It was a glorious Raleigh, NC day.  Driving around the city, I was reminded about how beautiful this area is and how fortunate I am to live here.  The trees were so spectacular in color that it was hard to keep eyes on the road.  After 10 years of living in NC, I am still in awe of the the beauty of this state.  Hillsides were a rash of reds and yellows.  Each turn of the road brought more gorgeous views.  I drink it all in.

On top of what I see in Raleigh, this week I’ll go to Asheville in the Blue Ridge Mountains and later to Ocracoke (my beloved island) on the Outer Banks.  Ahhhhh, From one end of the state to the other, I’ll see the breadth of this beautiful state between now and the end of the month.  It’s this natural beauty that I love so much here.  It’s almost more than I can stand!

I had an epiphany at the NC Museum of Art today.  I realized just how much “ownership” I’d taken of the museum.  What an audacious thing to say!  But there’s good reason for my feelings.

Today is the last day that the NCMA’s galleries are open. The museum will still be operating, but in a non-traditional manner through community outreach and in the fantastic artwork of the grounds in the park of the NCMA.  The reason for this is that the museum is expanding with a spanking new building (still under construction).  The sculptures, paintings and all treasures will be carefully crated and the artwork moved to their new locations.  As a docent-in-training I’ve been attending classes at the museum since January.  Every week our docent group tours different parts of the museum and studies the pieces and the periods.  So I have expectations on how the museum is to look and what pieces are to be where.

So with the galleries closing, the museum took on a quite different appearance today.  Many pieces had been removed already, galleries were closed and some emptied of their treasures.  Even the museum shop was pretty much barren of stock, today being the last day it would be open.  Prices were slashed! 

So I realized just how much ownership I felt … things were out of order and I felt unsettled.  I wouldn’t get to see some of my favorite pieces for months.  I was surprised that I felt like this … I hadn’t expected to!  Next Tuesday our class will meet again in the museum, but this time we’ll be in the existing auditorium viewing slides instead of in the galleries viewing the actual pieces.  I guess the opening of the expansion (April, 2010) will be even sweeter as we get to see our treasures revealed in their new home.  We’ll get to rediscover them all over again.  In the meantime, I must come to grips with the fact that “MY” art and “MY” museum are not as they were!

Click link below to see a spectacular slide show of NCMA expansion …
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ncma/sets/72157614316369587/show/

I fell in love with Gainesville, FL.  I spoke there last Friday at the annual meeting of the Central Florida District Dental Association.  Oh my, but Gainesville is really beautiful.  The doctor who was the program chair for the meeting, Dr. Gary Altschuler, is a periodontist.  He picked me up at the airport and drove me through the  University of Florida’s campus prior to arrival at the meeting location/hotel.  I had no idea how really beautiful this area is.  It’s SO, SO  different from other areas I’ve seen in Florida.  The campus is spectacular with huge live oaks (who knows how old some of these trees are) and sphagnum moss dripping from the trees.  I really love trees (after all, I’m a New Englander, I live in North Carolina now and I was “tree-deprived” when living in Dallas so long) and these live oaks were in abundance and spectacular … the moss only added to the impact.

On arrival at the hotel and once in my room on the 4th floor, I looked out the window.  The room overlooked an idyllic lake that was still and mirror-like.  Reflected in the lake were magnificent trees and vegetation all-around.  I asked if people swam in the lake.  My host responded, “oh no, there could be alligators … actually there’s one right there.”  I thought he was kidding, but I looked down and there was an alligator basking on a log right below my window! There was also a turtle on a log.  Later in the evening I saw the sun set with a brilliant rose shade on the horizon and with moss draping across my view like a Cezanne painting. 

The best part of Gainesville (and Central Florida for that matter) were the people.  They were warm, friendly, smart and down-to-earth.  Lovely.

Ahhhh, Gainesville.  It was a special pleasure being there.

Yesterday I hit a new high (or perhaps low) in tech phone calls.  From start to finish on ONE CALL, I spent almost 5 hrs talking to two techs in Bangalore, India.    Much as I love things Indian, especially the  Bollywood movies, I was in a complete state of brain drain by the end of the call.  And after all of that the problem was STILL not fixed.  (Computer was sent back for repair this morning.)

I felt like a vegetable after sitting for that long … on one call.  After hanging up I immediately went outside.  It was literally and figuratively a breath of fresh air.  North Carolina is SO, SO beautiful this time of year.  My azaleas, tulips and lily-of-the-valley are all in bloom, the hydrangea is getting bushy, the dozens of lilies are rising proudly over the garden  and the weather is perfect.  How awful to sit inside for so long when it’s so gorgeous outside.  In any case, I found 45 minutes to transplant some hosta and I could feel my spirit rising in the process.

