Author: diana

“Road Trip”–a short story

Written by diana on May 7, 2011. Posted in Literary and Art Journals. 6 Comments on “Road Trip”–a short story

My short story “Road Trip” has just been released in the Spring 2011 issue of Calliope, the official publication of the Writers’ Special Interest Group of American Mensa, Ltd. This is a condensed portion of a chapter from my work-in-progress, a novel entitled Things Unsaid. I really enjoyed writing this “flash fiction” story and hope you enjoy reading it!

“Bliss”–A Downward Spiral

Written by diana on April 25, 2011. Posted in movie reviews. 4 Comments on “Bliss”–A Downward Spiral

A Turkish movie made in 2007, “Bliss” is anything but. From the opening scene of the hillside in spectacular cinematography recalling “Woman in the Dunes”, “Bliss” is a beautifully acted cinematic gem that pits village customs against modern urbanization, religion against secularism, the disenfranchised against a justice system that blames and punishes the victim of the crime, not the criminal. I found “Bliss” spellbinding. The story is about three characters. Meryem, a seventeen-year-old shepherdess, is brutally raped and then ostracized...

Celebrate Beer!–Awaken Your Senses!

Written by diana on April 17, 2011. Posted in Unhealed Wound. No Comments on Celebrate Beer!–Awaken Your Senses!

Last weekend my husband and I went to a class in the Artisan Series at Montrio Bistro in Monterey. We found it particularly interesting because, although we love beer and have visited microbreweries, we had not been to a seminar on the art and craft of making beer and studying the different types of brews. There were two different presentations on beer and its production and distribution. The first speaker represented English Ales Brewery in Marina, and gave a presentation while we tasted eight different beers they made, each placed on a chart in front of us, so we wouldn’t forget which...

“Lincoln Lawyer”–More Than an Ambulance Chase

Written by diana on April 5, 2011. Posted in movie reviews. 2 Comments on “Lincoln Lawyer”–More Than an Ambulance Chase

We saw the movie “Lincoln Lawyer” a couple of days ago, and it was a highly engaging–not brilliant–courtroom thriller of a movie in the “Grisham” style. Think the best of the courtroom dramas of the recent past: “Fracture” meets “Presumed Innocent”, for example. This film noir, based on a book written by Michael Connelly, is pure entertainment–with a few twists to keep it original and not the same old courtroom drama we’ve seen done well and also done poorly. Michael “Mick” Haller (Matthew McConaughey in...

“Swimming with Sharks”–Taking a Dive from the Corporate Ladder

Written by diana on March 24, 2011. Posted in movie reviews. 1 Comment on “Swimming with Sharks”–Taking a Dive from the Corporate Ladder

Our son graduated from college about a year ago and has had several internships in the entertainment industry, mainly reality TV and independent movies, while he searches for his next career step. One of his former supervisors recommended “Swimming with Sharks”, for an insider’s view of what working as a low-level assistant for a studio exec is really like. This colleague also stated that the movie did not exaggerate! While billed as a comedy, this film is anything but funny. Guy (played by Frank Whaley, a vastly underrated TV supporting actor) is a recent college graduate...

Seattle: A Blast from the Past

Written by diana on March 14, 2011. Posted in Art, Unhealed Wound. 1 Comment on Seattle: A Blast from the Past

On a recent trip to Seattle, in lightly falling snow, I took a guided walking tour of the city’s mid-19th century “underground” origins: its musty subterranean passageways of abandoned toilets, pipes, cast-off furniture and windows that once were the main first-floor storefronts of old downtown Seattle. Like layers of fossils built one sedimentary deposit over another, the city’s hidden foundations are revealed. Approximately 25 square blocks of wooden buildings were either burned to the ground or flooded during the Great Seattle Fire of 1896. What were once the first floors of thriving...