379 Excellent programs

In 1893, my grandmother went to the World’s Fair in Chicago with her parents. According to what I learned last night at Hoover Auditorium in Lakeside, “rag time” which had been around for many years, first was called that during the World's Fair for having a “ragged” time. I doubt that Grandfather David let his 17 year old daughter near any performers playing the devil’s music.

The program last night was Bob Milne, a piano player of rag time, boogie woogie and southern gospel. He played a solid two hours, and received wildly enthusiastic applause. He only paused long enough to provide the audience some history and a few jokes. It seems that two weeks ago he played for a private party in their home in Kennebunkport, named George and Barbara. And in a few weeks, he’ll be meeting for the first time another pianist, Clint Eastwood, and they’ll play some duets.

On Saturday evening a group I’d never heard of 1910 Fruitgum Factory performed. I must have been too busy raising babies, because they were popular in the late 1960s and I didn’t remember any of their “hits.” But many of the boomers in the audience did, and when the lead singer suggested there was room up front or in the aisles to dance, about a hundred people, adults and little kids, went forward to groove and swing. It was fun to see them having such a good time--whole families dancing together, little children on their dad’s shoulders, and grandmas rocking and bopping, showing the grandkids how they did it in the 60s.

On Friday evening we had a Beatles imitator group, called Back Beat a Tribute. John, Paul, George and Ringo. This is a very popular program (although doesn‘t bring in as many as the Elvis imitator), again with the boomers. They did put on a solid 3 hour show with no intermission (I only lasted about 15 minutes). What I remember about the Beatles is how shocked and horrified parents were with their hair and music, and am always surprised at how tame they seem now.

378 Helpful neighbor

My neighbor set me up with a password so I can use my wireless card with his router. I might look a bit odd sitting on the back porch straddling a bench, but you have to go with what is easy. I could sit on the front porch, but the connection is weaker. Then I tried webmail and was able to both send and receive e-mail. Before, I was receiving but not sending. My Collecting My Thoughts doesn't seem to be working well, and many times I can't load it.

378 Thoughts on July 4

The first thing you notice about these workers is that they are young and in good physical condition; the second is that they speak to each other in another language. They are Slovakian students here on the peninsula on special visas that allow them to work during the summer at jobs that used to be filled by American college students.

Because I leave the grounds of Lakeside early in the morning to get coffee, I sometimes pass bicyclists in the dim dawn light. Several years ago when I noticed this I thought maybe they were athletes out preparing for a summer race. But it was just the Slovakian students on their way to work in the tourist industry--restaurants, motels, entertainment sites. They rent a cottage or two, buy some bikes and don’t seem to mind a 20 or 30 minute ride to work each day at dawn and sunset. Very few American youngsters would attempt this--it is a narrow, busy highway, and besides, it requires some athletic skill to ride a bike to work and then put in a full shift on your feet serving others.

Today I was a bit early, so I stopped at McDonald’s instead of Bassett’s where the coffee shop doesn’t open until 6:30. I heard the kitchen help speaking loudly to one of the counter people with many gestures. At first I thought she might be hearing impaired, but then realized that she was foreign, and the Americans were simply speaking loudly, instead of clearly. Then I heard her and 2 other counter staff speaking a Slavic language, and since we have Slovakians working in Lakeside, I assumed these young women were also from Slovakia. When I got a refill, I noticed their name tags--Maria, Petra, and Martina. Martina, who probably had the best English, took the orders at the window drive-thru and Maria and Petra filled the sacks. Soon three tall, slender young men arrived, perspiring heavily, wearing shorts and back packs, and walked behind the counter to the back room and reappeared wearing uniforms--they were working the kitchen.

As I got up to leave I spoke to one of the assistant managers and asked her if they were Slovakian students here on a work visa. She said yes, and she wished they had more of them. She also told me that the 3 women also worked at Lakeside in the evening, and that at least one of the young men had 4 jobs. I asked her about transportation, and she said sometimes they pooled their money and bought a car and shared it for the summer, but usually rode bikes and shared housing. I asked her some other questions about the visas, to which she claimed no knowledge, but I think she was beginning to be suspicious that I was checking up on them, and she didn’t want to lose her workers.

These handsome, athletic 20-somethings aren’t immigrants, they’re “guest workers” as the Europeans might say, but they aren’t afraid to work, and even at minimum wage jobs find housing, transportation and ways to get around language barriers. Here on the peninsula they are cleaning hotel rooms, tending yards and gardens, serving food and clerking. They certainly look more fit and happier to be working than American young people.

Paychecks were passed out while I was there, and I heard a supervisor calling out the names. The Americans just tucked theirs in a shirt or purse. The Slovakians held the pay sheet in both hands reading every entry carefully before putting it away. They looked like they were opening Christmas gifts. On this July 4 they are a good reminder to the rest of us that this country still offers a lot of opportunity for those seeking it.

377 Beach Reading for the lake

I don’t know why my “beach reading” ends up being such heavy stuff--like “John Adams” which I read during summer of 2002 and “First Mothers” last summer. The book I brought to the lake this summer is “Locust; the devastating rise and mysterious disappearance of the insect that shaped the American frontier.” by Jeffrey A. Lockwood, professor of Natural Sciences and Humanities at the University of Wyoming. He brings together the climatological, economic, religious and political forces at work in 19th century America when the plagues of locust struck. I didn’t think anyone grieved the loss of the locust (I’ve never forgotten Laura Ingalls Wilder’s story about the locust swarms in the Little House series), but Lockwood does, and thinks when billions of creatures disappear almost overnight, we are all the losers. So I was reading “Locust” everyday as the Mayflies pelted the screens wondering if I'd miss them if they disappeared.

When we arrived on Saturday for the first week of the season, the cars, streets, houses and screens were covered with Mayflies. They are attracted to the lights and under every pole is a crunchy slimy mess, with an odd odor. Some years the Mayflies are so thick they get drawn into generators and equipment and cause power failures. Mayflies lay their eggs (8,000 per female) on the water. They sink to the bottom and when they hatch into nymphs they burrow into the sediment and feed on particulates. They go through 20 or 30 molts and finally are ready for a final day, after a 2 year existence of getting ready for sex and us, the folks on land who really don’t like them much. After some inflight mating, they lay eggs and die.

According to an article by our neighbor, Joe Day, in this week’s Lakesider, the Mayflies arrived here because of the early European settlement which disturbed the ecological balance of the lake region with agriculture, but then they were killed off in the mid 20th century when oxygen levels in the lake fell too low to sustain the nymphs. When better water quality standards were enforced and sewage and chemicals were no longer dumped into Lake Erie, the Mayflies returned. The return of the Mayfly benefit the fisherman (perch eat them) and the birds.

Joe writes, “Looking up into the evening sky and seeing the amazing numbers of little fair-like mayflies in their reproductive dance-like ceremony leaves me in the quiet reflection of a humble soul in a wonderful town of this truly incredible world. Fly on little fellas.”

Lockwood writes, “As our current environmental crisis exposes our past act of destruction--and as it threatens human populations squeezed into our favored habitats of seaboards, riverbanks, and desert margins--one can only wonder what else we might learn from the Rocky Mountain Locust. . . Along with hurricanes and drought, such creatures serve to remind the industrial world that humility is still necessary.”

376 Slower than e-mail, faster than land mail

At the coffee shop here on the peninsula, I noticed a note written on the back of a sales receipt, propped up against an upside down Pepsi paper cup, with a little fuzzy bird attached to it. The note read:

“I’m reinstated and my new card is good no matter what excuses I use.”

I asked the staff person if someone had left it by mistake. “Oh no,” she said, “two gentlemen who come in at different times leave notes for each other there.”

375 Bumper stickers

I was driving behind an automobile--smallish, with some age--plastered with sayings and proverbs. Perhaps to cover up budding rust spots.

“Bring back Monica Lewinsky”

“Thank you for not breeding.”

“Stupidity need not be painful.”

And a Happy face with a finger in its nose.

Sort of makes me wonder what the guy’s T-shirt says.

374 Wednesday at the Lake

Many more people in the Confucian Ethics class--word is getting around what an outstanding instructor Gene is. Everyone says, "I wish I'd had college instuctors like this!"

He told about how Chinese children are taught to observe the roles by learning music, poetry and calligraphy. You write poetry to prepare for life's major decisions. "He is the best poet in the group," is a sign of who is leader (he may not be a good poet, but receives that honor). The more poetry, the more sophisticated the speech. Calligraphy is taught as character formation. Music and art are ad-ons in our society, and may be the first to be cut.

I've been reading "Locust," all week and have been taking it to the hotel porch and to the coffee shop to read. I'm determined to finish it and find out why the locust swarms, the scourge of the 19th century farmers, disappeared. The author tells many asides, from how he did his research, to the biographies of different entomologists, to environmental disasters stories, but I'm sure he'll reveal his thinking before the final page.

373 Tuesday at the Lake

Last night we had Wes and Sue over for supper on the deck. They are clients and have the cutest little cottage, just perfect for Lakeside. It is getting a lot of buzz because its style and size are just right for the tiny lots (33') we have in this old community with narrow streets and ancient trees.

We're enjoying a class on Confucian Ethics taught by Dr. Gene Swanger of Wittenberg University. Everyday the class grows larger instead of smaller as is usual in Lakeside. Dr. Swanger teaches American government officials and the military how to interact and live in an Asian environment. We learned there are 3,300 roles for behavior, and no real concept of "individualism" as we understand it in the West.

