I met Cristina Cruz on the airplane in what would be a trip to Europe that would change my life. We shared book notes seated next to each other, she with House on Mango Street and me with 100 Years of Solitude in Spanish and English.
I went all over, until I got to Istanbul, then when I went back up towards London I stopped in Lausanne, Switzerland (where Frankenstein was written, and the girls from Middlemarch grew up) . The goal: go to the Montreux Jazz Festival. I had two tickets, but never found Cristina.
We exchanged emails and I kept writing to her, but hadn't gotten anything in quite a long time. But it turns out she was just busy, and when the Jazz Festival happened again this year, she wrote to me. It's something that pleased me so greatly. Right now on PBS they are playing a documentary about music, and a guitar player with a brain hemmorage:
His personality wasn't evident for two years, until he had a gig. And he didn't come back visually, in his gestures, but audibly, through the notes and melodies he played.
When you don't get an email back from someone for a long time, for no apparent reason, it's scary because you think something could have happened, injury or death or ... ? Prison? Swine flu?
The same thing happened in our Penguin classics book club. A man wrote how he was having surgery and then never replied again on the webpage. And without knowing anything other than this person's user name and his thoughts on literature, you become attached to the guy and it matters if something went wrong, or who-knows.
Moral of the story? Got to get out of the house. It's an imperative. Because Montreux is waiting, Serena is waiting, people that love the same books as you are waiting. Waiting for you to come and meet them, share some laughs, some good food and vino.
Another good PBS show that was on earlier was about a Palestinian boy who was slain, and they donated his organs to people in Palestine and in Israel. Then the family went to meet all of the recipients, which is an arduous journey in itself.
PBS rocks
And this was a great show about music. Unforgettable. I'd like to read the book now!
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ReplyDeleteHey! I meant to watch that Nova the other day, but I forgot to record it. I'm glad you enjoyed it.
ReplyDeleteJoseph W.