2009

There’s a new foot on the floor, my friend,
And a new face at the door, my friend,
A new face at the door. (Tennyson)

Happy New Year Everyone!

Matching Dresses of the 70's

Tidbit: All the dresses were handmade by mom!

Lincoln: The Biography of a Writer

From Publishers Weekly

In this intriguing biography, English professor and literary biographer Kaplan (The Singular Mark Twain) analyzes Abraham Lincoln's writings, from the great civic anthems of his presidency to love letters, legal briefs, poems and notebook jottings, and finds a first-rate literary talent—a master storyteller with an earthy wit, sharp logic and an ear for poetic phrasing.

Barack Obama was seen reading this - so I picked it up. Perhaps it's his introduction to bringing us back to a world where intelligence and articulate speech was the norm? I hope so - this was a fascinating read.

Milk - a must-see film

Roger Ebert's review is best for this phenomenal film. Go see it. It may change the way you see things - it did for me.

Barbie House has arrived!

Thank you Santa.

The Mystic's Christmas

“All hail!” the bells of Christmas rang,
“All hail!” the monks at Christmas sang,
The merry monks who kept with cheer
The gladdest day of all their year.

But still apart, unmoved thereat,
A pious elder brother sat
Silent, in his accustomed place,
With God’s sweet peace upon his face.

“Why sitt’st thou thus?” his brethren cried,
“It is the blessed Christmas-tide;
The Christmas lights are all aglow,
The sacred lilies bud and blow.

“Above our heads the joy-bells ring,
Without the happy children sing,
And all God’s creatures hail the morn
On which the holy Christ was born.

“Rejoice with us; no more rebuke
Our gladness with thy quiet look.
”The gray monk answered, “Keep, I pray,
Even as ye list, the Lord’s birthday.

“Let heathen Yule fires flicker red
Where thronged refectory feasts are spread;
With mystery-play and masque and mime
And wait-songs speed the holy time!

“The blindest faith may haply save;
The Lord accepts the things we have;
And reverence, howsoe’er it strays,
May find at last the shining ways.

“They needs must grope who cannot see,
The blade before the ear must be;
As ye are feeling I have felt,
And where ye dwell I too have dwelt.

“But now, beyond the things of sense,
Beyond occasions and events,
I know, through God’s exceeding grace,
Release from form and time and space.

“I listen, from no mortal tongue,
To hear the song the angels sung;
And wait within myself to know
The Christmas lilies bud and blow.

“The outward symbols disappear
From him whose inward sight is clear;
And small must be the choice of days
To him who fills them all with praise!

“Keep while you need it, brothers mine,
With honest seal your Christmas sign,
But judge not him who every morn
Feels in his heart the Lord Christ born!”

by John Greenleaf Whittier

This was the "poem of the day" in my email. Merry Christmas, everyone!

Visions of Sugar Plums Dancing in her Head?

Christmas is exhausting! Hubby is still sleeping, after lots of late night shoveling. I think M and I will head to the mall for some holiday mayhem.

Winter Crafts

Christmas Crafts! "Gingerbread" graham cracker house was made at Laurie's house. The crafts only get better there!

This has been the first year Maille can really do crafts - she's a good gluer, and has a farly long attention span. She also loves to bake. I am really enjoying this stage!

Project Posy

Watch, listen and learn as Frederick Fennell rehearses the U.S. Navy Band in preparation of the first performance of his critical edition of Lincolnshire Posy for the 1987 Midwest Clinic. This amazing two disc DvD is presented by the Association of Concert Bands as an historical and educational tool in the hope that it provides the viewer with a lifelong appreciation of “The Posy” and a lifelong enjoyment of music making!

Go here to order (if you can)

I'm still trying to order this via the website. So exciting! Last year I recieved Brian Scott Wilson's Orchestrational Archetypes in Percy Grainger's Wind Band Music, and I was hoping there would be another Grainger treat for Santa to bring to me this year! Woo hoo!

Go Local!

Yet another plug for local goods and services. I must say, I have never felt more "at home" anywhere since Scituate - I am enjoying my North Shore existence. We tried this year to shop locally, eat local produce, and support our community neighbors for holiday and social events. I look forward to 2009, to see what new local things we can discover!

