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ng up to a trip to europe and the first few days of business with her french publisher here she includes the minutiae of daily life what she ate for breakfast the book she read on the plane the images on her television at night part two the centerpiece of devotion is a work of fiction a short story novella whatever one wishes to call it in which the reader gets to stare directly into the writer s brain talk about show don t tell we get to see how characters and descriptions in a story reflect details written earlier in part one we literally get to see life interwoven with art and the story is so finely wrought that i completely forgot i was reading something by patti smith something i as a long time admirer am acutely aware of when reading her non fiction the final section of the book describes a visit to the home of albert camus daughter where smith reads his unfinished last manuscript and eventually answers the question why do i write the sum total of devotion s parts is a glorious trip an exploration of a writer s mind it should be assigned reading in every writing class from here on in 1 comment posted in musings and tagged art book review books music bookmark the permalink the great potato pancake fry off posted on december 19 2017 by marsheiner another one of my seasonal posts the great potato pancake fry off according to my friend rita the invention of the blender spelled disaster for the potato latke she insists that the blood dripping from our grandmothers knuckles as they grated the potatoes is what made their latkes so delicious my friend larry swears that skimping on oil will produce an inferior latke he fills the pan with three inches which he regularly replenishes he admits this makes for an ongoing battle with grease but says it s worth the fight my father used to criticize my mother s latkes for lack of salt and added it by the spoonful to his pancake batter i had a cousin who reduced the amount of matzo meal to a scant two tablespoons my sister adds flour martha stewart uses scallions rather than grated onion in hers the point is no two latkes are alike i should not have been surprised then when my daughter stacy grown and with a kitchen of her own had definite ideas about potato latkes thus when we cooked together last chanukah conflicts surfaced as soon as she lined up the ingredients which included a six ounce bottle of vegetable oil i immediately prepared to go to the store for more oil we re going to use more oil than that she asked incredulous i should mention that stacy is a thin vegetarian who buys only organic produce and shops in health food stores using a large amount of oil in any dish is anathema to her ignoring her horror stricken face i went out and bought a half gallon when i returned stacy was putting potatoes through a food processor from which they emerged shaped like tiny french fries horrified by their texture i politely asked for a blender on the pretense that we d finish faster if we both made the batter and used it to grate my potatoes onions and eggs when we got to the frying stage all hell broke loose stacy poured in just enough oil to cover the bottom of the pan she was about to lower a spoonful of batter into it when i grabbed her wrist you can t fry latkes in that little bitty oil i insisted they need to be almost covered to get crispy stacy pulled free of my grip ma no way am i gonna use that much oil it s disgusting disgusting grandma sylvia is turning over in her grave stacy rolled her eyes and continued to drop dollops of batter in her nearly oil less cephalon pan i suggested that as an experiment we each fry our own latkes hers made of the batter from the food processor mine from the blended batter she agreed i stood in front of my burner frying smooth textured latkes in two inches of oil while stacy stood in front of her pan sautéing mounds of teensy french fry look alikes when she briefly left her post for a bathroom break i peered into her pan without more oil her pancakes were going to stick it can t hurt i murmured tipping over the oil bottle and pouring some into her pan stacy returned from the bathroom picked up her spatula and prodded one of her pancakes wha ma did you put more oil in here her tone was one of wounded shock yeah i replied sheepishly just a teensy drop they were sticking i can t believe you did that she shouted on the verge of tears i would never do that to you that shows complete disrespect you don t have any boundaries words to this effect have been uttered by daughters to mothers since time immemorial i had once used them myself as their recipient i could only murmur i m sorry bubala i just wanted to be sure your latkes didn t stick it s not just the latkes she said tears falling freely you do things like this all the time she lifted her arm for emphasis spatula in hand i raised my arms intending to give her a calming hug but our spatulas collided clinking like dueling swords stacy stopped crying and burst into