Three Special Ladies

A few weeks ago I stumbled across a curious Britcom called Mapp and Lucia (pronounced in the Italian tradition - LuCHEEa).  At first I didn't know what to make of the two battling divas, but by the third episode, I had decided to embrace them and dedicate myself to a summer filled with their competitive and devious antics.  Well, wouldn't you know, Mapp and Lucia was not a series, rather was a simple, three part adaptation of Benson's books - and from the reviews I read, the adaptation was not well received.  It was the second attempt to bring these two women to life; neither worked.  

Still, I was intrigued and decided to follow up by reading one of the books upon which the TV show was based.  Not far enough to say much, other than the style is as ostentatious as the characters, and from what I can tell, Mapp and Lucia each have been given the dignity of separate novels and don't appear to intersect as the show did.  

This is what I know so far...comedy of manners in the tradition of Sheridan and Goldsmith plays set in English village society of the 1920's and 1930's.  Lucia dominates the art scene in Riseholm, setting villagers straight on what they should and should not embrace when it comes to music, painting, flower arranging and interpersonal relationships.  She indeed regards herself as the center of all that is important in the village, acting as her own spin doctor and  staging opportunities for the masses to speculate about her and her motivations. 

     

The author's father was Archbishop of Canterbury.  E.F. Benson amused himself with associations the likes of Henry James and Oscar Wilde.  He published over 100 books but is best known for the collection of characters occupying the pages of his many Mapp and Lucia novels.  More next week.

Sigh.  Fine Print on a Monday has one less reader today.  Pat Chermak took her final bow early Sunday morning.  Pat was quick to contact me if FPoaM didn't appear by the time she was up and ready to read it.  I explained that if I wasn't deep enough into a book sending out a basically empty, vapid post seemed silly.  "Just one paragraph.  That's all we need."  Didn't want to disappoint so I tried to follow the one paragraph rule when I could.  Pat was an insatiable reader and frankly, I was often embarrassed to say "No"  way too often when hit with her barrage of  "Have you read....?'.  I'll miss you Patsy Ann....

Frustration and Furry

Before our discussion of The Miracle Life of Edgar Mint I made some prediction of who would and who would not like the book.  I was 100% WRONG!  No one like the book except me.  Of course, the critics are on my side, but that's no help when faced with a group of possessed women who would have done oh so evil things to the the author had he been present.  Actually, it wasn't that bad.  In fact, we had a rather lively discussion even thought we never speculated on why Edgar's middle name was Presley. 

 Our group selects titles in a most casual way.  If we have a suggestion, we drop it into a latte mug and someone grabs a slip .  That's it.  Well, for a reason I can't explain or understand. someone put in a title by Brady Udall, the author of the much despised "Edgar" and -you guessed it - that's the title that was selected.  Makes me happy.

This isn't the first time I have been on the opposite end of the discussion.  Olive Kitteridge.  The Family Fang.  Those are two of the titles that rank high on my list.  books I will advocate for, and again, the critics sided with me, so I must be really smart, right?  Inso?  Ya?  And FYI, by "Critics" I mean the real deal, not the people who blow smoke on GoodReads or the evil empire's website.  

Each meeting, I am tempted to suggest The Borrower, the story of a young boy who kidnaps a librarian, but I will hold off on that one until the Udall wounds heal.  I spent some time questioning why this weekend. Why do certain books appeal to me with a strength that is hard to describe, while those same book fall into the near nauseating category for so many others?   The common bond of all these love-it-or-hate it books seems to be eccentric, quirky characters.  Must be my theatre work, hmmm.  One of my directing professors stressed looking for the oddities is people - the little ticks, habits, and beliefs - that made them who they are. I enjoy those "oddities" about people, and am happy that my friends represent a colorful palette of personalities.  It must be those traits that draw me to certain characters. Could it be that I identify with them on my own quirky level?  Egads!

But, all that aside, I can hardly express how excited I am to be well into the sixth installment of the Chet and Bernie books.  In this new book, the team that comprises The Little Detective Agency , Bernie an ex-police officer and his four legged partner, Chet, find themselves hired by a criminal that they sent up the river.  Frenchie comes from a family of black sheep but needs help locating his brother Ralph, the one law abiding member of his family.  The investigation leads the pair to the Louisiana bayou where they meet the no-good Boutette family and their enemies, the even worse Robiseau clan. Chet, of course, uses his nose to track clues, and manages to scarf down beef jerky and most other edibles in his path.  His pal Iggy is back, making his first appearance in a window very early in the book.  Iggy's owners are too old to let him out to play with Chet, so the pals visit though an intricately coded set of rhythmic barks and jumps from inside their respective homes.

It's all too much fun.  I can't wait to read more this afternoon, but I'm sad knowing a full year will pass before another case comes along for the guys.

Heart-A-Rama news?  Directors met yesterday to read scripts for the 2014 show.  Fun stuff.  I'll try to put some info on the HAR blog by the end of the week.  www.heartarama.blogspot.com.  

Thanks for stopping by.

The Mailman Ran Over My Head

If I could tell you only one thing about my life it would be this: when I was seven years old the mailman ran over my head.

With an opening sentence like that, I just had to keep reading, and, although not quite finished, I have not been disappointed.  This is our book discussion selection for November and I am anticipating a spirited discussion.

Why?  The humor in this book is build on stereotypes.  It's not malicious humor in my opinion, but because the people making dumb moves after dumb moves happen to be minorities, the opportunity to offend and be offended is there.  Poor Edgar is a half-breed - so you can see why this might rankle some.  His home life is awful.  As a matter of fact, when his head is crushed by the mailman's truck, his mother doesn't even get off the couch.  Again, you can see how this deepens the problem.

Edgar, this little survivor, tells us his story mainly in first person;  at times, when he is repeating things he heard about his life during his three month coma, or when discussing events in his seven year old philosopher persona, he flips into third person.  I can see where this would come off as an inconsistency to some while others would consider it a fascinating technique worthy of examination.

