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.

Catching up

On reading, on GRE prep, on holiday cheer.....

I am reading Freidman's newest - great as usual. Enjoy his Colbert appearance:

The Colbert ReportMon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

Thomas Friedman

Colbert at Christmas
Colbert Christmas DVD

Green Screen
Bill O'Reilly Interview

Tom Duffy visits our band

okay, so those of you that know me know of this HUGE project. Tom Duffy visited with our band on Wednesday. A great time had by all. On a personal note (since this is my blog) this was a huge undertaking that I never thought would get off the ground. To see the kids interact with him, to see them so excited was terrific, and worth all the hassles.

Lesson learned? If the project has good purpose and intent, it'll all work out the way it needs to. I'm more relaxed about the second phase - rehearsing his music written for us.

Letting go and watching all this happen has been hard. But the learning is in those spaces where we allow it to happen.

"Let your life speak" had great resonance for me this week. I am intrigued by further results.
Stay tuned!

Must-see film

The Visitor

The Visitor stars Richard Jenkins (Six Feet Under) in a perfect performance (Lisa Schwarzbaum, ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY) as Walter, a disaffected college professor who has been drifting aimlessly through his life. When, in a chance encounter on a trip into New York, Walter discovers a couple has taken up residence in his apartment in the city, he develops an unexpected and profound connection to them that will change his life forever. As challenges arise for his tenants, Walter finds himself compelled to help his new friends, and rediscovers a passion he thought he had lost long ago. The year's first genuine must-see film" (Ann Hornaday, THE WASHINGTON POST) about rediscovering life's rhythms in the most unexpected places

Terrific film, slow moving, but I was hooked from the start.

Obama headines

This site has created a collage of Obama headlines. So nice to see!

Happy Christmas to All!

Who knows what Brenda Band will do this year? Stay tuned......

project runway spoof - funny!

Almost completely proud of America.....

Well, yes, there's still one issue heavy on my heart - the California repeal of gay marriage. A HUGE step backwards on a day of so much forward motion. I will not pontificate, I think Hafiz sums it up for me:

How Does It Feel to Be a Heart? (Hafiz)

Once a young woman asked me,
"How does it feel to be a man?"And I replied,
"My dear,I am not so sure."
Then she said,"Well, aren't you a man?"
And this time I replied,
"I view gender
As a beautiful animal
That people often take for a walk on a leash
And might enter in some odd contest
To try to win strange prizes.
My dear,
A better question for Hafiz
Would have been,
'How does it feel to be a heart?'
For all I know is Love,
And I find my heart Infinite
And Everywhere!"

Brains Are Back! - by Michael Hirsch

After eight years of proud incuriosity and anti-intellectualism, we now have a leader who values nuance and careful thought.

What Obama's election means, above all, is that brains are back. Sense and pragmatism and the idea of considering-all-the-options are back. Studying one's enemies and thinking through strategic problems are back. Cultural understanding is back. Yahooism and jingoism and junk science about global warming and shabby legal reasoning about torture are out. The national culture of flag-pin shallowness that guided our foreign policy is gone with the wind. And for this reason as much as any, perhaps I can renew my pride in being an American.

HOORAY! read the whole article in Newsweek!

The Obama election has made me feel smart - and this is a terrific article that sums up why. We can all be smart! Use your brains! Fix the WORLD!

Plan B: Further Thoughts on Faith

by Anne Lamott

Another great book from a writer with great imagery. Lamott is someone not trusting of the human side of faith, I think - the religiuos creation of men? And yet, she sees examples of faithful practice in her life and those of others often. All presented in wonderful prose - from which at times I am led to laugh out loud.

