Tag: Travel

Good News

On July 26, I finally got a yes from one of the many publishers I have sent queries, book proposals, and sample chapters to. Levellers Press will be publishing Dames, Dishes, and Degrees in the Fall of 2024. This is long-awaited great news and I am incredibly happy.

I barely had any time after this revelation to process it and figure out how I would get a clean, ready to print copy to the publisher by May 2024, nine months away. Shortly after I found out my book will be published, I went to Seattle and then on an Alaskan cruise.

The whole family went on this wonderful adventure, and we had an exciting time. We saw glaciers, whales, bears, and bald eagles. We walked through a rain forest and learned about the history of Sitka which the Russians settled.. We also had a lot of fun in Seattle which is a beautiful city with many views of water and mountains.

We got home around midnight Tuesday evening and have been getting back to our real life the rest of the week. I have come up with a plan to complete the work to ready my manuscript for publication. Starting Monday August 21, I am going to do a mammoth NaNoWriMo with a minimum expectation of two hours of work a day, every day until May 1st.

Because I am on such a tight schedule and I need to stay focused, my blog posts from now to the beginning of May 2024 will primarily be progress reports, similar to what I did in the past when I was completing the first draft. Those posts will start September 1 after ten days of work.

New Orleans Jazz Fest

I apologize for not posting last week. I was out of town, attending the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival and visiting with relatives. I have been to New Orleans many times and I love the city. It is a unique place with a very lively street life; something you don’t find in the  semi-rural, mostly suburban place I live.

Jazz Fest runs over two weeks and many, many people attended. New Orleans has a tropical climate, so it was hot and muggy with one day of torrential rain. That was the day we didn’t go because of the mud.

We saw a lot of performances including Santana and Melissa Etheridge. It was great to hear so much live music. We also listened to people we had never heard of before, but I plan to listen to them going forward. One of these performers was Sue Foley who plays a pink Fender caster guitar. Another was Martha Redbone who is a partly indigenous women with great politics and a great voice.

This was my first time attending Jazz Fest. I tried two times before but both events were cancelled due to the pandemic. I plan to attend again. I am also going to try to go to more live music performances because I really enjoyed doing that at Jazz Fest.

 

 

Reentry

I have a list of maybe five or six topics that I was considering for this week’s blog post. As I sit here trying to write, I feel overwhelmed. As you may remember, for three weeks in February I was dealing with COVID. Both my husband and I were sick;  I was really sick, and he got a rebound case after we both had taken Paxil  for five days.

Shortly after he finally tested negative, we went away for two weeks to Florida to visit my aunt. The trip had its stressful moments, but the weather was beautiful and the ocean was gorgeous. We walked on the beach a lot and I swam most days. It was definitely a vacation mixed with familial responsibilities.

The Intercoastal

We have been back a few days and it’s been up and down with how focused I can be. The trip to Florida did restore my energy level which was set strongly depleted by COVID so that’s a good thing. However, life keeps intervening, occupying my brain, leaving less space available for things like blog posts.

Besides blog posts, the main thing I want to make progress on is my book. Since I can’t stand the thought of further revisions of my manuscript, I have decided to focus, once again, on trying to get a publisher. I spent a few days this week working on getting my submission packet in shape to start sending it out to a list of publishers I compiled before we left for Florida..

I intend to include a marketing plan along with my book proposal and CV. That is what I have been working on this week. I have a marketing plan I did after Brewing Battles was published. I developed it because if I had waited for my publisher to do any marketing, I would still be waiting.

I have been trying to use that marketing plan from 15 years ago as a template for a current marketing plan for Dames Dishes and Degrees. It was going okay till I got to the review section. Book publishing and marketing has changed tremendously since Brewing Battles was published. Whether or not a journal or magazine accepts books for review and publishes book reviews is not that easy to find out. My attempts to research that wound up sending me down a rabbit hole that was rather discouraging. I’m going to regroup and figure out how to tackle the reviews section and then move on to the other parts of the marketing plan. I’ll let you know how it all turns out.

Skate America

I am watching Skate Canada while I am writing about my attendance at Skate America last week. Both competitions are part of what is known as the Grand Prix figure skating series. The International Skating Union (ISU) sponsors this series of competitions each season.

