Latest book read, visual imagery and memories

My book group just read "My Name is Lucy Barton," by Elizabeth Strout.  We love her books, and always read them after they are published.  This one is set in New York City and it's not really giving anything away to say that the lead character is in the hospital and when the curtains are open, she has a view of the Chrysler building.

- I had a unique perspective on the visual imagery of this book, since my niece's (former) apartment window looked out on the Chrysler building.  It was the first thing my sister showed me on that first visit in 2010 - it was reflected in the glass dining room table.  This is a photo at night, taken from that window.

- And an image from the daytime - same window.  There is lots going on in that book - the lead character has a chance to be with her mother for a week.  The mother sits by her bedside and they talk, often during the quiet middle-of-the-night hours.   I had that same experience the last week my mother was in the hospital, so with these images and that experience in mind, the book had a bit of an impact on me (in a good way.)  Memories.

This apartment building is in the Turtle Bay neighborhood in New York City.  My niece and her family are living in Turkey right now.  I'm so glad I had this brief experience while they were in New York.  I took these photos with me to the book discussion, via my iPad, to share.

Productive life, sassy, sophisticated and lesson learned

Mockingbird. Illustration by Talitha Shipman

- From Georgia State University Alumna Anne Marie Evans, who turned 101 years old this month*,

How To Live To Be 100

• Be Tenacious. In the face of life’s obstacles, be innovative and creative. If you’re afraid or worried, don’t show it.
• Befriend Positive People.
• Value Education. Always get a good education because that’s the one thing they can’t take away from you.
• To Thine Own Self Be True. Analyze how you act and react. Know your skills and capabilities. Then set realistic goals and produce something in justify your existence. Have confidence in yourself and say your prayers because they will bear fruit. Get plenty of sleep and don’t worry about the things that might not happen.

* Originally posted in November 2008 (wow - doesn't that seem like a long time ago???)  This appeared in the GSU magazine I receive (since I am also alumna) and I cut this out and posted it in my cubicle back then.  Good words to live by that work for me.

- My book club read the book, "The Mockingbird Next Door" by Marja Mills and will meet about it Sunday night.  An easy read - it's about the months that the journalist / author lived next door to the fiercely private Harper Lee, author of "To Kill a Mockingbird", and her sister Alice, in Monroeville, Alabama.  I think the author, Nelle Harper and Alice all qualify as "sassy, sophisticated Southern Ladies".  If nothing else - the book tells you what day to day life was like for Harper Lee. 

- The November quote on the calendar in my office: "The hardest thing to learn in life is which bridge to cross and which to burn." David Russell, Classical Guitarist*

Feeling reflective today - I ran across this post while scrolling through old posts.  Happy May 1st everyone and Happy Friday!

A fine, warm day, a great find and beautiful visitor

Three photos that have been hanging out on my desktop - three good things that gave me pleasure:

- From my trip to Milledgeville, Georgia on April 11, with cousin Susan - this photo was taken from inside the tour trolley.  I wish those colorful irises showed up better (click to enlarge.)  The corner of Hancock and Clark was humming with activity - lots of college students walking about on a fine, warm day.  Milledgeville was the antebellum capitol of Georgia and the Governor's mansion can be seen across the street there. 

- Susan and I did a u-turn in order to visit this shop "The French Market & Tavern" in Locust Grove, Georgia, as we were about to part at the end of the day.  A great find!  Located in an old hardware store, the owners have made this old building their own by incorporating New Orleans style cuisine, with wonderful things to browse in the adjoining shop.  We spotted some people dining Al fresco in the courtyard, as we were leaving.  Love that flowering vine - I think it is Carolina Jessamine.

- And back home this week - I couldn't believe my eyes!  A true yellow Goldfinch visited my feeder.  Sorry the photo is so fuzzy - I didn't want my motion from the inside to startle it away by sneaking up to be closer to it.  My book group read The Goldfinch earlier this year, so I sent this photo out to the group by email - sparking lots of back and forth discussion of birds in their gardens. 

I hope you have a beautiful weekend, full of good things!

