Parisian Phoenix Publishing

Since I’m unemployed, I decided to join my local public library’s book club. The adult services librarian sent me the book list, and I ordered The Last Train to Key West by Chanel Cleeton from The Parisian Phoenix Storefront at Bookshop.org. The next meeting is at 2 p.m. on October 17.

This means I have to finish that last chapter of Caroline Smith’s latest book from The University of Mississippi Press, Season to Taste: Rewriting Kitchen Space in Contemporary Women’s Food Memoirs. I hope to complete it within the next 24-hours and post a review on Goodreads, Amazon & ParisianPhoenix.com. Caroline and I attended Moravian University together, and I purchased her book during the last sale presented by University of Mississippi Press. If I’m honest, I’m so happy the sale occurred because I love food writing and food memoirs, and to connect them to academic study and feminism sets my nerdy brain on fire.

My academic interests involve stereotypes and miscegenation in post-colonial francophone Africa, which might not sound like it connects but if you’re nerdy enough you might see it. If I finally get around to revamping my 2013 honors thesis from Lafayette College, I’ll be using these stereotypes to reflect on racial and religious violence in both France and the United States because both nations have a complex imperialistic history that has caused these tensions between groups. Misogyny and xenophobia share some of the same roots (and perpetrators).

But to try and bring the conversation back to food, food writing and Caroline’s book, let me add that during the period of Caroline’s research, I participated in the food blog trend that is part of what she analyzes. For seven years, from 2008 to 2015, I recorded on a Blogger website, almost every meal I cooked and every grocery shopping trip.

And in closing… I’m going to turn to television. I tend to be neurotic about my television viewing habits. If I watch two or three episodes of a program on a streaming service, I feel compelled to watch all of them. I recently finished all six seasons of Rescue 9-1-1 upon my daughter’s recommendation. I wish I would have started with 9-1-1: Lone Star as I think the attempt at creating a diverse fire department in conservative Texas is a much better premise.

So now the algorithm thinks I like first responder drama. And I found myself testing two shows I’ve never seen before: SWAT and The Class of ‘09. Now, Netflix recommended SWAT as a 97% match so I figured “why not?” Then, a name flashed across the screen: SHEMAR MOORE.

Now, many years ago, Gayle and I had a game we liked to play. We liked to cast the movie adaptations of my Fashion and Fiends paranormal novels. Meryl Streep needed to play Basilie d’Amille. Danny Auteuil would have to dye his hair and play Étienne. If we decided on Adelaide Pitney, I don’t remember. But Gayle recommended Shemar Moore for Philomé Abdullahi. Until this week, I’d never seen him act in anything. Now, like with Daniel Craig, I’m watching programming just in case a guy takes off his shirt. (Maybe Daniel Craig could play Étienne…)

Hulu recommended FX’s FBI drama Class of ‘09, which really does have the apostrophe facing the wrong way in the credits and in publicity materials. I’m mentioning it, because 1. I’m watching a television show from this year, which it is extremely unlikely I do anything relevant to pop culture, and 2. It flows better past, present and future within each episode and I find that both compelling and creepy.

I like watching non-sit-coms because one can examine their storytelling structures and extrapolate ideas for the written word. Episodic television employs many of the same devices, but tighter.