Blog Archives

"Hail Mary," A Sequel

2/29/2020

Three years ago my first novel was released,

...a romantic comedy of errors - lots and lots of errors - called "Equal and Opposite Reactions."

    Last summer I received an email from my publisher, Black Rose Writing, asking if I was perchance working on any new material.
    As it turned out I'd just finished a sequel to "Equal and Opposite Reactions" that I called "Hail Mary" - more comedy, more errors - and was ramping up the courage to submit it, reading and re-reading what I'd written, knowing that every manuscript submission carries the risk of rejection.
     However "Hail Mary" was accepted by Black Rose, and after rounds of editing and re-editing and several cover changes, the final proof was ready for publication,

...and "Hail Mary" is due for release this spring.

The back cover:

     "Hail Mary" begins where "Equal and Opposite Reactions" left off and brings back most of the old characters - Sally, Silvio, Darren, Trysta, Joanne, Charleston Tilley, Angelo Barbieri - and a couple of new ones, the most notable being Trysta's therapist, Dr. Cavanni, and Darren's excruciatingly annoying step-brother, Geoffry.
      Still, "Hail Mary" - the title referring to a long-shot pass taken in desperation with little chance of succeeding - is first and foremost Trysta's story.
      Long conditioned to use sex as a desperate barter to keep a man in her life and a roof over her head, Trysta suddenly finds herself on a pitfall-laden path of interior discovery that will lead her to revelations about sexuality, desire, relationships, and herself. (As in "Equal and Opposite Reactions," there's also lots of sex - more likely than not used a tool for manipulation - in "Hail Mary").

        (Here's Daniel Oliver's review of "Hail Mary" on his book blog, Late Last Night Books:
https://latelastnightbooks.com/2019/09/30/hail-mary-by-patti-liszkay/?fbclid=IwAR1FYHk65-GO3kYx_jhcy2z-Gw3psG4nC5CSaoGSUiweTTgV_5zstxC7N9U).

      At under 190 pages "Hail Mary" is rather a short read - short and spicey-sweet, I hope. I'm currently working on one final sequel that will expand the story of the characters of Lupe and Ascensión Guzman- the undocumented Nicaraguan couple from "Equal and Opposite Reactions" - so stay tuned for book number three.
      In the meantime, "Hail Mary" will be released on May 7; however the book is now available for pre-order (meaning it will be mailed out on or before the release date) at a 15% discount from Black Rose Writing at:
https://www.blackrosewriting.com/romance/hailmary
...and by using the promo code PREORDER2020.
    And, of course, it's not too late to read "Equal and Opposite Reactions." You can check it out from the Columbus Library, even.
    Just in case anybody's interested. 8)

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Nurse Claire's Advice Against The Corona Virus

2/27/2020

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      Last Friday during my flight from Columbus to Chicago (see post from 2/22/2020) I sat next to a friendly guy about my age wearing a paper surgical mask. The man assured me that he wasn't sick (though I hadn't asked him if he was) but that he didn't want to get sick. Thus the mask.
       My seat mate was, of course, referring to the coronavirus - also called COVID-19 - which, we are told by health officials, is on the verge of invading the United States massively, the 60 cases so far diagnosed here being only the vanguard of the coming epidemic.
      As my seat mate was obviously worried about catching the coronavirus, I decided to share with him the advice passed on to me by my daughter Claire, an Intensive Care Unit Nurse,

...who has also worked around the globe as a disaster response nurse during health care crises,

...including the Ebola epidemic in Africa,

...on the best defensive actions against contracting the coronavirus. I will now share with you the advice I shared with my flight mate.

Nurse Claire's Advice On The Best Defenses Against The Coronavirus

1. Wash your hands.

Wash them often. Wash them really well, getting the soap between your fingers and up under your rings. Be obsessive about washing your hands.

2. Avoid touching your face.

     Your fingers touch all kinds of germy things including, potentially, something that's been schmeered with the coronavirus. If you touch your face the germs can then shimmy from your fingers onto your face then into to your mouth, eyes and nose, the expressways to your bloodstream, which is the expressway to everything else going on under your skin.