Flowers all the time, where there's tea..., and family things

The weather outside has been a bit dreary for the last several days, with nothing but rain or drizzle, so I haven't been getting out much.  This morning, when I woke before the alarm, I was thinking about my blog post for today and how there was no photo for it.  So I found a few items around my home with my camera in the 5am hour that qualify as Good Things:

 - I had this beautiful bouquet on the dining table with the food and wine, surrounded by candles, last Sunday night when my book group came over to discuss Joyce Carol Oates.  Friend Susan remarked, at the end of the evening, that she was sitting where she could see those flowers during the discussion and that it's nice that I'll be able to enjoy those all week.  I didn't tell her, but you know, that I usually have flowers - not just for special occasions like that.  Here they are in the kitchen in front of my grandmother's ice bucket, where I can see them when I come in the door from outside.

- I thought someone might ask about the Darjeeling tea container since there is a glimpse of it above.  It's new - purchased during the holidays - when I was supposed to be looking for Christmas gifts for the family.  I love Darjeeling tea - it's my favorite - so I had to have this when I spotted it in a shop in Madison, Georgia.  I wondered about the quote, so Googled it, and it comes from a play called Sweet Lavender, performed in London in 1888 by the actor Sir Arthur Wing Pinero.  The play was "so popular that it ran for an extraordinary (for the time), 683 performances."  The character Horace, played by Pinero, "utters the famous line, "Where there is tea, there is hope.""  True that.

 - And I found a great frame for the Good Things postcard Granny Annie sent me last year.  I love how it's floating in acrylic.  There it is among framed photos of my family and with my Quaich (pronounced "Quake", from the Gaelic word "Cuach"), a traditional Scottish drinking vessel used to offer a guest a cup of welcome and also as a farewell drink, usually a dram of whisky.  These days they are used for celebrations like weddings and christenings in Scotland or those having an association with Scotland by heritage like me.  I like to keep it there with family things and this postcard fits right in.  (Click to enlarge.)

I hear there will be sun today.  Come on sun!  I hope that you have a great weekend, my friends!

Saving the planet, currently listening and currently reading

- The sign for Mr C's Bar & Grill near my office: "Mr C's - Saving the Planet by Making People Walk Home."  Good for them, I say!  It's been at least a couple of years, I think, since they have posted whimsical things on their sign. Hopefully it's a trend - I need humor for my commute.  :)  See Mr C's on Labels, below, for past signage.

- Currently listening during my commute:  Gone Tomorrow by Lee Child, one of his Jack Reacher books.  Violent at times, but every one is a cracking good suspense yarn.  I have another waiting for me at the library - I am having a Jack Reacher marathon.  Jack wanders the country with only a toothbrush and an old passport in his pocket.  He buys new clothes every three days and swears by his wandering lifestyle. He manages to save (or mostly save) the day in each book. 

- Currently reading at home:  The Quiet American by Graham Greene.  I'm only a few pages in - and book group meets on it Sunday night.  The link has a review of it, from The New York Times, circa 1956.  The internet is so marvelous for items like that.

Looking forward to a quiet day on Saturday to sit and read.  Celebrating the weekend over here!  I hope yours is lovely.

Madly reading, finger food and he always makes me laugh

- Madly reading "Death and the Penguin" by Andrey Kurkov on my Nook tablet during lunch hour at work.  What I call my "urban" book club is meeting tonight to discuss.  My first question will be how they found this one in the first place!  (I wasn't able to attend last time.)  But it's a good story with dark humor that one reviewer says "captures modern capitalism's messy entrance into Russian society."  

- Texting back and forth with friend Steven on what to bring for "finger food" tonight.  He and I are healthy eaters, but also enthusiastically eat things like bacon cheeseburgers, too.   The urban crew, all delightful people, are vegetarian, vegan, etc.  Here's how the texts went:

Him:  Can't wait to see you!

Me:  Same here - can't really think of good finger food.  :)

Him:  Especially when they have such peculiar dietary limitations.  No gluten, no carb, no meat, no dairy...whatever.

Him:  Let's just bring some ribs and wings and act like heathens!  Want to ride with me?  We'll go by KFC and get a bucket of chicken!  

Me:  (Rolling on the floor laughing):  Sure!  Maybe I'll bring that hot Mexican dip.  U are cracking me up!

Him:  Mmmm...love that!  What should I bring?  Maybe a fruit tray?

Me:  Popeye's Chicken Strips!

Him:  Or fried Mac and Cheese!

We decide we will stop at Whole Foods on the way there and get olives from the olive bar and maybe some hummus.  :) 

- Steven and I have been friends for more than 20 years.  We met on his first day at BellSouth.  I was walking through the office and passed a row of new employees working diligently on drawing boards (doing Yellow Pages artwork.)  No one looked up except for Steven, who smiled at me as if we were going to be best friends.  He loaned me a tape he was listening to - The Smiths.  He still tells the story that when I brought the tape back, I said, "That is the most depressing music I ever heard!"  We've been close, close friends ever since.

