Reading newspapers sounds like an anachronism in this age of apps for your smart phones and tablets that allow you to read, see and hear the news on the go.  But there is still something very quaint and comforting about grabbing a cup of coffee, hunkering down over a table and spreading out a newspaper for reading.

As the editor and feature writer of A Woman Reading – The Blog it gives me great pleasure to introduce my very own newspaper curated from the Twitter feeds that I follow.  I may not be able to replicate the experience of offering an ink and paper product, but I can give  you the next best thing:  my online version of all that is interesting on the internet.

It’s an interesting concept that Paper.Li has created.  You name your paper, plug in your Twitter or Facebook feeds and voila, you have a daily refreshed newspaper that contains news, images and video from the people you follow.

In the case of A Woman Reading – The Newspaper, I have created a newspaper that features articles on American expats living abroad, travel in France and Italy, gourmet foodie topics, coffee, wine and books, all of the subjects of which I enjoy reading and writing.

If you like my blog, you’ll love my newspaper.  You can check it out daily or even subscribe to it and read fresh content by people I think you should know.  Some are experts in their fields, while others are simply enthusiasts with a passion they share with the world.

Either way, check out the paper and tell me what you think.   I believe you will be enriched for the experience.

Rihanna’s latest music video Man Down immediately became controversial upon its premier on television.  Why is a music video, any music video so polarizing?  Music videos and music are after all art and by its very nature expressive and open to interpretation. This particular video portrays the titan-haired singer as a young, coy island girl who shoots the man who rapes her after they shared a flirtation at a  dance hall.  Various groups are up in arms because they believe the Barbadian pop singer is promoting vigilante justice for her impressionable female teen audience.  If we can agree that music and music videos are art, then it follows that Rihanna’s video is not to be taken literally.

The singer inelegantly Tweeted in her own defense that the song was about empowering girls.  Girl power then is a much palpable concept for the general public to process and a more accurate description of the motivation behind her music video.  It also follows with Rihanna’s personal journey of self-discovery and rehabilitation after being the victim of domestic abuse.

Perhaps Rihanna is fashioning an image post-Chris Brown as a champion of girl’s rights with sets of feministic lyrics set to catchy beats to entertain while educating her fans.  It is a noble aspiration and certainly there are not enough positive role models for tweens and teens these days to be found in the Day-Glo nail polish and hot pant wearing celebrities that are spread over glossies these days.

Typically when a woman is a victim of an assault, she can go one of two ways:  continued victimization or developing into a strong, independent woman.  It is unfortunately very common for women who have been victimized to extend the cycle by surrounding themselves with abusive types, continuing to view themselves as a victim thereby insuring the cycle will persist.

Rihanna Channels Tina Turner Circa Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome In Search Of Her Edginess

On the other hand, some women become stronger, tougher.  They vow to never be a victim again, they take steps to become mentally and emotionally healthy through strong support systems,  counseling and a renewed self-confidence and self-image.  Which is exactly what Rihanna appears to have done.

Her fans and the media have watched her morph from a sun-kissed teen pop star with innocuous lyrics and bouncy beats  into a goth-loving performer who sang of suicide and mental illness among other alarming subjects.  Artistically, Rihanna has made a point of showing the world with her choice of hairstyles and color, lyrics and music and even tattoos and wardrobe, that she is no longer a victim.

Fortunately for her fans who were not in love with her previous look and album Rated R, a dark treacherous musical  journey into a broken heart and mind, she seems to have had her cathartic moment and found a good place to be, artistically and mentally with her latest disc Loud, a vibrant uptempo collection of radio-friendly hits.

The song Man Down with its addictive reggae beat and plaintiff wailing encourages the victim to take back her life after the attack, stand up and face the situation and the abuser (whether it be literally or in court) and move forward…not pick up a gun and shoot their attacker.  Pop stars searching for relevance in a world where Al Quaeda vows to destroy America and men in power display a shocking lack of honor and integrity are usually met with rolled eyes and laughter.  But Rihanna has brought to the forefront a taboo subject when sexually assaulting women has become institutional policy in wars across the African continent and standard procedure in the Bosnian War.  Rapes were rampant in Haiti before and after their devastating earth quake and continue to occur in the most civilized and developed nations.  This list compiles the five worst countries for women to live in.  Considering the climate that many women live in,  standing up to face and challenge the adversity that pervades the world around them is sadly a novel idea.

Watching Rihanna portray a vulnerable character not only brought to mind such harrowing statistics about how downtrodden and victimized women are around the world, it reminded me of one my favorite books:  The Botticelli Secret.

The Botticelli Secret

This novel features a beautiful female protagonists who is the least powerful in a society where power is a commodity.   The Botticelli Secret is a story about a gorgeous, teenaged prostitute that teams up with a handsome, faithful monk to decipher one of Botticelli’s famous works and solve a mystery of Da Vinci Code proportion.

I didn’t just enjoy this novel because it reads  like a travelogue of Italy or because it is set in Renaissance Italy.  I found this story most interesting because of the way the main character turned her victimized status into an empowered girl-child all the while utilizing her beauty, sex and street smarts to stay one-up on her antagonists.

Girls and young women all over the world are beaten, raped and abused in various and sundry ways.  Females need encouragement to speak up about abuse,  need to be empowered to seek justice. In today’s fast-paced, superficial world of reality stars and every life moment uploaded for public consumption, tweens, teens and college students will have to find their role models in the darndest of places.

In their own fashion, I think Rihanna’s music video and Marina Fiorata’s quirky novel encourage girlish power.