laughter relieved i tapped her spatula again and we engaged in a mock duel our laughter dispelling the built up tension later when our separate latke platters sat side by side on the buffet table i overheard stacy talking to her friend joann a tall extremely thin beauty my mom uses so much oil in her latkes i heard her say don t you think mine are better they re not as greasy joann nodded you know how they cook she said all carbs and grease and sugar later on though i noticed joann standing alone by the buffet she glanced around furtively then hastily grabbed one of my latkes and put it on her plate what s so funny stacy who d been standing next to me asked oh nothing i said i was just thinking of the dueling spatulas stacy chuckled you ll have to admit she said my latkes are less greasy than yours uh huh i nodded kissing her on the cheek feeling exactly the way i used to when she was a little girl and i let her win at checkers less greasy definitely leave a comment posted in musings and tagged channukah cooking family life personal bookmark the permalink the couch a short story posted on december 16 2017 by marsheiner i awoke with cramped muscles from sharing my narrow couch with lenny as i watched the dust motes lazily circling through the light around his curly hair i thought i gotta get rid of this guy i blinked in self astonishment jumped up and put on the coffee get rid of lenny the thought was preposterous in just one month with him i d acquired a taste for far eastern cooking experienced the magic of midnight ferry rides learned to play chess and had been introduced to zen buddhism bird watching and camping in the woods his pile of possessions neatly stacked in a corner of my studio apartment was small price to pay i sipped my coffee and watched him sleep his slender form framed by the elegant lines of the japanese style sofa it was about eight feet long and just wide enough to accommodate one average sized body graceful black and gray leaf shapes swirled against a backdrop of off white linen the back and arms were a rich deep ebony lenny s porcelain skin pulled taut over finely sculpted bones were the perfect adornment for my furniture still i did not want to continue sleeping with his feet in my face no the couch would have to go to be replaced with sleeping accommodations for two and good riddance to its memories it was outrageously decadent anyway unsuited to my new lifestyle perhaps i had once found it beautiful but now it seemed an affront a reminder of the room from whence it came an orange room decorated in suburban japanese the room in turn reminded me of the sprawling ranch house it had been part of and the life that house had sheltered my ex husband and i had made love on the couch first covering it with a clean sheet yes the couch must go definitely today lenny stirred and threw an arm over his eyes to deny morning i knelt by his side and embraced his face with my eyes i never tired of looking at that face the high fine cheekbones the haunted haunting eyes the full lips revealing the faintest droop of disillusionment an old man had once described lenny as aristocratic aristocratic orphan i murmured brushing the hair from his forehead huh lenny put his arm down to look at me he always looked at me as if he couldn t quite believe i was real lenny listen i began eager to spring into action i have a great idea let s get rid of this couch and buy a big foam mattress oho he sat up and pulled on his threadbare trousers why oho he looked sideways at me janbaby you are as transparent as cellophane let s get rid of the couch ha ha i stared at him genuinely puzzled he reached over and rumpled my hair with affection so you can t stand the memories anymore huh time to clear the room of old ghosts it s okay babe i can dig it i smiled uncertainly he was partly right but i resented his quick analysis that way he had of pinpointing and defining my emotions actually the main reason is my muscles hurt from sleeping in such a tight space whatever you say baby you say the couch gotta go it goes i barely managed to restrain myself from saying of course it s my couch one of the outstanding features of this couch was that it did not fit in the building s elevator three moving men had labored three sweaty hours maneuvering it up and around the narrow stairwell twelve flights to its destination my ex husband had been on hand presumably to ease my transition into urban singlehood jan he reprimanded me as if the whole thing was my fault these guys scratched the finish on the couch david cut it out look what they re going through with it i think you oughtta take 20 00 off their bill how can i complain about a few scratches when these guys nearly killed themselves moving it that s so typical of you you re always being taken i don t know how you re gonna survive without me i ll do just fine don t you worry yeah i can just see you a month from now some bum will come along find out about your inheritance and use you as a meal ticket david please i would like