Update on my trip to Paris

Hello to all my Boomer friends! I've now got my ticket to Paris and have two possible speaking gigs:

• one would be at the American Church in Paris
• one would be speaking to a group of harpsichordists who are lifetime fans of the great harpsichordist Wanda Landowska, topic of my dissertation

Now I have a third invitation:

• Traveling for a few days to Jaen, Spain to consult with the music faculty at the university there about a "Music in the Hospital" curriculum that they are putting together! They will fly me down there and I am soooo excited as I have never been to Spain! It is in the Andalucia section of Spain and is very far south!

If you know anyone in Paris or Southern Spain who would like a workshop, contact me ASAP!

Thanks,

Alice

Traveling to Paris

Paris is one of my favorite cities. I've probably been there half a dozen times in my life and I love it more each time. I was very fortunate to have spent 6 weeks there in the summer of 1987, which I was doing research on Wanda Landowska for my doctoral dissertation.. Now I am going back to Paris this Spring to visit one of my daughters who will be doing an internship at the American Embassy in Paris. I will be able to stay with her in her apartment, but I am trying to find a good price on a plane ticket. You probably know that I have my own travel agency at www.CashFamilyTravel.com. I hope that you will always check there for the best price on your own plane tickets, hotel rooms, and rental cars! Thank you!

View from Anacapri

Although I've been to Anacapri before, I was eager to go back because of the memories of the Debussy prelude I payed long ago, "The Hills of Anacapri." I highly recommend seeing Anacapri if you're going to Capri. You can take a bus ride to Anacapri and then a chair lift to the tip-top for a spectacular view!

Thanksgiving Menu 2008

This Thanksgiving I decided to make 3 or 4 new dishes for our family feast of Thanksgiving. I had one major request to incorporate some recipes with pomegranate as an ingredient. I found a delicious recipe for cornbread stuffing with pomegranate and a salad made of sauteed shrimp, scallions, various seeds and pomegranate arils. This mixture is put on a bed of baby greens and was totally delicious! The cornbread stuffing also had chopped dried cranberries and raisins in addition to the pomegranate. Of course we had turkey, gravy, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, poached, spiced pears and asparagus too! Hope your's was a good one. We all have so much to be grateful for despite the current economy!

More from the Italy trip 2008

Picture #1 on the left is a directional sign pointing to the red-light district of Pompei.

Picture #2 is me washing my hands in an outdoor fountain that now functions again on the streets of Pompeii.
Picture #3 is me standing in the garden of a Pompeiian home, long since destroyed but the garden still blooms.

One of our favorite trips within the Naples area was the day we went to Pompeii! This ancient city, oer 3000 years old was completely inundated by volcanic ash when Mt. Vesuvius suddenly erupted one day and killed nearly everyone in this very sophisticated city. I highly recommend a visit to Pompeii when you visit Italy!

Sarah Palin: This Boomer's Opinion

by Nataly Kogin (from her blog www.workitmom.com/blog)

We (too) rarely have women running for VP and seeing an unknown political figure catapult to the national stage is intriguing, whatever party you support. There is a lot to write about.
In this case, it’s about Sarah Palin blowing a kiss to the audience before VP debate last week. And winking during the debate. Numerous times. As I watched her do it, I cringed. I am no career expert but I know enough to understand the importance of body language in the workplace. If you want the job, start with a firm handshake. If you want to be heard, state your ideas sitting confidently and upright on the edge of your chair instead of slumping down and making your statement a question.
And if you want to be taken seriously by your coworkers and clients — or say, by 70 million people watching you on TV — don’t wink during a heated political discussion and don’t blow kisses to people you don’t know.
Now, I am no dummy. I know that this extremely casual body language, manners as well as peppering speeches with colloquial phrases like “You betcha!” is both part of Ms. Palin’s personality and the image that she is aiming to build of someone who is one of us, a regular person who just happens to be running for Vice President. But I don’t buy it. If you’re running for office you should not sound and act like a regular person in a casual setting. Because you’re not a regular person, you’re a Vice Presidential candidate and when you’re out there on some international mission, talking to world leaders as an American representative, I definitely don’t want you to act the way you might around your family.
Sorry to lecture, Ms. Palin, but after seeing women sabotage their success in the workplace by the way they talk and hold themselves, I care about this stuff. Fair or not, women have to jump over a higher bar just to be on par with men in professional settings, which means there’s no room for overly-girly body language or expressions that make you sound juvenile. When I was starting my career I was lucky to have one woman boss who took me shopping for a serious suit. “How you look matters, whether you like it or not,” she told me as I invested in my first-ever (and last-ever) Ann Taylor skirt suit.
Your suits are fine but in my not-so-humble opinion, you need to act as serious as they look.

Day 3 of our Caribbean Bahamas Cruise

This is Day 3 of our fantastic cruise we had last week. Day 3 was actually our only port of call on the trip and after a long day at sea on Tuesday, we arrived at Grand Turk, Bahamas around 8 a.m. on Wednesday. My three daughters, two sons-in-law and I were chomping at the bit to get off that big ship and into that gorgeous blue water. The girls and I signed up for a bike tour of the island in the morning and the guys did "Power Snorkeling." The weather was clear and sunny but also hot and humid and when we would stop on the bike ride to hear about an historic location the heat from the pavement was almost overpowering. Still, we really enjoyed the bike and hike and saw a beautiful little island.