Whatever Wednesday - Sing Ladies, Sing

Well  -Thanks Dad!   I treated myself to a fabulous  afternoon at the Meyerson  Symphony Hall in Dallas on Sunday March 30th.  Pretty much any entertainment these days, I say "Thanks Dad".  I  got  a  nice  inheritance  and I'm doing  stuff my dad  would  have liked.  This particular afternoon  was amazing, fabulous, and right up his alley - Show  tunes

the picture above is the  amazing Lay organ.  It was  not  used in  this production,  but still  dramatically pretty. 

So, yes I had an orchestra seat to hear Kelli  O'Hara AND Sutton Foster  sing  Broadway tunes and  more on a Sunday afternoon.  Does  life  get any better?  This was  a show they did  at Carnegie Hall.  Then they decided more of America  deserved  to  hear this and Dallas was their first touring booking. Wow!!!!!!

Voices soared. Kelli's soprano is angelic. "If  I loved you"  from Carousel was ethereal.   It  was so gorgeous in  this music hall. I got verklempt - truly a bit  teary.  My dad  would  have loved this. 

And  Sutton  singing  "Anything Goes"  and  doing  the original tap dance routine. OMG. Divine. 

It was an absolutely perfect  two hours.  I had goosebumps. 

 Here's the song list.  Divine unity of voices.  

thanks, Dad.  Love ya and miss you SO much.  

April Fool

Every day I wake up and wait for a declaration - APRIL FOOL!!!

Alas.....nope

 

Monday Moments - Written in the Waters by Tara Roberts

 Written in the Waters by Tara Roberts was a fun find in the library. I meandered over to the biography/memoir area and this one caught my eye. What a reading journey!

cover blurb - This lush memoir is the epic story of one woman's life changing journey across three continents to confront the reality of the global slave trade - and find her place in the world. 

Tara Roberts is a National Geographic Explorer in Residence. She documents shipwrecks that once carried captive Africans during the Transatlantic Slave Trade. She leads a podcast series Into the Depths, and was the first Black woman explorer to grace the National Geographic magazine. 

It was a fortuitous day when she discovered a scuba group, Diving With a Purpose, which helps  document the wrecks of ships. Her life became one of discovery for history itself, and for own self history - the stories of her ancestors. 

cover blurb - Tara Roberts joins a cadre of new writers who draw on personal and cultural records to open readers' eyes and hearts. She weaves together the voices of past and present to tell a deeper story of Black identity. 

A complete eye  opener  for me.  I learned  a lot from her travels to Africa, the Virgin Islands, Costa Rica, and home in Atlanta, and the deep South.

p. 248 a friend gives her a quote that is  true to her feelings:  To be African American is to be African without any memory and American without any privilege        

Whoa - think  about it and reflect on that. 

Finally Friday - The Master Butchers Singing Club

 Louise Erdrich is a sublime writer. This older work (2003), The Master Butchers Singing Club, is another fine example. 

cover blurb - What happens  when a trained killer discovers, in the aftermath of war (WWI) that his true vocation is love? Fidelis Waldvogel returns home to his quiet German village and marries the pregnant widow of his best friend who was killed in action. 

As a master butcher he heads to North America with his knives and sausage skills. He sets up a successful business in North  Dakota. Eva and  four sons thrive and we learn about the community, the lives, and deaths. A stranger, Delphine, proves to be a formidable friend and lover in this small town. Erdrich brings everyday encounters to life and weaves quite a tale. 

Whatever Wednesday - The Testament by John Grisham

 Here's an oldie (1999) John Grisham book - The Testament that proved  to be a darn good  read. 

Troy Phelan is a self -made billionaire - eccentric, reclusive, confined to a wheelchair, and looking  for a  way to  die. His heirs are circling. He has written many wills. But it's his final, final testament that proves startling, shocking, and alters lives. 

 Nate O'Riley, a hard charging, hard living, Washington litigator is in for a remarkable adventure because of Troy Phelan. 

I won't say more.  I can't  say more.   I was very surprised. 

Monday Moments - the ultimate outlaw

 Another Monday Moments LOVE post.   All of these Love pics arose from Philly's Super Bowl victory, and celebrations around town.  Yes, Philly is the City of  Brotherly Love...or Shove (yea for  the tush push)

Love is  the ultimate  outlaw.   It  just  won't  adhere to any rules.  The most any of can do is sign on as its accomplice.  - Tom Robbins

I wish you a week of love. 

Finally Friday - Camino Ghosts by John Grisham

John Grisham is a reliable author with an extensive list of published  books. Camino Ghosts is on the new shelf at the library and I snapped it up.  It was a quick  patio  read and entertaining enough.  It's a  sequel to Camino Island. 

Mercer Mann is  a popular  writer from Camino  Island, Florida. She's  now newly married, a published author, and in search  of  a new novel idea.  The  local bookstore  owner, Bruce, introduces  her to Lovely Jackson. She's  the last known descendant of Dark Isle, a small island settled  by freed slaves three hundred years ago. She left Dark Isle at age fifteen, but claims ownership. 

However, Tidal Breeze, a huge corporate developer has plans to build a resort and casino there.  Mercer investigates Lovely's  family story and asks to write the full  non-fiction story.  A non-profit lawyer gets involved to  fight  for  Lovely's rights to her island - it's curse,  her ancestors are buried there, and no white folks have ever landed on that land and lived to tale the tale.    

cover  blurb - The deep  secrets of the past are about to collide with the enormous ambitions of the present, and the  fate of Dark  Isle - and Camino Island, too - hangs in the  balance. 

 I found the  story fairly predictable. Usually, Grisham surprises me with some fresh  twists. Didn't happen with this book.  I could skim and  I was amused, but not afraid of these ghosts.