I was on a flight last week form Chicago to Kansas City.  I had an aisle seat on the “D-E-F” side of the plane.  The flight was full.  A man who was in the healthcare profession sat in the middle seat of my row and a grandmotherly type was in the window seat.  Immediately in front of me was a teenage girl, in the middle seat was her teenage brother and their mother sat in the window seat.  The short flight began as all others, but quickly turned into a very disturbing trip.

The mother began what was to become an ongoing tirade against her son.  It started slowly and softly. I thought it was just a typical scolding.  I was wrong.  I couldn’t hear their words initially because I was using ear plugs for air pressure  AND I had on a headset for music.  It didn’t require hearing the words, however, to understand that “mom” was very irritated with her son.  The look on her face and the accusatory finger point said it all.  It soon escalated.

I knew she was getting louder when I could start to hear her words through all my ear paraphernalia.  She berated her son terribly, ” … you STUPID BRAT, I TOLD you I was using the arm rest.  DON’T touch me again …”  The man next to me and I exchanged worried glances.  The boy leaned closer and closer to his sister to avoid any touch to his mother.  I never heard him say one word to his mother.  Clearly he’d been beaten down so many times by her that he just took it very passively.  What else could he do in these circumstances?

She slept for a while and her son stayed huddled toward his sister.  When she awoke she would turn to him and stare with the most hateful glare one could imagine.  Because she was on the far right and I was on the far left, I could see her face quite clearly in-between the seats.  I was riveted by her expression. Her face had a hateful grimace and her eyes revealed much deeper problems …  it was those eyes like Charles Manson or Rasputin!  I could feel her tension and it was transferring to me in the form of anxiety.  The grandmother in my row started talking nervously to the man in the center seat.  The three of use could grasp the situation better than anyone else in the area.  The mother and her children were seated in the bulkhead, so there was no one in front of them.

Then the most disturbing moment occurred.  After a string of humiliating and berating words to her son she raised her right arm over her head and her hand was in a fist.   That fist came down toward the top of his head and she came 6″ from hitting him.  He cowered, but didn’t seem surprised. My heart broke for these teens.  At the same time, I knew that this was not something new to them.  

I’d reached the breaking point. I couldn’t stand any more.  With the support of my seat mates, I approached the lead flight attendant and relayed to her the disturbing interactions in the preceding row.  She listened.  I felt only a bit better and I sat down.  Moments later the attendant went into the crew cabin and I presume spoke with the captain.  My hunch was that this was protocol for incident when a passenger acts out.  Not long after she came back to me and whispered that she’d noticed odd behavior of this woman during boarding.  She said she’d keep an eye on the woman.

When we landed in KC, I walked behind them on the way down the concourse.  She seemed calmer at this point and the teenagers continued to be subdued in behavior.  I’d made the decision that if she had done anything else physically aggressive to either of her children I’d find some authority in the airport.  I didn’t know what else to do. 

This was a woman with a significant problem.  As the man beside me said, she needs serious therapy and the kids probably do too.  This was abuse and I can only imagine what goes on at home.

I felt helpless.  I wanted to put my arms around these kids and whisk them away.  Yet at the same time, I knew they probably loved their mother and that they had to have some understanding of her problems.

What should we do in circumstances like this?  I’ve not faced anything like this on a flight before.  What responsibility do we have in such a situation?  I wish someone from social services had been there to see this and determine the appropriate action, if there is any.  Any action mid-flight could be incendiary for someone like this. 

I couldn’t help but think that this kind of verbal and physical abuse could lead this poor boy to significant problems of his own and would probably affect future relationships with women.  I’ve thought about these kids every day since this flight and I’d really like to know the answer to this quandary.  What are we supposed to do? 

A couple of days later when I was on my way back home, I saw a woman in the airport with a T-shirt that read, “Report abuse”.  That one hit home with me and it hit hard.

Seldom do I write about a recipe, though I love to cook.  I’m writing this post only because I’m SO amazed with the results of the recipe I found yesterday … I must share the word!!

Beef eye of round roast … I was leaning toward marinating it for 24 hours then cooking it covered and on low moist heat for several hours.  I found some recipes on Epicurious (www.epicurious.com) that sounded good.  I typically go to that site because the recipes are rated by “real people” who also provide alternate ingredients and methods. 

Then I searched a bit farther and came across a site I’d not visited before.  Somewhat like Epicurious, the recipes were rated.   I found what seemed to be a bizarre recipe for eye of round roast.  It called for EXCEPTIONALLY high heat, no liquid, and the roast uncovered.  I was very leery about this because this type of roast would typically come out very tough roasted at such high heat without any moisture or marinating beforehand.  I’d have passed it by except the ratings were VERY high. With 231 ratings the average was 4.5 out of 5.  So I decided to give it a try.

