Light-skinned-ed Girl

Write a Letter a Day Challenge

The last few weeks I have finally found a measure of peace in organizing my office: new file cabinets, new storage, new label maker, and at last I have a clutter-free desk!  

Part of the clean up involved going through old journals and letters.  I used to be an avid letter writer, and I had a great correspondence with a few people over the years.  I started writing letters as soon as I knew how to write.  I loved stamps, and saved my money to buy more stationery.  I was a weird kid.

I continued to write letters through college, and law school and well into the late 1990s when email was more common.  There is a wonderful intimacy in reading about a friend's adventures in Panama, or a friend's excitement over a new love.  I miss my pen pals!

So I was excited to see this challenge: Write a Letter a Day in February.  (Perfectly timed for Valentine's Day!)  I'm going to take the challenge.  How about you?  

Oh, and if you'd like to send me a letter, you can find my address on my website contact page!

Oh, Etta! You Will Be Missed!

Etta James died.  I adored Etta James.  It is a sad day indeed.  

I fell in love with her music kind of late.  I knew of her, but it was her albums of jazz standards that made me fall in love with her voice.  I could play her version of Someone to Watch Over Me all day long.  It is my all-time favorite song.

I first saw her in concert at the Hollywood Bowl a couple of years later.  She was Ray Charles' opening act and I was in the front row of box seats (my summer intern treat!).  I didn't know what an extraordinary performer she was.  Wow!  I saw her at least half-dozen times in concert after that--the last time was a couple of years ago again at the Hollywood Bowl.  She was still and again amazing.

In my novel, Etta James actually plays a pivotal role. When Rachel, the main character, goes to see Etta James in concert she is profoundly changed.  She says:

"Etta James is stuffed together like Grandma--a big, squishy capsule--and she's light-skinned like me.  She's got the gravel to her voice when she sings the loud parts (and the parts that are kind of nasty too).  She also has that soft spot in her voice when she sings songs that are about being lonely and sad.

The last song, which is an encore, is a long, slow song.  I clap and clap.  And stand and clap.  I want to say this the way Grandma would if she agreed: I like me some Etta James!  It feels like it's the only way to say it to make the meaning good."

I should have written: I LOVE me some Etta James.  Oh, Etta!  You will be missed!

A New Year, A Nice Vacation

I am happy to report that this report comes from the Riviera Maya in Mexico.  It was raining when we arrived in the late afternoon yesterday.  I'm talking biblical kind of rain.  And it was so chilly that I wore my New York City winter coat to dinner.

It was impossible to enjoy the scenery because it was already dark, but what a wonderful view I woke up to.  Nice, right?

I've had the most relaxing of days: coffee, my morning pages, and NPR; delicious buffet breakfast overlooking the pool; a massage; a spa pedicure; and now a glass of wine before heading off for dinner.  My goals for the next two days: 1) enjoy another massage; 2) walk on the beach; 3) read on the beach; 4) rest up!  Ah . . . more soon from the other side of relaxation.