Art class is shrinking. Today we did figures, and I gave my drawing to the 15 year old model since he was so patient, and he liked it.

372 Monday at the Lake

The day started with a small rain squall, built to a big storm in early afternoon, cleared, thenn we had a big windy wet storm about 4 p.m., but I was already at the art center. The drawing class is a mix of adults and children, and as usual, the kids get pretty discouraged and end up drawing lighthouses or boats instead of the assigned task, which this day was a still life of old blenders, a fan and lunch box.

Last night's program was organist Paul Oakley. Such a beautiful program. We enjoyed him so about 10 years ago when he organized a "Masterclass" of musicians at Lakeside. We found the four chairs we had paid for and they have the names of our family on a plate in the back. These chairs are much nicer and more comfortable than the hard wooden ones.

371 At Lakeside

The perfect summer day at the Lake--clear blue sky and 72 degrees. Golf carts are becoming more ubiquitous each year, with corresponding restrictions on auto parking, but at least more are battery operated now, thus quieter.

The volunteers have been busy sprucing up the flower gardens. The Hoover Auditorium is 75 years old this summer, and they've really been working hard there. Our impatiens are blooming, but were sort of leggy when planted in May and have stayed that way rather than filling out.

A stroll through the business district (2 blocks) shows some changes. One of the antique dealers gave up because he got such a good offer for his building, and his wife needed to spend more time with her mother and couldn't mind the store. A delightful gift/art shop has been returned to a cottage "for rent." The realty firm on the corner has left that building and it is being remodeled into something that looks like a cottage, but the sign says coffee shop. The cokesbury Bookstore opened two weeks ago for the Methodists' conferences.

Tonight's program is the River City Brass Band from Pennsylvania. I love brass. Hope there is a lot of trombone, my weapon of choice.

370 This is not about Lustrons

You’ve probably seen a Lustron--a steel house of porcelainzed panels built in the late 1940s to help solve the housing shortage after World War II. Here’s a brief story from the Ohio Historical Society web site:

“At the end of the war, a severe housing shortage plagued the United States. Businessman Carl Strandlund sought to solve this problem by mass-producing prefabricated, porcelain-enameled, steel houses. With the support of veterans groups, he received millions of dollars in federal loans to establish his factory, which he modeled after General Motors and Ford. The new Lustron Corporation leased the abandoned Curtiss-Wright factory adjacent to the Port Columbus airport. The government also allocated the new firm a generous supply of rationed steel for its enterprise.”

There have been reunions in Columbus, Ohio, of the designers, builders and owners of Lustrons, and I usually get an invitation because my grandparents built a Lustron in 1949, and for awhile I was part of a listserv concerning Lustrons after my Dad purchased that same home fifty years later, and we needed to do some repairs for him. My home town in Illinois has close to 20 Lustrons and it is a very small town. Pink, blue, yellow and tan--just hose ‘em down when they get dirty.

However, this is not a blog about Lustrons, it is about the WWII housing shortage. All my life I’ve been hearing about housing shortages after the war. I never even questioned it. We had a bit of one ourselves when the people who had been renting our house while Dad was in the service wouldn’t move when we came home, and we had to live with my grandparents.

I’ve been reading Thomas Sowell’s book, Basic Economics (rev. 2004). He says that after WWII, there was no scarcity of housing--severe or otherwise. He says scarcity is when a tornado or earthquake destroys housing, but shortage is created by prices. The ratio between housing and people had not changed (from 1941 to 1945), so there was no greater lack of housing. What had changed was artificially low rents due to rent controls during the war. When rents were low, some people rented larger spaces than they needed, and some landlords took properties off the market because they couldn’t cover maintenance costs and make a profit. So there were just as many housing units, but many people looking for places to live at prices they could afford. He said in different decades, the same thing has happened in Sweden and Australia--the more rent control laws, the more housing shortage.

New York City, says Sowell, has had rent control longer than any other American city with the consequence that turnover of apartments there is less than half the national average and it contributes to homelessness, because the small guys who might have housing the poor could afford, are pushed out of the market. People are sleeping outdoors, while buildings stand empty. Very wealthy people keep their rent controlled apartments just because they can, but don’t live there. San Francisco also has rent control, which drives up the cost of living there for everyone.

Also, when price controls on meat were ended in 1946, all of a sudden there was enough meat for everyone because it killed the black market. He also says there was no gasoline shortage in the 1970s. Price controls led to a cutback on the hours that filling stations remained open, so they could stay open for a few hours a day instead of having the costs of being open 12 or 24 hours, and make the same profit.

I never knew that about Lustrons. The government created the shortage, and then supplied the loans to relieve the shortage. I never knew there really wasn’t a housing shortage (less housing) after WWII. I’ll have to think about that and try to undo a lifetime of indoctrination.

369 Low Carb Hysteria

Partnership for Essential Nutrition is a group of non-profits concerned with health and nutrition that hope to bring some common sense to this low-carb stuff. I have no idea if it is legit, or just another “follow the money” group getting funded by the food industry.

I’m now getting a low-carb biz newsletter because I asked for their premiere issue of their print publication, and I’ve been surprised by the push and rush to low carb. Especially I’m surprised at how bad the commercially prepared low-carb foods taste. Panera’s is putting out two low carb bagels for samples in the morning, and I’ve tried them both. The asagio cheese bagel is my all time favorite, but low carb, it tastes like library paste. The result of eating low-carb food is the same as eating fat-free--taste free and leaves a craving which will in turn cause many people to eat more. I purchased a loaf of low-carb bread, and threw it away after we ate some. I bought low-carb yogurt for my husband, and he said, “Tastes like your foot’s asleep.”

There’s only one way to lose weight, and it always works, and it works for anyone. Burn more calories than you consume, and that means Eat Less, Move More. ELMM. But there is no way to market it and it does require some motivation and will power.

368 The job jar dwindles--pt. 3, Getting ready for the painter

I adore my son-in-law. After I handed my husband the list of 14 major in-house moves necessary before the painter comes, tastefully illustrated with clip art of a painter putting paint on the wall, he called Mark. He is very strong, cheerful, and formerly worked for a moving company. He knows every trick in the book. And I get a big sweaty hug when he is finished. Major moves so the painter could get to the walls included the desk, on which resided 2 printers, 2 speakers, a router and a scanner, as well as all the computer stuff; 2 large dressers and a dressing table; miscellaneous framed pictures; a double bed; a bookcase full of photo albums; an exercycle and an aerobo-something (like a rowing machine); and all the stuff that resided under the double bed--including the porta-crib.

I had forgotten the porta-crib and my decision to stop grieving about not ever being a grandmother, but there it was: 37 years old and waiting like an abandoned puppy, reminding me about why I'd saved it all these years. It's in the garage now, and it is a toss up whether it will go to a garage sale or the trash pick-up. No one uses wooden portable cribs anymore, and you probably can't find a mattress for one. They fit beautifully in the back seat of a sedan, with two legs on the floor, but it is illegal to let a cranky baby sleep like that without being strapped in sitting up the way we did in the 60s.

I suppose you could restrain a dog in one of these, but even my grand-puppy is an 18 year old chihuahua.

367 Noted in the language

What's with the words "her then," as "She came to this country with her then husband in 1987." What ever happened to "former" or simply, ex? I see this frequently.

I saw an ad today asking for "hysterecotmized women."

Joe Blundo says that if Clinton were Abraham Lincoln, the Gettysburg Address would have been longer than the battle.

There was a huge crowd in town yesterday to hear Zig Ziglar, Jessica Lynch, Jim Tressel and Rudy Guiliani. Outside the event there was a man holding up a sign, "College grad--will work for $40,000." Must not be a librarian--they'll work for much less.

I saw cookie recipes from Laura Bush and Teresa Kerry last week. Surely, we can get beyond that. However, Ms. Heinz-Kerry's did look awfully good--Pumpkin Spice Cookies.

Dow Jones, the owner of the Wall Street Journal was having a labor dispute with the union that represents its reporters last week. They wrote for the paper, but without a by-line. I don't get it.

The black-out last summer that affected northern Ohio, Michigan and many eastern states, caused cleaner air. It sharply reduced the concentrations of ozone and sulfur dioxide. Maybe we could just shut everything down for a week every August and forget all the rules and regulations, if it is that easy.

The Friendship

We've been friends for over 30 years, having met in a women's Bible study group. Early on, we learned we shared a very important quirk--we'd drop everything when the other called and "go for coffee." We'd dump everything on each other that we figured our husbands didn't want to hear.

Although our age difference isn't significant--particularly at our current ages--her parents were about 20 years older than mine. I listened carefully as she worked her way through the "sandwich" generation stage. I was well prepared for what was to come. Although my parents lived to an older age than hers, I learned a lot by what happened to my friend. The same with schools and our children. I learned from her about negotiating nursery schools, elementary teachers, high school cliques, and college sororities--it was really comforting to have a pathfinder as a friend.

She also moved in different social circles. Actually, I hardly moved at all, truth be known, and really didn't care that much. I'd always liked having one or two really close friends. She cared deeply about social position and status in the community. So I listened and learned--about fashion trends, popular themes in home decor, and investment ideas--even technology. The very first VCR I ever saw was in her home. ("What would you do with it?" I whispered.) She belongs to an investment club, her college sorority alumnae group, and several women's clubs, one of which is over 100 years old. She's traveled more than I can even dream about--China, Russia, Europe, South America. When her children have had jobs in interesting cities like New York, DC, Seattle, Denver, San Francisco and Knoxville, I've listened patiently all these many years about her visits and their activities. Perhaps I was just a bit smug that my own daughter works two miles from here and can stop by for lunch. She's had season tickets for the various musical and sporting events around the city, so I keep up on what's going on around town--by listening, but not sharing in the seats.

