Book Fest

This last weekend was the annual Festival of Books, held at UCLA. Please don’t think that books or reading is dead. I have attended this event for several years and this year was the most packed I have ever seen it.

Not only do you get to meet the writers and have them sign your books, there are so many vendors and others to visit and see. One feature of the book fest is the panel discussion and interviews with writers. I was able to attend one with Gore Vidal, who has written 22 novels, along with books of essays and so much more.

Since Gore Vidal is noted for his outspokenness on politics, every one that I have mention his name to, has asked me the same question; what did he say?

He started out with an antidote about FDR, who was being pushed around the White House by a young service man. His wheel chair had been stuck and he needed to get to a certain office. The young man was so scared and didn’t know the way to the office he needed to get to. So he keep running down the hall way and then he finally came to the supply closet and put the President in it and closed the door. Roosevelt with his loud booming voice called for help to get out. “I might not be assassinated, but I might be the first President in history to be filed!”

Gore Vidal kept referring to Bush, as ‘the little guy from Texas’. When you are as old as he is, you have earned the right. When asked if history will correctly reflect Bush and Chaney as being horrible, he quipped, “Well every empire has to have its Caligula.” He was appalled that Bush had made the statement that he was a war-time President. He hoped that Obama would not use a military-based economy to fix things. If he went to Afghanistan it could be the start of another war. Gore said to let the Afghans kill each other. Also that 9-11 was because of the USA getting involved in other countries affairs. It was not the work of Al- Qaeda. The thing about with dictators and others who think too much of themselves, they get into a habit of lying.

Of course all of this and more will be in his books and any upcoming essays of his. It was so interesting to listen to a man who has had such a remarkable life. I asked him about his motivation as a writer. He didn’t seem to like that question and just said, “Look, you are either a writer or you’re not.”

I took it as, “I still have a lot to say and I will say it.” To that all I can say is…Here, Here!

Changes

This week has seen big changes in the weather. From the blazing hot this weekend and now cold today. Last weekend the beaches were crowed with families wanting to beat the heat. Of course I was nowhere near the beach. The last place I wanted to be in a crowd.

There have been changes in my job as well. Some are good, most of them, I will just have to wait and see. The most pointed is my attitude. I have to change the way I think about things and that is not easy for me.

A few years ago at another job we all had to read the “Who moved my cheese?” book. In my mind I would like to think that I adjust well. In reality it does take me a while. My ego stops me from looking at how things are, since I want to look who I think it should be. Yes good old denial.

When I get blue, I revert to my daydreams and I play little movies. In these daydreams things come out great and wrap up nicely, I suppose like the wrap of a sitcom. Sure I know deep down that things never wrap up like that and I have never experienced such nice resolutions to my own problems. I just use it as a tool to calm myself down and to regain the optimism I need to keep going.


What kind of daydreams do I have? I dream of the day that I will get the call from a literary agent and they want to take on my book. Another is a meeting with some magazine people about a piece I turned in. There is also the meeting with producers for my script daydream. In all of these I get what I want and my make-up looks great throughout. We won’t go into the Oscar speak daydream, but I have a great dress in that one.

Reality can be so dismal and I have to give myself my own pep talk with these daydreams. The bad part is that my life right resembles none of this and I still have to do the dishes and feed the dogs and run errands for the shop I work at.

I have achieved some of my dreams, and I hope to see others through to fruition. I do this by watching movies about writers, where they get what they want in the end. I read books about the publishing world and this weekend I am going to meet lots of writers at the Festival of Books at UCLA. This will help my soul, to met writers that have made it. I also attend readings in LA from time to time. This also helps me to see that my daydreams are not just total pipe dreams. If I didn’t use the daydreams as a buffer from the real world, I might not have the courage to make change.

Scotland

I usually joke that the only thing about me that is Scottish is my dogs and my whiskey; after years of waiting to go overseas I was now looking down at green hills and white sheep of Scotland. It was just as breathtaking as I had thought.

We landed in Prestwick and our friends were there to greet us at the gate. I hadn’t seen Maddy and Andy in a few years. We met them in San Francisco prior to this and had kept up with emails.

Since we had been traveling for three weeks now and had picked up souvenirs along the way, along with shoes, and purses and other clothing our bags we bursting. Our friends, Maddy expecting mind you, showed up in a Mini, to collect us from the air port. I don’t think that boot could carry as much as it did. Not that we cared, after being in countries where we did not speak the language, it was nice to speak English with our friends.

They took us to Sterling Castle and Edinburgh, also a day trip on the Waverly, a seafaring paddle boat. The only Scottie dog we saw in Scotland was on one of the Islands we stopped at off the coast. There was a group of older men that were celebrating a birthday, when they left the boat in the evening they were dragging their friend, presumably the birthday man, to the car since he could no longer walk on his own.