Back porch time, currently reading and pure bliss

- Saturday morning.  There had been toast and poached egg on the plate.  And of course, good coffee.  A light breeze carrying the lyrical voices of my Asian neighbors to the back, who were working their garden.  You can just see the roof of their house beyond my mosquito repellent device there.

- Last June, August book club was thrown out as, "read the Ernest Hemingway book of your choice" + "The Paris Wife" by Paula McClain.  The second book is a fictionalized account of Hemingway's early writing life in Paris, told by his first wife Hadley.  But the presented dialogue is the only conjured up fiction - the author pulled accounts of their lives from a number of sources.  Reading that one after "The Sun Also Rises" makes for fascinating reading.  I am loving this book.

- And on Sunday morning the temperature on the back porch was 62 degrees with 0 humidity.  Pure bliss.

My favorite thing, something fun and translation help

- So true.  I love being absorbed in a book set in places I've never been before.  Jonathan Kellerman has a detective series set in Los Angeles and I had one of them with me when I visited a friend there for the first time a few years ago.  She lived in the same part of town he so often describes - in West Hollywood near Sunset Boulevard, so it was fun seeing street names I had read about so much in those books.  I'm reading two books for the two book groups right now - The Ballad of the Sad Cafe by Carson McCullers and The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway.  Two very different writers, but I am indeed transported to a small Georgia town (OK - not much of a stretch there) and Paris in the 1920s. 

- Guilty.  As charged.  :)

- And does anyone know someone who could translate this for me?  There will be a blog post about this later, but my dad had relics from World War II that included some photos.  He did spend some time in Shanghai, China and I do think this script is Chinese.  **Update**  Friend Leisa works for an international company and asked a colleague about it, who in turn checked with a friend who said this isn't Chinese, but Japanese.  His Japanese is very good.  "He said it was ancient Japanese, he couldn't understand the exact meaning, however, the rough meaning is: The soldier must have the characters of loyalty, courtesy, bravery, faith and high quality." I'll keep you posted about the next steps. 

Lots of signs today.  Have a great middle of the week!

B is for Books, book clubs and beautiful things

- Even though I am a strong advocate for borrowing books from the library, I still seem to own a lot of them.  There's nothing I love more than time to settle in with a good page turning book.  (I haven't succumbed to the Kindle and its cousins yet.)  My most favorite book in the shelves above is "Anne of Green Gables."  I never get tired of that one.

- Most of these are waiting to be read, and / or future book club reads.  Somehow I find myself in two book clubs now - I refer to them as suburban book club and urban book club.  Suburban book club is my favorite - close friends and lots of good reads.  Urban book club is edgier - more good friends, but they are just more edgy and we meet in coffee houses in midtown Atlanta. 

- I've been carrying this one around for a couple of weeks.  You guessed it - urban book club material.  The fact that the library had only one copy should have been my first clue.  I can't get into it (and curious if anyone out there has read it.)

- This one is calling my name and just begging to be carried around.  Someone passed it onto me and you can tell it's been well loved.  This might be the first non-bookclub book I've read in months.  :)

The origin of my blog came in a roundabout way.  An intern at my church mentioned once that she wrote a positivity blog every day and that the idea came from a blog called "Three Beautiful Things."  The writer of 3BT encourages others to do the same and that's really how I started blogging in 2007.  I still read Three Beautiful Things every day.  It's all about Clare's life in the UK and I've been there for her wedding and the birth of her son. You can view her blog here.

Making a difference, kind lady and special treat

- My friend Robert drives a school bus part time and one of the children, Lorenzo, likes to give him his artwork.  This one was hanging on his refrigerator last weekend.  I was delighted and saddened at the same time.  Lorenzo apparently comes from a very large family and it makes me think that he might not be getting much attention at home.  I tell Robert that he was put there for a reason and he is making a difference in this child's life.

- Another friend finds a friendly, untagged and unchipped dog roaming around her house; all attempts to find its owner were fruitless.  She asks her friend the veterinarian what she should do with it.  "Name it."

- Astounded that Easter candy is already available, I nevertheless snag a Cadbury's Creme Egg and savor it as a late night snack after a rainy trip to book club.  I always smile at the yellow "yolk" in the center.  And it was good.