However, there was a tiny crack developing, and as I look back I think it is because of our positions within our original families. I am the third of four siblings and am accustomed to jostling for attention and space, to arguing, to "kiss and make-up" discussions. She is an only child. This means she has a sense of entitlement that is totally foreign to me. Eldest children in larger families have this too--it is not confined to "onlies." They are completely unaware of their behavior, and will deny it if you point it out. So this meant that if she decided against discussing a topic, that was it. Done deal. Finished. Sometimes I wouldn't catch on--I'd continue rambling on, and then she'd say louder and more firmly, like a school teacher talking down to a child, "We're not going to argue about this any further, Norma." I was usually caught short since I hadn't been aware we were arguing. She had her opinion; I had mine. Or that's what I thought. I let it slide--just let her be "boss," because I enjoyed her company, she was well-read, intelligent, and cared about many of things I cared about.

After about 25 years of being the "little sister" to a woman who never had a sister, I began to rebel in the only way I knew how. I stopped calling. The alpha-female usually doesn't do the calling, so the effect of this was we saw a lot less of each other. Instead of getting together once or twice a week, we get together several times a year. We're doing lunch today and I'll listen and nod and smile--I can turn off my mouth for 30-40 minutes, especially when it is filled with food. I'll feel sad because I really miss her. And for the first time in 30 years, I had to look up her phone number.

366 What Librarians do when they get together

The American Library Association (ALA) claims it represents 64,000 members, many of them librarians, but as the name implies, it isn’t an association of librarians, but of libraries. What it really needs is a taxpayers’ action group, TAG (not TAGS, which is an ALA group to teach teen-agers how to be political activists), to put its bloated bureaucracy that lives on alphabet soup on a diet.

I never joined ALA, because even in 1966, it was beyond the pale for me, then a liberal Democrat. Soon they, or it, will be meeting in Orlando, Florida, world of fantasy and make believe, where librarians will meet to pretend that our society will some day pay them what they are worth if they make everyone else's business their own.

I shouldn't poke fun. Disney World is lots of fun, even for librarians. So therefore it is appropriate that . . .

“Fahrenheit 9/11 will be shown at ALA in the Auditorium at the Convention Center, Sunday night, June 27, at 10 pm, two days after it opens nationwide. There will be a $10 donation that will go to ALA's efforts in the areas of the First Amendment, Intellectual Freedom, and the struggle against the USA PATRIOT Act.”

Also, the GODORT (government documents) folks will be fussing about access to government information considering current security concerns, and

The Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgendered people will be protecting and pushing gay books for children and

The AILA (American Indian) will be honoring their elders and tracing their roots and

CALA (Chinese American) is establishing sister relationships with libraries in China, Australia, and other countries, but seem to only be a support group organized by ethnicity, and

SRRT (Social Responsibilities) is supposed to working to make ALA more democratic, but that is a huge joke because they are so left wing democracy is an endangered species needing protection and should be on the environmentalism sub-committee, and

The Ethics Committee, which says it distinguishes between personal convictions and professional responsibilities, has a special sub-group (its only sub-group) on Ethnic and Multicultural Information that has an extremely long set of by-laws and list of committees, but no accomplishments listed and

The Literacy group, which has an expanded vision for library users which includes technology and information needs as well as reading, has a web site that doesn’t work, and

ANSS (I wonder how they pronounce that) is the Anthropology and Sociology Section which seems to be doing library stuff like bibliographies and indexing rather than lobbying about social issues, as the name might suggest, and

The Black Caucus is all caught up in the Brown issues.

365 Dump and Run Sale

Ton of cast offs--that's what OSU students have left in 25 dormitories. To keep it out of landfills and to raise money for several charities, volunteers are gathering the junk into bins for recycling and sales.

There is enough clothing to fill a Good Will store, including a size 40DD bra with the tags still on it, according to the Columbus Dispatch June 18. There are similar sales at other colleges.

I wonder if parents know how much of the "gotta have this" stuff ends up sold for junk or charity? Whatever. It is still a good plan and I'm glad to see the young volunteers taking this seriously.

364 A tribute to a mentor

I certainly didn’t become a librarian because of Miss Coblentz. When I first met her, she seemed rather stoney-faced, mousey and plain, with an unattractive voice and demeanor. I have no idea how old she was--I turned 18 that fall, so anyone over 30 appeared up in years. But she was definitely older than my rather elderly, 45-year old parents, who were so ancient they could remember the bells tolling at the end of World War I!

My first job in the Manchester College Library was something she considered very important--shelf reading. She believed tidy, well-placed books helped my fellow students find what they needed. Imagine that! I think the job included dusting. From shelving tasks which gave me a sense of subject arrangement, I moved “up” to helping at the circulation desk, something I‘d learned in the public library of my home town, and from there I received the rather favored job of helping in Miss Coblentz’s office writing classification numbers on books with a stylus and sheet of white marking paper. I may be one of the select few in the world who can appreciate and understand the Cutter system, and with effort, I can still do a pretty good imitation of a well-placed Dewey number.

This technical services student job provided an opportunity to take an occasional trip to the bindery, and also an opportunity to meet and know the other “adult” staff. I was invited to Miss Coblentz’s home, which was a wonderful, large gracious early 20th century home on North Wayne within walking distance of the campus. Miss Coblentz had holiday teas for her student staff--and being typical teen-agers who never had enough to eat, we really loved that. Over time, I came to see her kindness, scholarship and skill--and even if I didn’t appreciate it when I was 18, I certainly do now because isn‘t hindsight 20/20?

Memorable moments with Miss Coblentz. My boyfriend was attending the University of Illinois (where I transferred and graduated). I decided I wanted to send him a package of Rice Krispies squares--the kind made with rice cereal, butter, and melted marshmallows mixed in a very large bowl. My roommate, Jo-Ella, and I were pretty good about building a stash of the small containers of cereal, but managing the rest of the task was beyond what we could do in our dorm room with a hot plate. Miss Coblentz to the rescue. She let me use her kitchen and utensils to create this magnificent treat for the boyfriend of her silly employee. She even attempted to teach me to needlepoint--something that gave her much pleasure and covered her dining room chair seats, but I never had the patience or interest (still don’t).

After I left Manchester at the end of my freshman year, we corresponded on holidays, and I sent her an invitation to my wedding, notice of my graduation later, and the birth of my first child. My memory is fuzzy here, but I think she knew I went back for my MLS later and became a librarian. She probably thought she had a hand in that career choice. Imagine that.

Update: I contacted the current librarian, Robin J. Grantz, who wrote:

"In my own 15 years as library director at MC, I’ve come to admire all the things she accomplished. Chief among them was her wonderful planning for this 1966 building, which we renovated in 1999. So many things were done well in the original plan, and I’m sure she never received the credit she deserved. I’m passing your blog on to the library staff, who continue to supervise a wonderful group of student assistants.

Ruth Coblentz (Manchester BA ’27), came as “Chief Librarian” in 1945. She served until 1970, all of the years in that position, except for 1957 and the last year, when she was cataloging librarian. She died in 1994."

(Note: if you google “Ruth Coblentz” you’ll find that she had a mentor at Manchester who influenced her and many others to become librarians.)

363 Abu Ghraib prison video

Abu Ghraib prison video was shown for the benefit of journalists by the American Enterprise Institute, but most didn’t take advantage of the opportunity and those who did got ill and had to leave. Of course, it was video of when Saddam Hussein's thugs ruled the prison and limbs and tongues and fingers were being chopped off.

Why does the press harp on American abuses and ignore Saddam's? Deborah Orin, a reporter who did attend the showing quotes AEI's Michael Ledeen as saying it's because most journalists "want Bush to lose."
Reported by James Taranto at Best of the Web.

362 The big book shift--pt. 2, Getting ready for the painter

Today I set up temporary shelving in my garage so my office can be painted sometime in July. I had a minimum of 30 ft of books to relocate, and another 12 ft of miscellaneous (photos, collectibles, audio gear, TV, paper supplies, and magazines). I figured I had about 26 ft of useable space in the garage, by clearing counter tops of garden tools, empty boxes, kitty litter, etc. and setting up folding chairs to hold 10 ft of boards. However, by using my Illios (yearbooks from the University of Illinois) and a board, I was able to create extra shelving and fit all the books on top of the counter and didn't need the chairs. I cleared out one lower cabinet for magazines.

I found many interesting things that caused me to stop my work and sit down, which is good, because with A-fib, the heart rate goes crazy with lifting and changing positions.

A letter from my sister Carol written for my 16th birthday when she was 18 and in Brethren Volunteer Service training in Maryland.

A really interesting book by Luther Mott on American best-selling authors, including an item about Harold Bell Wright, whose book That Printer of Udell's, influenced Ronald Reagan.

A really wonderful article on the name of Jesus as " The Lamb" which will really help in the dedication of our two new paintings purchased for church.

Various certificates of perfect attendance.

A lot of outdated financial stuff I'll need to work through.

A package of ink cartridges for my HP 5550 that I'd forgotten I had.

Having lived for 34 years in a house with no attic or basement, I learned how to weed, winnow and remove anything not needed. But once we moved here, with lots of built in storage for books and an attic over the garage, I just lost all that good training.

My daughter is having a garage sale this coming week-end, and maybe I can find a home for 40 yards of drapery fabric.

