4053

Lakeside 80 years ago

On my bookshelves at our summer cottage is the Lakeside on-Lake-Erie Season 1927 program. I think I bought it several years ago at a yard sale. On p. 7 there is a photo of a man doing a high dive and I think it is Frank Thompson, for whom the baby pool here is dedicated. He taught generations of little Lakesiders to swim, and built our house in the 1940s which we purchased from his widow.

"Hundreds of people are looking to Lakeside to provide for tem a happy vacation. People will not be disappointed, for Lakeside is full of promise for another splendid season. Physically, many improvements have been made which will have the hearty commendation of our patrons. The grounds have been improved; trees, flowers, and shrubbery have been planted; and a more beautiful Lakeside is on the way.

The program for the season is a good one. The Chautuqua program has been carefully built, and men and women of genius and power have been secured to appear upon our platform. Lakeside is a platform of the open mind where authoritative speakers are welcomed."

The main speaker the week of July 1 (opening week) was Dr. William A. Ganfield, president of Carroll College in Waukesha, WI. He was a former Presbyterian Minister who also ran for Senate against Robert LaFollette. That week he spoke on "Is the world doomed to starve," "The next step in American progress," and "Saving the day for the U.S.A." There were daily band concerts in the park, and the Inskeep Players performed "Other People's Money," and "The Mender;" also available--Pathe news reel, a 2 piano recital, 4 reading recitals by Jeannette Kling, performances by the Vintons, father and son, orchestral preludes in the auditorium (Hoover hadn't yet been built), and various youth choirs that opening week. Each week had wonderful programming, just like today.

During the season there was not only the Chautauqua Assembly, but a conference for the Congregationalists and the Lutherans, the WCTU, School of Foreign Missions, the German Methodists, the Epworth League, a horseshoe tournament, science week, a junior tennis tournament, a music week, and a Shakespeare Day.

In 1927 you could reach Lakeside via the Steamer Chippewa from Sandusky and Cedar Point, or the Lakeside and Marblehead Railroad, connecting with the New York Central at Danbury. There was an auto ferry Sandusky to Lakeside and a trolley between Toledo and Lakeside for $1.50 round trip. Everyone over age 10 had to have a ticket within Lakeside, which were $.25 a day for adults, or $5.00 for the season. Automobiles were $.10 daily, or $3.00 a season. Clergy and family got in for half price.

Well, the prices have certainly changed.

4052

Can you say No?

Some people have a problem saying or hearing the word NO. I think it is the first word children say, either because they hear it so often or because it is short and easy to say. So why is it, that people have such a problem with it later in life? My mother, God bless her, had a problem with that word. Her favorite phrase was, "We'll see." That just put off the inevitable, but she didn't get into trouble with it. I didn't follow her example. In fact, it drives me crazy when people aren't honest about wanting to say NO, so they just lead you on until it is too late to make other plans, or you've moved on only to find out later something else was about to happen.



So here's how I'd do it--how to say NO.

1. To a request to bake a cake for a fund raiser/good cause. I say, "NO, if you needed a pie, I'd gladly help out, but I don't do cakes. If you'll accept store-bought or bakery, I'll do it." I never say, "Let me get back to you on that." I'm 67 years old and I think I should know the answer to this one--you'll love my pie, and pass on my cake.

2. To a request to join yet another organization. I say, "NO, I already belong to two small groups and that's about my limit. I don't want to add anything else to my calendar." However, I do say YES if it's a short term task with a beginning and end in sight, but that has to be clarified. Also, I can spot "empire building" from 50 yards, so don't even ask if that's your intent.

3. To a request for a dinner date with my husband for Thursday if we already have plans for Friday and Sunday. I say "NO, sweety, those extra calories don't bother you one bit, but I don't want them." I'm probably the only wife who says NO to a dinner out, but you gotta do what you gotta do, or else walk an extra 5 miles a day!

4. To a request for a donation. I say, "NO, we tithe to our church and contribute to several community organizations we believe in. We have met our limit for this year."

5. To a request to help in my professional area of expertise. I say "NO, I believe that level of support deserves an employee and not a volunteer. Have you considered hiring someone?"

6. To a request to join a committee. I usually say NO, but there are exceptions. You don't ever want to appoint me Chair, because I'll dissolve the committee.

7. To a request to borrow money. Usually this is NO, but we have helped out our children occasionally, and other relatives if we know they haven't been irresponsible. My parents loaned us the downpayment for our first house, loaned me money to finish college and financed a car for us, so I had help, too--in my early 20s. Dad would set up payments with interest. However, don't ever loan money that you can't offer as a gift, or you might be disappointed and don't use it as a means to control behavior. The relationship is more important than the money. You just create hard feelings by making people indebted to you. Once we gave money to one of my husband's relatives because we knew a loan was out of the questions--he would have never paid it back.

8. To a request to babysit or help in the church nursery. Can't think that any one would ask this today, but in the past, I always caught a cold. Babies and toddlers are crawling with germs for which I have no immunity. Wording this NO is tricky, however, or you do sound like a meany. Honesty would be best so they can call the next name on the list.

