Still Obsessed by Game of Thrones!

Still Obsessed by Game of Thrones!

After the agony of awaiting the return of Game of Thrones, I’m even more enamored and obsessed than ever. And this is from a woman with no prior interest in anything that smacks of fantasy. If a story includes dragons, mysticism, and the undead / zombies, I generally laugh, shake my head and say…not for me. But Game of Thrones changed that for me. I’ve even started reading book one in Martin’s series. While it is not a genre I’ve ever read previously, I find it well written and it fills in some gaps.

I came to Game of Thrones quite by accident.  A business associate had raved about the series during season 1; I told him this was not something that would pique my interest.  I don’t do fantasy.  I’m a Downton Abbey kind of girl. But, low and behold, the dearth of any qualify programming on television resulted in my husband and my watching a couple of episodes. The shear mass of characters was was confusing but it was the 4^th of July two-season marathon last summer that hooked me.  By the end of the marathon we’d seen each episode twice in order. Finally, I was intrigued, drawn in, pulled like a Star Trek tractor beam into the web. I’ve found myself having strong feelings about the characters. Truly, I wish for Joffrey a most unfortunately gruesome, lengthy and painful end.

Perhaps the fact that it is a medieval fantasy changed m attitude.  All things medieval interest me. My current book is a biography of Matilda, wife of William the Conqueror. Strong women of that period have fascinated me since I was a student and my first biography of Eleanor of Aquitaine pulled me into the medieval world.  And there are certainly strong women in Game of Thrones.

In any event, I am thrilled there will be a Season 4. Ten episodes a season are not enough. Just the sound of the theme music makes my heart race.  Truly, I wait with anticipation for Sunday nights at 9:00pm. Must see TV – even though the episodes are repeated throughout the week, I don’t want to wait.

Remembering Maggie Thatcher~

Remembering Maggie Thatcher~

Baroness Margaret Thatcher, aka Maggie aka the Iron Lady died today at the age of 87. Thatcher is one of the great political figures of the 20^th Century. No doubt she has reunited with her beloved husband Denis and her great friend, Ronald Reagan. The Iron Lady and the Gipper forged a political alliance and friendship that changed the western world culminating with the break up of the Soviet Union and the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Both Reagan and Thatcher came to power at a time of rampant inflation, high unemployment, and national identity crises. Maggie led the way with her staunch conservatism, iron will and policies that turned the tide in Britain. Thatcher busted the coal miner’s union. Reagan gutted PATCO, the Professional Air Traffic Controllers union. They slashed taxes and supported entrepreneurship, capitalism, private enterprise, & deregulation.

Maggie Thatcher, however, was also an icon for women the world over. She was the longest serving British prime minister of the 20^th Century and also the only woman ever to have held that position. For those women coming of age in the late 70’s, she exhibited what strength of character and hard work could accomplish. Pundits today tend to view Thatcher through the lens of 21^st Century eyes and sensibilities. But in 1979 when Thatcher became prime minister of Britain, it was exceedingly rare for a woman to accede to such a position of authority and power. She paved the way. And to achieve such political success from humble beginnings was unheard of in Britain. Positions of power were usually reserved for the affluent, well born, politically connected class. Thatcher was none of those. She was a grocer’s daughter from a small town in Lincolnshire. Grantham, England was at one time voted the most boring place in the country. Having spent nearly a year outside of Grantham from the autumn of 1978 to the summer of 1979 while at university, I can attest to the simplicity of the town. Thatcher rose from humble beginnings on her strength of character, will and intelligence to lead the Conservative party to victory at a time when socialism was tearing the country to shreds.

Regardless of how one views her political policies from today’s perspective, in her time she was respected the world over. She always elicited strong feelings from her supporter and her detractors. News outlets today showed irreverent photographs of her detractors celebrating her death.  But I mourn her death for the loss to the world of a larger than life woman who left her mark on our world.

Rest in peace, Maggie! 

Memories of Our Wedding in Santa Maria di Castellabate, Italy 8 Aprile 2006

Celebrating Our Seventh Wedding Anniversary With Memories of Our Wedding in Santa Maria di Castellabate,  Italy  8 Aprile 2006

http://www.slow-dreams.com/paestum_castellabate.htm

Seven years ago tomorrow I married my best friend and the love of my life in a gloriously romantic civil ceremony performed by the mayor of the Commune di Castellabate, Campania, Italy on the veranda of the historic Villa Sirio facing the sunset of the Tyrrhenian Sea.

After some online research we found slow-dreams.com, British and American Italian wedding planners who arrange enchanting, magical and unforgettable weddings for foreigners in Italy on the Cilento coastline south of Amalfi. This region affords the beauty of Amalfi without the crowds and the costs. It’s beauty and culture caused Castellabate to be named a UNESCO world heritage site. In order to increase tourism to the area, the region makes it easier for foreigners to get married there.

The wedding planners with Slow-Dreams made planning our wedding from across the pond effortless from the moment we sent off our first email inquiring about the services through the wedding dinner. This was truly a stress free wedding. We planned every detail by email and fax. All we had to do was show up with our family and friends.

