Tag Archives: postaweek2011

Celebrating Gabriel García Márquez And Ice

Posted on March 6, 2012 by carto

Gabriel García Márquez was born on this day (March 6) in 1927 in Aracataca, Colombia; he is 85 years old. In Spanish, only Cervantes is more widely read than García Márquez. García Márquez is a storyteller and one of his … Continue reading →

Posted in Classics, eBook, Fiction, Spanish, Translation | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Happy New Year—Has The Harry Potter Series Really Ended?

Posted on December 31, 2011 by carto

The year 2011 is coming to a close. The Palo Alto Borders store, where I purchased all my Harry Potter books, is closed and out-of-business, but Harry Potter marches on. Part 2 of the Deathly Hallows movie is selling now to … Continue reading →

Posted in Fantasy/Adventure, Fiction, Harry Potter, Spanish, Translation | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Merry Christmas—In Song

Posted on December 25, 2011 by carto

Christmas Day is when an eclectic mix of holiday music fills Carto’s Library. This year’s playlist is anchored by Oscar Peterson, and includes songs by Sting , The Swingle Singers, Loreena McKennitt and Liz Anderson. Liz Anderson, a Nashville favorite, … Continue reading →

Posted in Classics, Music, Poetry | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Iraq: A Haiku War?

Posted on December 15, 2011 by carto

The Iraq war is winding down; I hope that there is light at the end of that tunnel. Wars seem to never end. Thoughts of the Iraq war are affecting 73-year-old Richard Elster who is the main character in the … Continue reading →

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A Bluejacket Remembers the Battleship Arizona

Posted on December 7, 2011 by carto

The USS Rochester steamed into Pearl Harbor with me aboard as a teen-aged electronics technician fresh out of boot camp in San Diego and Navy Electronic School in Treasure Island—It was December 1954, and, as I remember it, the sky … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Memoir | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Clinton in Myanmar—Look Out, Hillary!

Posted on December 2, 2011 by carto

The US Secretary of State descends from her jumbo-jet in Nay Pyi Daw, the new capital of Myanmar. She is in Myanmar for meetings with Myanmar President Thein Sein and pro-democracy opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi. Clinton is the … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Memoir, Non-fiction, Poetry | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Thornton Wilder: Our Town Survives Deconstruction

Posted on November 17, 2011 by carto

The house dims, the curtain opens and the stage lights come up; revealed at the back of the bare stage is an older man in white dinner jacket that shines brightly in the stage lighting. He is the Stage Manager. … Continue reading →

Posted in Classics, Theater | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

Allende’s Tale of El Dorado, A Lost City In The Venezuelan Rain Forest

Posted on November 13, 2011 by carto

Deep in the Venezuelan rain forest: imagine yourself standing at the base of Angel Falls. You are wrapped in fog and can only imagine the top where the water cascades over the lip of the high mesa thousands of feet … Continue reading →

Posted in Fantasy/Adventure, Fiction, Nature, Spanish, Speculative Fiction, Translation | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Orpheus and Eurydice in the Rain Forest of Brazil

Posted on November 3, 2011 by carto

Imagine! The opera Orpheus and Eurydice by Gluck is playing at the restored Teatro Amazonas opera house deep in the heart of the Brazilian rainforest. Three foreigners enter the theater lobby: Marina (an American doctor looking stylish in a long … Continue reading →

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The Robber Bride: Woman against Women

Posted on October 25, 2011 by carto

It is October 23, 1990 and the setting is an avant-garde restaurant in Toronto. A tall well-dressed woman walks into the Toxique at lunchtime. Her name is Zenia. She is tall, well-formed and about 50 years old, but she looks … Continue reading →

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