2247 What was the key to real social distinction in early 19th century England?

Last night our book club met to discuss our current read, Mr. Darcy's Daughters, by Elizabeth Aston, a 2003 sequel to Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice.

"It is the year 1818, twenty-one years after the stirring events of PRIDE AND PREJUDICE. Mr Darcy and Elizabeth have gone to Constantinople, while their five daughters descend on the dangerous and dashing world of Regency London. The world is changing, but opportunities for women are limited, as intelligent,
independent-minded Camilla soon discovers - and Society is unforgiving of those who transgress its rules.

The sisters are assailed on all sides by the temptations of London, with its parties and balls, gossip and scandals, intrigues and schemes, not to mention the inevitable heartbreaks arising from proximity to so many eligible - and ineligible - men." Orion book site

We had a great turn out and a lively discussion. Our discussion leader last night is a teacher of high school Spanish and English and came well prepared with a "pre-test." She had a list of 25 questions about the era on understanding the social etiquette of early 19th century England. As her source, she brought along a title none of us had seen, and it is a treasure for figuring out certain references, What Jane Austen ate and Charles Dickens knew. The answer to my above question is land ownership, and that was taken from her list.

Although everyone agreed a sequel is never as good as the original, even those who enjoyed the story (I did) thought it was a bit contrived to have Mr. Darcy and wife Elizabeth (main characters of Pride and Prejudice) take off for a year abroad so the 5 daughters could live in London with relatives during the "season."

Our hostess had never read Pride and Prejudice, so she'd also purchased and read that as well as our selection and declared it the best novel she'd ever read--and she's been in this group for 25 years. Another member who'd read it in college over 40 years ago said the same thing. Guess I'll have to read it.

Aston has written two other books about the Darcy family, Exploits and adventures of Miss Alethea Darcy, and The true Darcy Spirit, just released this year. The selection for April is, The Magdalene Gospel by Mary Ellen Ashcroft.

Jane Austen
Pride and Prejudice
book clubs

Monday Memories

Monday Memories
Did I ever tell you about
How my Grandparents lived in the 1920s?
My grandparents, living on a farm in Ogle County, Illinois, in the 1920s (many years before I was born), were far better prepared to deal with any disaster that involved interruption of basic services by a blizzard, tornado or terrorist attack than I am. They were not technology-dependent, they didn't see themselves as victims, and some of their children didn't even know they were poor.

My grandparents were tenants on a farm that didn't have running water or electricity. They used corn cobs in the kitchen cook stove and coal or oil in a space heater for the main room. All water for cooking, cleaning and bathing was drawn from a cistern. They owned an automobile which had an engine most men and boys of that era knew how to repair. Illinois did not yet license drivers, so even children drove cars if they were tall enough. They had a crystal radio and kerosene lamps. Their draft horse was available for bad weather days when the unpaved roads were impassable. A small gasoline motor powered some simple machinery, like the washing machine, and clothes were hung outside to dry. Outdoor privies weren't pleasant, but they did the job--smelly in the summer and chilly in the winter and the Sears Roebuck catalog could be used for light reading or toilet paper.

My grandmother always canned enough beans, corn and tomatoes from the large garden to get the family through the winter months; root crops like carrots, onions, turnips and potatoes were stored in the cellar; the few dairy cows supplied the family with milk, cream and butter, and the extra milk and male calves were a cash crop to buy items not raised on the farm like sugar and flour; hogs were butchered with the help of neighbors to make sausage, bacon, hams, chops and lard; cows were not butchered, so they didn't eat beef; the chickens laid eggs, and the tough, older hens later were served over biscuits.

Although they raised nine children, my grandparents never sent anyone to the doctor or hospital. None of the children were vaccinated and antibiotics hadn't been invented yet. When a new baby arrived, the older children went to the neighbors to spend the night and the doctor came to Grandma. All of the children worked at jobs appropriate for their ages--taking care of babies, setting the table, drawing water, cleaning the house, washing dishes, weeding the garden, swatting flies (no screens), feeding cattle, chopping wood, mucking stalls, or helping younger children by being their mother's eyes (my grandmother was blind). No need for Grandma to be a soccer mom--the children were too busy being essential to the family. That probably took care of self esteem worries too. My father was the oldest and he didn’t remember any toys, not even a bike or a baseball bat. However, there were always other children around to play with--siblings, cousins and neighbors--so Grandma didn't need a calendar to track their social activities.

When the children needed clothes, aunts and cousins would drop by to help with the sewing using a foot pedal sewing machine, catching up on the family news and gossip. There wasn't much variety at meal time, but the gravy could be watered down if the dinner table included a less fortunate visitor, as it often did. Not too far down the road was the little Pine Creek Church of the Brethren the children attended with their mother and they were educated in a one room school.

My grandparents, who died in 1983, loved every 20th century advancement that made their life easier--perhaps appreciated them more than the grandchildren and great-grandchildren (there are over 100 of us). Grandma, who nursed all her babies, thought women were crazy not to bottle feed if they could. They were "early adapters" in some areas and owned a car and a radio long before many of their neighbors. About 10 years after leaving the farm, they built a Lustron home, the ultimate in modernity in 1950 with radiant heat and built-in appliances and furniture. You would never have been able to convince them that life was better “in the old days.”

Links to Other Readers and Monday Memories
1. Bonita in Montana, 2. Joan who loves English and is learning Spanish, 3. D. who is getting a new template soon, 4. Ladybug, 5. Veronika transplanted to the midwest,
6. Katherine with the lovely smile, 7. Jeremy, 8. Nancy, 9. Dawn, 10. Beckie riding her bike, 11. Rowan and her baby, 12. MamaKelly and her baby, 13. Shelli and her Prince, 14.

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2245 Signs of the times

The growing fields of pediatric obesity and pediatric otolaryngology. I collect first issues of journals. I'm really sorry that this one is the new sign for our times. It is not in my collection, and I don't think I'll write Taylor and Francis to ask for it.

The International Journal of Pediatric Obesity is a new, peer-reviewed, quarterly journal devoted to research into obesity during childhood and adolescence. The topic is currently at the centre of intense interest in the scientific community, and is of increasing concern to health policy-makers and the public at large.

The aim of the International Journal of Pediatric Obesity is to rapidly establish itself as the leading journal for high quality papers concerned with:

• Epidemiology and population-based studies of overweight in childhood
  
• Clinical management of overweight and obese children and adolescents
  
• The recognition and treatment of co-morbidities linked to pediatric obesity
  
• Measurement and diagnostic issues in assessing child adiposity.
  
• And so forth here.

The International Journal of Pediatric Obesity will be available in both print and online versions and the first issue will be published in March 2006.

The journal is owned by the International Association for the Study of Obesity, a not-for-profit charitable body linking over 50 regional and national associations with over 10,000 professional members in scientific, medical and research organisations."

And USA Today has a very disturbing article about parents in their 40s so addicted to their music downloads at dangerous decibels that they are risking not only their own hearing but that of their children. The story features Pete and Judy Nelson and their 13 year old twins--the poster family for deafness or at least impaired hearing. As I've mentioned several times at this blog, my blind grandmother told me her hearing loss (which she experienced in her late 80s) was a worse disability than the loss of her eyesight which happened in her teen years.

Listening to MP3s at 120 decibles is way over the damage caused by a chain saw or a pneumatic drill. I considered this child abuse. The parents are totally irresponsible, not only with their own hearing, but their children's.

2244 Ovinephobia

Fear and horror of all things relating to sheep. That's why Brokeback didn't get the Oscar nod. The media kept calling them "cowboys" when they were shepherds. An easy mistake, I suppose when your top 5 contenders are Hollywood's idea of decades old morality tales. They couldn't cast two gay guys to play shepherds cowboys or a transsexual actress to play Felicity Huffman's role? What kind of a discrimination business are they running on the left coast? Where's Tab Hunter and Richard Chamberlain when you need them?

We were in Westerville last night visiting friends from church (if I had to drive 40 minutes to get to church, I'd change memberships), so I didn't know who won at the 78th Academy Awards until this morning when I picked up USAToday. To tell you the truth, I would have missed it even it I'd been home; I thought it was next week.

