Tag Archive for: Evelyn David

The Impending Storm & Postscript

I have lots of thoughts for this blog but no cohesive theme – at least not yet. I’m writing this blog a little like I write fictional scenes. I’m going to start and let the words take me somewhere.

It’s Tuesday night (January 26) and I have six days to get this blog done. I don’t normally write anything that far ahead of a deadline, but the weather guys are predicting that within 36 hours my world is going to have an Armageddon of the icy variety. The guys with the color radar and storm model gizmos have proclaimed that by early Thursday morning (January 28) there will be enough ice to down power lines and close highways in Eastern Oklahoma.

I’m writing this blog early, because if I wait until the weekend, I might not have …wait for it … horror of all horror … no internet access! No internet, no posting of my Monday blog on February 1. Of course I might not have heat, light, or television either. I guess it says something scary that I worry more about dealing with the lack of internet than with how I’ll keep my pipes from freezing. Sigh.

In the last few years more and more of my life has become entangled with computers and the superhighway. Many of my monthly bills are delivered to my computer inbox instead of the mailbox nailed to the side of my house. I pay those same bills with a point and a click. I get most of my news from the computer. I shop via the computer. I write with my co-author on-line. Many of my e-friends are waiting in yahoo groups for me to pop in and say, “hey.” How will I do that if the ice descends and encases my life in frozen, electronic silence for days on end?

Is your life tied to a computer? Can you go for days without checking email? Do you bank on-line? Watch movies on-line? Can you go “cold” turkey? I may have to. So, I’m trying to prepare for the worst. I just scheduled on-line payments for the bills that come due early next week. So even if I have no electricity or cable, my accounts will be current. There’s something ironic about that but .. oh whatever.

If the power is with me on Monday, I’ll update this blog. If not, when you read this, think of me – trapped, alone in my house, wrapped in my snuggy, drinking hot tea made on a gas stove, and reading mysteries by candlelight.

I guess I shouldn’t complain, but I will. I’ll miss my computer soooo much. I’m already feeling withdrawal pangs.

Rhonda
aka The Southern Half of Evelyn David

Postscript:
It’s Friday night and the worst of the storm is over. I ended up with about 2 inches of ice with a 3-4 inch snow layer on top. Although there were power outages in the area, my town was spared. It will be a few more days before any melting occurs, but I think this crisis was averted. Probably due to all that money I spent on batteries, a weather radio, and canned soup. Sigh. (Kind of like washing your car to insure it rains.) Not that I’m complaining.

Missing Person Alert: Where’s Ina?

For a bunch of writers, I notice that we all watch a lot of television. So no surprise that this entry is not only about television programming, but a complaint about its delivery.

In my town, you have two choices for cable television. If I choose one, then I can’t get MSNBC. Not acceptable. If I choose the other, which I did, for the last three weeks I couldn’t watch The Barefoot Contessa or House Hunters. Cablevision and Scripps were engaged in mortal battle and in the meantime, both the Food Network and HGTV were not available. Heck I could give up Keith Olbermann, but Ina Garten? Grrrr

There was a third alternative, but I’m hoping that environmentalists and historians will applaud my decision not to subscribe to DirectTV. Here’s why. We actually did use their services, quite happily, until we made the fatal mistake of upgrading to one of those big TVs with High-Definition, which means I can see the pores and plastic surgery scars of actors on crime shows, and my husband and kids can watch sports ad nauseum, constanly murmuring that it was better than if they were in the stadium (for one reason, there’s no cost for constant snack service). So once the new television was delivered, I called DirectTV and was even perfectly willing to pay the premium for the upgraded service. I was only mildly annoyed when it appeared that they had cancelled the appointment without telling me. But in fact, they hadn’t cancelled the appointment, they had, in effect, cancelled me. It appears that the 200+ year old tree in my front yard was blocking the necessary reception for the upgrade and I had only one choice. Cut down the tree (horrified gasp) or change providers. They were astonished I chose the latter and continue to inundate me with constant entreaties to come home again, albeit treeless.

