WELCOME TO MY BLOG

Don't be fooled by the grim-faced picture. It was the only unblinking one. For me, words are worth a thousand pictures. I'm looking forward to saying hi to all of you.

Sunday, October 31, 2010

HAPPY HALLOWEEN



These pictures were taken in an upstate New York cemetary that is alive with spirits. The guy, Spencer,
who looks respectfully horrified and really cute, is my friend, Fran Capo's son. Let me assure you that neither Fran nor I know enough about photography and zilch about photo-shopping to have faked these shots.

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Miss Abigails Guide to Dating, Mating, and Marriage

My publicist friend gets free tickets to shows which is how I ended up here today. Since I didn't pay for my ticket, I managed to enjoy it all. The theater has a bar and the a stepped platform lined with chairs for the audience. One woman in an aisle seat laughed so hard that she and her chair toppled over and crashed to the floor. She must have been taking her Calcium and Vitamin D3 because she arighted herself and laughed harder than ever.

http://www.broadway.com/shows/miss-abigails-guide-dating-mating-and-marriage/buzz/154039/miss-abigail-star-eve-plumb-on-stunt-casting-new-york-living-and-making-peace-with-being-a-brady/

Friday, October 22, 2010

Friday night at the Diner

I had hardly seen my husband all week and we were eager to talk. Unfortunately, so was the waiter. While he took our orders, he told us that his girlfriend took off with his best guy friend and now he can't afford the rent on his own. When he brought out dinner, he stayed to tell us about his mother's relationship with his stepfather and about Salt being the coolest movie ever because he wants to meet a woman who looks like Angelina Jolie.

After we left, my husband said, "I'm beginning to think the greatest invention was the dumb waiter."

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

WAITING FOR SUPERMAN

I just came home from seeing Waiting for Superman. I'm overcome with feeling. See it to understand our current non-educational public school system. The amount of money it takes per year to keep people in prison, a direct result of poor education, is at least four times it would be to send an inner city youth to the finest private school. Check out www.waitingforsuperman.com

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Fiction Contest: A Legitimate One

Fiction Contest
The 2011 Willow Springs Fiction Prize is now accepting submissions. Domestic authors can submit a short story for $15, and international submissions are $20. Authors can submit as many entries as they like, but each submission can contain only one story. The winner receives $2,000 and publication in Willow Springs; every author who participates will receive a free one year subscription to the magazine. Postmark deadline for submissions to the 2011 prize is March 1, 2011. More guidelines are available on the Willow Springs website.

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Art and Life


Just came home from seeing The Pittmen Painters at The Manhattan Theater Club about a group of miners from a small town in England who discovered themselves through painting. I saw it on the day the LAST Chilean miner was freed from his long captivity in the mine. The actors dedicated the show to those miners and, in thick English accents, said that they would be learning Spanish so they could try out for what will be the inevitable movie coming from this miracle.

Friday, October 8, 2010

Thursday, October 7, 2010

Smokey and Me


Smokey is my friend, Robin's cockateil, but I wish he were mine. He whispers sweet nothings in my ear and his crest rises when I bill and coo at him.

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

What a Book!

David Eggers nonfiction account of a family dealing with Hurricane Katrina is a great American tragedy. Zeitoun is the surname of the father of the family, a Syrian who owns a thriving construction company and a sizeable amount of real estate. His wife, Kathy, born Christian, had converted to Islam before she met her husband because she was impressed with the transformation of her childhood friend, Yuko, and disenchanted with her Evangelical church. Reading this book is not only an opportunity to learn about what happened during Katrina in a way that no one else could tell it, but also a look into what we can learn from the Koran. Long after I finish the book, this quote from the Koran will remain with me. I'll try not to use it on my daughter. "Heaven lies at the feet of the mother."

Monday, October 4, 2010

To edit, switch it up.

I've been working on something long, a novel, novel-ini? I'll let it find it's own form. But I had it all in a piece in a file and was getting nowhere. Now I'm just writing parts of whatever comes to me on new pages and I'll see how it all fits together. Hope it will.

Friday, October 1, 2010

One of my HOMIES

I belong to a women's networking group, SIBLING. We meet once a month at a member's home. Each of us inspires the other and we've really bonded. One of our members, Carol Blake, a songwriter, produced this video of her song, FOOD IS BETTER THAN SEX.

Enjoyj both, I hope: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tW97We6rGKo