2243 Was there no way to stop her

from killing her little girl? Six year old Abigail Gilda Volpe was killed by her drunk mother in a pick-up truck that rammed a tree not far from here last Wednesday. Another driver notified the police and was following the erratic driver reporting on what she was doing. I believe I heard on the news that Kelly Volpe had 11 DUIs. The news story said she had no license and her husband had removed the plates from the car and taken the car keys, but somehow she was driving AND drinking at the same time. WBNS story here.

I'm wondering where our vigilant county children's services was. The woman obviously had a record that screamed "I'm incompetent and might kill my child." In another story that's been all over our newspapers for months, a couple lost custody of their 11 special needs children because they had chicken wire around their beds (called cages in the news stories). All those children were taken from their parents (who are trying to get them back) and placed in foster homes. Why wasn't little Abigail taken from the home for protection if her father couldn't protect her from her mother? A drunken parent is a lot more dangerous for a child than one who keeps a handicapped child restrained.

From March 4 Columbus Dispatch: Since the crash that killed 6-year-old Abigail Volpe last week, Perry Township Police Chief Robert Oppenheimer has looked at her mother’s arrest record with anger and disbelief. Dating to the 1980s, it includes at least six drunken-driving convictions, repeated license suspensions, convictions for forging drug prescriptions and a host of other traffic offenses.

A week after the Feb. 24 wreck, Oppenheimer said he and his officers continue to sort out Kelly Volpe’s string of court appearances and convictions. He has found paperwork for six drunken-driving convictions; he thinks there are eight. When Volpe crashed shortly before 8 that night, her license was suspended.

"I guess my question is, what is she even doing behind the wheel?" he said. "Nothing’s worked for her, and look what happened: She killed somebody.
"Somewhere along the line, you have to bang ’em so hard they’re not going to do it." . . Yesterday, Abigail’s small casket sat next to pink and purple balloons at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Upper Arlington.

"It’s really broken our hearts to see a little innocent thing die," Oppenheimer said.

2242 Appalachian Heritage Sunday

was celebrated last Sunday at St. John's Episcopal Church on W. Town Street. There are 40 counties in the Episcopal Diocese of Southern Ohio that are in Appalachia. A lot of Columbus speaks with a soft southern drawl. They gathered in the children and grandchildren for a rememberance of their roots.

2241 You've probably met Mr. Pyle

Whether you're a teacher, or a librarian, or a store manager, or a supervisor of a brake shop, you've got one of these guys to deal with. They make going to work generate thoughts of changing jobs. This one happens to be a special ed teacher. He's always expecting someone else to be doing his job.

"The guy is a poster child for what is wrong with a minority of teachers, specifically in special education. Teaching is hard work, no doubt about it. Most of us roll up our sleeves and go to work doing many thankless tasks. But there are some who will whine and complain about every single thing and then wonder why they don’t get paid more. It’s for the kids. We serve them and their parents, not the other way around."

However, The life that chose me will certainly give you a new appreciation for special ed teachers. To see what his "typical day" is like scroll to the bottom of this page.

2240 My navel and my jaw

Looking through vocal sites on the internet, I came across The Vocalist.org site with all sorts of drop down windows and some instructions on breathing, and listening, and exercising. I think I know how to think about my jaw, but I've never had to imagine my navel, except maybe when pregnant when it was moving on ahead of the rest of my body. Therefore, I'm having some difficulty figuring out just where this pipe organ is.

"The two places to think about are:

Lower abdomen
Jaw

All the support should come from the lower abdomen. That's where it should all be "happening". Think about anything above the navel as a huge flexible organ pipe. You shouldn't be doing anything conscious with muscles above the navel until you get to the jaw. Everything in between should work on its own without your intervention if you get the lower abdomen working (this is an oversimplification - but let's stick with it at the moment - basically, what you're going to do above the navel and below the jaw has more to do with POSTURE and allowing things to do what they do naturally by NOT trying to interfere than with actively trying to control anything - INCLUDING the diaphragm).

The jaw needs to work like a well-oiled hinge. This means no rigidity, no tension, no clamping shut nor forcing too far open. The tension you feel in your throat, I am willing to bet, is due in large part to tension in the jaw and the back of the tongue ("throat" tension usually means back of tongue tension, which is directly influenced by jaw tension). Secondarily, if your chest is "collapsed" rather than lifted (not forced up muscularly, but *lifted* - a sense that you're gently lifting the breastbone off the top ribs - if you think of your rib cage as an accordion, think about keeping it stretched apart, rather than squeezed together - but the feeling should be, as I said, one of LIFT, rather than anything involving really stretching, which implies tension).

If the chest is up and the support is active below the navel, you'll find that mysteriously the jaw doesn't want to work as hard to articulate vowels and consonants."

The Vocalist

2239 Encounter at the coffee shop

The Roast Mistress is chatting again at the coffee shop--about a book. Go figure! And Rosabelle has a message for the government about her pantry.

2238 Her Daddy

"My daddy had one true love in his life. He fell in love when he was 12 years old, and now, at 67, he still loves with all his heart and soul, this one passion that has been by his side ever since. Her name is alcohol. She is beer. She is brandy. She is very little else, but that is enough. It encompasses enough to satiate his need for her. He never cheats on her or abandons her. He holds her in the highest esteem and protects her with all his ability. He will do anything to ensure her safety, her presence, and her love for him. He left his wife for her. He left his children for her. Oh how he loves her! And he thinks she loves him." Read her whole post here.

How sad to have wasted his whole life and disappointed all who knew him.

2237 Yes, we've been here before

A reader at Victor Davis Hanson's site asks if there has ever been such a pathology as today where the intelligence services leak information to the opposition via the media, and he replies:

"I think at times in the Civil War the Copperheads in 1864 engaged in activity and disclosed information that was designed to harm the Union cause and force a stalemate that might bring them into power. In addition, there were a number of Confederate sympathizers in the government and military that were hardly careful in handling classified material. And their opposition to Lincoln also was grounded in a hatred of abolitionists and equity between the races. At times in WWII the Press hounded Patton to such an extent after Sicily that America lost its most gifted commander just when we needed him most in Italy in early 1944. And of course you remember Vietnam, when there was not merely leaks from intelligence agencies, but prominent Americans who ventured to Hanoi, lied about the terrible conditions faced by American P.O.W.s, gave propaganda lectures for the enemy, and did all they could to lose the war. My first memory as an incoming freshman at UC Santa Cruz in 1971 was walking into the dorm and seeing two Viet-Cong flags with Uncle Ho posters at the end of the hallway. So, yes, we've been here before."

2236 The voice of experience: why we don't hear from moderate Muslims

Minh-Duc is a Buddhist, but says he knows why we don't hear from the moderate Muslims about the Danish cartoon follies.

"Those who claim, that because there is no uproar of opposition against fundamentalism from Muslim, that there is no moderate Muslim, have never lived in an oppressed tyranny. This is the equivalence of the argument from the Left (made during the Cold War) that because there is no protest against Communism behind the Iron Curtain, the Worker Paradise is truly a paradise.

The reason moderate Muslims are so quiet is the same reason we victims of Communism were so quiet – fear. For 15 years, I lived under the tyranny of communism; and for those 15 years, I said nothing. My father said nothing, my neighbors said nothing, and my (then) countrymen said nothing. In fact, if a Western journalist asked me a question about the government, I would have nothing but glorious praise for the Communist government. Of course, I would not believe what I said. We had food shortage; our lives were miserable and oppressive. But miserable as we were, we preferred living in misery to death and imprisonment. My family and I were terrified, and being terrified is a forgivable sin.

The majority of Muslims are afraid – and they have every reason to be fearful." Read the entire piece.

Minh-Duc, State-of-Flux is newly linked here.

2235 I used to think I was the only one with a Sad Story. I was wrong.

That's one of the things Tom McMahon has learned in the 15 years since his 8 year old son Ryan had a brain injury leaving him unable to walk or talk or feed himself. Most of the things he's had to learn are pretty wrenching. Like how slow time can go, or how all Ryan's classmates have gone on, or how the friends he thought would be there for him weren't. ". . . don't you remember somebody you need to send a card to? Or make a phone call to? Or visit? You don't need to be brilliant, or wonderful, you just have to be there. You can do this. Off you go now!"

