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Happy New Year!
I hope every one of you has made the resolution to read more this year - I know I have. In the years since I have become involved with computers, I tend to read less and less. Positively criminal, I know! The follow are a few things I have read recently - you can purchase any of the books or recordings mentioned here from Amazon.com. Just follow the links provided within each review. |
Want to share your opinion on a book, movie, cd or eatery? E-Mail me your review and I might include it next month! |
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REVIEWS |
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The Princessa : Machiavelli for Women
by Harriet Rubin Doubleday, April, 1977. Hardcover - 160 pages. |
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According to Harriet Rubin, women who are looking for power are doing it the wrong way.
We should be "princessas," literally, "she who takes first place."
The way to
best a man at this game is not to be like a man, but to be like a woman. And so she goes on, giving directions
as to how to best use womanliness to become powerful. Much of her advice is common sense, but how many of us actually use that in this day and age? Too often do we think there is some sort of formula or list of rules that we need to follow, when there really is not. To truly achieve anything, women should be women, and men should be men. Women tend to play by men's rules, and believe that this is a man's world. (Just remember, honeys, they would be nowhere without us ;)) Rubin urges women to do something besides compromise themselves. I think this statement sums it up nicely: "The art of the princessa is to balance the terror of being a woman with the wonder of being a woman." Read it and see how women don't need to be "empowered;" we have power, we just need to learn how it is best utilized. |
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Cowboys Are My Weakness : Stories by Pam Houston Washington Square Press, February, 1993. Paperback - 171 pages. |
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I first read Cowboys Are My Weakness several years ago after it was recommended by my best friend
Andree. She was taken by the rich and real stories of smart, strong women, looking for the love of a good man.
I, too, enjoyed every word. The women in the stories are proud and independent, but none are perfect when it comes to relationships - mistakes and mismatches are made, in spite of the good intentions of either party. Just like real life. However, unlike a lot of real life relationship stories, Pam Houston's women aren't whiney, nor are they "victims." They are honest women who make honest mistakes. Ms. Houston's insights into romance, friendships, and choices echo those of many of her readers, as they did mine, both when I first read the book, and now when I have re-read it. And they will for any woman who has ever been in search of her own personal cowboy. |
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Birds on the Couch : The Bird Shrink's Guide to Keeping Polly from Going Crackers and You Out of the Cuckoo's Nest by Ruth Hanessian, Wendy Bounds (Contributor) Crown Publishers, June, 1998. Hardcover - 128 pages |
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While vacationing in Seattle, I discovered this book on the coffeetable of my hosts. They have an Amazon Gray
Parrot, so bought this to better understand their bird's behavioral patterns. I have a lowly Parakeet, albeit
a very vivacious and talkative one. Sometimes I wonder why he does what he does; for instance, why does
he regurgitate food for my right thumb? According to the book, it's because he's probably in love. And
he's not really trying to pull my eyelashes out, he's just grooming them for me.
The book is full of true anecdotes about bird ownership - humorous, amazing, and heart-warming. Reading this I realized that birds were "people" too, just like dogs and cats. Except that they might talk. Did you know that a talking bird will pick up more quickly a phrase or word spoken emphatically than something merely repeated over and over? Explains why my Cuervo says "bite me!" and "crazy bird!" and not "you've got mail," although he's heard the latter much more frequently. For those of you with birds, or interested in purchasing a bird, I recommend this book. There don't seem to be too many books on pet birds out there besides the standard "how to" type. Rather than "how to", Birds on the Couch is more "why," which makes it a very enjoyable and informative read. |
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REVIEWS |
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The Best Of 1980-1990 (Limited)
U2 Pgd/Island. |
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Don't just buy the U2 Greatest Hits album, buy this special "Limited" version, which includes
not only a disc chock full of fabulous favorites ("Pride (In the Name of Love)," "Sunday Bloody Sunday,"
"Where the Streets Have No Name," and the new single "Sweetest Thing"), but also a disc
of B-sides and covers ("Dancing Barefoot," "Unchained Melody," and "Walk To The Water").
