Still playing tourist in Alexandria, and I have not been consistent with my blogs-nothing new there-the history here is simply amazing, and there is much to see everywhere you turn, and as a result I have not focused on my writing. So many places rich in American history are close by and beckon a visit.
I’m a writer, I actually need to write...that being said, A Hotel in Venice has been released and I’m working on a sequel set in Barcelona.
I spent many years living in suburbia, raised two accomplished and successful daughters in the burbs. Fortunately it was a quiet life-a life with an excellent school district that benefitted my daughters, a life filled with dear friends, and many memories and strife-in other words-life. The hardest part was leaving lifelong friends, but we all make an effort to visit each other, and most assuredly we stay in touch.
When the decision came to move, I wanted something a little more mobile, certainly more urban. I love to walk and wanted to be able to do so. Driving for me was never a delight, and always a chore, one I dislike immensely.
Alexandria was perfect, it is at once urban and suburban. Filled with history, a quaint and charming old town packed with restaurants, boutiques, antique shops, historical buildings and tourists. A gorgeous water front, with easy access to DC, just a hop on the Metro, and within 20 minutes the National Gallery beckons. Did I mention, all the Smithsonian museums are free to the public.
A water taxi and 20 minutes later the giant Ferris wheel beckons at the National Harbor, MD.
The best part, most of the sites in Alexandria are within walking distance for me, that includes the Alexandria Harbor, that also boasts a converted torpedo factory that now houses 82 studios and artists, and 7 galleries, the studios/galleries are open to the public free of charge. It is heavenly.
I find the vitality of urban life, the sound of cars and sirens, the Metro going by, construction- all exhilarating and life affirming. There is soul pulsing in this city, it is a tourist town that generates excitement because of its history and many landmarks, it is a business center. It is home.
The National Science Foundation is building its headquarters here, along with NSF, new condos and apartment buildings are rising fast to accommodate the influx of new blood. An announcement from TSA indicated that they’re moving their corporate headquarters to our area in 2017...more urban reality.
I posted a few pictures from Alexandria for you to enjoy.
Cheers,
Margot Justes
Blood Art
A Fire Within
A Hotel in Paris
A Hotel in Bath
A Hotel in Venice
www.mjustes.com
trying out a yoke to carry waterFor Mother's Day, I told my family, I wanted one thing: a research trip.
For my current project, I wanted to experience frontier life in the Virginia/West Virginia area. So we headed off to the Frontier Culture Museum, which is about two-and-a-half hours south of DC.
As I recently wrote in this blog, I love to experience the settings that inspire my novels. This was a great way to crawl back into history and experience it directly. The Frontier Culture Museum has real (relocated and reconstructed) homes that tie to different parts of Virginia's frontier history. They've got part of a West African village, homes from England, Ireland and Germany, and then three American homes too.
The homes are furnished according to the time, and many have costumed interpreters that know a LOT about the home they are in--as well as the history of that time. I think one of my favorite things was watching a man play a hummel--a German "peasant" stringed instrument. He was excellent. Every single interpreter taught me something new, and they were game for any question. Which was good, because Little Dude's stock question at each house was "where do you go to the bathroom?" (Actually that led to some fascinating discussions!)
If you can make it to Virginia and you're working on a story that involves 1700s or 1800s Ireland, England, Germany or America, this is a fantatic place to go. I guarantee your story will be much richer for it.
They also have a great bookstore. I've got a pile of books to work through. My poor family will also likely be subjected to some fine frontier cooking, thanks to my new Log Cabin Cooking cookbook. My only regret? That we didn't buy the game Little Dude played with an interpreter, "the graces" (at left). He LOVED it. I didn't tell him it was typically played by girls to make them more graceful!
MockingbirdKathryn Erskine
middle grade/ya
Every once in a while I run across one of those stories with a main character so beyond the bounds of my everyday existence I marvel at how anyone could create her/him and do so in such a believable way.
Erskine has done so with her character, Caitlin. A fifth-grader, Caitlin has Asperger's Syndrome. She's really smart but has a really tough time understanding and expressing emotion. Maneuvering through life means learning an exhausting list of facial expressions that decode what what people are thinking and/or what they really mean. Add to that that the the person who helped her maneuver the world, her older brother, has been killed in a school shooting.