Another night we met up with fellow Scooter people we had met before, when they were on holiday. We had fun catching up with them and sharing a drink and a laugh. Of course when they all get together it doesn’t sound like English anymore. On the way home we saw three NEDS, that stands for None Educated Delinquents’. One young man had his cheeks completely raw and bloody; he was drunk and had already been in a fight. Seeing him I wanted to ask if Andy needed to use his mobile and call for help. The young man saw I was staring and before I could offer help he started to curse at me and gave me a shove. My man and Andy got in-between myself and the other three; threw them dirty looks. Nothing happened and the three of them kept on their way. My friend Andy was mortified that we had to encounter that. I told him, “It’s not an adventure if nothing happens.” We were fine and got some pizza and went home.

It was great to be with friends and met new ones while we were in Scotland. We did some sightseeing, visited Andy’s parents, and did some shopping. After the record breaking heat of the rest of the trip I was so glad I still had a sweater to wear in Scotland and thankful for the clouds and mild temperature.

Yes we tried some Haggis and it was good. Of all the places we had been to, we were told we had only been in the lowlands. It was hard to say good bye at the airport and we promised to come back. Since we have great friends there, Scotland and Glasgow holds a special place in our hearts!

PARIS

The city of lights, I have been waiting to visit this city since I was a little girl and first saw photos of it. The train station was crowed and after we had visited other countries this was just another stop. We had already made reservations at a hotel on -line before we left the states. Since it was the summer and a tourist destination we didn’t want to chance it and not have a place to stay.

The first room we were in did not have air conditioning as promised and we could hear a loud family arguing. So we went down stairs and got a room change. The next one was bigger, no A/C but it was in the middle of the building and was cooler. Since we had been traveling for a while we did some washing and hung it up in the bathroom.

On to do some shopping, or at least see the designer’s shops I have read about in Vogue since I was 13. We had to go to the Louver. We spent most of the day Sunday there. My feet were sore and tired, but the Mona Lisa was there and other works of art I had to see. Later we stopped by a café and had lunch. I could see the name of a street on the side of a building and I asked the waitress if that was the street of the 1st Chanel shop. I was told it was and after lunch I went and took a photo next to the shop door. I found other shops, they were closed on Sunday but I would be back the next day.

I had a list of places I wanted to see in each city, I was able to find and go to a tea-shop with cakes and great teas. There were the landmarks to see like the Eiffel tower. I am afraid of heights, but I sucked it up and went to the top anyway. It has the best view of the city and we waited till it got dark to see the city below light up at night.

The shopping was too expensive than I had planned and I wasn’t able to get as much stuff as I wanted. Seeing as how we had been vacationing for weeks, the luggage was already getting quite a work out as it was. The buildings are short just like I had noticed in London, but by now I was used to it.

The dining was everything we expected. We had a nice four-course dinner and champagne one night and it was lovely. Being quite once again was the best way to get great service. Remembering to say “Bonjour” was a great help as well. If you can at least manage that it puts people at ease. I have to say here there is an exception to this rule. A friend of ours went to Paris, but with their southern accent, speaking French made the locals think they were being mocked.

After drinking in the architecture and walking around the city for days enjoying fine food and art, it was time to take one more flight, from France to Scotland. Glasgow to be exact and a new stamp in my passport book that reads: Prestwick.

Euro rail

The best part of our trip to Europe was riding around on the trains. The train from Venice to Milan was late and of course the German train was on time. We thought we were going to have time to get some food at the station before boarding the next train but we barely had time to get onto the German train.

Since we were late the first class cars were full so we just had to get on were we could. It had been a hot day and the station was steamy. The second class cars had a small Eisenhower era air-conditioned that barley blew any cool air out. We had already been hot and we couldn’t open the window. There was nothing to do but strip down to out under things and drink tons of bottled water.

By the morning we were in Germany and we went to the end of the car to use the shower apparently everyone else had showered over night and the only towel left for me to use to dry off was a wash cloth. We did get a nice breakfast on the train, there was a small seating area and the cabin steward served us yogurt and some breakfast tea and toast. It wasn’t a lot but it was better than nothing.

We pulled into station at Cologne and found our hotel, which was across the street. The shower on the train really handed left me feeling clean so I used the shower in the room. I was now in the land of the tall white people and the shower head and fixtures were much higher than in Italy. Back to the station and the huge Gothic cathedral, there was s small boys choir rehearsing and the acoustics were amazing. Behind the alter workers were restoring the tomb of some bishop or cardinal that laid there.

