When In Rome

Actually, I’ve never been in Rome. I know what you’re all thinking. What?! Yes, I’ve been back and forth to Italy many times over the years. Sometimes more than once a year.

I recently returned from my annual October trip to Trieste. Rehearsals, gigs and hanging out with friends. All and all in was a stellar time with the exception of the weather. Who knew it would be so uncomfortably warm in late October? Muggy, rainy, steamy. My hair had a big time meltdown.

But I must say. I am truly blessed to be able to experience Italy not as a tourist. Oh sure, I had a chance to do a bit of traveling to new exotic places…but it was off the beaten path. Places that Americans just don’t see.

Hallowed halls

University of Pavia

I was fortunate to attend the graduation of a friend at The University of Pavia. It was an incredible experience. No pomp and circumstance. Just a solo explanation of his thesis to a panel of professors. All about physics. I didn’t understand a word. It’s ok. If it had been in English I still wouldn’t have understood it!

 I also had a little day trip to the Italian alps.

Love those alps!

 Every twist and turn of the road brought another postcard view. Even in the rain, the Dolomites are stunning.

Dolomites

 Of course the best part of being in Italy are my friends and acquaintances. Sharing meals be it in a little trattoria or in a friend’s kitchen is always an event.

Pasta by Matteo

 Heated and passionate discussions about food to politics and everything in between is de rigueur. Italians LOVE to talk and LOVE to argue. What an American can say in 4 seconds an Italian will take 2 hours and a 4 course meal. Mostly I sit and listen and try to absorb. Comprehension is getting better.

Me, Sammy and Save having a coffee in Save's kitchen

 The dialects are still a bit mystifying. Italians take forever to get to the point and therefore everything takes longer. Mostly I’m OK with this. Sometimes it pisses me off, especially when rehearsals are involved.

So when in Rome…er..Italy..I go with the flow. Yes, there will be transit strikes (there was) and yes there will always be a canceled or rescheduled event (daily). Try not to take it personally. Shrug and smile and pour the wine. Viva Italia!!

Is a Picture Worth 1000 Bites?

Food porn is a big business these days. EVERYbody is taking food pics. Not to say that I don’t love looking at them. Some are totally mouth watering. Like I want to lick the screen of my phone or my PC monitor.

I too, am guilty of taking a pic of that oh so perfect plate of food. The right light coming in through my kitchen window. The sizzling food in the pan ready to hit the plates. Wait…don’t take a bite yet…I need to take a pic.

I have food porn albums in Facebook and in my computer. On Pinterest and Instagram. 

And so I said to myself: STOP. Enough is enough. Eat the damn food and just enjoy it. Savor each and every bite without worrying whether this gastronomic event is worthy of a food porn moment.

And so I stopped. In fact, I deleted most of the food porn pics from my Instagram. Do people really want to see the tofu stirfry or the poached salmon I had for dinner last night? Eh. If I really want to capture the moment I can do it and save it in my PC files for my own benefit. To remind myself that I made a stellar meal.

I’ll still take photos of meals with friends. But I think I’ll focus on the latter. After all, as good as the food is, the friends are what make the meal special.

Buon appetito!

The Fly In The Ointment

We recently received a book at my store called Mean Girls at Work. My friend Cathy and I browsed through it and realized that one of our co-workers is just that: a really mean girl. Or in her case, a really mean older woman.

This is a person that is so difficult to work with, that the rest of the staff is contemplating giving our notices if she doesn’t retire soon. We don’t complain to our bosses about her. It falls on deaf ears. They just brush it off as her being “just an old woman.” And so we grit our teeth and try to ignore her ranting.

This person truly believes we are dithering idiots who have no idea how to run a bookstore or for that matter have never read anything remotely literary. In fact, we ALL read. A lot. Several books a week. We run the gamut from classics to sci-fi. History, biography, quirky fiction (that’s me), mystery and new fiction. We read more in a week than that woman does in a year. She once admitted to never finishing a book. She reads the first chapters and the last, so she can recommend them to customers. Yeah. That totally doesn’t make it in my realm.

This person has told others (who tell us) that she is the only one who ever does any work. At all. Kind of amazing because if that were the case there would be no books on the shelves, but instead, packed in boxes in the already crowded stockroom.

This person has told me she knows so much more about music than I do because she lived in Cambridge (Boston) in the 1960’s. This person once came to a gig of my jazz band and then proceeded to make a list of all the songs SHE thinks we should have on our set list because she knows more about jazz than I do. OK. So I do my best to ignore her mumbling and nasty comments when what I really want is for a shelf of hardcovers to fall on her head.

