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What’s Rattling Around in my Head on a Wednesday Morning

September 11, 2013 at 9:04 am by Claudia

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I’ve been without air conditioning in this apartment since Friday. Most likely it was before Friday, but that’s when I got back here and that’s when I discovered it wasn’t working. Of course, it wasn’t until after 5:00 that I made that discovery and suddenly we were at the weekend, when nothing gets fixed. Monday? No one came by. Tuesday? A guy from Maintenance came by, played with the fuses, flipped a few switches and announced that it was the compressor. He would tell the front office, they would call a technician who would order the part and lord knows when this will get fixed.

Since it’s going to be 90 degrees and humid today and tomorrow, you can see why I’m a bit concerned. Company management has given me 2 fans and I’m currently sleeping with one of them aimed directly at my sleeping self. My allergies and sinuses are going a little haywire with this weather pattern and I’m sort of cranky. Actually, not ‘sort of’ – I am cranky.

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I had breakfast with Erika, my former student, yesterday morning. We had so much to catch up on that we ran out of time and we’re remedying that by meeting for breakfast again tomorrow morning. And trust me, we still won’t have covered everything by the end of that meal. I just adore her and yes, she’s someone I taught and nurtured, but she’s now a friend first and foremost.

Speaking of former students who are now friends, thanks to all who alerted me of Jim Parsons’ appearance on Who Do You Think You Are? I’m currently in the phase of coaching that centers on afternoon rehearsals and nighttime performances, so I couldn’t see it. But I will. That rascal, who I just chatted with via email, didn’t mention the program at all. But his plate is rather full at the moment with new episodes of Big Bang Theory being filmed and the upcoming Emmy Awards.

My priority last night when I got home was to catch the end of the final episode this season of So You Think You Can Dance, the only reality-type program I watch. And the end of the Red Sox game. Crap. So You Think You Can Dance is over for the season. Only one more episode of Newsroom. And only three more episodes of Breaking Bad. Those are the only shows I really care about in the vast and arid land that is cable television; the only shows I make time to see. Yes, I love Big Bang and Modern Family, but I can catch up with them any old time.

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Let’s talk shopping cart etiquette. We all learned to drive, right? And when we’re on the highway, there is, at the very least, a lane for slower moving traffic and a passing lane. We wouldn’t think of stopping our car in the middle of a road or highway. If we had to stop for some reason, we would pull over to the side of the road. Simple. And we certainly wouldn’t double park. We might get a ticket or cause an accident.

So why do shoppers routinely stop their carts smack-dab in the middle of an aisle? Or pull up along side an already ‘parked’ cart, making it virtually impossible to get by? And what about those shoppers who meander down the aisle, oblivious to everyone around them? The ones you have to say “Excuse me” to in order to get by. What about the carts of other shoppers that you have to physically move to the side of the aisle in order to get by?

This seems to be a simple concept. Drive your cart like you do your car. Be aware of other drivers, cede the right of way, pull over to the side of the road/aisle when you need to park. Don’t drive slowly in the fast lane.

This makes me nuts. It makes me especially nuts when I’m in the store on a quick visit to pick up a few things and I have to run the gauntlet of carts parked every-which-way and the inevitable cart pile-ups that result in a traffic jam.

Don’t get me started on umbrella etiquette. That’s another post, for another day.

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Just had to include Scoutie because I miss her. Love those pink ears. Just two and a half more weeks, sweetie, and I’ll be home.

Don’t forget my book review of The Returned which I posted yesterday. I loved this book and I’m giving away one copy. Leave a comment on that post if you are interested.

Happy Wednesday.

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Book Review: The Returned by Jason Mott

September 10, 2013 at 8:20 am by Claudia

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Hello. Today I am reviewing The Returned by Jason Mott for TLC Book Tours. As always, I am provided with a copy of the book in return for my honest review.

About the book (from the publisher): Harold and Lucille Hargrave’s lives have been both joyful and sorrowful in the decades since their only son, Jacob, died tragically at his eighth birthday party in 1966. In their old age, they’ve settled comfortably into life without him, their wounds tempered through the grace of time…Until one day Jacob mysteriously appears on their door step – flesh and blood, their sweet, precocious child, still eight years old.

All over the world people’s loved ones are returning from beyond. No one knows how or why this is happening, whether it’s a miracle or a sign of the end. Not even Harold and Lucille can agree on whether the boy is real or a wondrous imitation, but one thing they know for sure: he’s their son. As chaos erupts around the globe, the newly reunited Hargrave family finds itself at the center of a community on the brink of collapse, forced to navigate a mysterious new reality and a conflict that threatens the very meaning of what it is to be human.

