Jerome "Jerry" McGill was barely a teenager in the 1980's when, walking through his Manhattan Lower East Side neighborhood, he heard a crack. The next thing he knew, he was laying on the pavement unable to move. In a heartbeat, his dreams of being an athlete or a performer were shattered. His life was changed forever.
Using "Marcus" as a nickname for his assailant (who was never caught or changed), McGill speaks as if to a friend, explaining what occurred that fall evening from his own point of view. He expresses his guilt at having manipulated his single mother to allow him to stay out far beyond reasonable hours, his anger at having to spend months in the hospital missing out on his "normal" life, and the frustration of how his paralysis effected his own and his family's future.
With brutal honesty and grace, Dear Marcus shares McGill's road to acceptance, forgiveness and ultimately a future that is made brighter by the hardships he has endured. Well written and touching, this memoir is worth a read.
3/5- Good. Read it, have a good time and move on. Or not.
You walked into the party
Like you were walking onto a yacht
Your hat strategically dipped below one eye
Your scarf it was apricot
You had one eye in the mirror
As you watched yourself gavotte
And all the girls dreamed
That they'd be your partner
They'd be your partner, and....
You're so vain
You probably think this song is about you
You're so vain
I'll bet you think this song is about you
Don't you? Don't you?
You had me several years ago
When I was still quite naive
Well you said that we made such a pretty pair
And that you would never leave
But you gave away the things you loved
And one of them was me
I had some dreams
They were clouds in my coffee
Clouds in my coffee and....
You're so vain
You probably think this song is about you
You're so vain
I'll bet you think this song is about you
Don't you? Don't you?
Well I hear you went up to Saratoga
And your horse naturally won
Then you flew your Lear jet up to Nova Scotia
To see the total eclipse of the sun
Well, you're where you should be all of the time
And when you're not you're with
Some underworld spy
Or the wife of a close friend
Wife of a close friend, and....
You're so vain
You probably think this song is about you
You're so vain
I'll bet you think this song is about you
Don't you? Don't you?
Armed with a philosophy degree and not much more, Jacob Tomsky grabs the first job he can find after college. He quickly finds himself on a career path he never anticipated or wanted.
Accepting a position as a valet at a local hotel, he finds he can actually make good money while having fun. Through the years, he moves up in the ranks to supervising the housekeeping department, manning the front desk, and convinces a manage that he himself is management material. But hospitality never his goal, he never seems to take the job seriously. He even makes a move from New Orleans to New York to try to break the cycle, but eventually finds himself returning to the field to secure a regular paycheck.
Eventually, , he seems to just accept his fate and utilize the system to benefit himself. He steals items from minibars
and supply cabinets, works the customers to ensure maximum tips and
"off-the-clock" gifts, and eventually reaps the ultimate benefit, this memoir Heads in Beds: A Reckless Memoir of Hotels, Hustles, and So-Called Hospitality.
Entertaining, funny, and more than a bit cheeky, Tomsky's book is a good read.
3/5- Good. Read it, have a good time and move on. Or not.
Harry Truman, Doris Day, Red China, Johnnie Ray
South Pacific, Walter Winchell, Joe DiMaggio
Joe McCarthy, Richard Nixon, Studebaker, television
North Korea, South Korea, Marilyn Monroe
Rosenbergs, H-bomb, Sugar Ray, Panmunjom
Brando, "The King and I" and "The Catcher in the Rye"
Eisenhower, vaccine, England's got a new queen
Marciano, Liberace, Santayana goodbye
CHORUS:
We didn't start the fire
It was always burning
Since the world's been turning
We didn't start the fire
No we didn't light it
But we tried to fight it
Joseph Stalin, Malenkov, Nasser and Prokofiev
Rockefeller, Campanella, Communist Bloc
Roy cohn, Juan Peron, Toscanini, dacron
Dien Bien Phu falls, "Rock Around the Clock"
Einstein, James Dean, Brooklyn's got a winning team
Davy Crockett, Peter Pan, Elvis Presley, Disneyland
Bardot, Budapest, Alabama, Krushchev
Princess Grace, "Peyton Place", trouble in the Suez
CHORUS:
We didn't start the fire
It was always burning
Since the world's been turning
We didn't start the fire
No we didn't light it
But we tried to fight it
Little Rock, Pasternak, Mickey Mantle, Kerouac
Sputnik, Chou En-Lai, "Bridge on the River Kwai"
Lebanon, Charles de Gaulle, California baseball
Starkweather, homicide, children of thalidomide
Buddy Holly, "Ben Hur", space monkey, Mafia