Is Rihanna a role model or sensationalizing violence?  Should more be done to help rape victims around the world?

Discuss on Twitter:  @awomanreading #IsRihannaTheNewFaceOfGirlPower

If you care to read about the interesting parallels I found in Cleopatra’s lifetime with today’s contemporary female politicians and their struggle for equality, read on.

My review of Cleopatra – A Biography can be found at CS Monitor Books.  Click here.

I love to travel.  Love to try new foods, meet new people and experience new cultures.  The one thing that surprises me, the one constant when I am globe-trotting around the world is that I will eventually miss the home cooking of my youth.  I am originally from North Carolina (in the Southern part of the U.S.A) and I find that though I love Italian food with a passion, have developed a taste for several Japanese and Chinese dishes and find French food a sensual delight, there is nothing quite like the deep-fried comforting food my mother made for me and my family.

I must admit that I am not the best cook of Southern fare, what with all that frying and oil-spattering, I can never get the oil temperature just right or the batter seasoned just so.  And that is probably a good thing because if I excelled at cooking Southern food, everyone in my family would be a few pounds heavier.  As it stands, we have a mostly organic kitchen and I strive to cook delicious yet low-fat meals.   Not to say that I am all thumbs in the cooking department.  I have a few signature meals that my husband thinks are A+.  Like my roasted chicken and seasoned oven-baked potato wedges and a really great chicken fried rice.

Despite having a few culinary successes, one thing I have learned from watching cooking reality shows,  is that you must have a passion for cooking and an inherent talent for bringing the right types and portions of ingredients together.  I am great at “preparing” meals but I don’t think I will ever learn to properly “respect” my potato or express “romance” in my hamburger patties as Chef Gordon Ramsay instructs the contestants of Master Chef USA.  I will keep trying of course but I think my talent lies with writing.  I could probably compose the heck out of a literary ode to the timelessness of tiramisu but if I made that same tiramisu from ‘scratch’, I am pretty sure my love for the popular dessert would not translate into its creation.

If you are familiar with Southern cooking you will know it is not the ideal cuisine for the health or weight-conscious (Though there are ways to modify some recipes so they are healthier.)  But all things in moderation, I say.  My husband and I usually have a cheat day every week or two.  He indulges in Häagen-Dazs ice cream and potato cakes (not at the same time, of course), while I look for the best fried chicken North of the Mason-Dixon line.

A North Carolina Cooking Legend

When I need a recipe for a Southern specialty, I usually email my mother.  She has a stash of family recipes that she is compiling as well as several go-to-cookbooks she swears by.  One of her favorites is Mama Dip’s Kitchen.  Mama Dip is something of a legend in North Carolina.  She has a very popular restaurant that serves all types of down home delicacies in Chapel Hill and has written several cookbooks.

I also use the very popular All-New Ultimate Southern Living Cookbook which I discovered while having tea and scrumptious lemon bars with my sister-in-law and her mother.

Here are a few of my favorite Southern dishes:

BREAKFAST

Grits with Butter

Grits flavored with salt, pepper and butter was a common breakfast in my home.  Often it was a side dish to scrambled eggs and sausage or bacon.  My mother liked to mix her eggs and sausage (or bacon) in with the grits.  I always thought this concoction looked disgusting until I tasted it.  It was surprisingly delicious.

As an adult, I often meet other displaced Southerners and we invariably wax poetic about our favorite back-home specialties.  I learned about new ways to eat grits in these discussion.  I’d never had cheddar cheese on grits or the famous shrimp and grits but once I finally tasted it, I was surprised that I had waited so long to try them.

Also Known As The Poor Man's Pate

Fried Liver Pudding

After a little research, I discovered that there are only five liver pudding factories in the U.S. and they are all in N.C.  Liver pudding is apparently specific to North Carolina, so even if you grew up in other Southern states like Virginia or Tennessee, you might never have heard of this food.

For the record, I hate liver.  Well, I haven’t actually tried liver since I was a child but I remember the one time I sampled liver and onions over rice,  my taste buds were very angry with me for an extended period of time.  Liver pudding is somehow different.  It has a mild, mealy texture mixed with an undisclosed mix of spices. It is best served fried crispy on the outside and a little soft in the middle.  Liver pudding (not to be confused with liver mush) can also be served cold.  I don’t know if this was a safe way to eat this product (lol) but liver pudding comes in blocks and I would slice it and eat it straight from the refrigerator.  I think my mother ate hers with grits or scrambled eggs (sometimes between two pieces of white bread) but I preferred mine alone, so that no other tastes could hinder my enjoyment.

Buttermilk Biscuits And Molasses

I don’t care how many Paula Deen cookbooks I read,  I will never master the art of making perfectly light and fluffy biscuits.  I can, however purchase them refrigerated at the grocery store or at Bojangle’s or Hardee’s (Southern based fast-food restaurants).  There is nothing like the taste of a flaky biscuit dipped in warm molasses swirling with butter.  Most people identify molasses with ginger bread and ginger cookies but I will always think of the buttery, slightly salty biscuit as the ideal pairing for blackstrap molasses.  Many people eat biscuits as a side with breakfast or dinner but I prefer to eat them alone as the whole breakfast or as a snack.

