K.B. Pellegrino's Blog, page 22

65 Degrees and Breezy

What a wonderful day, today turned out. I started my day at a yoga class, cooked lunch with my friends, and then edited portions of my fourth book; hopefully it will be published by June 2019. Altogether it has been a productive day. Do you ever wonder what pleases you in a day? Certainly, I am pleased when I receive flowers or gifts, join in festivities with friends whether theirs or mine, help someone out who is in a fix, have work that pleases me, give of myself with service, or get all th...

Sticks and Stones

No! I am not writing the old adage: "Sticks and stones may break my bones but names will never hurt me." Why not? Because I'm not sure I believe in it.

Instead, I'm writing about the early Spring in New England landscape and what I see outside my window. I see sticks and tree limbs and gravel and rocks. I did not put them there. They are Winter's last stance to make me appreciate Spring.

My dog, Othello, and my daughter's dog, Walker, both believe that they are showing their love by piling sticks in our front yards. They must be artists looking for public recognition; else why would they not leave them where they found them.

Their efforts in showing love remind me of husbands who buy flowers for wives who have pollen allergies; or those who buy French pastry for wives who are gluten free; or the wives who buy their office husbands tools as presents hoping they'll develop a healthy and helpful hobby. All are meant as tokens of affection and mostly are received as such; but with a sigh of "Really, can't you just look around at what's in front of you?"

For my part, I confess that I thank anyone who's given me a gift with love. For your information, however, I have no pollen allergies, will eat French pastry despite my avoidance of gluten, and will use the tools I buy for my husband's special days.

Living requires flexibility in our psyches. I've got it and am living large!

K. B. Pellegrino, Author

Today in 1937

Like most of my readers, I love the historical listing of light and fun facts. Did you know that on this date, March 26, 1937, spinach growers in Texas erected a statue of Popeye as a testament to him as a spinach icon? Now even our very young readers know that Popeye is a one-eyed sailor whose escapades with his companions are still entertaining today; and are not just a mechanism to make kids each spinach. What many of us don’t know is that his character was created for a comic strip in the...

Nature of Living

I have just read a novel that has brought alive the experiences of an American Airman, shot down in service for us, but saved by ordinary folks in the French Resistance during WWII. Who can state that the author's grandfather's experiences were ordinary? They were not. Who can state that the folks serving in the French Resistance were ordinary? They were not.

It is so many decades after WWII, and I, for one, am speechless at the scope of bravery displayed by the ordinary person back in that day. I am certain that our ordinary folks today still do extraordinary things. I often see stories on face book and the news. I think, however, that later when we see the actual setting in a look back in time, that is when we are able to truly appreciate heroism. In current time, we are often too imbedded in politics, fear, and our own lives to fully understand the depths of heroism as practiced. So here's to a look back at heroism; hopefully sensitizing us to the heroes around us today.

K. B. Pellegrino, Author

Italian Name Day Holiday

It is a special day for all Italians today. It is name day for Saint Joseph, and in Italy it is also the day on which Father’s Day is celebrated. In the United States, we honor Saint Joseph with Italian pastries called Zeppole and Sfingi. Filled with cream and delicious when we accompany them with cappuccino. We all can be Italian on March 19. The memory of Saint Joseph and his specialness in the hearts of Italians everywhere is easily understood. Religiously he is the husband of the Virgin a...

Morality Tales

Maggie North, Acting Curator of Art at the Springfield, MA Museums presented a lecture on artist Georgia O'Keeffe today to about 150 patrons. One inference that could not be ignored by the audience is the symbolism, or shall we say, the interconnectedness to ideas her art consistently portrays. As a woman of her times O'Keeffe pushed the envelope on sexuality, social norms, and the excepted place for a woman artist.

What was meaningful to me is that art in any form whether it be writing, painting, music, photography, film, or animation is by its nature social commentary. The author or artist may attempt to be singular in focus, such as I am when I write mysteries. But a murder does not exist without context and really when you think about it, murder is not interesting. The victim of murder is of interest. Of greater interest are the why, the who, the when, the where and the act of discovering the murderer.

Georgia's flowers and southwest landscapes and New York skylines must be viewed within the dreams and desires of her motivation.

Even fictional murder mysteries must be analyzed within the fictional setting and characters presented. Implicit in understanding the landscape design and characters moving throughout a mystery novel is the true implication on the moral tale being told. After all murder mysteries are really morality tales.

Preparation for Tuesday, the First Real Day of Work!

Not quite the IDES of March yet, but today feels special to me. It is Tuesday one day before humpday. One could say that it’s almost the start of the week, but not quite. After a weekend, Monday seems a day to check your calendar, finish up what you didn’t on Friday, and re-organize your desk and current files to prepare for the week’s work, knowing that Tuesday is a full work day. Why would a full workday feel special to me. I have a quick answer for you. I love a full day of work. I love th...

Character Study

Hi Readers — If you have been following my publications in the “Evil Exists in West Side Trilogy,” you could not ignore the protagonist I have chosen. West Mass MCU Captain Rudy Beauregard appears to be ‘singularly’ ordinary, almost the opposite of most leading characters in this mystery and police procedural genre who are with the police. He has no history that he himself has created that strikes the reader as unusual or risky. He is in a solid marriage with three sons. His wife is as extrao...

Third Book Just Released on Amazon!

After much anticipation, my third book in the trilogy Evil Exists in West Side, Brothers From Another Mother: All For One! Always? has just been released on Amazon and other online retailers.

 

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End of the Month

Not this year is there end of the month confusion; not this year!

This year is not leap year, however, several of my colleagues have asked, "Is this the year of the 29th day for February"? I say 'no' to them and remind them that all you have to do to remember when there is a leap year is to divide the year by the number four and if it divides evenly then it's a leap year. Now as an engineer and a CPA, I always find numbers an easy way to remember, but I forget sometimes that I now profess to be an author.

As an author, my literary friends answer any question with verbal history on the reason why February exists and why it sometimes, every four years, has 29 instead of 28 days. I am then treated to a dissertation of Februrius and the Roman solution for what they thought the year should look like. So they took from the stars and added two months and later......an extra day or more. It goes on believe me. Check Wikipedia.

Still in conclusion to this nonsense, I must remind myself that there are many ways to examine any issue. Two very distinct ways are a verbal versus a mathematical exmination. Perhaps we could contrast the written versus the photographical or artistic representation; maybe the sensory versus the descriptive. All are valid, but each of us plays favorites in our analyses.

Remember, I started with a simple answer to a simple question about how to remember how many days there are in February.

Readers, How do you think about things when you are contrasting ideas?