Erskine bites off a huge chunk of storytelling with her character and the external event of a school shooting. She maneuvers both phenomenally. Caitlin is one of the best characters I've read lately. I had no idea what it's like inside the mind of a child with Asperger's. Erskine gives her readers a glance. It's a glance that doesn't pity. It doesn't minimize. It is. As such, I came to both empathize and understand Caitlin. It's a phenomenal bit of writing. Add to it weaving Caitlin's story seamlessly together with the affects of a school shooting on a community and exploring how to find "closure" and this work moves from phenomenal to unforgettable.
The one aspect of this novel that I was less impressed with was that it, like
When You Reach Me, relies on an outside piece of art, in this instance
To Kill a Mockingbird, to carry part of the story. One day I may do this myself and kick myself for not understanding or for finding fault with this particular writer's tool at present, but when a writer can weave as well as Erskine, story doesn't need outside art to support it, or deepen the emotional resonance. It's already there. And there in spades. For me, bringing in the outside world in this way detracts from the story being told. It pulls me outside Caitlin's story. It also expects a lot from that external art and the reader. I'd hazard a guess that not many children today have seen,
To Kill a Mockingbird. Thus, what effect will the film really have on the reader? Wouldn't a fictional film do the job even better by staying within story by being a created part of it?
If you're looking for a deep story about school shootings, how they affect a community, what it must be like to "feel" and perceive the world as a person with Asperger's all wrapped into a story that pulls you toward it in a gentle but insistent way, read
Mockingbird. There is so much here. Much to discuss. Critique. Enjoy. Ponder. And grow from.
Read it.
For other great Spring diversions, hop over to
Barrie Summy's website. She's got temptations galore!
After spending most of Oct-Dec in bed recovering from surgery for a herniated lumbar disc, I'm going to be zooming around again. Here's my events schedule (so far) thru May.
3:00-4:30pm ET (12:00-1:30 PT)
Includes Q&A, Marketing Plan Worksheet & private 15-minute follow-up consultation.
January 29 & 30 - Space Coast Writers Guild Conference Cocoa Beach, FL
- "Book Promotion 101"
- "Polish Your Pitch"
- individual 10-minute pitch coaching sessions
Guest speaker: Alison Larkin, author of The English American
March 18, 7:00pm - "Candy & Booze: Good for the Jews?"
Moderator; with Katharine Weber (True Confections) and Max Watman (Chasing the White Dog: An Amateur Outlaw’s Adventures in Moonshine).
March 19, 4:00pm - "The Business of Book Reviewing: Changes & Challenges"
Tristan from Virginia sent me this tale of a dream she had at camp about her best friend. Not unusual, right? But what happened next...well, read on, friends.
Hi Jason. My name is Tristan and I live in Virginia. I'm a normal twelve-year-old girl. But I had a REALLY weird experience last week when I went to camp. I believe I had telepathic communication with my best friend.
Okay, so I was at camp for the week. You know, campfire, cabins, pranks, counselors, mess hall, the whole thing. Well, on Monday night I had a dream that was SO vivid, it was kinda like I was there! It started with me and my friend's sister in their kitchen. (both of them are my friends) and we were in front of the stove, mixing something in a big bowl. I told her something, and, in the EXACT same way she does when I'm actually with her, she said "good" and turned around and left. Then her brother- my best friend- came up the steps in a plaid fox hat, and his green fox t-shirt and we started talking. I woke up in my bunk, a little dazed the next morning. I decided it was just because I missed them that I had the dream. So I forgot about the whole thing....until wednesday night at the campfire. I felt a throbbing pain, as if I'd been smacked on part of my head. I just shrugged that off, too.
When I got back home the next day, I told my friend's sister what happened, describing everything. "What did you say he was wearing in your dream? " she asked me when I was done. I repeated the dream. "That's what he wore on Tuesday!" she said, her eyes wide. "And I smacked him on Wednesday night, too. Around the time you described! And I thought I heard you walking around upstairs!"
