A Prediction for the Health Care Reform Bill and More Julia Child Love!

An Uncanny Resemblance

First of all there is a winner for the free book, Simply Irresistible by Jennifer Banash.

It is: Penny Ehrenkranz!!!!

I want to thank Penny for commenting on almost every interview post and your free book will be sent to you as soon as I let Jennifer know about it. Enjoy!!!

The second thing I want to talk about is a comment my husband made to me and told me to put it on my blog. It's actually a political prediction and concerns the health care reform bill. Seriously, I wasn't even writing my blog post, but something came on the news about the health care reform situation and my daughter and he had a discussion about what would be the ultimate end. So then my husband said that he knew exactly how it was going to turn out and I should write about it here. Let me tell you that this is a definite first for him. He does read my blog, which surprised me, but I'm also thrilled that he does. But this is the first time he has ever given me anything to put on it.

I should give you a little background on my husband, because you might not understand why this is significant for me. He was a history major in college, though he wound up becoming an attorney instead.:) He should have been a history professor, because he spends his day finding information and then teaching it to us.:) His greatest happiness is when he can tell us something new that he just learned. If you ask him a question he has the answer most of the time and he is able to tell you the history of almost every major American and European event. He has always been my go-to guy for trivia too. He knows the most trivial facts about musicians and sports figures. But his major attention has always been politics and government. He can cut between the bullsh-t and get to the truth, and he reads magazines like Mother Jones and The Progressive for fun. He can do the Times crossword puzzle in an hour or so and does all of the puzzles on the page. (Hal, if you're reading this, I hope that you are at least blushing a little:))

So this is his prediction. He bases it on the time when the Knicks needed a boost to win the championship and Willis Reed, who had a serious leg injury, dragged himself onto the floor so he could be there as their center and scored the first four points. It boosted the spirits of the Knicks and they won the championship from his inspiration.

He thinks that the health care reform bill is going to come to a vote and it will need one more vote to pass. Then at the last minute Ted Kennedy like Willis Reed will take himself out of his sick bed, force himself to come to the Senate just to vote and the bill will pass.

Can you imagine that scene? If he walks by himself there will be the handshakes and the back pats of his colleagues. The attention will bring out all of the media for this event and they will crowd the Congressional corridor as he arrives. But if he has to be wheeled in that will cause even more sympathy and of course the media will jump on that too. Either way he wins and the bill passes. This can happen without a single Republican vote!

So, we'll see. If it happens remember where you read about it first. I don't think any of the other blogs have this at all. Remember, my husband could be a pundit on TV. In fact, he probably knows as much as any of them. We keep telling him to start his own show, because it would be so awesome. So store this away and when it happens think Hal predicted this. I read about it on Barbara's Meanderings. Cool!! Let's see if he's right.*(See Note)

Julia Child Love

Talking about history, last weekend we went to see "Julie and Julia", which was such a good film! I had seen the original Julia Child cooking shows, The French Chef, when we lived in Buffalo in the early '70s. Her exuberance made me want to cook and I wound up getting Mastering the Art of French Cooking for a gift. So I started cooking for my friends and gave these elaborate dinner parties. It took me hours to get a dinner prepared and I had my share of disasters. Most of the time, though, my dinner guests loved the food and I was encouraged to continue.

There was one time when I thought my dinner would be ruined when our Newfoundland puppy, Lady Balzac, who was very large, got up on her hind legs and almost reached my main dish which had taken me three hours to cook. I reached it just in time to push it away from her, but my guests had seen the dog's tongue about to lick it. Yuck! Still they ate it, because she had never actually gotten her tongue near it. I might have had to cut it off!!! No seriously, I loved that dog and unfortunately she is not with us anymore. She was so sweet you couldn't be mad at her too long.:) I'll try to put some pictures of her here soon. You might remember my post about my second puppy, Flash on the blog post: The Last Poem A Day for Day 30 - April is Over.

Anyway, back to the cooking. When I had my children I stopped making elaborate dinners and my Julia Child cook book was just another one on my shelf for years. Then she wrote The Way to Cook and at a Book Fair on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan I found her in a booth and though I didn't have the book for her to sign she signed a piece of paper for me. I kept it safe and when I got home I pasted it onto the page of my book. I was so excited to have finally met her and she was so gracious to me. My little brush with culinary greatness!!!