ENTREES

Fried Chicken

What is there to say about fried chicken?  I mean, who doesn’t like fried chicken?  There are versions of batter-dipped chicken in almost every culture but I will always prefer the South’s version.  And there are so many different ways to season chicken, buttermilk, Cajun spices, garlic…the options are endless.  I am practicing on chicken strips at the moment.  Frying chicken is time intensive, requiring quite the time commitment  to properly batter, season and then fry… In the end, it is worth it of course.  My chicken strips do not taste like my mother’s fried chicken but I am getting close.

Fried Salmon Patties

Frying salmon in your house leaves your house smelling, well…fishy.  To avoid that offensive odor, my mother fries her salmon outside, in a special deep fryer on the deck of her house.  I open all of my windows, turn the ceiling fan on high and set a bowl of ammonia by the oven to soak up the sent.  Whatever works.

There really is no way to mess up salmon patties and the ones I have cooked turned out delicious.  I like salmon patties best with a slice of warm cornbread dripping with sweet butter and a side of collard greens.

Fried Fish with Hushpuppies

Growing up, fried fish was often cooked on Friday’s and my mother could never make enough.  I remember eating fried fish (never sure what type) until I was stuffed.  Fried fish battered in seasoned cornmeal, topped with hot sauce and served with golden-brown hush puppies (deep-fried cornbread balls) and cold coleslaw is a favorite childhood memory of mine.

SIDES

Southern Potato Salad

My mother makes excellent  potato salad and usually the dish she is asked to bring to potlucks and Thanksgiving dinners.  I can remember her letting my dad taste the recipe as she added dill and mustard and what have you.  It was an on-going process, add ingredients, stir, dad tastes, repeat… She would strive for the perfect mix of ingredients, the proportion of sweet pickle relish to mayonnaise was always key.  And finally, my dad would give her his all important seal of approval and the preparation was complete.

There is controversy of whether potato salad should be served warm or cold.  I prefer mine chilled.  In my opinion, the cooler temperature bring out the individual taste of the ingredients to advantage.  And please do not confuse white potato salad with yellow potato salad, the taste difference is significant.  It is actually German potato salad and Southern potato salad with the latter colored by the addition of yellow mustard. I know that German potato salad has its fans but I prefer the tangy, sweetness of the Southern variety.

Fried Okra

Okay, lets face it.  Anything deep fried is going to taste good but I have always had an affinity for fried okra.  Deep frying takes an awkward, much maligned, slimy green vegetable and turns it into a viable dinner option loved by kids and adults alike.  Not to say that I don’t enjoy steamed okra because I do, but the salty crunch texture of the batter means that I am not thinking of slugs when I eat this vegetable.

DESSERT

Banana Pudding

The love of desserts is universal and certainly the South does not hold a patent on delicious treats.  However, it seems to me that my mother made a banana pudding each and every Sunday and I would be remiss if I did not mention this star of Southern cuisine.  There are many variations on the recipe but most traditionalists will demand that you use Nilla brand wafers and vanilla (not banana) pudding to layer with the bananas.  I seem to recall my mother using lemon pudding on occasion and to great success.  However she made it, it was and is an appetizing way to finish a meal.  And I am happy to say that I make my own very pretty version of the banana pudding in a wine glass for my family and they love it.

Pecan Pie

I think someone tried to create the most delectable way to give a human being sugar shock and came up with the pecan pie.  How else does one combine pecans with a cup of sugar cane syrup, an additional cup of white sugar, a dash of vanilla and a liberal dose of butter?  This indulgent, sticky sweet dessert is definitely one that should be eaten in moderation but when you do, add a dollop of vanilla ice cream.  The bourbon variety is also ridiculously decadent.

BEVERAGES

Sweet Tea

Sometimes Southerners take for granted the access they will have to sweet tea when they venture outside of their home region.  Take me for example, I remember the first time I traveled to California.  I was on summer break from college and having dinner in a Costa Mesa restaurant when the waiter sidled up to our table and asked for our drink orders.  I asked for sweet tea.  I actually said, “I would like sweetened tea.”  You know, as opposed to unsweetened tea.  Minutes late, the waiter came back with apology all over his face.  ”I’m sorry ma’am but we do not serve Sweden tea.”   We had a good laugh about that and I ended up with a strong bitter drink simply called Iced Tea.

Sweet tea is an institution in the South.  It is what you drink on hot humid days in the Summer and how you replenish yourself during Sunday dinner.  It is an all-purpose drink that goes well with any meal.  It is also filled with sugar, so much so that often the sugar sits at the bottom of your glass in one or two-inch mountains.  Well, no one ever said it was the healthiest drink even with all of those antioxidants.  I have since learned to enjoy my tea sans sugar with lots of lemon, or even the very strong Oolong and Jasmine teas popular in Japan.  But there really is no replacement for a strongly brewed tea mixed with sugar and a slice of lemon.  If you find yourself traveling around the U.S. and you want a taste of the South or just need an energy jolt worthy of a Starbucks venti latte, stop by any U.S. McDonald’s.  They serve an uber-sweet tea that is almost as good as the real thing.

What are some of your favorite Southern dishes?  Visited a wonderful Southern restaurant you think my readers should know about?  How about a link to an awesome Southern recipe?

Discuss on Twitter:  @awomanreading #SouthernFriedDelicious

Paris & Nicky Hilton

Let’s begin with an analogy.  Gemma Townley is to Sophie Kinsella as Nicky Hilton is to Paris.  Got it?  Both Hilton sisters are attractive, thin and rich.  Both are talented at self-promotion, designing things and being famous for er–being famous.  Point is, one sister’s star shines brighter than the other.

