The byline of this book by Valerie Bertinelli says "And Gaining My Life Back, One Pound At a Time". Kind of leads a reader into believing that it is about how the author lost weight. Well, it is about that. But not entirely. It is a memoir of the television actress's life from the time she began to appear on television. It sees her through a rather early and not very well thought out marriage, motherhood, divorce, ups and downs in her career, and so much more.
Of late, I've found memoirs more interesting than fiction. There's just that much more depth to these books. I love reading authors who are really candid and truthful about the best and worst things that happened to them.
One of the best things about the book is that, even though she does things I would probably never do, I can still relate to her. Because everything that is going through her head is expressed so freely and articulately, I can completely (well, almost) understand why she does what she does.
When I see her on TV (I've only seen her on Hot in Cleveland), it's not very easy to imagine that she's the same person who's been through everything that she has written about in the book. But then, that's what good acting is all about, right?
It's a well written memoir that is heartfelt, though it may not necessarily be very touching. But it's an interesting read, because it is a window into the life of another person who is very different and yet, very similar to me.
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Friday, November 5, 2010
Thoughts For Today
Happy Diwali, people. Belated for those of you in India. Here it's still the fifth of November.
I know I've been away for too long when I start typing blo... and Internet Explorer no longer shows blogger.com in drop-down list. I don't think that's ever happened before.
Life's been keeping me busy. I come home from work and it's time to get down to other kinds of work. Which is, on most days, either cooking or exercise or both.
So anyway, I was reading this article on CNN news today about how modern brides are coming around to wearing colors other than white on their wedding days. Ivory is quite popular, but the article featured someone who wore lime green and blue.
This particular woman said that a wedding day, being as significant as it is, is a day to look your best and hence you should wear the colors that best complement your skin tone. I was thinking back to the time I was in the CTC Plaza picking my wedding lehenga. I picked the pink that I totally love. Pink with silver sequins and trims. Everyone who knows me knows I love that pink. I picked it because my mom and I both thought it complemented my skin tone beautifully. She and I don't agree on anything all that easily.
What that led me to think was, isn't it slightly strange that in India, where people are so much more reluctant to let go of traditional beliefs and rituals, especially when it comes to important occasions like weddings, we have been so much more flexible about which colors a bride can wear for her wedding in recent times? In my mother's day, it was usually restricted to red or pink. With gold trims. But these days we have all kinds of colors, ranging from the traditional reds and pinks to the less traditional baby pink, green, orange, purple, gold, silver-grey, and various combinations of these. I haven't seen anyone wear blue, but I'm sure people wear that too. Just a random thought that came to my mind.
I know I've been away for too long when I start typing blo... and Internet Explorer no longer shows blogger.com in drop-down list. I don't think that's ever happened before.
Life's been keeping me busy. I come home from work and it's time to get down to other kinds of work. Which is, on most days, either cooking or exercise or both.
So anyway, I was reading this article on CNN news today about how modern brides are coming around to wearing colors other than white on their wedding days. Ivory is quite popular, but the article featured someone who wore lime green and blue.
This particular woman said that a wedding day, being as significant as it is, is a day to look your best and hence you should wear the colors that best complement your skin tone. I was thinking back to the time I was in the CTC Plaza picking my wedding lehenga. I picked the pink that I totally love. Pink with silver sequins and trims. Everyone who knows me knows I love that pink. I picked it because my mom and I both thought it complemented my skin tone beautifully. She and I don't agree on anything all that easily.
What that led me to think was, isn't it slightly strange that in India, where people are so much more reluctant to let go of traditional beliefs and rituals, especially when it comes to important occasions like weddings, we have been so much more flexible about which colors a bride can wear for her wedding in recent times? In my mother's day, it was usually restricted to red or pink. With gold trims. But these days we have all kinds of colors, ranging from the traditional reds and pinks to the less traditional baby pink, green, orange, purple, gold, silver-grey, and various combinations of these. I haven't seen anyone wear blue, but I'm sure people wear that too. Just a random thought that came to my mind.
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