Upright & Stowed

Better than Berlitz

When you are a travel God Guru like I am, you feel a lot of pressure to give the perfect "Bon Voyage" gift to friends who are heading off to a foreign land.

My absolutely favorite gift is a nifty little book called Point It.   The book is the simplest kind of brilliance.  It's a teensy paperback containing thousands of pictures of everyday things and concepts.  If you find yourself abroad and stuck in a moment of language incomprehension, just whip out your little book, find the picture, and point. 

Honestly, it's perfect.  Look at the 2-page spread below.  It contains at least 50 different things you might want, solely in the breakfast category.  Seriously, almost any critical item or concept can be pointed to in Point It.  Pick up a copy or order online from my favorite all-purpose travel store, Flight 001.

Happy pointing.  It's better than Berlitz.

Glenn Close Knows a Good Travel Book

My friend Rob was recently on a JetBlue flight originating in Portland, Maine, and he spotted Glenn Close in a nearby row.  Apparently her new hubby lives in Maine.

I'm not going to comment on the fact that Rob reports she was sitting in a middle seat.  But I will comment on the news that she was reading The Secret Life of Lobsters.  I'm a big advocate of reading books that evoke the place you are visiting, so here's to Glenn for being a true literary traveler.

Rob's friend Nina first broke the story, over at Queercents, and then it was picked up by the author of the book itself, Trevor Corson, and posted on his blog.  You gotta love the blogosphere. (Credit to Trevor for the photo above.)

I was going to make a joke that JetBlue would probably consider serving lobster on their Portland flights if there were such a thing as a blue lobster.  And guess what ... there is.   

Summer Reading

The official start of summer is next week.  The unofficial start of summer was a few weeks ago.  In New York City, it feels like summer actually began this week.  Confusing, eh?

Summertime means travel time, and travel time means (hopefully) time for a good book.  I am currently reading a collection of short stories by Deborah Eisenberg called Twilight of the Superheroes.  I just finished Veronica by Mary Gaitskill, and The Year of Magical Thinking, by Joan Didion – both excellent.  If I had all the time in the world – which my father actually thinks I have – these are 10 of the books I'd read this summer:

1.    To The Lighthouse (read in college, need to re-read)
2.    Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (never read, a curiosity)
3.    Crime and Punishment (read in college, need to re-read)
4.    Life of Pi (heard it's great, a tad suspicious about that)
5.    John Adams, by David McCullough (because I need to remember when our country was led by brilliant minds)
6.    The Da Vinci Code (because I'm one of 10 people on earth who hasn't read it)
7.    Harry Potter series (because I'm the only person on earth who hasn't read it)
8.    I'll Let You Go (because of who recommended it)
9.    Seeing (follow up-to Saramago's Blindness, which I loved)
10.    The Power Broker (biography on Robert Moses, who shaped and destroyed so much of the city I love)

This begs the obvious question:  What are YOU reading this summer?