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Taste: My Life Through Food by Stanley Tucci

There is a specific scene in the 2009 film Julie and Julia that I love. Julia Child (played brilliantly by the marvelous Meryl Streep) has just taken a bite of one of her first meals in France and she is exclaiming in utter astonishment and how good it is. Her husband, Paul, (played by the tasty Stanley Tucci) puts his hand on her arm and says, “I know… I know.” His voice is so sympathetic. He…

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#book review #cooking #Food #memoir #recipes #Stanley Tucci #Taste: My Life Through Food

Tides by Sara Freeman

We don’t know her name right away. She’s just “she,” and she is on a bus bound for somewhere else. She doesn’t really care where she’s going as long as it’s away from where she was. She comes to a small resort town on a lake somewhere in the upper Midwest with a few dollars in her pocket, the clothes on her back, and no real plan for what comes next. We get clues right away that something is…

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#book review #fiction #literary fiction #Sara Freeman #Tides

The School of Mirrors by Eva Stachniak

For those of you who don’t know, I am a sucker for a good work of historical fiction. I adore sinking into family sagas from another time. This particular novel, The School of Mirrors, ticked all of my boxes: palace intrigue, a plucky heroine (this story has two), and lush historical detail. Thirteen-year-old Veronique is poor, young, and lovely. A Parisian by birth, she helps her mother eke out…

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#book review #Eva Stachniak #France #historical fiction #The School of Mirrors

The Bright Blue Sea

It is June in Greece. The sun is a white ball of heat, the sea so bright blue I ache to look at it. I sit in the cool shade of a plane tree and wait. My hair is tied with the first gift he gave me: a scarf of blues and greens, the hues of his home, his pride. At my throat is a charm, a blue eye specked with an ink-black dot, to ward off harm. My eyes slide to the sea, where small waves lap the…

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#fiction #flash fiction #Greece #story #travel #writing

Book Reviews and Other Things

This summer I landed a second job. I didn’t necessarily need one, but I got an offer I couldn’t refuse. An old colleague of mine came to the library in July to say hello. It was wonderful to see Linda and catch up. She told me she was writing book reviews for a local magazine but was going to have to quit because of health issues. She asked if I wanted to be her replacement and I said yes! So now…

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The Bright Blue Sea

It is June in Greece. The sun is a white ball of heat, the sea so bright blue I ache to look at it. I sit in the cool shade of a plane tree and wait. My hair is tied with the first gift he gave me: a scarf of blues and greens, the hues of his home, his pride. At my throat is a charm, a blue eye specked with an ink black dot, to ward off harm. My eyes slide to the sea, where small waves lap the…

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#Greece

A Tale of Two Bombs

For my applications to MFA in Creative Writing Programs, I have to submit both a personal statement and a writing sample. I wanted to share with you the personal statement I wrote as to why I want to pursue the MFA.

One of the schools to which I am applying is Southern New Hampshire University (which is a 100% online program). They asked me to address the following: explain how someone…

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In Memoriam: Henry Ingwersen

For those of you who really know me, you know how over-educated I am. I have three degrees: a BA in Anthropology, a BA in Art History, and a Master of Library and Information Science. Lots of education, lots of student loans I’m still paying, but a head crammed full of stuff.

What you may not know is that I seriously considered getting an MFA in Creative Writing after I finished my BA in Art…

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On Friendship

Recently, I’ve been mulling over the idea of friendship and what it means to me. We’ve all been on a roller coaster of emotions lately with the pandemic, social unrest, economic hardships. No one on earth is exempt from that, and we’re all under stress.

And I am grateful for each and every friend I have. I am an introvert by nature and making true connections is hard for me. I can be sociable…

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May His Memory Be Eternal

It’s a lovely sentiment to say when someone dies: May his/her/their memory be eternal. I first learned this when I married a Greek, as this is their blessing instead of saying, “my sympathies,” or “my prayers are with you and your family,” or, “I’m so sorry for your loss.”

It gives a beautiful message that the deceased will continue to live on in the memories of others, passed down through…

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#Albright #alone #death #Dennis #dumpster #Life #lonely #may his memory be eternal #memory #self-published #Wiener Dogs at War #writer

The 28 Year Wait

Last New Year’s Eve my husband and I were at a party at our friends’ house and Fabiana announced at the dinner table that this year for her birthday she was going to get a tattoo. And I immediately piped up with, “Can I come with you?”

I already have a tattoo. I got it in late 1992 when I was 18 years old. I got it on my rib cage just below my left breast. It is your typical cliche: a…

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#Adam Dunning #Art #birthday #Covid-19 #Fabiana #fleur de lis #history #lily #New Years Eve #personal symbol #Santiago de Compostela #symbol #tattoo #travel #Visionary Tattoo #writing

Getting Shit Done

And so I have. I know we still have Covid-19 but it feels like it is has been pushed away somehow. So no more plague diaries. Time to talk about what I’ve been doing. And that’s getting shit done.

Firstly, my bookcase. It took a six hour trip to Miami (most of it was waiting for the email to come to tell me my order was ready at IKEA) and then a quick assembly. (I’ve put this particular bookcase…

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Plague Diaries #12

It isn’t really a tale of the plague, this entry. This story goes back much farther than that. A year, in fact.

In March of 2019 we moved from a 1400 square foot duplex into a 900 square foot condo. We did A LOT of downsizing. We had to practically get all new furniture. I spent weeks assembling flat pack tables, dressers, night stands and bookcases. (A weird side note: I adore assembling…

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Plague Diaries #11

It’s no secret that I’ve been dealing with major anxiety, so bad that for a while there it was all I could do to force myself out of bed in the morning, bed being the safest place on earth.

It’s also no secret that I took some medical leave from work to deal with getting my head back on straight. I am trying everyday to meditate, walk, knit, listen to podcasts, read, and do other kind things for…

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#anxiety #breathing #brilliant #death #deconstruct #Essay #feedback #fire #flash fiction #friends #knit #LC #medical leave #meditate #mood disorder #mother #murder hornets #pandemic #poignant #read #relax #walk #writing

Plague Diaries #10

How long has this been going on? Six weeks or so? It seems so long ago and yet like it was just yesterday that my job shut its doors to the public.

You know I’ve been dealing with anxiety. But I’ve been taking steps to take care of myself. Herbal tea instead of coffee, guided meditation at least once a day, I stopped looking at the numbers and most of the news. And above all, I’ve been receiving…

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Plague Diaries #9

I have a very dear friend who is one of those people who is without guile or pretense. She is a genuine, authentic soul who says what she means, is kind to the core, and doesn’t take shit from anyone. She is a beautiful soul.

I’ve been keeping in contact with her through email lately and have mentioned my problems with anxiety. And she offered to give me acupuncture treatments. She is a retired…

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#acupuncture #anxiety #authentic #depression #ear #eastern medicine #feet #friendship #genuine #kindness #needles #pulse #retired nurse #soul #wrists

Plague Diaries #8

My place of work closed one month ago today, and even though we report to a library empty of patrons, we still do work to reach the public. My coworker and I did a live virtual book discussion today on Facebook, for instance. We’ve been heavy into making online content and pushing our digital resources so people won’t miss us quite so much. I know a lot of our regulars do. You don’t work at a…

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