My review: Imagine a loved one, long since deceased, appearing on your doorstep one day. You’ve aged in the intervening years, but the loved one reappears at the age he was when he died. That’s the premise of this haunting novel. What happens when The Returned start reappearing all over the globe, often turning up in countries other than the one of their birth, needing to be reunited with their loved ones? The government gets involved. A ‘Bureau’ is established. Many citizens react in fear of something they can’t explain. Splinter groups emerge, declaring themselves the “True Living.” And once the numbers increase and become hard to manage, they are rounded up and housed in a sort of internment camp – supposedly for their safety.

Every one of us who has suffered a profound loss has uttered the words, “If only I could have him back. I’d give anything to have him back.” This amazing novel takes that question and explores just what might happen if our loved ones did come back on a global scale. Does love ever die? Would I fight as fiercely as the Hargraves do to protect the newly returned? Are they living, breathing beings with memories and feelings? Do they have the same civil rights we do?

Mott sets the novel in the small town of Arcadia, North Carolina. The characters are richly and fully drawn. The story is haunting. I know I’ve used that word once before in this review, but I can’t get the novel out of my head. The questions it raises are deep and profound. The story grabbed a hold of my heart and wouldn’t let go, as did the characters.

This is Jason Mott’s, a published poet, first novel. I freely admit I am in awe of his writing. He writes simply and elegantly; the town of Arcadia becomes a place we all know, the characters, people we all know. They are complex individuals who are facing something earth-shattering, who are trying to make sense of this mystery, trying to do what they feel is right.

I sit here, the morning after finishing the novel, deeply moved by what I have read. I thought about the novel before I went to sleep, I though about it during the night. And I’m thinking about it this morning.

It’s simply a beautifully written, gut-wrenching novel. Above all, it is a love story that will reach right down to your core.

I cannot recommend this novel enough. It has moved me beyond words.

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About the author: Jason Mott holds a B.A. in fiction and an M.F.A. in poetry, both from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, and is the author of two poetry collections. His writing has appeared in numerous literary journals, and he was nominated for the 2009 Pushcart Prize. Jason lives in North Carolina. The Returned is his first novel.

I am giving away a copy of this novel to one lucky commenter. Just leave a comment on this post and I will pick the winner in a few days.

Happy Tuesday.

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What’s the Story, Morning Glory?

September 9, 2013 at 7:54 am by Claudia

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The latest morning glory update from Don’s iPhone. It changes daily as those pretty blooms only last one day. Seems wrong, doesn’t it? Shouldn’t they last weeks at a time? I’m thinking there might not be any left when I get back home.

This faint thread of melody (from Bye Bye Birdie) keeps going through my mind:

What’s the story, morning glory?
What’s the word, hummingbird?

Which resolves to:

Have you heard about Hugo and Kim?

It’s from the opening number, The Telephone Hour, where lots of teens are on the phone with each other passing on the news that Hugo and Kim going steady. Ah, a more innocent time. I directed a high school production of Bye, Bye Birdie many years ago, pre-moving away from my hometown and going to grad school. I’m still in contact with several of those kids, who are, ahem, in their forties now.

What? How could that happen? They were 16 and 17 years old when I met them and they are still that age in my mind.

Speaking of productions, Don tells me his American Experience won’t be aired until January – something about starting off the new season with this episode. He learned this when he was doing some voice-over work in the recording studio the other day. Oliver Platt, who was also in the studio, is doing the narration. Just keeping you up-to-date!

The weather has been pretty spectacular around here lately and on Friday, when Don drove me back to Hartford, the sky was a gorgeous shade of blue with lovely wispy clouds. Here we are on a local road we often use:

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I made Don stop the car so I could take a picture of the yellow barn and the vine-covered silo.

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How often do you see a yellow barn? I wonder how old this farm is? I’d love to explore the innards of that barn.

We stopped at Trader Joe’s along the way, of course, and Scoutie worked her charm on a fellow shopper:

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Everyone loves that girl. By the way, in the “Don’t assume things about a person of a certain age” category, that lovely lady and her husband were driving that red Jeep. Unexpected and, I must say, delightful.

This is shaping up to be an all-iPhone photo post. Today is my day off and I have to run some errands this morning. Hopefully the air conditioning in my apartment, which is not working at the moment, will be fixed today. Please. And I think I’m going to meet my former student for coffee, which makes me very happy. We have a lot of catching up to do.

It’s still summer, by the way. I repeat: it’s still summer.

Happy Monday.

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What’s Rattling Around in my Head on a Wednesday Morning

Book Review: The Returned by Jason Mott

What’s the Story, Morning Glory?

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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