Books - Book Review - A Cafecito Story by Julia Alvarez

What do you really know about how coffee is grown and made, especially organic and free-trade? This Julia Alvarez book with wonderful woodcuts by Belkis Ramirez tells the story.

Joe, a lonely teacher in Nebraska, takes a vacation in the Dominican Republic, and his life changes for the better. He becomes a farmer again, helps the natives increase their holdings, and teaches them to read.

They, in turn, show him that life can be interesting again.

This book can be read by young people wanting to find out volunteer work and fair trade. Adults learn more about how local issues elsewhere can be changed far away and the effects of agribusiness on local economies.

The only fault that I find is that there is no glossary for some of the Spanish phrases. Some words are paraphrased in English, but some aren't. I don't know the meanings of some of the words, because they are Spanish spoken by Dominicans; I know more South American Spanish and some Central American, so I need to do some research.

I am recommending this book for the One Book, One New Orleans project. Hope it wins!
Don't miss out on this book!

Stuff - Creative Events - Music and Sculpture

Besides some reading, I have been taking advantage of the nice weather and going out more.

I recently attending the national showing of DWR 2008 Champagne Chair contest. I tried to enter this year, but I didn't do any drinking on New Year's, so I couldn't get the cork.

At the party, I took home the paper and corks from the discarded champagne bottle. I have to figure out how to cut the corks without cutting my fingers and the right type of glue to use. I will really be flexing my creative brain cells.

You can enter also. Check out the Rules here.

Earlier in the month, I had the pleasure of meeting an young composer, Alexis Aranda - (Hear snippets on You Tube.)

I picked him up from the airport and showed him around. My parents and I were able to attend his debut with the Louisiana Philharmonic.

His piece was based on a few musical notes that Leonardo da Vinci wrote (what didn't the man do?). Aranda expanded the notes to a 20 minute masterpiece. (Listen to this podcast for more information.)

Aranda weaved the 20 notes that da Vinci left behind to also acknowledge the other skills that he had.

• First Movement (Sculpture) - The Horse of Sforza
• Second Movement (Painting) - The Adoration of the Magi
• Third Movement - Inventions
• Fourth Movement - Studies of War
  

I don't know how to read music or play any instrument, but I was moved by his work. It was magnificent and sounded as though it was written by one of the old masters of symphonies. He received a standing ovation, which doesn't happen often in New Orleans.

A man sitting near us looked like he was in a bad mood. After the music ended, I could see him smiling.

I acted as an unofficial translator during intermission. So many people came to congratulate him.
I was pleased that many Spanish speaking music lovers came over to talk to him.

Alexis will be writing a new orchestral piece next year that will premiere in April 2008. Have a peek at the New Mexico Orchestra website - Premier of Kronos for more information.

I hope to be there.

Book - Book Review - The Red Leather Diary - Lilly Koppel

I received a mass e-mail from Lily Koppel, telling me about her new book. The topic, finding a diary in a dumpster, intrigued me because I read Ted Botha's book about dumpster diving called Mongo: Adventures in Trash before I started this blog.

It's such a New York thing that people pick up and reuse what some people consider trash. (In certain parts of New Orleans, people put things out on the sidewalk before trash days, and it's gone quickly, if it's good trash).

In Lily's building, unclaimed items in the storage unit were removed and put outside. She was able to find a flapper's dress, a typewriter, and other old items. The doorman found a diary and decided to give it to Lily, thinking that she would find it more interesting than he would.

And, what a find it was! Koppel was working as the New York Times, covering sightings and parties of celebrities, but she wanted to write more significant works.

In reading the diary, she found Florence Wolfson's 1929 to 1934 entries echoed her feelings.

Florence was an intelligent, young, first generation Jewish girl who wanted to have an artistic life but was being pushed by her mother to get married ASAP. Florence finished high school at age 15 and college at age 19. Despite her parents' losing money through stocks in the Depression, she never suffered like other citizens in the country. She went on to graduate school, took a trip to Europe before WWII started, and played tennis and rode horses.

Through Florence's entries, we discover a New York that no longer exists. For example, north of Central Park was really considered the hinterlands, and there was still a lot of undeveloped land. Florence recalled streetlights that were lit every night and was enchanted when they became electric.

Since I found the Ellis Island passenger database, I decided to look for Florence's parents. Her mother might be Rinec Lewinbuch, 19, Single. Her father might be Dan Wulfsohn, 22, Single. (These are the closest names that I could find, and both are listed as from Russia, even though Rebecca Loewenbach was Lituanian and Daniel Wolfson was Ukranian. Daniel did travel with his brother, but he was older than Daniel, even though on the ship manifest, he is listed as younger.)

Koppel found Florence and tells the reader what Florence did after she finished writing the diary.

I enjoyed seeing the pictures that Florence provided for the book and reading Florence's thoughts.

The writing of this book has enriched both Koppel's and Florence's lives. I liked reading it.

7/28/2008
P. S. I was redoing my list for the What's in the Name Challenge and decided to add this novel for the color category.

Illustration Friday - Primitve

To a person born in the very late 20th century, what is more primitive than:
a handwritten note (no e-card or email message)
in cursive (no Word or printed message)
with a handmade item (not from a website??)