A very thought provoking piece.

Business Crude

Americans have never been known for their manners and etiquette, but apparently electronic communication has made this worse. I remember when we were taught in high school how to write polite business letters. Anyone remember, 1) date, 2) inside address, 3) greeting/salutation, 4) paragraph or two of information, 5) closing, 6) signature? Badaunt gives examples of trying to help friends doing business overseas (she's from New Zealand and lives in Japan):

"The U.S. is the worst in terms of simple business etiquette, and I can't blame email for this. On one memorable occasion before we had email, a response to a fax I sent was my own fax sent back with a scrawled, difficult-to-read note in the margin and an arrow pointing to the question it was answering. The question was answered, but showing it to our client was embarrassing, it was so unprofessional. This was an extreme example, but unbusinesslike responses are not unusual. The tone is not professional, questions are not answered fully, and most of the time if there is more than one question they are not answered at all.

The same goes for companies in the U.K.. People apparently do not read emails to the end, and nor do they read them properly. Responses from the U.K. tend to be more professional in tone, but the content is no better."

She gives some suggestions:

1. PLEASE LEARN TO READ AND WRITE. Alternatively, hire somebody who can. A person who can compose professional, businesslike letters addressing your clients concerns in full will do wonders for your company's image in the international business world.

2. PLEASE DO NOT PUT UP A WEBSITE WITH A SPECIAL FORM FOR ENQUIRIES IF YOU HAVE NO INTENTION OF RESPONDING TO THE ENQUIRIES YOU ARE SENT.

2233 ACLU screening at the Columbus Metropolitan Library

The local paper notes that the Columbus Chapter of the ACLU of Ohio will screen their religious liberty files TV series at the Columbus Metropolitan Library featuring well-known actors, comedians and activists who share their beliefs. Yawn. Bleh. Sigh.

But here's some interesting information on Christians and the courts at the Volokh Conspiracy. Prof. Greg Sisk, who teaches law and religion, guest blogged a 3 part series called, "Explaining Why Traditionalist Christians are at a Disadvantage in Making Religious Liberty Claims in Court" which in turn relies on his law review article, "How Traditional and Minority Religions Fare in the Courts." His thesis of his article:

" . . when compared with other religious claimants, when examined within the particular venue of the federal courts, when evaluated in the context of other potentially influential variables, and when evaluated through data drawn from recent litigation controversies, the hypothesis that minority religious adherents are more likely to lose and that the Christian faithful are more likely to win religious liberty claims is of doubtful continuing validity. Accordingly, as the new century unfolds, the more interesting inquiry may be why those whose religious practices and values fit most comfortably within the mainstream Christian tradition find themselves with a higher hill to climb than people of unconventional beliefs when seeking judicial exemption from secular regulation or judicial recognition of expression and equality rights. Is our nation's concept of religious liberty sufficient robust to encompass those whose claims of conscience may directly challenge the cherished orthodoxies of modern secular liberalism?"

His guest blog appears in several parts with a conclusion commenting on the comments, between February 27 and March 3, 2006 here with 72 comments, here with 88 comments, here with 59 comments, here with 87 comments, and here with 14 comments, 2 hours after it was posted.

Of his critics, he writes: "Most critics parted ways with me on how to characterize the finding that Catholics and Baptists were less likely to succeed in court. I suggest typical claims by Catholics and Baptists—seeking exemption from anti-discrimination rules, licensing and regulatory requirements, etc.—were a shot right across the bow of the liberal ship of state. Critics retort that these anti-discrimination or regulatory provisions advance compelling public interests that admit to no exception. I respond that they are conflating the merits—and thus the scope of religious liberty—with ideological or cultural preferences. And ‘round we go."

So, if you've got a free afternoon, it will be interesting reading. Probably more valuable than watching an ACLU screening.

ACLU
religious liberty

2232 Thinking ahead

Be sure to stop by next week for Monday Memories and Thursday Thirteen. I'm thinking ahead. At this time, I've decided to write about why my grandparents in the 1920s were better prepared for a disaster than I am in the 21st century (hint: lack of technology). In 1993 I interviewed my father about his growing up years, and learned things I'd never heard before--like he grew up on a farm. Sure, I knew where he lived--I'd been past it once on a drive in the country, but I had no idea they were actually farmers. I'd only known my grandparents when they lived in town while my grandfather worked at a printing company or was retired. I wrote it up (about 7 pages single spaced)and distributed the story to various family members at a reunion that year. Then after 2001 I looked at it again and realized there were many advantages to living low-tech, and so I'm looking at it yet again for Monday Memories.

Then for Thursday Thirteen I think I'll write about 13 reasons I like a new activity I'm in. So far, I've just taken a few notes but it seems to be humming along, and I'm having such a good time it shouldn't be hard to come up with 13.

Here's the painting I'm working on in art class--obviously not finished yet, so don't twist your neck too far. But it's been a lot of fun chatting via e-mail with Sylvia (who is not in the painting but is in the photo it is based on) and JoElla. Each of us saw something different. I immediately noticed I was wearing a bracelet, a gift from my Sunday School teacher Mrs. Green "back home." I was the new kid in town, so I think it was my way to say, "I'm not from these parts." The reason I can remember it is that it was probably my only one. I'd forgotten that my mother always had an array of ribbons for our braids to match our dresses. In the photo, there is no cat, but JoElla had a cat that is probably the ancestor of most cats in Forreston, Illinois, so I added in "Butch." I need to put some dots on Jo's dress and work on the skin tones So unless I ruin it between now and next week, you should see the finished piece soon.



Thursday Thirteen
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watercolor

Thursday Thirteen

13 things NORMA will tell you about this Thursday
I've been reading scary news stories about new infectious diseases the antibiotics can't fight anymore. I wondered if I had 13 illnesses and injuries I could recall--and it was a reminder of how things have changed since I was a kid. Here are 13 diseases/conditions I've had in my life time, most before antibiotics and vaccines.

The first seven items on the list didn't require a trip to the doctor in the 1940s and 1950s, because in those days, the doctor came to our house. With four little children, Mom certainly considered that a blessing. Also, "well-baby" check-ups hadn't been invented yet (no one had health insurance), and mothers weighed their babies at home. Medical care was pay-as-you-go except for catastrophic illnesses--and my dad bought polio insurance a few weeks before my sister came down with it.

1. Tonsillitis. Before the age of 5 when my tonsils were removed, I was constantly sick with infected tonsils, burning up with fever with painful sore throats. I was miserable. You don't hear a lot about this today, but surgery sure did the trick for me and it was a new lease on life and probably made life a lot easier for my mother.

2. Whooping cough. This is called pertussis today and children receive vaccinations for it with diphtheria and tetanus vaccines. It is a bacterial disease, and if one child got it, usually everyone did. It is more dangerous for girls than for boys. Although children used to die from this, I don't recall being aware of its seriousness. Still, once you've heard that cough, it is hard to forget it--like coughing through a tuba.

3. Chicken pox. Although it could have serious side effects, this disease was usually just allowed to run its course through the family. Kids just stayed home until the scabs fell off. Even if you've had chicken pox, the virus can stay in your body and reappear as shingles and is extremely painful.

4. Mumps. I remember having this in kindergarten. Painful ear ache. By the time my children came along, there was the MMR vaccine.

5. Measles. It wasn't unusual to get this more than once. Probably 90% of people my age had this; now because of MMR immunization, almost no one gets measles.Ruebella is the serious form especially for pregnant women.

6. Scarlet fever. Right after third grade let out in May, I got this. I became sick at a friend's house and her mother called my Mom to come and get me. What a way to start summer vacation! This is a strep infection.

7. Pneumonia. I think this was 7th grade, and antibiotics weren't common, but house calls still were because I remember opening an eye and seeing the doctor in my bedroom.

8. Asian Flu. Freshman in college. This was a pandemic starting in China, killing about 2 million, and although there was a vaccine, I didn't seem to know about it. There wasn't much they could do since most of the campus had it, so we just stayed in our dorm rooms and sipped 7-Up. It disappeared and then evolved into the Hong Kong flu in 1968.

9. Infectious mononucleosis. Sophomore in college. Because it is communicable (known as the kissing disease since so many teens get it), I was put in the student hospital for a week. This is very common and most people have had a mild case by the time they reach adulthood, but sometimes you get really sick.

