Becky's Greatest Hits Vol. II

I love, love, love Tracy Chevalier!  The way she integrates art and history into fiction is simply beautiful.  This novel is a lot different from her previous pieces that I have loved as it deals with a very different time period and place: pre-Civil War farm life in rural Ohio.  Quite different from Girl With a Pearl Earring, even though Honor does remind me quite a lot of Griet!  The novels I've read so far this year have been very heavy in subject matter ranging from bipolar disorder to incest.  This also had a heavy subject: slavery.  But Chevelier's storytelling has a way of taking a complex and upsetting issue and making it easily read and digested.  I often think that fictional reading can enlighten us to deal better with social and personal problems.  This book is a great example of that!

A man of his generation and every generation to follow.  We can't be too sad at losing him after the long life he lead.  But there is an even greater sense of mourning when you think of him as being the last of his kind.   If I had a hammer, I'd hammer in the morning, I'd hammer in the evening, All over this land, I'd hammer out danger, I'd hammer out a warning, I'd hammer out love between, My brothers and my sisters, All over this land.

For a while last year, it seemed like every news source I turned to was talking about this awesome film.  I also heard the raw vocal recording of Merry Clayton belting out on "Gimme Shelter" while Mick Jagger exclaims in the background, and knew I HAD to see this.  And I really liked it. Even if it didn't endear me to most of the singers featured.  It really just got me to thinking about how success is defined by many people.  If you're well known, make a lot of money and garner a lot of respect, then you're considered successful.  But to some, success is more measured in terms of waking up every morning and feeling good about who you are and what you do.  Accolades or not.  I really dig that attitude. Which made me quickly fall in love with Lisa Fischer , one of the singers featured in this film.  You may not know her name, but you definitely know her voice .  She's had a lot of success.  Is well-known by the music community and performed with many of i

And when I awoke I was alone, this bird had flown So I lit a fire, isn't it good, norwegian wood?

I have crossed into the 21st Century, and to the Dark Side very probably, by finally getting an iPhone.  And it's a neat little gadget even though it nearly gave me a panic attack when I realized it could not possibly hold all my music.  I've asked my hubby to help keep me honest and admirable by not allowing me to do the following behaviors that annoy the piss out of me by iPhone users: ~looking at the phone more than the show, exhibit, game, concert, etc. ~checking in to EVERY blessed place they go ~taking and posting pics of the awesome views or plates in front of them at the moment ~constantly in a state of shuffling and looking down at it as they walk ~giving it more attention than their lunch/dinner companion ~those many, many selfies Hopefully I can avoid the pitfalls of technology and not become another one of those obnoxious hipsters.  Which, I've already decided, I much too old to be anyway.  So there, iPhone!  I will not let you change me! But I

I was intrigued to read this book after I heard it discussed on NPR especially when members of the panel wondered if it would have done as well if it had been remained under Rowling's pen name.  This book made me remember everything I hated about social work, volunteer work, church work and small-town community gossip.  Rowling tells the stories of adults every bit as well as she does of wizards.

"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."

All I want is one snow day.  Just one.  One day to stay at home.  One day to hang around in pajamas with my hubby.  One day to snuggle and care about nothing.  One day.  One!!!!!!

I had a lot of hope for this movie, since I really loved the book and I can say that the movie was okay but not great.  But to be fair, this book was very complicated and deep and would be hard to capture by anyone.....even a great director like Robert Redford.  Even if you haven't read the book, you will probably find this movie intriguing.  If you've read the book, you'll probably feel a little let down like me.  Final verdict: read the book by Neil Gordon. 

I've read all of Wally Lamb's books and by now I'm starting to see some characters, situations and ideas that seem to repeat: ~some sort of mental illness that requires hospitalization or at least some sessions on a couch ~relatives from Italy ~relatives, ethnicity or maybe even a trip to Greece ~experimentation or confusion about sexual preference ~twins ~an extremely intelligent and sensitive man who sometimes makes bad choices ~a tough but vulnerable woman with a very secretive past ~a national or local tragic event that is well-remembered ~Connecticut Some might think that a return to well-worn topics is a bit trite, but I say, write what you know!  And boy does he ever! This book was so wrenching in places that I didn't want to put it down mainly because I wanted to just get through how difficult it was.  But that's actually something I dig about some books.  When you finish them, you feel like you've been through something and then there&#

This week the Charlotte music scene felt a great loss with the death of Chris Peigler, a local musician, innovator and advocate for independent and interesting musical tastes in the local area and beyond.  I only met Chris a few times, but I think I saw him at pretty much every show I've ever been to in Charlotte whether at The World Famous Milestone, Tremont Music Hall, Snug Harbor, etc.  He was a fixture and he was known.  Even though I didn't really know Chris at all, I've been thinking about him a lot this week.  Thinking about all the people he encouraged, motivated, entertained and befriended.  If you google him right now or look at any of his social media pages, you will see how well-loved he was.  It just goes to show how big one man's life can be.  He doesn't have to be Barack Obama or Tom Hanks.  He can be humble guy who loves what he loves and passes it on to others.  And what a difference that can make without us even realizing it.  The world was luck

Poet, innovator, activist Amiri Baraka died this week.  After the September 11th attacks, he seemed to become most known for a controversial poem he wrote about the tragedy that suggested antisemitism.  In truth, he has a much greater body of work and accomplishment that should also be considered.   If you want to learn about him, don't glean his entire life from that one line in his obituary.  I never would have read or even been introduced to his work if not for a wonderful African American lit course I took in my mid-thirties at a community college .  There's proof right there that a public school primary and secondary education really don't give you what you need during "Black History Month" every February.  Below is one of my all-time favorite poems and one I almost always think of when I star-gaze on the night sky.  Thank you, Mr. Baraka, for this gift to me..... Preface to a Twenty Volume Suicide Note Amiri Baraka (LeRoi Jones) Lately, I’ve becom

After Middlesex , I knew I would always be a fan of Jeffrey Eugenides.  His storytelling in this novel is phenomenal, but I think where he captures me is with his words and descriptions.  I don't know where the line is where writing is considered literary , but this has to be on that side of it.  The mental health issue raised in this story was so enriching and really brought a new understanding to an illness that I have some limited personal experience with.  Very New England, very early 1980's, and very thinky.  Everything you'd expect from a great author like Eugenides.

This movie was a pleasant surprise.  Not because it was funny, but because it was so friggin heartwarming.  I totally didn't see that coming!  The Hubs and I agreed that it was a bit too long, but the LOL moments and many references to aliens and nerds in pop culture made it all worthwhile.  One of the best was the bar band in middle America playing the famous "Cantina Song" from Star Wars.  Only a certain kind of man is going to pick up on that,and luckily, I'm married to him!  All in all, a cute popcorn flick that I would probably watch again on cable.  And that's high praise from me, folks!

Abbey Road Live! at The Orange Peel Asheville, NC

Here is Little Boy and his Lil Baby Sis out at Discovery Place Kids in Huntersville today with local weather guy, Larry Sprinkle.  Fun times and I'm jealous!  The only interesting person I've seen today is the UPS guy!

I heard the fireworks and the shouts from outside And thought dreamily, heh, it must be midnight Then I snuggled down in my blankets For a perfect winter's sleep.