So I think, we think, we MAY be telepathic. Nobody believes me! Not my parents and almost none of my friends believe me, either. You believe me, don't you?
You bet, Tristan. Like you, I'm wide open to the possibilities that weird stuff happens out there. Thanks for sharing this!
Posted on 7/23/2009
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The one name linking all of these is Richmond.
1. Dave Richmond, bass player and founder member of 1960s band Manfred Mann. He left the group after ‘5-4-3-2-1′ and then, after a time with the John Barry Seven, became a session musician. As such he has played with, amongst others, Dusty Springfield, Cliff Richard and Elton John. He was also on the controversial (at the time) ‘Je T’aime’ by Serge Gainsborough and Jane Birkin. For the last 21 years he has played bass on the theme for television’s ‘Last of the Summer Wine’. Dave Richmond’s home page
2. Richmond, the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, U.S. Virginia is one of four states in the U.S. which use the term commonwealth in their names, the others are Massachusetts, Kentucky and Pennsylvania. Richmond, which stands on the James River, was also the capital of the Confederacy from July 1861.
3. Richmond Palace was a royal palace on The Green, Richmond, Surrey, England, U.K. in what is now part of London, between 1327 and 1649. It was built by Henry VII on the site of the former Palace of Shene (a.k.a. Sheen or Sheane) after a disastrous fire in 1497 and renamed Richmond Palace. Elizabeth I spent a lot of time at Richmond and died there in 1603.
Richmond Palace
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4. Richmond Arquette is the sibling of Alexis, David, Patricia and Rosanna Arquette. He is a minor character actor who is perhaps best remembered as the delivery driver, who unwittingly delivers the box containing the head, at the end of the film ‘Se7en’ (1995).
5. Richmond Castle, North Yorkshire, England, U.K. Norman fortress built on a rocky promontory overlooking the River Swale and dating from shortly after the Norman conquest. Now over 900 years old it is in the care of English Heritage.
Posted on 7/23/2009
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The one name linking all of these is Richmond.
1. Dave Richmond, bass player and founder member of 1960s band Manfred Mann. He left the group after ‘5-4-3-2-1′ and then, after a time with the John Barry Seven, became a session musician. As such he has played with, amongst others, Dusty Springfield, Cliff Richard and Elton John. He was also on the controversial (at the time) ‘Je T’aime’ by Serge Gainsborough and Jane Birkin. For the last 21 years he has played bass on the theme for television’s ‘Last of the Summer Wine’. Dave Richmond’s home page
2. Richmond, the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, U.S. Virginia is one of four states in the U.S. which use the term commonwealth in their names, the others are Massachusetts, Kentucky and Pennsylvania. Richmond, which stands on the James River, was also the capital of the Confederacy from July 1861.
3. Richmond Palace was a royal palace on The Green, Richmond, Surrey, England, U.K. in what is now part of London, between 1327 and 1649. It was built by Henry VII on the site of the former Palace of Shene (a.k.a. Sheen or Sheane) after a disastrous fire in 1497 and renamed Richmond Palace. Elizabeth I spent a lot of time at Richmond and died there in 1603.
Richmond Palace
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4. Richmond Arquette is the sibling of Alexis, David, Patricia and Rosanna Arquette. He is a minor character actor who is perhaps best remembered as the delivery driver, who unwittingly delivers the box containing the head, at the end of the film ‘Se7en’ (1995).
5. Richmond Castle, North Yorkshire, England, U.K. Norman fortress built on a rocky promontory overlooking the River Swale and dating from shortly after the Norman conquest. Now over 900 years old it is in the care of English Heritage.
By: Megan,
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Megan Branch, Intern
In addition to all my blogging and publicity intern duties here at OUP over the past six months, I’ve also been interning for the 19th Annual Virginia Woolf Conference. The Conference is held at a different university every year and this year it just happens to be taking place in New York. The majority of those attracted to the Woolf Conference are Woolf scholars, but this year there is something for the rest of us: there’s going to be a band.