10. Appendicitis. I was about 33 years old, and they weren't really sure what I had until they got in there and looked. I healed pretty fast, but it took months for my son to get over it--I think he was in first grade and he would run after the car sobbing when I dropped him off at school.

11. Aches and pains. My horse fell on me when I was 12 years old starting a long history of back trouble, but for real pain you need a pulled neck muscle. Sounds silly but one day I turned around in the car to back out of our very long drive-way and pulled something. I discovered that every part of your body seems to be connected to your neck, even your fingernails. Worse than any back trouble I'd ever experienced.

12. Atrial fibrillation. Although this wasn't diagnosed until 1996, I was apparently born with an extra circuit in my heart, which caused the electrical charges to misfire with rapid and irregular heart beats. Because I'd always had it, I didn't know anything was wrong (I thought the room went black for everyone from time to time when standing up or walking up stairs quickly) and it never happened during a medical exam. It could have killed me or caused a serious stroke. It was ablated in 2002 and now seems to be OK even without meds.

13. Rotator cuff. When I was in rehab for this in 2000 I got to meet a lot of huge athletes and dainty dancers, but the best I can figure (I'm not athletic at all) is it was years and years of lifting heavy journals in the library and then smacking my weakened shoulder on the side mirror of a car.

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Ash Wednesday

The choir sang "Wondrous Love" (arr. Alice Parker & Robert Shaw) and then had rehearsal after the service, which was lovely. Although things are a bit cramped in the choir loft, I love sitting so close to the piano and organ (probably 3 ft.). There was a clarinet solo during the offering (Adagio by Tomaso Albinoni) and I was close enough to read her music. Just delightful. But I'm definitely going to move to the alto section.

From the bulletin: "Ash Wednesday is the beginning of the season of Lent--a time of renewal and coming back to God. It comes as an intrusion as we face the reality that we are going to die. "Remember, you are dust, and to dust you shall return." These words echo the service at the grave--"dust to dust." This forceful reminder of our sinfulness and human frailty. It is a time of dying to ourselves and being crucified with Christ. And as surely as we have died with Him, so we will be raised with Him to the glord of God."

2229 Would the internet lie?

I took a cybertest for a personality DNA (I think it is a reworded Myers-Briggs) and was quite surprised to see I was a "genuine architect." I suppose they don't have enough personality types for librarians to have it show in the database, or I've been retired too long.

It made for interesting dinner conversation last night with my architect husband who thinks of me as disorganized and indecisive. That's how a true architect sees things. I told him it was probably his influence of 45 years. Also he reads more and is better informed about politics and religion than he used to be, so maybe I'm rubbing off on him too. A few more years and we'll have this relationship stuff all worked out. The test gives suggestions for changes, which I will ignore, given my personality type. Goals? You've got to be kidding!!!

personalDNA

Genuine Architect

Your preference for concrete, visually pleasing things, combined with your confidence and your respect for order make you an ARCHITECT.

You are logical and detail-oriented, which allows you to get things done efficiently.

You are quite sure of yourself, so that you tend to know the best ways of doing things.

Your eye for aesthetic beauty and style indicates that you know a lot about design.

Having a routine and sticking to it is important to you; you find comfort in tradition and familiarity.

Self-reliance is something in which you take great pride—you are confident and down to earth.

You have a basic faith in yourself in many areas of your life, allowing you to be self-assured when facing challenges.

You do your own thing when it comes to clothing, guided more by practical concerns than by other people's notions of style.

Generally, you believe that you control your life, and that external forces only play a limited role in determining what happens to you.


Your outgoing personality, your preference for order, and your cautious appreciation of others makes you GENUINE.

You aren't afraid to be the center of attention. Actually, it is quite the opposite: You are comfortable and confident in social situations.

As a charismatic kind of person, you tend to be energized by other people and enjoy their company.

When other people are upset, you are able to think about the situation rationally, without getting too caught up in their feelings.

At times you find it difficult to understand where other people are coming from, and wish they could just see things the way you do.

You are a strongly principled person who believes in right and wrong. This helps you make decisions easily when it comes to moral issues – you don't have to waste time hedging on important values.

In your experience, people tend to get what they deserve. So, you work hard and try to follow your principles in your day-to-day life, knowing that you will be rewarded for your efforts.

2228 Chocolate Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Tart with Caramelized Bananas

A mouthful in more ways than one. We watched Spencer Budros, a Certified Pastry Chef/Owner of Pistachio in Columbus' short north area make this yesterday afternoon at the Columbus Home and Garden Show at the Fairgrounds. It was the 50th anniversary of this show, so the theme was "The 50s." The peanut butter and banana dish was to honor Elvis Presley who liked peanut butter and banana sandwiches. We also saw a 1949 Chevie with plants growing out of its headlights and dashboard, tastefully planted in an abstract garden.

I must say, this was a fabulous dessert--we all got a generous helping after the demo. We missed a lot of the "how-to" although we were very attentive. Some of the mixing was done off camera, and sometimes all we could see was the back of Mr. Budros' head as he leaned over the stove (camera was positioned above him). I think it probably takes a lot of practice to be a TV chef and not step in front of the main event. Also, we couldn't see the 1950s style kitchen that was behind him--and I sure don't remember any red refrigerators.

We also got a free cook book, "Gourmet Galaxy Cafe Cookbook" put together I think by Doral Chenoweth (at least he wrote the bios), who used to write "The Grumpy Gourmet" column for the Columbus Dispatch. Mr. Budros' pastry shoppe is for the busy family or business who likes to buy desserts when throwing a party--at any time you can find 50 fancy items in his case. However, if you're all done cleaning the toilets and setting the table, you can whip this little number up. But set aside generous amounts of time for the chocolate shortbread dough chilling and flame throwing for the bananas.

Update: I requested and received permission from Pistachio to post the recipe:

Yield: 10 individual 3 1/2" tartlettes

Chocolate Shortbread:
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/3 cups confectioners sugar
1/4 cup cocoa powder
pinch of salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Combine flour, sugar, cocoa powder, and salt in electric mixer bowl. Add better and mix on low speed with paddle attachment until mealy. Add eggs and vanilla. Mix on low speed until just combined--do not overmix! Remove dough from bowl. Lightly flour and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate for one hour. Roll dough to approximately 1/3 inch thick; cut or stamp 5 inches round. Form dough into 10 individual 3 1/2 inch tartlette rings. Bake with pie weights for 10 minutes. Remove pie weights. Bake for an additional 5 minutes or until set. Cool and store at room temerature.

Semisweet Chocolate Ganache:
1/2 cup heavy cream
6 oz. semisweet chocolate, finely grated (1 cup)

Finely grate approximately 6 ounces of semisweet chocolate; place in medium-size mixing bowl. Bring 1/2 cup heavy cream to a boil. Pour boiling cream over grated chocolate. Mix until smooth. Cool at room temperature.

Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Filling:
1 package (8 oz) cream cheese
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup Krema unsalted creamy peanut butter (this is a local, natural brand)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup heavy cream

Blend cream cheese and granulated sugar using paddle attachment in electric mixer until smooth. Add peanut better, salt and vanilla extract. Mix until smooth. Transfer mixture to a small bowl. In a mixer bowl, whip heavy cream to a soft peak. Add peanut butter cream cheese mixture to the whipped cream and mix on medium speed until smooth.

To Assemble:
10 chocolate shortbread tartlette shells, prepared (see above)
semisweet chocolate ganache, prepared (see above)
1 cup Spanish peanuts
peanut butter cream cheese filling, prepared
5 bananas, sliced (diagonal or oval shape)
1 stick unsalted butter, melted
1 cup sugar

Remove prepared, cooled chocolate tart shells from rings. Place onto sheet pan or work surface. Spoon one tablespoon of chocolate ganache into the bottom of each tart shell. Smooth with spatula to cover bottom of tart shell. Divide one cup Spanish peanuts equally among ten tarts--sprinkle over ganache. Spoon or pipe peanut butter cream cheese filling to fill tart shell. Cover filling with sliced bananas. Brush bananas with melted unsalted butter. Refrigerate until time to serve.