Everything was arranged beautifully and professionally from the planning to the accommodations with all of us having seaside views with balconies to the food & wine, the assistance with transportation to tourist sites such as the Ancient Greek site of Paestum and the ruins of Pompeii to the amazing photographers and the arrangements for the paperwork. For a reasonably fee, Slow-Dreams arranged for us to meet a charming British expatriate who escorted us through the legalities in Naples. First we were taken to the American Consulate to obtain the necessary documents and then to the Italian government offices where an assistant was waiting, at the head of the line, with the necessary stamps to provide us with the approval needed to proceed with the ceremony.

Our event manager’s husband at the Villa Sirio even drove our son-in-law to the hospital in the middle of the night after a fall and met us at the hospital the next morning to assist with communicating with the local medical staff.

Castellabate is a medieval town built into the hillside with cobblestone walks, historic buildings and an unforgettable ambiance. Our experience was fabulous and we plan to return to Castellabate and the Villa Sirio to celebrate our 10^th anniversary.

 

Why I Love Nordstrom!

http://shop.nordstrom.com/?origin=tab-logo

Why I Love Nordstrom!

In this age where favorite department stores of the past have been devoured by mega conglomerates and consolidated into a few anchor stores that all sell the same merchandise, Nordstrom continues to shine.

Customer service is still top notch. The selection of merchandise ranges from the mid-price range to designer. The shoe selection is amazing; Nordstrom accepts returns any time for any reason. And, unlike many retail establishments, Nordstrom credit card holders are not charged usury rates that are reminiscent of the Medici in Renaissance Florence. In fact, Nordstrom’s rate is less than half the typical retail card rate. But I’m sure Nordstrom can offer this rate because this establishment does not use gimmicks to get consumers into the stores. There is no need for coupons or daily 4-hour sales or accruing points for cash in exchange for spending. Nordstrom does it the old fashioned way – with quality merchandise, semi annual sales, value for the money, and unequaled customer service. Shipping is free for online purchases.  Returns are easy – although I rarely return any purchase to Nordstrom.

The online shopping experience is excellent. The site provides multiple views of each item with customer reviews and ratings posted. And Nordstrom also gives recommendations as to fit if a particular item fits differently than the typical size charts. The ratings include insights on fit, function and quality.

At this point in my life, Nordstrom is the only store card that I use (with the exception of Sears and Best Buy for 18 months same as cash on appliances, computers and lawn maintenance equipment).

Tip of the Day~Since I’ve already ordered mine, my current recommendation for women who want a comfortable, true to size ballet flat at a reasonable price, is the Vince Camuto Ellen ballet flats which are currently on sale at Nordstrom for around $40 with free shipping. They feel like slippers right out of the box and have a nice cushioning. Next to Tieks, for me the gold standard of ballet flats, these are great at a fraction of the price on sale.

Book Review: Creole Belle by James Lee Burke

Book Review: Creole Belle by James Lee Burke

"Creole Belle" is the 19^th in the Dave Robicheaux series by James Lee Burke. Burke stands alone for me as the only novelist with a recurring protagonist that has not come to rely upon formulaic stories to keep a character alive. And Robicheaux is as complex a character as any I’ve encountered in American fiction.

Robicheaux is a Vietnam veteran with recurrent nightmares, a recovering alcoholic, a disgraced former homicide detective with the New Orleans police department, a deputy with the New Iberia sheriff department who doesn’t always follow the rules and a survivor of personal tragedy. He is in constant battle with his demons.  One constant in the stories is his former NOPD partner and best friend Clete Purcell, his adopted daughter Alafair who was rescued from a plane crash, and his three legged pet raccoon Tripod.

Burke writes with elegiac prose evocative of the heat and humidity, the smells and aura, the good and the evil of the Louisiana bayou. This is not Hemingway. Burke’s books are lyrical and descriptive and pull the reader into Robicheaux’s world. His moral compass is strongly focused on protecting the underdog, the loser, those who have been raised in poverty without a safety net, those who have no voice.  The rich have preyed upon those less fortunate. Money talks.  Money buys the dirty cops.  Murders among the underclass are not worth investigating.  Despite the federal victory in the War Between the States, in some areas very little has changed.

In "Creole Belle", Dave Robicheaux is recuperating in hospital from gunshot injuries. While in a morphine stupor, he is been visited by a singer known as Tee Jolie Melton, who left him with an IPod including songs nobody else can hear. H learns she has been missing for several weeks. When her sister Blue is found dead, frozen in ice floating on the bayou, Dave and Clete embark on a mission to find her killer.

As with all of Burke’s novels, the plot is convoluted but tightly woven with no clue as to how the matter will end until it ends. If you appreciate poetic prose that envelope you into the place and time, then give "Creole Belle" a try.  You just may want to go back and start at the beginning afterwards.  Even 20 years after its publication, I still have an emotional reaction to “Into the Electric Mist with the Confederate Dead”. Don’t rely on the movie version, which was a shallow version of the original.  Read the book