I rubbed the roast with kosher salt and Montreal steak seasoning and then followed the cooking instructions exactly.  Unbelieveable.  This was absolutely the easiest roast I’d ever cooked and the result was superb!!  I’d made some Bearnaise in advance thinking it might need it.  Though the Bearnaise was nice addition, the roast still would have been perfect without it.  This is a winner and I encourage others to try it!!  Here’s the link: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/High-Temperature-Eye-of-Round-Roast/Detail.aspx

It sliced (cross grain) easily, was tender and beautifully pink inside.  Sliced very thinly it will make great cold roast beef sandwiches.

Bon Apetit!

Hooray, TripAdvisor. 

If you enjoy visiting new places or if you travel for business, then it’s imperative to know about TripAdvisor.  They have, I believe, the very best site for planning trips, comparing hotels and considering options of travel.  What I like so much about it is the straight-forward reviews written by “real people” who have made the trips and stayed at the hotels.  The evaluations are far more realistic that many ratings I’ve read on other sites.  In short, I wouldn’t take a major trip without checking this wonderful resource.

I’m in process of planning a trip to Maine and did some research on this site.  In the process, I found their “travel map” and I ended up playing with it.  You can create a map showing locations you’ve visited.  What was such fun about this is that it brought back so many wonderful memories of terrific places I’ve visited (as well as bringing to mind some places I’d rather forget!!)  The list below the map shows some of my very favorite places I’ve been.  If you let your curser hover over any of the site links, you’ll see web pages on these locations.

If you haven’t made use of TripAdvisor before, be sure to check out the links at the bottom of this post

1. Bruges, Belgium
2. Florence, Italy
3. San Gimignano, Italy
4. Ocracoke, NC, USA
5. St. Petersburg, Russia
6. Edinburgh, UK
7. Brussels, Belgium
8. Lahaina, HI, USA
9. Paris, France
10. Seattle, WA, USA
11. Camden, ME, USA
12. Istanbul, Turkey
13. Oxford, UK
14. Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
15. Montreal, Quebec, Canada
16. New York City, NY, USA
17. Marblehead, MA, USA
18. Boston, MA, USA
19. Rockport, MA, USA
20. Machu Picchu, Peru
21. Cusco, Peru

       Create your own travel map or travel blog         Travel Info at TripAdvisor

It seems like telemarketing has taken a marked upturn in the last month.  At home and on my business phone, I’m seeing a significant increase in these calls.  The increase has come from businesses with whom we’ve had no prior relationship.  As I understand it, only “relationship” companies are technically waranted to call … as well as nonprofits.  At least, that’s my loose interpretation of the telemarketing changes.  I guess the business downturn has created this telemarketing upturn.

I do understand that the people who make these calls are just doing their jobs.  I feel for them as I hang up the phone.  But that doesn’t mean it’s not an intrusion.  So recently I tried to find a middle ground with one of these poor souls.  At 6:30pm as I was preparing dinner the phone rang.  The call went something like this:

Me: “Hello”
PMS (stands for “poor marketing soul”): “Good evening, Mrs. Boswell, this is not a sales call …”
Me:  I interrupted, “Boy I’m glad of that because I’d hate to think that you’re calling to try to sell me something.  What is your name?”
PMS: “My name is Felicia, and this is not a sales call …”
Me: ”Yes, Felicia, I’m really glad of that and glad you called.  I was really getting lonesome and I’d been wishing I had someone to talk with” I quickly went on, “but I’m making dinner, so if you’ll give me your number I’ll call you back.”
PMS: “We are not allowed to give out our phone numbers, Mrs. Boswell, but I’m calling to find out when you last evaluated your life insurance coverage.”
Me: “Wow, Felicia, that’s a scary thing.  You know I’ve been feeling kinda blue lately and just to think about life insurance is a downer.  But what I’d like to talk about is health insurance for my dog.  Do you know anything about that?”
PMS: “No, Mrs. Boswell, but I do know how important life insurance is for everyone and we have some advice that you might like to know about.”
Me:  “Gee, Felicia, if you hadn’t told me that this was NOT a sales call, I’d think you might be wanting to sell me some life insurance.  Since you’re not, let me tell you about my dog and why I’d like to get some pet coverage for him,” very quickly forging ahead, “but first I’ve got to tend to the risotto that’s on the stove.  I’m going to put you on hold for just a few minutes, OK?”
PMS: “Mrs. Boswell, I’ll call you back tomorrow.” CLICK

Did I ever hear from the non-sales person, Felicia again?  You guessed it, nope. 

I actually had fun on that call.  At the same time, if I had the hapless job of being a telemarketer, I’d hate to reach a person like me on the phone!

Which sentence of each following pair sounds best:

Me and Nancy watch Spot run …. Nancy and I watch Spot run.
(I watch Spot run.  Nancy watches Spot run.  Therefore …Nancy and I watch Spot run)

Me and her play jacks … She and I play jacks
(She plays jacks.  I play jacks.  Therefore, she and I play jacks.)