361 Mixed metaphor

"We had hybrid cabbage, but cauliflower is a different kettle of fish," said Dickson, who retired in 1995. "If you don't have the right parents, you don't necessarily get a nice color, you get a pale, pukey color." Story here.

360 How it played out in 1957

Erin Moriarity of CBS News is the graduation speaker for 7,000+ graduates at The Ohio State University today. In 1957, Ronald Reagan spoke to the graduates of Eureka College in Illinois. I reviewed that speech today and was amazed at how "right on" he was, even then. In 1957, I don't think anyone thought he was too special--sure, he was a graduate who had made good, but his movie career was over and he was a spokesman for General Electric Theater on TV. He reminded the class of 1957 that when he was a student there in the Depression, the teachers often went without pay, and most of the students were poor. And even in 1957, he sounded like the President he became:

Now today as you prepare to leave your Alma Mater, you go into a world in which, due to our carelessness and apathy, a great many of our freedoms have been lost. It isn't that an outside enemy has taken them. It's just that there is something inherent in government which makes it, when it isn't controlled, continue to grow. So today for every seven of us sitting here in this lovely outdoor theater, there is one public servant, and 31 cents of every dollar earned in America goes in taxes. To support the multitudinous and gigantic functions of government, taxation is levied which tends to dry up the very sources of contributions and donations to colleges like Eureka. So in this time of prosperity we find these church schools, these small independent colleges and even the larger universities, hard put to maintain themselves and to continue doing the job they have done so unselfishly and well for all these years. Observe the contrast between these small church colleges and our government, because, as I have said before, these have always given far more than was ever given to them in return.

359 Saturday clean-up--pt.1 Getting ready for the painter

When painters paint, they need to be able to get to the walls, ceilings and closets. This means emptying a room. So today I've been trying to find spaces to store the contents of the guest room. I just can't believe that after three years I am still debating about what to do with the gay guys drapes! They had wonderful, expensive, Architectural Digest taste. I'm sure it would look great in a Budapest Hotel (I heard they won an award for that one), but we are beige people, with touches of taupe or cream. Feeling wild or crazy, I might add a touch of moss green or French blue.

And then there are the shirts I'm hiding from my husband which should have made the trip out the door in the Kidney Foundation sack some time ago. I selected three as work shirts and took them to his office. "See these," I said. "They are either worn out, ugly as sin, or they make you look dead." "Oh no," he exclaimed, "my favorites." "So don't you dare drag them back upstairs," I warned.

I had an empty shelf (top) in my closet which I can't comfortably reach. I climbed up--Whew! Really dusty. So I cleaned that off and am stashing the new Martha Stewart bedding (for the after-the-painter unveiling) up there. I still have to find homes for all the Christmas decorations, extra paintings that didn't fit in the other storage areas, and the hat, gloves and shoes I wore on my wedding trip.

I plan to use my parents' bedroom set in this room, half of which is at our lake house. Then I need to decide if the double bed will fit up there with the dresser I can't bear to give up (my daughter's nursery furniture). In my mind's eye, it looks fabulous, but through my glasses, it sure is a mess.

+ + +

I made up a pie recipe yesterday--tastes pretty good on a hot day. We went out to eat with our daughter last night and then had dessert here.

Peach Fluff Pie

Crust: Keebler shortbread crust

Filling:

Peel and slice about 4 or 5 ripe peaches, cook over low heat in 2 T. margarine and 2 T. orange juice until soft. Mash and add 1/4 t. vanilla. Set aside to cool.

Small (.3 oz) pkg. Sugar free orange Jell-o, dissolved in 1/2 C. boiling water. Refrigerate until it starts to set.

Stir in 1 1/2 C fat free sour cream.

Stir in the cooled, cooked fruit.

Pour into pie crust and refrigerate.

I added some Cool Whip, just because I had some on hand, which fluffs it up a bit.

This would taste more "peachy" if you used peach jello, but it doesn't come in sugar free. You could probably use lemon, but I liked the color.

Serves 6

358 Ban the Butts in Columbus

One of the reasons I gave up on the Democrats (a small reason--the big one was you can't be a pro-life Democrat) is that nothing I worked or voted for or supported over 40 years was ever enough for them. Take smoking, for example. I hate it.

We had a white couch for 13 years. We gave it to our son about a year ago--now it is a pale yellow ochre. I shudder to think what his lungs must look like. And I'm thrilled that store clerks and library staff no longer blow smoke in my face while serving me (yes, Ohio State University Libraries staff used to be allowed to smoke in public service areas, not just in offices and cubicles.) I'm glad I can go to a restaurant and not hang my clothes in the garage before returning them to the closet.

But enough is enough my clean air friends and advocates. It's pointless to protest the most recent proposed bans on ALL indoor smoking, or smoking within 20 ft. of a non-smoking establishment. They will eventually want 50 ft. then 20 miles. And the fines and the supervision by police already stretched--$750 for a third violation, will only grow.

How do I know Democrats are behind Columbus' draconian smoking ban? Their footprints are all over it. Take an issue no one can disagree with--cleaner air, safer automobiles, better schools, higher minimum wage, safer streets, better welfare for lab beagles, improved skills for minorities and women and then rachet up the goal, keep it ever moving upward so that those comparative terms, the ones with the -er endings, must grow to superlative endings, the ones with the -est endings.

These folks will never stop. It is a religion. I don't know who their diety is, but I know the name of their devil. Personal Responsibility.

And soon they'll want my fat. Are these folks obsessed with butts?

357 Miscellaneous musings

A national holiday--we have the Farewell to President Reagan on--playing the Navy hymn (Melita) as the casket goes by "Glad hymns of praise from land and sea" or "On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand" as we sing in church. President or pauper, that is all we have in the end.

Trying to install drapery rods today. I think we're too old for this. Two ladders, two people.

I switched printers here again. The HP LaserJet 4L has come home and the HP 722C will go to the Lakehouse. Crawling around under the desk looking for cords to disconnect from surge protector, and then lying on the floor half in the bathroom to disconnect and reconnect from the CPU. Like trying to untangle spaghetti. I KNOW I'm too old for this.

More rain today. My artificial lilies and pansies are holding up well. Haven't faded and don't droop.

356 Have you seen Eight Little Indians?

The next time you’re in a public library take a look to see if it has "Eight Little Indians" by Josephine Lovell, illustrated by Roger Vernam, published by Platt & Munk Co., Inc. 1935-36. Other than finding some for sale on the internet, I've been able to find nothing about either the author or the illustrator. I'm beginning to wonder if they are pseudonyms.

I must have read this book 100 times when I was little--it belonged to my sister, Carol. I was crazy about the horse pictures and tried to imitate some of the activities I read about, like creating pottery.

About 10 years ago I found 2 or 3 of the chapters at an antique store, but in rather poor condition, which made me realize the chapters had been published separately, before appearing in book form. Even so, I bought them.

Wednesday I had an urge to go to the Acorn Used Book Store. Instead of first browsing the Ohioiana and children's books like I usually do, I went to the art books. Piled next to them were a stack of these small 10 page, beautifully illustrated books.

I bought the 8 Indian stories, and left the rest (all in mint condition), so obviously Platt & Munk and Roger Vernam had done others. Lovell's name doesn't appear on any of the individual titles (Watlala, an Indian of the Northwest; Gray Bird, a little Plains Indian; Winona, a little Indian of the prairies; Micco, a Seminole Indian boy; Nigalek, a little Eskimo boy; Antelope, a Navaho Indian boy; Morning Star, a little Pueblo girl; and Leaping Trout, a little Iroquois boy.

I would sure like to know something about the author and illustrator.

355 Partisanship in the news

Partisanship is in the eye of the beholder and Peter Johnson of USAToday doesn't see his own. If we were talking splinters and planks here the way the Bible does, he'd be writing in Braille.

Today (June 9) he reports that Fox cable news is partisan because 52% of its viewers consider themselves to be conservatives, compared to 36% of CNN viewers.

But that would make 48% of Fox liberal (or some mix), and 64% of CNN liberal (or some mix), and he doesn't say CNN is liberal, only that Fox is conservative. The audience is certainly more balanced at Fox, even if the news isn't.

I think the figures came from a Pew study, however, Editor and Publisher website presents a different set of statistics also from that study, so who knows?

Political Slogans

I heard a political slogan on the radio today, a joke I assume, that went something like, "George W. Bush wants to buy your vote by doing good things for the country. Don't be fooled."

Also, heard comments on the PBS coverage of the Reagan years which apparently had some footage of protesters and pols after Reagan's get tough, evil empire speeches. The commentator said that if you put Kerry's face on Mondale, who was saying we needed to cooperate with other countries and negotiate, they would have been interchangeable. Also the protestors gathering in Washington appeared to be the same folks as today. Maybe they are.

354 Have you ever read the fine print?

I saw a newsletter (free) on a topic (could be anything--travel, horses, genealogy, publishing) that looked interesting. Now, I know these sites are only fronts for advertising--they provide free information on the internet or sent to my mail box, in order to collect readers, who will then click on ads, and the website receives a return on its investment. It is really just a modern magazine, which for a hundred years has been articles wrapped in advertising for subscribers whose names were freely sold to other advertisers.

Here’s the deal:

It wants my name, e-mail address, some demographics, etc. and recommends I read the disclaimer.

First it assures me that my privacy is very important to this company, and then goes on to explain how very unprivate all this is.

It doesn’t collect identifiable information unless I provide it (by subscribing).

