2018 Fall Television Shows

My Fall Television Review:

THIS IS US: This show has been so great, I was terrified. Remember when you thought Blacklist was terrific? And by Year #3, you forgot what night it was on....and the same thing is happening with Madame Secretary...ugh. I WAS WORRIED that the third season of This Is Us couldn't possibly live up to the first two seasons. And now that we know how Jack died and then William died from cancer...how can it maintain that same spectacular level?? BUT I NEEDN'T HAVE WORRIED. This show is so well-written, and the characters are so real...I love all of them, and it is still the #1 show on my playlist...

DANCING WITH THE STARS: Every year, when they announce the cast, I think I don't know any of these people -- so the show will suck. But they always manage to hook me during the first episode. And nobody I know realized Mary Lou Retton had knee just surgery SIX WEEKS before winning her Olympic Gold Medal..!! They make me care about the "stars"...and the dances are amazing. But, of course, without a doubt - the BEST thing about DWTS is the costumes. Honestly. Well done, people..

DANCING WITH THE STARS JUNIOR: I taped this show so Lilly could watch it. I had no real interest in watching Honey Boo Boo doing a Salsa. But -- hey -- every since Abby Lee Miller went to jail, I have been missing my Dance Moms fix. So it's good to see a few of her girls get jobs...

MANIFEST: So far, this show has great promise. Lilly loved the trailers -- and we watched the first two episodes together. There is an element of who-done-it, and every week something unexpected happens. Fingers crossed...

A MILLION LITTLE THINGS: This show is a Category 5 Disappointment. Ron Livingston plays the part of John -- a successful businessman who has a beautiful wife, two lovely children, and three best friends who all have NHL season tickets. In the first five minutes, this handsome man commits suicide by jumping off the balcony of his ritzy office. And, here's the thing -- at that exact moment -- one of those good buddies is ALSO about to commit suicide by swallowing a bunch of pills. When he gets the phone call telling him John killed himself, he spits out the pills...

Obviously, this show is trying to clone the THIS IS US formula...except they completely left out the part where you CARE ABOUT THE CHARACTERS.

GREY'S ANATOMY:   I am a big fan of medical shows...The old ER of the 90's was one of my favorites, and Nurse Jackie was the first show I ever binge watched. I even miss "House".  Grey's was good for a long time...then, Meredith Grey came back from the dead (several times), there was an unbelievable plane crash, the doctors had to BUY the hospital because it wasn't making enough money,  Amelia recovered from a life-threatening brain tumor with no ill effects...I'm just saying that at some point, I cannot maintain my sense of suspended reality. (and I have HUGE SKILLS HERE, PEOPLE)...And -- oh -- did I forget to mention the storyline where a DOCTOR gives up being a doctor to become a FIREFIGHTER?? So -- you can see my problem, right?

NEW AMSTERDAM.  Anyway, I was looking forward to a new Medical Show set in New York City. But, whereas Grey's Anatomy requires a lot of suspended reality --  New Amsterdam is so far out there, it cannot be considered a medical show at all -- but, rather, SCIENCE FICTION. A current day hospital where the new top guy tells everybody the only thing they should care about is PATIENT CARE -- not the bottom line.  And forget about the insurance companies...But, hey -- if you're a fan of Star Trek -- you might give it a try.

Cafe Dodici

After our exciting Washington Library event -- we were eager to move on to our next event -- LUNCH AT THE CAFE DODICI..1!

This upscale Italian Ristorante sits on the Northwest corner of the Town Square.

There's a coffee shop/bakery in one part of the first floor.

And a full-scale fancy restaurant on the corner.

The restaurant is small -- but was very busy when we arrived.

Apparently, there's a B and B element upstairs

Our food was DELICIOUS.

My burger was a vegetarian, non-GMO, Gluten free option (I ordered it because I did not think this was possible in the middle of Iowa...) I ate every bite!!

We enjoyed our lunch -- and I don't think the owners even realized they are mentioned in Carol's new book.

There was an article hanging on the wall, explaining about how this elegant Italian restaurant came to be on the nearly abandoned town square 20 years ago -- and SAVED A VILLAGE.

Here's an article in the local newspaper about how this restaurant, and the dream of one woman, inspired a town to spend $20 million to revitalize their downtown.