The band is called Princeton and they almost never make their way to the East Coast, so their one-night-only performance at the Woolf Conference is even more special. The band is made up of 3 guys based in Los Angeles who sound like a cross between The Shins, Sufjan Stevens, and a library. Princeton write and perform music based on the lives and work of the members of the Bloomsbury Group that included Virginia Woolf, Leonard Woolf, Lytton Strachey and John Maynard Keynes. One of my favorite songs from Princeton’s Bloomsbury EP, “The Waves”, shows off what they do best. The song pairs heartbreaking lyrics, detailing Woolf’s last thoughts before her suicide, with music so upbeat that it’s practically bursting with sunshine. Princeton’s music makes you happy, and then it makes you think.
For the Woolf Conference, Princeton will be playing all of their songs from the Bloomsbury EP and have collaborated with the Stephen Pelton Dance Theater to produce “Lytton/Carrington”, influenced by Bloomsbury member Lytton Strachey’s unique relationship with the painter Dora Carrington. Also premiering at the Woolf Conference is the dance theatre piece “it was this: it was this:”, choreographed by Stephen Pelton, which uses movement to illustrate Woolf’s use of punctuation in one paragraph of To the Lighthouse.
Princeton and the Stephen Pelton Dance Theatre will be performing in Fordham University’s Pope Auditorium, 113 W. 60th St, on June 5th at 8 PM. Tickets will be available at the door for $20.
You can learn more about the 19th Annual Virginia Woolf Conference here.
See for yourself how awesome Princeton and the Stephen Pelton Dance Theater are.
And here’s the music video for my favorite Princeton song, “The Waves.”
Click here to view the embedded video.
A couple of years ago I planted a Stayman Winesap apple tree in my backyard. I since found out that it's self-unfruitful, meaning it needs another variety to pollinate it. Yesterday I bought two Cortland apple trees at Home Depot, instead of a Cortland and a Jonagold, (mis)remembering that they were good pollinators for Stayman. I just did some online research and found out that Cortland and Jonagold are the absolute wrong trees to plant with Stayman, as they won't cross-pollinate. Not that the Stayman has produced any flowers to date. But, ever the eternal optimistic (or deluded) gardener, I want to be ready for next year.
Deep into my Google search, I found this tidbit on a website about old apple varieties:
During the American Revolution, captured Hessian soldiers held near Winchester VA planted an orchard with Fameuse (aka Snow) apples.
My curiosity piqued, I did a search for Hessian soldiers Virginia, and found some fascinating--and appalling--stuff.
In a Wikipedia article on Winchester:
Hessian soldiers were known for walking to the high ridge north and west of town and purchasing and eating apple pies from the Quakers. Thus, this ridge west of town became affectionately known as Apple Pie Ridge and the Ridge Road built before 1709 leading north from town was renamed Apple Pie Ridge Road.
In the
New York Times there is a March 31, 1912, article with the innocuous headline
Virginia Mountains Shelter Colony of Lost Hessians.
And then there's the subhead:
Descendants of Hirelings in Revolutionary War Who After Their Release Took Refuge in Gloomy Hills Near Charlottesville, Live There in Rude Huts, A Law to Themselves and a Forgotten Band.
Those would be the same hills that visitors
ooh and
aah over when I take them for drives around C'ville.
The article tells how, after the Revolution, Hessian soldiers who had been imprisoned in Charlottesville (which named Barracks Road and Hessian Hills after them) took off and settled in the nearby Ragged Mountains, "a small range of black, gloomy hills." The
Times's anonymous reporter then wrote, apparently forgetting that Hessians were, um, Saxons:
As we have recently learned, the Blue Ridge mountaineers are a fearless, lawless folk of the purest Anglo-Saxon blood. They have a native intelligence and furnish the best kind of material for a civilization to be built upon. A good citizen can be made out of a Blue Ridge dweller when put in the right environment....
The Hessians are quite different. They have little if any understanding of modern morality. Marriage is a luxury, which has seldom lingered at their doors.
There is hardly a cabin in these mountains which does not harbor an idiot, the result of atrocious family relations.
Wow! It gets even better:
When neighbourly quarrels arise they usually fight it out with sticks and stones and their big bony fists. Firearms are reserved for the wild turkeys and quail.
