Monday, September 28, 2015

A midnight blessing

I just discovered that my book review for Eva Luna has been published on a British website called For Reading Addicts. Here is the link: http://forreadingaddicts.co.uk/book-reviews/isabel-allende-eva-luna

I hope you enjoy the review.

A glorious weekend

I went to the Banned Books Festival at West Hollywood Library on Saturday, September 26. It was scheduled to last from 12 pm-7 pm. I arrived a little after 2 pm. First, I went into the library to drop off books that were due that day. Then, I went upstairs to see what books I'd like to borrow. I picked six works of nonfiction: Apathy for the devil : a seventies memoir by Nick Kent, It's what I do : a photographer's life of love and war by Lynsey Addario, Yesterday, today, tomorrow : my life by Sophia Loren, The book of firsts : 150 world-changing people and events, from Caesar Augustus to the Internet by Peter D'Epiro, The man in the white sharkskin suit : my family's exodus from Old Cairo to the New World by Lucette Lagnado, and Funny in Farsi : a memoir of growing up Iranian in America by Firoozeh Dumas. It didn't take long to find them because I bypassed the fiction. A few glitches at self-checkout but everything worked out. It was when I went downstairs that events became fascinating. There was a vertically aligned poster on a column that asked us, "What book were you afraid to get caught reading?" There was a marker attached for us to write our answers. I wrote the Kama Sutra. I still wouldn't read that openly. I rented it from the library about three years ago. Very much something I would buy. I also took some pictures. While I had my camera out, I began speaking to a soft butch lesbian named Tobi. She offered pointers on how to get the best shot. Her father was a gaffer in film production.( He was the person who knew how to create the desired effect for lighting in a scene.) She took over as a photographer from an attractive Latina brunette. Tobi had been living in San Francisco for a few years, then moved back to Southern California  in the summer of 2015. She was born in Panorama City at a Kaiser Permanente. ( I had told her that I was born at a Kaiser Permanente near the 10 in West LA.) She told me about Red Hen Press. I told her I love men and she accommodated my desires. A book called 52 Men by Louise Wareham Leonard. I look forward to reading that! I'll wait to see if the library purchases a copy. The price is a bit steeper than what I would like: $ 15.95 for 120 pages. That's a slender book. The author is from New Zealand. I have read multiple times that women from Australia and New Zealand are very progressive sexually. So she's true to her country.( Or possibly stereotype.) 

Tuesday, September 15, 2015

One of Miss Chaka's gems


This is a song I had hoped to hear from Miss Chaka last week. Unfortunately, I didn't. But here is a clip of the song:




Monday, September 7, 2015

Friday Night at the Fair!

I went to the LA County Fair on September 4, 2015 to see Chaka Khan and Patti LaBelle. They performed in that order. Chaka was less animated than the performances of days past but her voice sounded excellent.She performed much of her Rufus catalogue, maybe two songs from her solo days. She closed her set with "Ain't Nobody". The entire crowd rejoiced! I stayed on my feet during her time. Patti LaBelle had some sort of throat problem that became evident when she spoke. She could still manage some high notes, though. She chose to sing mostly slow songs. "I Got a New Attitude" was the only uptempo song she delivered. It was sweet at the end. She elected to arrange an " In Loving Memory" segment. Just about everyone important in singing of the last 45 years had their picture displayed. Minnie Riperton, who died in 1979, was included. My girl, Amy Winehouse, was included. After the celebrities were finished, she showed her relatives who had died. I remember reading in Ebony about how she decided to get healthy because all of her sisters succumbed to illness at early ages. I am very pleased that I was blessed to see Chaka and Patti.