This is a person who makes monetary mistakes and then blames the rest of the staff because she won’t ever admit to being wrong. Has left the store unlocked but blames others for it. Has been rude to customers. In fact, some of our customers have hightailed it out the door because this woman is so difficult.

And I think the worst remark that she makes quite often is that she looks so much younger and is so beautiful compared to Cathy and myself (she’s 15 years older than us). In fact she tells me the highlights in my hair are ugly and that Cathy’s tan is hideous. This from a woman who reminds us that people think she looks like Salma Hayek. Well, folks, if she’s Salma than I’m Audrey Hepburn. Or Giselle.

And so we take deep breaths and move on. At which point she complains that we’re ignoring her. It’s difficult to be civil to someone who makes you feel so miserable. We count the days until she goes on vacation or takes a few days off.

We remind ourselves that she’s delusional and more than a bit senile. Others have said tsk, tsk she’s just an old woman to whom we reply, YOU come work with her for one week straight and then let us know what you think.

I love our little store. It’s our little piece of heaven in an airport terminal. We’ve created it from nothing two years ago and now it’s a popular attraction. If it weren’t for one person it would be pure perfection.

And now, I’m going to take deep breaths and sigh in relief, knowing that in fact, she IS going away for a few days. Pure bliss!

Have a great week. I know I will!

Living Out Loud

Recently, as in two days ago, I connected with a long lost friend. Like thirty-nine years lost. It’s not like I hadn’t thought about her. I did. For a long time. The problem back then was black and white. If you didn’t have a current address or phone number, you were out of luck. Unless you hired a private detective.

Well, thanks to modern technology, I am my own Holmes. Over the years I searched Google, Facebook, linkedin and various other sources and niente. Until two days ago.

Great. Now what? What if she didn’t want to connect? What if she was hiding from the world? What if I was just being a pain in the ass stalker?

Turns out most of that was true. She didn’t want to connect for a long time. She didn’t want to live out loud. But now she does. And here we are.

Is it possible to start a new friendship from an old friendship? I absolutely think so.

Is it wrong to live out loud and share your life like an open book? No. I do it all the time.

I’m not shy about sharing my life. Look at Facebook. Look at this blog. I have things to say and I’m certainly not shy about sharing my thoughts. And yes, I put my foot in my mouth quite frequently, but whatever.

My new/old friend and I have so much more in common than we ever thought. I won’t mention her name because she is just starting to dip her toes into the social network of the world. We made a “playdate” for later this summer.

It’s never too late to make new friends or connect with old ones. We only have one life. 

Happy July 4th!

From the Inside Out

The other day my friend Cathy and I were talking about what constitutes beauty. Is it some standard that is set by marketing people? By cosmetic companies? Who decides what makes someone “look” beautiful?

Ok. Let’s face it. I don’t walk out of my house without some form of makeup on my face. Even if it’s just a quick run to the supermarket. I mean after all, someone I know might see me. Even if it means just throwing on some lipgloss, I can’t have a naked face. No one sees me sans makeup except for my immediate family and my band mates.

In today’s world, we are bombarded with expectations. Wear this product and your skin will look 10 years younger. Use this shampoo and you will have hair shinier than a newly minted penny. And so, we do. And does it work? Sometimes.

What if we didn’t? I mean what if we didn’t use beauty products and just went au natural 100% of the time? Would we, as women be chastised for not looking up to par?

For me personally, I know that I look and feel better when I have “my face on” as the saying goes. It’s kind of like that first cup of coffee. A jumpstart to what ever I have to do during the course of the day. As a fifty something year old woman I need to look my best in a world of twenty something and thirty something work colleagues and band mates. I don’t want to be the fading old woman. And thus, I completely support my local cosmetics counters.

I also know that looking and feeling good doesn’t solely come from a tube or bottle. Healthy eating, sleep and exercise are all components of the body beautiful. I know I’ll never be a Giselle but it really doesn’t matter. I’m me. I’m beautiful in my own right. Now where the hell did I put that tube of lipgloss?!

Have a beautiful week!

Up In The Cloud

It’s been a few months since I last wrote. I’ve been learning all sorts of new and interesting things. Useful? Maybe. Fun? Definitely.

Now that I am the owner of an iphone, I’ve discovered all sorts of new and exotic things to do with it aside from plain old texting and phone calls. The vast amount of apps are mind boggling. I must say I’m somewhat reluctant to download a lot of junk onto my phone so I keep it to the basics like:

Facebook, Amazon (of course), Whatsapp, Viber, news channels and the like, photo apps, Pinterest, youtube, a few games (3), netflix and various music sites. 30 apps in total. It seems like so much but in actuality it’s nothing. My boss Juan has over 200. 200! Incredible. It’s like walking around with the universe in your hand. Learning how to use all of this is like being back in school.