To serve:
Remove tarts from refrigerator. Sprinkle granulated sugar on top of bananas to cover. Use torch to caramelize. Serve immediately.

Norma's notes: He said that brushing the bananas with butter would keep them from discoloring and add a nice flavor. He used a high quality cocoa and semi sweet chocolate but I don't remember the brand--I just remember him stressing that. He also told us how to make our own pie weights out of beans, but best not to trust me on that one. I have no idea where you get the torch--he said something about going to the garage to get it, but I think that was a joke. It's not among my kitchen tools, nor are 5" tart rings. Just know this is a fabulous dessert--one I'll never make--considering how long it took to type it--but would buy.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Tart
dessert recipes
banana recipes
Elvis Presley

2227 The daughter-in-law--taking applications

You've seen the reality show about the bachelor choosing a wife. Why couldn't there be a show called "The daughter-in-law?" I've thought of throwing a big party and inviting all the single women I know to meet my son--he'd be the only guy at the party (unfortunately, most are in their 50s and 60s, and one in her 80s). He has excellent manners and I'm sure would make them all feel special, but would probably not speak to me for awhile.

My idea of the perfect daughter-in-law is probably different than my son's idea of a perfect wife. Actually, in marriage there is no perfection, so let's just toss that word out, OK? Marriage is mostly enjoying the good qualities and accepting the flaws, your spouse's and your own. Marriage is smoothing out your own rough edges so you aren't always poking at each other. He says next time he'd like to be the boss; he wants to be only 50% to blame when there is a problem. Personally, I don't think that's the best attitude if he wants it to last longer than a week or two.

I would like her (my new daughter-in-law) to be a little bit like my friend Mitzi, who used to use her week-ends to help care for her husband's father. Not so unusual, you say? Well, she lived in Illinois and her father-in-law lived in Arizona. So I'd say she was one fabulous daughter-in-law. My father-in-law's other daughter-in-law, Kate, is another one who willingly stepped in to provide care when needed, but they lived in the same house.

I would also like her to be a little bit like my son-in-law, who is cuddly, funny, and available when we need help--like tomorrow he's coming over to move furniture so we can have carpeting installed on Thursday. He also cleans the house and does the laundry (at his house) and has a good job. She wouldn't have to be strong enough to move furniture, but it would be nice for my son if she liked to clean and do laundry (don't laugh, some women do) and was also the CEO of a Fortune 500 company.

I would also like her to be a bit like my former daughter-in-law who was a fabulous cook and hostess. We aren't party people, so having her around was always a blast, and being invited for dinner was marvelous. Once when I was in the hospital she brought in a great meal and also gave me a manicure! I would also like her to be smart like my niece-in-law, Leigh, who is brainy, but very easy to talk to. I would like my daughter-in-law to be active in her church like my niece-in-law Joan, who seems to have a wonderful group of supportive friends and helps with the youth group. My son is a Christian and has learned the meaning of being unequally yoked.

I also think it would be nice if she were as good to her own parents as our daughter is to us. God save us from a woman who "has issues" she's always working on. I just don't think we have enough time left on this earth for her to find herself. She should like living in the mid-west and not be pining for mountains or oceans all the time. Sharing holidays--would that be too much to ask for?

I'm sorry this list is getting a bit long and doesn't look very romantic, but my son, of course, is going to be looking for what men always look for, so I thought that department was covered and I'd just throw out some ideas.

Oh yes, and he likes to fish, plays the guitar, and has a dog and a cat. So we want someone outdoorsy with no allergies.

2226 The Meathead Economics

That's what the WSJ is calling the universal preschool tax which would cost Californians $23 billion over the next 10 years, if Rob Reiner's Proposition 82 passes. Rob Reiner, for those of you too young to remember, was the flaming liberal son-in-law of Archie Bunker in the TV series, All in the Family. He left Gloria and she raised their son alone (in another short lived series). Now he's just another limousine liberal from Hollywood, making money off poor schmucks who buy movie tickets.

First of all, there is no evidence whatsoever that sending poor kids to preschool puts them ahead in elementary or high school. It doesn't get them into college and good jobs. Billions of dollars spent on Head Start over 40 years have not shown any permanent gains, because when the lights have been turned out and the doors of the school locked at night, these kids go home to the old environment and the parent (usually just one, ala Gloria Bunker). When California preschools are universal, you can bet your bippy that Hollywood moms will be sending their little darlings to a private school or jet setting them around the world with nannies and tutors in tow. The middle class and the working poor will be footing the bill, not the rich.

Second, California already has confiscatory taxes, and long time permanent (and wealthy) citizens are moving out of state. They love their sunshine, but they love their wealth more. According to one pundit, you can buy a home in Nevada just with the the tax savings by moving out of California. When the rich leave a state, who is going to pay the bulk of the taxes? Well, the middle-class, of course, since the poor don't pay anything.

Third, Reiner is using tobacco tax money (intended for children) to promote his latest Meathead scheme, and it has been funneled into the pockets of the public relations firms who got those contracts to sell his scheme.

"Beware of liberals promising to tax someone else to help children" they really mean you.

November story from Orange Co. Register on the Meathead tax

Wall Street Journal article

2225 This calls for a bag of Fritos

Some of you munch chocolates when under stress; I scarf down Fritos.


I just finished looking over our income tax forms before they are mailed--federal, state, RITA (our suburb), and Columbus. Even with all the eyes we've had looking this over, we've had the wrong address for our business for four years! No one seemed to care.

I have a pension and my husband has Social Security but is finishing up a few jobs for long time clients. His income is negative, so that offsets our interest income; even with a negative income he still owes taxes on his Soc. Sec.; the auto expenses for business still have to be claimed, but the record doesn’t have to be submitted; medical expenses were well over $10,000 (more than half my income) because of insurance and Medicare costs and we had no illnesses--it‘s been one of our healthiest years; we have a small house on the east side (considered a rental for us) which on paper shows up at $420,000 for depreciation (!) and the reasons are just flat out bizarre, but I assume it is so you never get to zero like we did back in the 60s when we owned a duplex. Must be very beneficial to people who own acres of apartments. But this is little house.

Here's a rerun from what I wrote on Feb. 8, but nothing has changed.

In 1995 the total pages of federal tax rules were 40,500; in 2004, 60,044.

In 2000 the number of IRS tax forms were 475; in 2004 they were 529.

In 1994 there were 16 loopholes for education and training; in 2004 that had risen to 28.

In 1995, 50% of taxpayers used paid tax preparers; in 2003, 62%.

In 1995 Americans spent 5.3 billion hours filling out tax forms; in 2004, 6.5 billion.

In 1995 there were 84 pages in the 1040 instruction book; in 2003 there were 131.

To complete the 1040, A,B, and D schedules in 1995, it required 21.2 hours; in 2003 it took 28.5. [figures from CATO Handbook on Policy, p. 120]

Monday Memories: Did I ever tell you about: When my letters turned into a memoir?
When my children left home about 20 years ago, I was suffering from empty nest syndrome big time. I decided to gather up the letters I’d written to my mother and sisters and the ones they’d written me and excerpt the “crazy” time in our year--from about Halloween through January so I would have a written record of our family life. Both children have November birthdays, so that’s about the time things really heated up at our house.

After looking through the letters (which my mother had saved), I pushed the time line back another 10 years and started with my years in college until I had about 30 years worth of letters. And I added in letters from girl friends, cousins, and in-laws. (I never throw away a letter). It was hours of typing (at the office after work since I didn’t have a computer then) and careful editing out really personal stuff. My husband designed an artistic cover, and I had the little book reproduced and bound at Kinko's.

Although the collection recorded all the cute and interesting things about my children’s growing up years, it also inadvertently became a story about a group of women--with a few men around the fringes--who were keeping things going by following a few familiar holiday traditions. At the beginning, I'm a college student and my mother is 47 years old with three children in college, a married daughter and two little grandchildren. My niece and nephew are 3 and 2 in the first letter and then are parents of their own children at the end, and repeating many of the same traditions, questions, and yearnings we letter writers had. Some people who didn’t write letters are in the collection anyway--their health and well-being and activities reported by the women who tell the stories year after year.