Gemma Townley is a British Chick Lit writer and the lesser known sister of Sophie Kinsella (aka known as Madeline Wickham) of Shopaholic fame.  While Sophie has strong face and name recognition many fans of chick lit barely know who Gemma Townley is, and that is despite the fact that she’s had seven novels published.

Most readers have no idea that these two authors are sisters.  I am not sure if this was by crafty design of the publishers and PR and Marketing department.  Or it could have been as simple (or complex as) Gemma using her given name of Townley, while her sister first used her married name of Wickham and then created a nom de plum called  Sophie Kinsella when she decided to switch from traditional women’s fiction to chick lit.  Perhaps the public and media were just too slow to catch up.  Either way, it was several years into both women’s careers before the proverbial cat was out of the bag and eagerly acknowledged.

I discovered Gemma first while vacationing in Italy with her aptly named novel When In Rome and promptly fell in love with her witty, writing style and whimsical plots.  After perusing reviews of a few of her novels on Good Reads, I found that most readers either really loved Gemma’s work or were terribly dismissive of her writing.  It was interesting to read comments from readers who obviously didn’t know the two women were sisters.  Gemma Townley tries to hard to write like Sophia Kinsella.  Or…Not as good as a Kinsella novel. These types of comments are probably why Gemma wanted to be known as Gemma Townley:  Author and not Gemma Townley:  The Sister of Sophie Kinsella Who Also Writes Chick Lit.

Jackie & Joan Collins

I can think of one excellent example of sister authors who found success while using the same surname.  The gorgeous and glamorous duo of Jackie and Joan Collins are famously competitive and both write wonderfully trashy glitzy novels of love and lust.  Jackie, most famous for her Lucky Santangelo character (and someone I grew up reading as a teen) has sold over 400 million novels while her older sister not as successful as she, has done quite well for herself selling 50 million worldwide.  Sharing the same last name did not hurt either sister’s careers as novelists but this as you will see, Dear Reader is not the norm.

The Latest Novel By Jackie Collins

At first look it might seem strange that these two authors would purposely distance themselves but when you really analyze the situation it makes perfect sense.  Let’s take two famous sisters as an example.  Beyonce and Solange Knowles are very talented and attractive young women.  One is a global superstar and the other, also a R&B singer struggles to find an audience for her music.

Solange is often criticized in the media for plaintive, immature behavior that screams Look at me and not my super-famous sister! From shaving her head, to wearing odd clothing choices, Solange is challenged to crawl from under her sister’s behemoth shadow and cease being Beyonce’s lesser sibling.  I hope that she eventually finds her niche.

Beyonce & Solange Knowles

The Universal Law of More Than One Celebrity In A Family (I just coined that phrase.) seems to indicate that there can only be one superstar per family.  Name your favorite Beyonce song.  Now name any Solange title.  Still waiting…  Exactly.  You can’t because even with the famous Knowles name, nepotism and the connections her family must have, Solange has never had the marketing, promotion and airplay that her older sister enjoys.  It doesn’t mean that she is not as attractive or talented as her sister it simply means that the world is not big enough for two R&B stars from the same family.

Julia Roberts is one of the highest paid actresses in the world.   Now, what about her older sister Lisa, never heard of her, right?  Me either, not until I read this article. Lisa had cameos in almost all of Julia’s films and appeared in a few not directly related to her older sister.  Why isn’t she known as more than the sister of Julia Roberts who also acts?  It is because The Universal Law of More Than One Celebrity In A Family demands that only one sibling achieve global stardom.  Lisa seems content to be a consistently working actress in Hollywood and that at least is something most aspiring Brads and Halles wish they could say.

Julia Roberts & Her Sister Lisa Roberts Gillan

My point is, as glamorous as it may seem, being the sibling of a famous person is not as helpful as you might think.  Certainly not if you strive for success in the same arena as your celebrity brother or sister.  So, when Gemma Townley decided to write and publish her own novels she had to consider that not only would she be in direct competition with her sister but she would be unfairly compared to her.  It probably would have been helpful if Gemma hadn’t selected the exact genre to write in and then commenced to writing almost the exact types of novels but she has (insert shrug), and we the readers have double the fun and fluffy novels to read.

The Lesser Known, Author Gemma Townley

I can’t say that there are huge differences in the writing of these two sisters.  In my humble opinion, their writing style is exactly the same.  Popular opinion appears to suggest that Sophie is the stronger writer of the two but I prefer to consider them two sides of the same coin.  Certainly if  you like one of these writers you will love the other.  They both have that typical British humor I love, always with a glossy gorgeous character name Jemima or Finoula and a Hugh Grant-type hero or maybe a brash American entrepreneur with a gleaming set of perfect white teeth.

Author Sophie Kinsella

Gemma’s books follow a certain formula.  The heroine usually works in PR or Marketing, there is a cute but loser boyfriend in her past and her mother is usually meddlesome.  Well, okay maybe this sounds like half of every chick lit story you have ever read but for me what makes it different from other novels in the genre, is the writer’s voice which is patently British and very, very funny in a sardonic kind of way.  Which is exactly how I would describe her sister Sophie’s novels.

The new series by Gemma Townley features Jessica Wild, a fabulously flawed and fun character.  The series follows her trials and tribulations as she finds a husband and learns to be a  good wife.  That is the short version, it is really infinitely more complicated than that–but in a good, plot-twisting way.  The series is enjoyable but not as wonderful as her single titles.  If you are a die-hard Gemma fan, you will want to purchase, read and re-read this series.  If you are on the fence, I would recommend Little, White Lies and Learning Curves, two of her best works.

