Color in My World...

We were out with friends when the Bruce Jenner interview aired.  Having missed it, I knew I could catch it on On Demand when I had the time.  Today I watched it.

The issue of gender confusion is not new to me.  Starting with  the Jeffery Eugenides novel, "Middlesex" and then some other reading, I have managed to educated myself quite a bit.  I also know personally a family that is going thru the issue with their small child.  After their son started showing signs and vocalizing his wishes, his parents explored everything possible.  They have accepted the wish, and are raising their son, now as a girl.  What an amazing thing that she was born to parents that understood and supported her.

Bruce's interview was as much about his identity as the education of the viewer on transgendering.  He bravely gave a face and a heart to his struggle.  Bruce seems finally at peace and is looking forward to living his life authentically.  His hope is to educate and help others in any way he can.  And I hope he does. 

Bruce then left us with this final thought; "When you think of me, please be open minded.  I'm not this bad person.  I'm just doing what I have to do."

Go Bruce, be yourself and be happy.  xo

After Her...

When I read that one of my favorite authors wrote a fictional book about a serial killer, I was fast to download it.  I have enjoyed quite a bit by Joyce Maynard including a memoir of her time spent with J.D. Salinger-very fascinating stuff there!  And her newest novel called, "After Her", to me, was riveting.

The story tells an involved tale of two sisters coming of age in the late seventies in Marin County, California.  The girls live in the foothills of the mountain where women are being murdered.  The girls father is the lead detective of the crime that is happening literally in their back yard.  The story is based on a real serial killer that has been named, "The Trailside Killer".  The story explores the family dynamic as well as two girls living thru it all.  I loved the investigation as well as the girl's involvement and the relationship they share.  There were a few twists and turns at the end that may have been predictable to some, but caught me off guard.

The fact of the matter is: I am much too much of an emotional reader to give a real review.  This is why I rarely have the confidence to do it.  I seem to connect to the characters and give lots to leeway to the actual plot.  Also, I am attracted to stories involving sisters and their dynamics. 

Giving my inadequacies, it's got to be enough to simply say, I loved it!

Read any good books lately?  Let me know about it!!

Riptide...

 So long till next year to my beloved Keys after an extended annual Sloth, Indulgence and Debauchery Tour.  It is the longest time I have every been away and I am happy to have slipped out on March and half of April!  But, as usual, I am happy to be home.  As a creature of habit and a true homebody, I'm most happy here.

But it sure was a good time.  Gorgeous sunrises and sunsets.  Daily happy hours and fresh fish.  Laughing with friends and family.  Sleeping with the warm salt breeze blowing on me.  Reading all afternoon without guilt.  Observing incredible flora, birds, and ocean creatures including the biggest starfish (modeled my darling mermaids, Lexi and Elle!)

 I have ever seen!  And how wonderful it was to spend Easter Sunday hanging out at the sandbar with 'my ass in the water and my toes in the sand, not a worry in the world, a cold beer in my hand'!  Yes, life was certainly good that day! 

But I'm home and content.  Also blessed and grateful.  xo

Hemingway's Whiskey....

During lunch yesterday on our way to Key West, I spotted this amazing boat that was so befitting of the day.  Ernest was also immortalized by Kenny Chesney in a song by the same name.

Wandering the streets and seeing the places that he haunted and loved always makes me think of him, enjoying his whiskey and telling his tales before stumbling home.  I have enjoyed a few 'Hemingway Days Festivals' where I attended some readings of exerpts from his books.

But... I really have to say that I do not care for Ernest's style.  He is such a man's man and his writing style shows it.  The only book I have ever got thru (barely!) was 'Farewell to Arms'.  Wanting to experience the Hemingway style, I plodded along, but did not really enjoy the story.  Ernest invokes a very sparce, no nonsense way with words.  While I do not care for overly descriptive prose, I do prefer a little more detail.  I then read The Paris Wife in hopes that I would get a better understanding of ol' Ernie.  In that story, there were few, but telling details regarding Ernest in all his philandering glory.

I think the idea of the hard living, gypsy soul that Ernest possessed is actually the story that intrigues me most.  Living in Paris, sailing on the Pilar and catching giant sailfish and marlin, drinking and womanizing are the true story to me. 

Do you have a Hemingway story that you liked or disliked?  Let me know your Hemingway Experience.

"All things truly wicked starts from innocence."  xo