My mother did give me some advice on saying NO, although I don't usually follow it. She suggested, in her dear, nonconfrontational way, that I at least look like I'm thinking about the request before I say NO.

When my daughter was in elementary school, the teacher sent home a grade report that said something to the effect that she had an overdeveloped sense of NO. Good girl. A woman after my own heart.

4051

Remembering labor

Normally, I never think about labor--not the paycheck, but the kind that has a baby at the end of the effort. You really do forget it almost as soon as they place the baby in your arms. But when I read about it, somehow it all comes back, and I have a feeling that most women wouldn't see it the way this writer does.

4050

Memorials at Lakeside

Some light the way with period sensitive street lamps, this one in remembrance of Hazel and Wendell Lutes, Sr. who may have strolled along the lakefront holding hands.

This one preserves flowers found only on our peninsula, the Lakeside Daisy, in memory of Daisy Foster.

The 19th century bell from the old bell tower on the lakefront was taken out of storage and restored in memory of Robert and Olive Pekar a few years back.

We're all enjoying the fine landscaping at the Hoover Auditorium in memory of Marian and Hurst Anderson.


The Steele Memorial allows us wonderful times for evening vespers, Sunday afternoon band concerts and weddings. It was built in 1979 for the memory of Fritz and Karilyn Steele, who died in an auto accident, by his parents with additional upgrading provided by Mary Corbett in 1995.


The Fountain Inn was expanded and beautified by donations by the Warner and Wolf families.

Almost every park bench and tree has a memorial plaque, this one for the Martins.


We can hardly remember what we did for fun before 2000 and the opening of the Rhein Center where families draw, paint rocks, create pottery, make kites, write poetry and knit and crochet and hundreds of other crafts. This building was closed for many years, but was transformed as a wonderful memorial to C. Kirk Rhein, Jr. who lost his life on TWA Flight 800 in 1996.

When I walk by a plaque, I stop and read it--and say thank you.

4049

Maybe he could take up golf

Lionel Tiger is an anthropologist who sees himself as an economist when he writes for the op ed page in the WSJ. I see him as a poet, because his writing about the subprime mess is so obscure and squishy, it just screams for the pages of Poetry. In today's piece he writes movingly of Maria (note the Hispanic, i.e. working class allusion) and her home loan problems. Tiger says that the savings and investment industry is built on optimism and overestimates--by all parties, but the blame when that goes awry does not go to Maria, however. Here's where I see the poetry.

Blame
by Norma Bruce
based on Lionel Tiger's essay

For Allen who
never checked Maria's paperwork,
who assumed because she had a heartbeat
she was both
fine and subprime
all at once and
he didn't give a damn.

For the companies who
lurked outside
the gated-city building sites
promising the moonlight
on the deck
for just a little
overestimate please.

For the regulators who
couldn't follow
the trail of crumbs
leading from an
intimate overestimate
by a hopeful Maria
for a humble bungalow.

For the massive banks of Paris who
decided to close
their cash windows
and take
a long lunch
just when Maria comes
to refinance.

For the rating agencies who
are largely paid by the
companies they rate
[without a word to condemn the social scientists
who urged the high-risk, poor-credit workers
before they were ready,
to grab for the American dream.]

Read about banking on illegal immigrants, and see how business, the federal government loop holes and do-gooders work together, but we the people will pay.

4048

I should feel sorry for her,

but I don't. She's working 80 hours a week to meet her mortgage payment, which was an ARM and she couldn't get refinancing in today's fearful market for a fixed mortgage. So why doesn't my heart bleed for her? Her mortgage payment is $8,200 month, and she owns 2 acres of prime real estate in Marietta, GA, which she wanted assessed at $1 million to secure a loan, but the bank said, $900,000 tops [story in today's WSJ].


The number one rule of economics that every child should be taught in school is, "All bubbles burst." Give every senior on the last day in high school a cup of sudsy water and a wire wand, ask them to swish it and blow. Tell them to watch the pretty bubbles float, admire to colors, laugh at their classmates' antics. Then watch the bubbles pop--every single one will pop. Remind them that they are watching the real estate market, or the stock market, or their current love interest or their chosen career aspirations. It could be as valuable as a typing course and about as exciting.

Monday Memories--Is there life after high school

I saw this meme over at Big Mama. She's been out of high school 18 years, so her memories are a little fresher than mine--I've just had my 50th high school reunion. Well, not the 50th reunion, but you know what I mean.

1. Who was your best friend? My best friend Tina moved to Florida after our junior year. We both lived on Hannah Ave. and would walk to school together, stopping for Kay and Priscilla on the way (probably a 2 mile walk, and longer for her). We also double dated a lot. Lynne's best friend got married that year and left school, so Lynne and I started hanging out together, and we still correspond and see each other when I go home to visit family.

With Lynne and Sylvia in 1999


2. Did you play any sports? Not so you could recognize them. Those were pre-Title 9 days, and in Illinois, there were no competitive sports for women. We did have GAA which allowed us to wear uniforms not seen since my mother's college days. Katie, our PE teacher, was a guest at our reunion in July. What that poor woman had to put up with.