It won’t sell or rent my information to a 3rd party.

It will only use my information to notify me of updates and for marketing purposes (that’s really pretty broad).

It isn’t responsible for the policies of websites to which it links.

It doesn’t use cookies to recognize visitors (but if I’m a subscriber, I assume I’m not a visitor?)

It will assist me by providing on-line shopping opportunities and advertising related to the information I’m reading about.

It will share aggregated research data, such as a my domain name and the Web site pages I have visited with advertisers or business partners.

Now here’s the big one:

as a general rule, it will not disclose any of my personally-identifiable information other than as set forth above except

when I specifically grant permission (like if I forget to check off not to share it) or

if it is required, such as when there is a good faith belief that the law requires it. It is that phrase, “as a general rule,” that sounds a bit squishy to me.

Advertisers or Web sites that have links to this newsletter’s web site may collect personally identifiable information about me. The information practices of the Web sites linked to this newsletter are not covered by its privacy policy.

If I make a purchase from a merchant or service provider listed on its Web site, the information obtained during my visit to the merchant or service provider's Web site - including tracking information, cookies and credit card number and contact information - is provided so that the purchase transaction may occur. Each merchant or service provider has a separate privacy and information collection practice.

There is a hosting company (unidentified) that protects the data about me that this company has collected.

I think the final statement is something about the above not being legal advice.

Everyday we give away our privacy, which is why I'm not too worried about the Patriot Act. We HAVE no private information. We gave it all away when we became enamored with the internet.

353 Curb service

Sunday I was sitting by the window at Caribou about 7 a.m. and a 15 passenger van drove up from Holiday Inn on Lane Ave. (across the street from Ohio State University). There was one passenger and she hopped out, came inside, got a latte, got back in the van and they left. That hotel has a coffee shop and hosts a lot of conferences, so apparently she just had to have Caribou (would have passed a Starbucks on the way). She didn't leave her bag in the van, and carried it inside. I was happy to see it was full of books and not a computer. I thought perhaps she was on her way to the Memorial Tournament (in Dublin), but it looked as though the van was going back east rather than north. Probably a rich librarian (an oxymoron).

351 Government (state) run amok

My husband paints barns (watercolor). He'll slam on the brakes, whip out his camera, and jump out of the car for a "Mail Pouch" barn tucked into a hillside with a little fog rising. The State of Ohio wants to tax the owners of such barns as outdoor advertising. The Office of Contract Sales, Ohio Department of Transportation, will actually waste our tax dollars driving around Ohio's rural roads looking for non-compliant barns--supposedly it generates $1.375 million for ODOT. But it infuriates photographers, painters, and horse owners. These barns probably bring tourists to the area.

ODOT needs to go after those kids blocking streets with their lemon-aid stands. Kerry Yoakum of Office of Contract Sales, shame on you!

350 Rice on D-Day and Reagan

"It's been really so touching. I've seen these elderly gentlemen here, some of them in wheelchairs, some of them barely able to stand, but still determined to salute the flag. And I just have an image in my mind of these young men who sat there, about to cross onto these beaches and about to meet enemy fire. I can't even imagine what it was like.

And it just reminds us, and these crosses and Stars of David behind us remind us the price of the sacrifice for freedom. It reminds us that nothing of value is ever won without sacrifice, that liberty has to be defended.

It comes, as you said, at the same time that we've lost Ronald Reagan, one of the great battlers for freedom. . . I was a young Soviet specialist when he had the confidence, the nerve really, to say that communism would end up on the ash heap of history. At that time, it seemed pretty unlikely. It must have seemed pretty unlikely that this Normandy landing was actually going to succeed and end up overthrowing Adolf Hitler. But when people who are committed to liberty set their minds to it, they can do a lot."

Dr. Condoleezza Rice, National Security Advisor, with Chris Wallace on FoxTV interview, June 6, 2004

349 Summers at Camp Emmaus in Northern Illinois

Today I received the newsletter from the Mt. Morris Church of the Brethren where I was baptized and married, and it included a registration form for Camp Emmaus, the camp for the Northern Illinois and Wisconsin district of that denomination. That really brought back the memories--of homesickness, of being a camper in the cabins, of crafts, singing, campfires, bugs in the food, of working as an assistant cook, of being a junior camp counselor, and of climbing the fence to check on my horse which was boarded at the farm next door. I recall the sights and smells and sounds that only are experienced deep in the woods of northern Illinois--cedar, pine, maple, ash, oak of many varieties, elm, linden, poplar, and walnut dropping piles of decaying leaves and numerous shrubs with sharp points if you get too far off the path.

The mother of one of my best friends, Ada Masterson Thomas, wrote a history of Camp Emmaus in 1979 (1), and the introduction is by Carl E. Myers, the minister who married us, formerly the minister of the Mt. Morris Church of the Brethren. Mrs. Thomas, and her husband Grover, were both wonderful writers who compiled a lot of local history, he for the town newspaper and she for the church and organizations. She reports that the churches of the denomination in the 1940s had rented camp sites for its children, but proposed to find a site it could develop for God’s work with children. First the committee looked at a 160 acre farm 10 miles from Mt. Morris, but the price per acre was too high. Then Robert Fridley, a lay leader in the Mt. Morris church offered 67 acres to which he would retain some pasturing and timber rights within his lifetime. So in 1946 the dream of a camp began 3 miles from Mt. Morris in Ogle County. The Fridley land was part of the original Maryland settlement of northern Illinois of the 1830s.

As I look through Ada’s careful history I see many names that even after 50 years, I recognize--Foster Statler who baptized me, Vernon Hohnadel, a neighbor, Orion Stover whose children went to college where I attended, Earl Buck, a layman from Franklin Grove Church where my grandparents attended, Forest Kinsey who was my junior high Sunday school teacher, Kenny Zellers from my home church, Evan Kinsley, my high school principal and Latin teacher and John Dickson, my uncle.

Twenty seven churches sent 125 members to Mt. Morris to launch a campaign to raise money in 1947. By August 1948, 9,000 man-hours of labor had been donated, and the electricity was turned on and cabins were being built. The first camp of 1948 was lively teen-agers and they all had work assignments which included clearing brush, making paths, painting, and grading a ball field. By 1949 there were 8 cabins and I was attending camp there in 1950, staying in the original small lodge where meals were prepared, and becoming violently ill from extreme homesickness. Fees were $10.50 a week and there was an official list of acceptable clothing which included pedal pushers, slacks, and jeans. Today’s 2004 recommendations are: bedding, Bible, personal items, flashlight, long pants, swim suits, and towels, and fees are still a very reasonable $138.

A new lodge was built in 1951, and one of my earliest memories of it was sitting down for dinner one day in July 1953 and seeing the note on the blackboard, “Give thanks. The Korean War is Over.” The lower level which was the kitchen and dining room was a walk-out with a large fire place at the end. Food seemed to be plentiful with a “runner” assigned to each table to get seconds and extra milk.

A lake was created and later a swimming pool, which opened in 1954. A manager’s home was built near the camp entrance, and I believe my brother and his family lived there for awhile in 1965 when he was the camp manager. The current camp manager, Bill Hare, was one of my camp mates back in the 1950s.

I’m so happy to see that children are still enjoying the opportunity to enjoy the beauty of Camp Emmaus. For photos of the 2003 season, look here.

1. Thomas, Ada Masterson, comp. The founding and development of Camp Emmaus. [Mt. Morris, IL, 1979]. This book contains a list of the original 1948 teen-age campers and their leaders, an appendix of the known plants, and a natural history of the area.

348 I feel like such a slug

On the internet, it is easy to forget how you got to a particular blog or website, but just now I bumped into "All my light bulbs". The author is recovering from brain surgery and posted a list of 11 things she wanted to accomplish while recuperating. They run the gamut from learning Italian, to reading Rule of Four (I think that's how I wandered into her space looking at reviews of that book), to finishing some crochet projects (I haven't crocheted since I was 8) to writing an inspirational book about her experience.

347 He said, She said

The June 1 New York Times reported that Katherine L. Milkman, a senior at Princeton, used mathematical models in her senior thesis to analyze the fiction in The New Yorker. She read “442 stories printed in The New Yorker from Oct. 5, 1992, to Sept. 17, 2001, and built a substantial database. She then constructed a series of rococo mathematical tests to discern, among other things, whether certain fiction editors at the magazine had a specific impact on the type of fiction that was published, the sex of authors and the race of characters. The study was long on statistics and short on epiphanies: one main conclusion was that male editors generally publish male authors who write about male characters who are supported by female characters.” Full story here(requires registration).

I thought this was very interesting, considering my recent rant about how unhappy I am with my subscription to The New Yorker. I don't know how to do statistical analysis but I've noticed the different writing styles in the investment & markets section of the Wall Street Journal between women and men and the stories they are assigned. The males writers are much more idiomatic, particularly in the opening paragraphs, using idioms from gambling, agriculture, sports, horse racing and betting, war, and violence, and the women write much more straight forward, factual pieces. I have no idea why, except I would assume women don't use those idioms in normal, everyday speech, and therefore their writing style is less interesting to men, who are probably the editors assigning the tasks, and the majority of the readers. The idioms give the male style a more gossipy, tipster tone; the female style is sort of dull and school-marmish.