                                                  3. GET YOUR FLU SHOT !!!

Seriously. get it. Not because this year's flu shot will vaccinate you against COVID-19, but because it will protect you from getting the flu, which is already hitting the United States and the rest of the world in epidemic numbers. Here's the CDC stats on the flu in the U.S. alone:

     And here's what's so stupid about this: WE HAVE A VACCINE FOR THE FLU BUT ONLY 40% OF AMERICANS GET IT! Meanwhile everybody's fretting about the coronavirus. So far it's been confirmed that COVID-19 has infected 81,000 people and killed 2,764 world-wide.
      My daughter says her hospital is packed with flu cases. So what happens when the coronavirus hits and masses of people need to be hospitalized on top of all the flu cases?
        Get your danged flu shot!

                                                4. Wear A Mask

According to Nurse Claire, a surgical mask will lessen the spread of the disease among the population. So be a good, responsible citizen,

...and wear your mask! And wash your hands and get your flu shot! (And don't touch your face!)

References:
https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/25/health/coronavirus-us-american-cases/index.html

https://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/burden/preliminary-in-season-estimates.htm

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/02/26/coronavirus-latest-updates.html

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/02/03/the-flu-has-already-killed-10000-across-us-as-world-frets-over-coronavirus.html

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Cozy And Chillin' On A Chilly Chicago Weekend

2/25/2020

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...Continued from yesterday:
On the chilliest day in Chicago - and it can get darned chilly in the Windy City - still it's always warm and cozy inside my daughter Claire and son-in-law's Miguel's house.

And so we opted to spend most of the weekend inside looking out,

...while tackling some serious house cleaning,

...baking - and eating- a cherry almond streusel pie,*

...and keeping the kitties company as they went about their business.

We did venture out a few times over the weekend.
On Saturday afternoon Claire and I went out for walk to Bucktown, which is the next neighborhood over from Claire's Logan Square neighborhood.

We had lunch at a wonderful deli called Goddess and Grocer,

...where one can purchase one's food then eat it in a cute space on the second floor.

Claire had a veggie wrap and a bowl of the most delicious basil tomato soup,

...and I had an out-of-this world salad that I built from the copious salad bar.

We went out again on Sunday morning, starting out on foot,

...then taking the car,

...to run some errands and pick up some groceries.

Late Sunday afternoon we headed back to Bucktown,

...where we walked all around.

After a while we arrived at the Piece Brewery and Pizzaria where we'd decided to eat dinner,

...and where not only is the pizza great, but where one can also try a sampling of several brews.

We ordered a delicious basil and tomato pizza which we swore would be too much for us to finish, but we somehow managed to polish off all but the last two slices.

After dinner we returned home and ate cherry pie and watched The Rocky Horror Picture Show - one of my favorite movies - as it seemed that kind of a night.

Then early Monday morning I was once again bundled up, big suitcase in tow, and back on my way to the Western train station to catch the train to O'Hare, though this time, thankfully, Claire and Miguel showed me where to find the elevator to the platform (see the previous post).

O'Hare

      *For anybody who's interested, here's my recipe for Cherry Almond Streusel Pie:

Cherry Almond Streusel Pie
The Pie:
2 cans of tart red cherries.
2 tablespoons of quick-cooking tapioca
1 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon
1 9-inch unbaked refrigerated roll-out pie crust

The Streusel:
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1/2 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup flour
1/2 cup slivered almonds

     Mix the two cans of cherries with their juices with the tapioca, sugar, and cinnamon. Let stand for 15 minutes.
    Mix the flour and brown sugar then cut the butter into the flour and sugar until the mixture is crumbly. Mix in the almonds.
    Roll out the pie crust, place it in a 9-inch pie pan and spread the cherry mixture into the pie crust. Spoon the streusel mixture over the cherries.
    Bake at 375 for 45-50 minutes, until the filling is bubbly and topping well-browned.