Even if you are new to the world of Sophie Kinsella you have probably heard of the Confessions Of A Shopaholic film.  Her series of the same name needs no additional promotion from me, so instead I will recommend the excellent Can You Keep A Secret, Remember Me and her latest relief The Twenties Girl.

Yes, This Is Really What Okinawa Looks Like.

I have just relocated to the U.S. after living in Okinawa for the past three years.  For those of you not up on your Japanese geography, Okinawa is a tropical paradise of an island situated south of Japan in the East China sea and approximately 340 miles from the Japanese mainland.  The sand is white, the water blue and the landscape dotted with palm fronds blowing in the breeze, pineapple trees and mango plants.  What’s not to love, right?  Wrong.

I have always been partial to traveling throughout Europe and I hope, in the future to spend time in Africa, like my sister who has just returned from working with the UN in Liberia.  I have never been particularly interested in Asia as a region or visiting any of the countries there. (Does that make me a horrible person?) But when the opportunity arose for my husband to  move to Japan for work, despite my lack of interest in visiting the area, I did not feel right turning down a chance for me and my family to live abroad, particularly my son who at the time had never traveled outside of the U.S.

Upon arriving on island, I began a love-hate relationship with Okinawa.  I loved the fact that there was beauty everywhere you looked and the weather was great (except the rainy season, barely noticeable earthquakes and the numerous tsunami warnings).  But an island is so, well, island-ish, you know…small and surrounded by water.  After awhile, you’ve done all of the touristy-things, you run into the same people and you, well start to pout and long to be elsewhere, like Rome or Paris. (Maybe that was just me.  Well, no it wasn’t because I had several girlfriends who felt the exact same way.)

Cape Hedo, Okinawa

Fortunately for me, about six months before it was time to leave the island, my best friend and I started to prematurely wax poetic about Oki (as the resident Americans called it) and all that we would miss.  Instead of meeting at the local Starbucks for our weekly gabfests, we started taking walks on the beach to enjoy the view.  I started taking pictures of the everyday things I knew I would miss.  My husband and I even made a list of restaurants we wanted to visit but hadn’t and made sure that we went.  And we visited some of our favorite tourist haunts–again.

By the time I was packing and readying to return stateside, I was dare I say, misty-eyed? My husband noticing my change of heart reassured me that we could always return if I really truly missed the island that much.  I quickly came to my senses and realized that while I belatedly regained my gratitude for the opportunity to live abroad, meet wonderful people and experience a wonderful culture, I really did not want to stay.

Interestingly enough for a person who formerly has no interest in the region, I am now pursuing a Masters of Science in International Relations.  And yes, you guessed it, I am specializing in the Northeast Asian region and terribly interested in security issues related to Japan, both Koreas and China.

Here is my brief list of ‘what I miss about Okinawa’:

Drink Machines

Drink machines are more ubiquitous than Starbucks in Okinawa and throughout mainland Japan.  Literally, ever five paces or so, there was a drink machine offering the coolest drinks you never heard of, like white grape with bits of aloe (weird sounding but tasty),  fruity gelatin drinks (Yes, like drinking Jell-o with a straw and a bit hit with the kiddies.), fifty different kinds of coffee in a can (espresso, americano, latte…) super-strong, bitter jasmine tea,  various fruit and tea mixes (like white grape tea, apple tea…) and White Water (a mysterious yet popular milky-white, carbonated beverage).

Canned Coffee

Delicious and convenient coffee in a can, I miss you dearly

Before you could find Starbucks in a can in your local convenience store, the Japanese were chugging canned coffee in the morning, afternoon and evening.  They come hot or ice-cold straight from the vending machine and only cost the equivalent of one American dollar.

Purple Potato Ice Cream

Yes, there is a purple potato that grows in Okinawa.  It is a lovely, deep violet color and is very tasty.

Nail Art

Nope, Not My Nails.

The nail art in Okinawa is not to be believed.  What would be considered tacky in the U.S. is  highly popular throughout all of Japan.  It is very rare to see local women and girls without nail art.  Most American women kept their finger nails traditional and went crazy on the toes.  I will admit, there are some exceedingly pretty designs.  When I was in Okinawa, I would typically get a French Manicure with a few strategically placed rhinestones on one or two fingers.  Occasionally, I’d get a small, three-dimensional white flower painted on one nail.  I miss getting nail art.  I am back to my predictable blood-red color on short nails.  Oh well.

Japanese Pastries

Exquisitely crafted, light as air, not-too-sweet desserts.  See this post dedicated to the art of Japanese patisseries.

Strawberry Tart - My Older Son's Favorite Japanese Dessert.

Rice Balls

A bit self-explanatory but balls (or sometimes triangle-shaped) of rice,  wrapped in seaweed, seasoned with salt and occasionally filled with salmon or pickled plum or my personal favorite,  bonita flakes (dried flakes of smoked fish).  Delicious, healthy and a much better option than Happy Meals with apple slices when feeding kids in the car.

Rice Ball Picture Courtesy of en.kokotaru.com

The Sounds of Drums In The Far Off Distance

The sounds of drums could always be heard in the distance.  It made for a nice, eerie yet authentically Okinawan soundtrack for my life on the island.  Eisa (a traditional Okinawan dance) groups were ever present, practicing late into the night.  Eventually you’d see the groups in their bright red vests on a random street corner attracting hordes of pedestrians while they did a choreographed dance along with singing and chanting with and without drums.  Lovely to hear and lots of fun to watch.  Check it out below.

