Spring 2016 - Letter from the Editor

Hi Café Readers,

Hope all is well and everyone is getting excited about spring... as they say, it is in the air!  Thank goodness, I am more than ready.

So just a few things, I have added a new ads section - local businesses offering various services (and I do mean various) check it out.  If you want to have your business listed, send the information to me at holidaycafe.nicole@gmail.com.

Also, we are always on the lookout for new talent... either written or visually inspired (pictures/paintings) feel free to submit those or any ideas/comments on the site to holidaycafe.nicole@gmail.com as well.

Hope you all enjoy the issue.... see you in the Summer!!

Nicole

Spring 2016 - Book Review

See Me

Note – If you have not read this story, this review contains some spoilers. All opinions are my own and may differ from your views of the story.

Howdy folks! Time for the Spring 2016 Holiday Café book review. Hopefully this finds everyone off to a lovely start in 2016. Spring is that time for new beginnings and ironically our book this month discusses just that. We’re reviewing “See Me” by Nicholas Sparks. This is an author I have read in the past, but really hadn’t read much from lately (I tend to go in waves of reading some authors). I picked up the audio version at the library for listening to on my commute and was enjoying it so much – I bought the book for my Kindle. Here’s a little more on See Me.

See Me has a couple of plot lines woven into one story. It follows the stories of Colin – a man with a sketchy background who is trying to get a fresh start in life. After some big scrapes with the law, he’s essentially on his last chance. But it has inspired him to really turn his life around. He has a new goal of becoming a teacher and with a laser focus, is quietly working toward his goal and starting this new life.

Maria – a lawyer that is vaguely unhappy with her life. She feels like she shouldn’t be unhappy, but has her own troubles. She’s not sure she wants to be a lawyer where she’s at any longer, but with limited options she feels stuck. Additionally, a past case has come back to haunt her, causing her additional stress and uncertainty in her life.

Colin and Maria come together after a series of coincidences (and a little help from a pushy well-meaning sister). As they try to decide whether the new lives they’re striving for include each other, both of their pasts are causing issues in the present. They work together to try and figure out what they want, work through their past issues and figure out what the future might hold.

As I said in the beginning, it’s been awhile since I’ve read a Nicholas Sparks novel. But I was pleasantly surprised with this one as it had a mystery layer underneath. I found myself wanting to know what was going to happen next and as a result, this was a quick read. Was some of it farfetched? Yes. But this was a pleasant read and would make for some good beach reading in the summer months that lie ahead.

Gwen O’Brien works full time in higher ed, works full time as a wife, works full time as a mom, works full time as a dog mom and occasionally finds time to write or edit. She resides in McDonald and enjoys reading, yoga and donuts (not necessarily together) when she’s not working.

Spring 2016 - Musings For Moms

Musings For Moms:  Women

So I am going to get up on my soapbox for a few minutes, because there are some things recently in the news that I have to discuss, that have been bothering me.

Let me start off with the Erin Andrews lawsuit.  I applaud Erin, I have never met her, but I think she is a class act.  She is not one of these women who purposely put nude pictures/videos of herself out on the internet.  No, she was stalked and filmed without her knowledge and/or permission. 

She didn't back down against the man that put the photos/video up on the net nor did she back down against the hotel.  She fought and she won.

The hotel lawyers are part of what is wrong with society today.  I was watching part of the trial, and one of the lawyers for the hotel chain basically said well look at all these jobs you have gotten since your nude image has appeared on the internet. 

Do I even need to say how many things are wrong with that statement?!  First of all, she didn't willingly pose, nor did she have any idea this was going to appear.  Second, to insinuate that she couldn't have gotten these jobs any other way or that this was the only reason she was now 'popular' and it wasn't because she was smart, talented, etc. really ticks me off. 

I mean how would this lawyer like it if his man-parts were all over the net and someone said well that's the only reason you are now getting clients... although he is a man and he would probably be excited by that prospect.

My next issue is the court case with Ke$ha... I think the judge is wrong here.
She came out and went after someone who was verbally, physically and sexually abusing her.  She shouldn't be forced to still work within the same company as the producer even if she no longer has to work with the producer that was causing this abuse.

Don't people realize how hard it is for people to come out and speak against their abusers and then for someone to force her to continue to work within that environment, just makes me shake my head and think that this is part of what is wrong with our society. 

Again, how would this judge like it if say someone he worked with was doing all of these things to him, and he couldn't be removed from the situation due to a contract?  I don't think people look at the big picture sometime or put themselves into other's shoes. 

Funny, March 8 is deemed International Women's Day, as far as I am concerned, there needs to be more than one day, and there needs to be an overhaul of the way women are perceived and looked upon, but I guess when women freely post nude photos of themselves and think it is cute, then when someone is actually violated and nudes of them are posted the lines are blurred because why wouldn't she want them up, if others do it.

Ladies, in the great words of Tim Gunn, Be sexy without being vulgar. 

So let's not give men any more reasons to blame us for their mistakes.  I am now getting off my soapbox and take a deep breath now that I got all of that out.  Thanks for listening!

