Joni Mitchell and Friends in Concert Tonight

Tonight is Joni Mitchell‘s Gershwin Prize concert at DAR Constitution Hall. The Gershwin Prize is presented each year by the Library of Congress to a living person who has made lasting contributions to popular music. The concert is free, but most tickets go to VIPs. So the audience features Supreme Court justices, members of Congress,Continue reading “Joni Mitchell and Friends in Concert Tonight”

Dreams of Italy

I am going back to Italy. I recently read a series of memoirs by an Irish writer named Rosie Meleady, about buying a decrepit villa in Umbria and moving her family there to fix it up and run a wedding planning business. As I read, I kept thinking this was a writer I would loveContinue reading “Dreams of Italy”

Another Sexist Troll

Just when I thought it was safe to go back on Facebook…. Some guy told me this week that men are better than women at art, cooking, engineering, architecture, and sports. But he says it’s good for women to have “their own space” where they can dabble in such interests without getting in the wayContinue reading “Another Sexist Troll”

52 Ancestors, Week 8: I Can Identify

It’s Week 8 of the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks project, created by genealogist Amy Johnson Crow. And for this week, the theme is I Can Identify. I have a story about identifying my grandfather’s face in a newspaper photo. I was doing some research on John F. Kennedy’s presidential campaign, and came across aContinue reading “52 Ancestors, Week 8: I Can Identify”

My Grandfather and the President

I just realized that today is the anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, who was shot in Dallas, Texas, on 22 November 1963. I’m not old enough to have any memories of that day. But my grandfather knew JFK; he was treasurer of his presidential campaign for the state of Pennsylvania. ResearchingContinue reading “My Grandfather and the President”

Throwback Thursday: My Mother, the Pinup Girl

I mentioned recently that my mother let me borrow a lot of old photos from her side of the family, so I could scan them all. This one is a treasure. This is my mother, back when she was a pinup girl. A newspaper on an Air Force base published her picture one month asContinue reading “Throwback Thursday: My Mother, the Pinup Girl”

Throwback Thursday: Playing Soldier

I am still working on scanning all of the old family photos my father and stepmother passed on to me this summer. This is one of my favorites. This photo shows my father’s family, and was almost certainly taken in Pennsylvania, where they lived — most likely in 1944, judging from the apparent age ofContinue reading “Throwback Thursday: Playing Soldier”