My friend and colleague, the inimitable children's writer, Candice Farris Ransom, just sang the praises of mom and pop diners, which she wisely prefers over "fern bars," all the better to do "constructive eavesdropping." However, it's more than just fodder for an author's mill that she speaks of.
She writes of the comfort she's found in her own neighborhood eatery, following a summer marked by sadness and the kind of fatigue that penetrates the body and spirit. We are on the "same page" on this one. We both shared the loss of a former professor (somehow, that description is so inadequate) who impacted us forever in our professional lives and as human beings. And then, while we most needed a bit of a respite, we remained thrust in the midst of "the world" and all that that entails. She writes beautifully of her own experience in her blog, "Under the Honeysuckle Vine," and there is no need for me to comment further on her end.
As to my own travails, they included the flood of the century occurring during a sojourn to my Wisconsin hometown, which decimated my car, and an incomprehensible assault, which I will need some time to process and heal from.
And I, like my literary friend, have felt a pull towards what heals best -- a return to a simpler time in an America not easy to find these days. For me, it's a 20-minute drive to Ponchatoula, which bills itself as not only "The Strawberry Capital of the World," but "America's Antiques City."
Speaking of, I don't know how many of you have watched James Lipton's Q&A to the evening's guest actor at the close of every segment of "Inside the Actor's Studio" on BRAVO, but I'm rather surprised that no one has yet uttered what I would say when asked, "What is your favorite word?" For me, there's nothing like a sign advertising "Antiques" to make me feel like all's right with the world ...
When I get back home, that's where I'm heading. First stop is going to be Paul's Cafe, for if ever there was the antithesis of the "fern bar," there it is. http://www.paulscafe.net/full-menu.html.
I'm gonna have me some fried catfish and a Barq's rootbeer, and bask in an ambience like no other, doing some of that "constructive eavesdropping" in the "Mayberry of the Deep South" (yet another of its monikers) until my soul has been restored. Yes, it's getting time to click my heels ...
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Monday, May 3, 2010
Who Needs Blockbusters?
In light of the oil spill in the Gulf, and its aftermath, I can't help but think that real life is beginning to surpass any fictitious tale of the apocalypse. This is not a movie that we can just walk away from, and simply assuage our fears with popcorn in the lobby. It was nearly three years ago that I was preparing to debut my one-woman musical science show for elementary schools in Tangipahoa and St. Tammany Parishes. The show was to focus on astronomy. But I, ever the aspiring environmentalist, felt compelled to include a song about the travesty committed upon Lake Apopka in Florida, decades ago, on Mother Earth. It was a harbinger of more to come. Have a listen to the beginning:
There was a beautiful Floridian lake
When people had a vacation to take
They upped and shouted, "Hey, for goodness sake,
Let's go to Lake Apopka!"
They caught the biggest fish you've ever seen
They splashed and played in water fresh and clean
The whole environment was rich and green
There in Lake Apopka
But now the birds are dropping to the ground
The graceful cougar there no longer abound
And healthy fish are rarely found
Now in Lake Apopka
That's why I'm singing:
Don't let the birds fall from the sky
Don't let the birds fall from the sky
We've got to help them fly high
Fly, fly, fly
Pelicans, egrets and gulls
They don't need our man made troubles
C'mon and show the planet some pride
Think twice before dumping that pesticide!
There was a beautiful Floridian lake
When people had a vacation to take
They upped and shouted, "Hey, for goodness sake,
Let's go to Lake Apopka!"
They caught the biggest fish you've ever seen
They splashed and played in water fresh and clean
The whole environment was rich and green
There in Lake Apopka
But now the birds are dropping to the ground
The graceful cougar there no longer abound
And healthy fish are rarely found
Now in Lake Apopka
That's why I'm singing:
Don't let the birds fall from the sky
Don't let the birds fall from the sky
We've got to help them fly high
Fly, fly, fly
Pelicans, egrets and gulls
They don't need our man made troubles
C'mon and show the planet some pride
Think twice before dumping that pesticide!