Skate America was the first in the series and was held at the Skating Club of Boston’s beautiful facility in Norwood, Massachusetts. I was extremely excited to go to this competition for several reasons. My coach is on a synchronized skating team from Skating Club of Boston, so I was really interested to see where she skates every Monday.

I was also anticipating seeing such athletes as Ilia Malinin and Gracie Gold compete. Although it was a lot of days and sometimes the rink was frigid, I had a wonderful time. I saw Ilia complete his quadruple axle which was thrilling beyond words.

I found Gracie Gold’s performance very moving. She has shown such grace and determination in her brave attempt at a comeback. Gracie is really an inspiration to anyone who has ever suffered defeat, mental or emotional distress, or physical disabilities.

I also had several celebrity sightings and interactions which made the event even more exciting. The first day there I had a nice conversation with Jackie Wong from Rocker Skating about media coverage of skating and how  the USFSA doesn’t always appear to be aware of  the best way to maintain and grow its’ fan base.

I spoke to Ilia Malinin after he had finished his practice and before he went on to the ring to complete his competition which included his successful quadruple axle. I also had conversations with Ashley Wagner and Mirai Nagasu. I attended the 2016 Worlds in Boston in Boston and saw Ashley Wagner when she won her silver medal, I have always been a fan of Mirai Nagasu, and it was nice to have a brief conversation with her.

The last big competition I attended was Nationals in San Jose  2018. I went with my cousin Marla who died this past June. May her memory be for a blessing.

It is always inspiring to see skating in person and Skate America was no exception. However, it was very draining so I may wait a few months or maybe a few years to attend another big competition in person.  Worlds will be in Montreal in 2024 and in Boston in 2025. Those two will probably be the next opportunities for me to go to something in person.

We came home from Skate America on Monday and tomorrow we are going on another trip. My next blog post will be November 11.

Happy International Beer Day

Today is International Beer Day. To celebrate, here is a roundup of articles about the holiday. The first describes the day and provides a brief history of beer. In 2018 there were 7,450 breweries in the United States. I wonder if that number has decreased due to the pandemic. If you know the answer, please let me know.

The second link profiles seven cities across the world, looking at their top beers, beer festivals and the best places to drink beer. If you are traveling to any of the cities mentioned and like beer, this is a handy list to have.

The third article looks at Singapore beer. The Asian beer imported to America is usually a pale, nondescript lager so I would be excited to try some of the beers mentioned. I would love to go to Singapore and other places in Asia but  it is a very long flight and the time difference is brutal.

Finally, here is a link to a post I wrote in 2016 when we were traveling in Paris and London. On that trip we drank a lot of Leffe blond beer. Once we were home it was hard to get. Apparently, a liquor store near me now sells it. I am going to get a six-pack and drink one tonight to celebrate International Beer Day.

Cheers!

Beaches

On Tuesday, I returned from ten days in Florida. Over the July 4th weekend my sons and daughter-in-law  were there as well. On July 4th we all took a shuttle and went to the private beach owned by the hotel we were staying at.

The rest of the time, my husband and I walked to a public beach about one mile away. All this beach going make me reflect on the tortuous history of Jim Crow and Florida beaches.  In my current manuscript I write about attempts in the 1960s to de-segregate  the public accommodations in St. Augustine, Florida. Here is an excerpt from the first draft of the sixth chapter of my book.

St. Augustine, Florida was one of the country’s most segregated cities. Beginning in 1960, it was the site of many civil rights demonstrations including students from Flagler Memorial College sitting in at a Woolworth’s lunch counter.