WELL DONE, WASHINGTON, IOWA. You make me proud...!!  https://www.thegazette.com/subject/life/people-places/dreams-come-true-at-cafxe9-dodici-in-washington-iowa-20170918

Simple Truth

Now -- to get back to my story. The REASON we went to Washington, Iowa in the first place.

Carol Bodensteiner was doing a presentation for a group of writers who meet at the library once a month.

Carol has written three books. Her first was Growing Up Country, and her second was "Go Away Home" -- the this fall, her third book was published...

Simple Truth takes place in the current day -- in the State of Iowa.

I met Carol (many moons ago) in a Memoir Workshop at the Writer's Festival in Iowa City. Her path as an author has been exciting and I think everybody in that room learned something that day.

She self-published her first book, Growing Up Country. And her success with that book was due, in large part, to her background in Public Relations. She did a great job of marketing her book -- and made some decisions early on that paid off in a big way.

Her second book, Go Away Home -- took a very different course.  She originally self-published it.  But, happily, the sales were so good, it was picked up by Amazon and re-published by them.

This was the group we spent the morning with -- and Carol had a lot of information for other writers.

But our good time in Washington, Iowa is NOT OVER...

Because -- here's the thing you did not know. The REASON Carol was invited to Washington, Iowa is because this little town played a small role in her new book, Simple Truth. The characters in the book ate at an elegant Ristorante on the corner of the Town Square....Cafe Dodici...

AND IT'S A REAL PLACE...!!

History of Washington Free Public Library

First of all -- YOU KNOW HOW MUCH I LOVE MY LIBRARIES. And, I'm a big fan of Andrew Carnegie, who funded over 3000 libraries in America. But the Washington Free Public library has a unique history.

From their website:   In 1877, the Washington Public Library was established by a group of dedicated volunteers with a combination of private donations of money and books and a small public tax.

Many of the original books held by the Washington Public Library came from the private collection of Gen. Hiriam Scofield, a civil war general from who lived in Washington and held one of the largest private libraries in the nation. The Washington Library still owns most of these books, though they have begun to deteriorate somewhat.
 
In 1901 Jane A. Chilcote, widow of Dr. Alexander Chilcote, bequeathed her house at 120 E. Main to the City of Washington to use as a public library.

In her honor, the library was affectionately known as the Jane A. Chilcote Library for many years. The Chilcote house was extensively remodeled to serve as the library. During the late forties and early fifties the house had begun to seriously deteriorate. The foundation had begun to crumble and the walls and floors were infested with termites.

In 1952 the city undertook the construction of a new building on the site funded in large part by major donations by Fort Sherman and Ralph Smith. The Chilcote house was demolished and the main portion of the new E. Main building was constructed. The building built in 1952 was about 7,100 square feet.

For the next 40 years or so, the Washington Free Public Library served the community by remodeling the space, and putting on various additions to the building.

The Library purchased some abandoned buildings on the west side of the Town Square. And they started to raise money to build THIS...

And here's the part I love the most.....

On October 1, 2009 -- when the new building was complete -- the community came out in force and the citizens physically MOVED all the books and materials to the new building.

They used a few mini-vans and pick-up trucks -- but primarily, they pushed carts, carried totebags and WALKED the books and library materials  from the old location over to the new location on the town square.

YOU'VE GOTTA LOVE LIBRARIES!!

Washington, Iowa

It was Saturday, September 22. Carol Bodensteiner had invited the TMBC to come to a library event in Washington, Iowa. It's about two hours from Princeton -- and it looked like a BEAUTIFUL DAY for a road trip!! 

Hey -- I've never been to Washington, Iowa -- so I didn't need much convincing.

Unfortunately, some TMBC members were not able to go. Sandy was in London, LP broke her arm...and Sharalan had her 50th class reunion.

So, it would just be me and my cousin Linda. Otherwise known as LK...

We got up early for our second big Road Trip Adventure of the fall. (the week before the two of us took the bus trip to the Wisconsin Quilt Expo).

It was a BEAUTIFUL DAY to be driving.

Like so many other small towns in the Midwest, Washington, Iowa is laid out around a "town square"...

There's no courthouse in the middle of the Town Square -- just a lovely, well-kept City Park.

The store fronts line up on all four sides.