Ann's delicious cookies

Chocolate Chip Cookies
This is a large recipe, might be good to make half a batch. Also I make the cookies smaller than suggested.
350 degree oven, grease cookie sheets. Yield: 1 1/2 dozen 5-inch cookies, or a lot more smaller cookies.
3 1/2 cups flour
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 sticks (1 1/4 cups) butter
1 1/4 cups light brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/4 pounds bittersweet chocolate chips
Sift flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Set aside.

Using a mixer, cream butter and sugars together until very light, about 5 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add vanilla and mix well. Add dry ingredients and mix until well combined. Add chocolate chips and mix well. For best results press plastic wrap against dough and refrigerate for 24 to 36 hours. Dough may be used in batches, and can be refrigerated for up to 72 hours.

Scoop mounds of dough (the size of generous golf balls) onto baking sheet, and bake until golden brown but still soft, 18 to 20 minutes. Transfer sheet to a wire rack for 10 minutes, then slip cookies onto another rack to cool a bit more.

Music From The Inside Out

It is the musicians themselves who come to the forefront, rather than the conductor or star soloist. Among the many memorable musicians featured are concertmaster David Kim, whose quest for a solo career ends with a life-changing epiphany that led him to the orchestra; trombonist Nitzan Haroz, who jams with a local salsa band each Thursday night; violist and artist Judy Geist, who finds connections between her painting and her music; and cellist Udi Bar-David, an Israeli who initiates a musical collaboration with a prominent Palestinian musician, in which music trumps politics.

While MUSIC FROM THE INSIDE OUT is about the many people within one musical ensemble, it is ultimately a personal musical journey. Each musician’s story reveals a struggle to maintain individuality, to test musical boundaries and to choose the path of an artist. Ultimately, the film attempts to break down the barriers that have long separated orchestra musicians and their audiences, and get to the essence of the music itself.

Terrific Film! We all know how "special" music is, etc - but nice to see all these perspectives. I rented this at our local library, I may show parts of it to the band in the spring.

All About the Butter

Or so says this article from the New York Times.

I'm planning on the traditional holiday baking this weekend. Usually cookies, but I've been unsuccessful with bread lately and I am very determined to get it right!

I think baking is so much more "scientific" than the rest of the cooking I do - and I have not got the hang of exact ingredients like I should. Or temperature/procedure for those ingredients. We'll see how it goes tomorrow!

Festival of Three Kings

Fundraiser for Cuban Quakers in
Vista Alegre, Cuba

Saturday 10 January 2009 at 7:00 pm
Amesbury Friends Meetinghouse,
120 Friend Street, Amesbury

The Amesbury Friends (Quakers) Meeting in Amesbury is
sending 8 members to Cuba for two weeks in March to help
Cuban Friends rebuild their church, which was destroyed in
Hurricane Ike. The trip has been approved by the US
government for humanitarian purposes.

Please join us for an evening of Cuban music, food,
and dancing, and a silent auction,
to raise funds for the trip and the rebuilding.
Donations (tax-deductible) gratefully accepted.
Call Edith at 978-356-6049 for more information.

Farmingville

The shocking hate-based attempted murders of two Mexican day laborers catapult a small Long Island town into national headlines, unmasking a new front line in the border wars: suburbia. For nearly a year, Carlos Sandoval and Catherine Tambini lived and worked in Farmingville, New York, so they could capture first-hand the stories of residents, day laborers and activists on all sides of the debate.

I thought this film portrayed many sides of a complicated issue, and was well done. Immigrants are people too - not just statistics. And yet in communities already overburdened by growing numbers and diminishing resources, who will pay the bill?

Questioning Faith

All his life, award-winning filmmaker Macky Alston has believed in a merciful and benevolent God. The untimely death of a close friend and fellow seminary student challenges Alston s deepest convictions. In an effort to resolve this quandary, QUESTIONING FAITH sets out on a journey of probing self-discovery. Alston sets up a network of interviews with a wildly diverse group of people in New York, to answer the pressing question: How does one believe in God in the face of so much human suffering? At stake here is not only whether or not Alston can maintain his faith, but also how human beings navigate their way through the darkest hours of seemingly senseless loss. A deeply moving and uplifting film, QUESTIONING FAITH reveals an underlying principle common to us all: the power of presence, as life calls us to be there for each other. from Amazon.com

Regardless of your religious convictions, this film is a snapshot of the human condition. It is well made and lets the participants speak for themselves.