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Chicagoans Are The Nicest People

2/22/2020

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Say what you will about the folks of Chicago, I’ve had enough positive exchanges with them to make the statement that they are among the nicest, most helpful of people. That is to say, as long as they’re not driving. Chicagoans behind the wheel are a brutal bunch and I hope that I might never again be prevailed upon to drive in that city. But with their feet on the sidewalk I’ve found them to be as polite and helpful a group of urbanites as I’ve met anywhere.
For example, on Friday, February 14, I flew from Columbus to Chicago for visit with my daughter Claire and her husband Miguel,

...two very nice Chicagoans, for that matter.

Anyway, after arriving at Chicago O'Hare,

...I made my way to the blue line train to the city,

...where, according to the information screen on the train station platform, it was plenty cold outside.

But I'd arrived prepared for the Chicago weather.

What I hadn't prepared for was the ordeal that awaited me when I arrived at my train stop.
My plan had been to get off the train at the Western stop, which I did,

...then walk several blocks from the station to my daughter and son-in-law's house in Logan Square.
However it turned out that the exit from the train platform was through one of those old-fashioned turnstiles,

...that looked like this.

     This turnstile wouldn't have been a problem if 1) I hadn't been hauling with me an extra-big, extra-heavy suitcase which I'd stuffed with some of the mementos I'd brought from my mother's house to bequeath upon my daughter (see post from 2/1/2020, "My Mother's House, My Mother's Things"), and 2) the darned suitcase hadn't been too darned big to squeeze through that vintage turnstile, which I learned was the case when I tried to squeeze it and myself through and got stuck.
     "You gotta push the suitcase through first," said a young guy who was looking at me from the other side of the turnstile. "Back up," he said, "and I'll pull it from my side."
   Now, I know you shouldn't judge a book by it's cover or a person by their looks, but this kid was underfed-skinny with long, straggly hair and a long, straggly beard, and he was dressed in a long, straggly, worn-looking coat with a straggly, worn-looking wool hat pulled over his straggly hair, and I was judging that as soon as he got my suitcase around to his side of the turnstile he'd be off with it as fast as his legs could carry him and the suitcase.
     But no. After he pulled my suitcase through the turnstile he waited for me to turn myself through, then he rolled my suitcase back to me. He didn't even ask for any kind of financial compensation for his trouble, though if I hadn't been too bundled and trussed-up to easily reach my wallet I'd have offered him some sandwich money anyway. However, he quickly walked off to the train platform, apparently having someplace to go.
       Safely on the other side of the train exit, I next faced what I had anticipated would be the greatest challenge of the trip: negotiating my gargantuan suitcase down the steep flight of stairs from the platform to the sidewalk without taking a tumble, and it would surely be a bad tumble at that.

     I and my suitcase made it, precariously, as far down as he first landing, where I stopped to catch my breath, rest my arms, and gather the courage to make it down to the next landing.
     While I stood on that landing girding my loins, so to speak, up the steps towards me came another young man, this one every bit as scrawny and scraggy-looking as the youngster who'd helped me through the turnstile, though this fellow was clothed in a patchy, pie-baldish jacket and he had a shock of green hair that appeared to be growing upwards in a pile on top of his head.
      "Here, let me help you with that," said this colorful fellow as he reached for my suitcase, which I compliantly handed over, and as he lugged it down the stairs, much quicker and more nimbly than I'd have been able to, I thought to myself, 'bye-bye suitcase.
       But no again. At the bottom of the stairway he handed me back my suitcase and then was on his way back up the stairs to the train platform.
      Safely on the sidewalk and feeling much gratitude towards my kind young stranger benefactors, I continued lugging my suitcase down and across the streets towards my daughter and son-in-law's house,

...stopping once to ask an elderly gent for directions, which, of course, he helpfully gave me, as I knew he would, he being a Chicagoan.

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So How Do You Defend This?

