Word of the day: Aperitivo
There are two connections I have to this Los Angeles Times story that make me love it. Neither connection alone is close enough for me to whisper in the story's ear, but both combined are enough for a quick dance, with beat light but present and windows open. Says the lede:
As stone fruits come into the peak of their season, I'm obsessing over Bellinis. For the uninitiated, that would be the Venetian aperitivo of Prosecco with white peach juice. The original was invented by Giuseppe Cipriani at Harry's Bar in Venice (not the one south of Santa Monica but the original watery city) sometime before the second world war, but it wasn't named "the Bellini" until 1948.
Harry's was — and still is — famous as a watering hole for the rich and celebrated. Hemingway, of course, popped in and drank awhile. Barbara Hutton, Peggy Guggenheim, Orson Welles and Truman Capote too. But I'm getting ahead of, or behind, myself.
Connections.
First, it's summer, and there are peaches involved. I've never stood in a field of peach trees, but if I did, you might not be able to get me out.
The first thing I do after arrival at the beach every year is taste frozen yogurt made from fresh peaches. Any time of year, if I see a peach on a menu, I'm perked and listening. In media consumption, no prompting is necessary to remember the Cosby Show where they sing an old song about peaches. There's peach pie ice cream in my freezer this moment.
Now… hold a second. Sorry, I said two connections. Make it three.
Second, one I just realized, I'm tipping a sweet white while writing this post. If I end up publishing this one morning before breakfast, please know this post was written in an early evening. The sunset says hello.
Third, I want to go to Harry's Bar someday. You know how? I want to persuade my place of employment to restart the Imitation Hemingway Competition. I've wanted this for years. The competition's been dead since 2005. A corporate sponsorship fell through. But — while it lasted — first prize was a trip to Venice, with a dinner for two at Harry's Bar.
I tried at USAT. I pitched editors at various times without response. It's no bother. People receive lots of e-mails. But you'd think mixing books and travel would have shot somebody's elephant gun. No luck. With a new place of employment, I'm still meeting people and don't know too many people very well. But maybe they too love cadence and contests.
Aperitivo, a pre-dinner drink, the cool kick that belongs to the day but proceeds something larger. In my Facebook information, I mention in books how I enjoy Hemingway's short sentences and Faulkner's long ones. I've never gotten to know the Bellini, but I think we would fit.