Last week I was talking to my friend Cathy’s daughter. Bridget asked me if I used Pinterest and I said that I knew I had created an account online probably a year ago. I’ve never used it. Don’t know how. She was aghast. She told me it was the best thing EVER and that I should just do it. Me, being the skeptical soul that I am, thought, probably not going to do this. A week later and I’ve got 13 boards and tons of pics that I truly like. Some are mine, some are a repin. I’ve found some great recipes, travel and home ideas. It’s totally addictive. I may need an intervention.

With all this new technology it’s easy to forget the simpler things like just reading a book. Ok..reading is not something I would ever forget to do, but so many people are reading their books right off their phones.

With all this new technology it’s easy to communicate with people thousands of miles across the ocean. Skype, Viber and whatsapp are the best things since Mr. Bell. It used to be a long distance charge that could cost a second mortgage. Now, I can call for free, text for free and even talk face to face from my little phone the size of a pack of playing cards. It’s amazing.

The photo apps are simply cool. It does scare me that all my photos are floating around somewhere in cyberspace and if the cloud crashes I could lose it all. This is where physical back up becomes necessary. Flashdrives are the greatest. Printing every photo is space consuming. I do have many photo albums taking up shelf space in my house. It’s not a bad thing. Looking at these brings back good times. I just don’t want to add any more bulk to my already bulky home.

And now dear readers, it’s time for a cup of tea and another chapter in the book I’m reading.

Have a great week!

You Can Never Have Too Many

No. Not shoes. You all thought I was going to say that! Books, people. BOOKS!

I have to admit that these days I don’t buy a lot of books. But that doesn’t mean I don’t own a lot. I have enough of a book stash to keep me reading for many years.

Being in the book business affords me the opportunity to “borrow” books. And I do. A lot. Yes, I love to read, but I also need to be able to recommend titles to my customers.

So today, this blog will be all about recommendations. So many people have asked me for a good book. I have lots. Now remember, these are books that I’ve read and really liked. Some are mainstream, some are older titles, some are quirky and some are just Ellen kind of books. This is a very small list. I keep book journals that go back years.  Get out some paper and a pen. Here we go:

Best Staged Plans-Cook

Peaches For Father Francis-Harris

Heads in Beds-Tomsky

Mr. Penumbra’s 24 Hr. Book Store-Sloan

Some Girls, Some Hats and Hitler-Kanter

Where’d You Go Bernadette?-Semple

Lamb-Moore

A Reliable Wife-Goolrick

Hemingway’s Girl-Robuck

Rules of Civility-Towles

The Personal History of Rachel Dupree-Weisgarber

Domestic Violets-Norman

Half Blood Blues-Edugyan

Those Who Save Us-Blum

Snow Flower and The Secret Fan-See

The Alchemist-Coehlo

Memoirs of My Melancholy Whores-Marquez

City of Thieves-Benioff

Retail Hell-Hall

Some Girls-Lauren

Summer at Tiffany-Hart

Nocturnes-Ishiguro

My Fair Lazy-Lancaster

Wench-Perkins-Valdez

The 100 Year Old Man Who Climbed Out The Window And Disappeared-Jonasson

These should keep you occupied for a little while. If you want descriptions you can look them up on Amazon.

Happy reading and have a great week!

What's in A Word?

Words are wonderful. I love putting together words to make beautiful, coherent sentences. Shaping, sometimes rhyming, repeating and pulling it all together in a tidy little bundle. No, not a blog. Not a poem. That my dear friends is what we call lyrics.

I’ve written many lyrics. I’ve edited many lyrics. I’ve also trashed volumes of lyrics.

Writing song lyrics can be child’s play or a tension mounting headache when there is a deadline and an album to complete.

There are many, many great songwriters out there. There are many, many really bad songwriters out there. I’m talking about contemporary pop/rock/folk. Lyrics for Broadway musicals are an entirely different blog. So many lyrics to consider.

Two of my favorite American songwriters are Leonard Cohen and Bob Dylan. Their music is good but their lyrics are stellar. The lyrics of their songs can stand alone without the support of the music. They are my inspiration when I create lyrics.

Writing song lyrics is similar to writing poetry. But not really. I know, it sounds like a confused mess. In fact, most of the modern poetry of today (in my opinion) is a jumble of random words thrown together in a pattern on a page. Look at this:

It’s cold outside

But I feel the warmth radiating

I am under

A layer of down

So cold, so warm

It’s crap, right? But let me tell you, I see new volumes of poetry on a regular basis. Award winning poetry. And my dears? Most of the time it’s no better than the drek that I just  wrote for you. In my opinion.