Monet Refuses The Operation

by Lisel Mueller

Doctor, you say there are no haloes
around the streetlights in Paris
and what I see is an aberration
caused by old age, an affliction.
I tell you it has taken me all my life
to arrive at the vision of gas lamps as angels,
to soften and blur and finally banish
the edges you regret I don't see,
to learn that the line I called the horizon
does not exist and sky and water,
so long apart, are the same state of being.
Fifty-four years before I could see
Rouen cathedral is builtof parallel shafts of sun,
and now you want to restore
my youthful errors: fixed
notions of top and bottom,
the illusion of three-dimensional space,wisteria separate
from the bridge it covers.
What can I say to convince you
the Houses of Parliament dissolves
night after night to become
the fluid dream of the Thames?
I will not return to a universe
of objects that don't know each other,
as if islands were not the lost children
of one great continent. The world
is flux, and light becomes what it touches,
becomes water, lilies on water,above and below water,
becomes lilac and mauve and yellow
and white and cerulean lamps,
small fists passing sunlight
so quickly to one another
that it would take long, streaming hair inside my brush to catch it.
To paint the speed of light!
Our weighted shapes, these verticals,
burn to mix with air
and change our bones, skin, clothes
to gases. Doctor,
if only you could see
how heaven pulls earth into its arms
and how infinitely the heart expands to claim this world, blue vapor without end.

RIP Michael Crichton

Unexpected and sad. =(

In Memoriam

Michael Crichton

1942 - 2008

Best-selling author Michael Crichton died unexpectedly in Los Angeles Tuesday, November 4, 2008 after a courageous and private battle against cancer.

The Economist Book of Obituaries

by Keith Colquhoun and Ann Wroe


The Economist Book of Obituaries is a marvelous collection of 200 lives, from the prominent (Hunter S. Thompson, doctor of gonzo journalism: "Explosions were his specialty. Indeed, writing and shooting were much the same." Or George Harrison: "This may prove to be a long goodbye."), to the relatively obscure (Marie Smith, the last speaker of the Eyak language, for whom "the death of Eyak meant the not-to-be-imagined disappearance of the world." Or Yasser Talal al-Zahrani, a prisoner in Guantánamo: "He had sheets and clothes from which, thread by thread, he could make a rope."). (from shelf awareness)

My favorite entry?

Robert Rich, inventor of frozen non-dairy topping, died on February 15, 2006, aged 92:

To top it all, in wartime, heavy whipping cream was a banned substance . . . To dream of an éclair or a cream puff, even of a modest dollop nestling a cherry or topping off a sundae, was close to a traitorous act . . . Mr Rich, however, dreamed often of whipped cream . . . thick, indulgent, faintly golden and utterly unwarlike.

Spooky ookie

Halloween - and the special GHOST HUNTERS show!

Brace yourself this Halloween when TAPS takes you on the ultimate ghost hunt. The team returns to the Fort Delaware scene of this season's most jolting and revealing episode.
Commonly referred to as the "Black Hole," Fort Delaware was used during the Civil War as a POW camp that housed over 33,000 Confederate soldiers. Ravaged by epidemics and torture nearly 2,400 failed to escape and died on the island. The restless spirits have never left.
Join the exclusive seven-hour hunt from home with access to thermal imaging camera feeds and live Q&A with TAPS team members and host Josh Gates. Watch carefully for anything out of the ordinary — you'll be able to send instant alerts of any sightings you make straight to the Ghost Hunters!

I must admit I am totally addicted to this show - last year I stayed up ALL NIGHT to watch their live episode. This year it's a Friday - even better!

Ghost Hunters Website

R.I.P. Tony Hillerman

"Everything is connected. The wing of the corn beetle effects the direction of the wind, the way the sand drifts, the way the light reflects into the eye of man beholding his reality. All is part of totality, and in this totality man finds his horzo, his way of walking in harmony, with beauty all around him." Hillerman

Wise Words.

I have not read any of Hillerman's works, but have recently heard much about him and am intrigued. Sounds like a simple, good man with a healthy dose of reality. I'll have to check out his work!

CLAMS!

Actually, the Essex clam festival celebrated clam chowder, not the fried variety - but this picture is from a NYTimes article by yesterday's judge. I have not yet heard the results.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/29/dining/29clam.html

We also ate CLAM ICE CREAM. which was only mildly disturbing. Maille loved it!

techno brains....

Born digital : understanding the first generation of digital natives / John Palfrey and Urs Gasser.
by Palfrey, John


iBrain : surviving the technological alteration of the modern mind / Gary Small and Gigi Vorgan.
by Small, Gary W.


