"If writers possess a common temperament, it's that they tend to be shy egomaniacs; publicity is the spotlight they suffer for the recognition they crave." Gail Caldwell, from her book "Let's Take The Long Way Around"

"To look life in the face, always to look life in the face and to know it for what it is. At last to know it, to love it for what it is, and then, to put it away. . .always the years. Always the love. Always the hours." From the movie "The Hours", based on the book of the same name by Michael Cunningham

"Do not read beauty magazines. They will only make you feel ugly." Baz Luhrman, "Everybody's Free (to wear sunscreen)"

"A writer can do nothing for men more necessary, satisfying, than just simply to reveal to them the infinite possibility of their own souls." Walt Whitman

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, ‘Who am I to be brilliant or talented?’ Actually, who are you not to be?” Marianne Williamson

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Green Bananas

I don't think I'll ever get used to the quality of produce here in the desert.  For example, green bananas.  It's not that I want to eat them when they're green but I want to buy them when they're green, because to me, they are at their most perfect (there's that word again) just after they've turned from green to yellow.  Maybe there's even a hint of green still there.  Beyond that, they turn too sweet, too mushy and in my opinion n.g. (no good).

I went to Starbucks today to wait for my husband's prescriptions to be filled and they had the most beautiful green bananas I've seen in a long time.  I had to buy 2 at $1.00 apiece, mind you, but I guess, literally, that's the price you pay for good fruit.  See, I know the value of a good banana.  In California, where we used to live, my husband Deril (pronounced like Darrell, but his mom had to be unique - she used to say it's "devil" but with an "r" instead of a "v".  Don't ask; even Deril will admit that his family is straight out of "Deliverance," so he won't be offended) taught classical ballet and I took classes from him (I was an adult when we met, so don't start getting freaked out), we knew the value of a banana with its potassium to keep your dancer muscles from cramping.  Bananas are good for that, even if you're not a dancer, and it frustrates me that I can't find any good ones here, because potassium is important, and I don't know why I feel so strongly about this that I had to blog about it but here I am, at Starbucks, writing about bananas.

And by the way, there's a guy sitting next to me, eating Taco Bell with a Starbucks cup of ice water.  How rude is that?  And it's against the health code, but maybe he has an arrangement with them.  How do I know?  Oh, I think he's getting the lecture from one of the employees (I can't hear because I have my ipod on - "Rock the Casbah" if you're interested).  Meanwhile, I just look knowingly at the poor girl sweeping the floor.  I mean, I know it's hot outside, but as my friend Masha would say, come on people!  I don't even know where there is a Taco Bell around here, but come to think of it, I sure would like to.

And if you're also curious, along with the bananas, I'm paying for my extended stay at this Starbucks with an iced Trenta 6 pump Zen Tea Lemonade.  And I loaded my Starbucks card.  Great.  When my husband reads this he'll know exactly how I spend our money. 

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