No Other Tale The Same: Life After Life

After reading Life After Life by Kate Atkinson, my first impulse is to read it again because I didn't quite understand it all the first time. Atkinson's novel involves a heroine, Ursula Todd - whose story takes us through different lifetimes and time periods by the page. To be more specific, Ursula dies and then is reborn again, on countless occasions. In a sense, she gets second, third, fourth, and so on when it comes to chances.

At first I was reminded of the movie Groundhog Day. However, in that case, Bill Murray's character is aware of the fact that he has several shots to construct his perfect day. Ursula simply has a feeling of deja vu, a sense that she's lived some of these moments before - well, since she has. Atkinson makes the very interesting choice to set the book between 1910 and 1949 in England, making this unique book a work of historical fiction. In fact, the huge unanswered question at the end may just involve a gun and Hitler.

Although I joked that every couple of pages "darkness" would fall, meaning Ursula would die again, this is a very bold choice for an author to make, and I respect it immensely. Now that I have the entire picture, I need to go back and re-read to make sure I understand how the different pieces fit together. As Ursula says to her therapist, "Time isn't circular, it's like a palimpsest". I've never heard that word before. Merriam Webster defines palimpsest as "a very old document on which the original writing has been erased and replaced with new writing" and "something that has changed over time and shows evidence of that change". In this novel, both cases are true. This novel will keep you on your toes! Has anyone out there read it? If so, what did you think?

No Other Angle The Same: Arcadia

Philadelphia, PA
Friday, February 28th
7:55 PM

Since I am a life-long lover of Camp Arcadia, it only makes sense that I'm obsessed with anything that says Arcadia. The Arcadia stage at the Arden Theater is no exception.

No Other _______ The Same: No Other Job The Same

Once again, my dear friend is off. Last Wednesday she got the call to start a job on Monday. Instead of being a dreamer, she's the ultimate doer and oh so wonderfully fearless. It's truly amazing.

No Other News The Same: Don't Trust Washington

I'm going to level with you here. The reason I started this weekly Op-Ed was to hold myself accountable to actually keeping up with the news. The actual news, not news about TV shows. So I'm not quite there as of today. Yet I've been noticing (along with numerous other viewers) that my hometown of Washington, DC (the place where the government actual news happens) is being portrayed by multiple television shows right now; House of Cards, Scandal, Veep, and Homeland, to mention a few. While the show The West Wing was a source of comfort of how things could be for those liberal Democrats dealing with the Bush White House, these new shows send one big collective message: Don't Trust Washington.

Although I've just begun my foray into House of Cards (don't judge me for joining the game so late), the Washington of House of Cards is one big game. Literally, one big game of cards. This show portrays a House representative who literally controls everyone around him. Not to mention, someone who finds nothing wrong with strategically linking government inside information to a major Washington newspaper.

There's never a dull moment in Scandal, a TV show that constantly makes you question the ethics of government - from election rigging to torture to faking pregnancies and relationships. Yes, the show often goes a bit over the top, but you are constantly left wondering, "Do you think that could really happen? Does that happen?" It seems like the government is barely being held together.

The bottom line is that no one knows what goes on behind Washington's closed doors. Republicans and Democrats are both equal offenders. Yet it seems that the public assumes it's pretty shady. I'll be watching the return of Scandal tonight, and I'll keep ya posted.

No Other Dish The Same: Guest Blogger: Nutella Chocolate Chip Cookies

Dear readers, I'm switching it up a bit with my first guest post! Introducing....LP!

I pride myself on being someone who has tried as many types of cookies as possible, but my attempts at cookies is an entirely different story. Besides heating the occasional ready made stick on cookie dough fresh from the grocery store freezer, I have rarely actually attempted to make legitimate cookies on my own. Although there were those M&M cookies I made about 10 years that turned out well.....but I digress. I am moving on to bigger and better things. Namely Nutella Chocolate Chip Cookies! So after what always seems to be the exhausting experience of working my way through the trendy neighborhood market, I had all of the ingredients.....even if they were sprawled across the table in no specific order.

To start, the flour, baking soda and salt (yes salt) were placed together in a bowl as I proceeded to melt the butter on the stove top. I must point out that in an effort to make healthier choices these days, I opted to use whole wheat flour instead of the bleached stuff.

Being the manly man that I am I decided I would not need a blender for the next steps. Certainly, I thought it would be a piece of cake (pun intended) to mix the gooey bowl of flour, butter, sugar, yolk, yogurt and vanilla all at once. So you're probably wondering to yourself "how did that work out for you"? My reply would be....that it did not. With the aid of new age technology I was able to finally mix the dough with added chocolate chips to boot. Now it was time to really get down to business.

With the cookie dough now set, I was able to add the Nutella. It took everything in me not to grab a big spoon and go to town on the jar like it was a pint of Ben & Jerry's froyo but my zen like qualities prevent such events from happening. After placing a small spoonful of Nutella into the center of each cookie it was off to the oven they go and the rest is history. I became the proud father of warm delicious Nutella chocolate chip cookies and then I ATE THEM! With some help of course : )

No Other Tale The Same: The Secret Keeper

The Secret Keeper by Kate Coombs, although written for a very young audience, contains an important message, as do virtually all picture books. Coombs' simple message is that everyone needs balance. She conveys this message through charming words, illustrated with beautiful pictures by Heather M. Solomon.

In this tale, Kalli, the secret-keeper of Maldinga is responsible for keeping all of the villagers' secrets. Each time one of them reveals a secret (like a baker that charges unfairly for his products) that secret becomes a stone or other heavy object in Kalli's hand. She files the secrets away in her drawers and becomes heavier. The villagers, having gotten their deep, dark secrets off their chests, walk away a little lighter. Yet when the villagers aren't telling Kalli secrets, they shy away from her, probably in shame. Only one villager, Taln, the potter's son, never tells her secrets and always talks to her.

Finally, Kalli collapses under the weight of the secrets and isolation and can't take it anymore. The villagers rush to her side and begin to tell her happy secrets (like the old man who says he married his true love). Each secret literally takes wings in Kalli's hands - a butterfly, a bird, etc. Taln tells her he's in love with her, the secret-keeper. This secret becomes a rose.

Kalli finds her balance. She still keeps the villagers' dark secrets, yet she has Taln to help her carry the burden, and the villagers meet annually in the springtime to publicly declare their happy secrets. Why read children's books, one might ask? Often they contain more layers and wisdom than one might imagine. The way Coombs describes dark secrets as literally weighing someone down and happy secrets as literally taking flight is so simple, yet so profound. Good secrets balance out the bad, and Coombs urges her readers to find a balance of both in their lives.

No Other _____ The Same: Just Climb

While rock climbing at a gym with a friend yesterday, I thought of how simple rock climbing really is. I don't mean technique-wise. Most of the time we were just hoisting ourselves up that wall with little grace and brute force. Yet, looking up, trying to find the next rock to grab and a place to put my feet, I was completely focused. All I had to do was climb. And then laugh at myself if I fell, because I knew my friend would catch me.