Shishi Dogs

Shishi translates into lion, but most Okinawans consider this mystical creature a dog with magical powers and the ability to repel evil spirits.  For this reason, you will find statues of Shishi dogs on the roof of, or at the entrance of every home, restaurant, office building and facility on the island usually in pairs. Okinawans take their Shishi’s quite seriously.  When I was new to the island, seeing them under every nook and cranny was unsettling.

I did, however get used to seeing them.  And now, I miss their grotesque faces and hideous expressions.   Good thing I sent my brother a pair of Shishi dogs for Christmas, I can see them when I visit his home.

Fun, Touristy Stuff

Shuri Castle in Okinawa, Japan

If, however you are like me and avoid water because it turns my perfectly blown-out hair into an impossibly frizzy mess of spiral curls (this island’s intense, dare I say suffocating humidity in the summer is also the archenemy of my hair).  You will have fun visiting Peace Prayer Park, Shuri Castle, the Churaumi  Aquarium (second largest aquarium in the world–we went three times!) and eating.  Yes, I said eating!  There are so many great restaurants on the island, I will probably have to do a separate post just to discuss Japanese food.  Okinawans are also big fans of Italian and Jamaican food and there are numerous Italian and Caribbean restaurants on the island with an Okinawan spin on popular menu favorites.  Sweet corn on pizza, anyone?

Vipers in Vodka (Pssst…I don’t miss this.)

Okay, not exactly vipers in Vodka but I liked the way it sounded (To an English major, alliteration-even in prose is cool).  Habu sake or awamori is a liquor made of rice and the venom of the deadly pit viper, the Habu-a snake indigenous to Okinawa.  And for the pièce de résistance, Okinawans bottle the beverage with an entire snake coiled inside.  The alcohol in the liquor neutralizes the venom.  However, I have never tried this beverage, nor will I ever.  Just as I am not a cat-lover, I have a strong dislike for anything that crawls on its belly, hisses and is filled with poison.

What do you miss about Okinawa?  Or if you’ve never been, what do you want to see?

Discuss on Twitter:  @awomanreading #OkinawaLivingInParadise

Best-Selling Author, Helen MacInnes

Does anyone remember Helen MacInnes?  She was a best-selling author who wrote espionage thrillers beginning in the 1940′s.  The forties–a time when women were supposed to be barefoot and in the kitchen.  The average monthly salary was $1,299 and only one in five Americans had a car.  This was the world that Scottish-born MacInnes found herself in when she decided to write her novels.

Rosie The Riveter

Sure there was Rosie the Riveter in her rolled-up overalls doing great things for women’s independence;  but it was rather unheard of for a woman to write novels about men saving the world, fighting bad guys and getting (sometimes) the girl (Who may or may not be on the right side.) at the end.  This was an era when it was perfectly fine, dare I say natural if women did not keep up with current events or know exactly why the world was about to explode into its second global conflict.  But there was MacInnes in the literary thick of it all, brilliantly writing about the politics of the day in the most au courant of ways.

I stumbled upon her books while working part-time at a library.  (I was really still a SAHM but I wanted someone to pay me to leave the house for fifteen hours a week and this library offered, so…)  I was straightening shelves (i.e. finding books to read) when I came across the novel, North From Rome.  It was old, dusty and the cover screamed ‘Yes, I am an antiquated novel from the fifties!’  However, the title had the word ‘Rome’ in it and since I love to read stories and view films set in Bella Roma, I read the dust cover.  To my surprise, it was a novel about espionage.  I saw key phrases like ‘American abroad’, spies, beautiful woman…and I was hooked.

Working at a library, as you might imagine, I brought home stacks of books everyday.  My collection of borrowed books was unrealistically high and my husband was concerned that I might read myself blind. (Not to worry, my eyes are fine.) I put North From Rome on the top of the stack and began reading it that night.  For me, the novel turned out to be one of those books that you stay up until 3 am to finish.  It was just that good.

A Librarian (But Not Me!)

The next day I returned to the library and checked out every Helen MacInnes book they had (And you will find that almost every library has most of her titles.  They might be collecting dust in a basement somewhere but they have them.) and proceeded to read them throughout the week.  I found her books to be addictive.  But then again, someone who was known as the “Queen of Spy Writers” must have known what she was doing, d’accord?

And her protagonist was always a witty, cool guy from the fifties that only wore suits, lit cigarettes for ladies and had a strong sense of honor.  A sort of James Bond without the ego or instinct for killing, although her characters always knew how to handle a gun when necessary.  He typically was a writer, working in publishing–maybe a lawyer going abroad for business,  and then he stumbled into international intrigue and danger.  I mean, it was always an accident that propelled the hero into the plot.

And there was romance with a pretty girl and bad guys with a political agenda.  MacInnes’ writing is almost Hemingway-ish in its understatement but always very witty.  And the suspense is of the on-the-edge-of-your-seat variety.  Many call her the precursor to Robert Ludlum (That’s the guy who wrote the books the Jason Bourne movies were based on–you did know there were books first, right?).  Even though her stories, for the most part are set during World War II and the Cold War, I found her stories to be relevant and somewhat timeless.  I mean, there will always be political unrest and countries using espionage in the interest of national security, yes?

What really appealed to me in her stories were the international settings:  Rome, Venice, Athens…all places I love or imagine I would like to go.  Often or not, the characters of her novels were racing from one fabulous European destination to the next.   After reading her novel, you felt as if you had visited the cities that the story took place in, I mean literally walked the streets and knew your way around.  And if you found yourself on the way to the areas written about, you had a genuine list of tourist spots, restaurants and cafes to visit.

