Katherine Hall Page, THE BODY IN THE PIAZZA, at Stellina's Restaurant, Watertown Square

Stellina's Restaurant in Watertown Square was the site
of  a book signing and talk given yesterday by Katherine Hall Page.

The book launch for Katherine Hall Page's new mystery, THE BODY IN THE PIAZZA, took place yesterday evening at Stellina's Restaurant in Watertown Square.  [Yes, if you've been watching the news, the very same Watertown Square, 3 blocks from the police shootout and capture of the perpetrators of the Boston Marathon terrorists.]  

Katherine Hall Page:  "Whenever I go to a party or a gathering, folks ask me what I do. Once it is known that I write murder mysteries, invariably someone sidles up to me during the event and whispers, 'I have the perfect way to kill someone without anyone ever finding out.'  Well, that certainly gives me pause!"

Page explained that she writes in the tradition of Agatha Christie; she writes a puzzle mystery where the author is matching wits with the reader, giving clues that are fair, without strewing any red herrings.  "When you have finished reading the book, I want you to say, 'I should have guessed that!'"

She described her murder mysteries as "soft-boiled" as opposed to "hardboiled", and quoted earlier critics of the genre as placing such mysteries in the "cozy" genre . . . more tea than blood!  "Murder mysteries play on the difference between appearance and reality," she commented.

Page traced the genre of the murder mystery back to Medieval times and the battle of good vs. evil, where order is finally restored.  "In the 1980's, such writers as Sue Grafton and Sarah Peretsky broke through the glass ceiling (years after Agatha Christie had begun to lead the way), and women started authoring murder mysteries.

Commenting on her own love of reading, she commented, "I can't remember a time when I couldn't read.  If I have nothing to read, I read soup can labels, the backs of cereal boxes . . . whatever I can find."

Unlike her earlier mysteries, most of which were set in Maine, The Body in the Piazza is set in Italy.  

The Body in the Piazza concludes with recipes for the dishes mentioned throughout the novel, and it is for that reason that yesterday evening, following the book signing, Stellina's served an Italian dinner using those very recipes.

"Nothing you can think of is as strange as reality," said Page. She said that when she begins writing, she knows who the murderer is and how the book is going to end.   Page admitted that when she writes, "It's as if I'm taking dictation from my imagination."  

"Nothing you write cannot be made better. . . I have great editors!"

Katherine Hall Page talks about her new book, THE BODY IN THE PIAZZA.

Bingo, or, Taking Democracy for Granted

Manning the polls at yesterday's special primary election for Senator Kerry's seat in the U.S. Senate, Marash Girl once again witnessed a very sparse turnout of folks showing up to vote in a city that touts its educational system. (Folks who move to Newton and are willing to purchase homes at over the top prices in order to live in a city where the schools are considered excellent.) In one precinct of this very city, a representative precinct at that, only 20% of registered voters turned out to vote.  The attitude was summed up by one woman who arrived and exclaimed, "What?  No Bingo today?  Well, if I can't play Bingo, I might as well vote!"

The Danger of Letting your Hair Grow!

Marash Boy: It's all your fault!

Marash Girl:  What?

Marash Boy:  You wouldn't let me get a hair cut last week, and when I returned to Springfield on Sunday afternoon, and was walking across Main Street, a young boy asked as he was riding past me on his bike, "Would you like to buy some marijuana, sir?"  First time that's ever happened!  And it's all your fault!

Tying the Knot

"Even when the rope is broken, the knot is always there," Peter told his son many years ago.

What was he referring to? Marash Girl asked. . .

He was referring to marriage, of course, answered her brother.

Oh, of course, answered Marash Girl. . . Tying the knot is an expression we've always used in the United States for getting married, but I never knew where that expression came from.  Could it have come from the ancient marriage ritual in the Armenian Apostolic Church?

During their wedding ceremony in St. Gregory's Armenian Apostolic Church in Indian Orchard, Massachusetts, Marash Girl and Marash Boy were asked to place their foreheads together as the priest placed a silken rope around their heads and tied the knot.

Shining on - Edgartown Lighthouse

The moon shines on Edgartown Lighthouse, Edgartown Harbor, Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts

Any day on this side of the earth

"Beautiful day," said Marash Girl to the fellow digging in the soil in front of his house in Edgartown, on Martha's Vineyard.  

"Any day on this side of the earth is a good day," answered the fellow . . .

 "What did he say?" asked Marash Girl, thinking the fellow might have said,  "Any day on this side of the ocean is a good day . . .",  a concept with which Marash Girl heartily agrees.  

Marash Boy pointed down to the soil.

"Oh," said Marash Girl, finally getting the point.

"How old do you think he is?", asked Marash Boy.

On Texting . . .

Overheard in an Edgartown shop:

I slipped and fell, and the girl who was walking behind me, texting, just walked around me and continued texting.

Buy One, Get One Free

At a "Buy one, Get one free" sale in Edgartown, Massachusetts, Marash Girl pondered over her two selections.
The saleswoman approached. "Can I help you?"
Marash Girl: "I can't decide which one I'm buying and which one I'm getting free . . ."
The saleswoman, irritated: "What difference does it make?"
Marash Girl just laughed.

April 24 - Commemoration of the Armenian Genocide, 1915-1923

Peter (Daddy, Grandpa Peter, Otro Baba), born in Marash, Ottoman Empire, in 1912, survivor of the Armenian Genocide, felt it was a waste of time arguing with the Turks about the fact of the Genocide.  "It doesn't matter what they say; we know what happened."  Yes, he knew what happened, and he survived to tell the tale.
http://www.boston.com/yourtown/news/newton/2010/03/peter_bilezikian_survivor_of_a.html

Armenians who survived the Genocide, or The "Good" Turk

At a public meeting of Armenians with the Mayor of Newton, Massachusetts, at least a decade past, Peter stood up and stated, " If it weren't for the Turks, not one Armenian would be alive today."  