*** Side note, I wrote this prior to Erin winning her case.  I think she should have gotten more, heck how much did Hulk Hogan get for his leaked sex tape? 

Spring 2016 - Coffee

Coffee

Tic Toc Tic Toc
The alarm goes off
The struggle is real!
My nose starts to perk.
Is that the nectar of the Gods I smell?
Hustling and bustling 

Black and strong
Sweet and frothy
One shot or two
Iced or hot

Blend it, froth it, blend it, froth it! 

Is that for here or to go?

Natalie Belin holds an Associate's degree in Specialized Technology Le Cordon Bleu Pastry Arts.  Natalie is a part-time percussionist and loves the arts and adventure!

Spring 2016 - Jagoff Interview

When I first created a Twitter account, I was looking for local writers and such to follow.  One such person was John, I mean, you cannot pass up a Twitter page that is called YaJagoff right?!

His blog is pretty funny as is his book, which I have since read in its entirety.  I may have also sent him a picture to put up on his blog, but that is another story for another day.  I suggest you go check out his blog site, after you finished perusing the spring issue of the Holiday Café of course.

 1.  How did the YaJagoff site come into existence?

 

Well, I'm an impatient driver. Or even more so, I hate ignorant drivers and ignorant people. One day I was driving one local road and there was a Port Authority Bus picking up passengers. Although there was room, the bus did not pull into the curb to pick up its customers. So the customers had to walk out into the street to get on. In the meantime, the traffic behind the bus was building up at each bus stop because the bus would not pull over. I said to myself, I wish there was a place where I could post a picture of this bus that won't pull into the curb it keeps holding up traffic. That was kind of the start of it. But that was not my first blog post

 

Also, in the beginning, I made sure that The blog did not include any kind of bullying or ex spouse shaming, or blatant swearing. I wanted to make sure that it was tasteful and silly versus mean-spirited despite calling out people who being jerks or Jagoffs. 

2. Can you explain your definition of jagoff, for those not familiar with the term.

Sure, if you Google it, you get the standard definition that means jerk or somebody mean. Living in Pittsburgh all my life, I define it this way: 

 

The word Jagoff can be used in a few different ways:

1. Expressing appreciation to someone, with a smile on your face and a hug, you say, “Ya Jagoff!”
2. Expressing being startled, half chuckling you say, “You scared the HECK outta me, Ya Jagoff!”
3. And then there’s the version, that’s posted on our blog every day… venting about someone that has been a jerk, with a scowl on your face, “Learn to use a turn signal, Ya Jagoff!”

 

 

3. What is the funniest story you have come across since you began the blog site?

Boy, that is a tough one. I know it sounds cliché, but that is like picking who is your favorite child. I think the ones that amaze me the most, are the ones where people completely lack common sense. I have photos submitted to me all of the time where people are so bad it parking or angled their car 90° from the self-serve gas pump or burglars who rob a bank with no disguise whatsoever knowing full well that a camera is going to take their picture. I mean, in Pittsburgh it's not really that hard to disguise yourself. Simply put on a Steelers jersey and you mix in with 90% of the population on any given day. 

4. You have a book out, Above the Fries, which can be found on your website and on Amazon.com.  Any future books in the works? (I saw all those 5-star ratings, I will be perusing this book soon)

The book was interesting. There is a national humor website called HumorOutcasts.com. Donna Cavanaugh, the woman who runs that website, aggregates one of my blog post each week for that site. In the summer of 2014, she suggested I write a book and include some of my favorite blog posts. I had no idea how to publish a book. He held my hand every step of the way all my kicking and screaming and whining she put up with. In the book was released just in time for Christmas of 2014. It went to number 14 on the humorous a list on Amazon.com within a week. So that was kind of cool.

She always asks me if I have another book in my brain somewhere, and I'm not quite sure.

5. Speaking of the future, what does 2016 hold for YaJagoff and the podcasts?  

The podcast is new. We plan on posting a 30 minute podcast each week talking about current Pittsburgh topics events, food, local notable people and maybe even some fashion. Although, clearly from my "dad wardrobe" I know zero about fashion trends. Thankfully we will have guests on to talk about this stuff and who actually are trendy and fashionable. 

I will also continue the Yakkin' With YaJagoff video interviews that post every Wednesday. Those are fun to do and they break up the monotony of the Jagoff blog posts. We are always looking for interesting  Pittsburgh people to interview. We've done national personalities like Billy Gardell, Steve Byrne and Garth Brooks as well as local notables like Gus the snow cone guy from the North Side, Mayor Peduto and "TC" everyone's favorite beer vendor that dances and sings. 

 

Nicole Leckenby is the sole driving force behind the Holiday Café blog spot.  She also works full-time and runs after two very energetic boys at home. 

Spring 2016 - Artwork

Earths Beat
Photograph taken by Staci Case

..... nature is something that is ever changing, and her detail is often over looked, with my photography, I feel I capture what others miss.

Staci has been teaching herself photography since she was a teenager. Over the years the fundamentals of the art have become instrumental in developing a passion to capture the essence of the world in pictures.  More of her work can be found at www.facebook.com/writingoflight

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