Would I come a Vegan, probably not. Would I prepare Vegan recipes, Definitely

Please check out my post for this book on http://tryingtocookbysuzc.blogspot.com.  I have included one of the recipes for sweet potato pancakes.

The Glass Kitchen

The Glass Kitchen, interesting title for a book. The surprise, it refers to a restaurant. The main character, Portia, has a special gift that is passed down through the women of her family.  Her grandmother had it and she discovers she has it.  The gift is knowing exactly what food a person needs before they know they need it.  Food has special meaning in people's life and she gets that. 

Portia

When we first introduced to Portia her life is in shambles.  She leaves Texas where she grew up and ends up in New York City.  Her sisters had left Texas for New York long ago so it was only natural she follows them.  Their lives are in crisis as well and they end up helping each other.  Along the way there is healing and new love.  After reading the book on Nixon and Watergate and the book on baseball legend it was nice to have some lighter reading. I really enjoyed this book. 

Angelina No NOT Jolie

Once again this post is not about a book I read. It is about music.  If you were to ask me which do I love more books or music I would say I can't make a choice.  Both of these mediums are so very important to me.  In fact many times while I am writing I am listening to music.  So I talked about music in my Sunday Post and I am taking about it again today.

I happened to tivo The View.  New hosts, new flavors, very different feel.  I like it.  The episode I watched had Billy Crystal who is so great and this eight year old from Norway who won Norway's Got Talent.  She is singing a song made famous by Cher with a jazzy feel rather than a pop feel. She is amazing and I want to share this link of her singing on the Norwegian show with you.  Did I mention that she was eight! If she sounds this good now, what will she sound like in a year? All I have to say is she blew me away!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3D0e0miMSI0

It's Like Butta

 

This has absolutely nothing to do with reading. This is all about music and voices that are amazing.  Two female voices are at the top of my list.  They actually tie I can't pick the one I love the most and they are Barbra and Celine.  I don't think I need to add their last names but I will just for complete and utter clarity,  Barbra Streisand and Celine Dion. Rounding out the top five are Bette as in the divine Ms. M, Cher and Christina Aguilera.

Barbra is releasing a new cd entitled Partners.  Yes it is true.  I saw her talking with Robin Roberts on Good Morning America. The album is a collection of duets with some really great male singers.  And some of the guys are on my favorite male vocalists.  Who can compare with Josh Groban.  If I am down I listen to You Raise Me Up.  Works every time.  A few others on her play list Billy Joel, Andrea Bocelli, Stevie Wonder, Blake Shelton and Lionel Ritchie.  Can she pick them or what!  Lets just say it has been downloaded to my mp3 player. 

This is not the first time she has released a collection of duets.  In fact her other collection is called Duets.  I have that one as well.  All I can say is Welcome back Barbra.  It's so nice to have you back where you belong. Singing! Click on the covers to see all the tracks in the collections.

 

 

The Nixon Defense

Politics

I live in one of the most political cities in the world and yet I really don't enjoy the world of politics.  Actually enjoy is not the correct word.  It is more like I don't get involved in the world of politics.  I have my opinions and I absolutely vote but sometimes some of the political posturing going on in DC just seems to be BS to me.  I know a lot of you who just read this opening paragraph are shaking their heads right now.  Sorry.

Nixon/Watergate

One of the things that I do find incredibly interesting is the whole Nixon/Watergate scandal. I mean who wouldn't.  And I like millions of others, I read All The Presidents Men by Woodward and Bernstein. 

John Dean has just written a book. Dean, for those of you who do or do not know was Nixon's white house counsel which makes this book even more interesting.  He had a bird's eye view of all the happenings during the scandalous Watergate turmoil.  He was in the thick of things and ended up going to prison for his involvement.  President Nixon sure could of used Olivia Pope to help him out of the mess.  Although even she probably could not of gotten him out of the mess he got himself into or maybe it was those that surrounded him that got him into the mess.

Either way this is a fascinating story written by a guy who was in the thick of things. The basis for his writing are the infamous tapes from the white house. I can't forget the interview Nixon had with Barbara Walters when she asks him what does he regret the most about Watergate and he says not getting rid of those tapes.

I must warn you, it is not the kind of book you can sit down on the sofa and finish in an evening.  Well maybe some of you can but I needed to take notes so that I could keep all the players straight and remember who did what and when. It is a very interesting narrative of the Watergate debacle.