Needless to say, the statement stirred up a hornet's nest, to use an inept metaphor, but Peter knew of what he spoke, and soon a newspaper reporter approached to learn from Peter what only Peter (at least in that room) could admit.  Many a "Good Turk" had put their lives at risk to save Armenian lives.  Peter would always remember  the Mutasarrif (Mayor) of Marash who promised his Uncle that he would do what he could to save the Armenians of Marash.  . . . and he did . . . until one day, the Mutasarrif disappeared and was never heard from again.

(See tomorrow's blog post for a link to the newspaper article that resulted from the interview.)

CONFLICTED!

                             This car actually drives along the streets of New York City!

Sheltered in Place Noodles

Sheltered in place, Marash Girl looked through the kitchen to see what she could throw together for lunch, as all the stores had been ordered closed by the Mayor in light of the hunt for the perpetrators of the Boston Marathon Massacre.  

Looking at the ingredients on hand, and with some advice from Barley Jim who had come visiting despite the shelter in place order, Marash Girl and Barley Jim came up with a concoction that can't be beat!  And it's vegan to boot!

Here is what we threw together:

Whole wheat noodles (freshly cooked, or, as in our case, cold and left over from the day before)
Tahini (you determine how much -- perhaps several tablespoons)
Tamari (to taste)
The juice of a fresh lemon

Toss the dressing over the noodles, and reheat if the noodles are cold.

Absolutely delicious and ready in minutes.

A New Way To Kiss

Iffar & Enila delight in kissing, especially "Eskimo" kissing and "Butterfly" kissing the people they love, but last week, they came up with a new combination, a kiss that delighted them like none other:  the Butterfly Eskimo kiss. Just brush your eyelash against your loved one's nose and there you have it . . . from the under 10 set, a new way to share your love!

Newton Grieves Victims of Boston Marathon Massacre

On Wednesday evening,  April 17,  2013, Mayor Setti Warren speaks to the gathered on the steps of the Newton City Hall War Memorial, a haven for the grieving on Monday following the devastation at the finish line of the Boston Marathon.

Congressman Joseph Kennedy III, U.S. Representative for Massachusetts' 4th Congressional District, addresses Newton Citizens on Wednesday evening at the Newton City Hall War Memorial.

Robinson Crusoe and the Community of Ethnics

There was a shipwreck with only one survivor, a Jewish fellow who washed up on a small island where he lived with Robinson Crusoe for five years until he was rescued. He was showing the rescuers all the things that he done, including the synagogue that he had built. A little later around the other side of the island the rescuers saw a smaller synagogue and they asked; "What's that?"
"Oh, that's the one I don't go to."

Sassountsi David writes, "The above joke was another of my father's favorites. Tatoul tells me that it's gone around as an Armenian joke." . . . 

A joke from Sassountsi David

Goldstein retired and he wanted to find something to occupy himself with. He tried tennis, stamp collecting and other things but nothing really took him.
Then he decided to try Christianity and he "took instruction" in a good Episcopalian church. The day came for him to made a member of the congregation and after the service the minister announced;
"Today we would like to welcome into our congregation Mr. Abe Goldstein.  Mr. Goldstein would like to say a few words on this momentous occasion? "
Goldstein comes up to the pulpit. He's choking down tears of emotion and can barely speak. Finally he manages to blurt out,  "Fellow Goyim...."

(Sassountsi David, Marash Girl's Jewish Armenian wanna-be friend was kind enough to email Marash GIrl the above joke. . . More to follow)

Duck, Duck, Haddock!

A favorite story often told by Marash Girl's dad, who had close friends in both the Jewish and Roman Catholic communities, was the following.

Although he was Jewish, Isaac lived in a Roman Catholic community, and decided that, in order to be a part of the community, he should join the Roman Catholic Church.  He went to the church, and related his decision to the priest.  The priest, after going through the conversion ritual, held his hand over Isaac, intoning, Isaac, Isaac, you are now McIsaac.

Several years later, McIsaac invited the priest home for dinner.  McIsaac welcomed the priest into his dining room, and after the priest said grace,  McIsaac, with great fanfare, brought in the Friday night dinner on a platter.
The priest was startled to see that there was duck on the platter.
McIsaac, don't you know that we Catholics cannot eat meat on Friday?
McIsaac paused and answered,  "Isaac, Isaac, McIsaac; Duck, Duck, Haddock."

Pray for the Victims of the Boston Marathon Massacre

The Fox that Couldn't Catch the Ferry!

"That can't be a dog, Marash Girl thought as she looked into her rear view mirror at a sleek dog with orange fur and a white-tipped tail loping north across Church Street; "we have a leash law in Massachusetts, and anyway, that dog looks healthier than any dog I've seen in a long while . . .  It must be a red fox!" 

An hour later, looking out her kitchen window, Marash Girl saw the sleek red fox trotting south through her back yard towards Cabot Woods,  probably heading home to its young.

Checking MassWildlife to learn more about the habitat of red fox in Massachusetts, Marash Girl learned that the "red fox and gray fox are common and abundant in Massachusetts and can be found throughout the state, except  on Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket."

"Why do you think that is?" Marash Girl asked Marash Boy.

Without missing a beat, Marash Boy answered, "They probably couldn't catch the ferry!"

Starbuck's, Watertown Square

The Starbuck's in Watertown Square is affectionately known among Armenians as the "Armenian Starbuck's".  Yesterday Marash Girl learned that an Armenian jokester has actually translated the name of the coffee shop into Armenian:  աստղիկ դրամ, or transliterating into English, Asdghig Terram!