The Outliers

Malcolm Gladwell poses a....provocative question in Outliers: why do some people succeed, living remarkably productive and impactful lives, while so many more never reach their potential? Challenging our cherished belief of the "self-made man," he makes the democratic assertion that superstars don't arise out of nowhere, propelled by genius and talent: "they are invariably the beneficiaries of hidden advantages and extraordinary opportunities and cultural legacies that allow them to learn and work hard and make sense of the world in ways others cannot." Examining the lives of outliers from Mozart to Bill Gates, he builds a convincing case for how successful people rise on a tide of advantages, "some deserved, some not, some earned, some just plain lucky." from Amazon.com

I was only mildly impressed with Gladwell's first two books - but this was terrific. Perhaps it spoke just to my experience directly. Gladwell mentions how great musicians in their later years only have hard work in common - opportunities as well that they have taken advantage of, but never just "talent" as their only path to success. What I was most struck by is the sheer amount of work it took for those successes to happen. Bill Gates, brilliant, perhaps - but also he spent hours working at a computer "club" at a time when they did not even exist in most places.

Gladwell made a fascinating point for me - those successful people in his book took advantage of opportunities. How many people do not have those advantages? What if our school systems provided those opportunities to enrich all students? What if we had the time to consider them all "gifted"?

Concert week!

Concert week! Just one more day in a long line of elementary hoopla. Quite frankly, I'm not big on the concert - it's necessary for the kids, but I'm more concerned with our overall learning in the classroom on a weekly basis. It does provide a nice benchmark for what we've achieved - and how much we will do in the spring!

http://www.wampatuckbands.com/ for all the news!

And how I am getting through the tedium:

"The victory of success is half won when one gains the habit of setting goals and achieving them. Even the most tedious chore will become endurable as you parade through each day convinced that every task, no matter how menial or boring, brings you closer to fulfilling your dreams." -- Og Mandino

Grade 6

Grade 5

Whittier Sing at the Meetinghouse

One of our favorite fireside poets was also a Victorian American Idol. You could even call Whittier a singer-songwriter with a Quaker style. Visit Whittier’s own church and his personal home in a rare seasonal special.

MARK YOUR CALENDAR

December 14

Amesbury, MA

More info here.

Coming Soon to a Theater Near You!

I also saw some great previews today - here's the list of films I can't wait to see....

Milk
Frost/Nixon
Slum Dog Millionaire
Doubt
Happy Go Lucky

David is off for 2 weeks at Christmas - I suspect we will be seeing movies in shifts! Happy Holidays!

Synecdoche, New York

I know how to do it now. There are nearly thirteen million people in the world. None of those people is an extra. They're all the leads of their own stories. They have to be given their due.

Okay, the most bizzare film I've seen in a long time. A theater director's commentary on his own life - a "play within a play".

Lately I've been driven to rent films more than go to the theater, and I'm afraid I might have shut off this slow-moving film if it was on TV. A good wy to spend the afternoon. I would recommend this film if you like dark, thoughtful films that need to be slowly digested.

Third Grade

Second Grade

First Grade

Oh my goodness - I grabbed this from facebook. This was by far my favorite year ever of school. Oh, if I only knew what was to come! It was funny to see this - I remember every kid, all about each one of them.

Decidely NOT writing an essay

I used to revel in my ability to write lengthy, esoteric essays on academic subjects at will. I'm sitting here at home, toddler napping, the smell of fresh bread wafting through the house......

not writing my academic sample essay for BU. Why do I not just submit a sample from my Master's degree? Because they are all lost to me. Four computer switches (and a marriage and combination of two households) have created their absence, and I am not ready to give up any of my solace and holiday cheer. Heavy sigh. Grammar and an articulate discussion of an academic issue calls not today. =(

Pumpkin cupcakes

We had delicious cupcakes at a Birthday yesterday, and I know I will lose this recipe if I don't write it down. So here it is.