I hope you find many good things around you this weekend, my friends.  Have a great one!

Sun dappled, big save and sucked in

- Arriving home earlier than usual and finding the sun dappling through the trees breathtaking.

- Making my "dish" - eggplant parmesan - for friends. One friend keeps me company in the kitchen and, as I tend to get a little distracted, saves me from forgetting to put the second layer of eggplant in. :)

- Starting a book that my urban book club selected, "The Power of One" by Bryce Courtenay and getting sucked in with the first line, "This is what happened."

Smile sign, alternative transportation and books

Photo by Jesse P. using Smartphone

- A sign seen by two friends, Jesse and Eric, at lunch yesterday. Jesse presented their two possible interpretations:

1. Don't go up to customers devoid of warm emotion, be full! (Eric)
2. Don't be lazy, carry stuff, pick up stuff off tables. (Jesse)

They asked one of the waiters. It was 2, but I like 1 better.

- Walking up to a building for a meeting and encountering a young lady getting off a little silver scooter. She is wearing a red skirt and matching red helmet and cool glasses. I almost tell her she will be a Good Thing, but decide the explanation is too long and possibly alarming.

- I am supposed to be reading two books for my two different book groups, "Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide" by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn and "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close" by Jonathan Safran Foer. But I am enjoying the delightfully predictable "Folly Beach" by Dorothea Benton Frank. Sometimes a lighthearted book is just what the doctor ordered. :)

Seizing the day, peanut butter pie and books

- The view from Carpe Diem Cafe, and a lovely Saturday brunch with friends Leisa and Kim L. The trains rumbling by the Ice House Lofts building add to the atmosphere. The Atlantic Star Ice & Coal Company originally constructed this structure in 1926 and operated it until the late 1960s, as one of Atlanta's largest producers of ice and coal. The structure has won awards for its Adaptive Reuse and is now home to apartments and this cafe.

- Seeing food bloggers come together to support a fellow blogger, Jennie from In Jennie's Kitchen, in the sudden and heartbreaking loss of her husband to a heart attack. Tami, from Running With Tweezers, participated in what seems like a remarkable event - she made a peanut butter pie. Jennie's response to all the bloggers who asked that they could do to help: make a peanut butter pie to give to someone you love (it was her husband's favorite.) The Food Network even devoted a blog to this, you can see the list of the bloggers who made the pie for Mikey here.

- My suburban book group gathered to discuss the memoir we read. It was "read the memoir of your choice." A favorite moment, when someone held up "West with the Night" by Beryl Markham, and Geneva gasped, "Oh to read that book for the first time. Those lovely words." It's now on my reading list, along with about 10 others now. A good thing.

Freedom, Better World Books and personal note

- My book came in the mail from Better World Books - a great place to buy books inexpensively. I still advocate the library, but my (suburban) book club is reading this next and the wait list was too long. So this hardback book only cost $9 and shipping was free.

- A bar at the top of the web page has this wonderful message: Funds raised for literacy & libraries: $ 9,612,975.23.

- Most of all, though - I love the email that came with the personal message from my book (pictured above):

Hello Lynn,

(Your book asked to write you a personal note - it seemed unusual, but who are we to say no?)

Holy canasta! It's me... it's me! I can't believe it is actually me! You could have picked any of over 2 million books but you picked me! I've got to get packed! How is the weather where you live? Will I need a dust jacket? I can't believe I'm leaving Mishawaka, Indiana already - the friendly people, the Hummer plant, the Linebacker Lounge - so many memories. I don't have much time to say goodbye to everyone, but it's time to see the world!

I can't wait to meet you! You sound like such a well read person. Although, I have to say, it sure has taken you a while! I don't mean to sound ungrateful, but how would you like to spend five months sandwiched between Jane Eyre (drama queen) and Fundamentals of Thermodynamics (pyromaniac)? At least Jane was an upgrade from that stupid book on brewing beer. How many times did the ol' brewmaster have one too many and topple off our shelf at 2am?

I know the trip to meet you will be long and fraught with peril, but after the close calls I've had, I'm ready for anything (besides, some of my best friends are suspense novels). Just five months ago, I thought I was a goner. My owner was moving and couldn't take me with her. I was sure I was landfill bait until I ended up in a Better World Books book drive bin. Thanks to your socially conscious book shopping, I've found a new home. Even better, your book buying dollars are helping kids read from Brazil to Botswana.