During Edgar's hospital stay, he room with three colorful characters who become a pseudo-family, which is good since he learns early on that his family can't or won't take him back.  In short order, he lands in an a home for orphan Indians where the discipline techniques are harsh.  Eventually, he is taken in by a dysfunctional Morman family.

Years ago, a friend serving in Nam (that tells you just how man years ago) sent me a copy of his favorite book ever - The Beastly Beatitudes of Balthazar B. by J. P Donleavy.  My memory of that book is that is is filled with unmentionable circumstance and irreverent comments.  Re-reading books isn't something I do often, but I did order a copy of BBB, and will see if the similarities are there or if I have misremembered (is that a word?)

I'll let you know if my predictions about our discussion are correct, but you will have to wait a couple weeks for that.  Usually, I am whipping through our discussion title the week before we meet.  For some reason, I am waaaaay ahead this time.

My Nebraska email ppal and I have been having a discussion about Night Film.  Perhaps he will write a little something about it for a future blog.  Steve and I try to compare "Castle" notes each Tuesday morning, but now "The Blacklist" has caused some interference.  So many choices.

HAR update....my musical and tweener are done.  Other directors are nearing the finish line as well,  We get together in early November to read the scripts and put together the order of the show.  Such fun!

Thanks for stopping by.

Life's Finest - Chocolate, New Friends, and a Heart-A-Rama Show

Last week I noted a need for a small voyage on a pirate ship for weekend reading.  Straying from that just a bit, I found a nice band of gypsies, living on a caravan of barges.  In addition to obvious lure of the title, this book fed my magical realism sweet tooth.  Summer just seems the perfect time for this genre.  I had seen the movie, but, as in most cases of book v. film, the book wins.

Vienne and her daughter, Anouk, travel with the north wind, and when  the wind shift on Lenten season, they find themselves in a small,  up-tight village in the south of France.  The village is steeped in religion, and governed by a magistrate who has high expectations of others, while harboring some personal secrets.

Although Vienne never verbally identifies herself as a witch, the community assumes she is one due to her uncanny ability to read exactly what people need to change their lives, sending them on the road to happiness.  Her brand of magic reminded  me a bit of the feather scene in "Dumbo" - that sort of "you had it in you all the time" message.

Vienne's enchantments affect the entire village as well.  The randomness with which she appears in the village, along with her audacity of opening a tempting chocolate shop during Lent stir the suspicions of the villagers to the point where she and her daughter are shunned.  Vienne stands her ground, and little by little, people's assumptions are challenged, and they begin to think for themselves.  Revelations, both good and bad, come to light, changing mindsets in the process.

What about those pirates?  For a brief time, I thought that Raus, the gypsy king, would be the only source of happiness in Vienne's life.  I was wrong.  When the winds again invited Vienne to move on, well....I guess you have to read the book.

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In other exciting news, two of our friends have presented the world with fine new people!

Emily and Joey

Brendo and Juniper

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Check out the Heart-A-Rama blog for photos of our September show.www.heartarama.blogspot.com

Beautiful Accordions

This is my Monday post which I'm launching on Saturday so if you look for soemthing new on Monday, you're out of luck. Just pretend this is Monday and everything will be just ducky. My original plan was to write about Piccadilly Jim, by P.G.Wodehouse, and to publicly chastise myself for not discovering this author sooner. Woodhouse created the Wooster and Jeeves book series. PBS has been running episodes for a while starring Hugh Laurie of "House" fame, but I have never watched it. Piccadilly Jim has convinced me that I am missing out on a fun writer and a fun TV series.

Instead, I have to give a big thanks to the Heart-A-Rama directors who worked so dang hard this season. An accordion sextet is far more rewarding than applause, a pat on the back, a dozen roses, or a big paycheck, don't you agree? There were changes in show leadership this year, and that can cause unrest and distrust, be it deserved or not...just a natural, human reaction. Change just doesn't sit well with some, while others thrive on it. Ellen has been directing for a couple years now, but this year she took on even more responsibility. Tom and Brad both did double duty, Tom as general co-chair and director/performer, and Brad as co-producer, and director/performer. Lisa, Paula, and Jim were new to directing this year, but not new to Heart-a-Rama.

With Brad , I co-produced the show, which basically means that we coordinated the directors, and facilitated what needed to be done to get the show up on stage. Believe me, it's a small job compared to the work done by many,many others who chip in to make the the event hum.

I do not have a sufficient amount of praise for our directors. Many of them were overwhelmed with the workload-they all have personal lives and jobs! - but no one complained, or wimped out. Instead, they worked and worked and worked, pouring their hearts into their portions of the show. I realized on the night we cast the show, that we had a creative team, eager to take on challenges. It was evident that Heart-A-Rama has a wonderful talent base to escort it to it's 50th year. This will also most likely be the group that sees HAR's contribution to the American Heart Association reach 3 million dollars. Not bad!

Thanks to everyone who rolled up their sleevesfor this show. Whether you gave us one night of your time, or a full year of planning, your contribution is a necessary part of this huge organization. What began 41 years ago as a two-night gig raising a little over $100, has grown to this enormous, annual, much anticipated hullabaloo.

I am privileged to have been associated with this rambunctious group of do-gooders, who check their egos at the door each night, and wear their hearts of their sleeves for a worthy cause.

Hey, I have a suggestion for all you HAR volunteers. Since we seat more people at the Two Rivers venue, allowing us to cut back from nine nights to six, well, how about we pack our bags and take our circus on the road. Just think, a Heart-A-Rama franchise. How about it? A six accordion salute to any takers. Now, who can you resist that?

(Steve, are you still out there?)

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

Last week, I watched a movie that violated all my movie rules, and I am glad I did...I think. My notes for this post began with a sheet of paper divided vertically. The left side was intended for those traits that will automatically boot a film off my watch list. The right side was reserved for those qualities that insure I will settle in for the evening with Pepsi and popcorn. The left lane got awfully long awfully fast, but it does help in narrowing my search for an evening's entertainment. Since watching The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, I will re-think portions of my list. This movie would never have made the cut, had I not been tired from Heart-A-Rama, and had my neighbor not dropped the movie off for me last weekend at the very moment I had decided to spend the afternoon watching dreadful, no-brainer movies on Lifetime.

