Annette Gendler's Blog, page 13
May 25, 2018
Book Companion Post: Sanatorium Brey
Siebenhäuser Liberec Reichenberg Stadt, Sanatorium Dr. Max Brey
When I visited my grandparents’ hometown Liberec (Reichenberg) in the Czech Republic in 2009 on a research trip for Jumping Over Shadows, I spent a long time wandering their old neighborhood, looking for the building that could have been the Sanatorium Brey. This institution figured prominently in our family’s history: my father was born there, so was his brother Klaus. as were their cousins Herta and Ludwig. My Jewish great-uncl...
May 18, 2018
My Grandmother’s Rice Pudding Recipe (Reisauflauf)
For this weekend’s Jewish holiday of Shavuot (celebrating God’s giving the Ten Commandments and the Torah (five books of Moses) to the Jewish people at Mount Sinai) it is customary to eat a dairy meal, and my German, non-Jewish grandmother’s rice pudding (“Reisauflauf”) is the perfect recipe for that because in the Bohemian kitchen, a “Mehlspeise” (sweet dish) is often served as a main meal (a custom my American mother never quite understood but we kids loved!). I actually make Reisauflauf f...
May 11, 2018
The Ever Elusive Artist Date in a Japanese Garden
I might be good at writing my Morning Pages, but I am horrible at keeping Artist Dates. These are two of the three pillars sustaining a creative life, according to Julia Cameron (see The Artist’s Way); the third is daily walks, which I’m also not so good at. It is quite simply very hard for me to fit in an Artist Date, i.e. doing something fun by myself, every week, and yet Julia Cameron is right that we need those dates to refill our creative well. I’ve been feeling the consequences of my w...
April 13, 2018
What 5 Years of Writing Morning Pages Can Do
Five years of writing Morning Pages equals twelve notebooks
On April 8, 2013, I wrote in my very first Black n’ Red notebook: “I shall give this writing Morning Pages a try.” Five years later, I’m still writing Morning Pages. Thankfully, I marked each anniversary with a blog post, and so, as I was putting this one together, I read through all previous posts:
Together they sum up the m...
April 5, 2018
6 Things that Will Surprise You about Publishing a Book
Karlsruhe, Germany – Photo by Barbara Jester
Yesterday was the one-year anniversary of my book’s publication–the perfect time to share a few things that surprised me about publishing a book:
People genuinely admire you for having done it–for having completed something, for actually writing a book and getting it out there. Many people dream of this, few actually do it. Having authored a book, you become an authority. It doesn’t matter what your book is about; your authority flows from your...March 30, 2018
Passover Recipes
Passover is, after Rosh Hashana, my favorite Jewish holiday–mainly because it is all about home and family–and I love it despite, or maybe because of, all the work involved.
Hosting a Seder is, I believe, the essence of Jewish homemaking.Yesterday I made a big batch of Gefilte Fish as my husband’s Aunt Rachel taught me (see Becoming a Proper Jew in the Kitchen). I just love bringing that fierce lady back to life in my kitchen and passing on her way of cooking, which was so much the essence...
March 19, 2018
Book Companion Post: My Aunt Herta
Herta and I, Wiesbaden, 2002
Today would have been my Aunt Herta’s birthday. I like to remember loved ones on their birthdays, and since Herta is one of the key characters in Jumping Over Shadows, I thought I’d create a tribute to her. Not only was Herta a key character in the book, but she was also a source of family stories for me. Once my grandmother (“Oma”) had passed on, Herta was my only link to the family’s past in Reichenberg.
Herta told me the story of the Queen of the Night cactus,...
March 2, 2018
To the Lighthouse
How can I be so attached to a place I don’t own, maintain, nor have a say in its very existence? Such as the pier and lighthouse at Loyola Beach? That place is a touchstone in my life, a spot where I feel I meet myself and can think about who I am now and who I used to be all those times when I visited before.
I haven’t been there in a while, and I miss it. Many a morning, when I used to drive my boys to school from one end of Chicago to the other,...
February 23, 2018
Why Returning to Our Roots is so Meaningful
Why is it so meaningful to return to your roots? To where your ancestors are from? To visit places you only know from stories and pictures?
I’ve asked myself that every time I traveled to my grandparents’ hometown, Liberec, in the Czech Republic. Standing in front of the villa they used to own feels like I’m visiting an old friend; sitting in the ornate Viennese-style café they used to frequent makes my heart soar. In Liberec, I am not only able to see and touch the past, I can be inside of...
February 16, 2018
Book Companion Post: How to Come Up with Book Events
When I first contemplated promoting my book Jumping Over Shadows through events, I was stumped to come up with topics I could present. {read the rest of the article on She Writes}
The post Book Companion Post: How to Come Up with Book Events appeared first on Annette Gendler.
