An interesting piece of mail came my way recently. Not email, but regular old “snail” mail. And the contents made me smile for they were most unusual in this day and age. It was a rejection letter. That’s right - I smiled at a rejection. Not because I was happy to be rejected but because it has been so long since I have seen something like that.

The truth is most companies absolve themselves upfront by the use of the all too familiar disclaimer “Only short-listed candidates will be contacted.” If they were getting thousands of applicants then I could understand maybe, but I am sure than many of the advertised positions especially management level are receiving numbers more in the dozens maybe a hundred or two.

A well-written rejection letter requires an artful touch that leaves the applicant with a pleasant taste in their mouth, and highly unlikely to bad-mouth the organization.

Want a sample? Here’s what they wrote:

Thank you for your application for the position of … at …

Although we were impressed with your qualifications and experience, we have decided to pursue other applicants who more closely reflect the requirements of the position and the needs of the department.

Your interest in employment with … is appreciated and we wish you success in securing a rewarding position.

Truth be told, that is the kind of organization I would be glad to work for if they are so considerate of people not employed to them.

Small pleasures mark my days:

• The smoothness of a blended seafood chowder
• The feeling of relief as painkillers kick in
• Finally falling asleep

There is an innate tendency for the human psyche to desire that which is explicitly forbidden. Tell us we can’t have it and suddenly temptation rears its head. This is why so many people fail at restrictive diets. Low-carbs leads to pasta and cake cravings. No sweets results in secret stashes.

So for someone like me, who is on a post-oral-surgery liquid diet, just about everything is on my “can’t wait till I can have it” list. All of a sudden I am having cravings for all sorts of things: pizza, Mexican food, Chinese spring rolls. My dreams have become more about food than anything else - no plot, just people (including me) eating normal food. My daily timetable revolves around my next “meal” time as I seek for variety in liquid sustenance.

I am about to start writing a list of all the things I want to have when I am again allowed to have solids. Maybe that way I will be able to control it and not go overboard binging and put back on all the weight I will have lost by then.

This week’s soundtrack: “Food! Glorious food!”

What do you do when the words won’t come out right? Stop talking or just push on? Sometimes no matter what you do, what is in your head comes out differently. Will you be understood? Laughed at? No way to know till you speak. So speak you do, hearing your thoughts as if from someone else. But knowing that who speaks, is you.

Last night’s head-banging sing-along in the car:

Here I am, once again
I’m torn into pieces
Can’t deny it, can’t pretend
Just thought you were the one
Broken up, deep inside
But you won’t get to see the tears I cry
Behind these hazel eyes