2/14/2020

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I have a question.
Donald Trump's long time friend and associate Roger Stone,

...has been convicted of seven felonies, including obstruction of justice in the Congressional investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 Presidential election, lying multiple times under oath to Congress, forging documents, and threatening a witness with bodily harm if the witness testified. He blatantly ignored a gag order placed upon him and threatened a Federal judge. For these crimes U.S. prosecutors recommended for Roger Stone a prison sentence of seven to nine years.
In response to the prosecutors' sentencing recommendation for his friend Donald Trump tweeted:

“This is a horrible and very unfair situation. The real crimes were on the other side, as nothing happens to them. Cannot allow this miscarriage of justice!”

Immediately following that tweet senior Justice Department officials

...under the direction of Donald Trump's loyal ally and perennial defender Attorney General William Barr,

...stepped in to overrule the prosecutors' decision and filed a request for a more lenient sentence for Roger Stone. One by one, all four U.S. prosecutors quit the case in protest.
Donald Trump subsequently praised William Barr for intervening in Roger Stone's behalf, attacked the prosecutors and demanded that they apologize to Stone.
Trump also went on to slander the character of the Federal judge,

....Judge Amy Berman,

...who will hand down Roger Stone's sentence, with the aim of intimidating her into handing down the lighter sentence recommended by William Barr.
So then, in view of all of the above, here's my question: To all those loyal supporters and unquestioning, unequivocal defenders of Donald Trump, how do you defend this behavior? How do you defend that he is using his power as President of the United States to influence the court for the benefit of a friend? How do you defend this corruption of our system of justice? Or do you even consider it corruption of our justice system? If you've found a rationale to defend every behavior of Donald Trump's up until this point, how do you defend his behavior this time? Or Do you?

And one more thing: Do you defend Trump's firing of Lt. Colonel Alexander Vindman from his job as a National Security member for speaking the truth under oath during Trump's impeachment trial,

...and, just for good measure, also firing Vindeman's brother, who is also a career Army officer, from his White House job?
Do you defend Donald Trump for those actions? Or not? If so, how?
I'd just like to know.

References
https://news.yahoo.com/roger-stone-sentencing-explained-controversy-063201887.html

https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/13/politics/donald-trump-power-justice-department/index.html

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/12/us/politics/trump-stone.html

https://news.yahoo.com/roger-stone-case-chief-justice-190309748.html

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/roger-stone-faces-judge-who-has-spurned-and-sided-with-trump/ar-BBZXcNa

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Madelyn And Brady's Wedding

2/10/2020

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On Sunday, February 2, My lovely niece Madelyn and her sweet fiancé Brady were married,

...at the Everal Barn, a pretty, rustic venue in Westerville, Ohio

The wedding preparations were a labor of much love for Brady and Madelyn's family and friends,

...and on Sunday morning after Tom and I picked up the flowers,

...we joined the others who, under the direction of Brady, the groom, here with his brother and Best Man Jacob,

...were setting up the barn for the 3pm wedding, putting on the chair covers,

...and table cloths,

...on the first floor and the balcony.

We put together the center pieces and table numbers,

...strung lights and garland,

Donald, the father of the bride,

...set up a pine tree hung with wedding favor ornaments for the guests,

...set up the sound system,

...and put on all the finishing touches.

The wedding ornament favor tree.

The seating chart.

And little by little the barn was transformed into a magical place.

The balcony.

At around 1pm some of us left to go home and change for the wedding while some of us stayed to take care of the last-minute details,

...and hold down the fort.

A little before 3pm everything was ready.

...and soon the guests began arriving.

...and signing the Guest Board, which announced that Brady would soon change his name to Madelyn's.

The buffet, provided by City Barbeque, was set up in the basement,

...along with a table of cookies provided by friends and relatives,

...and where a table had been set up in memory of departed loved ones who were with the families in their hearts.

When the moment arrived, the wedding party entered.

...followed by the groom and the bride, each accompanied by their parents.

Madelyn and Brady's friend Carrie was the officiant and family members and friends spoke during the service, which was lovely and heartfelt.

Madelyn and Brady Liszkay

After the wedding, while the bridal party departed for pictures, the guests went downstairs for hors d'oeuvres and socializing.