These letters recorded the ordinary events of our lives to the faint drumbeat of the cold war, the civil rights movement, space flight, the VietNam war, political campaigns, Watergate, economic growth and slowdown cycles, the rise of feminism, employment crises, career changes and family reconfigurations. On and on we wrote, from the conservatism of the Eisenhower years, on through the upheaval of the 60's, the stagnation of the 70's, then into the conservatism of Reagan/Bush in the 80s. National and international events are rarely discussed in these letters as though we were pulling the family close into the nest for a respite from the world's woes. If you were to read the letters, you might miss that we were even aware of world events. Or maybe because, as one of my sisters noted in a letter, when you're struggling on the home front sometimes there isn't much left to give to others.

The edited letters became the rhythm of women's lives--nursing a dying parent, holding a sick child, putting up the tree, playing the old records, going to the post office, baking favorite Christmas cookies, helping with school work, going to holiday programs, creating crafts with the children, shopping for gifts, checking the sky for some sunshine, wallpapering the hall, folding the laundry, looking for that just right job.

E-mail and blogging will have an effect on family memoirs--it will be interesting to review this phenomenon in 30 years. Digital is much less permanent than paper. Print out what is worth keeping--your children will be grown and gone the next time you turn around. And when they ask you why you printed them out for safe keeping, tell them, "Because Norma said so."

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2223 Rising college costs

As tuition goes up and more students take on the burden of loans, perhaps it's time to ask some questions about the courses, and how they will help a young person's career? The Young America's Foundation identified 12 courses on college campuses that make the people pushing for the 10 commandments or creationism in the classroom look like sound, sensible thinkers worthy of our support just for some balance.

1. Princeton: "The cultural production of early modern women" which examines prostitutes, cross-dressing and same sex eroticim in 16th and 17th century England, France, Italy and Spain.

2. Occidental College, California: "The unbearable whiteness of Barbie: race and popular culture in the United State."

3. Johns Hopkins University: "Sex, drugs and rock n roll in ancient Egypt."

The whole list here, but you can probably find more examples at the college of your choice by going on-line and searching "bulletin" or "courses."

I just quickly glanced through some women's studies course descriptions at Ohio State, but they are sanitized so as to reveal nothing, but I did find it odd that in women's studies, teaching middle school students is called "peer education." So the fact of biology makes the teacher and student peers? Or have I misunderstood this jargon and it means teaching students to teach their peers about sexuality?

2222 What would we do without committees?

Although I love being retired, I'm ecstatic about not being on committees to earn a paycheck. They truly made potholes in the road to a wonderful life and career. And things have always been so, I think. The committee gets a charge, works hard, battles for every concept and sentence in the report, brings it to the larger body (none of whom have done an ounce of research on the problem), only to get a bazillion "what ifs" and "why didn't you do" comments. Librarians can spend 15 minutes placing a comma. I used to envy the guy who sat in the back and slept.

Yesterday I checked out a black Lutheran hymnal published in 1930 from the church library. I wanted to examine it to determine if it was the edition used in the 1940s-50s at little Faith Lutheran Church in Forreston, IL when my family attended. We weren't Lutherans, but this little community of believers took us in and treated us like we were one of them (we were Church of the Brethren).

I'm a preface and index reader (it's a Librarian thing), so I got quite a chuckle out of the prefatory remarks on the book's history.

". . .representatives of eight synods. . . met in Chicago, May 3, 1921 and organized the Lutheran Intersynodical Hymnal Committee. . . In 1928, after the Committee had devoted much time and labor to a careful selection of hymns to be included in this hymnal and to a thorough revision of hymns from other languages as well as to the making of new translations when those hitherto used were not deemed satisfactory. . .[provisional was printed] with a view to the solicitation of criticisms and suggestions. . . The Committee again revised its work, also eliminating one hundred and thirty-two hymns, mostly translations, and including ninety-three other hymns."

The origin of the hymnal committee was the Iowa Synod, so I'm guessing there were some improved translations of Scandinavian and German hymns in the provisional text, but I can't be sure since it doesn't say.

Ah, committees. You gotta love 'em.

2221 The sun is setting on a busy day

Today we had the artists' reception for the Digital Artists of Central Ohio (DACO) Spring Show at The Church at Mill Run, 3500 Mill Run Dr., Hilliard, OH. It took about 4 hours to get it hung yesterday. Then the young man who arranged for us to show it did the typing of the program, but he was apparently a 2 finger typist, so I didn't get it until about 8:30 last night. Between church services this morning I ran off about 50 copies in the church office.

When I got home from church about 11:30 our son was here. He brought over his Midi so I'll be able to practice the choir music. I finally found a good spot for it in the guest room. It's sort of fun--I'd never played one before. It will be awhile before I sound like The 2nd Chapter of Acts (retired, 1988), but with all the drums, guitar and cymbals, I think I could do it (if it drowns out my voice). It even has applause if I get discouraged!

Hear the bells ringing

They're singing that we can

Be born again

Joy to the world!

He is risen!

Hallelujah!



We had a very good turn out at the art show, and some of the people I invited this morning at church came by. This is a relatively new art group and many had never seen our space before. We recruited one of our own to help with hanging the next one. It's a lot of ladder climbing.

Now I'm sort of vegging out on the couch watching "Gone with the Wind," one of my all time favorite movies. The costuming and sets never cease to amaze me. I'm too tired to make a joyful noise.

2220 Net Asset Creep

Big news these days. The gap in assets between the top and bottom is growing. Wait a minute! Weren't we told 10 years ago that this was going to happen as the "greatest generation" which struggled through the Depression and World War II and scrimped and saved and invested in America began dying off and passing along their assets to the boomers? Weren't we told years ago that there would be an unprecedented amount of wealth, trillions and trillions, changing hands in this country in the early 21st century?

We're not rich by any means, but if my husband's step-father hadn't withdrawn his RCA pension and invested it in the stock market back in the early 1990s, and if he hadn't died first leaving it all to my mother-in-law, his wife of 52 years, I would've worked until age 65 or later instead of retiring at 60. And now we have money to invest for our older years which we wouldn't have had. He was just a poor kid from Indianapolis' south side who worked his way up in management, but we are the benficiaries of his hard work and the stock market boom of the 90s.

An estimated $12 trillion will be passed along to heirs in 2017 just about 10 years from now--and in the next 50 years, $41 trillion. Will there be a widening gap? Yes, unless someone in Washington decides it isn't fair that our fathers and grandfathers worked so hard, and it should be stripped away and given to someone not in the family.

The wealthy can afford the advisors and lawyers and accountants to help them work their way through the tax code. The rest of us can't. As the media starts ginning up the music on "unfair," "poverty is growing," and "it's Bush's tax breaks for the wealthy," just keep in mind your dad and mom who rarely went to a nice restaurant, or travelled, or bought new clothes. Then turn off the TV.

2219 It's an odd war

says Victor Davis Hanson. "It is an odd war, because the side that I think is losing garners all the press, whether by blowing up the great golden dome of the Askariya shrine in Samarra, or by blowing up an American each day. Yet we hear nothing of the other side that is ever so slowly, shrewdly undermining the enemy."

Read his latest assessment of the insurgency, what our media area ignoring, what is our will to win and see this through here.

"Can-do Americans courageously go about their duty in Iraq — mostly unafraid that a culture of 2,000 years, the reality of geography, the sheer forces of language and religion, the propaganda of the state-run Arab media, and the cynicism of the liberal West are all stacked against them. Iraq may not have started out as the pivotal front in the war between democracy and fascism, but it has surely evolved into that. After visiting the country, I think we can and will win, but just as importantly, unlike in 2003-04, there does not seem to be much of anything we should be doing there that in fact we are not."

2218 White guys can't write copy?

Gannett/USAToday has a poster ad promoting job fairs in McLean VA, Anaheim, CA and Atlanta for positions in advertising. In the mosaic of photos in the ad are eleven women--all Asian in appearance, some more so than others. There are five young men in the ad, one clearly African American, three sort of multi-racial featured, and one with delicate, male-model/dancer features who could be a NAMBLA poster child. Just what is the exclusion message here?

job fairs
advertising

2217 What doesn't respond to antibiotics?

This is a quiz, a useful one, and it is from USAToday. Actually, it isn't a quiz, it is the answers to a quiz.