The movie brought back all my excitement about cooking and made me want to try out some new recipes from the books. Since we saw the movie I have cooked at least five dishes from her books. I was so excited when I baked her french bread and it came out perfectly. All the pictures matched.:)

Then my older daughter, who can't resist a book she wants, got the paperback of My Life in France by Julia Child and Alex Prud'homme and she read it in a few days. I picked it up and immediately I was back in that dingy apartment in Buffalo listening to Julia Child instruct me on the proper way to bone a chicken, etc. Her voice is there from the first page. It is a delightful book about her adventures and her foray into cooking. I haven't finished it yet, but I look forward to reading it like I usually do for a novel. :) I can't wait to read more about her life. I mean we walk with her through the markets and shops of Paris in 1949. She describes her experiences as she delves into cooking. But what I like about this is her relationships and her honesty. She wrote this with her nephew and he gives her the leeway to be herself in this book.

Anyway, it's a great book, so if you see it you should pick it up and read it. If you are interested in history this is also a good way to see what was happening in America at that time as well as see what the French were like then too.:)

It even has made my older daughter, who never, ever cooks, think about learning to cook!!! I hope she does want to learn, because I'd love to teach her with Julia's book of course. :)

Time to stop, but please come back for this week's guest author interview, RD Larson, who has written some very interesting books including Evil Angel, her latest.

*Note: Last Thursday when I posted that prediction by my husband I had no idea that Senator Kennedy would pass away. I am deeply saddened by his passing and hope that the Democrats will be able to come together and pass the health care reform bill finally!!!

Simply Irresistible by Jennifer Banash - Reviewed

I'm posting this book review a little late, because I waited to see more comments for the interview with Jennifer Banash. So far there are only three people who commented. One of those lucky people is going to get a free book. After reading this book review you might be very sorry that you didn't post a comment. :) The drawing for the free book will be done tomorrow night. So anyone who decides to leave a comment you can still be in the drawing!!

Book Review for Simply Irresistible by Jennifer Banash

Opening the cover of Simply Irresistible is like opening a door and finding yourself in the middle of Manhattan’s upper East Side. The first character you meet, Madison MacCallister seems to be your typical spoiled prep school girl who has always been given everything she wanted. She doesn’t like to lose and is used to being the center of attention in every group in which she finds herself. But Madison or Mad as her close friends call her, finds her perfect life turned upside down when her mother suddenly takes up with a much younger guy. To add to the agony, Mad originally thought of him for herself. If you include the addition of Casey McCloy a girl from a small midwestern town who has moved into Madison’s upscale apartment house, The Bram, it is hard not to get sucked into this story.

Not having read the entire series I am not familiar with all of the characters, but reading this book made me want to learn more about each of them. As the story progresses each girl’s story is delineated and it’s hard not to feel sorry for some of them. Though they wear expensive designer clothing and shoes and go to extravagantly expensive parties and restaurants, it’s difficult for any of the characters except maybe Casey, to enjoy this. Their personal lives overshadow everything that they do; yet they seem to hold everything together in public.

Casey’s story is different, since she was forced to move to Manhattan to be with her Nanna, who lives in The Bram. But Casey has attracted the attention of Drew, Madison’s ex-boyfriend, and the secret heartthrob of every girl in her school. All Casey wants to do is fit in. Could she help it that a TV producer wanted to make a show with her and her so-called friends? Will she be able to hide this from her mom? Or will her mom find out and yank her out of Manhattan? What will happen with Drew? Will the girls ever accept her?

All of these questions are answered and more as the story progresses. Told in the point of view of each character, it feels like an expose of life as a teenager on the upper East Side. The story is woven through the lives of the girls and boys as they navigate the rocky terrain of teenage life with parents who are not great role models.

In conclusion, Simply Irresistible is simply irresistible. Once you start reading it you will find it hard to put down. The writing doesn’t disappoint, and that is one thing that makes me urge you to read this book. At last the editing is excellent and the sentences flow easily and smoothly. This is a book that will appeal to both girls and boys, since there is a large chunk in a male’s point of view and to women and men who are still young in heart. It’s fun to wander through the lives of these privileged people and it almost feels like eavesdropping during some of the dialogue. I am looking forward to reading the first two books and hoping that Jennifer Banash will write a fourth book in this series.

More in my next post. Thank you to my new readers and friends. It's always fun to meet new people.:) Catch me on Twitter: @barbehr.

Meet Jennifer Banash - Our Guest Author!

Our guest author, Jennifer Banash, is finally here and I'm thrilled to present her to you.