Commentary to follow - but both great reads I wanted to list. My, how the world has changed - and so has teaching!

Last Night at the Lobster

by Stewart O'Nan

There are only four shopping days left until Christmas when Manny DeLeon pulls his beat-up Buick Regal into the parking lot at the Red Lobster—his Red Lobster—at least for one more day. He’s been the general manager of the New Britain location for years and has come to feel a justified pride in its smooth performance. So the news that Darden Restaurants, Inc., plans to close the branch, demote him to assistant manager at a nearby Olive Garden, and fire thirty-nine of the forty-four employees he supervises was a shock that Manny wasn’t happy to face. (from Penguin reading guides)

A simple, great read. A Red Lobster's last night, a glimpse into the lives of the hourly-wagers. Reminded me of layaway at Ames, nights at the theater, being trapped in the photo booth....

Autumn

I love the fall. After I have gotten over the return-to-school stress, things have settled into a routine, and life is filled with fun fairs and events. Especially fun with a toddler - lots of Halloween crafts!

Today we shall venture to the Essex Clam Festival for a chowder face-off. And perhaps also to the Woodsom farm festival. I have a fundraiser to be at in Scituate, or else there'd be even more to do!

Barbie

My child wants a Barbie doll. It has been her only answer for 2 weeks to the question "What would you like for your birthday?" (age 3).

I have been warned of the rival "Bratz" dolls. I just had her look at the picture above. And she still likes Barbie. She said the other girl looks mean, and you shouldn't sit on people's heads. I agree.

I guess Mattel has had their hands full with the popular Bratz dolls, but so far Barbie is winning in our household!

More here in The Telegraph

The Book Round-up part one

I have been reading, just not blogging....

I have found lately that I can barely keep up with my library requests, they are coming in fast and furious. Not sure if others are reading less?

Anyways.... my recommendations of the week:

I Am Filled with Heavenly Treasures (CD) - The Enfield Shaker Singers
Simple Gifts: (CD) The Boston Camerata

both very good recordings, the stomping and singing sounded a little scarily powerful. I just visited the Shaker Village of Canterbury, NH last week - and I could picture these songs being sung and danced to. Catchy! =)

Simple Gifts: Lessons in Living From a Shaker Village - June Spriggs
A Great tale of life with the Canterbury Shakers - June lived in the village for the few years before they dissolved. Again, even better if you have visited there and seen the buildings for yourself!

Life: Selected Quotations - Paul Coehlo
I'm on a Coelho kick right now - a good book of basic quotations form his works. More relevant after I read his longer works, I think!

I'm in for a few cold days of reading on the couch while Maille uses the playdoh. Winter is here!

almost over....

I've had ENOUGH of politics. And those of you who know me know that's saying a lot! I fel like I am watching a train wreck, and the American people don't seem to notice. In NH this week, there were McCain signs everywhere. I truly think the future of our conuntry rests, in part, on this election. Hope!

perky oatmeal?

Link to a SLATE article about caffeinated products.

The oatmeal:

"Even if the taste were bearable, oatmeal requires more prep work than most snack foods—you need a bowl, a spoon, and hot water. As for its efficacy, Morning Spark did give me a boost, but it also left me feeling woozy and nearly spoiled my appetite for dinner. In the reading test, I got through five pages, then skimmed a few more before a headache set in. The reasonable price tag can't save it: This is definitely the worst product of the bunch"

When i worked at the store and did the overnights, i used to make the coffee with caffeinated water. It was a bad scene. But in the oatmeal??? I hope I will not ever go that far!

(I love my plain oatmeal every morning just the way it is - like Bert does.)

Wait - she's coming to SALEM NH!

"Delahanty said the only event that compares to what's expected for Palin's appearance is when the high school marching band hosts 20 regional bands, an event that typically draws about 4,500 people."

Even more attendees than the marching band competition?

If it wasn't for the traffic and my toddler, I would go and carry a sign. Perhaps I will try to go anyways...

grrr

This whole Sara Palin thing has got me very angry. I rarely get stuck in a "feminist" response (I think "humanist" is a better term for treating everybody well if they deserve it) but I am so angry that she's the "answer" for Hillary not being on the dems ticket

.