Male writer
“making with big bets”
“ramping up”
“capture a bigger share”
“grease the palms”
“stream of abuses”
“money on the table”
“raising their game”
“blowout data”
“exit velocity”
“road show meeting”
“bidding war”
“bit the bullet”
“took the reins”
“pushing costs down, not a slope, but over a cliff”
Stocks and markets, of course, rebound, boost, rally, plunge, surge, retreat, advance and weaken

Female writer
straight forward, non-idiomatic language
Uses idioms in quotes, usually from men

Male and Female co-authors
some idioms, but non-typical
“dipped into the talent pool”

I'm sure someone has written a senior thesis on this topic, analyzing a huge amount of data and comes to the same conclusion I have.

346 Don't leave the house!

When I got ready to scrape wallpaper today, I decided that instead of my 23 year old cotton slacks and a mismatched $1 t-shirt, I'd wear one of my exercise outfits--a brilliant red, fuscia, orange and lime green stretchy pair of capri pants and a red polo shirt. My, I look fine. And the work is much, much easier. But my husband suggested that I not leave the house.

If I hang on to those cotton slacks another 7 years, maybe I can sell them at Rusty Zipper.

345 Back to the Drawing Board

We finally got an estimate on painting my office, half-bath, and the guest room--over $3,800! When I recovered from the shock, I began looking for another estimate. Our deceased neighbor's daughter stopped by to inquire about something, and I knew they had removed wallpaper and painted the condo to put it on the market. She gave me the name of the painter who they were quite pleased with, so I've given him a call and will get another estimate. In the meanwhile, I've started stripping the wallpaper in the office. He mentioned that he would charge $20/hour for that task, so since I have enough talent to pull wallpaper from the wall, I thought I could at lease get started on that. Also, it will give him an idea of the repair that will need to be done.

When we purchased our condo, the office was the lightest, cheeriest room in the house because all the other rooms were so dark. Now that we've lightened up the rest of it, this room looks awfully dark. Taking out all the books and moving the desk will definitely be no fun.

I put a CD on while working, "The Good Life" by Max McLean. He has a voice of silk dipped in honey. I usually don't find audio versions of scripture very satisfying because after a few paragraphs the words all sound alike, but he is different. Listen here for a minute or three.

344 Home Again

The Lake was cool and rainy, but with just enough sun that my husband successfully painted our cottage. The man amazes me--he has a plan, he does it. This is the fourth time since we purchased it in the late 80s that he has painted our "mauveless" cottage.

I too had a plan--packed all my watercolor supplies, even bought a fresh role of masking tape, several issues of American Artist, and never even unpacked the bag. On Friday and Saturday I visited all the yard sales--there must have been 20 or so within walking distance of our house.

The children at Lakeside seem to grow up like frames in time lapse photography. We see them only a few weeks of the summer. The toddlers we saw the summer of 1988 (seems like yesterday) walking to the kiddie pool with their mom, are now in college and bringing girlfriends along. But some of the elderly seem to never change--just move slightly slower. Our neighbor Les has been a retired Methodist minister the entire time we've known him, and is still playing golf and acting as a supply preacher from time to time, marrying and burying.

We had the opportunity to meet and have breakfast with the photographer, Rob Karosis, who was in town to photograph one of my husband's house designs, "The Healthy House," which will be in a forthcoming book by M. Caren Connolly and Louis Wasserman, architects and authors of books about houses. He will probably take the rest of the year to photograph all the houses (I think the focus is on vacation cottages built recently) so I wouldn't expect the new book until 2005.

The opening program Saturday evening at the auditorium was Sounds of Sousa, always fun, but we left at intermission--it had been a long day.

343 The Failures of PBS's Colonial House

After Jeff Wyers and his family left the village, there wasn't much point in watching, since he seemed to be the only one who really caught the flavor of the 17th century life. Thank goodness for Jack Lecza, the treasurer sent by the venture capitalists, or the colony would have imploded. But I stayed with it--perhaps the only reality show I've ever watched with any interest.

It was so frustrating to see what was filmed and talked about, and know what wasn't. I would have much preferred to see a more complete routine of how hard the women worked to prepare meals than to hear the constant whining of Michelle Rossi-Vorhees. I'm sure she would have been much more impressive as a hard working provider than a pouting church/state activist. If she knew she was an atheist, or agnostic, before hand, why sign up for a religious settlement where you've agreed to abide by the rules?

I would have liked to see what the indentured servant Jonathon actually did to earn back his financed passage, rather than hear about his 21st century homosexuality which just had to be blathered about to millions of watchers who really didn't care. Would you take your young children to a public meeting to hear that? Probably not. But that was his coming out party--the Sabbath Meeting of the colony. How phoney and self-aggrandizing. And how manipulative of PBS.

And in the summary, post-colony scenes, why not more information on the families and servants who arrived as replacements, like the Verdecia family? One shot of people stepping into the shower would have been sufficient.

The voice-over lady. Where did she get her facts? Off a web site built by a junior high school social studies class? It isn't true there were no free blacks in 17th century America. It isn't true that 10,000,000 Africans were enslaved in America (no one knows how many were captured in Africa, shipped and died en route, but overwhelmingly they arrived in the islands and South America to work in sugar plantations). If 90% of all Native Americans died of diseases brought by the Europeans, I don't think there would have been enough left to trade with or fight with.

I'm sure the group who lived this six weeks in Maine with no modern conveniences learned something. I just wish the rest of us could have been let in on the fun.

One comment about the women's appearance: they looked terrific, dirty or not, during the filming and their complexions bloomed. They looked so artificial in the post-production scenes covered with make-up.

342 Two of Too

Two top people are leaving Too Inc. according to today's paper (this is almost a tongue twister). The usual "family issues" are cited as the reason, but an analyst suggests that the anticipated turn around was slower than expected. Too Inc. is a spin off of Limited Brands which also owns Victoria's Secret, but the products are marketed to little girls.

Maybe the guys' daughters were growing up and they took a look at what they were selling to little girls so they could dress and look as trampy as their older sisters. Wouldn't it be wonderful if the "family issue" was an attack of old fashioned modesty and morality?

341 Bill Cosby's Comments

I couldn't have made it through my children's teen-age years without the TV Huxtable family, the pediatrician and lawyer raising five kids and later, some grand children. I still love them on Nick at Night.

Now Bill Cosby's in trouble with the media and some Black organizations for pointing out some obvious failures in the Black community in the post Brown vs. Board of Education world. Shoot the messenger; it wouldn't be the first time.

However, I think Bill should come to my neighborhood and get an earful and eyeful of the white middleclass students I overhear in the mornings at Panera's. They have difficulty making it through a brief sentence without numerous inputs of "like." Like I don't know like how they can like even like keep track of like what's like going on. I think it is a new form of stuttering.

340 The father?

OSUToday, May 21, reports that Ohio State University is starting a vacation donation plan whereby employees can donate some of their leave to others. This had been possible for sick leave for some time. And it makes sense because vacation leave maxes out at a certain number of days and if you don't take it, you lose it. But the wording about fathers is certainly odd:

The vacation donation program, which will go into effect on June 1, will allow faculty and staff to donate vacation hours to other employees within their colleges or vice presidential units. The hours may be used during approved unpaid leaves for reasons such as life-threatening or terminal illnesses. . . The benefit will provide birth mothers with six weeks of full pay and biological fathers, partners and adoptive parents three weeks of full pay.

It sounds as though if the unmarried, or married, birth mother or adoptive mother, knows who the biological dad is, he gets 3 weeks of full pay. No word on whether or not he is doing any hands-on fathering, other than donating sperm. And although I assume this is for bonding to benefit the child, the adoptive mother gets only 3 weeks, but the birth mother gets 6. Call me crazy, but it is the adoptive mother who needs a little extra time for the bonding process, unless 2 years of fertility testing, paper work, trips to Russia and run arounds by birth mothers advertising in the want-ads are considered part of the bonding experience. And what about the birth mother who placed the baby for adoption? Can she get 6 weeks of donated vacation time to recover physically and emotionally? I hope they've worded this very carefully, because the news item certainly has loop-holes.

339 Did these interviews and conversations really happen

or is it the author’s way to get her message out? Peggy Noonan in a Wall Street Journal article May 20 (here with free sign-up) records a conversation with a suburban, female fence sitter--sometimes she votes Republican, sometimes Democrat, and she appears to be luke-warm on Dubya. This voter, whom Noonan calls Anna, was very influenced by the era in which she became an adult--when Vietnam protests were flooding the news. She doesn’t believe any war is worthwhile, unless maybe the enemy were invading Long Island, then perhaps we should fight. (I’m thinking, Are there voters that naïve?) I don’t know. Perhaps there was a real conversation, or perhaps Noonan has created a composite to get her point across. I learned at a recent writer’s conference that this is not considered unethical in memoir and non-fiction writing.

Based on Anna’s politics, which include musings on her adult children and grandchildren, Ms. Noonan concludes:

“If I were George W. Bush I might be thinking that down the road but not too far down, it might be a good idea to start making clear two things. One, why I am indispensable--a delicate thing to communicate, but something re-elected incumbents always have to get across sooner or later. "I am leading us in the right direction and my work is just begun." And the other is to make the case that a Kerry presidency would not be a lunge toward greater stability, that it would not be a "return to normalcy," that Mr. Kerry wouldn't right things but make them worse, bringing more trouble.

A one-two punch: If you stand with me, I'll get the peace and prosperity we seek; and if you go for him it will make the world less safe and the country less healthy.”

Couldn’t she find a Republican to interview who wants George W. Bush to return to traditional conservative, fiscally responsible policies instead of spending money like a drunken Democrat? That might make some waffling Republicans take notice. After all, I have opinions about my neighborhood and my adult children she could work into the story.

