In today's world not everything is what it seems. The reason the bowl of cereal in the TV ad doesn't look soggy could be because the milk is actually wood glue. The bubbly champagne could look like a party in a glass because it's been sprinkled with aspirin powder and the festive frosting on the cake could look picture perfect because it's been coated with hair spray Sometimes the food in TV ads is food for thought.



Although imitation is supposed to be the sincerest form of flattery, the Wallrat-Richartz Museum in Cologne, Germany wasn't flattered when it found out that one of its Monets was a fake. In spite of their embarrassment, however, the painting is still on display. By using the Monet to showcase the success of modern technology in examining paintings, the museum avoided being painted into a corner.

In Hollywood the sincerest form of flattery seems to be sequels. In fact, Hollywood's motto seems to be "If first you DO succeed, try, try again". As a result, Jaws 3D, Superman IV and Rocky V were box office failures. Obviously, you can get too much of a good thing in Hollywood.

If you live in India, you can't get too many American, ballpoint pens. For some reason Indians think our pens last forever. Children in the streets ask for pens. People you meet ask for pens. I gave mine to a teacher, who said she was going to save it for grading papers. Who knows, maybe pens could be used as a tool for international diplomacy - helping people to live write.

Books help people to live better, but we're not meant to judge a book by its cover. We're not meant to make judgments based on appearance - not before we look closely at whatever it is. I know what the saying means. I just don't know who said it first. I'm sure, however, that it wasn't said by a librarian.

I thought raising two sons made me an experienced housekeeper. That was before I knew Elizabeth Taylor has been married eight times and Zaa Gabor has been married nine times. That's when I realized my housekeeping skills paled in comparison to theirs. They might not be as good at dusting furniture, vacuuming floors and cleaning bathrooms as I am; but Elizabeth and Zaa Zaa are much better housekeepers. After their marriages they keep the houses.