The Hessian women do most of the heavy work. The men cut a little wood and train the coon dogs. If the women become unruly they are whipped by their husbands.
The reporter supposedly heard a woman being beaten by her husband. Next day the reporter asked her brother what he was going to do about it. The supposed reply?
"Well, I reckon I can't do much. Fact is, I was a beatin' my own wife last night."
In the Good Old Days at the Newspaper of Record, I guess reporters weren't required to actually
report and cite sources if unsubstantiated opinions and vaudeville jokes would do just as well.
P.S. Now I'm on the lookout for Delicious, Lodi, Honeycrisp, Golden Delicious or Fuji apple trees.
My friend Stefanie, the artistic, social & culinary doyenne of Schuyler, VA, sends this update on Onslow (at right above) and best pal Snickers (left), who despite all appearances does not officially live at her Gracious Home.
Whether it was the therapy sessions or the sudden realization that there is no "I" in "Dog," our favorite duo has a more harmonious relationship than ever.
Wild times in Schuyler, VA.
From my friend Stefanie, artistic, social & culinary doyenne of greater Schuyler (pop. 1,286):
One of these large amorphous shapes is a carbon-based life-form. The other is an inanimate object. Can you tell which is which?
Its constant presence notwithstanding, the object on the left (aka "Snickers") officially belongs to Stefanie's neighbors down the road.
Response to Dog Rest Ye Merry, direct from Schuyler, VA:
You know, sometimes during a photo shoot with the boys, nerves get frayed (you can see that in the images, can't you?), words get barked that can't be unbarked, somebody eats a biscuit that was meant for somebody else. It's all part of the wear and tear of the creative process.
Yet seeing our finished work in print on your blog, knowing that our take (or should I say "fetch"?) on the world is reaching millions...well, it makes it all worthwhile.
Thank you thank you thank you,
--Stefanie & troupe
Happy holidays to all!
Onslow & Snickers get into the Christmas spirit.
I know what you've been thinking: "Enough about book publicity, and your self-absorbed musings! What's been going on with the dogs in Schuyler, VA?"
Well, my friend Stefanie, social and culinary doyenne of Schuyler, just sent me the above photo. As you can see, Onslow and regular visitor Snickers (the canine Kramer) are working on a holiday-themed synchronized napping routine. I like how Onslow's hind foot is tucked into his armpit. Note the supine penguin at rear, for scale; and at upper right, part of the banner of Charlottesville's own newspaper,
The Daily Progress (aka "the Regress").
For more awwww-some photos, check out
GalleyCat and the
Rocky Mountain News Holiday Pets Slideshow (my favorites: #4, 13, 19, 43, 57, 58, 60).
My friend Stefanie, Bennington MFA & artistic/social doyenne of Schuyler, VA, looked at the photo of Max & Jenny in my previous post (En Vacances) and offered this assessment:
Although I give them points for artistry, I’m afraid that the synchronization of their napping form is lacking. Orientation of one’s pose is SO important.
I watched synchronized diving today on the Olympics. (Like plain diving isn’t hard enough? They have to synchronize it?) It was quite interesting, and Onslow thought the divers did a pretty good job, although they didn’t have the effortlessness and sense of absolute stillness that make Onslow’s and Snickers's work such a joy to watch.
For those who don't recall the boys'
oeuvre, here's a refresher:
Onslow (left) and perpetual houseguest Snickers practise their synchronized napping routine.
"All Fairfax Reads" by Karen L. Kovechi, Chantilly Regional Library
All this week, I'll be posting a photo each day taken in the area where I live, Fairfax County, Virginia.
And, thanks to Cindy Lord ![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif)
cynthialord , lots of other Live Journal friends will be doing the same. Check in with her for a list of participating bloggers.
Today's photo was taken at the library where I borrow all my books. Thanks to the Fairfax Library Foundation, there are unique sculptures displayed at various libraries, schools, and businesses, each designed by local artists. The project is called "Art in the Pages." To see a gallery of the other sculptures, click here. Thanks to Sara Lewis Holmes for the link!
