Sun Storm by Asa LarssonI had a hard time putting this one down and read it in three days. Just fascinating. A mystery that explores different personalities and the interplay between them. Murder, mutilation, manipulation, co-dependence, dominance, and self reliance that wins out. I am anxiously waiting for the next of her novels to be available at the Library.
Tagged larsson, mystery, reviewThese are my links from November 15, 2014
by Elizabeth J. SilverSet on Death Row with flashbacks to the events that brought Noa there. An interesting uncovering of several lives and contrasting ways of living and getting what one wants from life or death as the case may be. The characters stay with me. I m revisiting this review having read this book some time ago and it is true that the characters are still on my mind.
Tagged review
by Michael PaternitiA story, mostly true I suppose, of Michael driving Thomas Harvey across the US in a Buick Skylark. The unusual thing here is that Dr. Harvey was the pathologist who performed an autopsy on Albert Einstein and removed Mr. Albert’s brain. Also, the brain is in formaldehyde in tupper ware in the back of Skylark. The purpose of the trip is to visit with Einstein’s granddaughter and offer her a portion of her grandfather’s brain. Part of this is a story of how very exotic and unusual events are performed by ordinary, familiar people. The story also contains lots of tid-bits about Einstein’s life, fame, and failures.
Tagged einstein, review
History of Food in 100 Recipes by William Sitwell by William Sitwell.An excellent exposition of the history of food and the way it is prepared through a collection of recipes dating from ancient Egypt to the present day. The author is British and the recipes are typically from Europe or the United States. Reading this I realized that the recipes and the commentary is as much about my culture and society as it is about food.
Tagged Recipes, reviewThese are my links from November 13, 2014
Jerusalem: A Cookbook by Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami TamimiA beautiful cookbook of recipes from Jerusalem. Clearly written recipes with beautifully photographed food. Recipes that are exotic to me but seem to be common to Jerusalem and the varied cultures there.
Tagged cookbook, review
When we are returning from a visit with our kids in Brooklyn we often stop at Cape May, NJ to spend a day or two at the ocean. It is always invigorating and soothing to stand on the beach watching the ocean and its waves.
Links to descriptions of the final art installation at Death By AudioBig Law Country Club featured in ‘Death by Art’ at Death By Audio “For non-religious orphans, the music venue can be a viable substitute for a religious establishment – it is a place to worship, a place to find community, a place to find hope and faith. As Death by Audio shuts its doors, it is, for many, not only the closing of the cultural institution but the loss of a home. It is the last candle blown out of a once colorful and artistic neighborhood.
Taking the exhibition title ‘Death by Art’ on a literal and funerary level, Alison Sirico, Peter Fankhauser, and Mackswell Sherman create ‘Audio Delphi’ – a shrine erected as a sanctuary for reflection, celebration, and mourning of the beloved venue.”
Obituary average age. November 14, 2014 : 69.23
This is the thirteenth day I’ve been collecting this data.
The mean of  obituary average ages using {77.375,64,74.143, 62.5, 55,66.8333, 74.11,71.27,68.82, 76.92,63,76.71} at Wolfram alpha is 69.23, up .01 from the previous computations.
Some words in the obituaries that caught my attention are:
- He fell in love in Japan with a woman he couldn’t marry. He came home and married a woman who would struggle with demons he’d fight on her behalf for four decades. He watched her fade away 13 years ago.
- Drive safe.
- Recently, in what would become one of the last conversations I would have with my father, he spoke quite subtly. His raspy whisper was suddenly as strong as I had heard it in weeks and he commanded the attention of all in the room with his emergence from days of near silence. “You know,” he said, “as I look back, I don’t really remember the mean parts of my life.”
Tagged average age, obituary