Tag: author blogs

If Tombstones Could Talk

We all die. The goal isn`t to live forever, the goal is to create something that will.  – Chuck Palahnuik

So true …

There is something very important that all humans share, and that is our mortality. Yes, my fellow oxygen suckers, no matter your wealth, talent, or monk-like existence, you will die. At a point in the perhaps not too distant future, we will all die. Expire. Cease to exist. Death is the ultimate equalizer.

I am not usually a morbid person, and I don’t think about dying very much, unlike Woody Allen who obsesses over it. I have lost people close to me. This is always painful, no matter how you appear to be handling the loss on the surface. The cards, scraps of paper on which they wrote, and the faded photographs are mementos I have secretly hoarded, removing them from their hiding places from time to time and running my hand softly across the signature. It is at these private moments that I have wondered how I might be able to leave behind something of value that represents who I was in life. Continue reading “If Tombstones Could Talk”

The Many Faces of Spam

Don’t spam me, bro.

“Hark, spammers! Night will descend upon you as you feast upon the rotting flesh of thy life’s work.” – Anonymous

Spam means vastly different things to those who have encountered it in all its annoying forms. The first time I heard the term was in the early seventies while watching the BBC comedy series, Monty Python. If you are a Monty Python fan you are familiar with the “Spam” sketch where a waiter in a café recites a menu in which every dish contains the product named Spam. A group of Vikings (there are always Vikings or Masons somewhere close by) chant – “Spam, Spam, Spam, Spam, wonderful Spam”. The brilliance of this television show continues to amaze me. Their sketch about the ubiquitous meat product consumed widely in Great Britain after WWII struck a nerve with the world. The idea of spam as more than just the tasty meat in the snappy tin was right around the corner. Continue reading “The Many Faces of Spam”

Cooking With Nona

Cooking with NonaStella leaned forward eagerly at the sound of the sizzling onion, celery and carrots. The mouth-watering smell wafted out of the stockpot, hanging in the air like a delightful promise. It was their weekly day together and Nona was teaching her how to make Italian wedding soup. No one could make soup like Nona. Nona called this making the mirepoix, soffritto, or “The Holy Trinity” as Emeril Lagasse called it.

“Yesterday I make the stock, the chicken kind I show you last week. Today we make the meatballs and the soup. Your mama will come by after work to have dinner with us, and the soup is a surprise. This is one of her favorites, from when she was my little girl. I have a surprise for you, too.”

Stella stirred the veggies with the old, long-handled wooden spoon Nona always gave her. After the carrots and celery softened and the onions were translucent Nona poured in the stock, a beautiful golden yellow waterfall that soon swirled and bubbled. Continue reading “Cooking With Nona”

An Elegant Solution to Murder

Gene Tierney in Laura“Murder is my favorite crime. I write about it regularly.” –
Waldo Lydecker, Laura

“I shall never forget the weekend Laura died. A silver sun burned through the sky like a huge magnifying glass. It was the hottest Sunday in my recollection.” This is how my favorite movie begins. These succinct words, spoken by Clifton Webb who portrays the charismatic writer Waldo Lydecker, are the tasty tease that draws us into an American film noir of cult status. On Sunday, Laura will be screened at The Tampa Theatre, a 1926 jewel that has been lovingly preserved by a dedicated group of local individuals. It is a rare treat to see a movie of this caliber screened in such a venue, a “movie palace”.  The screening will be preceded by a performance on the refurbished Mighty Wurlitzer Theatre Organ, which rises and descends through a trap door in the stage floor. The movie will be followed by a question and answer session with a local professor and film buff. To say that I’m excited is a huge understatement – I’ve been waiting six months for this event. Continue reading “An Elegant Solution to Murder”