Which ailments/illnesses do not respond to antibiotics?

• cold
• flu
• chest cold
• bronchitis

These do, with caveats

• pneumonia (if it is bacterial and not viral)
• whooping cough (if diagnosed early)

So why do 50% of people with bronchitis receive an antibiotic--the overuse of which is a major health threat?

KidsHealth

antibiotics

2216 Wild boars are extinct in Scotland

therefore it can't be against the Dangerous Wild Animals Act for farmers to raise the hairy ugly things. Story here.

2215 Facing extinction?

"Today . . . the library is relinquishing its place as the top source of inquiry. The reason that the library is losing its supremacy in carrying out this fundamental role is due, of course, to the impact of digital technology. As digital technology has pervaded every aspect of our civilization, it has set forth a revolution not only in how we store and transmit recorded knowledge, historical records, and a host of other kinds of communication but also in how we seek and gain access to these materials." Educause Review

2214 Creepy, crawly computer words

Wine words are prettier than "Observed Web Robot Behavior on Decaying Web Subsites" nerd words.

• Robot Behavior
  crawling patterns
  contents decay at predetermined rates
  decaying subsites
  Spidering Hacks
  populating each with HTML
  words that are often labeled "pornographic."
  tar-zipped
  lowest-common-denominator
  Googlebot
  log rotation process
  pruning and cross-checking
  percentage of crawls
  non-resolving IPs
  most frequent single crawler
  a mix of human and robotic crawls
  we ignored crawls from unknown robots
  a host containing robot, crawler, spider or some similarly identifiable robot-style title
  log-resolve and whois databases
  final arbiter
  static bar graphs
  The green portion
  deep-crawling
  Wayback Machine
  resource decay
  begin a deep plunge
  research on live systems
  the vagaries and foibles
  

2213 Sorry, we gave at the church

These all dropped through the mail slot today. Looks like they used the same direct mail provider.

2212 Should illegals receive

• in state tuition help with my tax money? NO
  
• scholarships? NO
  
• well, how about a public school education on my real estate tax dollar? NO
  
• surely emergency room services and hospital beds on my medicaid state money? NO

What about making it easier for them to become legal workers? I'll certainly consider any idea or program that is legal. Nothing while they are illegals.

2211 The days of wine and phrases

Wine critics write the most wonderful words. Today's wine column in the WSJ was about wine bars, and I just had to share with you these phrases. They are just so--I don't know--earthy, robust and unstoppable. Most are reusable in other stories.

• explosion of wine bars
  
• passion for wine
  
• a demographic of time-starved people
  
• a sophisticated retreat from airport madness
  
• a place of fun and wonder
  
• a menu of "4 pages of wine and 2 pages of food"
  
• opened too long--if flat, listless, stale, metallic, or oxidized
  
• take a chance on something new
  
• flights of wine--4 chardonnays from around the world
  
• the bartender/wine server should be passionate
  
• be honest with your budget
  
• stunning stuff not on the list
  
• it's not geeky to take notes

I know nothing about wine--I drink "three buck chuck" (Charles Shaw, $3.30 at Trader Joe's), and I stagger after one glass of Merlot, but I love tasty words. One recommended wine was $25.99 a bottle--a sparkling Shiraz. "It was delightful with some seriously dark, herbal and earthy tastes leavened with languid bubbles. It would go well with chili, hamburgers, grilled cheese sandwiches and barbecue."

2210 Greed, Lust, and Sex

Or as my friend Vox Lauri would say slyly, "that should bring 'em to the site." WSJ says a new network (My Network TV) will feature greed, lust, and sex.

I don't know who did their marketing research, but hasn't that already been done to death?

2209 Readers pound on Nancy

Readers of Nancy Pelosi's Wall Street Journal article on research and development thoroughly thrashed her in the letters column yesterday. John Rogitz, Thom McKee, John Wallace and Steve Cardana made these points:

• Pelosi thinks USA has R & D leadership because of federal bureaucrats.
  
• Pelosi thinks spending more money on public education would produce more engineering graduates.
  
• Pelosi is all wrong about who and what country contributed to scientific achievements she notes.
  
• Pelosi thinks our status as a world leader has never been challenged before the Bush administration. Was she OTL during the space race and the battles of fuel efficient automobiles in the 70s and 80s?

Her grasp of history, politics and technology makes you wonder after reading her article if she (or her staff) is a victim product of the public school system.

2208 Mickey's joke this week

Mickey sent along this joke today. Maybe you've seen it, but I got a chuckle.

"George W. Bush and the Pope are taking a cruise of the Potomac and the Pope's hat blows off and lands in the water. Secret Service men scramble to retrieve it, but George says, "wait a minute guys, I'll handle this". The President proceeds to step out of the boat, walks across the water, retrieves the hat and walks back to the boat.

The next morning the Washington Post, USA Today, CNN, MSNBC and NPR Top story/Banner headlines read: PRESIDENT BUSH CAN'T SWIM!!!! "

Actually, I know the President doesn't walk on water. Mostly he's floating along on an out of control domestic spending program that makes him appear to be a Democrat.

Update: Two more from Mickey. He's really flying today.

"A White House source stated Wednesday that Congress is considering awarding Vice President Dick Cheney the Congressional Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor, for his act of bravery in shooting an attorney. The source was quoted to say, All Americans have wanted to shoot a lawyer at one time or another and Cheney actually had the guts to do it."

"In a related story, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, which issues hunting licenses, said that it will start requiring hunters who wish to bag a lawyer to have a new "lawyer's stamp" on their hunting license. Currently Texas hunters are required to carry stamps for hunting birds, deer, and bear, at a cost of $7 annually. The new "lawyers stamp" will cost $100, but open season will be all year long. The department further stated that although the "lawyers stamp" comes at hefty price, sales have been brisk and it is believed it will generate annual revenues in excess of $3 billion dollars the first year. Other states are considering similar hunting stamps."

Apologies to my niece Julie who is a lawyer, and has probably heard more lawyer jokes than she'd care to admit. Only librarians laugh at librarian jokes--they are so obtuse no one else would laugh.

Thursday Thirteen

13 topics NORMA writes about in this blog
1. Current events. I read three newspapers and a number of political, technical and social blogs and web sites. I check out 3-4 magazines a week from the public library on business, health and politics. I occasionally listen to talk radio and I enjoy C-Span, particularly Book-tv. I’m a neo-conservative who would lean Libertarian if it weren’t for abortion. Even as a Democrat (most of my adult life), I was always pro-life. I grew up pacifist. I know nothing about fiction, popular music, sports, gaming and entertainment.

2. Libraries and librarianship. There are strange goings-on and wonderful technological advancements that I try to keep up with. A side issue is education, but it’s not a field I follow although I think it’s an important issue for everyone to know about. I leave that to other bloggers better informed.

3. Parenting. My children are adults (37 and 38) and have been on their own since they were 18, but I still remember the good, the bad, and the delightful. I am not a grandparent, so you’ll find no cutesy photos on my site. Our two oldest sons died, and occasionally I’ve mentioned it in blogging, but not often. Life if full of losses, and those were definitely defining events in our lives.

4. Finances. We’re living on pensions. It’s amazing how your vocabulary changes to Social Security, 403-b, 401-K, IRA, Wall Street, taxes, real estate, bonds, REITS, etc., when no one is handing you a paycheck for showing up. Neither one of us had any retirement plan until we were in our mid-forties. People coming up are much better informed about this than we were.

5. My family. I grew up in 2 small towns with three siblings, and lots of relatives near-by. I like genealogy and family stories, so I’m the keeper of the tales for my siblings and nieces and nephews. Also I write about my immediate family--husband of 45+ years, two adult children in town.

6. Travel. I’ve blogged about our Frank Lloyd Wright architectural tours and our trip to Germany and Austria, but I’ll blog about anything that takes us on the road or puts us in an airplane, train or bus.

7. My church and my faith. Most of this is at Church of the Acronym. I’m a Lutheran (ELCA), but always test high as a Calvinist (about 100%) if I take a theology quiz. I have zero interest in “end-times” stuff--Jesus is coming back and that’s all I care to know. Everything else is sheer speculation. I grew up in the Church of the Brethren, a tiny, Anabaptist denomination with a strong pacifist and outreach ministry. Now I like traditional services and liturgy and gripe a lot about current trends in music and worship. That’s probably either my age, or because I came to appreciate liturgy late in my life. I joined the choir 2 weeks ago. I could read Martin Luther all day--I think his published work runs to 55-60 volumes. Imagine if blogging had been available!

