I'm A Believer!

Rio Tinto Stadium, July 28th, 8.30 pm: HE takes to the stage.
His band has started off with the intro to Soolaimon, and I'm very happy about that because it's spectacular and brings the audience to their feet right away, never mind the really, really rotten sound in that open air venue. In fact the sound quality is SO rotten that it makes me cringe. These guys are normally so much better at this.

Anyway. This is not supposed to be a concert review. Everyone knows I'm a big Neil Diamond fan, have been for forty years. I like the music, I love the band, and I adore the Vocalist - and I know well I'm not the only one. But it took me all this time and a long trip to see him live in Salt Lake City to realize that there's actually a lot to learn from Neil.
It's actually quite obvious, and very easy.

Here's lesson No. 1: Be yourself.

If you found out what works for you, do it. Don't be deterred by what others say: if you feel good with what you're doing, do it. Neil Diamond did it, and it worked for him. He's an icon now.
This is a valuable lesson for anyone who wants to be a writer, you see, and the basic message here is: follow your instincts. There is only one YOU, and if you figure out how to use this in your writing, you will have your own voice, which is more valuable than anything else in writing. You can learn only so much from textbooks, classes, conferences or whatever. In the end, it always boils down to this: be yourself. In music, in life, in writing.
Neil Diamond is distinctly himself. Everyone recognizes his songs. They are unique. Sometimes a bit on the cheesy side, sometimes too melodramatic, but always clearly his. This is good!

Lesson No. 2: Be confident.

Believe in what you do!
If you don't believe in your own work, who else will? If YOU don't think it's worth the effort and the time, who will? Let those others smile and scoff, but don't stop believing in yourself. Ever.

Lesson No. 3: Never give up.

Because you never know which novel will be your breakthrough, and you learn with every sentence you write.
Just, you know, never give up if you really believe you have something worth writing. But that's something you have to figure out by yourself.

Lesson No. 4: Reinvent yourself.

Who says you have to be the same old self all the time? Wear them sparkly shirts when you think you have to, and when you think you need to tone down, wear a black business suit. Go on, surprise your audience! But whatever you decide to wear, always be dressed well and perform at your very best. And if the sound system fails, make sure you keep the show going without it.

Lesson No. 4: Stay humble.

Seriously: Stay humble. If you make it, then you made it because your audience and readers have helped you there. They are your friends. They love your work, and they probably admire you for your achievements. But: stay humble. Others work very hard too and maybe never make it, and the only difference between you and them is that one spark of luck or serendipity that gave you a head start. In the music business or in publishing hard work alone will get you nowhere. You need that golden moment of sheer, outrageous luck.

And finally:

Lesson No. 5: Age doesn't matter.

It doesn't. That is all. Just look at Neil: Seventy-one, and he still puts on a two-hour, no intermission, and he's the sole performer. No warm-up band, no guests, nothing. Just Neil, and his band of nearly half a century. If he can do it, so can we.

And now let's go out into the world and rock it with our writing the way he rocks it with the music!

Oh, btw: I'm in purple sparkles today, and off to write my novel No. 4. My publisher is waiting for it!

A Picture, And One Thousand Words

This trip is turning out to be quite a lot about food.
Which doesn't mean that I didn't get good food, and plenty of it, last year, but this time around I'm playing at "lunching out", and that's a totally different thing.

See what I mean: lunch with PJ Kaiser on Monday.

There's this lovely bistro around the corner, right here in Jersey City.
You have to remember this place, because here I was introduced to... BANANA CREAM PIE!
Banana cream pie is a little piece of heaven that found a new home on Earth. It may even be a serious rival to cheesecake, and that's saying something.

Yep, I just remembered in time to take a photo of it, before it was all gone. Lucky me!

Yesterday I went to Manhattan. On my own. In a cab. All the way from Jersey City to Penn Station, to meet someone I hadn't ever met before.
Now you must know that most of my life I've never done anything on my own. Or rather, most of my life I didn't feel like doing anything on my own, because there is always my hubby to go with me. I don't even much enjoy going downtown alone on my own at home, let alone in NYC.
But I did.
I told the driver where to drop me off, got out of the cab, and went into Penn Station, expecting to be lost and calling Emily to come rescue me.
But, no.
I managed! My friend was waiting for me right where we had said we would meet, and we had no trouble at all recognizing each other.

Someone on Facebook said for me to go and visit the "Serendipity" restaurant. It was a lovely place with great food and somehow connected to a movie or other... and for want of better ideas that's where we went, Val and I.
How blasé can you get: two women in a NY cab, being whisked from Penn Station all the way up to 60th St., right past the United Nations buildings, talking about their road to being published authors.

I still don't know what the special thing about this place is, but it was really fun. The entrees were great, but the desserts were amazing. I mean, really, really amazing.
Here's Val, slurping here "Frozen Hot Chocolate".

And here's my cheesecake. I think this cheesecake is better than Junior's, and that's saying something. Seriously.

The hot fudge was divine, but the cheesecake itself was perfect. Perfect. Perfect.

Leaving the place, we found this charming man sitting at a small table next to the entrance. He was signing books. When I picked one of them up to browse he informed me that he was the owner of Serendipity, and then went on to explain the images on the mugs they are selling to me. Needless to say, I'm one mug richer.
This journey will go into the annals as the mug-trip. Just wait and see.
I'm also two cook books richer. Not that I'll ever attempt to copy this cheesecake, but it feels good to have the recipe. And who knows. Maybe I just will.

Sorry, this photo is a little blurry, but I was still in this total state of cheesecake bliss. I'm sure you understand.

Times Square.
I know. A short while ago I said I'd be willing to live there in a tent, I loved it that much.
Uhm, no.
Either I've grown old within a year or I was delusional and utterly crazy last summer. Maybe it was because we just drove by, and it was nice and cool inside the car. But this summer, walking down Fashion Ave. in the humid, blistering heat of a July afternoon, it wasn't half as much fun as I'd thought it would be.
Still, here's the obligatory photo of a tourist in NYC. This is Val, btw. Not me.

It's hard to see from this pic that it was about (felt!) 110F, right?
Times Square on a July day: hot, humid, gritty, noisy, stinky and crowded.
Val said, "I wonder how many people would be left if they took away all the tourists? I think... like... six?"
I think she's right.

Oh, before I forget: I nearly, really NEARLY bought a purse. A $400 purse, and in lime green, too. I loved that purse. I wanted it. Badly. But I was good and didn't buy it. See, I can be frugal. Sort of.

Oh, since this is a blog about food, mostly: Here's my birthday dinner at Carnegie's. Yes, this is a pastrami sandwich. And yes, I know it's decadent, to say the least. But it was a fabulous birthday dinner, with much beloved friends.

And here's what the others had.

Tomorrow I'll go and visit the publisher. I'm very excited about that!
So expect a more "literary" blog post in a couple of days, ok?

And now excuse me while I go and get the left-over apple pie out of the fridge for breakfast.