I weaved the thing with some skinny palm fronds from the backyard.

Books - Book Review - Garden Spells - Sarah Allen

After the rave review by Maggie Reads, I decided to go for Garden Spells. It depicts a small town, where entire families are expected to behave a certain way. For example, Waverly women are intuitive and are feared a bit for their gifts. In another family, the women are sexually powerful and keep the men with the lovemaking.

Sydney Waverly decides to leave the town and returns a few years later with a small child, who loves the magical apple tree in the backyard. Sydney is rather dismayed to find out that her old friends are not really good people and that they act so immature. Traveling has broadened Sydney's worldview and some of the people from

The incidents of partner abuse is glossed over a bit. It could have been covered a little bit better.

My favorite charcter is Evanelle who gives presents to people, anticipating their needs. Her thoughts on a long-term relationship are so Southern but true: "Memories, evn hard memories, grew soft like peaches as they got older."

This book would be a great summer read. You learn about living in a small town and learn about culinary botany.

Books - One Book, One New Orleans and McSweeney's

One of my favorite volunteer organizations is One Book, One New Orleans. I am enjoying meeting other people interested in literacy and am learning a bit about web development and marketing.

In the next few days, I will be going to 3 bookstores to deliver nomination forms and to talk to the owners. It's not a chore, since anyone who loves books is my new friend.

Not in New Orleans? That's OK. Use this form to nominate a book after reading these instructions. The more choices, the better. I will be narrowing down the longlist to a shortlist, so give me something to think about.

Now, on to coincidences:

BookGirl recently mentioned receiving Believer Magazine bundle. And I am slowly being tempted to this company.

I was talking to the owner of Blue Cypress Books and she showed her McSweeney's Quaterly Concerns, which is part of the McSweeney's Store and includes Believer.

The journals are fabulous. You just don't get a thick magazine; each concern is packaged differently. For example, No. 16 has the journal, a deck of cards, and a comb, which I assume is significant to the narrative of the journal. It comes in a lovely box with 3 pockets. I must spend more time at this bookstore looking at the back issues.

You can also join the Book Release Club, 10 NEW books for $100! The current catalog has many interesting titles and the new books look promising.

Illustration Friday - Fail

Fail is such a sad word, so I decided to make changes.



Fail is an acronym for Fun, Adventure, Interesting, and Lively.

I crocheted all the capital letters. I was inspired by snowflakes of the last few weeks, so I cut out one, and used it as a stencil with watercolor paint.

I used my new calligraphy pen to write the words and scribbles.

As an homage to my kindergarten teacher, Miss Lopez, I drew the L outside the border. I could never stay in the lines and draw straight, but she didn't fail me. I guess she understood that my motor skills were not up to par yet. What a nice lady!

Stuff - Small Business Meeting

I am still attempting to create a website similar to Wigtown, the Book Town of Scotland, so I recently attended a meeting about small business to get some ideas.

The first speaker was from the American Independent Business Alliance. He gave a lot of examples of how small businesses actually keep more money in the community, as compared to a national or international firm. I suspected as much, but I didn't realize the large impact.

He also encourages people to be activists. The prime example was Book People an indie bookstore in Austin, which Book Girl recently visited. A national book store was getting tax cuts to build just one block away from Book People. Austinites were able to convince city leaders to remove the tax incentives, and the company decided to build elsewhere.

The second speaker was Dana from Stay Local . Her group started before the Katrina, when she noticed that the smaller businesses were being closed. She said that supporting local businesses is necessary now, especially since they were the first to come back to the city.

Filming all of this was Hanson Hosein, filmmaker of Independent America. He and his crew are amazed at the struggle and success that small businesses in New Orleans are experiencing. He met an amazing group of entrepreneurs, and is making another documentary.

I made a couple of comments and I might in the sequel! The cameraman was impressed with my words; I told him that I write haiku, so I speak succinctly for the film.

I was able to get an idea from Dana about the website that I want to build, but I also learned more from what everyone else said. I am glad to know that more people believe in small businesses. With the way the economy is going, more people may have to build a little empire to support themselves.

Illustration Friday - Save

Oh, what's the use of SAVING money if no one can SAVE the little piggy bank from being killed and eaten?

The arrow is made from several layers of paper that were water colored and then peeled off. I also incorporated ribbon and paint.

The pig's colored pencil profile is my attempt at drawing. The nose is off center, but so what? Ancient Egyptians never got their profiles right either and the Pharohs didn't complain.

Books - Little Joys

With the nice weather, I feel restless and am not reading as much as I usually do and am fickle with my choices.

I am preparing books for my summer hibernation/hurricane evacuation reads. I am also trying to be outside while the weather is nice.

But, now I need to rush a little bit. The Expanding Horizon is about to end! I have two of the three books at home. I started on the South American anthology and the Pamuk book. I am waiting for delivery of the Australian book. Yikes!

Next week is my book club reading, The Golden Notebook by Doris Lessing. I keep looking back at the publishing date (1962) and can't believe it's NOT a contemporary book.