Here's a part of the left column :

1. No swelling symphonic music. That almost always means there will be concentration camp somewhere in the movie.

2. No kids in bad or sad situations, such as missing, stolen, ill, abused, family crisis...

3. No violence toward humans or animals. It can be spoken of, but I don't want to see it. I guess that comes from reading so many Greek plays where a minor character rushes in, describes some messy scene that turns the plot in a new direction, and off he goes, never to be seen again. That I can deal with. Shakespeare, on the other hand, seems to gleefully build plenty of violence into his plays. Take Mercutio's death scene in Romeo and Juliet, for instance. Even though he's stabbed, and his death is imminent, Mercutio manages to gasp out a lengthy (and sort of funny) speech, before becoming "worm's meat." That's typical of Shakespeare. The more drawn out the death, the better. The more deaths in a single scene...oh so merry! My first reading of Hamlet proved a challenge. The truth is, there was so much bloodshed piled upon bloodshed in the end, that I couldn't finish reading. Then, wouldn't you know, I walked into class only to hear those two words that all high school students dread - POP QUIZ. I'll never forget the final question, and confess to using it myself with my own students: How many people died in the final scene? Knowing how bloodthirsty the playwright was, I took a stab at "everyone." Wrong. Close. But wrong.

4. No to movies that begin with any sort of weather (unless set in the British Isles), movies that mention or show rats, snakes, those big part pig, part rat creatures, or swarms of flying insects or monkeys (yes, that means The Wizard of Oz is out for me).

5. I do not like movies that take place on airplanes, or have airline attendants as main characters. No sports movies. No war movies. No ninjas, or doctors, either. Basically, no uniforms.

6. No to most of the big award winners. Cerebral comedies don't work for me either, such as...sorry, can't think of one. Give me a good screwball comedy. I will admit to laughing out loud at Napoleon Dynamite, all National Lampoon vacation movies, and most movies with Will Ferrell.

There's more! But I will spare you.

My perfect movie would begin with a shot of rush hour traffic in some big city with a lot of over and underpasses. There would be no accidents or traffic jams...just people going places, underscored by snappy, contemporary music without lyrics. (add to my NO list, movies with those annoying slo-mo scenes set to under engineered music with cheesy lyrics).

My perfect movie would star all or any combination of the following: the Hepburn girls, Doris Day, Cary Grant, Reese Witherspoon, Gwenyth Paltrow, and Johnny Depp. (Add to my NO list...any movie that has too many big name stars cluttering up the works, with the exception of those just listed.)

The plot? Did I mention that Johnny Depp should be in the movie?

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas has stuck with me since last weekend. I know that "powerful" is a painfully overused word, but that's the only one that works. The sucker punch of an ending is breathtakingly horrifying, and because of it, I hesitate suggesting anyone see this movie. And yet, it's a must-see if ever there was one.

Two boy meet and become friends despite the huge barrier between them. 8 year old Bruno's father has been relocated to Poland, where he supervises one of Hitler's camps. Bruno can see the "farm" from his bedroom window, and goes exploring. On one such journey, he meets Shmuel, a boy about his age, sitting on the other side of the fence in his pajamas. Bruno can see that Shmuel is sad, but Bruno's innocence prevents him from putting the entire puzzle together. He visits Shmuel often, bringing him food, playing catch over the barbed wire, and talking of the future when they will play together with no separation.

Yes, there's symphonic music, and the concentration camp. There are mistreated children -physically and emotionally. There is violence and unexplainable hatred. But the boy's faces kept me watching. Sincerity, fear, hope, degradation, resilience...all in their little faces. Despite the situation, despite the brevity of their friendship, the relationship gave depth to their emotional lives. The impact of the ending comes, as T.S. Elliot would say "not with a bang, but a whimper" and that is what makes it so profound.

See this movie if you can. Check it out for yourself before watching it with your kids. Reviewers point out minor historical inaccuracies, but they aren't enough to negate the larger issue. Ugly as this time in human history was, we cannot afford to tuck it away, and assume that if we don't talk about it, it may not have existed. And worse, we must not assume that it can't happen again.

What am I reading? I hope to start The Boy in the Striped Pajamas if it arrives today. I also have started The Girls from Ames by Jeffrey Zaslow. The eleven Ames girls formed a bond in childhood. As adults, they moved to eight different states, yet managed to maintain an enduring friendship. the girls, now in their forties, have a lifetime of memories in common, some evocative, and many that are resonating strongly for me.

From the Heart-A-Rama files

Our circus packed up and left town on Saturday. Sorry. I was so taken with the show this year, that I didn't stop to take many pictures for you. Every night, I found something new in the show to chuckle at. Of course, there are the behind the scenes adventures,that I some day may recount for you, but all in all, this was a year free of practical jokes, theatre antics, and bad behavior.

However, I must give a standing O to Brad, one of our newest directors. Not only is he a crowd pleaser on stage, he is fast becoming a skilled director. Brad directed two short scenes this year, and, in my opinion, one of them was theatrically the best staged scene in the show. Of course, I am a little jealous of his astute stage eye, but hey, good going Bradley. Be proud!

Last week I was willed a box of HAR photos through the ages. My summer project is to do something with them. First, how to organize them! By theme? By subject? By decade? Maybe an obtuse pattern would be better... chronologically based on receding hairlines, or expanding waistlines. Perhaps anarchy would be best...no organization...randomly pick some and do something. At any rate, no matter what becomes of them, you are sure to see many of them on this blog.

We're done for another year. But guess what the big discussion was at the cast/crew party on Saturday night. Next year's show...and we're off!