Not IF She Stays but Why she stays

There is an interesting article written by Leslie Morgan Steiner a college graduate, an extremely articulate women, Harvard graduate and victim of domestic abuse.  She wrote a short article that was in the The Washington Post today Sunday September 14th and she presented the topic in a Ted Talk.  I have included both links.

There has been so much discussion on this topic this week because of Ray Rice.  I work in an office with all men so of course football is a topic discussed frequently.  They are a great group of guys and they were very interesting to listen to and hear their opinion.  None of them particularly sided with Ray Rice.  And then there is Adrian Peterson who has been arrested for abusing his child.

The topic is incredibly interesting and timely especially as it pertains to professional athletes. I watched the videos released of Rice punching his now wife.  Maybe they had an argument who cares.  The bottom line is he punched her so hard, he knocked her out. But here is what really gets me.  Instead of thinking oh my god what have I done he drags her out of the elevator like she was a sack of potatoes.  Someone who regrets what he had done might of picked her up and carried her out as if she meant something to him and he regretted his action. What I thought after seeing this was not why does she stays but how long has this abuse been going on.  Was this an isolated incident or repeated behavior and if it is repeated behavior will she find the courage and support to leave the relationship. Can she get the help she needs to give her self confidence and self esteem. 

I think Rice might have done women who are abused a large favor.  Because of him this issue is front and center in the news. Oh and by the way, thank you Adrian Peterson for bringing child abuse to the media. Here you have a roughly 6 ft 1 inch man weighing over 200 pounds punishing a little four year old beyond what is considered reasonable punishment for the child's actions.  Very shameful.

Football and the NFL, the sport revered by men in America, now must take a long hard look at this issue and deal with it. Hopefully other organized sports will follow their lead. So maybe because of these two incidents other women, other children in this situation can escape.

Read the article listen to the TED talk.  She is very good.

 

Washington Post Article http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/he-held-a-gun-to-my-head-i-loved-him/2014/09/12/31fb5720-39c3-11e4-8601-97ba88884ffd_story.html

TED talk http://www.ted.com/talks/leslie_morgan_steiner_why_domestic_violence_victims_don_t_leave

Mickey and Willie

Long Island and baseball

I grew up on Long Island where  every kid loved baseball, including myself. My Dad wasn't a big sports fan. Lucky for me I lived next to two guys who were like brothers to me and took their sister and I to see games up close and personal. Also across the street was a whole house of guys that I was friendly with and their dad would take me to games as well.

Mickey Mantle and Willie Mays

Although Mickey Mantle and Willie Mays were before my time everyone still knew who they were. They were larger-than-life. The author portrays their strengths and weaknesses and their similarities to each other and where they differed.   For example, Mantle was an alcoholic and a womanizer while Mays was not.  But both of them grew up in working class families, their mothers not really in the picture and an early predilection to playing baseball.  Had it not been for baseball both would have led very different lives.

I can't help but think how sad it is that the game of baseball no longer has that special quality it once had.  Now it is all about football which to me is a gladiator sport that is all about hitting and knocking people down.  It makes me wonder when did our world start moving away from the more gentle times of baseball to a world of violent video games and the increasing popularity of contact sports.  It was definitely way before 911 which was our entry to a very different world.

 If you are a baseball fan and want to know more about these two players you might want to pick up this book.

I received this book as part of Blogging for Books.

If I Stay

Wow this is another one of those "young adult"  books that can be read by adults.  The protagonist is near and dear to my heart.  She is a musician.  My daughter played and sometimes still plays the violin.  In fact she was the one who recommended this book to me.  I liked the story and the writing style was pretty good as well especially when you take into account that it is written for a less mature audience. 

Everything can change in an instance

What really gets me thinking after reading this book is how in an instance everything in your world can change.  We are so naïve to think we have control of our lives. I try to find something positive and joyous to hold onto each day. Sometimes it is so hard.  I also try very hard to cherish those important in my life because it only takes a moment and one can be gone. 

I also decided to see the movie.  I figured why not.  I liked The Fault In Our Stars, maybe I would get lucky again.  The movie followed the book pretty closely and was a decent movie.  Although I liked The Fault in Our Stars the book and the movie, this one worked as well.