearns for the time when men were men and women were grateful; a chauvinist. The Leo Man- you are so blessed to have such a special man... at least that’s what he’ll tell you; a conceited  egomaniac. The Libra Man (most disturbing to me) always gets his own way; stubborn and unbending.  Ugh... talk about North and North poles repel rather than attract! But there was a few that were more promising, like the Capricorn Man who is hardworking, ambitious and takes everything seriously.

Speaking of taking things seriously... while I was reluctant to believe in the accuracy of the Zodiac, I was a little freaked out at the way it listed out my traits that way, especially the ones I didn't know I had in the first place, it’s was like I didn't know the actual me until astrology pointed it out. Aren't we in a position to know all our traits; positive or negative? 

Or the real question is, does the Zodiac dictate our personalities or we humans form our personalities ourselves? If it's the second, how? Genes or experience? Or for real... the Zodiac is more than meets the scornful eye???

DIEGO AND PALOMA- The beginning

MEXICO...


It is harvest time again at the hacienda Casa Blanca; a plantation/ranch known for its fertile acres of land and its quality coffee crop. The workers-  known as bean collectors- arrive in droves to begin  work. Climbing out of one of the trucks are two women; one dark haired petite and youthful  looking woman,Soledad Suarez. The other is a tall, slim and staggeringly beautiful young woman with curly honey-blonde hair; her daughter Teresa but it is immediately  noticed that Soledad, the foreman Aurelio and  the male co-workers who attempt to  flirt with the disdainful young woman address her as 'Paloma' instead. Aurelio warmly welcomes the two women. The hacienda's owner, Don Lorenzo Sanchez-Serrano arrives with his wife, Inez. Don Lorenzo is looking obviously very frail and leans on Inez's arm as they enter the house. Paloma and Soledad interact with the other workers and go about their work but it appears that Paloma wants more out of life than harvesting crops for the rest of her life. Soledad is more of a simple persona.
The next morning, Don Lorenzo is unable to get out of bed and Inez is exasperated by the sound of Paloma's singing from afar but Lorenzo does not seem to mind a bit. Suddenly Lorenzo feels weaker and calls Inez to his side... he is dying.  Inez, filled with sorrow, tries to reassure him but Don Lorenzo dies in minutes.
Aurelio solemnly and sadly informs the workers that Don Lorenzo Sanchez-Serrano is dead and the outpouring of grief is great; Soledad especially is very tearful.
One by one; the family is notified. The eldest son, Juan Francisco is in New York when he received word. His son and the son of his younger brother Joachim- Fabian and the handsome Diego- are in England; having a party in their apartment. While Fabian is entertaining their guests, Diego is trying to get amorous with his date in the bedroom but alas, the plane refused to take off (to his acute frustration and embarrassment) so he gets dressed and leaves the room. They too get the news.
Diego's sister, Diana, is making love with her Scottish  boyfriend Jeremy Macgregor when she got the message of her grandfather's passing and to her dismay, Jeremy insisted on flying to Mexico with her. Diego's younger sister also received word but unfortunately cannot make it to the funeral as the play she was featuring in was to open the following night.
The family arrive in Casa Blanca for Don Lorenzo's funeral and console Inez. Paloma sees Diego walk by and is immediately fascinated by the handsome young man. At the funeral, Paloma walks to the front of the chapel to lay a flower on the Don's casket and Diego sees her for the very first time; giving her a faint smile in spite of himself.
The will is read out by the family counsel; Jorge. The hacienda is to go to Joachim which would then go to Diego after his death. The coffee exporting company known as El Cafetalero is to go to Juan Francisco, the older son. There are two odd things however; Don Lorenzo also stated that the grandson who bore a son first would inherit both the hacienda and the company. The second was a sealed envelope which he instructed Jorge NOT to open and view its contents until a certain period of time. The family is mystified but they reluctantly have to follow the late man's wishes.
Diego and Paloma become friends when he surprises her and Soledad with a T.V set to watch in their cabin instead of going to the main house to watch telenovelas through the window like they usually did. A co-worker harasses Paloma and Diego breaks up a fight between them. Joachim, who is very protective of his children does not approve of Jeremy; to his discomfort. Barbara, Fabian's official girlfriend hopes he will finally commit to her.
The days go by and Diego and Paloma; after getting to know each other more, realize that they are in love. One moonlit night, they go to the lake, discussing their feelings and plans for the future as Diego has to go back to England with Fabian; while Paloma and Soledad have to drift on. Emotions are high between the couple. Paloma admits that she's never made love to a man. Diego in turn tells her he's never slept with a woman (obviously Paloma is the one woman who actually turned him on).
Paloma, very shy and a little fearful, stands trembling as Diego pulls down the shoulder strap of her dress but does not stop him. Diego then  slowly unzips her dress, they kiss and sink to the ground; Paloma unbuttons his shirt and takes it off...
They then made love under the stars; their action punctuated by kisses and caresses then finally, they fell asleep in each other's arms...

