Irish Mexican Music?

Red Bell Reads likes other things besides books, you know...like music and movies. Especially music that ventures 'outside the box.' And what could be more outside the box than Irish Mexican music? Yet, the Chieftains and Ry Cooder pull this off beautifully in their brand-new CD, San Patricio. I love the Chieftains and have 3 other of their CD's; I've been known to tap my toe to Mexican music as well, so when I heard an NPR piece about this CD, I said 'why not?' The music in it is based on a little known piece of history from the Mexican-American War of 1846-48. A group of 'displaced, downtrodden, and devil-may-care' men from many nations led by Capt. John Riley fought on the side of the Mexican army under the command of General Lopez de Santa Ana. (Yes, that General Santa Ana who defeated Davy Crockett and others at the Alamo.) Called the San Patricios and reviled by America as traitors, most of the company was made up of Irishmen. Paddy Moloney of the Chieftains has arranged traditional Mexican and Irish songs and written others that capture what must have been the mood of those Mexican-Irish camps. Both cultures are alive with music;it's not a stretch of the imagination to blend the two together. The songs are both lively and hauntingly melancholy. As usual, the Chieftains have invited others to perform with them: Ry Cooder, Linda Ronstadt, Lila Downs, Los Folkloristas, and others. Liam Neeson recites "March to Battle." A highly recommended addition to your World Music collection.

What Is Your Life Saying?

As I search for 'what I want to be when I grow up,' I've spent time discussing my life options with a variety of people...friends, family, my clergy. My rector gave me this little book, and I think it's changed my life! Parker J. Palmer is a Quaker, an educator and writer who wrote this 109-page helper for those of us who are 'listening for the voice of vocation' in our lives. I've read it three times already, but when Mary told me it was mine to keep, I started it a fourth...this time highlighting and underlining those words I want to remember. Palmer's premise is that we are all born with a nature, God-given gifts, talents, and ways to be in the world. When we ignore that nature (and most of us do!) and do what others, the world, our society tells us we should do, our lives become at least incongruent, at most desperately unhappy. Our jobs should ideally reflect our innate nature and not all the false skills and tricks we learn to get by and get along. Palmer begins his book with a poem by William Stafford where the poet  says: "Ask me whether what I have done is my life." A profound question...is your life your job, your occupation? Is what you do for a living right now how you want your life to be remembered? Put another way, Palmer instructs us: "Before you tell your life what you intend to do with it, listen for what it intends to do with you." He goes on to describe what vocation/life calling looks like, what it is and what it isn't. He also tells the reader about his own struggle with vocation that led to two bouts of severe depression. Even if depression isn't an issue for you, Palmer's depression holds lessons to be learned by anyone. This book could be the perfect gift for a high school or college graduate, someone who is launched in a career, but is unhappy with it, someone who has lost a job and is looking for a way, or someone who is retiring and looking for a fulfilling way to spend the second half of their life.

Trail of Crumbs

I became an avid reader before I could even read! My mom wrote in my baby book that as soon as I could sit up, I'd entertain myself for hours 'reading' magazines and comic books. The summer between 6th and 7th grade I remember feeling so proud that  I had read every biography and autobiography in the entire Bookmobile! (did they have Bookmobiles where you lived?) It seems only natural, then, that the memoir has become one of my favorite literary genres. This memoir, "Trail of Crumbs" by Kim Sunee came recommended by a friend who knew a memoir sprinkled with New Orleans, Paris, Provence and food would be right up my alley..and she was right! I caution you, however, that if you're looking for a 'happily ever after' story or one full of sunshine and light, this memoir is not for you. Kim Sunee explores her life as 'other' looking for a place to call home, a place where she fits in. What she has in reality is a life most of us would consider a wonderful, a fairy tale life. In her early twenties, she meets and becomes the companion of Olivier Baussan, founder of the French company, L'Occitane. Desperately in love, they live in a villa in Provence and an apartment in Paris, and travel all over the world to its most gorgeous and exotic places. Kim is beautiful, talented, smart and living a lifestyle that most people would envy, yet she is desperately unhappy and unsure of herself. Her struggle to find identity is compelling; her writing is evocative and luscious especially when she shares the one thing that does make her happy...food and cooking. The recipes she includes for her favorite comfort foods are reason alone to read this books. They may surprise you! So will Kim Sunee.