Friday, April 30, 2010
A Sad Day in the Treehouse
Having just completed an environmental fairy tale to be staged by the Early Childhood Division of the New Orleans Dance Academy next month, I am nearly numb by the magnitude of the oil spill in the Gulf that has taken lives and livelihoods, and threatened our existence as we know it. In recent months, I was delighted, in researching flora and fauna indigenous to the Louisiana forests, to find a wealth of poetry in terminology. Butterflies such as "Great Purple Hairstreak" and "Cassius Blue." Amphibians like "Dusky Gophers" and "Tiger Salamanders." Birds that included the "Yellow-breasted Chat" and "Chuck Will's Widow." The story nearly wrote itself. And even prompted me to pen, "Could heaven be much greater, or any more divine?"
Time was when people actually received prescriptions from their doctors to come to Mandeville to partake of the clean, invigorating air. I cannot describe the horror I felt when I walked outside to my front porch today and took in the miasma of the spill, now being burned in a day late/dollar short attempt to mitigate the damages.
Yes, we have a bit of heaven on earth in these parts. But if you want to see what hell is like, look no further:
http://photos.nola.com/tpphotos/2010/04/oil_rig_explosion_21.html
Time was when people actually received prescriptions from their doctors to come to Mandeville to partake of the clean, invigorating air. I cannot describe the horror I felt when I walked outside to my front porch today and took in the miasma of the spill, now being burned in a day late/dollar short attempt to mitigate the damages.
Yes, we have a bit of heaven on earth in these parts. But if you want to see what hell is like, look no further:
http://photos.nola.com/tpphotos/2010/04/oil_rig_explosion_21.html
Monday, April 26, 2010
Be gone, Satan!
Some software support hawker/hacker actually responded to yesterday's post of mine by trying to tell me in a bastardized version of English about the virtues of their product.
I don't know if that took stones, stupidity, or a combination of both. Did you not understand the gist of my post? It was not a request for infiltration from more drones such as yourself!
I don't know if that took stones, stupidity, or a combination of both. Did you not understand the gist of my post? It was not a request for infiltration from more drones such as yourself!
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Thoreau was right ...
A friend with whom I'd performed many years ago, and with whom I'd recently reconnected decades later via Facebook, emailed me earlier this week about some of life's travails that were getting at her recently -- both personal and global, such as the recent horrific oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. She then felt she was sounding like "Debbie Downer." And I, in turn, shared the following with her, which I think may be applicable to many of us:
Friday, I downloaded a "free" upgrade to my anti-virus program, and it wiped out all virus protection and blocked my email access. No phone number on any of its literature and, of course, I couldn't find one online because I couldn't get online, so I had to rush over to the library to use their computers (thank God, we have a fabulous business resource branch which is a boon to small business owners). Murphy's Law in full force, I still couldn't find a viable phone number on line(!) Finally went to my email site and located an old email from them with a phone number and got through to someone for whom English was a second language. Picture me gritting my teeth as I'm conversing with her, or trying to, anyway.
After several hours of that nonsense, I thought everything was intact, but yesterday afternoon, the updated virus protection was blocking my access to Facebook, so I called tech support again, and this time attempted a rapport with someone who only spoke Klingon (computer nomenclature). I kept saying, "I don't understand what you're telling me," and he would repeat himself, thinking somehow I'd get it the 2nd or 3rd time. Another example of semantic aphasia. Outside of computer language, the guy had a sum total of several dozen words in his vocabulary, and simply could not say, in English, what I needed to know. When did our country have this incredible breakdown in communication?
So Klingon is doing everything he can to "help" fix whatever Dingleberry screwed up the day before, and each time the problem remained, and I kept hearing, "Hmmmm, wow, well let's try this instead." In the midst of this, with him ON LINE WITH ME, a viral attack is made by a site called (and I am not making this up) "Fucking Threesomes." (I hesitated to write that, but even the eloquent Father Andrew Greeley has been known to use the word in his writings, when no other will suffice). So I, of course, panic a little, and ask the guy what the hell just happened, because when I had the old version of my anti-virus protection, nothing like that ever happened, and with the new and improved version, I'm an immediate target?
Then I read this morning in a recent Time magazine (3/39/10 edition) that Elmore Leonard writes every single word of his work longhand, and then transfers it to his 20-year-old typewriter. The man has no computer, does not email, etc. And in the same magazine, I read that Twyla Tharp does not own a TV. And I'm starting to think that perhaps all of this CRAP is sucking the life out of us. At the same time, it's what allowed me to reconnect with people like my long lost performing friend. But see how paralyzed we become when something we rely on this heavily goes wrong?