Of course, like more than 50 percent of cable-TV watchers, I see no program during its original showing. I DVR anything of interest and watch it at my leisure. Or if I just want to watch the highlight that is being discussed around the (virtual) water cooler, I check out YouTube. First, I rarely stay up late enough to see any of the better dramas – and a device that lets me skip ads – worth its weight in gold.

A far cry from when I was growing up. Then you built your week around the television shows you wanted to watch. If you missed an episode, you were resigned to waiting months until it was shown in reruns during the summer. Then came VCRs, and while I never did master the art of scheduling a taping, I was still able to amass a small library of tapes of my favorite shows. Of course, then the guys in suits (almost all male) realized that folks were willing to actually pay to buy a tape(s) of entire seasons – and if they threw in a couple of commentaries by the director or stars (who often seemed surprised at the episodes in which they appeared) – there were big bucks to be had.

Which brings me back to my original whine. Until late Thursday night, it appeared that I was going to have to put Ina Garten on a milk carton in order to find her. Even if she adores fennel – which I loathe – and even if she has never met a stick of butter she didn’t use or a tablespoon of salt that she didn’t add – I adore her recipes (modified as necessary) and her style. I love that when asked by actress Jennifer Garner, another fervent fan, if she could appear on her show – Ina, size 24 and proud of it, politely declined and said “Only my real friends appear on the show.” And how about House Hunters? Despite the fact that the couples inevitably pick the ugliest house of the three they’ve been shown, I want the opportunity to yell at the television set in the vain hope that they’ll change their minds and buy themselves a house that doesn’t have an “open floor plan” where everyone in the living room can see their dirty dishes.

I was ready to rent a billboard with this warning: Scripps/Cablevision – get this settled or things are going to get ugly in the Evelyn David (Northern half) household. Don’t make me tell you again or it’s on your head that a perfectly healthy old tree will be kindling.

Another victory for tree-lovers everywhere.

Evelyn David

Bring on the Drama(s)!



Now that Jay Leno is moving back to being the king of late night television, there should be five prime time hours in the NBC schedule opening up for new dramas. I can’t wait!

Since the Fall TV season started, and some long-running NBC dramas were cancelled, I’ve moved most of my drama watching to CBS and TNT. With the Leno shift change, I’m hoping for new NBC shows like the cancelled ER, a show that had strong female characters and broad appeal.

My favorite top ten, current, dramas in order are:
The Good Wife – one of the best shows I’ve seen in years. Great multidimensional characters.
The Closer – wonderful ensemble cast.
NCIS – Mark Harmon, Mark Harmon, Mark Harmon
Criminal Minds – despite the very dark mysteries, the ensemble cast is appealing.
Medium – long time favorite with characters to care about.
In Plain Sight – interesting female characters with unusual mysteries
Leverage – fast, fun, with quirky characters and the good guys win in the end every time.
Men of a Certain Age – despite the lack of female leads, this is a quiet charmer.
Law & Order – love the original, the theme music will hook me every time.
Burn Notice – strong female characters – and I’d watch anything with Sharon Gless in it.

I don’t watch many comedies and I’ve never liked the over-the-top ones. Instead of laughing, I’d feel embarrassed for the one getting the pie in the face. I didn’t love Lucy. I didn’t love Raymond. The Golden Girls were more a pale yellow in my mind and Gilligan could keep his island. Cheers was kind of sad. I liked MASH but it was more of a drama than a comedy. I like PSYCH and MONK for the mini-mysteries. I liked Frazier for the dog, Eddie.

Maybe the reason I’ve always liked dramas best is that I was rewriting the endings in my mind all these years. Writing an extra joke or two doesn’t do much for me, but writing a better or extended ending to a drama is something I can really get my writer’s teeth into.

What are your favorites? Do you prefer dramas over comedies? Or vice versa.

Rhonda
A TV Addict in addition to being the Southern Half of Evelyn David

Sherlock Who?



I think it’s a generational thing. ***Spoiler Alert*** for books and movie.