I'm anxious to see everybody else's hometown pictures. What a great way to celebrate the birthday of the USA!
I heard Candice Ransom speak at the Roanoke Valley Reading Council's Literacy Tea on May 29, 2008. I am very far behind on posting reviews and notes from speakers I've heard, so I'm attempting to catch up.
Candice Ransom has written over 100 books for children including Finding Day's Bottom, Tractor Day, Seeing Sky-Blue Pink, and her new series for children, Time Spies Series.
I read the first book in the Time Spies series, Secret in the Tower, before it was published. I immediately loved it for two reasons: 1) it would appeal to my students who were unable or unmotivated to read longer chapter books, and 2) it took place in Virginia and snuck in Virginia history. Since I teach fourth grade and fourth graders study Virginia History, this was a big draw for me. You can read a chapter of Secret in the Tower here.
So, what are transitional readers? They are kids who are past the easy reader books, but aren't ready for middle grade chapter books. They are newly independent readers. As a teacher, I'm glad Candice is trying to appeal to this age group. There are some kids who try to make that leap to regular chapter books and just can't plow through the entire book. They aren't ready. The Time Spies series books are ones that have chapters that can be read in one sitting, and have a "hook" at the end of the chapter, to make the reader want to keep reading.
Ransom describes her books as a mixed genre, combining adventure, fantasy, mystery, biography, history, set in a comtemporary setting, and put it all in a series. She says that this series is a tribute to "everyday fantasy" where a kid feels like something magic could happen to you. She pays homage to E. Nesbit and others. In this series, modern day kids go back in time to an important moment in history. But as Ransom says, she uncovers a piece of history in each of the books that hasn't been "done to death." The social studies teachers in my school were excited that Secret in the Tower talked about Jack Jouett, known as the "Paul Revere of the South" who warned Jefferson that the British wanted to capture him.
There isn't an author's note at the end of each books, because "kids don't read them." Instead there is a travel guide at the back of each book with the historical information in it.
The Time Spies series has a wonderful website with lots of information for kids. You can check it out here.
Other links:
Candice Ransom's website
Candice Ransom's blog
Snickers (front) and Onslow (waaay back).When last we checked in with my dog Jenny's old pals in Virginia,
Onslow and Snickers, they were sharing Onslow's capacious bed. But now, my friend Stefanie (Onslow's keeper and Snickers's ever-gracious hostess) writes:
As you can see from the photo, Snickers and Onslow are going through a period of adjustment and, if truth be told, discord. They just don't have the same vision anymore when it comes to synchronized napping. Really, Delilah the corgie mix (otherwise known as Yoko Ono) has been having a wrenching effect on their collaboration. She keeps yelping that Snickers is the "real artist" of the duo. As if!
Anyway, we're very excited about their next--and possibly final--project. It's a portfolio of nap photographs called "The White Album." Although it features both dogs, it really may be considered two individual albums.
Wish them well during this period of transition.
We can only hope that the boys' separation is due to the springtime warmth, and not that pushy, manipulative bitch.
I took these photos on Wednesday, my first full day back in beautiful Charlottesville, my late (lamented) hometown.
Left, community garden behind the English Inn, where I used to walk Jenny.
Darling Husband and I picked up Joshua Henkin (MATRIMONY) at the airport, as he was on a panel Wed. evening at VaBook. We gave him the Anti-Brooklyn Experience by taking him to the sumptuous and über-goyische Keswick Hall for lunch. Josh's back is to the
golf course, designed by Arnold Palmer.
God bless America, mom, apple pie, and especially Mr. Jefferson's University. (The statue of TJ can be glimpsed on the far right of the photo.)
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Fourth graders in a Virginia elementary school were given Our Virginia: Past and Present, a history book claiming that thousands of African-Americans fought as Confederate soldiers during the Civil War.
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Oh, were it so that one could ship a mature apple tree via FedEx to Colorado! Our apple tree planted too close to the back door, and now threatens to swallow the house, produces way too many apples. Not sure of the pedigree, they are delicious, but the numbers are too much. We are happy to let the squirels carry off 1/2 the harvest.