you to leave my apartment now if it hadn t been for my dumb mother leaving you half her estate you wouldn t even have this apartment your mother wasn t dumb she knew you were unbearable and she felt guilty towards me so she gave me a ticket out angry david reached the door as the moving men staggered in with the last of my possessions you guys oughtta make good for the scratches on the couch he said before disappearing down the hall they glared at him don t pay any attention to him i said handing each one a hefty tip to compensate considering the moving hassles a prospective buyer would face i decided to ask only 500 for the couch even though i d paid 3000 for it just two years ago i placed an ad in the village voice she said her name was margaret smith and with a perfunctory glance at the couch seated herself upon it she then proceeded to confess bits and pieces of her jagged life i yawned annoyed by lenny s interest in her story after she d gone through two abortions and numerous lovers i asked do you want the couch what oh yes the couch well of course jan s a little anxious lenny told her embarrassed by my businesslike manner she can t stand the sight of her ex husband anymore i glared at him margaret smith gave him a knowing smile then turned to me i know what it s like but you really should talk about it there s nothing to be ashamed of we all have exes it doesn t fit i said what doesn t fit the couch it doesn t fit in the elevator it has to be carried down you ll need a few guys to help you oh that s no problem my two boyfriends will do it it s just marvelous how well they get along i m so much better off with the arrangement i have now she talked about her life for another l5 minutes finally she left saying she d come for the couch on saturday boring i exploded banging the door shut behind her janbaby why are you so afraid of opening up to people she was a beautiful chick honest and up front with everything is that really what you think he turned to me his face free of guile sure that s how people should be trusting she knew she could trust us but why why should she trust us why not no seriously jan listen to me you and me we re good people and this is a new age you gotta start accepting and believing in your own goodness he stared at me intently willing me to accept what he so fervently believed suddenly i was ashamed of my cynicism margaret smith was probably a fine human being i walked into lenny s open arms and wept in confusion while he not for the first or last time comforted me on saturday morning we left the door ajar while eating breakfast i was savoring the first cigarette and coffee when a gargantuan man walked in you the people selling a couch are you buying it margaret smith suddenly emerged from behind the promethean figure this is bo bo this is lenny and i m sorry i forgot your name janice bo bowed his head formally pleased to meet you janice leonard lenny turned into super host transferring the contents of the refrigerator onto the table pulling off lids putting out dishes and silverware bo baby try some of this cheese can i get you a beer coffee where s i began looking around for margaret s other boyfriend she quickly cut me off now i m sure there won t be any trouble moving this couch you look like a big strong fella she looked coyly at lenny if she secretly thought her chosen adjective incongruous she didn t show it what a fool i thought for i knew that lenny really was a big strong fella i d seen him split wood with those delicate hands had felt his hard body on top of mine i decided to sit back and watch the day s drama unfold it was anyhow beyond my control my strong fella looked at me his eyes twinkling i knew i d get roped into this he said with a good natured laugh let s stop this partying and get to work margaret ordered i ve been thinking about the situation it seems to me that with a little ingenuity we could get this couch into the elevator watch out for her bo warned with a belly laugh bo you promised to cooperate it doesn t fit i said we will make it fit now bo just examine this couch and see what you can do i need a cup of coffee bo stood looking awkwardly helpless while lenny took out a tape measure and crawled behind the couch then he dashed out to the elevator with his tape nope he reported cheerily when he returned it doesn t fit what if you took off the legs margaret suggested lenny crawled underneath the couch and emerged covered with dust a sight that just a few short months ago would have mortified me we ll need a phillips head screwdriver come on janbaby walk me to the car lenny i told him on the way to the car these people were supposed to move the couch by themselves that s why i m selling it so cheap yeah i know this bo is a rip but what the hell what else do we have to do today when we returned to the apartment music was blasting from the stereo and bo sat cross legged in a corner reading my yoga book are you two into yoga oh yeah sure ...
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