3. What kind of car did you drive? Anything my Dad owned, and he changed cars rather than change oil. I love those 50s cars. I had a boyfriend from Polo that had a 1953 royal blue Plymouth with dual pipes--unbelieveably sweet and loud--the car, not him.

4. It’s Friday night. Where were you? With my friends of course, usually at a slumber party after a school athletic event. Or it seems that way in my memory. I was part of a "birthday group" (clique) of 12 girls, and so we'd have at least 12 parties a year, pretty mild by today's teen standards. No boys. Lots of food. Presents. Occasional picnics. Movies.

5. Were you a party animal? See #4.
Christmas Party 1954
6. Were you considered a flirt? Oh yes.

7. Were you in the band, orchestra or choir? Yes. I played first chair trombone, and sang in girl's chorus, and whatever that smaller group was called.

8. Were you a nerd? That word hadn't been invented yet, but I was an A student. A brain who didn't study all that hard, and I really paid for that when I got to college and didn't have good study habits. I took all the college prep-courses except Algebra II. I had the classic math anxiety syndrome that afflicts many girls (or I was just dumb in math), although that term wasn't invented yet either.

9. Were you ever suspended or expelled? Heavens no! I just got the "we're so disappointed that a young woman of your talent and potential would behave like this" lecture from the principal.

10. Can you sing the fight song? I think we sing it or hum it at our reunions. One year--1987?--the reunion committee brought along band instruments and everyone in the band had to try to play the school fight song. What a hoot. I couldn't even find F on the trombone, let alone play anything.

11. Who was your favorite teacher? For a small school, we had some great teachers and an excellent administration. Warren Burstrom was memorable--managed to get me through physics and chemistry. He was a graduate of Luther College in Iowa. He later went on to teach at a junior college. His wife had been my 8th grade teacher, and she was excellent too, although I think my class was her first and we probably made her regret choosing that career.

12. What was your school mascot? Our school name was so odd, we didn't need a mascot.

13. Did you go to the Prom? All four years. Three proms with the same date.

14. If you could go back, would you? No, at this age, they'd think I wandered in from the retirement home which is next door. Our high school has merged with our biggest rival, much to the grief of the alumni.

15. What do you remember most about graduation? I had to give a speech. I still nearly pass out in front of an audience. I've got it here somewhere on my blog.

16. Where were you on Senior Skip Day? We didn't do such things, at least not as a class, but I think we did the next worst thing for the 1950s--wore jeans to school one day in the last month of our high school career.

17. Did you have a job your senior year? Yes. I worked at Zickuhr's Drug store and the town library, and also filled in during the summer if I was home, which wasn't often. I was thrifty (tight), and had saved enough for my first year of college.

18. Where did you go most often for lunch? To the school cafeteria.

19. Have you gained weight since then? Yes, about 10 lbs. Several times. But it has rearranged itself. Some of my measurements are the same--my right thigh is now what my waist was in high school.
20. What did you do after graduation? I went to Manchester College in North Manchester, IN after a summer in Brethren Volunteer Service in Fresno, CA. Then I transferred to the University of Illinois to study Russian.




21. What year did you graduate? 1957. There's a song about that by the Statler Brothers, "The class of '57 had its dream," or something like that.

And the class of '57 had its dreams,
Oh, we all thought we'd change the world with our great works and deeds.
Or maybe we just thought the world would change to fit our needs,
The class of '57 had its dreams.

22. Who was your Senior Prom Date? My boyfriend. He had to come home from colllege, but he made the sacrifice. Neither one of us knew how to dance, but we did go to them often.
This is the 1956 prom
23. Are you going/did you go to your 10 year reunion? I didn't make it to the 10 year, but did get to most of them. In 1967 we had just moved to Ohio from Illinois, and it is about a 10 hour drive to get there.

If you liked this memory meme, tag, you're it.

4046

Blogging blues

The laptop failed again. Very frustrating. So I'm back in the hotel lobby at the desk meant for little people, or the intention that you not stay long because of leg cramps.

Last night's program at Hoover Auditorium in Lakeside was Mike Albert, the big-E, an Elvis impersonator. I think this is the 5th or 6th time I've seen him over the years, and he's really a dynamic performer. He said it was the 9th performance in 10 days, but the show didn't get out until 10:45, so he always gives a lot. I wore my autographed scarf which he'd given to my son to give to me when he'd been to his shop in Columbus, maybe 2 years ago. Last night he had his own mother on the stage--said they'd sing together when he was young, and they did a little harmonizing for the audience.


Yesterday I wrote about silly things reported in the press about political candidates and mentioned Obama's church, Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago. Last night at the program I was reading this week's (issue no. 10) Lakesider, and see that the Chaplain of the week is Otis Moss III, pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago. It says he got a BA in Religion and Philosophy from Morehouse College, was a track and field athlete, then went to Yale where he got a Master of Divinity degree with a concentration in Ethics and Theology. Then it was on to Denver to pursue a PhD in Religion and Social Change. It says he created the Issachar Movement (I used to get a newsletter from them, I think).

