Round-up 2 2



Stuff I Did


Saw the play, Stones in His Pockets (running ‘til March 16) at the Lyric Theatre with a new friend.  The basic plot is what happens when an Irish village is unsettled by the arrival of an American film crew and the hopes, dreams, chicanery and disillusionment that ensue.  I am incorporating the following line, “Attention, settle,” from the play into my daily speech. It is laugh-out-loud funny and serious.  I recommend. 


Attended Two Plays, One House – A Free Community Event at Strand Theatre in Dorchester.  Hosted by Karen Holmes Ward of WCVB, the event featured scenes from A Raisin in the Sun, being presented March 8-April 7 by Huntington Theatre Company and Clybourne Park being presented March 1-30 by Speak Easy Stage. Directors Liesl Tommy (Raisin) and M. Bevin O’Gara did Q & A after.  A large crowd turned out.


Enjoyed a concert featuring pianist Kevin Harris of the Kevin Harris Project at the Grove Hall Branch of Boston Public Library.  The Jazz Room on the mezzanine was near-capacity with its comfortable chairs and couches, views of traffic on Geneva Avenue and neighbors grooving to music by Thelonious Monk, Kevin Harris and members of his trio.  The Friends of Grove Hall Library also held a bake sale (homemade pound cake – yum).  Their fundraising helps fund concerts and other special activities including a book club and student art shows. at the library.  Dues are $10 ($5 for Junior members).  Applications are available at the Library.


Revamped a cousin’s resume and did work stuff, including my last blog post and two presentations for my part-time gig.  Also searched for more paid work!  Oh-oh-oh, and continued editing Pucker, my Young Adult novel.


Attended reception for the exhibit, Black by Popular Demand: Generational Perspectives of Six Boston Artists (ending March 6) at 360 Gallery, Ell Hall at Northeastern University.  I arrived early and had to leave early so I only got to see one of the exhibiting artists, Laura Palmer Edwards.  It was presented in conjunction with Discover Roxbury.



Stuff I Read


Wild by Cheryl Strayed –  I thoroughly enjoyed this tale of a woman conquering herself an d overcoming grief, guilt and self-sabotage by walking 1100 miles of the Pacific Crest Trail on the West Coast and what led her to do it.  It’s one of those books I nearly swallowed whole!


 


The Reader by Bernard Schlink – I rarely see a movie before I read the book but in this case I did.  Both were brilliantly done although for me, the novel wins because of the interior thought it shows that the movie, despite brilliant acting by Kate Winslet and Ralph Fiennes, cannot.  Rarely have I read a book that starts in such an erotic space and then explores moral judgment, guilt, the Holocaust, etc. In 218 pages it packs a wallop.


I highly recommend the novel and the movie in whatever order you can choose.


 


Earlier this year I read another novel that revealed itself in astounding layers so that the beginning of the book bore almost no resemblance to the end of the book except for the characters.  Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is about the war and famine that happened as Biafra fought to become an independing republic from Nigeria.  The story starts out as a glimpse into the lives of 4 primary characters living in an upper class world whether servant or master, visitor or native.  It is an unbelievably incredible book written by a brilliant writer whose wisdom and craft belie her 35 years.  I will read anything she writes and also recommend her first novel, Purple Hibiscus. (The link on her name leads you to a TED talk she did.)

It’s interesting that both these novels concern love and war although they happen in different decades, in different countries and among different cultures. 


 


The No 1 Car Spotter by Atinuke


A wonderful children’s book highly recommended for young boys (2-4 grade).  Nicknamed the No ! Car Spotter, Oluwalase Babatunde Benson, spots more cars than I can imagine and solves the dilemna of a broken wagon the day before Market Day in his small village in Nigeria.  Most of the fathers and older men work in the city and so his ingeniousness is incredibly important.


Atinuke is also the author of the wonderful Anna Hibiscus books.


Stuff I Cooked
        
Ingredients – assembled


A delicious chicken stew with onions, celery, parsnips, string (green) beans, kidney beans, crushed tomatoes, thyme and other spices.  And, because it was snowing, my palate insisted that I make a pan of cornbread in a cast iron skillet (heated first in the oven before the batter was added) just like my grandmother and mother did.



This was good to the last bite.  Yum-Yum.


Enough!


Enjoy the week.


About Candelaria Silva

Candelaria Silva-Collins is a marketing, community outreach and programming consultant; writer; and trainer/facilitator who lives in Boston, Massachusetts. She has designed and facilitated workshops on a wide variety of topics including communication, facilitation, job search skills, team building, and parenting issues. She currently coordinates the Community Membership Program of the Huntington Theatre Company. Her work as Director of ACT Roxbury was profiled in several publications, including The Creative Communities Builders Handbook. Candelaria’s children’s stories, short stories, essays and reviews have been published in local and national publications and she is an active blogger. Her publications include the booklets, Handling Rejection; Pushing through Shyness: Networking Tips when You’re Shy, Slow to Warm Up or Just don’t Feel you Belong; and Real Questions about Sex & Relationships for Teens: A Discussion Guide for Parents. She has served on the boards of Goddard College, Wheelock Family Theatre, Boston Foundation for Architecture, and Discover Roxbury. She is currently Chair, Designators of the Henderson Foundation.

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