We walked out of the movie theater: husband and wife of a certain middle age; son and daughter, young adults. The movie? Sherlock Holmes. The reviews? Nothing short of fantastic, according to the younger set.

For us older folks, it was a perfectly fine movie. Entertaining, beautifully shot, incredible costumes, and zero relationship to the books by Arthur Conan Doyle. Robert Downey, Jr. and Jude Law are terrific actors – but bear almost no resemblance to the Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson that I know.

I confess that I have special feelings about the Holmes books. It was probably the first mystery series I ever read – eagerly returning to the library to get another book as soon as I had finished the one I had in hand. Doyle taught me two things that have affected my writing. First, it never crossed my mind that an author could kill off his protagonist – but that is exactly what Doyle does in “The Final Problem.” I still love his mother’s reaction when Doyle informs her, “I think of slaying Holmes…and winding him up for good and all. He takes my mind from better things.” His Mom points out (and let’s hear it for Mom’s intuition), “You may do what you deem fit, but the crowds will not take this lightheartedly.” And guess what, Mom was right.

Which taught me the second important lesson – well maybe third, since learning that Moms are usually right is a point I often try to make with my own kids. But as to writing, under pressure from the public, Doyle brings Holmes back to life in “The Adventure of the Empty House,” and I discovered that an author creates and controls the fate of her characters. You may have some unhappy readers – you might even lose some of them – but as the author, it’s up to you.

But back to Sherlock Holmes, the movie. It’s been said that Holmes as portrayed by Robert Downey, Jr. has become an action hero, a romantic leading man. It’s not that Doyle doesn’t make reference to Holmes’ knowledge of the martial arts – but that’s not the focus of the novels. It’s his deductive powers that always resolve the mystery. Maybe having an actor who is good looking and in good physical shape made it an easy decision to have Holmes in one fight scene after another – preferably without his shirt. And the scene of nude Holmes, handcuffed to a bed and a pillow strategically covering his private parts is funny – and gratuitous.

Which leads me to Irene Adler, the romantic heroine for Mr. Holmes, played nicely by Rachel McAdams. But let’s put Irene Adler in perspective. In the Doyle books, she appears but once, in “A Scandal in Bohemia,” although she is mentioned in other stories. There’s no question that Doyle makes clear that Irene Adler is smart, a fitting intellectual foil for Holmes, but Ritchie puts the emphasis on the unfulfilled romantic longing between these two characters – and that’s a plot invention of the director’s imagination, not Doyle’s.

Maybe it doesn’t matter that Ritchie has essentially taken a well-known character and morphed him into someone that fits today’s movie standards. I don’t miss the deerstalker hat, but I do miss the concept that being smart is as valuable as being good-looking or an outstanding fighter. But maybe, a movie of watching someone think wouldn’t draw in the crowds? Instead, for me, one of my new year’s resolutions is to reread the original Sherlock Holmes books. Cheers to Mr. Ritchie for producing a pleasant afternoon’s interlude. Bravo to Mr. Doyle for creating characters that have lasted for generations.

Marian aka The Northern half of Evelyn David

One Little Step or Maybe One Big Shove

One step at a time. One piece at a time. One word at a time.

Any task that seems impossibly big, incredibly complicated, or too much to accomplish can usually be done with some thought or research, careful planning, and pressing ahead slowly, one step at a time.

You think I’m talking about writing a book? Right?

Well, yeah, that advice applies to writing but it also applies to just about everything else in life that you’re unfamiliar with doing: like putting together one of those “some assembly required” vacuum cleaners or bookshelves; hooking up a new DVR or sound system to your tv; installing new software; or adding additional memory to your computer. Often you can palm those tasks off on someone else. Usually a guy.

I’m just old enough to have been socialized to think that the males of our species are more competent at building things and putting mechanical or electronic things together than females. I’m just young enough to know it’s not the “Y” chromosome, but experience that really counts. Guys had more chances to do those things; while girls from a very early age were subtly told that they were good at other things. No one told me I couldn’t learn to use a table saw, but no one told me I could either. And of course there is a difference between not doing something because you can’t and not doing it because it’s difficult and you choose not to try.