1965 was the 400th anniversary of St. Augustine. In preparation for the planned celebration, in 1963 the city embarked on a restoration of its downtown buildings. Vice President Lyndon Johnson was scheduled to attend the dedication ceremony for the first restored building. All the festivities were for whites only. His advisors became concerned about him attending a segregated event. The organizing committee set aside two tables in a dining alcove for local African Americans. Blacks had pushed for city officials to meet with civil rights activists as part of the festivities. This did not happen.[1]

Following this event, the activists started picketing segregated local businesses. The uptick in civil rights action led the Klu Klux Klan to descend on St. Augustine. The Klan embarked on a reign of terror. “Homes were shot up, cars set on fire, people were beaten, jobs were lost, jail sentences handed out and threats made.”[2]

The situation was becoming intractable; St. Augustine civil rights activists sought help from Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. The activists sought assistance in early 1964; at the same time the U.S. Senate was engaged in the longest filibuster that body had ever seen over the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.[3]

Martin Luther King and other civil rights leaders sought an end to the filibuster and passage of the bill. They chose St. Augustine as a case study in the law’s necessity. Part of the proposed legislation dealt with segregated hotels, motels, and restaurants. St Augustine, a tourism site, had plenty of these establishments.[4]

Local activists choose Easter, 1964 to begin their campaign. They called for college students to spend spring break in St. Augustine; not for a vacation but to participate in sit ins and demonstrations. Four prominent Boston women came as well. When Mrs. Esther Burgess, the wife of the first black elected diocesan bishop of the Episcopal church and Mrs. Mary Peabody, mother of the Governor of Massachusetts, were arrested, the tension in St. Augustine became a national story.[5]

Mary Peabody’s arrest made it very likely that Martin Luther King would, at some point, arrive in St. Augustine.[6] He came to St. Augustine in early June, renting a beach front cottage, which was vandalized and burnt twice.[7]

On June 11, Martin Luther King, Jr. Ralph Abernathy, and eight other civil rights activists attempted to enter the Monson Motor Lodge, St. Augustine, Florida. James Brock, the motel manager stopped them at the entrance. The group refused to leave. Brock called the police who also asked King and the others to leave. They still refused and were arrested. They did not post bail and were placed in the St. Johns country jail.[8]

Two days later, Sarah Patton Boyle led a group of civil rights activists seeking service at a St. Augustine restaurant. They were all arrested. The Tampa Tribune described Boyle as the “wife of a University of Virginia professor (and the) great granddaughter of a Virginia governor and second cousin of the late General George S. Patton.[9]

After spending three nights in jail Patty, and other “white integrationists” including Reverend William England, Boston University chaplain were released on bond.[10] She was proud of being arrested. “I would rather have the voice of a civil rights jailbird than the voice of a mockingbird. That is why I announce with pride that I was one of those who went to jail for freedom in St. Augustine …. “My heartaches that such drastic action as going to jail is necessary to make America what she claims to be–a land where there is freedom and justice for all. But since it is necessary, I am proud to take full integrationist part in it. I regard my arrest as an honorary degree in the struggle to implement the principles in which I so deeply believe.”[11]

[1] https://civilrights.flagler.edu/digital/collection/p16000coll11/id/4/rec/1 Accessed 10 13 2020

[2] Ibid.

[3] Ibid.

[4] Ibid.

[5] Ibid.

[6] Warren, Dan

[7] Florida Room: Battle for St. Augustine 1964: Public Record and Personal Recollection Author(s): Claudia S. Slate Source: The Florida Historical Quarterly, Spring, 2006, Vol. 84, No. 4 (Spring, 2006), pp. 541-568.

[8] Tampa Tribune, June 12, 1964, pg. 1.

[9] Tampa Tribune, June 14, 1964, pg. 2.

[10] Tampa Tribune, June 17, 1964, pg. 1

[11] https://civilrights.flagler.edu/digital/collection/p16000coll11/id/4/rec/1

©Copyright Amy Mittelman 2021. Do Not Reproduce without Author’s Permission

Visiting Brooklyn During the Pandemic

Last Friday, my son got married in Brooklyn. It was a beautiful wedding, but as Arlo Guthrie might say, that is not what I came here to talk about. Being in Brooklyn from Thursday afternoon until Friday afternoon was very unnerving, because of COVID-19.

We drove down on Thursday. It was the longest car ride we have taken since some time in February. We parked the car in a garage about three blocks away from our hotel. Walking on the streets of Williamsburg, Brooklyn, we saw everything. There were a lot of people, many more than we have seen during the five months of the pandemic. Some were wearing masks, but some were not. It wasn’t very easy to keep six feet of social distance on city sidewalks.