See? I blog. They come.

I usually go to the Lakefront service at 8:30 on Sunday, not the one with the Chaplain of the Week in Hoover. In my life time I've heard so many liberal sermons I could probably preach one myself.

4045

Ellen Goodman is just reporting what I said three years ago

There is a dearth of women bloggers who discuss politics, economics, academe, etc. That's one of the reasons I started setting up group links for women in my left hand column. But then women began running away with the stats--gossip, children, decorating, kitchens, memes, book reviews, crafts, religion and so forth. Now about half of all blogs are written by women. They are great blogs, but the men are trampling us when it comes to having any influence in the blogsphere.

The New Republic's Jonathan Chait recently called the netroots "the most significant mass movement in US politics since the rise of the Christian right." In fact, they've amplified the antiwar, anti-Bush views, become an alternative fund-raising operation, and linked cyberliberals across the country. . . Nevertheless, there is another, less flattering way in which broadband has followed broadcast and the liberal political bloggers mimic the conservative talk-show hosts. The chief messengers are overwhelmingly men -- white men, even angry white men. . . Only 7% of the influential blogs are written by women.

Ellen, if you'd been reading me instead of the Daily Kook, you could have sounded this alarm much sooner.

You could have started by reading the writing credits and articles about start-ups in Wired where all things e- appear. WSJ reported in June "all things digital" featuring five movers and shakers. One was a woman--she has a gossip site (actually she's an executive of Time, Inc., but still, gossip?). Brad and Angelina can pull in 17.5 million page views, and I'm betting on the gender of the readers.

The digital network world is about 99% mortared with testosterone, and that includes influential blogs--you must have really stretched it to find 7%. But you probably weren't reading blogs by women, and especially not a conservative blog. And we all started on level ground this time. Women could have written about topics other than "my mean boss," diaper brands, American Idol and shoes, but they write about what they talk about after work and when the kids have gone to bed, and that ain't politics. Some of the "mommy blogs" (are there really 11 million?) have the best writing you'll ever read--great recipes, too--but other than American Daughter, Amy Ridenour, Baldilocks, Neo-Neocon or women who already were writing professionally like Joanne Jacobs, Michelle Malkin and Jane Galt, no candidate will even give them a glance.

Read Ellen Goodman in the Boston Globe leftist to her tippy toes, but right about this--there is no diversity in the progressive/leftist blogosphere.

4044

Dogs on board

I've seen silly things for which to criticize politicans, but these are scraping the bottom of the barrel.

Did you know that 25 years ago Mitt Romney's dog road rode in a dog carrier strapped on top of the car to transport the dog from Boston to Canada? Have the critics never seen a dog with his head hanging out a car window, or poking through the roof of a car, or enjoying a ride in a pick-up truck bed?

Or how about this one. Barack Obama's church, Trinity United Church of Christ (Chicago) affirms its ties with the African motherland. Hello! Does the critic not know that the Lutheran synods were all ethnic, or that there is still a very large Hungarian Lutheran church in Cleveland? Obama's father was in fact an African. If anyone should belong to a church with ties to Africa, he should.

I've seen more criticism of Hillary Clinton for having heavy legs than for her plan to socialize medicine (or that she denies she wants to). What does the size of her legs have to do with her ability to declare war or lie to the electorate?

Rudy Giuliani didn't spend enough time getting dust in his lungs after 9/11. Oh please. There are a lot of skeletons in his family closet, let's look a bit deeper, OK?

You Belong in Fall

Intelligent, introspective, and quite expressive at times... You appreciate the changes in color, climate, and mood that fall brings Whether you're carving wacky pumpkins or taking long drives, autumn is a favorite time of year for you

What Season Are You?

I Scored a 100%!

I found these at UK Bookworm, another Thursday Thirteener. She has homeschooled and reviews children's books.

4043

Addiction in 6th graders

My son began smoking in adolescence, so a recent article in Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, 2007;161:704-710 didn't surprise me.

10% of children had cravings for nicotine within 2 days of the first inhalation of cigarette smoke

More than 70% of the inhalers had cravings before they were smoking every day



"Results: Among the 217 inhalers, 127 lost autonomy over their tobacco use, 10% having done so within 2 days and 25% having done so within 30 days of first inhaling from a cigarette; half had lost autonomy by the time they were smoking 7 cigarettes per month. Among the 83 inhalers who developed ICD-10–defined dependence, half had done so by the time they were smoking 46 cigarettes per month. At the interview following the onset of ICD-10–defined dependence, the median salivary cotinine concentration of current smokers was 5.35 ng/mL, a level that falls well below the cutoff used to distinguish active from passive smokers."

"Lost autonomy"--interesting phrase, isn't it? He told me one time that he believes he was "hooked" after the first cigarette--sometime around 13 or 14. If you are a smoker, chances are your kids will be too, but it doesn't always work that way. My husband's parents were both chain smokers. Neither he nor his sister liked it and didn't smoke; another brother did. This means he had inhaled the equivalent of 102 packs of cigarettes by the time he was 5 years old. My father smoked until I was about 9, but my sisters and I didn't. Neither my husband nor I smoke, but our son can't break the habit.