Flirting her way to victory
This article in the Guardian speaks to my distress.

"At least three times last night, Sarah Palin, the adorable, preposterous vice-presidential candidate, winked at the audience. Had a male candidate with a similar reputation for attractive vapidity made such a brazen attempt to flirt his way into the good graces of the voting public, it would have universally noted, discussed and mocked. Palin, however, has single-handedly so lowered the standards both for female candidates and American political discourse that, with her newfound ability to speak in more-or-less full sentences, she is now deemed to have performed acceptably last night......"

And this guy in the Newburyport Current thinks she could be our daughter, and we should be nicer to her?????????

but at least we can juggle feeding the PETS??..... (excerpted below)

"Now we look at them and see what they have become and think, "Wow!" Little seems to get the best of them, and if it does, they know how to find solutions. They juggle a schedule that includes a husband, kids, employment and pets and still have enough left to be pleasant to be around."

Enough left to run the country even though she is an IDIOT?

It was comforting to me to read the comment section from the Current. My daughter, indeed!

arrrrghhhh.

Hafiz

As usual, my ponderings resulted in an interesting coincidence. I've been thinking a lot about how so often cultures/peoples stake their claim on their religion being the "true" one. Someone at meeting quoted this beautiful poem of Hafiz to me yesterday:

Would You Think It Odd? (Hafiz)

Would you think it odd if Hafiz said,

"I am in love with every church
And mosque
And temple
And any kind of shrine

Because I know it is there
That the people say the different names
Of the One God"

Would you tell your friends
I was a bit strange if I admitted

I am indeed in love with every mind
And heart and body.

O I am sincerely
Plumb crazy
About your every thought and yearning
And limb

Because, my dear,
I know
That it is through these

That you search for him.

Religulous

by Bill Maher - now in theaters

My mixed review: I suppose we all bring ourselves into the theater, and my current self has been thinking a lot about the role of organized religion in our society, along with organized politics, education.....

Bill Maher in my opinion just goes too far, as I expected he might. He is right to cite the similarities between early religions and Christianity, and of course, many things have been done very wrong for the better "Christian" good.

I of course reflected upon it all in the light of my little knowledge of Quaker perspective. I left the film more convinced that we'd better all get our act together and start taking care of each other and our planet, regardless of our religions.

Maher is very concerned about finding the "unchristian" tendencies of others religions, and i guess he doesn't concern himself about being "unchristian" since he is not one. But the last sections of the film are him on his pulpit, urging others to give up religion and its messes to start saving the planet and ourselves. He seems to care about the future of others. Remarkably Christian, even? Or just marketing?

I'm inspired to read a little more faith and practice today, and ponder all this.

Billy Collins

Why i just need to read more poetry:

Adage by Billy Collins

When it’s late at night and branches
are banging against the windows,
you might think that love is just a matter
.
of leaping out of the frying pan of yourself
into the fire of someone else,
but it’s a little more complicated than that.
.
It’s more like trading the two birds
who might be hiding in that bush
for the one you are not holding in your hand.
.
A wise man once said that love
was like forcing a horse to drink
but then everyone stopping thinking of him as wise.
.
Let us be clear about something.
Love is not as simple as getting up
on the wrong side of the bed wearing the emperor’s clothes.
.
No, it’s more like the way the pen
feels after it has defeated the sword.
It’s a little like the penny saved or the nine dropped
stitches.
.
You look at me through the halo of the last candle
and tell me love is an ill wind
that has no turning, a road that blows no good,
.
but I am here to remind you,
as our shadows tremble on the walls,
that love is the early bird who is better late than never.

Back again, again

No blogging for quite awhile. I've had lots of stress going on - juts trying to do the right thing, for me. and certainly trying to follow the world falling apart, and election coverage has been a challenge!

Ku Klux Klan Members Plan to Appear at Presidential Debate Site

This is the wall street journal article that says it all.

And I have heard that people say racism doesn't exist in today's society, and is not a factor in this election.

Regardless of whether or not I think Barack Obama should be our president, I certainly hope that we live in a country that is not still so affected by race. I hope, but do not yet believe.....