338 Good-bye Lennie

I watched the final episode of Law and Order Wednesday night, the episode in which Detective Lennie Briscoe (Jerry Orbach) says good-bye and leaves his position at the 27th precinct (and the show). It may be the only episode I’ve ever seen first run, even though we’ve been watching reruns about 10 years. He’s been on the show 12 of the 14 years. After 12 years of service, I think they could have written a better story about his retirement. When I retired, I had 5 parties. I’m not exactly addicted to Law and Order, but I think I average one a day.

337 Co-ed military

Even if you wouldn’t usually read Cal Thomas, his May 18 column is worth taking a look at in light of recent break down in authority in Iraq.

I was a little puzzled however, by Thomas’ recollection of his years in the military in the 1960s. He says he didn’t see alcoholism or adultery in his unit, and the one incident he heard about resulted in a court marshall.

My father was a Marine in the 1940s, and I know from the letters he wrote home he was distressed over the terrible behavior of some of his comrades, many of whom were 15 years younger than him, but married. There are probably many reasons not to have women and men sharing quarters in the military, but the former stellar behavior of male soldiers isn’t one of them

336 Kerry or Bush--who's misquoted the most?

On my blogroll, I link to The Volokh Conspiracy, a group blog of 13 lawyers. Eugene Volokh is a professor at UCLA School of Law. I looked back and see the index goes back to April 2002, where I found this, "ETYMOLOGY. Little-known fact: The word "politics" comes from the prefix "poly-," meaning "many," and the root "ticks," meaning "bloodsucking insects."

I take a peek at this blog from time to time, often having no idea what these lawyers are chatting about. But yesterday's was different.

Slate.com is running a column alled “Kerryisms,” in which Slate.com attempts to translate John Kerry into plain English by removing pompous and evasive expressions. I can only assume that these quotes then get passed around the Internet, with quotation marks, to various pundits, some pro-Kerry, some anti-Kerry. At Volokh Conspiracy on May 19 there is a running dissection of what Slate.com is attempting to do, and how the “translation” changes Kerry’s intent. One brief paragraph about the abuse of Iraqi prisoners had 20 footnotes of deletions. There is also comment on how another source changed Kerry's statement about the Bill of Rights and gay marriage in an attempt to clarify and translate his awkward statement.

Eugene Volokh concludes: “Finally, I express no opinion on whether Kerry is indeed often pompous or evasive, or engages in pointless embellishment. I also can't speak to how Kerry's statement here came across orally — maybe his delivery was lousy, even if the text was fine. I say only that this is a pretty poor example of what Slate is seemingly trying to prove. And it bodes ill for this column.”

Let’s face it. Neither of these guys can speak as well as Ronald Reagan or Bill Clinton, and it’s like nailing Jell-o to a wall to figure them out most of the time. All the same, we should eye so-called quotations with care.

335 Under construction.

I've made a sign for the bathroom, "Under construction" and have taped three wallpaper samples to the wall--all with cats. I think my favorite is the cat lying on a shelf of books. All the books have cat-type titles, there is a stuffed mouse, and a slip of paper under one of the books reads, "to purr or not to purr." All the samples are in green tones because I don't want to replace the carpeting.

Removing wallpaper in a small bathroom is no small feat. When I removed the fan cover (oh yuck look at all that dirt!) I lost the screw, which was enormous. Retracing my steps, I remembered my husband came in just as I pulled down the cover, and then it was gone. I climbed down from the ladder to hear his story about seeing Susan's garden, how wonderful it was, and then visiting her neighbor's garden. Then I looked around and the screw was gone, although the fan cover and screw driver were still in my hand. I checked my pockets, behind the toilet, in the murky, pastey water, and in my pockets again. No screw.

I checked the plastic bag with all the wet, gooey strips of wallpaper. Nothing. I kept wiping and scraping. Where is that silly screw? I took the bag outside and went through it two more times. No screw. Since I had been tossing scraps into the bag, I was sure I had probably done that automatically when I was interrupted. Finally, I took the bag outside again, with another bag, and transferred each sticky scrap of wallpaper into the other bag. Finally, I found the screw in the bottom of the bag, inside a folded corner.

I'm having a dinner party Friday night. I'm sure the bathroom will be a topic of conversation.

334 Walking off the carbs

I saw two women walkers at Panera's this morning wearing reflective vests over their exercise outfits. I hope they were at the end of the exercise routine and not the beginning. Two large coffees and two huge sacks of bagels, brownies and bear claws could slow a woman down. And I think that was a women's track team--about 16 of them--sitting next to me. I've heard Panera's stock is dipping due to the low carb craze, but around here it seems to be the place to stop after exercise.

333 Solving problems or Making art, do we have to choose?

The June issue of American Artist has two short pieces reflecting on the American art scene. In one, the editor comments that he had the opportunity to talk to an art student who had been assigned problems to solve with his art--his assignments were to "comment on a social situation, to juxtapose two views of the same object, to create a three-dimensional self-portrait, and to use children's toys to express and idea." (p. 4) At no time did the teachers seemed concerned with the artist's understanding of colors, values, shapes, or textures--that which allows the rest of us to participate in the art work.

Then on p. 12 there is a well-illustrated short item about the Bridgeview School of Fine Art in Long Island City, NY, offering training modeled on the 19th century European or American art schools. Bridgeview's founders provide a rigorous program in drawing, painting, and sculpture for both adults and older children. The founders and faculty were all trained in the former Soviet Union. The web site is http://www.academicart.com.

332 Pie Oh My

Imagine my shock and awe when I opened the refrigerator fruit drawer and saw a huge stack of rhubarb! Now, indeed, I had purchased it, but had forgotten it. So after supper I dug around and found my Granddaughter's Inglenook Cookbook for no nonsense ingredients. While shooing the cat out of the pantry I spilled about a cup of sugar. Then I took a deep breath and went into my office and turned on the Totally Acappella Christian Radio on my computer for some soothing music. The pie is now safely in the freezer--forgot a few things, but nothing serious, if I cover it up with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream, no one will ever know. The music is nice.

331 Jobs rebounding here

The paper was a bit thin, so I glanced at the want ads to see if they were reflecting the "good news" of the recovery. Here's what I saw

collision repair
masons
cabinet maker
CAD/CAM programmer
carpenter
painters
concrete finishers (many listings)
die cutter
back hoe operator
drywall
electricians
framers
gutter installers
HVAC
patio room installers
irrigation tech
michanic--brakes
OTR drivers (many)
manager-retail
sales--automotive, route, wireless, construction
programmer
dental assistant (many)
chiropractic assistant
EMT
internist--cardiology
medical billing
medical office manager
pharmacist
English teacher
PT
physician
respiratory therapist
grounds mangers
mobile home park manager
warehouse

I know the science librarian position is still open at Ohio State, which doesn't usually advertise in the want ads. Doesn't pay too great--probably not as much as the back hoe operator or the concrete finisher.

330 Oh honey--go home and get dressed!

When women my age were teen-agers in the 1950s we liked to wear low-slung Levi's and tie our blouses in the front to expose a little tummy. Sounds just like today, doesn't it? However, that was for parties with the girls or school picnics. If we'd shown up in school that way, we would have been sent home. I don't recall "dress slacks" as an in-public outfit until the late 1960s or early 1970s, when we women desperately needed something to cover us when the mini-skirt fad started.

But when I was a teen in jeans and quasi-halter top, my mother and grandmothers were in dresses. Not today! I see older, matronly women in the coffee shop in the morning that I just pray are going to the gym or exercise club and not work. Hair looks good, make-up applied, fashionable purse, tights and baggy t-shirt that don't begin to cover the belly rolls and bursting flesh that the undergarments can't corral and control.

But modesty is making a comeback. Quite by accident I came across a clothing apparel website for Lydia of Purple, a Christian seamstress. It seems the homeschooling movement has created some demand for dresses that cover and flatter rather than reveal and insult. They do sewing, custom made clothes for home schoolers and conservative religious groups like Amish and Mennonites. I browsed through some of the patterns, and some look pretty good. Gathered waist, full or A-line skirts, pleated bodice, elbow length or long sleeves, higher necks. Similar to some of the dress patterns I have from about 1965. They will make a pattern for you, you can send the material, or make it yourself, I think.

329 Cicadas

We're hearing a lot about these bugs, and soon we'll be hearing from them. The "buzz" is supposed to be about 90 decibels. I wonder what the decibel rating is for the new rock music service at our church? Higher I'm guessing, because I can hear it in a classroom across the Narthex with all the doors closed.

The Ohio State Extension reports with a map and further details:

Periodical cicadas emerge in specific locations once every 17 years in the northern part of their range, and once every 13 years in the southern part. Different groups called "broods" emerge somewhere in the eastern United States almost every spring. Massive brood emergence is believed to overwhelm predators, which are mostly birds. This ensures that enough survivors will be left behind to reproduce. Male cicadas are capable of making a loud buzzing noise and squawk when disturbed. The males often synchronize their buzzing in trees which produces a deafening noise. It is believed that such droning and squawking is effective in deterring predators.

The "dog-day" cicadas we hear in late July and early August are different than the 17 year variety.