I really shudder when I see teens smoking; we were walking behind a group the other night along the lakefront--the oldest being about 16. They just have no idea of the cost and health problems heading their way. They might as well be setting dollar bills on fire and tossing them into Lake Erie.

4042

Let's investigate Congress and the gas tax

Can you believe the liberals? Another "fund" for them to squander?

The Democratic chairman of the House Transportation Committee proposed a 5-cent increase in the 18.3 cents-a-gallon federal gasoline tax to establish a new trust fund for repairing or replacing structurally deficient highway bridges. CNN

Yes, liberals were horrified that Bush told the truth about where our highway and bridge repair money has gone--into the home states of the Congress people who control it. It goes to the states--let's have a special investigation. Maybe the media could even do it's job and sniff this one out--maybe bloggers like the Daily Kook could do some good for a change. Repair and maintenance isn't sexy and it doesn't get you votes--Democrats or Republicans. Every home owner knows it is critical is maintaining the value of your home. Why are we so naive when it comes to demanding accountability for the millions we give Congress for our transportation needs? Look what was being said just two years ago:

For every dollar we Alaskans pay in at-the-pump gas taxes, we get $6.60 back, thanks to you generous, unwitting donors.

According to Taxpayers for Common Sense, a non-partisan watchdog group in Washington, that breaks down to $1,150 for every Alaskan in "earmark" funding for in-state projects alone, 25 times what the average American garners for his or her home state.

How could this be? Alaska is so rich that residents not only pay no state income tax, but we get individual yearly checks as our share of the oil wealth. Why should your gas taxes, which are supposed to fill potholes in your local interstate or repair your decaying bridges, end up so far from home?" Nick Jans, USAToday

Alaskans aren't the only ones bringing home the pork, but we need a full scale investigation before we give the federal government one more penny at the pump. We've got failing bridges here in Ohio, but you should see the list earmarked just for Cuyahoga County (Cleveland)--$850 million for a convention center, a juvenile justice center, a correctional facility, and a county administration building. That is NOT transportation money, but it is tax money--and that's just one county.

If Americans fall for this line, we deserve the Congress we've elected.

4041

Friday Family Photo

We all know who we are here--about a month ago, taken in Illinois during the 4th get together, with my brother's daughter and granddaughter at my sister's kitchen table.

4040

Napping on the floor

Isn't this a great photo over at A Chelsea Morning. I don't know who Cameron is, probably a grandchild, but the floor is one of my favorite spots to nap. Sometimes the cat joins me. All I need is about 10 minutes, and I feel one coming on. . .

4039

Classes at the Rhein Center

Last night the instructors at the Rhein Center in Lakeside had a pitch-in/covered dish dinner. Families also attend, so I brought a home baked pizza and a sugar-free raspberry/chocolate pie, because my husband teaches Perspective Drawing. I did sign up on Sunday for two classes (creative writing and a watercolor workshop), but after seeing the opportunities, I wish I'd made a little more effort, especially since it has rained almost every day. For instance, while we explored a delicious vegetable casserole that arrived late, I chatted with Christine Grimm who taught basic metal clay. I didn't even know such a thing existed, and you should see the jewelry that is created in that class. Here's the description:

Using clay that turns to 99.9% pure silver when fired, "we will start out small, making a pendant with basic techniques that can be used anywhere, anytime, without a kiln." The instuctor provided all the tools and materials (fee $20) to make a ring and a 16" necklace.

And then I also chatted with Barb Hall, whom I'd seen during the week at the next table. She has made and flown kites all over the world. She was a real Pied Piper with the children, and also teaches archery. She has been flying kites for over 18 years and has won awards for her hand made kites at a number of festivals. She is the president of the Central Florida Cloud Chasers. In her classes children 7-adult made kites from Tyvek, parachutes with a jumping firefighter, and an airplane from a foam plate. Class materials were $2-$5. She also told us about a wonderful, inexpensive home sharing/bed and breakfast service for travelers over 50, Evergreen Club. For an annual fee and $15 a night, travelers can stay in the homes of fellow members. And there are all sorts of pottery, ceramics, and porcelain classes--lots of clay being thrown on the wheels of the Rhein Center.

4038

Looking for horses

Whether you enjoy medicine, images from old documents or photographs, you will lose yourself in the Wellcome Images website. When I try out a new database, I usually use the keyword or subject, "horses," and am rarely disappointed.

L0044105 Credit: Wellcome Library, London 3 children dressed up as the wise men bow down before the infant Jesus Christ, lying on a pillow under a large yellow star as part of their Christmas celebrations. A child on a sledge and a steaming samovar of tea are below that and a sleigh drawn by two black horses by a man with a long white beard is at the bottom of the card. 1890s

From: Russia

By: Thomas Holloway (Firm)

Published: Thomas Holloway,London : 1890s Size: 13 cm.