Parents … you’re role models for your children.  Listen to yourself and to them!  Don’t let them go to job interviews using sloppy language.

Teachers … you’re the most important role models of all.  If students hear this verbiage in the classroom and they don’t know better, they are likely to deem it correct.  This perpetuates our on-going decline of the English language and increases a general sloppiness in how we express themselves.

Furthermore … reference this: http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/myself.html

Whew, I feel better. 

This is just a bugaboo of mine.  But for those true grammarians out there, I know I’m a target now and that’s okay.  So help me out.  I’m teachable and I welcome the feedback. 

MAMMA MIA
I just returned from seeing “Mamma Mia” at the local cineplex.  It was fluff, but absolutely wonderful, delightful fluff.  First class fluff, I’d say.  It was rated 2.5 (out of 4) in our local paper, but I wasn’t concerned about the rating.  I really wanted to see Meryl Streep, hear the ABBA music and see the Greek scenery.  And that’s exactly what the best parts of the movie were.  (Also, I take some far-flung pride in the fact that ABBA is Swedish and I’m Swedish!) It was a really, fun, feel-good movie.  Forget a story line, very flimsy, but that’s not the reason for seeing this flick. 

I sat in the very last row (my preference) with a friend and we were beside ourselves with the music.  The musical scenes are uproariously energizing and I found myself dancing in my seat along with the cast during “Dancing Queen”.  I think every woman in the audience wanted to get up and move with the women of the cast as they danced down the wharf.  That was the best scene for me.  Next was Meryl Streep singing, “The Winner Takes it All”.  She was really quite remarkable, if a bit overwrought.  A pretty good singing voice.  The locations were absolutely spectacular, true eye-candy and made me want to go back to Greece. 

RODANTHE or OCRACOKE?
Before the movie started, there was the seemingly endless array of previews, most of which were sophmoric drivel.  However the opening views of one preview looked startingly familiar to me, and made me sit bolt upright.  It was an aerial view of a single road down a very narrow strip of land with beautiful sea on both sides.  I found myself stuttering, “that looks just like route 12 in Ocracoke” (reference earlier post if you’re not familiar with Ocracoke Island on the Outer Banks.)  Then I remembered a funny conversation I’d had with the manager of the fish market on the island. 

OWWA, RICHARD GERE, and “NIGHTS IN RODANTHE”
We’d rented a house for a week on Ocracoke.  One day I trekked over to the Ocracoke Fish House to pick up some of the local fishermen’s fresh catch to cook for dinner.  It’s a very tiny, charming market and is the last remaining fish house on the island.  The Ocracoke Working Watermen’s Association (OWWA) is working hard to maintain the fishing heritage of the island. (http://www.ocracokewatermen.org/index.html) And it is the OWWA that runs the market.  There’s always interesting local chat going on in there.  Anyway, the last time I went in, I saw a candid photo of Richard Gere tacked on the bulletin board.  When the manager came in I asked her, “Is that who I think it is?”  She proceeded to tell me that Gere had been in the area  while filming a movie, “Nights in Rodanthe” (Rodanthe is a real town/area that is on the Outer Banks – it’s north of Ocracoke).  

Back to the movie preview … So I remembered quickly that the movie was due to come out and that it was indeed filmed on the Outer Banks.  I think they even filmed a clip on the ferry that runs from Hattaras to Ocracoke, if it makes the cut into the film.  I’ll see that movie for sure, if only to see the areas of the Outer Banks that made the cut, and of course to see Richard Gere! 

JAVIER BARDEM, Mi favorito, por seguro!
In the lobby of the theatre was a poster for a new movie starring Javier Bardem.  The movie, Vicky Cristina Barcelona, stars Bardem as an artist (a good fit for him) who has an unusual attitude about relationships.  Bardem is my favorite male actor.  I think he’s quite brilliant, is magnetic on screen and has such an interesting, rugged face and a great smile. From a family of respected actors in Spain, I saw him for the first time in the Spanish movie, “The Sea Inside” (“Mar Adentro”) and I was riveted with his performance of a paraplegiac.  So I looked for older movies he’d been in and I rented, “Before Night Falls” (“Antes que anochezca”) .  He was mesmerizing.  It was a fascinating true story of a Cuban poet and the issues in Cuba during the time of the Marielle boat lift.  ”No Country for Old Men”  was truly terrifying because of Bardem’s performance.  Only Hannibal Lector was as terrifying! “Goya’s Ghost” interested me as much in relation to Goya’s life and times as about the fact that Bardem was in it.  I’m currently awaiting (Netflix) “Love in the Time of Cholera” which didn’t receive the best reviews, but Bardem IS in it, making it a “must see” for me! 

Y ahora, tengo que trabajar!