Hula hoops, Castro, Edsel is a no go
U-2, Syngman Rhee, payola and Kennedy
Chubby Checker, "Psycho", Belgians in the Congo
CHORUS:
We didn't start the fire
It was always burning
Since the world's been turning
We didn't start the fire
No we didn't light it
But we tried to fight it
Hemingway, Eichmann, "Stranger in a Strange Land"
Dylan, Berlin, Bay of Pigs invasion
"Lawrence of Arabia", British Beatlemania
Ole Miss, John Glenn, Liston beats Patterson
Pope Paul, Malcolm X, British politician sex
JFK, blown away, what else do I have to say
CHORUS:
We didn't start the fire
It was always burning
Since the world's been turning
We didn't start the fire
No we didn't light it
But we tried to fight it
Birth control, Ho Chi Minh, Richard Nixon, back again
Moonshot, Woodstock, Watergate, punk rock
Begin, Reagan, Palestine, terror on the airline
Ayatollah's in Iran, Russians in Afghanistan
"Wheel of Fortune", Sally Ride, heavy metal suicide,
Foreign debts, homeless vets, AIDS, crack, Bernie Goetz
Hypodermics on the shores, China's under martial law
Rock and roller cola wars, I can't take it anymore
CHORUS:
We didn't start the fire
It was always burning
Since the world's been turning
We didn't start the fire
No we didn't light it
But we tried to fight it...
We didn't start the fire
But when we are gone
Will it still burn on, and on, and on, and on...
Cheryl Strayed is just a tender twenty-two when her mother suddenly takes ill and passes away from cancer seven weeks later. Strayed is not only heartbroken, but completely shattered. Her already tenuous family (a brother, sister and stepfather) quickly falls apart despite her efforts to hold it together. Her marriage, barely a baby itself, quickly falls apart. Eventually she gives up not only on the family, but herself as well. She finds herself embroiled in a dangerous relationship with a junkie and a heroin habit. With the help of her ex-husband, a true friend, she realizes she has to do something and soon.
One day, she passes a book at a cash register: a guide to the Pacific Crest Trail, an Appalachian-like trail running from Mexico to Canada. With no backpacking experience or
training, she impulsively decides to hike a good portion of the trail, from the Mojave Desert through
California and Oregon to the Bridge of the Gods near Portland. Though she seems to hope the journey will take her away from the pain and loss, ultimately she finds healing and hope.
Expertly told with warmth and humor, Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail can't help but move you.
June had been just as busy as May was, perhaps more so. Five more shows of Steel and a smattering of PV gigs thrown in over the weekend...I was literally running from one show to the next! Then I spent the third week of June in an exhausted stupor. I am finally getting my feet under myself once again and reading and blogging has picked up. Hopefully the rest of the summer holds great things!
This month I read: Total Read: 21 YTD: 18 Adult: 3 YA/children's: 0 Abandoned: 0
Including: One Breathe Away - Heather Gudenkauf Heads in Beds - Jacob Tomsky A Masque of Infamy - Kelly Dessaint
Abandoned: None
Favorite Book(s) of the Month: One Breathe Away - Heather Gudenkauf
Challenges Update: Outdo Yourself Reading Challenge = 18 of 58 A-Z Book Challenge = 13 of 26 Library Reading Challenge = 18 of 36 E-Book Reading Challenge = 6 of 25 What's in a Name 6 Challenge = 4 of 6
All too real and scary in this day and age, One Breath Away by Heather Gudenkauf is a multi-layered story of a town taken hostage by an unknown gunman, when he walks into the local school one snowy day and holds a classroom of third graders hostage.
Told in brief chapters, the story unfolds the lives of several locals:
Evelyn, the lifelong teacher trying desperately to ensure her students' safety, even at her own peril;
Will Thwait, a local farmer entrusted with the care of his two grandchildren despite a rocky relationship with their mother;
his tragically injured daughter, who has survived a fire and sent her children "home" despite never wanting to return herself;
and Officer Meg Barrett, a local police officer who struggles under the weight of having the town's children's fate in her hands, while thanking fate that her own daughter happened to be out that day.
The story builds as the unknown gunman's identity is desperately sought and the town's "dirty laundry" is bared in the process, a mayor's cheating husband, a violent husband known for domestic abuse, and a local, prize winning reporter willing to stab anyone in the back to get a good story. Only by facing her own past can Officer Barrett try to end this stand-off without someone being hurt or killed.
A quick and easy read. Not a "Moby Dick" classic, but certainly entertaining.
3/5- Good. Read it, have a good time and move on. Or not.
