A Bald Pigeon With My Name

My second pigeon rescue two weeks ago made me remember that the account of my first pigeon rescue somehow never got published.  Time to rectify that oversight!!

Sunday, May 15, 2011
It started out like any other laundry day.  I loaded my dirty clothes into the grocery cart we New Yorkers use to transport anything too heavy to carry and pushed the cart across the street to the laundromat.  As I entered, I noticed a young pigeon huddled at the side of the step. After loading my clothes into the washers, I went back to the doorway to see if the pigeon was still there.  Indeed it was, and the little thing just didn't look right.  It had some scabby-looking patches on top if its head and, although nervous, it seemed unwilling or unable to fly to a safer location.  The laundry attendant claimed it couldn't fly because an elderly woman had run over it accidentally with her cart.

I hate it when I happen upon situations like this, because I know that no one else is going to do anything.

The Loop

It's no wonder British author Nicholas Evans writes interesting books.  He leads an interesting life.  He studied law at Oxford University, worked as a journalist, produced documentary films, and has traveled extensively.  He is best known for his debut novel, The Horse Whisperer.  If you didn't read the book, maybe you saw the movie directed by and starring Robert Redford.

This Is Not The Story You Think It Is...

 

\This is Not the Story You Think It Is...  A Season of Unlikely Happiness is often misunderstood or misrepresented.  Many online reviews say it's about how one woman saved her marriage.  Those reviews prove only that the reviewer really didn't "get it."  No, this book by Laura Munson is really about how a woman married 20 years saved herself.

Family Ties

I read Family Ties because I found myself in an airport without a book to take onto the plane.  Having never read anything by Danielle Steel, I hoped this book would be an absorbing page-turner that would make the flight pass quickly.  WRONG!  Family Ties was predictable and repetitive and contained no pithy truths about family relationships. 

A Case of Need

A Case of Need is a novel based on the facts and politics of abortion before Roe vs. Wade.  The book was published in 1968 under the pseudonym of Jeffery Hudson and won an Edgar Allan Poe Award in 1969.  In 1993 A Case of Need was re-released under the author's real name, Michael Crichton.

An Irish Christmas, A Musical Solstice Celebration

They say good things come in threes...  and here is the third CD this year on which the Washington Square Harp and Shamrock Orchestra appears.  Amazing!

An Irish Christmas, A Musical Solstice Celebration was recorded last year during the Irish Christmas shows at the Irish Arts Center.  The Washington Square Harp and Shamrock Orchestra has been part of these shows since their inception four years ago, so it was only natural that we should appear on the CD.  Our track is a song called The Rebel Jesus written by Jackson Browne.  Louise Sullivan is the lead vocalist.

In Partnership with the Poor

Artwork by the children of the Mercy Centre

NEWS FLASH!!!

"Waltz Me Around Again, Willie" -- my song with the Washington Square Harp and Shamrock Orchestra -- has been released on the CD entitled In Partnership with the Poor:  Irish musicians for the Mercy Centre, pictured above.

To order, click HERE.

Your purchase will help fund a music program for the children of the Mercy Centre, a highly successful charitable organization in Bangkok, Thailand.

Tributes to Mike Rafferty

Mike Rafferty died on September 13, 2011. If you're a regular or even an occasional reader of this blog, you know that Mike was very important to me.  To officially mark his passing, I have noted below the many remembrances he received.  I have compiled this list mainly for myself, but others may find such a reference meaningful or useful.

TRIBUTE FROM THE STATE OF NEW JERSEY