When you have an older house and live alone, it’s vital that you develop some courage and learn to do some things for yourself – that’s if you don’t want to be constantly at the mercy of other people’s schedules. I’ve found that, outside of climbing on the roof (I have this fear of heights thing I can’t shake) or crawling under the house (I have this fear of spiders thing that I won’t shake), I can do most things if I take my time and do a little research. I’ve changed out the guts on my toilet several times. I’ve figured out how to seal a broken window in the middle of the night during a power outage in the middle of an ice storm. I’ve had to find the outside water cutoff when an old plumbing value in the kitchen gave way. And I can follow the vague and deliberately misleading instructions that come with anything requiring “some assembly.”

Okay, I admit it takes me about four times as long to affect a repair or put something together as it would my father and the results aren’t very neat, but I am getting faster and better the more I try. And I confess that I don’t enjoy doing any of those repairs or furniture construction projects, but it’s my suspicion that my father doesn’t really like doing any of those things either.

My latest project was moving out my old non-working television so I could replace it with a new flat screen television. Besides having to make a major purchase at Christmas, the problem was that I had an older 46 inch Sony Wega with a picture tube – it weighed about 200 pounds and was as deep as it was wide. Think baby elephant with a glass screen. My father had promised me when he and a neighbor struggled to move it into my house in the late 1990s, that he would not be moving it again. I took him at his word. It was up to me to get it out.

I knew if I could get it off its stand – about two feet high – I could put it on a dolly and move it. The trick was getting it to the floor without breaking anything – my bones and/or the wooden floor. It took me about a week to figure out a way. I used large sofa cushions piled next to the tv stand. Then I tipped the front heavy (unplugged) tv onto the cushions. Having the tv on the stack of cushions, allowed me to tilt and move the tv anyway I wanted.


I know – I’ve heard all my life that tvs were dangerous and you could get an electrical shock from something inside them, even unplugged. I couldn’t figure exactly what that “something” was, but I was properly fearful the entire time I was gutting it. (Note: Nothing happened but I should probably caution you not to repeat my actions, just in case.) As soon as I had removed enough to make the size more manageable I got “walked” it out the door, then wheeled it to the end of my carport. I’ll figure out what to do with the carcass another day.

Meanwhile I’m watching my new 46″ HD Samsung flat screen, wondering why I had to upgrade my cable in order to receive HD channels, and contemplating knocking out a wall between my kitchen and my dining room. I’m pretty sure I’ll need a sledgehammer. Anyone know an easy way to pinpoint something called a “bearing” wall? Just kidding. Well, maybe not.

Rhonda

aka The Southern Half of Evelyn David

New Year’s Resolutions, Part Deux

Evelyn David’s post on Monday got me thinking about what I will resolve to do this coming year. I think it is an exceptionally good idea to take stock at the end of every year and vow to accomplish one or two good things in the coming year, even though I also know that most New Year’s resolutions are broken by the middle of February. There have been a few years where I have vowed not to make New Year’s resolutions and have stayed true to my word for the entire year, but this year is different. So, for all to see, this is what I promise to do:

1. Lose that 15 pounds. Thanks to a wonky thyroid that ceased working around May of this year, I have packed on quite a bit of poundage that no dieting has helped to erase. Your thyroid can go one of two ways: hypo, in which your metabolism slows to a snail’s pace, and hyper, in which it runs at the speed of a hummingbird’s wing. I, unfortunately, fall into the former category and had felt sluggish, lethargic, and slowed down. Way down. But all that changed when I found the delightful and brilliant mystery-loving Dr. K., who diagnosed and fixed the problem in a relatively short period of time. Things are stabilized and now I can focus on getting this rather doughy body back into fighting shape. Or at least the best shape one can be after several different types of cancer treatment have been administered and the dreaded middle age has set in. Check back for frequent updates on my progress. I’m looking to you to hold me accountable. And I promise not to turn on you. Maybe.