8. My interest in art. Sometimes I post my paintings here or those of my husband (who is a much better painter). We are both watercolorists, doing more now that we are retired, and are members of a Visual Arts Ministry that works out of our church.

9. My activities with friends. I loved my job as veterinary medicine librarian, but retirement is just plain fun. We're still in touch with our friends from grade school and high school through U.S. mail, via e-mail, and face to face visits when we return to Illinois and Indiana. Work friendships really are hard to keep going, so I’m always looking for new, interesting people to meet, but I hate to be busy so I‘m a careful scheduler.

10. Lakeside, Ohio. We have a summer home in a Lake Erie community on the Chautauqua circuit, so there are lots of activities and events to write about. During the summer months I write a lot of reviews of the entertainment. We’ve been vacationing there since 1974 and bought a home in 1988. A great place for children and for soaking up some art, music and lectures just by walking out the front door.

11. Pets. My cat, a Calico shelter cat, and my grand puppies Abbie and Rosa. My children have a tiny Chihuahua who just recently joined us, and a huge chocolate Lab, a forever-puppy. Growing up I had mostly dogs, and also a horse. I like to paint and draw animals, especially horses. I really enjoy the photos of animals I see on other people’s blogs. Especially cats. Most of them need to lose weight, however.

12. Health issues and research. Some of this is covered at my other blog, Hugging and Chalking. About half of my journal collection in the Veterinary Medicine Library was human medicine or hard sciences, so I got hooked on that topic. Did you know that many doctors write poetry and beautiful essays and publish them in boring medical journals?

13. Writing. Also the wonders and peculiarities of the English language. In addition to writing seven blogs, I’m in a memoirs writing group and occasionally participate in poetry readings using my own poetry. I’ve always written letters to my family and friends, to editors of magazines and government types; also essays and stories, and as a child I also illustrated them. I am an extremely fast typist, which certainly helps in the blogging business. I’ve published in journals you’ve never heard of unless you’re a librarian. I have boxes of half finished research that will never be published because scholarly publishing is a two way street, and the fast lane is intended to advance a career, which I no longer have.

Other readers and Thirteeners who have visited:

1. Joan, 2. Mar 3. R Cubed, 4. Dariana, 5. Mama Mel, 6. Denise, 7. Tanya, 8. Carol, 9. Uisce, 10. Shelli, 11. Nicole, 12. D., 13. Shelli, 14. Stacie, 15. Colleen, 16. Jane, 17. Courtney, 18. Killired. 19. Kelly, 20. Lazy Daisy, 21. Suz, 22. Eph2810 23. Eric, 24. Lena 25. Kontan 26. JK. 27. Kate, 28. Better Safe, 29. Kimmy, 30. Holy Mama, 31. Veronika,
32. Stacie, 33. Lyn, 34. Keb, 35. Ardice,


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2206 The news of her death . . "

We were on a recipient e-mail list today giving the church, date and times for a funeral of a fellow artist. I was shocked. Didn't know she'd died. However, I knew a good friend of hers, so I called to express my sympathy. "Oh, she's not dead," she said, "I just talked to her a few minutes ago." So I told her about the e-mail. "Oh, she'll get a kick out of that." Or maybe not. There were at least 50 names on that list.

2205 Working out an exchange

Tonight my son called and asked if I'd like to trade my trombone for his keyboard for 3 months. I asked him why and didn't exactly get an answer. I suspect a little bird has told him that my joining the choir has put a request in the prayer job jar that I recover one or two more notes so I can sing. It's awfully hard to practice the music without a piano, and a trombone doesn't help at all.


Last night the director was enrolling his son in kindergarten, so the trumpet player subbed as the director. He's quite talented so I'm assuming that he is a music director somewhere, perhaps a school. He's a good director too. This church is absolutely loaded with talent, although not mine. We did back rubs on the right and then the left and karate chops to warm up, then extended our arms and made a large hole with our fingers and projected the sound into the hole.

Then we split up, the men to the choir loft with the sub and accompanyist to practice the tenor and bass parts, and the women in the choir room with the organist to work on the soprano and alto. I'm just filling space at this point, but it is fun to be singing and reading music again. After practice about 20 choir members headed for the Rusty Bucket to continue the fellowship, but I went home.

Note: if your church is using overhead screens for hymns, you are depriving some sweet old lady the pleasure of reading music. Hymns are more than words.

2204 The burden of student loans

Sandra Block authors an article in USAToday on the burden of college loans. It was so anecdotal, I almost despaired at trying to parse it for the holes, gaps and exaggerations. The charts were all over the place, covering 30 years here, 10 years there, adjusted for 2005 dollars, and squiggly lines criss-crossing, going nowhere in particular. I knew if I worked hard enough at figuring it out, it would all be Bush's fault, but I had hoped for something better.

Let's parse her first example: a pre-pharmacy student, now 19, who figures he will owe $150,000 by the time he gets his doctorate. Does anyone want to figure what he would owe if he borrowed living expenses for six years and didn't go to school and didn't work? Probably a lot more than $150,000 unless he lived at no higher than $25,000/year which would get him into the food pantry in Columbus for supplemental peanut butter and mac/cheese.

Then there is her next example, an education major, who will be $15,000 in debt with a B.S. For 5 years of education, that doesn't sound too bad--less than a car loan, and she'll only have to work 10 months of the year and will get a buy out with a $50,000 incentive when she is 50 years old if she works for Columbus City Schools.

The third is really my favorite. A social worker who graduated in 1997 with a master's and $22,000 in debt. Conservatively, that's for 5 or 6 years of education. Her debt is now $29,000 even after a consolidation. Hello! That's not your school loan! That's $7,000 interest on a loan (probably with late charges) because you didn't pay it back.

The fourth example of student debt is a woman minister who consolidated her $33,000 debt reducing it to $200/mo, but now has no money to buy a house or save for retirement. So she has a bachelor's and master's degree, and was willing to chose a field that is becoming heavily female and didn't even pay well even when dominated by men? Girlfriend (as Suze would say), did you walk into this with the clerical collar around your eyes and ears? Large successful churches don't hire female ministers; didn't anyone in divinity school mention that?

So who are the experts Block consults for this masterpiece of research? Amy at the National Center and American Daughter may need to help me out here, but I'm taking a wild guess that the non-profit experts she consulted for this article are left of center.

• Project on Student Debt (endorsed by Rock the Vote)
  
• Center for Economic and Policy Research (advocates for gov't programs for every level of endeavor, but it's never enough, and requires more funding for each failure)
  
• Public Interest Research Group (although I be suspicious of any acronym called PIRG, seems to be heavy into tree hugging issues)

The headline for the article is: "Students suffocate under tens of thousands in loans." So I went into one of those "Money was worth" such-and-so many years ago sites, and discovered that the $10,600 debt for a public college today (the average according to Block) would have been about $2,500 in 1975, or $1,725 in 1961 when I graduated.

So, ask your mother or grandmother if she felt "suffocated" by debt when she finished college. Yes, 1961 attitudes toward money were different. We didn't have cell phones, broad band, or cable TV to pay for. Eating out was for special occasions a few times a year. (Cut those 4 things out of your budget and see if you don't have enough to pay off a loan.) And most importantly, people got married before they decided to "save money" by living together. Marriage broadened their base of family support from two families instead of one.

I'm sure there's more to it, but debt is debt. You borrow it; you pay it back.

student loans
college expenses

2203 Thanks, but I'll pass

Although I enjoy learning about English, if I just happened to be in the Chicago area in early March, this would probably not be how I'd spend my time, Mr. Bierma.

"If you'll be in the Chicago area on March 3 and 4, consider attending the 32nd annual convention of the Illinois Teachers of ESOL and Bilingual Education, in Naperville. I will be giving the closing plenary address, "Strange Twists and Turns in the History of English." "

There's just too much to see and do in Chicago, my favorite city. Catch ya next time, though.