You Gotta Have Heart

Well, we are three nights in to this seven night fund-raising gig, and I gotta tell you, there is some nice power at work that binds this extended family together. That's our happy Rhonda, at the top, looking all big-city. That's because she moved to New York two years ago. Last year she came back to be in the show. That wasn't possible this year, but she did surprise us by turning up unannounced on Saturday night. The bigger surprise of the night was that one of our performers, Fred, gave up his role so that Rhonda could go stage in his place! That's the kind of guy Fred is, and the kind of spirit that lives in the group. This weekend, Jacque, former employee, now friend, and daughter of Debbie and Mike, HAR committee chairs, will be home from D.C. to see the show, and my little friend, Emily, grandaughter of our general co-chairs, will come from Madison to see her very first Heart-A-Rama!

Brenda moved to Madison, but she turned up to work for a couple nights. Heart-A-Rama gets in your blood, and it is just what we do every spring. The tiny crocus pop up, spring rains fall, temperatures fluctuate annoyingly, and Heart-A-Rama beckons. Simple. Dotted thoughout the audience each night are the smiling faces of people who, for a plethora of reasons, can't play with us anymore. But they come to watch and to support the cause. I am lucky. Because of my job with the group, I get to see everyone in the audience, giving me a chance too catch up with old HAR friends.

Over the past few months, I've filled you in on how the show comes together. Here's a glimpse into my typical night at the Community House. Of the current show's directors, I am the only one who is not in the show. The other directors don't want to take a chance on me for some reason! The reality is that I don't enjoy being on stage, and have found a comfortable arena in the directing world.

Here's my typical night.....

6:30...director's meeting. Directors, tech support, stage crew, producer, MC's...we all cram ourselves in the narrow stairwell on stage right. Again, luck is on my side...no make-up or costume to get into, so I can get to the meeting well ahead of everyone, and secure a steely cold cement step to sit on. My grandmother would be horrified, and would surely warn me about hemorrhoids. We discuss the previous night's show, offer solutions for problems that arose, give our producer reminders to share with the cast. We talk some nonsense with whoever is sitting closest, and then it's off.

6:50...catch up with Chad in the sound booth and share some scintillating conversation. Chad is fun, reasonably quirky, and we know one another enough now that the banter is as comfortable as periods of silence. This was Saturday's conversation:

Chad: You don't dye your hair, do you, Bev? (He excels at leading questions!)
Bev: Why yes Chad, I do. Here's a news item for you, I bet over half the cast does.

Long silence while Chad checks battery levels on the mics, and then...

Chad: But, that would mean that some of the men dye their hair.
Bev: Correct.
Chad: Hmmmmm...

Another minute or so passes. Chad hands off mics to Chris and Rick. Then..

Chad: What color do you dye it?

Bev: The color that you see.

Pause

Chad: Oh.

Too much excitement! Gotta move on! I pass out the headsets, so I can communicate with backstage and dressing room.

7:10...back to the booth to watch the toilet seat auction. Approximate totals so far...Thursday $1500.00; Friday, $1,000.000, and Saturday we got over $3,000.00.

7:25...sneak off the main floor when possible, up to the dressing room for the cast meeting, and a healthy dinner of cookies, licorice, and popcorn. Rick, our HAR poet laureate, reads his poetic reflection on the previous night, making sure to include any and all bad cast behavior.

7:27...back to the main floor, where I prepare myself for the biggest job of all...waiting for the signal to turn off the house lights to start the show.

Once the show starts, I just wait for something exciting to happen. When it does, I spring into action! Perhaps there will be a costume malfunction in "The Underpants Dance." Maybe someone the audience will faint at one of the show's naughty lines. More likely, my biggest thrill will be flagging down a heartdog seller at intermission, so I can buy two dogs for Terri, who can't escape from backstage to do so.

During intermission, Chad leaves the sound booth to me, where I generally crank Dave's guitar mic way up. He is an awesome musician, and I try to push his instrumental solos as much as possible. The downside is that, in addition to being an accomplished guitarist, Dave is a perfectionist. I get the impression, via messages from other band members, that he does not appreciate my adoration. The amplified volume, he claims, also amplifies any mistakes he makes. Too bad, Dave, I do enjoy fiddling with those buttons, and a number of people stop by the booth to tell me how good the sound is during the show. I promise (in my mind) to pass the compliment on to Chad.

I visit with, Karen, the shirt seller organizer, chat with Pat and Mike, general co-chairs of HAR, congratulate cast on good performances, track down lost props and run away performers, bug the lighting crew, shush loud talkers in the back of the house. Sometimes, a strange voice will come at me through the headset, at which point I alert everyone to the unauthorized person interloping on our equipment. We know it's just a cast member, or a curious, shy support person. I am surprised at how many people think that those of us with headsets are connected to all cast members, and can help them out if they forget their lines!

Other than that, there's nothing for me to do except watch my casts take the stage and play. For sure, I enjoy seeing them bring their crazy characters to life. Each night, they have a little more fun, and watching them never gets old for me. This year, my favorite skit was directed by Rick. It's called "Stand-up in Wonderland," and, as the name implies, its a bunch of puny jokes told by the White Rabbit, Goldilocks, and a terrifying ogre.

This is Solomon, (aka Coho Salmon) a frequent visitor to the sound booth. Coho has a cameo as the new mayor of Manitowoc. When he's not on stage, he runs errands for me, or listens to Dave rip on the guitar!

And now, for a clumsy segue...what am I reading? The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster. After twelve year in business, you would think I would be comfortable interpreting financial statements, especially when you consider how small a business we are. Nope. They still baffle me. While pouring over my March books, and ending up with the same questions I have every month, I heard the quiet voice of my grad school research stats prof. Years ago, she told me to read this book to calm my fear of numbers. I thought this the perfect time to dig in, but I must say, I am finding it more about language than numbers. Maybe I am just numb to that world. Fun book, with shade of Alice's Adventures in Wondrland, The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, and A Wrinkle in Time.

I am halfway through a movie that violates all my movies rule...but I like it and will watch the last half tonight.

Until next week...when your luck is batting zero, get your chins up off the floor.

Rant...Rant Cancelled...Rant Reinstated!