Rather than buying all of U2's other recordings (if you don't have them already) buy this one
for all of their highlights. Notice that this collection only goes to 1990; either the band
figures they will put out an album of hits for the next decade as well, or they realize that
their best stuff is their old stuff. Indeed, they have gone back to an older sound (although not their
original intensity) with the only new track, "Sweetest Thing," which I personally think is
pretty great.
If you aren't old enough to remember the music of the 80s, or even if you are, this collection is a reminder of some of the small quantity of truly classic music that came of that era. |
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REVIEWS |
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You've Got Mail
Directed by Nora Ephron. Rated PG. 1998 Warner Brothers |
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From the creators of "Sleepless in Seattle," comes "You've Got Mail," starring Tom Hanks
and Meg Ryan as two New York bookstore owners who are bitter rivals. Unbeknownst to them,
they are also falling in love with each other - online. Yes, folks, a story near and
dear to all of us who have used AOL and other online providers as dating services.
Something about the power of the unknown can create strong emotional ties between
people, and Meg and Tom learn this lesson well.
Will this movie have a happy ending? Will their bookstore rivalries change when they realize they are each other's perfect match? Or will the ending be as disappointing (to me anyway) as that of "Sleepless?" I'm not saying - you'll just have to go see the movie. And while you're there, you'll probably see a lot of yourself in the situation and either have a good laugh, or go away sad. |
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REVIEWS |
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Gertrude's
Baltimore Museum of Art Baltimore, MD |
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Gertrude's is the restaurant which replaces Donna's at the BMA. Cookbook
author and local boy, John Shields, apparently thought the museum needed a Chesapeake
Bay-style seafood restaurant.
There can never be too many of those, I agree. But I expected more from this place. The decor is slick New York-style modern, which doesn't exactly fit with the cuisine, which is very down home and not very spectacular. The appetizers are more interesting than the entrees, with catfish fingers and smoked MD meats among them. The main courses include crab cakes, fried chicken, crab imperial, and strip steak. I started off with a Caesar salad, which was very good and very traditional - shreds of parmesan and some anchovies topped a plate of romaine with a classic fishy/cheesy/garlicky dressing - not as much garlic as I would have liked though. The "Gertie's Crab Cake" was quite yummy - lumps of backfin with some parsley and very little binder made for cakes which sang with crabby flavor. The accompanying cole slaw had the requisite cabbage, plus bell peppers, something that looked like broccoli, and half slices of green apple, in a vinegar-based sauce which could have used some salt and pepper. Alas, there were no salt and pepper shakers on the table! This slaw just didn't work. The colors were dingy and the taste was blah. I think I'll give Mr. Shields the telephone number for Jen at Cafe Tattoo - a woman who knows how to make some real slaw! Also unsuccessful were the french fries on the side. They tasted like they had been made earlier in the day, and unlike the slaw, were plenty salted. I should have been a pest and sent them back to the kitchen for fresher ones, but I did not. My dinner date ordered the house salad - a mound of mesclun tossed with a balsamic vinaigrette. He followed that with a nice fat steak, served with mashed potatoes and a vegetable medley containing his favorites - carrots and squash. They were cooked pleasantly al dente, so he was able to choke some of it down without too much complaint. We eschewed dessert (nothing struck my fancy among the offerings of chocolate pecan pie, bread pudding, the requisite decadent chocolate number, etc.) for cups of coffee so strong I could just feel the hair growing on my chest (a little duct tape took care of that little problem). I would go back to Gertrude's for crab cakes again, if I could choose different sides. The crab soup smelled pretty tasty, so I would probably want to sample that as well. I was rather disappointed in this first visit and hope that a second one will be more succcessful. One compliment though - the music was absolutely fabulous. My favorite performer, Ella Fitzgerald, kept me aurally entertained for the entire visit. |
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