We then returned upstairs to greet the bride and groom on their return,

...then we all spent the evening feasting,

...socializing,

...eating cake,

...cut and served by my sister-in-law Mary Jane and myself,

...dancing,

...and more dancing.

Then our evening of celebrating came to an end, and it was time for us to turn the magical place back into a barn.

Still, on such a happy night it was hard to stop dancing.

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A Moveable Feast At The Bistro

2/8/2020

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Last Saturday afternoon, February 1, my daughter Claire and her husband Miguel flew in to Columbus from Chicago,

...for the wedding of my niece Madelyn and her fiancé Brady.

Since the wedding was not until the following day, Claire and Miguel wanted to spend some time with Grammy, as my mom, here with Theresa, is known to her grandchildren.

But as Claire and her Columbus siblings also wanted to squeeze in a get-together before the wedding I thought it would be a nice idea if we all went out for dinner. However a better idea than taking on the always substantial task of maneuvering 99-year-old Grammy out to a restaurant (See post from 1/8/2020, "A Dilemma") and then trying to find a table for the seven of us on a busy Saturday night was an idea offered by one of my Facebook friends,

...Sharon,

...who suggested that, rather than taking my mom out, we try bringing dinner in to mom's place, Sunrise of Gahanna, which has a lovely gathering area called the Bistro.

To this end I checked with the Sunrise staff who said that bringing in a family dinner was perfectly admissible, encouraged, even. And so we did.
Rather than order restaurant take-out, I thought everyone would enjoy a home-cooked meal, which I cooked then we carted over to Sunrise.

On the menu was roast beef au jus,

...with mashed potato casserole, green beans almondine, mushrooms sauteed in butter, and a pan of hot rolls.

For dessert there was apple pie made by Tom and cherry almond streusel pie made by me.

When all the family members had arrived we brought Grammy from her Memory Care neighborhood down to the Bistro,

...then we dug into the feast.

My mom greatly enjoyed dining in, as did we all.

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Mitt Romney's High Noon Moment

2/6/2020

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I can't help thinking that it must feel good to be Mitt Romney today.
In spite of the shunning he's received by members of his own party, in spite of being immediately disinvited from attending this year's Conservative Political Action Conference, in spite of being mocked and derided by Donald Trump, in spite of a bill floated by a Utah lawmaker to recall him from the United States Senate, in spite of all the hate, invective, and threats that have been heaped on him within the last twenty our hours, still it must feel better to be Mitt Romney,

...than to be, say,

Susan Collins,

...or Lamar Alexander

...or Marco Rubio,

...or Rob Portman,

...or any of the other Senators who voted yesterday to acquit Donald Trump of charges of abuse of power and then had to shuffle and tap dance their way around having acquitted a man whom they publicly admitted they believed was guilty of the wrongdoing for which he was impeached.
It's proving to be a difficult dance, indeed, and even if these Senators can convince the public with verbal gymnastics that they did the right thing in voting to keep in power a President whom they know is a reckless liar and a corrupt self-dealer, how much harder will it be to convince their own consciences?
Mitt Romney, on the other hand, vilified as he may be by his Republican colleagues and constituents, is on the best of terms with his own conscience in this matter, and is still the owner of his soul.

Because when other Republican Senators caved out of fear of the vengeance of Donald Trump, of what he could inflict on them and their careers,

...Romney had the courage and strength to vote to bring him to justice.
Remember "High Noon," the old western in which only one man was brave enough to stand up to the outlaw who was terrorizing the town,

...and was left to face the vengeance of the ruthless outlaw alone?

Yesterday on the floor of the Senate Mitt Romney had his "High Noon" moment.

And though his Republican colleagues may shrink back in silence, though not one may have the courage to come to his defense against the attacks he'll face by Donald Trump, his disciples and his sycophants,

...still history will declare Mitt Romney the hero of the day and the other Senators the craven cowards.
And in the meantime Mitt Romney, scorned, disowned, and isolated, may just be the freest man in the whole U.S.A.