WARNING! WARNING! DANGER!

If you are in my book group, DO Not read this!

I warned you that a rant was coming about this book, and I am glad that I didn't act upon that too quickly. To me, this is still a rant worthy book, and after finishing, I wanted to call the author and holler "Give me my Sunday afternoon back." But then, I got to thinking about all the millions of readers who have made Jodi Picoult one of the top-selling authors of all times, and I thought it best not to insult any of them with my inane opinions. After all, some of you reading this might be fans. After reading two Picoult books in their entirety, and parts of several others, I have concluded that I am not a fan, and that's OK.


Eliminating the great Picoult trashing which was planned for this post, left me pondering on to write. I had nothing for you. The past week was a no-lifer. I vacuumed and washed the floors in the store. That's about all I have to say. See ya next week!

Just kidding. Generally, I am on the lookout for odds and ends to share, but I just had a nice, lazy week of work, and lots of reality TV. My perceived waste of a Sunday made me think about what I enjoy in a novel. Some people like plot driven novels; I prefer those that are character driven. Take the Joads in The Grapes of Wrath, for example. Are those not rich characters? Steinbeck reveals them to us through their interactions with others, through their internal conflicts, and through their voices. Nothing annoys me more than a novel where all the characters sound alike. The dialogue tags could be "said Mary," or "said Jim...or Penelope...or King Tut." doesn't matter. They all speak with the same cadence, make the same vocabulary choices, and discuss issues with identical depth of thought (if any).

For me, a novel must have skillful, dynamic rhythm in its sentence structure, like a fine piece of music. My piano playing days tell me that is called rubato, a sort of push and pull that causes tension, strain, then some relief from the tension, often followed by a rushing build to the next scene. I sure don't want to read a novel with multiple sub-plots, many of which are red-herrings, and find they are all given equal importance, and written in the same, predictable, gentle, rolling, boring tempo. I want the words to pull me along, not rock me into the oblivion of simply turning pages to get to the next tangent wandering off of sub-plot 14. Playwrights excel at this. Poe and Hawthorne knew a thing or two about word musicality, as did Jane Austen. But the writer whose language I can get lost in time and time again is Milne. For me, Winnie-the-Pooh never gets old. Noel Coward does a great job in this area, as you would expect, as do many of our contemporary British authors.

There is much more I appreciate in fine writing, but you don't want to hear any more on that, do you? As far as plot is concerned, I enjoy it when there is one. If my character and language needs are met, I can handle just about any plot, with one exception...a plot with too many coincidences. Those bad soap opera stories wind up as Lifetime Channel TV movies. This is where I will do a mini-rant on Change of Heart. The main character's husband and daughter are murdered. Tragic, to be sure, but does she also have to be pregnant? Wasn't the double murder enough? Then, the priest who counsels the convicted murderer just happened to be on the jury that sentenced him to death eleven years ago. Oh, and I can't forget that the murderer once robbed the priest of a precious photo of his grandfather. Apparently, the murderer lacked a grandpa to fish with, and his life went down the tubes because of it.

There's more - not in the coincidence category, just "Boy-this-book-sure-is-overwritten" sort of stuff. Some believe that the murderer is the Messiah -don't want to get into details here,- just trust me. His team of supporters includes a Catholic, a Jewish lawyer with a rabbi father, an atheist, and a gnostic. While I would have appreciated the author allowing me to make up my own mind on whether or not the killer was or wasn't a miracle worker, she just couldn't let me do it. Right up until the end, I thought I was going to get away with forming my own opinion, but then she had to hit me on the head with a last sentence that told me exactly what she wanted me to think. Thank you, Jodi.

OK. I have to stop. I am nearing the full out rant line, and I don't want to do that. I will save that for my book discussion group later in the month. Even though this book and I did not get along, the author has given us plenty to discuss: the death penalty, organ transplants, cell memory, and the role of belief in a higher power in shaping our dreams, our fears, our tolerance levels, and our ideas on forgiveness and redemption.

In the meantime, I continue to plug away at Cesar Milan's dog training book. I think my dog, GB, should learn some manners. She does not. I think I get to be the boss, She disagrees. We are at an impasse. Hence...her return to doggie boot camp. Off the furniture. No treats. No free scratches.

I'm done with The Hunger Games. Young adult novels are the best. (Tom M. if you're reading this and want my ARC of this book, let me know.) Because I am a "Survivor" fan, I enjoyed the strategizing used by the twenty-four young adults fighting to the death in a state sponsored TV show. But the concept of kids killing kids....beyond troubling.

Here is a book I can't wait to dig into. Don't you love the retro, pulp fiction cover?

You know Jane Hamilton, right? The Book of Ruth was one of Oprah's first picks for her TV book club that got the whole world reading again. You know that Jane lives in Wisconsin, right? Yup, as a matter of fact, she lives near an apple orchard next to my friend Cary's parents. Cary frequently spends some holiday time at the Hamilton house. Laura Rider's Masterpiece appears to be a departure from the heavy duty, issue oriented studies Ms. Hamilton is known for. I'll let you know.

*****We had our Heart-A-Rama tech meeting on Sunday which means the show is coming up fast now. The directors met with the scene behinders to talk about our individual needs for the show. So many components have to come together to make this show happen. For example, our costume chair, Jill, told us that we have requested a total of seventy-two different costumes this year...including several wolves, a frog, an egg, and I think I heard her mention a foaming bring suit!

This is fun! I was sitting next to someone who, in an attempt to not embarass me, whispered, "Bev, you're wearing two different socks." And I was! One black with blue dots, the other black with blue stripes. Sometime you gotta live on the wild side, and besides, I was among theatre folk! I replied, "I have another pair at home just like these." I am 100% serious when I tell you that he then informed me that if I "switched them around" I would have two matching pairs! Aren't friends grand!