Collection: General Collections

Library reference no.: EPHEPH367A

Full Bibliographic Record Link to Wellcome Library Catalogue

“Teachers, students, academics and the public can now download and use images depicting 2,000 years of mankind and medicine for free, thanks this newly launched website from the Wellcome Trust.

Launched on 15 June 2007, 'Wellcome Images' is the world's leading source of images on the history of medicine, modern biomedical science and clinical medicine. All content has been made available under a Creative Commons Licence, which allows users to copy, distribute and display the image, provided the source is fully attributed and it is used for non-commercial purposes.
Wellcome Images is constantly updated with new clinical, and biomedical and historical images from the Wellcome Library, Europe's leading resource for the study of history of medicine which recently re-launched as part of the new and forthcoming Wellcome Collection.” From news release

After practicing a bit I found that sometimes a bit of specificity works better than general, for instance, using "rose" or "lily" instead of "flower" brought up many additional images, although not what I might have expected. Still, a wonderful site for browsing.

Dog roses illustrating a page from the Psalms.

Lily feet, what they called the deformed and mangled tiny feet of Chinese women.

All images here are from the Wellcome Collection.

4037

New legislation on adoption and foster care

You probably didn't know that certain Americans have special protective laws for adoption applying only to them--Native Americans, aka American Indians. Now there will be more.

"Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) today introduced legislation that will provide Indian Tribes with the same direct access to federal funding for foster care and adoption services that states currently receive. The Tribal Foster Care and Adoption Act of 2007 will provide federal funding that will allow Native American Tribes to establish independent foster care and adoption programs." Native American Times

It seems that separating an Indian child/adult from his tribal heritage is a more painful injury than separating any other American--black, or Irish or German--from hers or his.

Origami

is one of the crafts being taught at the Rhein Center at Lakeside this week. I think they are making strings of cranes to symbolize peace. If you want to see fabulous origami try out Painted Threads by Judy Perez. She features her son's entries at Columbia College in July. Unbelieveable!

Bev: if you're reading this, see if you can get me the premiere issue of "Artful Blogging," at B & N or another bookstore. She mentions it in her blog, and I'm not near any large bookstores. I'll repay you. Or we'll name it for you, like the toilet seat (inside joke, folks).

Thursday Thirteen borrowed

I borrowed this meme from JAM who borrowed it from someone else. I really am intending to write a TT on 13 reasons I read JAMA, but I have to find the draft.

What curse word do you use the most? I never learned to swear or curse. I've got pretty clean language, but there are many substitute words that most of us don't even think about that were added to the lexicon over the years. Gee Whiz. Darn it. What the? My mother used to say, "By Jove." If you are a potty mouth blogger, I'm probably not one of your regular readers.

Do you own an iPod? No, and I can't imagine why I would want one. If I need some noise, I turn on the radio. I worry about little ears with little ear buds constantly on.

Who on your MySpace "Top 8" do you talk to the most? I talk to real people in the coffee shop.

What time is your alarm clock set for? I wake up between 4:30 and 5 a.m., but never use an alarm. It would keep me awake all night looking at the clock because I would want to shut it off before it startled me.

What color is your room?My office at home is cream and khaki. Pretty dull, but soothing. I have a lot of paintings and it works as a background color. It used to have dark hunter green and taupe wallpaper, which made it the lightest room in the house. After we painted everything else, it started to look awfully dark.

Flip flops or sneakers?Sneakers. If I wear sneakers, it's Nike for walking, although I do own Reebok and Keds for casual wear. No flip flops since college days. Sometimes dress codes don't catch up with the times. I see Muslim women in sneakers and Amish women in flip flops--seems a bit of a disconnect.

Would you rather take the picture or be in the picture?I'm not such a great photographer, but I can smile. I still have all my permanent teeth--even my wisdom teeth. Here I am with my grandpuppy Abbie.



What was the last movie you watched?I think it was Amazing Grace in a theater. Lakeside, OH has the only theater in the county.

Do any of your friends have children?Yes. Most of my friends also have grandchildren (I don't), and some have great grands. As parents they were quite sensible and strict. As grandparents they are sappy blobs of Jello.

Has anyone ever called you lazy?Not in the last 50 years. And it was well deserved. I think when I was a child my Dad did if I whined about helping Mom with the garden or housework.

Do you ever take medication to help you fall asleep faster?No. I fall asleep in about 30 seconds. If it takes longer, I complain, or get up.

What CD is currently in your CD player? My head set CD player has an audiobook, but I have one with hymns ready to go.

Do you prefer regular or chocolate milk?Now there's a question I haven't been asked in years. I don't drink a lot of milk, but it would be 2% or skim white milk.

View More Thursday Thirteeners

4034

Jamming in Lakeside

Big power outage last night, and more storms rolling across northern Ohio. I'll have to turn off the laptop soon. Today I hope to sign up for an afternoon class at Lorenzo's Culinary School. It's on making peach jam. Isn't that a great idea for a one shot class? Registration is limited, so I might not get in.

We decided to skip the program last night (it was near 90), and walked down to the dock where we visited with a neighbor and two other teachers from the Rhein Center. The lake was such an unusual color reflected for a hazy sky--almost white. Many kids were fishing with their dads--always a fun sight. We got back to our cottage about 9 p.m. and realized the power was off. It was restored around midnight. So I suppose the program was interrupted too.