Back to lyrics. For the past few years I’ve been writing lyrics for an Italian rock artist. Hard rock. Not metal. Just good hard rock. The music is driving and I love it.

At first, I was correcting and editing his lyrics. The problem was the simplicity of the words. Easy rhymes. Why? Because the thought process was in Italian and then translated to English which didn’t work. Another problem was that the command of the English language was at elementary school level. And so, I’ve been given free rein.

Easy, right? No.

I write the lyrics to fit the music. I am given a quickly recorded music file and a title. And then, I write. No theme. No boundaries except for the musical phrasing. He always has a title in mind and that title must somehow fit into the song, usually the chorus. But it’s up to me to decide what the song is about and where it’s going. The songs are long. It’s a slow process and each song takes me weeks to complete. But I love it. And when it’s finished, recorded and performed I feel a great sense of accomplishment.

I’m no Leonard Cohen or Bob Dylan and I don’t think I ever will be. But then again, who knows?

Have a great week!

PS: Check out the new BookLink Facebook page!

https://www.facebook.com/pages/BookLink/268651983208355

Hooray for Hollywood

I love movies. I mean I REALLY love movies. Netflix and on demand are the best thing since the invention of the wheel. And Imdb is so great at reminding me who is who. For those of you not familiar with Imdb, you should check it out. www.imdb.com

I don’t remember the first movie I saw, but I do remember standing in line at Radio City Music Hall waiting to see Mary Poppins. Now that was something. What a theater. Classic. And remember drive-ins? Summer memories.

I have no problem watching 2 movies in an afternoon. Days off are spent either reading (you knew that) or watching movies. AFTER the laundry, groceries and other assorted chores are completed.

Of course nothing beats GOING to the movies. The smell of movie theater popcorn is intoxicating. Sitting back in comfy seats and watching the big screen. Too wonderful.

Years ago, many years ago, the movies stayed in theaters for months. Now, if you don’t catch it within a few weeks of release, you can forget it. What is up with that?? Don’t blink your eyes because the movie you were dying to see on the big screen is now up for grabs on your local on demand channel. Some people have larger than life TV screens. That kind of justifies not being able to get to the theater. But still. Since the timing is not always in my favor I have to decide which movie is worthy of the big screen. I love chick flicks but I can wait to see those on Netflix. Action films NEED a big screen. Any movie with Johnny Depp needs a big screen. That also goes for musicals.

I will never tire of movies. I’m ready for my close-up.

Have a great week!

Saga of the Phone Part Deux

So now that I have my new phone I’m still working out the kinks. It’s more than a phone. It’s a whole new universe. It’s a tiny computer that fits in the palm of my hand.

So far I’ve been able to make phone calls, text people and surf the web. I’m trying to get a handle on taking photos. I’ve been able to download pics onto my PC from the phone. But trying to organize the pics ON the phone requires nothing short of a PhD. And Instagram? Not getting that concept at all. Tried it. If I want a real photo I’ll use a real camera. And if I want to manipulate said photo, I’ll use photoshop or paint shop pro. And since when did this symbol ### become a hashtag?? What is up with that??

And then there is the icloud thing. Not getting that at all either. It has somehow taken every contact from my facebook account and tossed them into my phone. Great. Tried to look up a number. I’ve got something like 700 names to scroll through. And birthdays are listed as well. Happy birthday one and all. I’d send a card but by the time I finish scrolling through all the contacts your birthdays will be long gone.

Everyone says Twitter is the way to go. Wrong. Do I really need to see what people are doing every waking minute of the day? I don’t care that you got up and brushed your teeth and 10 seconds later took a shower. TOO MUCH INFORMATION!!!

Now for the apps. This is the interesting part of the phone saga. I have only added around a dozen. News, navigation, facebook (of course), some games and a few other assorted fun things. I’ve also downloaded my music. Of course I did. That was the first thing on the phone agenda. I’ve put my apps into tiny little folders on the tiny little desktop of my tiny little computer, er, phone. It’s all very tidy. And tiny. I may need a stronger eyeglass prescription.

As a well rounded and informed woman of the world, I need to accessorize. Ah yes. Cell phone covers. I own a couple. Well, ok, more than a couple. Think of it as jewelry for the phone. Wouldn’t want my phone to be boring. And charger cables. Got a few to match the cases. Well come on…a pink case needs a pink USB cable. Sorry Apple. I can get them for $5 at the drugstore.

All of this stuff is new and exciting for me. And a bit frightening. Now I really know what it’s like to be connected 24/7. My advice to myself is to put down the phone, step away from the computer and pick up a book. Or cook something!

Have a good week!