In one bowl, blend in given order:
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 cup oil
2 cups pure pumpkin (I never get 2 cups, and used just the regular sized can yesterday)
2 cups flour
2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp baking soda1/2 tsp salt
Bake as cupcakes or in 13x9 pan. Grease and flour pan and pour batter. Bake at 350 for 35 minutes (for cake) - less for cupcakes, watch them.

We will make them later today. Maille loves cupcakes (so does mommy!)

Well-Founded Fear

An unprecedented inside look at the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), award-winning filmmakers Shari Robertson and Michael Camerini take their cameras behind locked doors, where bureaucrats decide the fates of thousands of asylum-seekers each year. To be granted asylum, applicants must demonstrate a "well-founded fear" that their lives would be endangered were they to be deported. The asylum-seekers are at once hopeful and heartbreaking, at times too slick and polished, and in other cases painfully timid. All have the same desire--freedom to stay in America. As asylum officers struggle to determine credibility, balancing sympathy with good sense and tough-mindedness, their hard-made decisions ultimately hold a mirror to the broader, quickly changing, and controversial role of the United States in the world at large.

I think my recent quest to gain new viewpoints was sparked by the presidential elections - my acquiring this film form the library was part of that process. Like The Visitor, but in a different way, this film too made me think about the immigration question as it applied to people, not just numbers and statistics. And what of the INS workers who have to make these horrible decisions? They are people too. A complicated issue, but a film everyone should see.

Dressing for Recession

As the economy takes a turn for the worse, our family has changed the way we shop for everyday necessities. Instead of shelling out $40 for the latest Janie and Jack dress or $30 for something from the Gap or Gymboree, we are treating thrift stores like fabric bazaars — buying ancient wool skirts or vibrant cotton sundresses and ripping them apart for the material.


This stay at home dad has taken to the thrift stores in the hopes of finding cheaper clothing alternatives for his family. Full story on NPR here.

I'm not a terrific sewer, I make a few things very well, but this story inspired me to stop by the thrift store next time I am in town. We have recently been rethinking the way we spend money. My husband's company has been plagued with layoffs, and while he has been safe so far, who knows what will happen down the road. Regardless of our financial circumstances, I feel better when frugal.

I've been making delicious homemade soups lately, and today we are baking bread - a practice run for the baked goods that will accompany our simpler gifts this season.

I've heard a lot of reference lately to the Great Depression. I think future generations will refer to this time as another kind of depression - one where our constant need to spend more, get more left us spiritually deficient, less creative, and less connected with our fellow beings on this planet. In a time when we are so lucky to be able to communicate with other quickly and cheaply around the world, how do we assure that we still have anything important to say?

MGA Ordered to Stop Selling Bratz Dolls

Toy giant Mattel Inc., after a four-year legal dispute with MGA Entertainment Inc., touted its win in the case Wednesday after a federal judge banned MGA from making and selling its pouty-lipped and hugely popular Bratz dolls.
"It's a pretty sweeping victory," Mattel attorney Michael Zeller said. "They have no right to use Bratz for any goods or services at all."

U.S. District Judge Stephen Larson rocked the toy industry with his order that MGA must immediately stop manufacturing Bratz. He allowed MGA to wait until the holiday season ends to remove the toys from store shelves.

rest of the story here

We're Barbie people here in our household. This case has gone on for years. I'm not sure how I feel about it, it's an established toy line that will now add more problems to a dwindling economy. The company needs to reimburse for the cost of all toys being sent back, after the holidays.

The best part of the article is the reader's comments. As usual.

Buy Local!

I am basically done with most of my Christmas shopping, save the fun and local items that I find at craft fairs, etc. This year, as the last, I am trying to buy local and handmade products. These are businesses I love to support. Some favorites so far this year (one old, one new).....

Picassic Pond Winery
This local NH company makes mead. I have always bought mead produced by far-away companies. I did not know until recently that it is made right over the border. Sold in the local wine section of the NH state liquor stores on the highways up here. They also have a spiced mead which I am eager to try.

