Divine Music

So I was zipping down Lincoln Street this afternoon on the way to Rockingham Feed, when I saw a sign in front of the Divine Cafe.
It was for an acoustic jam night Thursdays.
How cool is this? Especially in Exeter where we try, and try, and try again to get a live music venue. I know Bonnie, one of the owners, has a good music connection in her nephew Dave who plays guitar with Truffle. Perhaps he'll make a cameo?
Of course, I checked out their web site www.divinecafe.org when I got home and here's the scoop:
Join us in creating a NEW music community in Exeter…a place for musicians of ALL abilities, ages and styles to RELAX, NOURISH (with both music & fare) LISTEN, SHARE, TEACH, LEARN, ENCOURAGE, IMPROV, COLLABORATE & PLAY!
Acoustic Jam Night and Dinner at Divine Café & Grille
Thursdays
Beginning April 3rd
Even if you don't play, stop by and enjoy some fare while listening to our local musicians!
50 Lincoln Street
603-773-2233
Serving Dinner from 5 – 9 pm
Jam until ?
Everyone is Welcome!
BYOB

Breaking News at the Bandstand

It's 8:50 p.m. on Thursday night and there is breaking news on the scanner.
Stop the presses.

A beaver is meandering around by the bandstand.

The police are all responding to "the scene"

The first update went like this from a police officer:

"I don't think he's sick, I think he's lost."

Pause.

"He's got traffic all messed up."
Pause.
"Now he's going toward the String Bridge."

So apparently it's not only cows that stop traffic in New Hampshire.
Stay tuned for updates from the front lines of the beaver story

Eight is Enough

Why would you want more kids when one came out so cute??

My latest post from http://www.seacoastparentsconnect.com/:

Two of my husband’s co-workers took him aside recently to tell him they saw "the look" on my face when they’d recently seen me. This "look" was apparently the look of a woman crazed to get pregnant for a second time.
What are they smoking, I asked as soon as he told me this. I mean really, don’t people ever just let you alone to decide when, and if, you want to look like a giant watermelon for nine months? As soon as you announce your plans to get married, the first thing people ask is "so when will you try for children?" Before your doctor can snip the umbilical cord, those same people are on the "so, when will you start trying for your second one?"
I won’t, I respond.
This answer is apparently the same as announcing that you plan to jump out of a plane, dye your hair green or something similarly crazy. Or so I have deduced from the look on people’s faces when I say, "I’m happy with one.’
But who will take care of you when you get old?
Because you know at the age of 31, I am already plotting my escape to the nursing home.
Oh, I don’t know, maybe by then I will have become a famous author and take care of myself. Maybe I’ll just drop dead at the age of 65 so that I don’t have to worry about it.
But come on already, what’s up with this incessant need for women to get pregnant right away after they’ve just had a baby? I couldn’t believe how soon some of the mommies I know started getting that hushed tone as they confided to each other "we’re trying" or "we hope to be pregnant again in two months."
I meanwhile was taking my birth control pills like candy. Hey I’m not against taking two at a time, you know just as a precautionary measure. (I’m kidding of course).
It’s hard enough having one child, I can’t imagine having two. More power to those people who have signed up for the breeding bonanza, but I think I’d go nuts with two. With one child, there are levels of getting back up to speed. In my case, we’re approaching the two year birthday in July, and I am almost feeling like I might be up to half speed. I lost the baby weight (a year after the baby), I finally got him to sleep through the night, I have a line up of babysitters so that I can go out and be an adult. And thank goodness I can have a glass of wine again. (Of course due to said pregnancy and baby, my body chemistry has decided that one glass is okay, two might pass but three means instantaneous headache). But I’m starting to feel like I can at least have a balance again of baby, work, home, husband. I fear that the husband time component of that list might be knocked out due to lack of time if I added another baby.
So yes, I guess you could say I’m missing the female gene that causes me to think about the going through that all over again. Apparently this was part of the same gene that instills in women the knowledge of how to apply make up or style their hair. This is twice as unfortunate since now I will have no one to style my hair when I am old and in the nursing home.. Maybe there is something to be said for having another child.

Lawyer Turns Author in Retirement

So I've been a bit out of the loop in terms of blogging for the past week or so. I went to a writer's conference and then had to catch up on everything that was on my desk..

Here's an interesting local story. Page Brown, formerly a lawyer at Brown and LaPointe out on Hampton Road (you know the one that now has a fancy new office building) in his retirement has written a book. He'll be at Water Street Bookstore Tuesday, April 15 at 7 p.m. to celebrate his book "The Unrequited." Brown's novel takes place as the Second World War has ended and the Japanese no longer control Vietnam, it carries the reader through those postwar years as the French attempt to reoccupy the country before the American involvement.

