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Sports
High School Football
Hoosac Valley beats Drury in Saturday action. More photos on Monday |
 | Thursday, Nov. 06
Boys' Soccer: State Vocational Championship Game
McCann Tech 3, Keefe Tech 2
Girls' Soccer: State Vocational Championship Game
Blackstone Valley 8, McCann Tech 0 |
What's Playing
Milla Jovovich vs. alien abduction in "The Fourth Kind." What more do you need to know?
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Daily Digest
This is Jake
He's been lost in Pittsfield for weeks but frequently sited. He was last seen heading toward the fire station on Peck's Road. He's tired, dirty and needs seizure medication. He's chipped. If you see him, call Julie at 413-537-5616, the vet 24/7 at 413-499-2820 or animal control at 413-448-9700. |
Election
Trying to remember who won what and why? All the information is right here. |
ObituariesSales FliersBazaarsNov. 14
Berkshire Community Church, Richmond
10-4; Crafters, bake sale. Contact Evelyn Goggia at 413-445-5747
Lanesborough Elementary School annual Fall Craft Fair from 10 to 4. Free admission, huge variety of arts and crafts, raffles, food and more. Proceeds go to sixth-grade trip to Cape Cod.
Vendors can contact Deb at 413-738-5349 or debhutton@aol.com or Lori at 413-499-0065 or lorittod@yahoo.com to secure a spot.
Dec. 12-13
North Adams Country Club, crafts 9-4; food from That's a Wrap from 11-2. Contact Sheryl Morehouse at 413-822-3329.
Planning a bazaar this season? Submit information to info@iberkshires.com to have it listed here. |
Related Stories |
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Places I Like to Write: East Side CafeBy Sharon Mack
iBerkshires Columnist
02:05PM / Sunday, April 05, 2009
PITTSFIELD, Mass.
I like to write at home in my living room with my laptop on my knees. My pug dog asleep on my left, my Maltese snuggled on my right.
There's a quiet that comes from their little warm bodies that allows my often frantic brainwaves to quiet and go into another zone. My creative zone. The place where no one else can go. Where I alone set the scene, create the characters and write life into them.
But sometimes, that's not good enough. I need more; I need motion. I need noise to get the old brain cells working. To rejuvenate them. That's when I move to a busier setting.
One of those settings is the East Side Cafe, especially early on a Wednesday night before the crowd begins to show up. I walk over at 4:30 or so since it's located next door to me, and take my usual seat in the first booth.
Wednesday is the best night because it's on Wednesdays that they serve the best of my favorite comfort foods: a plateful of manicotti, raviolis, gnocchi or linguini with extra sauce and extra meatballs, served with green salad and crusty Italian bread. A glass of Merlot doesn't hurt either.
I love that I can go there and they already know what I will order for my beverage. It's comfortable. It's easy.
"Merlot?" Ann asks. And she's off to fill my glass before taking my pasta order for the evening.
Courtesy Capitano family
The booths fill up quick on Wednesday nights at East Side Cafe in Pittsfield. |
After the salad, a few bits of bread and sips of wine, I get myself ready to write.
I pull out my pad and pencil — it is time for the old-fashioned way — and as I slowly chew and drink my way through my dinner, I again find I can bring on those scenes and characters.
Often, I am inspired by the folks around me. The mother and her two kids, the family that comes in with grandparents and all, the men at the bar laughing and enjoying a beer together after a day's work — a habit they've developed a long time ago, the warmth of the owners who cook, wait the tables and tend the bar. It's the atmosphere, I think, that inspires me. A "family and friend's" atmosphere, a local atmosphere.
And then when I am finished, I pick up my evening's work and head back home. I am ready to type it into my computer and I am surprised to learn that there is very little I need to edit.
Hmm, it must have been the atmosphere ... .
East Side Cafe is located on the corner of Lombard and Newell streets and serves homemade pastas on Wednesday night during the winter months and pizza (voted the Best in the Berkshires) on Thursday through Sunday from 4:30 to closing.
Sharon Mack is a member of the Berkshires Writers Room and is working on a mystery novel. |
Backtracking here...don't want to miss out leaving a comment, even if a bit late.
Hope they keep you writing and posting and entertaining the readers for a long time.
Dinah | | from: Dinah | on: 05-27-2009 |
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| I love reading about places which inspire Sharon to write. Of course these are dreamy places for me as I live far, far away from the Berkshires of my youth. | | from: Peggy | on: 05-24-2009 |
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| I completely understand the need for quietness some times and the need for a vibrant experience other times. Sharon, you are an excellent wordsmith. Keep up the fine writing... | | from: Joel | on: 05-11-2009 |
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| mmmmmm...love the pizza at East Side Cafe. It's always one of the highlights when I visit the Berkshires. The atmosphere reeks of good ole days when life was simple....(when was that??) | | from: Jen MD | on: 04-15-2009 |
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this is you cuz, sounds like great food, but the wine is what i would go for, I love Merlot. Give the dogs a hug for me.
Sue | | from: Susan | on: 04-15-2009 |
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Sounds like a delicious place to write a delicious novel. Makes your pencil flow & are you using yellow lined pads of paper? They set the mood & give the pencil ease in writing.
-Peggy | | from: Peggy in MN | on: 04-12-2009 |
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| This is your couz must run in the family dogs...snuggled in my lap right now is the Gabby ( wheaton scotty) and to my right the main character Gilly ( my black scotty we all look alike here. Although barking isn't my game snorting is though. Love ya cuz proud of you! | | from: Zoe | on: 04-09-2009 |
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| sounds like you have it all worked out, good for you | | from: Lynda | on: 04-06-2009 |
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