References:
https://www.newsweek.com/sen-mitt-romney-disinvited-cpac-2020-after-voting-hear-witness-testimony-impeachment-trial-1485186

https://www.deseret.com/utah/2020/1/29/21114269/utah-lawmaker-bill-to-allow-recall-of-us-senator-mitt-romney

https://news.yahoo.com/people-pay-trump-appears-poised-164004126.html

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My Mother's House, My Mother's Things

2/1/2020

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...Continued from yesterday:
And so on Thursday, January 23, Tom and I set off on the 500-mile drive from Gahanna, Ohio, to my mother's house in Seaford, Delaware to give my brother and sister-in-law a bit of help with the task of sifting through my mother's things and to procure a couple of mementos that I'd wanted from among them, a ceramic on wood wall hanging that my siblings called "Goiter Guy" and a papier maché on wood wall hanging of a dancing gypsy that our family called "Carmen." (see yesterday's post, "The Goiter Guy and Carmen").

Tom and I stopped for dinner along the way, as we've usually done during our Columbus-Seaford trips, at a Greek restaurant between Baltimore and Annapolis called Hellas,

...where we were, strangely enough, the only ones in the dining room, all the other patrons having congregated at tables in the crowded bar.

However, we were fine having the restaurant to ourselves, and Tom ordered his favorite Hellas fare,

...the jumbo crab cake,

...while I had a yummy lamb cheese steak with sweet potato fries.

It was late when we arrived in Seaford, and we spent the night in the cozy guestroom of my brother and sister-in-law.

The following morning, Friday morning, we headed over to my mother's house where Tom, my brother, sister-in-law and I would spend that day and the next pulling out stuff,

...piling up stuff,

...going through stuff,

...looking at stuff,

...throwing out stuff,

...and setting aside and packing up stuff that our siblings or children had voiced an interest in wanting to take.

"Doesn't it feel weird," my sister-in-law asked, "to be going through mom's house like this while she's still alive?"
I agreed that it kind of did. And yet on the other hand didn't we all feel glad that she was still alive? At least we didn't have to do this undertaking with sad, heavy hearts. More pondersome to me was that this was likely to be the last time I'd ever see my mother's house,

...and my mother's things.

While cleaning out closets, cabinets and drawers we found my mother's wool cape that she received while in Westside Hospital nursing school in Scranton, Pennsylvania.

In my mother's day a nurse's cape was part of her uniform.

My mother, probably about eighteen years old, as a nursing student in her cape.

My mom's fellow nursing students in their capes.

We also found my mom's dog tags from when she served in the U.S. Army during World War II,

My mom.

We also found a treasure trove of old photographs.

...a bushel of which now sit in a box in my living room,

...along with all the other things I ended up bringing home from my mother's house.

Anyway, after having spent two days going through my mother's things and picking out a few pieces I decided I'd like to have after all, and packing up the things that my children and my my sister wanted me to take home and keep for them, as well as a suitcase full of summer clothes for my mother, I had this pile of things to bring home.

I decided that I didn't want Goiter Guy and Carmen after all. I think I just needed to look at them one more time.
However, I did send a text out to my children asking if anyone had an interest in requiring either of the two pieces. Turns out two of my children wanted the pieces,

...so we ended up packing them into the car and bringing them home, anyway.

On Sunday morning, our car packed with my mother's things, I walked through her house for the last time,

...and once more around her yard.

Then we drove for the last time through my mother's lovely neighborhood,

...and headed back to Columbus.
On our way home we stopped for dinner in Cambridge, Ohio at our favorite restaurant along the return trip, a Greek place called The Forum,

...where the food is great, my favorites being the Spanikopita Salad,

...and a giant blooming onion ring to die for.

And by strange (or not) coincidence, The Forum in Cambridge, Ohio, has the same piece of artwork as does Hellas, our favorite restaurant in Annapolis, Maryland (See above).

We wondered when would be the next time we'd be stopping at either of those restaurants.

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