The hotel, itself, felt safe; we didn’t really see many people. Thursday, we met my two sons and my daughter-in-law for dinner. Again, we had to walk on sidewalks with lots of people, masked and unmasked. We ate outside and tried to keep on our masks when we weren’t eating.

Friday morning, we walked toa bakery to get something to eat for breakfast. The store did have social distancing measures in place. Only one patron was allowed in at a time and the line outside was spaced six feet apart.

These experiences of the pandemic in a big city made me realize how fortunate I have been to sit out the pandemic in Western Massachusetts. We have not eaten at a restaurant at home; we have just gotten takeout. We can walk at home not wearing masks and often we don’t see anyone else.

Being in Brooklyn made me realize the enormity of COVID-19 and the fear and anxiety I have lived with for over five months. I do not want to get sick and I do not want anyone I love to get the virus either. I wish no one else would ever get sick from Corona. My heart goes out to anyone who has gotten the virus and all the families affected by the disease.

Summer Vacation – Sort Of

I will not be posting next week. Unlike previous summer where we would probably be taking a summer vacation, I am staying home. I will be attending, virtually,  a Jewish women’s silent retreat.

I have always wanted to attend such a retreat but I have never had the chance. I am curious to see if I will be able to keep silent during most of the day, given that I live with someone.

I am going to be social media, email, and internet free for  at least the four days of the retreat. You are also supposed avoid reading materials, so no books. I might extend the device free time from the Friday evening before the retreat, which begins on a Monday, to the following Monday morning. That is the part that feels most like a vacation.

I  will let you know how it went when I resume posting on August 5th. Have a nice two weeks.

Maine, last summer.

Belgian Beer

A few years ago, we visited both Bruges and Brussels in Belgium. When I started seeing some articles about Belgian brewing and Covid-19 I was interested.

During this pandemic, things have changed quickly. A good example is the Belgian brewers. When Corona first hit and businesses closed, Belgian craft brewers were doing well. Later, the situation changed.

In April, about month into the pandemic, the New York Post had an article about Belgian brewers developing a delivery process because all the bars were closed. It highlighted one craft brewer whose business was expanding due to delivery sales. At this point the picture might have looked rosy.

By May, the situation ad changed. The Belgian Brewers Federation announced that production of beer had dropped 50 percent in April.  The drop in production affected small brewers the most and one third of brewers had ceased producing any beer.

At the beginning of the pandemic, Eoghan Walsh who has a blog, Brussels Beer City, stated a podcast, Cabin Fever. On the podcast where he and other people involved in aspects of the craft brewing industry talk about what they are doing during the pandemic and what they are drinking. I have enjoyed listening to it because it is an easy going way to learn about how the pandemic is affecting the beer industry.

Brussels, 2017

Inequality

I am back from a vacation. We spent four nights in Miami Beach and four nights in Mexico City. One of the nights we were in Miami Beach was my birthday; to celebrate we had dinner at The Bazaar, a Jose Andres restaurant.

Andres is a well known chef who has had legal issues with Donald Trump. He has also done a lot of humanitarian work  for Puerto Rico and other places following hurricanes and natural disasters.  The Bazaar is at the other end of the economic spectrum from hurricane ravaged Puerto Rico. Many  of the restaurants in Miami Beach are in hotels; The Bazaar is in the SLS hotel.

There was a strict dress code; my husband had to return to our hotel to change from his sandals to closed toed shoes. I did the same for good measure. The server, Louis,  was nice but very obsequious. He kept calling me Miss Amy. The food, served tapas style was excellent but very expensive. The whole meal, including drinks and dessert, cost $220 . A single piece of caviar, which we didn’t have, was $85. A shot of Tito’s vodka was $19. At a package store, you can buy a 750 ml bottle of Tito’s for the same price.

There is a dichotomy between Andres’ charitable works and the prices at some of his restaurants. I really don’t know why a meal should cost several hundred dollars. My personal preference is for less expensive food in a more relaxed atmosphere. While in  Miami Beach we ate at another restaurant, Orange Blossom. The food tasted great and was half the price of The Bazaar. The place hada cozy yet romantic ambiance.

Here are some pictures from our trip:

Teotihuacan Pyramid

View from the 18th floor of our hotel

My whole family at my niece’s wedding

 

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