2. Focus on the positive. We’re going with only happy thoughts in ’10. Well, we’re going to do our best. I figure I have to take the advice I always give my kids: it takes far less energy to be positive than negative. And at my age, we need all the energy we can get.

3. Write more, procrastinate less. I learned a valuable lesson from Rachel Brady, fellow stiletto wearer, at Crime Bake this past November. Rachel participated in NanoWrimo, an exercise in which you write 50,000 words—any words will do—in the month of November. December is for revision. I figure if I can set a goal for myself of writing a certain number of words every week, regardless of whether they make sense or advance the story, I’ll be in good shape. October through December will be for revision, and by that time, hopefully, I’ll have what amounts to a reasonable first draft of book 6 in the Murder 101 series.

4. Avoid the United States Post Office at all costs. See #2 above.

5. See more movies. My husband loves movies. Me? Not so much. You see, you can’t talk during the movies and one of my favorite activities is talking. But in honor of the greatest man/husband/father who has ever lived, we’re going to do more of what he likes and less of what I like. Which is talking. Did I mention that I like to talk?

6. Laugh more, fret less. See #2 above.

What have you resolved, Stiletto faithful?

Maggie Barbieri

Confessions of a Last Minute Shopper

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas – again.

As I get older the holiday seems to come around faster and faster. Between my day job, family, and writing, I can’t seem to find the time to just sit and think. Or plan. Or shop.

For the past month I’ve picked up odds and ends, but my major gift shopping will be done in the next two days. Yes, I’m one of thooooose people – the most pitiful of creatures – a last minute shopper.

I wasn’t always this way. Ten years ago I would have had all my gifts purchased, if not wrapped, by the end of the first week of December. But as it got harder and harder to find gifts that friends and relatives would actually like, I began delaying my shopping. I caught the procrastination bug.

Note: I stand in awe of those people who have that special shopping gene – you know, the people who shop all year long for gifts, storing them in a closet for the big day when they’ll be given to their intended recipient. Actually I’m in awe that they have an empty closet to keep those gifts in for twelve months.

Okay, back to me –

Adding a complication to my suffering is the fact that I’ve never liked crowds. I don’t enjoy people invading my personal space, pushing and shoving to get merchandise, no matter their holly jolly holiday mood. My worst nightmare is being at a Wal-Mart on a day when a snow storm is predicted to come rolling in. Everyone stampedes to the store to stock up on groceries, toilet paper, ice scrapers, rock salt, dvds, and batteries. The only shopping carts left are the ones with wonky wheels – not that you can get a shopping cart down the packed aisles. And the checkout lines? Expect at least 30 minutes in the check-out line. (I’ve learned to carry my beloved Blackberry and check e-mail during the wait – it keeps me calm.) Can you imagine the crowds with a “white” Christmas? The same stampede with the added pressure of choosing gifts?

Enough of my whining, back to happy shopping themes –

My favorite seven places to shop are:

  1. Amazon – No lines, great selection, and they always have Evelyn David books.
  2. Barnes & Noble (the brick and mortar stores) – Great coffee and Evelyn David books.
  3. Lowes – Gifts for guys (and ladies who know how to use a hammer)
  4. Bath & Body shops – Love the body splashes. The only downside is they’re located in malls and finding a parking spot at a major mall is almost impossible this time of year.
  5. Overstock.com – Unique items and reasonable shipping costs. Love their dishes.
  6. iQVC.com – A little bit of everything. Cute jewelry.
  7. Wal-Mart – You really can’t beat their prices if you’re on a budget (and these days who isn’t?) But make sure you go on sunny days, midweek and midmonth.

Two questions for you:

  1. Where do you like to shop? Tell us your favorites.
  2. If a sales clerk fails to remove the defective (defective in that it didn’t sound an alarm when you left the store) security device from some article of clothing you’ve purchased for someone – do you really have to go back to the store and have it removed? Can you just gift wrap that coat (including the sales receipt) and let the recipient deal with taking it back to the mall? I mean really, isn’t it the thought that counts???

Happy Holidays!