I'm thinking back now when 23 years ago -- feeling this incredible calling, especially after my enchantment with Steinbeck's "Travels With Charley," and all of the successive books of that genre -- I stored, tossed or donated everything I had, and took off in my Honda Civic, which I also eventually ditched, for a several-year odyssey of working my way through the U.S. Took a variety of jobs, from being a grunt on a log cabin crew, to working on air with John Walsh on "America's Most Wanted," to fitting women with "foundations," as intimate apparel was once called. And I kept a MANUAL record of the people I'd met, and periodically mailed out newsletters to them and got letters back. Most of them handwritten. Wonderful stuff. All before email, and it meant so much, that exchange of real paper. I did not have a cell phone or a computer. I typed my newsletters on a borrowed word processor, and cut and pasted with photos, and photocopied it all and handwrote the envelopes. And it was fun! Barely a generation ago.
What have we wrought with our technical advances? We've made zippity do dah progress with the space program. We still don't have those cars "run by the sun" as depicted in films presented to us in elementary school. Cancer hasn't been cured -- sure, we can detect the little bugger in a woman's breast more easily, but we can't agree on what put it there. Despite all the fitness equipment with a million bells and whistles, hawked on QVC, HSN, and every other darned shopping network acronym, we are the fattest people in the world, for whom bariatric surgery is becoming as common as removal of an ingrown toenail. We can put books on Kindle and the like, but we can't light a match under most people's butts to get them to read and comprehend. (Don't believe me? Just look at the crap substituting for the English language in comments posted by the common people underneath any print news story). And it's becoming increasingly evident, even to skeptics, that cell phones are frying the brains and destroying the hearing of their youngest users.
But hey, with the advance of email and Facebook, at least we can commiserate about all of this stuff. Some progress ...
Friday, I downloaded a "free" upgrade to my anti-virus program, and it wiped out all virus protection and blocked my email access. No phone number on any of its literature and, of course, I couldn't find one online because I couldn't get online, so I had to rush over to the library to use their computers (thank God, we have a fabulous business resource branch which is a boon to small business owners). Murphy's Law in full force, I still couldn't find a viable phone number on line(!) Finally went to my email site and located an old email from them with a phone number and got through to someone for whom English was a second language. Picture me gritting my teeth as I'm conversing with her, or trying to, anyway.
After several hours of that nonsense, I thought everything was intact, but yesterday afternoon, the updated virus protection was blocking my access to Facebook, so I called tech support again, and this time attempted a rapport with someone who only spoke Klingon (computer nomenclature). I kept saying, "I don't understand what you're telling me," and he would repeat himself, thinking somehow I'd get it the 2nd or 3rd time. Another example of semantic aphasia. Outside of computer language, the guy had a sum total of several dozen words in his vocabulary, and simply could not say, in English, what I needed to know. When did our country have this incredible breakdown in communication?
So Klingon is doing everything he can to "help" fix whatever Dingleberry screwed up the day before, and each time the problem remained, and I kept hearing, "Hmmmm, wow, well let's try this instead." In the midst of this, with him ON LINE WITH ME, a viral attack is made by a site called (and I am not making this up) "Fucking Threesomes." (I hesitated to write that, but even the eloquent Father Andrew Greeley has been known to use the word in his writings, when no other will suffice). So I, of course, panic a little, and ask the guy what the hell just happened, because when I had the old version of my anti-virus protection, nothing like that ever happened, and with the new and improved version, I'm an immediate target?
Then I read this morning in a recent Time magazine (3/39/10 edition) that Elmore Leonard writes every single word of his work longhand, and then transfers it to his 20-year-old typewriter. The man has no computer, does not email, etc. And in the same magazine, I read that Twyla Tharp does not own a TV. And I'm starting to think that perhaps all of this CRAP is sucking the life out of us. At the same time, it's what allowed me to reconnect with people like my long lost performing friend. But see how paralyzed we become when something we rely on this heavily goes wrong?