Jewell Towne Vineyards

Their Muscat recieved the folowing rave review from TIME:
It's sweet but balanced, with some nice mineral on the finish, like a good riesling. It's not a wine that's trying too hard or is too proud of itself. It just gets the job done right. This is one of the very few wines we drank the whole bottle of. Who knew New Hampshire was better at picking grapes than Democratic nominees?—by Joel Stein

They are right over the border from Amesbury. I hope to try all their wines soon.

(on a side note - a hillarious look at a wine from eaach of the 50 states, courtesy of Joel Stein is here in TIME magazine. Check out th Massachusetts "undrinkable" selection)

Plum Island Soap Company

All that wine might make you feel a little dirty - here's an awesome way to get clean. Their products are phenomenal, and they are a local company run by nice people. I buy their products at "Soak" in downtown Newburyport, but their Plum Island factory home is a great way to get their stuff too!

The Solace of Leaving Early

The Solace of Leaving Early - Haven Kimmel

A romance evolves in the wake of a domestic shooting in Kimmel's intelligent and compassionate debut novel, which brings two friends of one of the victims together in a small Indiana town.

GREAT BOOK. I am very picky about fiction - but the language in this book makes me want to keep reading.

Listen up! These books contain information important to our future....

The Post-American World by Fareed Zakaria

"This is not a book about the decline of America, but rather about the rise of everyone else." So begins Fareed Zakaria's important new work on the era we are now entering..... How should the United States understand and thrive in this rapidly changing international climate? What does it mean to live in a truly global era? Zakaria answers these questions with his customary lucidity, insight, and imagination.

Hot, Flat and Crowded - by Thomas Friedman

excerpt from his Amazon.com interview with Zakaria:

There is a convergence of basically three large forces: one is global warming, which has been going on at a very slow pace since the industrial revolution; the second--what I call the flattening of the world--is a metaphor for the rise of middle-class citizens, from China to India to Brazil to Russia to Eastern Europe, who are beginning to consume like Americans. That's a blessing in so many ways--it's a blessing for global stability and for global growth. But it has enormous resource complications, if all these people--whom you've written about in your book, The Post American World--begin to consume like Americans. And lastly, global population growth simply refers to the steady growth of population in general, but at the same time the growth of more and more people able to live this middle-class lifestyle. Between now and 2020, the world's going to add another billion people. And their resource demands--at every level--are going to be enormous. I tell the story in the book how, if we give each one of the next billion people on the planet just one sixty-watt incandescent light bulb, what it will mean: the answer is that it will require about 20 new 500-megawatt coal-burning power plants. That's so they can each turn on just one light bulb!

READ THESE BOOKS.

More Obama niceness

" The world expects us to elect pompous yahoos, and instead we have us a 47-year-old prince from the prairie who cheerfully ran the race, and when his opponents threw sand at him, he just smiled back. He'll be the first president in history to look really good making a jump shot. He loves his classy wife and his sweet little daughters. At the same time, he knows pop music, American lit and constitutional law. I just can't imagine anybody cooler. "

It feels good to be cool, and all of us can share in that, even sour old right-wingers and embittered blottoheads. Next time you fly to Heathrow and hand your passport to the man with the badge, he's going to see "United States of America" and look up and grin. Even if you worship in the church of Fox, everyone you meet overseas is going to ask you about Obama, and you may as well say you voted for him because, my friends, he is your line of credit over there. No need anymore to try to look Canadian." -Garrison Keillor

Fur Better or Worse: Gay Guinea Pigs Wed in New Children’s Book

Article here.

Notice the rabbits - I bet they are thinking lewd thoughts too! I would love to read this book - wonder which local library has it?

Author's blog

A terrific librarian's response to the controversy.

I think of "values" much differently now that I have a child of my own. How we will teach her to respect others? How will she encounter controversy, and form her own views?

Rachel Maddow on Conan

Great. That is all. =)

Meet the Press's Press

David Gregory is about to get the nod as host of NBC’s Meet the Press, reports Huffington Post. The chief White House correspondent has been a top contender for the spot since Tim Russert’s death in June. An announcement is expected as soon as today, reports Politico, giving one of TV's most high-profile franchises to a 38-year-old with a "sharp edge leavened by a youthful style and versatility."


Sources Huffington Post, Politico


I am no really happy about this. I used to like Gregory, these days not so much. He's my age? He seems older. Maybe I am just more youthful.