Heart-A-Rama 09 First Look, and Some Artsy Moments

Here you go...your first look at the cast of Heart-A-Rama's musical, "Give Peas a Chance." Aren't they somethin'? If you're new to HAR, here's a little info. The show features many short skits, and musical bits all written, performed and directed by local volunteers. We have a fun directing team. Ellen directs the opening number. She re-works a popular, rocky number with new lyrics to fit the year's theme. This year the show focuses on fairy tales. Rick, Brad, and Fritz each direct what we call "tweeners." These are throwbacks to the HAR days when we had three longer skits, and we needed quick, little acts in front of the curtain to give the stage crew time to change the set, and actors time to change costumes. They have since evolved into longer skits with bigger casts, giving more people a chance to strut their stuff on stage.

For a long time now, I have been directing the musical, and recently, have been happily granted custody of two tweeners and the finale. It's all great fun. I had tons of creative help writing the musical - Karen, Chris, and Connie worked hard to develop a plot and characters. They wrote dialogue and song parodies. Now I get to bring it all to life. Our musical is call "Give Peas a Chance"; it blends the stories of the "Princess and the Pea,' and "The Frog Prince" with a Bachelor TV show type plot.

Let me introduce our cast of zanies. (L to R) Scott...each year Scott tells me how happy he is not to be in the musical! If he was using reverse psychology on me, then it worked. If not...well, I am still very happy to have a chance to direct him. He's playing "Just Jack," the jester. He is the advice giver, confidant, and all around buddy to the Prince. Snow White will be played by Jen. Our Snow White is a little psycho, travelling everywhere with her pet budgie, Mr.Happy Peeper, on her finger. With Happy, her true self comes out in snappy, Linda Blair style quips. Chris is Gretel, desperate to find a man to love and to share her goodies. We're hoping for a good German accent for Gretel, just to add to her menacing nature. Chuck is Wart, our Frog Prince, looking for the right woman. He's a little bit hyper-active, and has zero self-confidence. All he needs to make him happy is a wife with a penchant for all things green. Finally, there's Lily Pond, played by HAR newcomer, Corie. Lily got herself caught in that torrential rain we had last year here in the Lakeshore. The rushing waters swept her away to Wart's kingdom where, lured by the inviting scent of pea soup, she snuck into the castle hoping to find a place to warm-up, and to sleep. Little did she dream that she would find herself engaged, against her will, to a frog.

**********

On Friday night, I travelled all the way to Sheboy-gan with Terri and Chris to see our pal Kevin's art exhibit. Four other Heart-A-Rama folks were already there when we arrived, so we had some fun visiting. Kevin is one of HAR's top worker bees, driving from Sheboygan for rehearsals, meetings, and to deliver the many huge set pieces he constructs, and paints for us each year. Here he is beside a cool, wintery self- portrait.

Dan was among the artists featured at the exhibit. He gave me a detailed explanation of how he does his paintings, which involves multiple layers of a concoction made of eggs and pigment. You can't tell from this picture how complex Dan's works are. The brush strokes are so fine, they are nearly invisible. Dan's color choice is stunning, and moody, and the whole look is that of old world, Byzantine art. Very impressive. I wish I had taken a close-up of it for you.

I also regret not taking a picture of Kevin's office. It's like a min-museum of iconic toys, mixed with some cowboy decor, and Kevin's personal fab and funky touches. The "ToDo" list next to his desk reminds Kevin to pay off his credit card debt, and to win a Pulitzer. The best and worst part of his office is that is is tidy. The first time I saw his office so great was the inspiration, that I came back to work and began tearing, shredding, moving, and generally turning my office upside down to emulate his. Emulation did not happen as planned! My office, which is in what once housed the walk-in cooler for Mahlik's grocery store, remains (and shall evermore remain, I fear) a total disaster....with a few creative undertones to remind me that art and tidiness are best left to others...talents that I should be satisfied observing.

Once again, I have to say how wonderful life is when surrounded by quality people with art surging through their bodies. Why I'm drawn to them, and not to dull, no-talent individuals who more closely mirror me, I'll never know. But I am happy for it.

*****

What am I reading? Just finished The Lace Reader, and Change of Heart and I have a lot to say on both. However, "Change" is our book group selection for March, so my rant (later this week?) won't be too detailed. OOPS! Did I just give away my feeling about it? Now, it's palate cleansing time. This morning I started a young adult novel called The Hunger Games...so far, so good.

*****Speaking of super talented friends...I just got an email from Mike Perry. He wants everyone to know that if you want to eamil him, it is best to do it through his newly designed website.http://www.sneezingcow.com. He also has a facebook page. That address is http://www.blogger.com/www.facebook.com/pages/michael.perry/40434216043. Check it out for all the latest Mike Perry news.

Oh, To Be A Star!

When the bitter January cold hits, the phone starts ringing relentlessly, my email count rises, and the random, drop-in visitors at LaDeDa multiply. That's because it's Heart-A-Rama time, and the itch to get eh latest HAR scoops gets the best of everyone in our production family. This always reminds me of that August cold snap signaling opening day of the county fair, and the first day of school. People just know. Throughout January and the coming months, somewhere in Manitowoc County, a HAR committee is meeting and planning some aspect of the annual wackiness presented in the name of heart health. 2009 marks our 39Th year. Can you believe that? 39 years of dressing up funny, selling toilet seats, assembling hot dogs., painting hearts upon bald heads...and this year we will reach our second million in donations. Next year, when the organization hits middle age, we will officially begin working on our third million.

If you follow my blog, you know that the book talk falls off this time of year,as I fill my posts with HAR news. This year, my plan is to photograph the scene behinders as they work to pull the show together. But, to kick things off, I dragged out a few pictures from the archives.

Sifting through the piles left me with two startling discoveries. First, I have no pictures of my friends doing normal things. They are all in costume, caked with make-up, and mugging. I'm not sure I know what any of them really look like. Second, I realize that our HAR men are troupers considering the use and abuse they endure for the show. Our women get to play the sweet young things, the vixens, and the unlikely villains. They get attractive wardrobe, and do their own make-up, which is an advantage since they know how to work with the contours of their faces - no freakish character make-up for them. Our men, on the other hand, just take a seat in the make-up room, and let someone have at them. Then they put whatever outlandish outfit has been prepared for them, and they step on stage, ready to greet the spirited audience - frequently in drag as you will see.