See you soon -

Freedom by Jonathan Franzen

This is the post that disappeared on Black Thursday last week. It never did come back - it must have been having a good time floating around the blogosphere. :) So I copied it from Google Reader. And speaking of good times: I am off on a trip to New York City for a long weekend. I'll be back posting next Tuesday and I hope you have a great weekend. I might see if I can get on a computer somewhere to check in on you before then. Cheers!

Green house, veggies and they had me at tomato

- Visiting an organic farm - a peaceful moment in a busy day. A friend misunderstands me when I make a remark about the green house. "Where's the greenhouse?" Not that kind of greenhouse, but a house that is painted a vivid color green.

- The very nice owner points to lettuce growing and to raised beds of spinach nearby. He loves to make a spinach cheese soup and his description makes us all want to run home to make it.

- Another visitor snaps photos of beautiful red poppies growing amid herbs and other flowers. They make CSA boxes that require only a week to week commitment and you get whatever is in season that week, with the promise of tomatoes to come. I tell him I want to start with a small box, having been reeled in with the mention of the tomatoes.

This visit preceded my suburban book club's discussion of Barbara Kingsolver's book "Animal Vegetable Miracle" - an account of her family's vow to buy only food raised in their neighborhood, grow it themselves, or learn to live without it.

Comeback, private dances and opportunity

- There was lots of rain, thunderous thunder and lightening popping around all weekend, continuing on into this morning. But between raindrops it was lovely to see all the greening up.

- A migrating flock of geese in their customary V pattern flies into view during a commute while classical music entitled, "Private Dances" is playing on the radio. A perfect synchronization.

- Discovering a dish of chocolate Easter candy on the coffee table at Marjory's home during (suburban) book group discussion. Friend Shelley and I deliberate over our choice and agree that life is too short to let a candy eating opportunity pass by. :)

Loving his work, wisdom and miércoles

- I adore watching this guy who stands in a shopping cart directing people to a tax preparation business while enthusiastically dancing all the while. Sometimes I detour in the afternoon to see if he is there and we wave.

- From my niece on facebook, referring to her dad: "Don't give 'em the satisfaction of living in your head rent free" --Daddy's wisdom for the day :)

- Looking forward to "suburban book club" discussion on Sunday of "The Speed of Light" by Elizabeth Rosner, a novel that has sort of entered my dreams. An adult brother and sister struggle to find their voices, but both their lives begin to change on a Wednesday, miércoles, the day that sounds like miracles.

It's a little miracle that the weekend is here - it's been a long week, but it's all good. :) Have a great weekend, my friends!

Apple pie, jewel tones and like

- A friend's daughter loves experimenting with different apple pie recipes - this one was as good as it looks. :)

- Book club meeting at a home I have never visited before. I mention to Peggy that the jewel-toned colors of her walls seem very Early American to me. She smiles and says they were indeed inspired by a family trip to Williamsburg, Virginia.

- We read the Anne Lamott book of our choice and I decided to read "Traveling Mercies" - her initial collection of essays. In one of them her young son says he is weary of her telling him she loves him so much. What would he rather hear? I like you. So that's what she says from then on as she tucks him in bed.

Pottery bird, cozy and big hit

- This Zen-like pottery bird from my most favorite potter, "In the Stix" pottery. I've had this for some time now and finally put some flowers in it, as was intended, because I was having friends over.

- Book club friends crowded into my cozy living room and putting all worries aside about not having enough room. It was fun to discuss the Anne Tyler book of our choice and then get on to what we will read next.

- This fruit dip recipe, given to me by a co-worker, was a big hit and went well with strawberries and apple slices. It tasted like cheesecake:

Fruit Dip:

1 8-oz package of cream cheese, room temperature
3/4 cup of light brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 container of vanilla flavored yogurt (more or less to taste)

Cream the cheese first until it is a light and smooth consistency. Add brown sugar and mix well. Add vanilla extract and yogurt until well blended.

Refrigerate leftovers.

Container garden, blue and perseverance

- Friend Susan's container garden, much admired for its unfussy arrangement of waning winter flowers and newly potted spring color.

- She collects blue bottles and we all bring them to her. Elsewhere on the property is a "bottle tree," a tree with multiple blue bottles hanging from it.

- A book discussion of "The Help" by Kathryn Stockett, a first book that was published finally after Ms. Stockett received about 60 rejection letters. I admire the perseverance of this young writer in getting her story told.