Six Word Memoir by Larry Smith

A good friend sent me an article (2/15/15) from her paper, The Philadelphia Inquirer. A local boy, Larry Smith is married to Piper Kerman (Orange is the New Black) and a prolific writer in his own right. He encourages folks to tell their stories and his Smith Magazine issued a challenge in 2006 - write your six word memoir.   www.sixwordmemoirs.com

Here's one of his:  Old mixtapes foreshadowing my postmodern troubles

He received one from his friend Elizabeth Gilbert (Eat, Pray, Love) : Me see world. Me write stories

So what's your story?

Here I am - She works to earn travel money

OR

Landlocked in Bedford, yearns for ocean

Share your tale in six words.  It makes you think, that's for sure

Musical: Kinky Boots

 Saturday February 28, Linda and Tom Hoffman and I saw the musical Kinky Boots at Dallas Fair Park Music Hall. Wow - what a production.  Based on a true story that had been a movie, Harvey Fierstein wrote the play book and Cyndi Lauper created the music and lyrics for a Broadway musical. Now the touring groups are kicking up their heels

 Here are a pair of signed boots from the Broadway show

 Here's our touring group. Picture courtesy of an email sent by the Dallas production. The premise is Charlie Price has to save his family's shoe factory. His new niche is stiletto boots for drag queens, et al. In working with Lola/Simon, the key theme is acceptance of a person, even yourself, without judgment or preordained thinking and presumptions. The factory is a family and has to work together too. All in all -  fabulous sets, catchy tunes, lovely voices, and the show makes you smile.

Linda and I in our very basic shoes. We've been friends for over thirty years!

Soothing Saturday and Sunday

sometimes you have to be at the right place at the right time. It was 8 am and I rounded the corner to see this refracted light from our front door. The picture doesn't really do it justice, but the rainbow of colors was way cool

and more Texas snow

 behind this iced shed door is my snow shovel.  Why did I not put it in the garage? It's Texas, baby.

 The wind howled and the snow drifted

 Opened the garage this morning to find this daunting hump. Will my Cruze navigate it?  Ray reported no official lanes on the highway. We don't have plows here. They just spritz sand on the bridges.

 snow topper

I liked the pattern

We've had a challenging few weeks. However, temps should get above freezing by noon and by the weekend it shall be in the 50s. Next week - 70s.

That's the Texas way to handle winter.

Golden Books Legacy and more

 Took a little jaunt a week or so ago to the Irving Arts Center. It's about twenty minutes from my house. I was impressed - they have art galleries, a theater, and a small sculpture garden.

 The main exhibit I wanted to see was The Golden Books 65 Year Legacy.  They displayed fifty or more original artwork illustrations from Golden Books. Biographies of the artists were interesting, and one stuck out - Richard Scarry. Yep, he began in the Golden Book world. One of the richest illustrations was from Little Red Riding Hood. It was spectacular.

Another small exhibit contained gorgeous black and white photos by Terry Cockerman. He took them in the Big Bend area of Texas. Stunning contrasts.

I was very glad I took a little adventure on a Thursday. Poke around in your own backyard - you never know what you might find.

Book Review - The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins

From the cover blurb – There she sits, the girl on the train. What she sees, gazing out the window, will change everything.  Indeed, Rachel rides the slow commuter train, often drinking gin and tonic from a can (yes, she has a problem). The train stops and she can see a young couple on their terrace. She names them Jess and Jason and assumes their lives are lovely. One day though, she sees another man kiss Jess. Later in the week, the news announces a woman is missing, and Rachel realizes that’s “her Jess”. Does Rachel have valuable information for the police? Is she reliable enough? 

The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins is a page turner with a mystery, messy characters, and it’s a compulsive read.  The night the woman went missing, Rachel awoke from a blackout with blood on her head. She remembered something about the underpass on her walk from the train. She is a walking disaster – divorced but still calling her ex-husband Tom. She’s practically received a restraining order from him and his new wife, Anna, to stay away from them and their baby. Rachel’s lost her job and her roommate has issued an ultimatum and a date to kick her out.  

As Rachel tries to remember what happened to her that night, she realizes that the incident is entangled with the missing woman. She even reaches out to the husband (real name is Scott) who is a prime suspect. Everyone is fair game in this mystery. No one is a nice person and everyone has a complicated back story.  

p. 318  You can feel it: it’s like the hum of electric lights, the change in atmosphere, as the train pulls up to the red signal. I’m not the only one who looks now. I suppose that everyone does it – looks at the houses they pass – only we all see them differently.  

The ever present train gives the author, Paula Hawkins, a way of viewing the world from a different angle. It’s a neat perspective. Join Rachel, The Girl on the Train, and help her find herself and solve the mystery of one night. Don’t be lulled by the clickety-clack of the old train. Punch a roundtrip ticket – it could take a while.

 

Silent Sunday

This was actually Friday afternoon.  Saturday turned to rain.  Sunday continued rain - a bit of freezing drizzle to add a nice glaze.

It will be 100 degrees in Texas far too soon.