First of all, she comes from my state and the city where I was born. Secondly, because I have read her book, Simply Irresistible, which is the third in the series and is probably the best YA novel I've read this year.:)

Here is a little bit about her before we start the interview:

Bio for Jennifer Banash

Jennifer Banash attended high school on the Upper East Side of Manhattan and currently divides her time between Paris and Southern California—where she lives with her beagle, Sigmund, and her vast designer shoe collection.

She is the author of The Elite novels, published by Berkley Jam, and the novel Hollywoodland: An American Fairy Tale.
She is the author of the Young Adult series THE ELITE, which is published by Berkley Jam. THE ELITE, the first book in the series, was published June 08. The sequel IN TOO DEEP, is in stores now! The third installment, SIMPLY IRRESISTIBLE, is now in stores and all online bookstores too. Email her at theeliteseries@gmail.com, and for review copies, please email her publicist Caitlin Brown at caitlin.brown@us.pengingroup.com.

Jennifer, welcome to Barbara's Meanderings and I am so happy that you could take the time out of your very busy schedule to visit with us. We'll begin our interview now.

Barbara: The Elite novels take place on Manhattan’s upper east side. How much of the characters’ lives are like your own life when you grew up there?

Jennifer: I knew some people whose lives were very much in the same ballpark as Mad, Phoebe, Sophie, and Drew. The Upper East Side is a strange place to attend high school, to say the least. Glamorous and exciting, for sure, but strange because your sense of reality is suspended when you're living in an environment like that, where money is no object, and rules are optional.

Barbara: I was only able to read the last book in the series, Simply Irresistible. When you wrote the first book did you have a series in mind or did this evolve as you kept writing the book?

Jennifer: The books were planned as a series from the very beginning, so I had an idea of where I wanted the story to ultimately end up from the first book to the third.

Barbara: Did you base the character of Casey McCloy on someone you knew? Or is she a combination of people and their characteristics?

Jennifer: Actually, she's not really based on anyone I know! She came straight from the quagmire of my brain. Her grandmother, Nanna, is 100% based on my own grandmother, who cracks me up on a daily basis.

Barbara: The character of Madison Macallister is the kind of person who is a typical “mean girl”. Did you ever know anyone like her?

Jennifer: Yes, I do. Madison is actually based on a number of people I've known over the years. She's a mean girl, but hopefully the reader can see why--she has a pretty tough home life.

Barbara: I see you use the present tense. So you are still friends with people like her. I've found in my own experience that everyone mellows over time. :) What I liked about her character was how much compassion I felt for her as the story continued.

Barbara: Most writers have someone who influenced them to either start or continue to write. Who was that person for you?

Jennifer: I'm weird, I guess, because I didn't have that "person." I just started writing on my own, because I had to. I think I would've gone nuts without that outlet in my life.


Barbara: What was the time frame from when you wrote your first novel to when it was published?

Jennifer: I wrote my first novel in 1999, and it was never published. It did help me get an agent though! My second novel, Hollywoodland, was finished in 2004, and published in 2006. The Elite was conceived in 2007, and published in 2008.


Barbara: Would you please share your writing process with our readers?

Jennifer: Ummm . . . basically I mess around on the Internet for about an hour, and then I sit in a chair and type until pages come out :) I have a rule that while I'm actively working on a book, I have to write 5 pages a day--no exceptions.


Barbara: What would a typical day be like for you?

Jennifer: If its summer, wake up, check all the gossip columns online, eat some toast. Write for 3 or 4 hours, then go to the beach. If its during the school year, I work all day teaching English at a private school, and only get my writing done at night, or on the weekends.

Barbara: Will there be a fourth book in the Elite series? Are you currently working on another book? When will it be published?

Jennifer: Not sure. If Simply Irresistible sells well enough, then yes. I'm working on a book loosely based on my days as a club kid in the 1980's in NYC called White Lines. My agent is sending out the proposal in September, so hopefully it will sell shortly after that, but in this economy, who knows?

Barbara: How important do you think it is for an author to have an agent? How did you find your agent?

Jennifer: VERY important. I didn't have an agent when I sold The Elite series, and brokered the deal myself, which is NOT advisable! I just switched agents and signed with Lisa Grubka at Foundry Literary & Media, and she's amazing.

Barbara: How do you feel about eBooks and the Kindle? Where do you think publishing will be in ten years?

Jennifer: Not sure how I feel about them. I love the feel of having an actual book in my hand, and turning pages, but I'm also secretly drawn to Kindle, and entertain the idea of breaking down and buying one every month or so.

Barbara: Who is your favorite character in the Elite series and why?