The rest of the city was charming and we dined at a café by the river. There was a stag party we saw doing a pub crawl. The Germans were the loudest of all the Europeans we has seen so far and they got louder the more they drank. In one of the places we stopped in to have a beer we had only seen a lager, then later a darker beer. After asking if they had a darker beer we were informed that that was beer and coke mixed together. To us, drinking the normal beer was just fine and it seemed a sacrilege to mix it with coke, we found out later it was called a diesel. We never tired one.

We had inquired about getting lederhosen for a man, but there was nothing in the store like that. Only other knick-knacks we did some shopping. My favorite thing from that trip was a few pairs of pants I bought in Cologne or Koln. It was also obvious that my man’s family might have been northerners, he looked like everyone there. They all had his same nose.

From there we took the train the next day to the city I had been dreaming of all my life, Paris.

Venice

The train was full in the 1st class section, or was this the 1st class section? It was an older train and we still had our own booth to ourselves. One other person was there later. She was very loud and was breaking up with her boyfriend over the phone, and leaving town at the same time it seemed. It wouldn’t have been so bad, but she was yelling on her mobile phone and squeezing her zits at the same time. She also had some kind of drink with her that she didn’t finish and which made the floor sticky. After she left the rest of the trip was fine.

We got off the train and in the shops at the station were a lot of decanter sets and other glass wear. Duh, Venation Glass! We found a place to stay with last minute bookings. It was just on the other side of the Grand Canal. As we exited and boom, we were right on the Grand Canal! It was a breath taking sight; it looks like a film set, the homes in pastel colors and the green water.

The hotel was a little tricky to find with all the nooks and crannies. I asked for some ice, I just needed was a glass full. What I got was a whole big salad bowl full of ice. I said thank you in Italian and took it up stairs. They obviously knew that American’s really like a lot of ice.

We took a ride on a Gondola after dinner. Dinner was great by the way. In the small spaces in the canals it could be just about any century, if it wasn’t for the blue glow of the TV sets in the homes.

The next day we went to the Rialto. There were plenty of shops along the way as well. We found a place that had hand blown calligraphy sets. They set down two tins with all the colors of the rainbow, just full of the pens. “Pick one.” I was instructed. I could no sooner pick my favorite flower at a flower mart! I managed to select two, with gold in the glass and two hand-bound leather journals. As I left I cried a bit, it’s difficult when you hold on to a dream for years and it comes true.

Later we went to the big town square and saw a boy with seeds in his hand feeding the pigeons. His family was filming him and the birds were pecking the food and it hurt him. He was saying “Ouch” and we chuckled, which must have ended up in the film. We also saw a big Scottie dog and asked to photograph him. The owner posed, but the photo is just of the dog.

We did get some Scotty dogs in glass at one of the shops. We didn’t get a decanter set. But it’s good to leave something for next time. We had more gelato, which felt great in the hot summer night. The next day we took an afternoon train back to Malian then a night train to Cologne Germany.

Florence

The day was hot and humid as we rolled into Florence; another train station and another time to look at the last minute bookings. Only this time we ended up in a hotel that was just around the corner from the station.

It was on the 3rd floor and had a very small cage elevator. It was okay but later in the evening I wasn’t sure if the lower floors had brothel or not. There was a lot of yelling. Or it could have just been a drunken husband coming home at night.

I had taken art history while at Fullerton College and I was anxious to see the Uffizi museum and the dome that they said couldn’t be done. As well as the brass doors on the baptismal, which had been awarded to an artist competition. They really liked to do to see who would get the commission.

First things first, after getting settled into the hotel then we went back to the train station and had to book an overnight train we would need in a few days. We also had to book a spot for the train to Venice. It was a long wait and everyone was getting tired. It was very hot, this was a record-breaking heat wave and there are not always air-conditioning in these old buildings. Most of the time they really don’t need it, that’s why. As we left we heard two older women talking. Someone was taking too long at a light and we all had to wait on the curb longer. One said to the other “Mama- mia!” I didn’t know anyone really said that, I thought it was just a stereo-type. It was cute.

After that was done then it was time for more shopping. I bought a nice linen top and some things from Cosabella. That night we went to a café and then got some gelato later. We didn’t have any dessert at the restaurants since it was hot and we wanted to try as much gelato was we could. My feet were getting really swollen and I was getting a heat rash. So we went to the chemist. Or drug store, I showed the pharmacist my hands and what was going on. He got me a cream it had like lemon in it and worked great. I still have the tube in case I ever go back and can get some more.


The next day we did go to the museum and I was the personal tour guide for my man. I told him all I could remember about the artists. It is really something to see in real life the paintings you studied. Sure you have seen them before, like Botticelli’s Venus. But it is nothing like seeing it in person. The color is different than a reproduction and there is nothing like standing in it’s presence!

We only stayed a short time in Florence. The day after we were left for Venice.