Posted by: Author | August 11, 2011

Sad Day

Today was the funeral of my friend and colleague -they called it a celebration of his life but it really was a sad day.  I feel bereft and am worn out. I forgot I have a club meeting tonight as well. I don’t know how I’m going to make it,  but I keep thinking about how brave my friend is in her loss of  her husband and if she can buck up and do all the things she’s been doing for the past 5 days, I can do what I need to do as well.

She told me last night that she didn’t even know how she was standing upright but that somehow she was finding the strength to do so. She reminded me of the time that one of our other friends said that her husband would drink dirty dishwater for her and we shared a little giggle over that because he totally would have. If she’d asked.  What a great couple they were. I hope we can all band together to help her through this terrible, terrible time in her life.

6 Comments

Posted in Random thoughts | Tags: , ,

Posted by: Author | August 10, 2011

Wordless Wednesday

10 Comments

Posted in Wordless Wednesday | Tags:

Posted by: Author | August 9, 2011

Reading a Book that I Don’t Like the Protagonist

It’s really weird, I like the story line and the fact that the action takes place in Paris during the German occupation in World War II. I find that the reading is going slowly though since I don’t like the heroine. I’m not invested in her fate and therefore, even though the story itself is interesting, I keep getting side tracked with my dislike of this woman. I mean, I really don’t like her. At all.

Will I ever finish the story? That’s up in the air since I’ve read two more books since I started this one. Each of them was over 340 pages and I’m still on page 139 of this one. Wagers on the odds of me finishing this one, anyone?

2 Comments

Posted in Books | Tags: , , ,

Posted by: Author | August 8, 2011

Sadness and a Bit of Dread

My sister is only a year and a half older than me and we shared many things through the years. Her best friend in high school also included me in their fun and we’ve stayed friends over the years. She’s an avid biker and she and her husband belinged to a cycling club. On Saturday, on their ride, he suffered a massive heart attack and could not be revived. So sad. He was 54 and she adored him. They were never able to have children and she lavished all the  love she could on him. She’s going to be so lost now, my heart breaks for her. He was also a colleague of mine in the legal arena as he was a lawyer.

He sometimes drove me crazy when we had a case against each other but he was really a good guy and loved his family with all his heart.  I have a bit of dread over all this as I’m very empathic and I know I’m going to have a tough time the next few days as I always draw into myself the angst and sadness around me. It’s going to be hard on my friend to get through all the things she has to do and I know I’ll probably feel a lot of her pain and sadness when I’m around her.

It’s going to be a long few days. Any prayers are appreciated. Thanks.

12 Comments

Posted in Random thoughts | Tags: , , , , ,

Posted by: Author | August 6, 2011

New Word for You: Froideur

I like the sound of this one. It means coolness or reserve between people and it comes from the French for cold: Froid.

There are several people I know who this word could apply to but I won’t name names. LOL!  I try very hard to be nice to people and like to think I have a warm, welcoming demeanor, but there are just some people in the world that don’t warm up to me nor I to them. I guess that’s cool since we can’t all always like everyone, right? 

There is one particular person I have tried my level best to be nice to and she always pushes me away. I can’t figure out if she’s the issue or I am and I’ve decided to let it go and not beat myself up over it anymore.  C’est la vie!

4 Comments

Posted in Random thoughts | Tags: , , , ,

Posted by: Author | August 5, 2011

Friday Facts- August 5, 2011- School of Athens

The School of Athens is a famous fresco painted by Raphael in 1510. He was hired to paint art in some of the rooms in the Vatican and one of his most famous works is still there to this day. My son told me on the plane on the way to Rome that he wanted to see it and it was one of his favorite things during the trip. He spent a long time in the room walking around and studying it.

It’s a picture of philosophers gathered together and some of them have the faces of some of Raphael’s contemporaries. He even has himself peeking out of one of the corners.  The central figures are Plato and Aristotle. They are surrounded by other philosophers/mathematicians/astrologers. 

These philosophers may have all lived in different eras and ages but Raphael painted them in a timeless school of philosophy all together. Included are Socrates, Euclid, Pythagoras, Diogenes, Ptolemy and Zoroaster. Also there, and controversial at the time, is a female philosopher,  Hypatia.  Raphael had to disguise her likeness to get away with putting her in the picture.

Heraclitus is depicted as looking like Michelangelo and some of the other philosophers are depicted with the faces of some of Raphael’s contemporaries.  Here’s a link to check out all the people featured in the painting: http://www.newbanner.com/AboutPic/athena/raphael/nbi_ath4.html

6 Comments

Posted in Friday Facts | Tags: , , , , , ,

Posted by: Author | August 4, 2011

Now, the Pizza Tour

While I was on my own personal quest for the best Gelato in Italy, my son was on a quest for the best pizza. The funny thing they do over there is to plop the pie on a plate whole. No cutting. They bring you a knife and fork and all the cutting is in your court. The boy became quite an expert on doing it well. Me, not so much.

Hold on for some yummy-ness.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

6 Comments

Posted in Random thoughts | Tags: , , , , ,

Posted by: Author | August 3, 2011

Wordless Wednesday

10 Comments

Posted in Wordless Wednesday | Tags:

Posted by: Author | August 2, 2011

Gelato tour of Italy

Gelato is Italian for ice cream. Their ice cream is much thicker and creamier than ours. It’s just wonderful. I had several varieties while in Italy. My favorite has to be the dark chocolate with the thin little chocolate shavings in it. They weren’t really shavings, they weren’t chocolate chips, rather, they were more like chocolate sticks- I can’t really describe them- kind of like a thick sprinkle is the best I can do. Anyway, they were dark chocolate and the whole thing was just yummy.

I also had one called a gelato truffle. It was chocolate cake with an ecru cream inside and then gelato underneath- both chocolate and vanilla.  One other good dessert was chocolate cake with warm chocolate sauce in the inside of the cake, served with blueberries and vanilla gelato. 

I can’t believe I went to Italy and never got a cannoli. I’m a big cannoli fan but I did the gelato tour this time around.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

6 Comments

Posted in Random thoughts | Tags: , , , ,

Posted by: Author | August 1, 2011

“HEART OF EVIL”- A Review

I picked up this book by Heather Graham at the RWA national conference in NYC last month. I’m a big fan of Heather, another Florida resident.This book did not disappoint. The setting is one I particularly love- the plantation area of Louisiana near New Orleans.  Jackson Square in the city is also a part of the story. I love to read about places that I know and love, but that was just part of the charm of the story.

The story centers around a family that owns a plantation called Donegal Plantation. During the Civil War, there was a skirmish on the property and the man of the house was killed. Every year, the family hosts a reenactment of the “battle” which was really just a bar brawl.

The man playing the role of the man of the house that was killed goes missing after the reenactment and the heroine is convinced something has happened to him.

Enter the hero- the former lover of the heroine- he’s part of an elite team at the FBI that investigates paranormal events. 

Heather Graham’s light touch on the paranormal always makes me happy. Her stories feature ghosts and they are woven into the story in such a way that the reader doesn’t feel like she’s being beat over the head with something that would never be possible. 

This is another great read from Ms. Graham and I recommend it.

6 Comments

Posted in Books | Tags: , , , , , ,

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »

Categories