I'm enjoying the writing class--Pat is such a fun teacher. Yesterday one of the writers mentioned that she is in a book group with a newspaper journalist who told the group they are taught in journalism school to include opinion in their news reporting to make it more interesting. What a shame! I read a "news" story in today's WSJ about upcoming legislation for "universal" (i.e. compulsory and tax supported) pre-school. Although the reporter (and I use the term loosely) said there was research showing Head Start had not resulted in the hoped for outcomes (I think there is zero carry over after a year or two), everything she cited was pro-government pre-school. She particularly focused on wealthy supporters of the idea. There are so many ways to slant a story--and she (Deborah Solomon) had hit most of them. Having a mother who is married to the father, and who has finished high school, will get far better results than universal pre-school in closing the "rich-poor gap" a favorite economic term of today's journalists.

Update: The peach jam class was cancelled! Not enough people signed up. Also, the power outage was due to a fire in a transformer at Rts. 53 and 163. Most of the Marblehead peninsula lost power.

4033

North Korea lecture by Swanger

It's fortunate that Dr. Eugene Swanger, Director and Professor of East Asian Studies at Wittenburg University for 33 years and a lecturer for the Department of State, has such a calm demeanor. Otherwise, one would be tempted to run screaming into the streets after one of his lectures on China, Taiwan or Korea. Truly, I'm surprised the "Peace with Justice" people (nonviolence, social responsibility), want him around for this special week. As I noted yesterday, the truce that pulled our troops out of Korea over 50 years ago resulted in millions of deaths by starvation in the north and the most repressive regime in the history of the world. What little is known about Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il, his heir, (both are considered dieties) comes from defectors who have written books. Dr. Swanger provided a bibliography:

Fujimoto, Kenji. Kim Jong Il's Cook; I saw his naked body. WaPo review
Kang Chol-hwan. Aquariums of Pyongyang; ten years in the North Korean Gulag. (horror and deprevation)
Kim Hyun-hee. Tears of my soul. (Blew up an airliner)
Lee Soon-ok. Eyes of the tailess animals. (Read a chapter)
Sin Sang-ok. Kingdom of Kim. (Kidnapped film director)

The take away of the lecture: "North Korea has never kept any agreement with any country."

4032

How to clean Meladur or Melamine

If you grew up in the 1950s, you probably ate a few meals off melamine type dishware. My mother stayed with china and glass, and I never really cared to use plastic myself, but I did inherit some. When we bought our cottage in 1988 I chose the colors pink, cream, and blue for the theme. A friend of mine was going to give away old dishware, so she gave the whole box to me--enough to feed 10 or 11 easily, although our cottage is too small for such a crowd. I think she'd built her set week by week at the old A & P (Currier and Ives made by Royal, made in the USA, blue and white). But there were a few odds and ends tucked into the box, some pink Melamine type, Meladur by Lapcor, which I didn't look at closely until yesterday.

We've used these 4 pink bowls (photo from e-bay) occasionally for ice cream because they are deep with a lip edge, easy to hold, and just about the right size for people who don't overeat. But they were quite stained from scratches and food chemicals and not particularly appealing. I decided to try my Mr. Clean Magic Eraser. It has worked quite well on removing the marks of our metal picture frames from the painted walls. Wow! It's not exactly like restoring a valuable mural in a chapel, but these bowls are now the color that God and American Cyanamid had in mind. Melamine was developed during WWII for the Navy so they could have lightweight, break resistant dinnerware that wouldn't conduct the heat. After the war, 11 companies, including Melmac, used this product. Now melamine is being used again and here's a link about new products. We also have 4 brown bowls, 2 different sizes, in Texas-Ware, another popular melamine type dishware.

If you have stained or faded melamine, try the Magic Eraser.

Russel Wright and Meladur This is an interesting site with all sorts of information on this product and a designer that used it.

The rise and fall of Melamine

4031

A busy Monday at Lakeside

Yesterday at 10:30 I had a writing class with Patricia Mote at the Rhein Center. Ghastly hot, and today I'll take a cushion for the hard chair. She's a wonderful instructor, very supportive, and has had such an interesting writing career. She no longer has her publishing company, but is keeping her hand in by editing and advising other authors on their way to print. She has recently authored one of the Arcadia series books on Columbus, Indiana, and since we just visited there last summer, I think I will try to get it.

Then at 2:30 I went to the Fountain Inn to hear Dr. Eugene Swanger talk on Taiwan. He is always so interesting--gentle, kind, and carries a wonderful background of his years at Wittenburg and teaching in the foreign service. I was tempted to raise my hand and ask, "Do any of the Democrat candidates for President know this?" but I didn't. Today's topic will be Korea. Regardless of what you think about the war in Iraq, think on this: Korean War "ended" with a truce--no victory--and we're still there and millions in the north have been left to die by starvation and bad policies; we ran out on our Vietnamese allies, leaving millions to die at the victors; now our peace and justice, can't we all just get along folk want to abandon the people of Iraq. Justice for whom? Just us. We're the kiss of death. Why would any country trust our government?