MY FAVORITE THINGS: YEAR 6 !

I first learnt about blogging from a professional blogger(and very talented lady) who posted recaps of the telenovela La Hija de Jardinero (The Gardener's Daughter) and  other things in her blog,
 TELENOVELA LOVE GARDEN .  When I found my way to blogger, I agonized over what to call mine and what to put in it. Since Mrs. Philomena  already put 'The Gardener's daughters' episodes in hers, I thought I would try to talk about movies and books to begin with.
Hence, after naming my blog MY FAVORITE THINGS; on May 10th 2007, I posted my very first post- AND THEN THERE WAS THREE   and the next day it was about the release of J.K Rowling's final Harry Potter book in   ATTENTION HARRY POTTER FANS!  At that time, I had no idea what I was doing except I wanted my blog to contain my interests as well as entertain my visitors. At one point I thought about deleting MY FAVORITE THINGS since it didn't seem to be attracting  much traffic but then I posted  IT'S RAINING TELENOVELAS  and suddenly I had more readers, mostly in thanks to Mrs. Philomena who saw my blog and praised my efforts (Welcome Amina, The Telenovela Rainmaker)
 and she and many people encouraged me to keep MY FAVORITE THINGS going. My first official label was  WORLD OF LATINA; followed by recaps of CATALINA y SEBASTIAN, movie reviews under LATEST MOVIES , celebrities under PEOPLE , summaries of a classic mini series under THE THORN BIRDS  and about T.V couple Bo Brady and Carly Manning under Carbo; chapters of my story & a one shot based on them under CARBO FAN FICTION. There are other labels in this blog, each one fun to put together but the one that was the most fun/ the most challenging was the TU O NADIE EPISODES( No One But You) ; everything was  entirely drawn from memory and watching some clips in YT(difficult since my Spanish is not excellent) and a few English episodes I recorded on our VCR (the cassette is completely dirty now, alas) but it was all worth it in the end, plus the trivia about the remakes and afterwards posting episodes of of one of them, ACAPULCO BODY & SOUL. 
In the 6 years I've maintained MY FAVORITE THINGS, I've not made any money from it but the reward I've reaped are  my readers and having warm interactions with my visitors who love my blog and what I post. For me, it's good practice for a writer like me- each post gives me more confidence that  writing is my calling; nothing else. I also enjoy the comments and feedback I get as well as the large amount of traffic; that's more than enough reward for me.
I'm thankful to God that I'm posting this anniversary post; I'm thankful to my readers/blog visitors and my mentor, Mrs. Philomena. Your words of  encouragement were a major fuel in keeping this blog going and I pray  there will be more years of MY FAVORITE THINGS. A very big THANK YOU to my readers/visitors for visiting, reading, commenting and messaging. I honestly and truly appreciate it.
Happy Anniversary, MY FAVORITE THINGS and peace be with you all.
HONEY xxxxx