Jennifer: Probably Madison. She's just so much fun to write! And everyone wants to be the diva-bitch for one day in their lives . . . or longer!

Barbara: With the popularity of shows like “Gossip Girl” and the new “NYCPrep” your book adds more to the story of these privileged kids. Have you had any interest from movies or TV?

Jennifer: Yes, there have been some people interested in buying the rights to the series, but we'll just have to see what happens! Stay tuned for more info . . .

Barbara: Please let our readers know what events are planned for publicizing Simply Irresistible.

Jennifer: I'm doing a TV tour, and will hit Chicago and Saint Louis next. I'm also appearing at a book festival in Bar Harbor Maine with Carrie Jones, on the weekend of Spetember 12th.

Jennifer, thank you so much for spending some time here talking about your books and your writing. I know I have a lot more questions and I hope that if any readers have questions they will add a comment. I would love to give away a free book to the lucky winner. You can be a winner if you leave a comment. Anyone who comments has a chance to win.

By the way, our last winner, the writer of the blog: aphorisms.com has not responded yet. If he doesn't respond by this week I will do another drawing. So if you want to win a free book for the last guest author's interview leave a comment or question for Penny Ehrenkranz and do it soon so you can win the free eBook.:) I also wanted everyone to know that the drawing is done very scientifically.:) I write your names on small pieces of paper, fold them up and then put them in a container. After shaking them I let my daughter, who couldn't care less who wins, pick the winner.

I'm hoping to see a lot of comments and questions here, and since Jennifer is such a celebrated author I may be giving away two copies free. You never know.:)

Until the next time, thank you to my new readers and of course to the readers who continue to read my meanderings.:) Next post I will be reviewing Simply Irresistible, by Jennifer Banash. If you can't wait, I believe it is available everywhere. With reviews in Seventeen, this book is going to go far. ( Just a taste of my review.:)) Also please go to Jennifer Banash's website to read more about her and her writing. You can get a preview with her new video about Simply Irresistible.

Websites I Love and an Introduction to Our Guest Author, Jennifer Banash

Melissa, Ade, Jeanine, Evan, Kayla, Brandon

First of all, So You Think You Can Dance was outstanding tonight. I voted for my favorites, but I have a feeling from all the Twitter talk that they won't be there very long.:( I am very disappointed that no one voted in the poll that I had at the end of my blog. I'm leaving it there until the show ends. Please go look. It's after all the posts and you have to scroll down. I'm interested in seeing who is your favorite dancer. I thought I had a favorite until tonight when I realized I didn't want anyone to go home.:)

Okay, I've been collecting all of these great websites for a long time and I thought I'd introduce a couple of them to you.

1. rssHugger.com - This website promises to increase your blog's traffic for free. According to their own information it aims to bring websites with common interests together. When you join you are asked either to write an honest review of the website or you can pay $20 to join. For this you will receive your own RSS blog for 10 years. I thought this was a great idea and decided to take the first approach. The registration is easy and all you need to do is give the name of your blog and it is approved instantly if it is not already registered. Also you are given choices of areas of interest for your blog and you can pick which category you are blogging about from a pull down of hundreds of interests. It was formed to be able to send traffic to blogs and also to build back links for search engine optimization.

Besides hooking you up with a lot of blogs that you might be interested in seeing, and bringing other people to see your blog, the website offers you a chance to learn more about internet marketing. The owner seems to be providing a spam free, ad free website where bloggers can feel safe and connect with each other anonymously. It's on the same principle as Google Reader where you can browse through and click on only things that catch your interest. There are lists of blogs in each category.

You are rewarded for gaining more readers and put into the Top 100 if you achieve the most readers each month. I like that you have a chance each month to gain a spot in this Top 100. In return you are sent hundreds of new visitors for your site. "It's a win/win" situation as the owner of the website states. For me it's another way to try to gain more traffic by writing.:) Gee that's hard for me!!:) I'm looking forward to seeing how this works and trying to get into the Top 100. I think anyone who has a blog should at least take a look at this website. I like the honesty of it all. I mean the owner even tells you in his blog that the website has been sold and for how much. He displays the check. It's very refreshing.:) Go take a look and see if you like it.

I have to credit, jobng with his post about the same website. Thank you jobng for pointing me in the right direction.