I'm thinking back now when 23 years ago -- feeling this incredible calling, especially after my enchantment with Steinbeck's "Travels With Charley," and all of the successive books of that genre -- I stored, tossed or donated everything I had, and took off in my Honda Civic, which I also eventually ditched, for a several-year odyssey of working my way through the U.S. Took a variety of jobs, from being a grunt on a log cabin crew, to working on air with John Walsh on "America's Most Wanted," to fitting women with "foundations," as intimate apparel was once called. And I kept a MANUAL record of the people I'd met, and periodically mailed out newsletters to them and got letters back. Most of them handwritten. Wonderful stuff. All before email, and it meant so much, that exchange of real paper. I did not have a cell phone or a computer. I typed my newsletters on a borrowed word processor, and cut and pasted with photos, and photocopied it all and handwrote the envelopes. And it was fun! Barely a generation ago.
What have we wrought with our technical advances? We've made zippity do dah progress with the space program. We still don't have those cars "run by the sun" as depicted in films presented to us in elementary school. Cancer hasn't been cured -- sure, we can detect the little bugger in a woman's breast more easily, but we can't agree on what put it there. Despite all the fitness equipment with a million bells and whistles, hawked on QVC, HSN, and every other darned shopping network acronym, we are the fattest people in the world, for whom bariatric surgery is becoming as common as removal of an ingrown toenail. We can put books on Kindle and the like, but we can't light a match under most people's butts to get them to read and comprehend. (Don't believe me? Just look at the crap substituting for the English language in comments posted by the common people underneath any print news story). And it's becoming increasingly evident, even to skeptics, that cell phones are frying the brains and destroying the hearing of their youngest users.
But hey, with the advance of email and Facebook, at least we can commiserate about all of this stuff. Some progress ...
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Silence is Golden
Yes, it's been a while. Feeling rather private of late, spending a good deal of time in the treehouse, writing, writing, writing.
Last night, while writing with the TV news on in the background, I laughed out loud without looking up when the anchor quipped, "Gee, I haven't heard that in 20 minutes ...." He was referring, of course, to "Stand Up and Get Crunk," which was accompanying the umpteenth story about "Who Dat Nation." As the strains of that 'lovely' composition begin to fade at long last, we are settling into what is my favorite time of year. Between Mardi Gras and Jazz Fest, the New Orleans area exhales and you can actually see the city for who she is when not putting on her face for visitors.
That seems only fitting for Lent -- clear out the company and get your house back in order. I've been doing that this week by attending a Lenten Mission at Mary Queen of Peace each evening, led by visiting Redemptorist priest, Father Daniel Francis, who's been 'playing to packed houses.' With his funny, touching, insightful and prayerful leadership, these nights are a spiritual respite from the rest of the world that is paying far too much attention to the latest scandals surrounding "The Bachelor" or "American Idol."
Meanwhile, the weather has taken a turn back to cold and gray -- perfect for long walks amidst the pines when the air is so brisk and fulfilling, you can almost gulp it. All is as it should be.
Last night, while writing with the TV news on in the background, I laughed out loud without looking up when the anchor quipped, "Gee, I haven't heard that in 20 minutes ...." He was referring, of course, to "Stand Up and Get Crunk," which was accompanying the umpteenth story about "Who Dat Nation." As the strains of that 'lovely' composition begin to fade at long last, we are settling into what is my favorite time of year. Between Mardi Gras and Jazz Fest, the New Orleans area exhales and you can actually see the city for who she is when not putting on her face for visitors.
That seems only fitting for Lent -- clear out the company and get your house back in order. I've been doing that this week by attending a Lenten Mission at Mary Queen of Peace each evening, led by visiting Redemptorist priest, Father Daniel Francis, who's been 'playing to packed houses.' With his funny, touching, insightful and prayerful leadership, these nights are a spiritual respite from the rest of the world that is paying far too much attention to the latest scandals surrounding "The Bachelor" or "American Idol."
Meanwhile, the weather has taken a turn back to cold and gray -- perfect for long walks amidst the pines when the air is so brisk and fulfilling, you can almost gulp it. All is as it should be.
