http://www.readertravels.com Trip with me... Sun, 07 Aug 2011 20:34:42 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en I read Laura Esquivel's Like Water for Chocolate a few years after I'd seen the magical movie at the Inwood Theater in Dallas. I was trying to get a few years' distance so I could read it untainted by memories of the images on the screen. I was not disappointed. ... http://www.readertravels.com/2011/08/cinnamon-spaghetti-and-bacon-fudge/ It's been almost a year since my friend asked why I wasn't covering the erotic aspects of food in books and movies, and it will probably be another year before I make my way through the topic now that I'm here. Since cannibalism and starvation are behind us, I think ... http://www.readertravels.com/2011/07/sexy-fruit/ My husband and I adopted a new baby girl two weeks ago, and it's a whole new adventure for the three of us. Well, actually, there are four of us counting the dog, who's really had to adjust to having a new member in the pack. All the while, I've changed ... http://www.readertravels.com/2011/07/tiny-travels/ My friend Wade over at Vagabond Journey wrote recently about a formula for making a living on the road. One of the elements for success is a gregarious personality. If you can talk to people, if you're approachable, you can go far. In Down and Out in Paris and London, George ... http://www.readertravels.com/2011/05/speak-for-your-supper/ After reading A Hunger Artist, it was interesting to find out that Franz Kafka had died of starvation, a complication from the tuberculosis that tore up his throat from so much coughing that he could hardly eat. OK, so I realize this is an odd topic for Easter Sunday, but I ... http://www.readertravels.com/2011/04/surreal-starvation/ My sister has a ten-year-old who has always been a fussy eater. Perhaps there's something firing in the synapses that keeps her from eating anything but macaroni, chicken and chocolate, or maybe she's just figured out how to push her parents' buttons.  Who knows? In Franz Kafka's short story, "A Hunger ... http://www.readertravels.com/2011/03/refusing-to-eat/ Yesterday was a lazy day of TV on DVD, Web surfing and old movies, starting off with a viewing of The Bells of St. Mary's. Surprisingly, the movie was half over before Bing Crosby sang his first song. Every time the light and the camera hit his face a certain way, I ... http://www.readertravels.com/2011/02/tastes-like-common-sense/ There are references to two separate miracles in The Bible, where Jesus took a small amount of fish and bread and turned it into enough to feed a horde of hungry travelers. So what would Jesus do if faced with a thousand hungry pilgrims? He'd wave his magic wand over ... http://www.readertravels.com/2011/02/feed-the-hungry/ So God gave Adam and Eve all this great food to eat, but the very idea that there was a tree whose fruit was off limits made them want that fruit all the more.  I don't really understand the psychology of it, but there's a real thrill in doing things ... http://www.readertravels.com/2011/01/forbidden-fruit/ So on the elimination diet you have to take out artificial sweeteners and food coloring. This left me with a dilemma. As on any other morning, the first thing that went into my mouth on that first day of the diet was my toothbrush with toothpaste sufficiently slathered upon it. As ... http://www.readertravels.com/2011/01/confusing-my-toms/