Black Monday

from the Huffington post:

Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan offered a woeful outlook of America's economic situation on Sunday, saying the crisis with the country's financial institutions was as dire as he had ever seen in his long career, and predicting that one or more of those institutions would likely collapse in the near future.

"Oh, by far," Greenspan said, when asked if the situation was the worst he had seen in his career. "There's no question that this is in the process of outstripping anything I've seen and it still is not resolved and still has a way to go and, indeed, it will continue to be a corrosive force until the price of homes in the United States stabilizes. That will induce a series of events around the globe which will stabilize the system."


This is gonna hurt. bad. I am amazed our country has spent the past 2 weeks debating whether Sarah Palin looks like a pig in lipstick, or whatever. Our economy is now (PREDICTABLY) falling apart around us. Perhaps preemptive war and the Bush doctrine should be looked at ECONOMICALLY as well as militarily. Perhaps we should listen to Tom Friedman.

I think the world's getting flattened this morning. It certainly seems warmer already.....

Cicero - food for thought

The Six Mistakes of Humans, from Cicero (106-43 BC):
1. The illusion that personal gain is made up of crushing others;
2. The tendency to worry about things that cannot be changed or corrected;
3. Insisting that a thing is impossible because we cannot accomplish it;
4. Refusing to set aside trivial preferences;
5. Neglecting development and refinement of the mind, and not acquiring the habit of reading and study;
6. Attempting to compel others to believe and live as we do.

From Mark Nepo's Facing the Lion, Being the Lion: Finding Inner Courage Where It Lives:
All these attributes replace a larger view with a smaller one. All make opaque what is clear. All reduce instead of enlarge. All heighten our isolation over our common humanity. The fact is that we can trace each of Cicero's "mistakes" to choices that are made, consciously or not, along the way. All represent habits of thinking by which we forget that we are just a small part of something larger. As we describe these shifts, it's helpful to take a personal inventory to see if and where these choices have interefered with our compassion and vitality, and ultimately, our courage... For there are some of Cicero's mistakes that I trip into all the time, and others (like crushing others and compelling others to live as I do) that I don't want to believe I am capable of. ISBN 978-1-57324-315-5, pp. 54-55.

respectfully taken from friendly circle - a Cincinnati Quaker blog

My Favorite Comedian EVER - TRIUMPH at the RNC

Who is Sarah Palin????

See more funny videos at Funny or Die

Abscentia

Skool has begun. Hordes of children, needing to play better. ARRGGHHH!!!!!!!!!

Actually, it has been great to see them all again and I am looking forward to another great year. I have to get back to listening to band music now. Hooray!

Sarah Palin as Peggy Hill????

Someone recently mentioned that Sarah Palin look slike Peggy Hill. Indeed!

I'm overwhelmed by the coverage, and I am normally a politics junkie..... I guess I have too much to do!

Irish Mossing

A staple of Scituate's economy for many years - there is a mossing museum in Scituate, MA now.

But WHO KNEW how fit and trim these mossers were???

Check out their reunion news here.

Carmen has never seemed so musical

Danny's Boys

Ode to Beaker's Joy

Public Art, Eyesore to Eye Candy

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/24/arts/design/24smit.html?em

NYTimes' great article about public art. Also explains "the bean" - Anish Kapoor's sculpture in Chicago. I had no idea there were more "balloon dogs" around. Road trip!

(did you notice the first pix - "puppy" by Koons at Bilbao???? - all my favorite stuff!)

The Abstinence Teacher

By Tom Perrotta

Great initial character development, I was excited to turn the pages. Ended too early, I think. a lot of plot seemed not completely fleshed out. I liked the writing style, perhaps I will read more of his novels.

Stolen Innocence: My Story of Growing Up in a Polygamous Sect, Becoming a Teenage Bride, and Breaking Free of Warren Jeffs

A disturbing look at a cult. I try to be respectful of religions that differ from my own, but this is a horrifying account of a young girl married off into an abusive relationship, and a controlling cult.

A Great Site. Find a Sign.

My Yard Our Message.

A neat site with signs you con order for your lawn!

Skool Daze