Globe Corner Blogs

Ulla the Golden Retriever

There comes a time in life when bluffing your way through adulthood actually turns into “Being a Grownup (capital G).” This is an important realization. Nobody ever knows what they’re doing really, but somehow they get there anyway. Which is, as it happens, one of the best perks of being a Grownup: having the freedom to take off and search for parts of yourself in faraway places. MiddleGround blogger, traveller, and Grownup Dylan Fitzgerald had a little help reaching her destination, and we are very proud that a member of the GCB staff gave her the inspiration to get where she needed to go. Obviously, we’re talking about Ulla the Golden Retriever, the Globe Corner Bookstore’s resident travel agent/guidance counselor extraordinaire.

It all started when Dylan read Ernest Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises in high school and made a promise to herself: One day she would stroll beside San Sebastian’s harbor and take in the sights from one of the nearby cafés, just like the novel’s main character Jake. After college and several dead-end jobs, Dylan wasn’t sure what to do with herself. Thankfully, fate brought her to Ulla during an afternoon walk around Harvard Square. Being the great Hemingway admirer that she is, Ulla encouraged Dylan to fulfill her old promise. After a few belly rubs and some serious conversation with her “new life line,” Dylan booked a trip, hoping to discover France, Spain, and maybe a part of herself too. “Paris. Bordeaux. Provence. Nice. Madrid. Barcelona. San Sebastian . . . I headed to Ulla’s bookstore shortly thereafter and started buying maps.” Continue Reading »

Daffodils - photo by Llalan

After a stint in New York City, I have moved back to Ohio – a part of Ohio that New Yorkers would call rural. Last night I heard muffled bumping and scuffling on the porch. I opened the door to find three raccoons looking up at me over nearly empty bowls of cat food, left out for the strays. Before I stomped my feet and yelled nonsense at them, I paused. They really are beautiful creatures with their full tails, sharp black masks, and delicate paws.

Every Ohioan I meet says, “New York, eh? Must be quite some culture shock for you here,” poking gentle fun at our small town. They are right to an extent. A few weeks ago I was walking down the street in my bright red wool coat. Several women crossed my path and stared. Perhaps it was the herringbone scarf. My hair stylist asked where I was from, because of my accent.

Continue Reading »

I-Concepts Prints

Yes, it’s that time again folks: Opening Day for the Red Sox!!! Cue wild cheering, followed by mild to moderate hyperventilation, and finally, breathing into a paper bag. Get ready for Ulla the Dog’s prancing around in her seasonal sports collar. Then, Lisa‘s bewilderment at my completely appropriate behavior. (She is a Mariner’s fan and, thus, is not really used to watching a winning and/or actual major league team. Minus the Griffey years.)

I-Concepts Prints

On Friday April 1st begins that long annual descent into the madness that Bostonians call Red Sox Fandom. Let me explain Red Sox Fandom: The Sox will inevitably disappoint at least once this season, causing you to throw things at your television, radio, and/or computer. (I suggest prepositioning something small and soft near you before a game begins to prevent the smashing of important and expensive things. Personally, I use a rolled up ball of dress socks for lightness.) Although Opening Day in Texas is Friday, we do have to wait for April 8th before the Home Opener at Fenway when the Sox will play the satanic Yankees. (Just kidding, I’m sure all the Yankees are wonderful to their mothers and small dogs. Children, not so much . . . .) You can get started on the season by picking up one of our new photo prints of classic Red Sox moments from I-Concepts. Whether it’s Ted Williams posing with Bobby Doerr or Mickey Mantle, the 2nd Fisk-Munson fight, or Luis Tiant at the plate in the ’78 World Series.* All purchases of  Red Sox books and prints in the store will be 10% off from April 1st through the 8th.

*Note to hipsters: El Tiante sports what is known as a MUSTACHE, please try to emulate!

The huge metropolis known as Delhi is overwhelming, chaotic, and bombarding – even for the most experienced traveller. But the Love Delhi guidebook by Fiona Caulfield seeks out the lovely, the hip, and the local places. It’s easy to get frustrated deciphering what’s worth seeing on a visit, but, delving into Delhi armed with the Love Guides, I seemed always to find myself in some beautiful and unknown territory.

