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Archive for October, 2013

Side Projects

Posted in Books, Journaling, Wedding, Country, tagged , , , , , , on October 8, 2013| 2 Comments »

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My son the Rocker and his sweetheart Ms Cait were here over the weekend. We defied Gravity in IMAX 3D, then descended over 100 feet to another eerie landscape in the caverns of Luray, VA. I pretty much knew from the moment he was born, this baby boy liked action and adventure. What i didn’t know when his band, Parlor Mob, broke up last year was that he’d not only pursue music for film, but he’d continue to support and play music with his friends in the burgeoning arts scene of Asbury Park and beyond…

All the way to Brooklyn this Friday! While cooking another one of his favorite dishes, he casually asked me if I liked Norah Jones. “Yes,” I gushed like a teenage mutant fan, “I love her!” Well it seems Norah’s got a side project, it’s her band Puss N Boots. And he’ll be onstage with her Friday night at the Bowery Electric, since he’ll be playing guitar for an old friend, Nicole Atkins. You remember Nicole, I called her a “… stunning performer with an incredible voice.” https://mountainmornings.net/2011/05/22/hello-apocalypse-no/ And Nicole is headlining!

http://www.theboweryelectric.com/Promotions/cbgb-festivalnicole-atkins-puss-n-bootsbad-girlfriend-the-prettiots/

It’s times like these when I really miss my Jersey Shore life: hoping a train to the city for a concert or a play; walking my Corgis past egrets nesting in trees; waiting for the drawbridge in Sea Bright to deliver us to the beach. Small pleasures that amounted to a life filled with possibility. But I can’t complain, at least I’ll stop complaining right now. Just because I caught a doozy of a cold from my lovely husband Bob, and I’ll have to miss my son’s side project with Nicole, doesn’t mean I can’t fly away in my mind, and play a little Norah on my old fashioned CD player;

Come away with me in the night
Come away with me
And I will write you a song

Come away with me on a bus
Come away where they can’t tempt us
With their lies

Lyrics from <a href=”http://www.elyrics.net”>eLyrics.net</a&gt;

I wonder who was tempting her with their lies? Because I can’t even watch the news anymore, and all the lying going on about who’s holding our government hostage. Wake up. It’s about 40 perverse Republicans who think they can ignore the constitution and walk us off the edge of solvency. I think these guys need to be furloughed without pay. And since they seem to operate with impunity, we need to fix the gerrymandering that created these districts of bloody red zealots.

Let’s teach them how to live without benefits, with part-time work and side projects to make ends meet. That would be a real life lesson for Ted Cruz and his cronies. We need leaders like those WWII vets who stormed the monuments in DC.  http://www.politico.com/story/2013/10/ted-cruz-blasted-by-angry-gop-colleagues-government-shutdown-97753.html

 

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Read for the Record

Posted in Books, Journaling, Wedding, Country, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on October 3, 2013| 1 Comment »

Yesterday was Kale Day, but today is the official national book reading day for millions of children in libraries, homes and schools all across the country, and the idea is that we’ll all be reading one book. Well, you could read more than one, but doesn’t everybody love a tractor?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4uykLrVnu0

The book for Jumpstart’s 2013 Read for the Record campaign is Otis! Published by Penguin and written by New York Times bestselling author Loren Long, Otis is the timeless story of a friendship between a lovable tractor and a calf that live on a farm. On October 3, 2013 children and adults will come together to read Otis as part of Jumpstart and the Pearson Foundation’s Read for the Record campaign.

I packed a box full of toys and books for the Love Bug’s arrival. And her parents brought her favorite books with them as well. I’m even working on a children’s book inspired by the Bug, so here’s a little clue:County Fair 009

We started reading early to the Bride and Rocker, almost as soon as they could sit semi-steadily on our laps. And I’m happy to see the tradition continues. I found a beautifully illustrated book, I’d Know You Anywhere, My Love by Nancy Tillman. It’s about how we parents would always see through any animal disguise in pretend play, and recognize our beloved child.

And while talking all things literary today, let’s jump ahead to the next book on my list. I cannot wait to dig into Elizabeth Gilbert’s new book, The Signature of All Things. I follow this author on Twitter so I was aware of its release date, then I caught her on the Today Show and later heard her interview on NPR.

http://www.npr.org/2013/10/01/225719994/fghfgh

The heroine is a botanist in the early 19th Century, who travels to Tahiti and discovers herself, along with “…varietals of vanilla pods; a sky-high waterspout; abolition…” and so much more, including a bit of Victorian pornography. Gilbert’s book, Committed, helped the Bride and many of her friends in their understanding of modern marriage. So I had to smile when Gilbert said she married a man who believes a wife belongs in the kitchen…”with her feet up and a glass of wine, watching her husband cook dinner.”

We read around here for the love it, to escape and be challenged, to learn and to laugh. For the record, ebooks, podcasts and iPads have their place, but in my life, nothing will replace the feel of a real book in my hands!  photo

 

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Home Alone

Posted in Books, Journaling, Wedding, Country, tagged , , , , , , on October 1, 2013| 2 Comments »

Our mountain house is too quiet.No more Love Bug yelling , “MA” at the top of her voice, no more breakfasts for five or Mozart in the morning.

When my kids were little, we would get in the car and immediately chaos would descend about who claimed the shot-gun seat, which radio channel we’d tune into, whether we would stop at 7-Eleven on our way to the beach every morning, why the Corgi can’t come, etc. And usually by about halftime I’d holler “Let’s have some Ps and Qs.”  Peace and Quiet.

I’m not sure how or why that worked, but they both knew that those little words meant Mom had had enough. Before there were smart phones and iPads and Apps, and Disney videos strapped into the back of every car seat or hanging projector-like from a Suburban,  we parents had to rule the roost…while driving. Bickering died down and actual conversations might just happen. In fact, parents everywhere should take note, some of the very best conversations ever with your kids may just take place in your car! There is nothing like a captured audience.

But when all else fails, then and now, we sing! Our Love Bug is a Nashville baby.

Because the mere thought of strapping a one year old into a car seat that resembles a NASCAR engineering project for 9 hours of driving is my idea of family torture, so we sing. One year olds can’t tell you they have a dirty diaper, they can’t say “Id like to lay down for my nap now if you don’t mind,” they can’t point out the 7-Eleven and ask for a Slurpee. Babies lack the vocabulary to express their storm of emotions. But this baby loves to sing, yes she’s even starting to hum along with us!

So I’ve got to hand it to the Bride and Groom for their courage and creativity on this trip. For endless rounds of Old MacDonald and Baby Beluga. For not being too upset when they learned that I thought the Bug might like playing with her food. Which she did! For loaning me their precious little girl full of sunshine and light for a little while.

For helping me to realize that peace and quiet isn’t such a great idea after all.

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