Rhonda
Aka The Southern Half of Evelyn David
http://www.evelyndavid.com/

Your Momma Taught You Better than That – I Hope

Bottom line: It’s none of my business if Tiger Woods has slept with 1 or 100 women during his marriage. He took a vow to be faithful – and he clearly skipped over that part without nary a nevermind, as my mother, the original Evelyn would say. So what happens between the sheets (or anywhere else for that matter) – is really between Tiger, Elin, his wife, and what appears to be a host of lawyers all salivating at the big bucks to be made for lurid stories.

Shame on them all.

But here’s where I’m going to be judgmental. Yep, I know ’tis the season to be forgiving and indulgent of transgressions – look for the good in mankind, yadda, yadda, – but actually let me make it clear I’m talking woman-kind. Frankly, these party girls are trolling the Internet, sharing the intimate details of their sex lives with a guy whose only claim to fame is that he can hit a golf ball far and accurately. He did not, I repeat, find a cure for cancer. And these women? They intend to make big bucks by sharing their sordid stories. Hmmmm, this sounds suspiciously like the old story told about Winston Churchill.

Churchill: Madam, would you sleep with me for five million pounds?
Socialite: My goodness, Mr. Churchill… Well, I suppose… we would have to discuss terms, of course…
Churchill: Would you sleep with me for five pounds?
Socialite: Mr. Churchill, what kind of woman do you think I am?!
Churchill: Madam, we’ve already established that. Now we are haggling about the price.

Because the truth is – even if Tiger Woods is the sleaze of the Western World. Even if he is motivated by sex addiction, opportunity, an ego the size of Sweden or Florida – even if he totally amoral and has absolutely no compunction about screwing anything that even remotely interests him – Women, you still should know better. You should still have your own moral compass. You should still tell a man who has two children under the age of three, that whether or not his wife understands him (and who the hell cares if she does); even if his wife is thrilled that he’s found some outside interests and hey this all just a business arrangement (and try explaining that to a three year old!) – any woman given the opportunity to sleep with Tiger Woods should have sent him packing faster than a New York minute because it’s just plain wrong. Not fuzzy-fuzzy wrong, not even close to where anyone should wonder on which sides the angels will come down – nope, put two kids in the mix, and the deal is over. You want to fool around, Tiger, get out your prenup papers, figure what it’s going to cost you, and get a divorce – then fool around with whatever idiot who is willing to put up with you.

And women – you’re not entitled to money for putting out. You can dress that up any way you want to try – but at least my Momma knew exactly what that was called – and it ain’t pretty. Being sexually liberated doesn’t mean you can take advantage of another woman’s family or life. Go find your own man – no matter what story some guy is peddling.

I can write on and on about how this is a media bonanza comparable to Tickle Me Elmo in terms of sales. But the truth is deeper. We need to respect each other’s lives – and in this case – I haven’t seen a sense of honor among any of these thieves. For shame!

Marian aka the Northern Half of Evelyn David

The Search for Plots

Where do mystery plots come from? National news broadcasts, local newspapers, obscure blogs – they are all great resources for a mystery writer.

The following are some of the news bits that caught my eye recently.

A searcher dies: Robert Rines died at age 87. For 35 years he’d been spending his free time at Loch Ness looking for evidence of Nessie. As a biologist in addition to being a mystery writer, I’ve always been interested in the search for unknown species. I think Mr. Rines must have enjoyed the adventure and the thrill of the search; otherwise he would have give up the hunt years ago. Many books have been written with the theme of “the searcher.” And many more will be.

A celebrity crashes his SUV: An expensive SUV driven by a sports celebrity strikes a fire hydrant and tree at the end of his driveway in the middle of the night. The air bags don’t deploy. His wife uses a golf club to shatter the back windows and pulls her semiconscious husband out. Or at least that’s the surface story. The next day reports of affairs fill the tabloid and mainstream news sources. Then the celebrity apologies for letting his family down and pulls out of scheduled events. Wouldn’t be hard to pen a plot with this scenario.