In my version of the book, Doris Lessing gives good advice. Here are my paraphrases of her most memorable ones:

1. Don't finish a book that you don't like. Life is too short for not enjoying art.
2. A book that you might not like at one phase of your life may be meaningful at another phase. But, if you try to re-read it and still don't like it, see number 1.

So, far I am enjoying this novel. Let's see what the other bookclub members say.

Books - Book Review - Consolation - Michael Redhill

Michael Redhill's first novel, Martin Sloan, which was about an artist similar to my fav, Joseph Cornell, was wonderful and moving. So, I was looking forward to reading this novel and was not disappointed.

Two stories about Toronto are told here. The first one is about a lawyer turned geologist and historian, David Hollis, who loves trying to unearth the history of this city. He developed a new major at the university called forensic geology, to discover unbeaten paths, foundations, etc, that could tell the story of the founding of Toronto in the 1800s.

(That university may be an exception; I have a friend who is also combining science and history and is having a little difficulty being accepted by the tech types. Grr, life is not so black and white and neither can the imagination be limited.)

Hollis was interested in what the ordinary people in early Toronto saw and what they smelled. He knew that their life was not easy, but he loved to think about it deeply.

When his latest paper about the city and an illness was running its course, he decides to die.

The various family members cope with his death in various way. It's a great read on family dynamics in the late 20th Century in North America.

The second story is about three settlers to Canada. All were shocked by what they found and coped in different ways. Jem Hallum wanted to be the proper Englishman pharmacists but thought that being in Toronto was like being in a colder near-London place. He later becomes more flexible when he teams up with Mr. Ennis, an Irish photographer, dreaming of his homeland and children, and Mrs. Rowe, a maybe widow from Bath, whose husband works(ed) for AT&T, when the last T meant telegraph.

The three of them find ways to survive the weather, the dog-eat-dog mentality, and finding a way to make a living and not losing one's humanity.

In his first winter there, he saw "a weather that stifled the city as if in a huge blanket...Here there was no language, no simile for this shut-in weather; a city so benighted by snow that it was as if thousands of people were living, perforce, alone in it."

John, David's future son-in-law, was looking down with Marianne, David's widow, looking at a construction site from a neighboring high rise hotel room. John thinks, "Tine was linear: it went forward and back. But up and down was organic, it was growth and decay, it was time as experienced by vegetation. It was history itself."

This novel resonates with me for two reasons. One, because I wanted a view of Toronto so I could understand Margaret Atwood better. This is her city, and it has influenced her writings. Secondly, because right now, in New Orleans, there are a lot of debates of trying to save history while trying to make affordable homes by demolishing buildings that were hit hard by the Katrina. Or of tearing down buildings that were not affected by constructing new areas for living and playing.

John Self's review is different from mine, in that he didn't like the modern parts of the book. I think this is because of where we live. He lives in Europe, where history items can be found quickly and maybe respected more. In the Americas, history may not have the same power as over there. Yes, I agree that the people are sad, but wouldn't you be with a death in the family or having to live in a hostile environment, such as having to run for your life when a bear decides to amble down the main avenue?

Stuff - Writing Resolution

I am on my way to realizing my resolution to write in my personal journal, by taking baby steps.

First, I gathered all the book and magazines that I had on writing prompts and put them on one location in my bookcase. In January, I bought some nice Japanese notebooks. Last week, I attended a lecture by Rosemary Daniell. After attending the master class on writing by Rosemary Daniell, I ordered her Zona Rosa book. I am also trying to stop watching Law and Order so much; I can usually find one episode being shown from four cable channels.

I think one more week of clearing my mind should help.

Last week, I also bought calligraphy pen, calligraphy and fountain pen ink at Papier Plume. My mother just gave me another calligraphy pen and fountain pen. I will use them for my writing and Illustration Friday collages.

Next week, I should have a more exciting update.

Stuff - Illustration Friday - Homage

I want to recognize my namesake and honorary aunt, Isabelita.

She was born in the Amazon region of Peru, lived a few blocks from a rocky beach near Lima when she married, and visited the Andes region with my family and me when she was in her late 70s, walking around in her HIGH heels. (She refused to buy tennis shoes!)

The first time that she came to Washington D.C area was with her husband, who had Hodgkin's disease and received mercury treatments at Bethesda Naval Hospital. He was able to go there, because he was an officer in the Peruvian Navy. She didn't speak a word of English, didn't like segregation, and was not used to the cold winter. She returned to Peru a widow and raised two children, without the help of her closest, older relatives, since they all died within a two year period.

She loved to travel, write letters, and talk politics. She died in the early 1990s.

For her dress, I used watercolors and pasted an old library card catalog for the hem. I found an old Polaroid with the inked word que, whch means what, and a map to represent her travels.

I used different colored pencils to demarcate the three geographic regions of Peru, which she managed to see in her lifetime. I found a photo of rocks and glued it on the blue region from an old map. I cut brown paper to represent the Amazon river and glued a frog stamped on a sheer fabric. I drew the little leaves with my new calligraphy pen. Machu Picchu and Huayna Picchu a mountains are represented by the funny peaks; they are actually stamps gone badly, so I cut what I needed.