Monday, December 7, 2009
MOVE OVER OPRAH! Time for Mandeville's Favorite Things
In past years, as satirized on Saturday Night Live, Oprah went full out -- often causing a case of 'the vapors' for many women -- during her annual "Favorite Things" show. This was the day that so many viewers wished they could have had the luck of the draw to be in the audience for -- to be able to leave the studio with a truckload of coveted loot. But -- due to the recession, Oprah has announced over the last couple of years that it would be in poor taste to do a show that focused on such pricier items and instead concentrated on free things that could bring as much joy (oh, the crestfallen looks on the poor audience members' faces when they heard this!).
Well, this writer asks, "Why can't we do a favorite things edition, with just a little restraint, instead? In other words, why throw the baby out with the bath water?" To that end, Christabelle presents the top ten items to present your favorite lady in Mandeville this year -- and each is under $50!!!!!!!
1. Bare Escentuals Bare & Healthy Lip Polish. Ohmygosh, I'm not even a girly girl and I'm crazy for this one. If you have lips that are feeling dry and chapped from the onset of winter weather, and are tired of the sameoldsameoldsameold gloss or -- worse -- lipsticks that seem to never be the color on YOU that they are in the tube, then get yourself over to "About Face" in Mandeville http://www.aboutfaceco.com/AF_Home.html and spend the best $18 that your lips have ever seen on one of these. And it's just about impossible to go wrong with any shade.
2. bareMinerals Maximum Coverage Concealer Brush. The most important brush you will ever own. I had mine for years, then lost it several days ago and rushed over to About Face to get another. Would have eaten peanut butter sandwiches for a week to fit this $20 essential into my weekly budget!
3. About a year ago I bought -- for under $30 -- a pair of CZ stud earrings in a truly one-of-a-kind crown setting. They go with jeans, a little black dress, and even with my dance leotards when I want to feel great in ballet class. I bought them during a fun-filled neighborhood show presented by Premier Designs. Click here to find local info: https://gem.premierdesigns.com/public/contactform_pdi25.asp
4. Head over to Fresh Market http://www.thefreshmarket.com/and pick up Republic of Tea's Acerola Cherry Green Tea for your favorite tea drinker. This is one of the 'prettiest' tasting teas, with a high Vitamin C content, and it will set you back a slim $10! While you're there, pick up a fragrant bouquet of roses for your sweetheart. Their flowers last FAR longer than any I have purchased anywhere else and the price couldn't be be better -- under $10 for a dozen!
5. You can't go wrong with a PJ's http://www.pjscoffee.com/ gift card for your favorite giftee -- they start at just $10, which will provide a few fragrant lattes (I prefer chai, myself) inside an Acadian-style cottage on Highway 22.
6. Kmart -- yes, Kmart -- on U.S. 190 in Mandeville, sells a package of 15 environmentally friendly natural wood hangers,http://www.kmart.com/shc/s/search_10151_10104?keyword=wood+hangers&vName=&x=20&y=5 for $14.99. I have bought several packages of these, and they are fantastic for everything from slacks to knits, with no rough spots to snag your clothing.
7. I've got to promote my friend Abby Sands Miller's latest collaborative project -- with OR nurse by day/cougar by night, Rosemary Donnelly: a one-of-a kind cookbook that's fraught with cougar-isms! Being released this month! http://www.cougarinstincts.com/
8. That piano in your living room shouldn't be a still life during the holidays -- it's meant to make music. Why not start making THAT, instead of the television over the mantel (ugh -- whoever came up with that decorating faux pas?!?!?!?!) the focal point of the room? Just a $40 registration fee at the Louisiana Academy of Performing Arts, with its several locations, including one on Girod Street in Old Mandeville, will get the love of your life started or re-started as a musician.
9. While you're out and about, why not take a lunchtime breather at La Madeleine in the Premier Centre, on Highway 190 in Mandeville, with its consistently good fare. My favorite is the grilled chicken Caesar salad with an accompanying cup of hot potato soup, topped with cheddar http://www.lamadeleine.com/menu/lunch#fresh%20salades. If fate shines upon you, you'll be able to snag a table by the fireplace. Cost, including a glass of wine -- under $20 apiece. Yum!
10. Although dessert is tempting at La Madeleine, you might want to take a walk over to T.J. Maxx, also in the Premier Centre, and pick up a few boxes of Harry & David high quality chocolate truffles, discounted at just $5.99 for a dozen! Right now, for the holidays, you can find the special edition of Peppermint Truffles. Double yum!