Enjoy these pictures.. I'm sure the subjects would agree that a little humiliation among friends keeps us all grounded.

This is Bobby. He was playing an orphan in a "Little Orphan Annie" parody called "Little Afrin' Arnie." He's holding a teddy bear and smoking a cigar. He also sported a nice topnotch, an Alfalfa sprout, but that isn't showing up here. Bobby had the darnedest time keeping his trap door shut. Double stick tape. Velcro. Nothing worked. The long-johns were so old that sewing it shut wasn't an option. The thread just tore through the fabric. Eventually, he opted to live with the breeze on his hinterlands, providing us many nights of off-stage laughter, and some fun photos.

Here's our Fritzie, playing Chuck! Yes, I said Chuck. Chuck needed money, so he took a gig as a substitute sex-ed teacher. The school preferred a woman, so Chuck posed as Lola, when applying for the job. "Chuck Needs Money; Chuck Wants Romance; Chuck Gets Brand New Underpants" pretty much tidies up the plotline for you.

Finally, here's Brad. We put him in a dress so many years in a row that he eventually broke down and bought his own, properly fitting underpinnings. The five o'clock shadow and thousdands of tiny hairs on his hands add a little somthing.

Well, that's HAR report for this week. Auditions are Sunday, Feb 8Th at 12:00, and Monday, Feb. 9Th at 7:00. Be there! Kadow Hall at the Capitol Civic Centre. Oh joy! Oh Rapture! Yippee! It's Heart-A-Rama time!

*****What am I reading? The Secret of Lost Things by Sheridan Hay...perfect for anyone who likes books, or hanging around in bookstores. More next week...maybe.

*****Who needs a joke of the week when you have Brad's pensive graduation pose to set your heart to dancing?

*****From the "Nonsense News" drawer...my Christmas tree is still up. I may be committed to a long haul with this one. It's growing! Check back tomorrow. I might take a few pictures for you if I'm not too emotionally distraught after tonight's episode of "The Bachelor."

You Gotta Have Heart...and a Good Memory

That stuff there on the left...yup, that stuff that you are straining to read...really not worth it. Those are some of my notes from last week's Heart-A-Rama writing meeting. Today, I get to dip into my memory bank and withdraw as much I can recall about what we were intending. This writing business is tricky, but our group works together nicely. We haven't had any flair-ups yet. I always enjoy a a little creative angst driven confrontation. Maybe they'll oblige me next time.
We're still hammering away at the musical, and need two or three more meetings to finish. We have all agreed on where the plot is going, so now, by pooling our varied ideas, we need to figure out how to get there. To recap briefly, HAR's theme for 09 in fairy tales. Our musical is a Frog Prince meets the Bachelor sort of idea.

Karen has been writing with our group for about ten years. She likes to keep us focused on the literal end of thing - always concerned about the audience's perception of what we craft. I must say that this year, she is obsessing about the proposed roundabout. Whenever we are stuck for a line to get us to the next section of the plot, she suggests working in something about a roundabout. We keep her around because she brings her rhyming dictionary to each meeting, along with yummy treats.

Chris is our devil's advocate. Most of the time, we are just happy to have an idea, any idea. Chris wants to explore our ideas, poke holes in them, figure out why they will or will not work. Sometimes, we end up abandoning ideas as a result. His other "contribution" is his overwhelming desire for sub-plot. We keep telling him it's HAR. Sub-plot is far too sophisticated for our purpose, and certainly more than we can handle as amateur writers. Ironically, he also enjoys a good sight gag - and reminds us that a cleverly placed banana peel can go a long way.

Our musical expert, Connie, has a great challenge before her. We each lobby for using our favorite artists' music in the show. For Chris, it's the Kinks, for me it's Jimmy Buffett and Patsy Cline. I don't even want to entertain any thoughts about Karen's favorite...which I believe is Barry Manilow. Can she be serious about that?

Anyway, Connie does her best to steer us in new and fresh directions; she forces us to expand our musical palates. Essentially, she prods in the sweetest voice you have ever heard; we don't even know that we are being bullied. Poor Connie is painfully aware that the rest of us couldn't keep a beat, or apply appropriate musical accents come hel...well, you get it. She is forever pounding out rhythms with her feet, her fingers, her pencils. It's all the same though. A beat is a beat, no matter what instrument the poor girl uses. or how loudly she stamps and pounds. We just don't get it, and still, we are writing the HAR musical... and enjoying every minute of it.

Since I'm not revealing full identities, I can also tell you that Connie gets a little sassy sometimes. I can always tell when she has some naughty bit rising to the surface. She gets pink, then red, then she smiles. Finally, there is a charming little giggle and she announces, "I just had an idea, but I can't tell you because you will think bad things about me." Eventually we pry it out of her, and try to use some iteration of her tantalizing tidbit.

As for myself, I try to stay logical about what will translate from page to stage. My staggering lack of directing abilitiy plays nicely into the fun but not-too-polished effect we want the final show to have. Basically, I type up the scripts, and plan rehearsal time. I am just glad that I get to hang around with these people.

We have HAR censors, you know. We turn our scripts into a steering committee in early February, right before auditions. They read and discuss. We keep our fingers crossed that nothing will be x'd out. We try to monitor ourselves when we write, but there are always a couple lines we worry about. Sometimes they can be toned down in the delivery, but that's tough for the committee to know until they actually see the show on stage.

So, that's that. The process is pretty straightforward. We'll keep chipping away until our assigned parts of the show are done. Anything more I would write about that would be repetitive, so I won't get back to you with HAR news until we move into the next phase, which will be auditioning. BUT...if we have one of those angst ridden writing blow-ups, I'll be sure to cover that for you.