A couple crashes a White House State Dinner: Had Evelyn David included an event like that in a mystery, readers would have howled, claiming it was unbelievable. Now we all know different. All the Secret Service agents, metal detectors and firepower in the world is sometimes not as effective as one strategically placed secretary with a guest list on a clipboard. The couple’s totally inappropriate, even dangerous, actions have opened up all kinds of plot opportunities for writers who want to use the backdrop of the White House.

A murder trial in Italy: The American student studying in Italy is on trial for the murder of her housemate, a British student. An innocent, young American woman who is being mistreated by a foreign justice system? Or is she a monster who masterminded a sexual assault and bloody killing of another young woman? The jury just found her guilty and sentenced her to 26 years in prison. There’s tons of material for a fictional mystery in this sad set of circumstances.

What kinds of non-fictional mysteries are you interested in? Which ones would you like to see used as the basis of a novel? Or do you tire of the ripped-straight-from-the-headlines, Law and Order type of scenarios and would rather not recognize the events when you read a mystery book? Is it cheating to base the story on real life and simply manipulate the ending you prefer? Or is all fair and game in the mystery biz?

Rhonda aka The Southern Half of Evelyn David

Striking a Happy Holiday Balance

The official holiday shopping season has begun. Our family celebrates Chanukah, also called The Feast of Lights. The first of the eight candles will be lit the evening of December 11. Oy!

Our youngest daughter won’t be home from college until the holiday is actually over – so I plan to send some gifts to her at school, and save the rest for when she’s eating some latkes at the dinner table. Son number one and his wife live in Washington – so I need to get their gifts in the mail. If I’d been smart, I’d have had them ready and wrapped when they were here for Thanksgiving. Son number two and his wife, and son number three, all live in the area – so we’ll probably see them for at least one of the eight nights of the holiday.

I can give you the standard spiel, which is that Chanukah is a minor Jewish holiday, never intended to duplicate the breadth of Christmas. No trees, no garlands, no ornaments – at least not when I was growing up. Today, there are tons of decorations you can buy – but there’s a not-so-small voice that echoes in my mind that reminds me that I’m not supposed to go for the glitz (much as I love Christmas decorations) when celebrating the Feast of Lights. Chanukah commemorates the rededication of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem at the time of the Maccabean revolt. Desecrated by the forces of Antiochus IV, when the Jews retook the temple there was only enough holy oil to fuel the eternal flame for one day…but the miracle is that the oil lasted eight days, enough time to consecrate more holy olive oil.

Traditionally we eat latkes – potatoes fried in oil. In Israel they eat sufganiyot, jam-filled fried donuts. We play dreidel – a game with a spinning top with four Hebrew letters, Nun, Gimel, Alef, Shin, symbolizing the sentence, “Nes Gadol Haya Sham” — A great miracle happened there.” Actually in Israel, the final letter is changed to Pei , to read “Nes Gadol Haya Po,” — A great miracle happened here.”

I confess I get caught up in the commercial holiday spirit because I love picking out gifts for loved ones and seeing their delight. And while I could certainly give presents other times of the year – and do – there is something fantastically fun about enjoying the communal spirit of shopping and giving – both on a personal and charitable level at this time of year. I’m a wrapping paper connoisseur, insisting on sharp tight corners on the package, and choosing just the right bow, because the original Evelyn insisted a present always required a ribbon. Who knew?

So I try to strike the right balance between the religious components and commercialism. And there is, of course, the thrill of the hunt – finding the perfect present at just the right price. I’ve never shopped on Black Friday – except this year, when I carefully combined coupons and promotion codes, and stopped by several online stores. Throw in some free shipping and this is one happy shopper. Might I remind all that books, especially mystery books, are always a perfect, one-size-fits-all gift!

So as the weeks move along during this holiday season, whatever you are celebrating, I wish for you the joy of giving, the delight of seeing those you love savor your thoughtfulness, and the importance of remembering those less fortunate at this time.

We’ll talk more in the weeks ahead. Enjoy!

Evelyn David

Murder Takes the Cake by Evelyn David
Murder Off the Books by Evelyn David
http://www.evelyndavid.com