Her career spanned forty years and  twenty-two books.  She sold twenty-five million novels in just the USA.  Four of her novels were made into successful films.  Dear Readers, she used to be as famous as Nora Roberts or the ubiquitous Nicholas Sparks but now you can purchase her books online for pennies on the dollar and practically no one knows her name.

I would like to see a re-emergence of her novels.  Certainly the estates of authors like Robert Ludlum, V.C. Andrews and Carolyn Keene are still cranking out books, graphic novels and TV and film projects.  Posthumously, their name recognition is stronger than when they were alive.

I think her publishers should reprint her novels with brand new covers and the films that were made into movies during the sixties should be remade.  Certainly, if they can remake the Crazies (Which was surprisingly good for a pseudo-zombie flick and I don’t usually ‘do’ horror. ) certainly a once popular slickly written spy thriller would do well at the box office.  Or how about a video game or comic book inspired by one or more of her titles?  It has been done before.

She has a few novels that are not espionage thrillers and a smattering of spy novels that did not appeal to me.  However, I would personally recommend North from Rome, Decision at Delphi (Love those snazzy titles.), the Venetian Affair, The Salzburg Connection and Ride a Pale Horse (her only spy thriller featuring a female lead).  If you enjoy reading Romantic Suspense or watching James Bond films, you will probably enjoy these titles.

I think it is a shame that Helen MacInness is all but forgotten today.  I mean, it’s kind of like in 2050, know one remembering James Patterson or Nicholas Sparks.  And that seems unfathomable, doesn’t it?

Discuss on Twitter:  @awomanreading #RememberHelenMacInnes?

Stray Cat In Front Of The Coliseum

If you have ever been to Rome, Italy you might recall seeing cats lounging among the ruins.  I vacationed in Italy and it was the strangest, most incongruous of sights.  I still think about those felines languorously lounging among stone pillars and crumbling foundations.

When In Rome by Gemma Townley

After being in Rome for nearly a week with a soft rain drizzling from an ominous gray sky,  which meant that I went here, here and here with an umbrella and a smile; the sun finally decided to show itself.  I celebrated the excellent weather by taking a walk and bus ride to an English-language bookstore and purchased When In Rome (one of my favorite chick lit books of all times), an appropriate book for vacationing in the Eternal City and my introduction to fabulous chick lit author Gemma Townley (Sophia Kinsella’s equally talented sister.).

The bookstore was directly across from the Largo di Torre Argentina better known as ‘The Place Where Julius Cesar Was Murdered’.  The Torre Argentina, formerly the site of four Roman Republican-area temples and the infamous Theater of Pompey is an example of why Rome is one of my favorite cities.  I have a passion for ancient history and archaeology and in Rome there are ruins EVERYWHERE.  History lives and breathes among the restaurants, cafes, gelato shops and boutiques.

With newly purchased book in hand, I crossed the busy street and marveled at the decaying remnants of Rome in its glory.  The ruins were sunken but there was a plexiglass border running around the perimeter of the tourist attraction, so you could lean over and view the ancient square.  Well, I was leaning and snapping pictures when I saw movement in the distance.

Confused, I turned to the random person beside me.  “E’ gatto?”  To paraphrase, ‘Is that a cat?’, probably not grammatically correct but effective none the less.

The man shrugged, “Si.” His tone was more ‘duh!’ than yes, but oh well.

Leaning forward and squinting my eyes (my eyesight is atrocious), I saw at least fifty cats moving around the grounds.  I wasn’t sure if I should be horrified or entranced.  I decided moderately interested was appropriate and did some research.

Cat Lounging/Torre Argentino

I found out later that there were thousands  upon thousands of cats lurking amongst the various ruins in Rome and are considered an authentic part of the Roman Holiday experience.  And while many locals feel the numerous stray cats are a nuisance, in 2001 the Rome City Council designated cats living in the Coliseum, the Forum and Torre Argentina a part of the city’s ‘bio-heritage’ to be protected, which means you can not use them for target practice or hackey sack (just jokes, people!).  On the other hand, the cats of Rome are considered part of the area’s ‘wild life’, so there is no government funds allocated to create shelters for them.  Confusing, no?

Ancient Egyptian Cat God Bastet

Local lore states that we can thank the fall of the ancient Egyptian empire for the world-wide distribution of cats.  Roman ships were in and out of ancient Alexandria  during and after their successful invasion of the region.  And cats, ever intelligent saw pretty quickly the writing on the wall, deciding to ‘stow away’ on sailing vessels headed for Rome and greener pastures.  Cats would no longer be the object of worship in Egypt but they would eventually become second only to dogs as man’s best friend around the world.

There are an estimated 300,000 feral (born in the wild) cats roaming the streets of Caput Mundi  and being fed by gattare–or cat women.  You know, an elderly lady with know one to take care of but stray cats.  I suppose those women are in every society but God bless them for feeding and loving cats that no one else wants.  There is also a cat sanctuary in a cave underneath the Torre Argentina that actively care for and house strays.

Madeline And The Cats Of Rome by John Marciano

Author John Marciano (son of Madeline’s original series author and creator Ludwig Bemelmans’s) has written a cute children’s book about the cats in Rome.  It is one of the newest book in the lovable Madeline series and perfect for the pre-k through elementary set.

If you are planning a trip to Rome and love cats, then by all means take pics of the kitties and give some spare change to the folks at the cat sanctuary.  If you can believe it, there is even a ‘cat culture‘ tour you can take.

