You can tell a lot about a man and his...beans

Magnet #1199 - Ronald Reagan Forever Stamp

Today in 2004, Ronald Reagan passed away at the age of 93, and seven years later, 2011 marks a year-long centennial celebration, with various events and concerts, tributes and galas, and educational events set up across the US, and abroad.

The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Library is totally on my list of things to do on my next California trip. A friend went out there earlier this year and brought back this superdupercool magnet for me.

It's Ronnie's Forever stamp, to commemorate his centennial - done in watercolor by Bart Forbes and issued back in February.

I just love this magnet because he looks pretty dashing as a former movie star, turned president.

What? Yes, I might have a small thing for Ronald Reagan. Oh, you can't tell me you're surprised. After all, I already said he was the president during my formative years!

Plus, really. A president who kept Jelly Bellys on his desk, just like I used to? How could he and I not get along famously.

Supposedly, he used to say you could tell a lot about people by whether or not they grab a handful of Jelly Bellys, or if they just go for certain colors. And it's true.

At my old job, I used to keep a pretty full dispenser of Jelly Bellys, filled with as many different flavor packs as possible - regulars, sours, sodas, tropicals, ice creams, etc.

I used to have so much fun watching coworkers navigate getting those beans.

The adventurous ones used to turn the knob, and have all the beans spill into their hands and just start eating them. They were the ones who loved discussing what flavors they were eating, and who never minded if they got a random peanut butter or popcorn or coffee. (Well, except for the one chick allergic to peanuts who freaked out and ran for her epi pen - oops. She's ok, but she never ate another Jelly Belly from me again.)

The less adventurous ones would cover the hole, hear the beans fall into the catcher, and reach their fingers into the tiny space to pick out the flavors they wanted. No discussion necessary, because they found the ones they wanted, said thanks, and moved along about their business.

Of course, this was after I bought the cast-iron dispenser, folks. It was even worse when I had the pop-top ones, where they could actually open the top and make lots of noise turning the dispenser round and round (and round and round), so they could reach in for their favorites. Oiy.

As for me, I'd rather just go to the candy store, and buy bags of my favorite flavors, so that I could mix and match and not get any bad beans.

That's not indicative of my OCD and/or control freak self at all.

Nope. Not at all.