George Jones, Anthony Woods, Tony Harrison, Jacob Underwood, Writers
Ohh Ohh Ohh Said goodbye, turned around And you were gone, gone, gone Faded into the setting sun Slipped away But I won’t cry Cause I know I’ll never be lonely For you are the stars to me You are the light I follow I will See you again, oh This is not where it ends I will carry you with me, oh Till I see you again Ohhh Ohhh Ohhh I can hear those echoes in the wind at night Calling me back in time Back to you In a place far away Where the water meets the sky The thought of it makes me smile You are my tomorrow I will See you again, oh This is not where it ends I will carry you with me, oh Till I see you again Sometimes, I feel my, heart is breaking But I stay strong and I hold on cause I know ... I will see you again, ohhh This is not where it ends I will carry you with me, yeah yeah I will See you again, ohhh This is not where it ends I will carry you with me Till I see you again Ohh Ohh Ohh Ohh Till I see you again Ohh Ohh Ohh Ohh Till I see you again,Ohh Till I see you again Said goodbye turned around And you were gone, gone, gone...
R.I.P. Robert Frye (1962-2013), always a fan of great music!
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July is here and my summer has finally begun! Two weeks of vacation has been heavenly!!
Hope everyone had a great fourth! Sorry for not stopping by, we decided to paint early in the week...despite the 20+ people we had invited for a 4th celebration! Needless to say, it was a bit crazy around here for a few days.
Life
We
did get some house work done this week! We finally painted the living room and
front hall, just eggshell - but its still several shades lighter than
the years-old off-white that was there. There's still much to be done,
but its be excruciatingly hot and humid so we limited ourselves. Also,
hubby has decided he will remove the wall between the dining room and
the hall, opening the whole thing up, before we move forward with the
rest of the painting and rug removal. I'm cautiously excited...and
bummed that I have to live with these rugs any longer. But, at least he
is motivated to get stuff going before summer's end! I
spent much of my two weeks of vacation doing website work, more than
expected! Turns out a good section of the site was unfinished and I
hoped to get it done. No luck, there's still more to accomplish...but
for the most part its looking much cleaner and is definitely more useful
for a theater. I
did go, or I should say we went, out over the weekend for a drive
around New Hampshire and photo taking. You know you've got a great guy
when he'll drive around and scout shooting locations for you! It was a
nice day hanging with hubs and I got some nice shots. You can check it
out on my Facebook page: PhotoLAgraphy
Please stop by and say hello!
Its back to work tomorrow, oh well...
Books and Blogging Vacations always seem to render me useless, I clearly didn't get a lot of blogging done. But that's ok, I've been busy enjoying my down time. I have been reading a bit and plan to get the blog back into shape this week.
It's Midnight Cinderella Garth Brooks, Artist Garth Brooks, Kent Blazy and Kim Williams, Writers
(Note...this video is not actually Garth singing)
It's midnight Cinderella but don't you worry none 'Cause I'm Peter Peter the Pumpkin Eater And the party's just begun I guess your prince charming Wasn't after all 'Cause he sure seemed different right after the ball I guess more than horses are turnin' into rats And by the way he's walkin' I can guess where your slipper's at It's midnight Cinderella time that you should know There's gonna be some changes in the way this story goes It's midnight Cinderella but don't you worry none 'Cause I'm Peter Peter the Pumpkin Eater And the party's just begun I'm gonna help you get over Bein' under that spell You're gonna learn to love midnight Inside this pumpkin shell I gotta few new magic tricks Your godmother can't do I'll show you what it means to Bip, bip, bip, bip, boppity boo It's midnight Cinderella time that you should know There's gonna be some changes in the way this story goes It's midnight Cinderella but don't you worry none 'Cause I'm Peter Peter the Pumpkin Eater And the party's just begun I'm Peter Peter the Pumpkin Eater And the party has now begun
Finally done with the busy crazy part of June, I am now enjoying a couple weeks of vacation (some reading, quite a bit of website maintenance, and perhaps a little home improvement...I'm hoping!) and looking forward to spending July 4th with family, friends, and fireworks!
Now Reading: Wild (Cheryl Strayed) Are You Gonna Kiss Me Or Not? (Thompson Square)
Just Finished:
One Breathe Away (Heather Gudenkauf)
Heads in Beds (Jacob Tomsky) - finally got this and finished those last few chapters!
Just your average reader, blogger, singer, theater geek, web designer, crafts junkie - living in the Boston area with a wonderful husband and two precious new kitties (and of course my cherished memories of a Diva Kitty).