You can walk around the square -- or straight across to the other store fronts.

They have a new, modern bandshell. (complete with teenagers hanging out)

We were shocked to find THE WASHINGTON CITY LIBRARY is a new building -- built right on the square!!

We loved the funky art on the OUTSIDE of the building!  (those are bicycle wheels)

INSIDE the building -- everything is state-of-the-art

This hanging tin ceiling is from the previous library building.

Many cozy reading areas.

Across from our conference room -- there was a GRAND PIANO...which anybody could come in and play, anytime (more about that later)

I REALLY LOVE THIS PLACE...

You can borrow art...

And, OF COURSE -- books, books, books...

There were skylights on the second floor

A children's area

And THIS would be our conference room.

But, first -- a little history about this particular library...

Carol Bodensteiner, Author

I wrote this blog in 2015 -- when the TMBC went to Maquoketa, Iowa to have a book discussion with the author of the book Go Away Home...

I'm reposting it -- as a ramp up to Carol's NEW book...

***************
We arrived at the Decker Hotel right on time. There is a table set up for us in the back corner...

So -- WHY ARE WE EATING LUNCH AT THIS PARTICULAR 150 year old hotel?

Because, hey -- WE ARE A BOOK CLUB. And recently, we all read, "Go Away Home", written by a friend of mine, Carol Bodensteiner. The book takes place in Maquoketa, Iowa, around the time of World War I.

This is the picture of the FIRST book cover (more about that later). Go Away Home has won several awards -- a Silver Medal for Historical Fiction...and WE ALL LOVED IT...

I met Carol at the Iowa Writing Festival.  Many years ago.  Her first book was a memoir, "Growing Up Country"...

We were all so excited about meeting Carol and learning more about the book.  EATING LUNCH in the actual Decker Hotel, where Liddie ate in 1922 -- seemed like the perfect idea.

These are my people.  Me, Carol and Pat in the back.  Linda K, Linda P. and Sandy in the front...

OF COURSE we asked Carol to sign more books.

John read the book, and he LOVED it -- so I asked Carol to autograph another copy for him. (I gave my original book to Rhonda Pierce -- who also loved it!)

Do you sense the theme here?  All of us loved Go Away Home.  The main character, Liddie, is an accomplished seamstress.  That was a valuable skill in 1918.

That time in history was so fascinating -- and if you are a fan of Downton Abbey, you would love Go Away Home

Carol is so articulate and bright -- it was fascinating to hear about how she did the research to write the book.  There were so many things that came together at that point in time.  It was the early days of commercial photography, sewing was a way a woman could be independent and make a living, World War I, the influenza epidemic.  Carol talked about what her inspiration was -- those kernels of truth that exist in every work of fiction.

OH YEAH.  It was a really great day!!

And this just might be my favorite picture of me and Linda...

..Good Bye Wisconsin Quilt Expo

The Wisconsin Quilt Expo is, of course, ALL ABOUT THE QUILTS. But one of the unique aspects of this show is their QUiLT CONTESTS. Nobody does it better...and if you have EVER considered entering one of your quilts in a competition -- the Wisconsin Quilt Expo is a good place to start.

I recently wrote about competitive quilting for Inspired To Sew magazine ...and YOU COULD BE A WINNER!!

From the Wisconsin Quilt Expo website:

ENTRY CATEGORIES

1. Hand Quilted Bed Size–Pieced
2. Hand Quilted Bed Size–Appliquéd, Mixed or Other Type
3. Machine Quilted Bed Size–Pieced
4. Machine Quilted Bed Size–Appliquéd, Mixed or Other
5. Wall Quilts, Hand Quilted–Any Type
6. Wall Quilts, Machine Quilted–Pieced
7. Wall Quilts, Machine Quilted–Appliquéd
8. Wall Quilts, Machine Quilted–Pictorial
9. Wall Quilts, Machine Embroidered and Thread Painted
10. Wall Quilts, Machine Quilted –Mixed or Other Type

For more information -- go to the Wisconsin Quilt Expo website (eventually, you will have to contact Deanna Springer)...

AND SHARE YOUR ART with the world!!

Linda and I had a wonderful time in Madison...

And we were sad when it was time to go home.

But, hey -- there's another chapter in this  STORY...