Here's a review from local freelance writer Dean Merchant:
Linger upon the characters in Page Brown's 'The Unrequited'. Slowly savor the dimension and depth of each ethnicity across a broad spectrum of human nature. The Unrequited is meant to be read slowly and then re-read. Brown is a thoughtful writer who provocatively and carefully chooses each adjective, crafting a landscape he knows well - Vietnam. His efforts akin to Hemingway sweating out his personal experiences in Spain onto the written page. Brown is a keen observer and a meticulous, voracious historian who writes to his own strengths. The author knows well the geopolitics and mind set of the "warrior", being a much decorated war hero himself. Still, he is able to follow his peripheral subjects with an intellectual and emotional understanding of a people and soil his soul has adopted. He shows sensitivity and perspective on native peoples confronted with brutal foreign interlopers. It's all here-the sights, sounds, smells and textures, the fabric of daily living in Southeast Asia at war with callous international designs. Destinies are played out-Hope is not lost. Those who enjoy a full meal read will find 'The Unrequited' satiates their intellectual hunger. All in all a damn good read!

Exeter River Watershed Talk

Spotlight on the Exeter River Watershed” is the subject of a free public presentation on the health and future of the river as well as its effect on the communities located along the watershed. It will be held Friday April 18 from 7:00 – 9:00 pm at The Congregational Church in Exeter, 21 Front St., Exeter, NH. The public is invited and the building is handicapped accessible. Three presenters, Don Clement – Chair, Exeter River Local Advisory Committee (ERLAC)Sally Soule – NH Department of Environmental Services, WatershedRuss Dean – Exeter Town Manager,each with a special knowledge of the river, will give their views followed by an open question and answer session. Come and learn more about the health of the river, what we are drinking, flood control and care of the watershed. “We the People” is a series of free public presentations on crucial issues facing our society. The series is sponsored by the Congregational, Unitarian-Universalist and Episcopal churches of Exeter in cooperation with Phillips Exeter Academy. For further information call We the People at (603) 777-0940

Whack Whack Whack

This just crossed my email and sounds kind of interesting:

Join the Exeter Historical Society and Exeter Public Library on Thursday, April 10 at 6:30 pm, at the Exeter Historical Society, 47 Front Street, for an interactive performance of Lizzie Borden and the 40 Whacks, by the Delvena Theatre Company. This production is recommended for ages 12 and older.

On a scorching hot day in Fall River, Massachusetts, in August 1892, a heinous crime occurred. Spinster Lizzie Borden was accused, tried and acquitted for the vicious ax murders of her father and stepmother. This true unsolved mystery has fascinated people for over 100 years. Two people died on that day in 1892, but Lizzie continues to live on in American folklore.

An edutainment production, the show will feature Lynne Moulton and Joseph Zamparelli, Jr., in multiple roles. The performance includes a mock trial that invites the audience to participate by questioning Lizzie, deciding her guilt or innocence, and imparting a sentence, if appropriate. Did she or didn’t she? You be the judge on April 10th at the Exeter Historical Society.

Lynne Moulton has performed several roles for the Delvena Theatre Company including her IRNE nominated Martha in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and Sissy in Piece of My Heart, and also for numerous other theatre companies in the New England area. She received her acting training at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art under the direction of Sir Robert Palmer and at Trinity Rep Conservatory.

Joseph Zamparelli, Jr., is an actor, director and producer. A graduate of Boston College, he went on to the professional training program at Circle in the Square Theater School in New York. In addition to commercial film and television work, he is Producing/Artistic Director of BostonAlive.

The Delvena Theatre Company was founded in 1992 and has performed at various venues, most often at the Boston Center for the Arts. The company was nominated for five Independent Reviewers of New England awards. Its production of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? was on Theatre Mirror’s Best List for acting, directing and production. Presentations of Anna Weiss and Beyond Therapy were included on Theatre Mirror’s best play list and Blue Heart was placed on Aisle Say’s best list.

For more information, please contact Laura Martin Gowing, program manager, at the Exeter Historical Society at 603-778-2335 or by email, info@exeterhistory.org. The Exeter Historical Society is a non-profit organization dedicated to the research and preservation of Exeter’s past. The Historical Society is open to the public on a weekly basis, Tuesdays and Thursdays from 2 – 4:30 pm, and on Saturdays from 9:30 am to noon. Exeter Historical Society, 47 Front Street, PO Box 924, Exeter, New Hampshire, 03833, 603-778-2335, info@exeterhistory.org, http://www.exeterhistory.org/

Stop Leaving Me MAMA

This is the face that greeted out sweet, wonderful babysitter Melanie Sunday night. Seems we're having another bout of separation anxiety. For the full column, go to www.seacoastparentsconnect.com