Caulfield’s focus on the local and organic businesses of Delhi not only promotes sustainability, but also makes discovering the ever-coveted small, quaint spots easy to find. Destination attractions are listed and reviewed, but Caulfield recommends temples, restaurants, clubs, and bars that aren’t in other guidebooks. Following Caulfield’s directions, I skipped the temples I knew would be tourist ridden and headed to a temple a few minutes south of the city. At this point in the trip, after Kathmandu Valley in Nepal and Jaipur and surrounding Rajasthan, I had already visited countless temples, but these vivid colors are forever imprinted in my mind. This temple had checkered floors, towering pillars, colors that rivaled the street vendors in old Delhi, and a towering, fifty-plus foot statue of Hanuman, the monkey god. Encountering no other foreigners here, I wandered, marveled, and filled up my camera’s memory card. Continue Reading »

La Bayadère is my new favorite ballet. I saw it this past weekend at the Boston Opera House and absolutely LOVED it!  La Bayadère was first performed in 1877 by the Imperial Ballet at the Imperial Bolshoi Kamenny Theater in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Choreographed by Marius Petipa and composed by Ludwig Minkus, La Bayadère is a romantic ballet set in ancient India.

The first act begins with temple dancers, Bayadères, celebrating the Indian Ritual of Fire. During this ceremony, the High Brahmin declares his love for the most beautiful Bayadère, Nikiya. But Nikiya rejects him and instead meets secretly with Solor. They dance and swear eternal love over the Sacred Fire. The High Brahmin sees them together and in an act of jealousy, he vows to take revenge on Solor. Continue Reading »

Brooklyn Sunset--photo by Llalan

My new apartment in Brooklyn is not in the nicest part of town. There are no coffee shops or beer bars or trees. It is predominantly Caribbean, and I am occasionally called “Snowflake.” The soul record shop is next to a Christian bookstore that has a TV in the window, so all day long Al Green battles a bellowing reverend on the outdoor speakers.

Under the Brooklyn Bridge--photo by Llalan

It is not Somerville, Massachusetts, for sure, and sometimes I do feel as though I’m traveling in a foreign country. I’m afraid of the food: a whole restaurant devoted to brisket? I don’t speak the language: what is a “weave” exactly? I get lost a lot: damn you bus drivers and your mumbled announcements! I stick out like a sore thumb: my camel hair coat and red scarf do nothing to camouflage my skin. And sometimes I really want to go home. Continue Reading »

On Sept 10th, the White House announced that Army Staff Sergeant Salvatore Giunta (one of the soldiers profiled in Sebastian Junger‘s most recent book War) will become the first American soldier since the Vietnam War to receive the Medal of Honor non-posthumously, the nation’s highest award for valor in combat. Giunta was honored for his courage in pulling two wounded soldiers to safety while under enemy fire, and then single-handedly rescuing a third critically wounded squad-mate who was being dragged away from the battle by Taliban fighters. He is just one of the many soldiers of Battle Company whom the reader meets in Junger’s gripping and immersive account of his year embedded with a paratroop company in the mountains of eastern Afghanistan.  The section of War that describes the firefight for which then-specialist Giunta received the Medal of Honor occurs mid-way through the book and showcases Junger’s in-depth prose style. Continue Reading »

It’s official. On December 23rd, at roughly 3:30am Indian Standard Time,  I will be landing in Delhi.

Starting on the 21st of December, just one day after exams, I’ll make my way to New York City to board a flight destined for Delhi, India (by way of Doha, Qatar). After spending two days there, I’ll take the bumpy hour-long flight to Kathmandu, Nepal. There, two days of temples, ancient Gods and Goddesses, and hopefully a Sherpa or two await (these are, of course, just my wildest fantasies of Nepal, which I’m sure are also wildly inaccurate, but I have some time to find out what to expect). From there, I’ll head back to Delhi for two packed days, dedicating an entire one to Agra and the Taj Mahal. Then I’ll be off to Shanghai, spending eight days wandering the glorious city, just winding down from the Shanghai Expo, before catching a flight back to my reality, Boston, Massachusetts. Continue Reading »

Family vacations are ripe with opportunity for hilarity.  Just ask the Griswolds. And frankly, more so than each delicious meal you ate, the mishaps and adventures are what people want to hear about when you return home. And we want to hear about them, too!

Send us your funniest family story to be entered in our contest. The top three stories win a $25 gift certificate! E-mail the tales to events@gcb.com. Submissions will be accepted from now until June 10th. Winners will gleefully be notified by e-mail after the deadline.

Your hilarious pictures are also welcome, but please be sure to credit them to the photographer and give us permission to post them on our blog. Also, to be considered, please paste this disclaimer into the e-mail: “The Globe Corner Bookstore has authorization and permission to publish my story and the attached photographs.”

We look forward to reading your stories and laughing with you at your family follies.