Poetic Shutterbug

Up to the sky at the corner of Geary and Powell streets in Union Square Me and Jonathan Poretz after his concert at the Rrazz Room this past week in San Francisco Yours truly in front of the Tony Bennett heart sculpture in Union Square Powell Street cable car Union Square at a glance Union Square sculpture with Bank of America headquarters backdrop Travel the world by clicking the above widget.

In addition to Tony Bennett being a legendary singer, he is also an accomplished artist. The heart shown above was painted and donated to San Francisco by Tony and sits in residence in Union Square at the heart of San Francisco. Click here to visit the other participants in Straight Out Of The Camera Sunday

I received The Good Life as a gift from a friend after seeing Tony Bennett live here in San Francisco. I decided to take a little time and thought I’d read a couple of paragraphs then go on with my day. Well, from the introduction on I found that I could not put the book down. I read it from cover to cover in one sitting which I normally do not do unless the book is of real interest. The writing style was conversational and had me thinking to myself I feel as though we’re sitting right here together having a conversation. The book begins with accounts of his parents and family immigrating to the US from Italy. His stories of his early childhood with his Mother working so hard to make ends meet along with cherished memories of family dinners etc… had me remembering and relating in so many ways to my Italian/Greek upbringing. The pictures he paints with words are vivid as are his real life paintings of which some are showcased within the pages of the book. I never knew he was also...