328 The Last Oldsmobile

A sad day last week. The last Oldsmobile rolled off the line in Lansing MI. Was there anything prettier than a bright red Cutlass convertible of the late 60s-early 70s? I heard a guy on the radio say it stood for

Old
Ladies
Driving
Slowly
Mostly
Over
Bridges
Into
Lake
Erie

327 Are they really like family?

When I was the veterinary medicine librarian at The Ohio State University, I witnessed a huge shift in the English language. Small animal medicine became pet animal medicine and exotic animal medicine which then became companion animal medicine during my 14 years there. Dogs, cats, parrots, ferrets, sugar gliders, pot-bellied pigs, bunnies, etc., all went from being animals that could be owned, to companions and members of the family. Cats and dogs were no longer purchased or selected, they were “adopted,” as though the person or couple had tried to physically give birth to one and couldn’t so they went the adoption route!

So imagine my shock and surprise today when I saw a poster at Panera’s advertising for a new home for Brady and Maddy because their “parents” were splitting up. The “D” word, divorce, was not mentioned, so I assume these “parents,” gay or straight, had “illegitimate” puppies who no longer fit into their lifestyle scheme of things.

These cute Beagle mixes weighing 45 lbs. (one with German Shepherd and one with Coonhound, although they looked much the same in their photographs) were caged trained for 40 hour work weeks, each had CAR chips (security), up to date shots and medical routines, and were accustomed to a long list of grooming aids and lap sitting during TV time, which were listed on the poster. The owners, I mean parents, even listed the name and address of the veterinary clinic which Brady and Maddy really liked.

And I’m all teary thinking about those two little Beagle mixes, sitting in their cages 40 hours a week, waiting patiently for their “family” to come home to play. And this is their reward? They would have been better off to be dogs.

326 Meeting code with Braille

My grandmother was blind and raised nine children on the farm with no electricity or running water. I don't believe she ever learned Braille, but she did enjoy her Talking Books, loved listening to her Chicago Cubs on the radio, and had a small business she did by telephone.

However, even as amazing as she was (knew her huge flock of grandchildren by voice), I doubt that she could have used the instructions in Braille on the baby changing table in the ladies restroom. I'm not sure what they say--probably something about not leaving the child unattended. I noticed the instructions on a newly installed table at Caribou yesterday, because if used, the table would block the door.

Think about it. If a mother with a babe on hip makes her way into the building from the parking lot, through the restaurant/store/coffee shop to the ladies room, feels along the wall until she can find the folded up table, pauses to read the instructions in Braille, pulls it down and clicks it into place, manuevers around between the stalls and sinks to find a place for the diaper bag, would she be so careless as to leave the baby there alone?

Even in the 1980s, Grandma said life was easier and safer in the 1920s when she was raising hers on the farm.

325 Jobs picking up, just as predicted

The jobless recovery must be over, because the news recently has been about the turnaround. Maybe good service will be next? I know three young men, ages from the late 20s to late 30s who all say the same thing--"Corporate doesn't care about the customer anymore--just the bottom line."

One is a salesman for medical cleaning supplies,

one is a cowboy on a ranch, and

one is a service manager for a foreign car dealer.

Beats me.

324 Second Chancers

I've seen three articles in the Wall Street Journal this week about career women who stopped working to raise their children and who are now going back to work--either because the children are starting high school or college, or there is a divorce looming on the economic horizon.

One former executive ($100,000 in 1996) said she couldn't afford to take the $40,000/year salary offered for an entry level job because of child care costs for her 3 sons, 8, 4, and 2. Really? She wants to cheat another woman out of a living wage so she can go to work? I remember seeing a cartoon about this in one of my grandmother's old Ladies Home Journal from the woman's suffrage movement days of the early 20th century.

I have a suggestion for Ms. Picky Executive. Take the $40,000 job, pay 2/3 of it out in child care, new clothes, gasoline, lunches and taxes. Figure it as "reentry fees" or "dues." It's a small price for having been able to enjoy the kids for a few years--something a lower paid clerical worker or teacher probably didn't get to do. Then in a few years when you're worth more because you've retooled, caught up and gotten an attitude adjustment, go for the big one.

323 New Households--loosely defined

The Daily Reporter, Columbus' only daily business and legal newspaper (est. 1896) comes to us on Thursday, because of the AIA information. There is a column called "New Households," taken from the records of marriage licenses applications of Franklin County. Today's paper listed 55 applications. However, according to the addresses, 36 of the couples were already residing at the same address.

322 Cheap date

Last night we went to the 50 cent Tuesday Movie with our neighbor to see Miracle with Kurt Russell, the story of the 1980 Olympics Team USA hockey win. She is recently widowed and misses her spouse of 50+ years and we miss our parents who were of her generation and experience, so we're good for each other. None of us know much about hockey, but we enjoyed the story of team building, hope and surprise as a young, inexperienced group of self-centered college kids put aside old hurts and gripes to become champions who boost the self-esteem of an entire nation. As the credits roll at the end, it was interesting to see the one-sentence bios of the players many of whom have done quite well in finance and real estate.

321 Bookclub selections for 2004-2005

Our final meeting of the bookclub calendar is in May--we have a shorter session, then select books for the next year. Each member has the opportunity to recommend a book (or two) she has read and then promote it for about 90 seconds. Absentees can send along a book and recommendation with a friend. Then we vote and the top nine are selected. This group will be celebrating its 25th anniversary next year--I joined in October 2000, when I retired. The list for next year is

Seabiscuit

Upside down World, with author as guest

In but not of

Secret life of bees

Eats, shoots leaves

The living

Evensong

Ship of gold

#1 Ladies Detective Agency

Hush, a children's book will be a special meeting with the illustrator as a guest.

Sounds like a great year!

320 Got a hot date?

The President got rave reviews for the time spent with the 9/11 panel. The media tried to make hay the day before, but the sun just didn't shine. USAToday in reporting it buried the remarks about full cooperation and "extraordinary" in the middle of the article, then padded it with a rehash of the Richard Clarke book. WSJ described it--first paragraph--forthcoming, candid, gracious and friendly.

However, a small item was buried in yesterday's paper: two Democrats on the panel, Kerry and Hamilton, left the 9/11 commission's meeting with President Bush early to attend "previously scheduled appointments." What would that be exactly? What would be more important than a private meeting with a United States President, more important than national security? Shame. Shame.

319 Librarians are not babysitters

Those of us who grew up in small towns, who walked to the library during the limited hours it was open, who knew it was a special place safe for children find it hard to imagine some of the issues today's public librarians have to deal with.

The sub-headline in today's Columbus Dispatch looked a bit startling, "no pets or children under 7," but the story was about unattended children in the Columbus Public Library system. New rules. No children under 7 without a parent or caregiver.

The reporter included a story about a child young enough to have dirty diapers left with siblings and a sack of McDonald's hamburgers while Mama went off to the shopping center. Now, if the staff can't find the parent within 30 minutes, they will call the police. One mother interviewed for the story said her own limit for leaving children alone at the library is age 14. Other parents (and staff) thought the age limit for unattended children should be set higher.

I'm not sure what the rules are at my suburban library--if I'm there (rarely) after 3 p.m., I see many unattended children whose parents use it as an after-school day care program. I haven't seen any behavior problems, just a little competition for the computers, but I don't think libraries are any safter than supermarkets for unattended children, and with the internet access, they may be less safe.

318 Macho-fashion

The Wall Street today featured an article on the clothing style I mentioned in #316--ultra-masculine dressing for women. It's not called "dress for success" as 25 years ago, but "dual gender" dressing.

It is Annual Report time for our investments. I always flip through and look at the names and photos of the officers and board members. No matter how women dress (and usually they look more casual and cutesy than the men of the same level), they are poorly represented or stuck in the feminine ghetto of PR, HR or "consultant." I've already tossed some, but here's the current batch results.

AMBAC has many women in the photos, but none in the Directors' offices, one out of ten in the executive suite, and eight out of thirty-nine among senior officers.

ManorCare has thirty-eight Directors and Officers, six of whom are women.

Fording Coal Trust identifies all officers by initials, but includes Mr. or Dr. before the name. No women in the photos, except for Jackie Gentile, who operates some coal machinery.

Home Depot has twenty seven on its Leadership Team, with four women; the Board of Directors has eleven white men and one black woman, a two-fer. Photos that include women staff (about 1 in 4) show them either wearing the orange apron or doing volunteer work on behalf of the company.

ExxonMobil lists all officers by initial (with no Mr.), but the Directors' photo shows nine white men, two white women, and one black woman.

Nextel has nine men and two women on its Board of Directors, and two of the twenty-one Officers are women.

Apache's cover shows eleven men in hard hats in Qasr, Egypt, who are various geophysical experts and operations managers. The leadership photo shows two guys, the Founder and the CEO.

Everest Re Group has seven men on the Board of Directors and sixteen male Senior Officers. This company is in the reinsurance business, so I'm not sure why it is such a tough area for women.

Healthcare Realty Trust has eight on the Board of Directors, the one woman is a consultant. Of the other twenty four corporate officers, seven are women.

Pactiv has sixteen Directors and Officers, only five of whom, all men, showed up for the class photo. Two are women, and one of those is an "advisor."

My church has thirteen on its leadership team--all men.

317 The New Life Crisis

Today's Wall Street Journal called it a second mid-life crisis, but you can't go through the middle years twice, so it is either another transition, or it is a "new life" crisis--i.e., retirement. Apparently, seniors are getting face lifts, buying Harleys, and finding themselves. Silly.

However, we are looking to buy a Mercedes, a luxury car--leather interior, etc. Ok, so it is a 1970 and doesn't have as many perks or bells and whistles as my Dodge mini-van. See? If you wait long enough, the standards of luxury of a previous generation will become common place.

It is also called SKIing--Spending the Kids Inheritance.