Gelato In Rome

But if you are anything like me (did I mention that I am not partial to cats?), you will carefully step over the fickle felines and head directly to the Piazza Navona.  Where you will then grab an outdoor table, enjoy a cup of delicious gelato and people watch.  Either way, cat-lover or gelato aficionado, there is something in Rome for everyone to enjoy.

Unfortunately, because a similar story was already in development at the magazine, the powers that be passed on my article.  I recently touched based with Laurie and discovered that she had written a memoir published in 2009 (paperback came out in July 2010).  I told her I would definitely purchase a copy and promptly forgot about her book amongst the chaos of relocating to a new area and raising two boys.

So this week, I found myself, latte in hand wandering around Barnes and Noble looking for the new novel about Emily Dickinson by Lyndall Gordon, Lives Like Loaded Guns.  I saw Laurie’s book prominently displayed on a table in the front of the store featuring new releases.  I snatched it up, adding it to my previous selection and found a private corner in which to read.

I knew that I was going to purchase Laurie’s book, (good or bad) just because I said that I would.  Besides, I wanted to support the one published author that I sort of knew.  (God knows that when I publish my first novel, I certainly want any and everyone I know to purchase a copy!)  So, I set it aside and eagerly flipped to the beginning of the Dickinson expose.  I was revved up to read this book ever since I read this review.

I grew up completely enamored with Emily Dickinson.  It had been quite awhile since I thought about one of America’s greatest poets but I vaguely recalled her as being a prim, unadorned tortured soul writing feverishly in a locked attic somewhere.

Emily Dickinson

Hope Is The Thing With Feathers

Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune without the words,
And never stops at all, And sweetest in the gale is heard;
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm.I’ve heard it in the chillest land,
And on the strangest sea;
Yet, never, in extremity,
It asked a crumb of me.To my teen angst-filled mind she seemed terribly romantic;  unaccountably passionate written words from someone so apparently pinched and pained, staring solemnly out of black and white photographs.  I could not help but think that she and I were twin souls, she in nineteenth century Amherst and me growing up in a contemporary southern-fried suburbia.  It is because of her that I began scribbling in journals and creating poems to express myself when my bitterly shy, awkward teenaged self could not do so verbally.

So, it was with great eagerness that I delved into this book daring to expose Miss Dickinson for the passionate creature I always hoped she would be.  Well, apparently I just wasn’t in the mood for an in-depth, wordy tome that began with minutiae.  Three pages into the first chapter, I glanced at the brightly colored cover of The Imposter’s Daughter and put the first book down. (My inability to read Lives Like A Loaded Gun should in no way be construed as derogatory–all reviews have been positive.  Like the jerk boyfriend we’ve all had who rationalized ending The Greatest Romance Ever with “It’s not you, it’s me.”  Well…it wasn’t the book, it was me… I still plan on reading it.)  Any hu…

I opened up The Imposter’s Daughter expecting a well-written memoir (but secretly wondering how memorable can any young woman’s life be to merit a memoir).  The author  is after all an accomplished writer, most notably known for her celebrity profiles.  (Celebs like Ashley Judd and Penelope Cruz, among others make interesting cameos in the book.) Two seconds into reading, I found that I was smiling, amused, happy…laughing.  This was a laugh out loud book.  The drawings were great–funny and I’m not the type of reader who gravitates towards graphic novels (that would be my oldest son who developed a taste for anime while in Japan).  I immediately sent out a tweet:  ”#what i’m reading “The Imposter’s Daughter” by Laurie Sandell. So far, ridiculously funny.”

I thought, okay, I get it.  This is going to be a very funny story about an intelligent, scarily articulate and Dawson Creek-observant kid who has the most impressive dad in the world. He was a Green Beret, had multiple degrees from the best schools, spoke several languages and was probably a CIA operative.  Okay.  That is not what this story is about and it is not all laugh out loud funny.  Sure, there is always a hint of amusement hovering above the pages, but it is more humor borne of desperation (like I better laugh or I’ll cry) than anything else.

This memoir delves into some gritty territory–all told with humor, and  excellent drawings which add a layer of depth to the story.  There is prescription drug abuse, stripping in Japan (read the book), an exploratory lesbian fling,  lots of familial dysfunction and even a funny take on redemption through Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ (no really, it’s funny.  I’m visualizing the cartoon right now and I’m smiling.)

After completing the book, I marveled at how effective a graphic novel was to express this story, and I also wondered who Ben (her hot and cold boyfriend) was – is he, or isn’t he a famous film director we all know (and maybe love?).

Image From The Imposter's Daughter by Laurie Sandell

The father, really the main character of the story is over-the-top.  His drawings and characterization practically beg to come to life on the big screen.  I see this movie with the same tone as Little Miss Sunshine or Juno, a kooky bittersweet tale of family dysfunction and the importance of remaining true to one’s self.  Because really, by the end of this book, the story is less about the daughter-father relationship and more about the main character defining herself in and out of context with her family.

I have tried to reconcile the character in the book with the Laurie Sandell I have briefly interacted with and I would describe her as generous, friendly and completely down to earth.  I would imagine she had an ideal childhood with a wholesome family and had lived a life with precision focus on achieving her goals.  I would not, for a minute imagine that her personality was crafted from heart wrenching drama and eventually polished by a stint in rehab and discovering a new-found faith.  But that is her story and by writing The Imposter’s Daughter, she is certainly sticking to it.