A Page from the Archives

We used to keep a store journal. Whenever we had an interesting day, customer, thought or idea, we would jot it down. Because I was still teaching part-time, we had a lot of staff here, most of whom worked solo shifts. The journal helped us get to know one another and share some of the highs and lows of the book biz. So, from time time, I'll share some pages from the archives with you.

3.1.02

4:52...a woman came in at 3:15 asking if we had books on "attachment disorder". Even though we didn't, she stayed until just a few minutes ago. Probably got too attached to me
-Bev

3.2.02...Yup! I am here. All alone. In the storm. The whole city has shut down. I am nuts
-Bev

3.5.02...I really wish we didn't have to have a public bathroom.

-Jenny

3.8.02 Tomorrow is Saturday. It is bathroom cleaning day. O joy! O rapture! O &#@*
-Bev

Looks like we had a theme going there for a few days. but, honestly, the bathroom cleaning business is not fun. I seem to recall that Jacque was always brave when it came to that activity.

One Saturday Jacque and I were working together. Jacque offfered to clean the bathroom, but when I'm here on a Saturday, I prepare myself to enter the dreaded chamber, covered in plastic from head to toe, and armed with multiple disinfectants in the event that things don't go well in there. Without going into too much detail, I will say that I have a certain reflex that is easily triggered, and this particular type of cleaning brings it out in a power display of sounds and general hollering. Jacque, having never witnessed this drama, rushed in to save me, or at very least, to assess whether calling 911 was in order. All she found was me ready to survive a nuclear blast, brush in hand, scrubbing away, and accenting the process with a cacophony of unpleasant bellerings, croakings, and a few easily definable foreign phrases.

**********

Fannie Flagg provides a nice diversion for me. I needed a quick book to read Saturday night and Sunday morning, so I grabbed this one from our used books section. I really enjoyed Fried Green Tomatoes...the movie didn't work as well as the book. When I read that book about 10 years ago, I remember thinking about the rituals her characters had - the mornings they gathered at the local diner to catch up the newsy items, talk a little politics, and maybe even cause some trouble. They took evening walks, listened to the birds, sniffed the heliotrope and chatted with neighbors relaxing on front porches. I also remember thinking, "I want that life. I want my time to be more casual, and not measured by check marks on a to-do list. I don't want to work so hard to squeeze time in to see friends, like they are some sort of agenda item.

Well, guess what? Today, I have that life! It's not at the local diner, or on a neighbor's front porch, but here at the bookstore. Friends pop in and I am so lucky to be able to sit and visit. They don't mind minor interruptions like the phone, or deliveries, and sometimes, customers even sit and join in on the conversations. We have been here five years, maybe it's six - doesn't really matter. I have become one of the neighbors. I get invited to neighborhood parties, have celebrated birthdays with neighbors' grandchildren, get reports on what and how kids are doing in school. People share their successes and, occasionally, their disappointments. We have welcomed new babies. One new mom even stopped in with her newborn on their way home from the hospital. Really! We have pictures of our "store babies" hanging all over! Our biggest thrill is when one of those babies walks up to the counter on his/her own wobbly two feet, chest proudly puffed, wearing that look-at-me-grin. Generally, the first store related word they utter is 'Candy".

We know all the neighborhood dogs, too. Digger, Eddie, Sophie, and Max. They stop by for drinks of water on hot days, and we keep treats on hand.

The perks of being a neighborhood bookstore far outweighs the disadvantages of not being downtown where I know we would be busier and the register would be ringing more often. The trade-off is fine by me.

*********

Long ago, I promised I'd share the process of how we put Heart-A-Rama together. A couple weeks ago, the directors met with the general co-chairs to pick a theme for the 2009 show. We decided on "Fairy Tales" but I am not sure how that will be worded on the shirts yet. We decided what parts of the show each director would be responsible for, and now we're on our own.

I put together a committee to write the musical, two tweeners (those are short little pieces) and the musical finale for the show. Our first meeting was a brainstormer...we decided what we wanted to do with each of the segments we were assigned. We made an outline for the musical and decided what characters would be in it, and what songs we would use.

Now, the slow work begins. Last Thursday we met and started writing dialogue for the musical. After two hours we only had two pages and one song done. I like our group. We have Connie, Karen, Chris, and me. There is always plenty of red licorice, which seems to appear at all HAR meetings. For us, it eases the pain of the grand silence. And believe me, there was plenty of that at our first two meetings. We try to pitch ideas as fast as they come to us, and some are just dogs. They totally stink up the process. When someone tosses a really stupid idea out, everyone else gets quiet. Eyes grow big as we silently check to see who is in agreement. This lasts a looong time. Painfully long, if it your idea getting the treatment. Normally, this disolves into laughter...starting with one of those sputtering laughs, the kind we all try to hold back. But that crazy laughter must trigger endorphins or something. Between the snorts, guffaws and giggles, we start to piggyback on the idea that started the ruckus. Those stink-o ideas sometimes lead us to pretty funny places.

We meet again tomorrow...two more pages, perhaps! The working title for the musical is "Give Peas a chance." (Yes, you read correctly, it's peas, not peace.)

Heart-A-Rama Rocks!

The totals are in, and boy...did the Lakeshore do a great job this year. We raised $126,500.00 for the American Heart Association of Wisconsin! Not bad, huh? 10% stays right here in Manitowoc to furnish schools and other places where large groups gather with AED's, Automatic Expernal Defibrillators. The rest stays in Wisconsin and is earmarked for education and research. Our little communities have proudly contributed over a million dollars to this cause, and we are ever so near to closing the door on the second million. If the fund-raising dollars remain consistent, we will reach that goal within the next two years.

If you're reading this and are new to the HAR experience, I'll just say that this wing-ding began 39 years ago - the brainchild of several local volunteers. The concept wasn't warmly received that first year, and the founders literally went bar to bar, trying to sell the $2.00 tickets. Just look what they created!

The above photo was snapped from the upper deck of our new home, the Community House in Two Rivers. I wonder if any of those folks were in the first audience?

Plans for HAR 2009 are well underway. We picked a theme last night, and now the writing begins.