2. momversation.com - I have to credit Outnumbered for finding this website. These women who are all Moms, have a video in which they each discuss the topic of the day. They are honest and funny and very interesting to see. On Monday of this week they had one of the best topics ever to discuss. How do you tell your child where babies come from? Before that the topic was order of birth. Each of the women has a chance to give an answer to the question and then after the video they urge comments about the topic. Monday's topic's discussion started with the funniest answer to this question I have ever heard. The woman answered her four year old daughter by saying that "magical elves" had placed it inside of her. ROTFL wish I'd thought of that when I had my three and half year old daughter ask me that question.:) If you are a Mom or will become one soon you must go see this website. Even if your children are all grown you will be enjoying this discussion.

The topics change daily and today's topic is date night. I really enjoy the different women talking about their own experiences. For this date night thing I'm reminded of how my husband and I used to subscribe to shows and go to concerts without our kids. Sometimes we just went out to dinner and a movie, but we always spent the time together getting babysitters all the time. It was worth it to find that connection and it helped us throughout our children's growing up time. I don't think a marriage can survive without a date night.:)

That's all I have for today, but more in another post.

Tomorrow if everything goes right we will have Jennifer Banash as my guest author. Recently I finished reading her new book, the last of the Elite series called Simply Irresistible. Jennifer grew up on the upper east side of Manhattan where the story is set. If you want to be prepared for our interview I suggest that you purchase this book. I am going to give a full review later, but I really loved it.

Until the next post, which will be tomorrow I hope, thank you to my readers. I am happy to say that I now have 100 people following me. I'm hoping that everyone is enjoying my posts. I know that I have way too much to say. And I didn't even talk about what happened to me this week. Next post.:)

What is an Homage? Katie Holmes Performs "Get Happy" on "So You Think You Can Dance"

I mentioned a couple of posts ago that I was a big fan of "So You Think You Can Dance". Actually it's become an obsession lately. This year the dancers are all so incredible that it's hard to decide who to vote for. So we haven't really voted much at all. We didn't vote this week and my family sat there while the results were read on Wednesday night with our fingers crossed. Would my favorites be sent home?

I was thrilled to see that my favorites are also America's favorites.:) But now that there are only three girls and three boys left I'm really torn. I love all of them so much for their individual talents. I wouldn't want to see any of the dancers go home. This is the first year that I feel this way and I don't know what to do. So if you are a fan of "So You Think You Can Dance" maybe you'll help me. I'm going to post the names of the dancers and I'm going to conduct a poll to see which are your favorites. Scroll all the way to the bottom of the page to vote. It's going to end on Monday, August 2nd. I'll post the winners before the next show on Tuesday night. Let's see if our winners are the ones who stay on Wednesday. :)

My post title is "What is an Homage?" On Wednesday night Katie Holmes did a dance and sang to " Get Happy" done by Judy Garland in the movie "Summer Stock". Katie Holmes did a very good job of singing and dancing and as you can see if you watch the original, the choreography was much more elaborate than the original choreography. Some people spoke out against her for doing this. I'm not sure that they understand what an homage is.

Merrium -Webster's online dictionary defines homage as:
2 a: expression of high regard : respect —often used with pay b: something that shows respect or attests to the worth or influence of another

I think Katie Holmes did that and all of those people who expected a word for word and dance move for dance move copy of the original don't understand what an "homage" is. It's a tribute to the style and the grace of Judy Garland. Was it a little more sexy than the original? Maybe. Did Katie Holmes move herself in a different way? Yes. But this routine compared to the original is so much more complex. They updated the dancing and I think it worked.

I also think that Katie Holmes was very brave to go on a dance show and dance when she would probably not have been picked for the show. I don't really know if she would have, since the moves seemed to be very simple. However, that could just be the talent of the dancer. Many times moves look simple but you cannot do them. It's like what happened when people looked at Fred Astaire and thought, it looks so easy I could definitely do it. But no one dances like he did.

I don't judge dancers, because I'm not a dancer. I love to dance and shake my hips, but I'm not a dancer. I love this show, because these people are dancers and they really put everything on the line for dance. Katie Holmes was on the show to highlight her worthy charity, Dizzy Feet Foundation, and to pay a tribute to Judy Garland. I applaud her and wish that people would stop being critics and start just enjoying entertainment. It's time to enjoy the efforts of other people even if they're not always perfect.

That's all for today. Don't forget to vote in the poll for "So You Think You Can Dance". Then on Tuesday night call in your votes for your favorite dancers. I know I will be doing that.

Next week I will be having as my guest author, Jennifer Barash who has just had the third book in her Elite series, SIMPLY IRRESISTIBLE, published this week. Come back and visit on Thursday for the interview.