See, it really doesn't take a whole lot to make a Mandeville lady's holidays a bit brighter. Enjoy!
Well, this writer asks, "Why can't we do a favorite things edition, with just a little restraint, instead? In other words, why throw the baby out with the bath water?" To that end, Christabelle presents the top ten items to present your favorite lady in Mandeville this year -- and each is under $50!!!!!!!
1. Bare Escentuals Bare & Healthy Lip Polish. Ohmygosh, I'm not even a girly girl and I'm crazy for this one. If you have lips that are feeling dry and chapped from the onset of winter weather, and are tired of the sameoldsameoldsameold gloss or -- worse -- lipsticks that seem to never be the color on YOU that they are in the tube, then get yourself over to "About Face" in Mandeville http://www.aboutfaceco.com/AF_Home.html and spend the best $18 that your lips have ever seen on one of these. And it's just about impossible to go wrong with any shade.
2. bareMinerals Maximum Coverage Concealer Brush. The most important brush you will ever own. I had mine for years, then lost it several days ago and rushed over to About Face to get another. Would have eaten peanut butter sandwiches for a week to fit this $20 essential into my weekly budget!
3. About a year ago I bought -- for under $30 -- a pair of CZ stud earrings in a truly one-of-a-kind crown setting. They go with jeans, a little black dress, and even with my dance leotards when I want to feel great in ballet class. I bought them during a fun-filled neighborhood show presented by Premier Designs. Click here to find local info: https://gem.premierdesigns.com/public/contactform_pdi25.asp
4. Head over to Fresh Market http://www.thefreshmarket.com/and pick up Republic of Tea's Acerola Cherry Green Tea for your favorite tea drinker. This is one of the 'prettiest' tasting teas, with a high Vitamin C content, and it will set you back a slim $10! While you're there, pick up a fragrant bouquet of roses for your sweetheart. Their flowers last FAR longer than any I have purchased anywhere else and the price couldn't be be better -- under $10 for a dozen!
5. You can't go wrong with a PJ's http://www.pjscoffee.com/ gift card for your favorite giftee -- they start at just $10, which will provide a few fragrant lattes (I prefer chai, myself) inside an Acadian-style cottage on Highway 22.
6. Kmart -- yes, Kmart -- on U.S. 190 in Mandeville, sells a package of 15 environmentally friendly natural wood hangers,http://www.kmart.com/shc/s/search_10151_10104?keyword=wood+hangers&vName=&x=20&y=5 for $14.99. I have bought several packages of these, and they are fantastic for everything from slacks to knits, with no rough spots to snag your clothing.
7. I've got to promote my friend Abby Sands Miller's latest collaborative project -- with OR nurse by day/cougar by night, Rosemary Donnelly: a one-of-a kind cookbook that's fraught with cougar-isms! Being released this month! http://www.cougarinstincts.com/
8. That piano in your living room shouldn't be a still life during the holidays -- it's meant to make music. Why not start making THAT, instead of the television over the mantel (ugh -- whoever came up with that decorating faux pas?!?!?!?!) the focal point of the room? Just a $40 registration fee at the Louisiana Academy of Performing Arts, with its several locations, including one on Girod Street in Old Mandeville, will get the love of your life started or re-started as a musician.
9. While you're out and about, why not take a lunchtime breather at La Madeleine in the Premier Centre, on Highway 190 in Mandeville, with its consistently good fare. My favorite is the grilled chicken Caesar salad with an accompanying cup of hot potato soup, topped with cheddar http://www.lamadeleine.com/menu/lunch#fresh%20salades. If fate shines upon you, you'll be able to snag a table by the fireplace. Cost, including a glass of wine -- under $20 apiece. Yum!
10. Although dessert is tempting at La Madeleine, you might want to take a walk over to T.J. Maxx, also in the Premier Centre, and pick up a few boxes of Harry & David high quality chocolate truffles, discounted at just $5.99 for a dozen! Right now, for the holidays, you can find the special edition of Peppermint Truffles. Double yum!
See, it really doesn't take a whole lot to make a Mandeville lady's holidays a bit brighter. Enjoy!
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