At 6:30 I hustled up to the Rhein Center for an evening watercolor workshop with Neil Glazer. I would like to jump start my painting again. Haven't done anything for a year. I did two paintings, both awful by my standards, but they looked better this morning than last night. I had planned to moan and groan when I got back to the cottage, but my husband was off to the neighbors to watch "The Closer." And the cat wanted to cuddle, but didn't care to hear my troubles.

Now it is thundering, so I'm on battery power, ready to set off for the coffee shop. Yesterday I chatted with a woman near 50 who is the daughter in law of a former neighbor. I think we probably met when she was a teen-ager, before she married, because I remember meeting her husband and some of his friends when we lived on Abington. At my coffee blog I'll probably write about our meeting. It's not like we ran into each other in Europe or Asia, still it's a small world.

Monday Memories

Last Friday my elementary and high school classmates, Sylvia and Dave, were in Columbus to attend a cousin's wedding, so we got together at their hotel. We had just seen each other at our class reunion in July.



I have fond memories of their parents and remember their contributions to our little community. Sylvia's parents lived on a farm when we were very young and she attended a rural school. We attended the same church and her cousin JoElla and I both lived in Forreston when I was in elementary school and later roomed together in college. Later her parents and my parents were neighbors on Lincoln Street. Sylvia had recently had the opportunity to take a look at the home in Forreston (of JoElla's parents) where we all played when we were about 7 or 8. I hadn't thought about that house for years, but in my mind's eye was able to do a walk through and see the kitchen (which still had a hand pump in the 1940s) and where grandma was sitting when we'd come in from school, and the big porch.

I remember Sylvia's parents as both being talented writers, her dad having a column in the town newspaper, and her mom writing a number of small historical booklets concerning the area. Her mother, Ada, must have invented the modern hobby of "scrapbooking." I remember when I was maybe 11 years old being amazed at the artistic chronicle of Sylvia's life her mother had kept--in our family, photographs were thrown into a box. I finally assembled them into several albums in the early 1980s.

Dave's parents followed his school sports closely, which means they also included the rest of us with rides to the games and home parties. His mother had a wonderful sense of humor and I never met anyone who didn't like her. Our parents had known each other either from high school, college or work before we were born. They are all gone now, but not forgotten.

Ghost bikes of Lake Erie

You've probably heard of the ghost ships of Lake Erie. Those are the freighters and ore ships that disappeared mysteriously (and some not so mysterious). This week-end we saw some ghost bikes encrusted with zebra mussels and seaweed and gunk. Well, now that a scuba diver retrieved them off our dock I suppose they don't qualify as ghosts anymore, but they were still pretty creepy. I'm guessing some 12 year old in 1977 rode this one a little too fast and had to swim back home.

"The Master of all [bikes] is now in command
The course is charted to that promised land;
Not a sound breaks the silence in the pale moonlight
on those Phantom [Bikes] that pass in the night."
[from Phantom Ships that Pass in the Night by Lyle A. Myers]

4028

Just your peace loving Muslims

"The [7] Mashad hangings, broadcast live on local television [last Wednesday], are among a series of public executions ordered by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad last month as part of a campaign to terrorize an increasingly restive population. Over the past six weeks, at least 118 people have been executed, including four who were stoned to death. According to Saeed Mortazavi, the chief Islamic prosecutor, at least 150 more people, including five women, are scheduled to be hanged or stoned to death in the coming weeks."

Full story in WSJ, Aug. 6.

4027

I tawt I taw a puddy tat

Interesting dynamics when our cat, who thinks knows she owns our cottage, meets our daughter's dog, who is willing to share.

Who wants to play while we pack up?

Phttt. Don't even think about it!

4026

Why I lose faith in the experts

There is so much green goo on the environmental bandwagon, it's no wonder it's a slippery slope to humanistic destruction. There are wonderful, humane, spiritual and Biblical reasons to protect and respect our earth, many of them also fiscally sound. Others are pure nonsense, designed to make a buck or three. Like this description for an education course my husband received today from AIA

"A Living Systems Approach to Design: The impact of human activity exceeds our planet's capacity to accommodate change, ultimately harming Earth's ability to sustain life. This session, presented by architects Chrisna du Plessis and William Reed, explores the new realities, and responsibilities architects face when must consider how human and natural systems can evolve together."

Now let's compare that to this

"[Look at a midnight sky] It still reverberates from the Big Bang of its creation 13.7 billion years ago. . . Gamma-ray bursts release more energy in a blink than our sun can produce in a billion years." Robert Lee Hotz WSJ, 8-3-07

One or both of these descriptions of life has to be wrong. One says earth can't withstand the measly gasoline engine in the United States and Europe, the other says it created itself with no outside help almost 14 billion years ago, killing off millions of generations of species in trial and error before man ever appeared to dig an oil well.

4025

Reuniting before the nursing home

This morning the local PBS had the fund raiser running with the 50s doo-wop groups. How long before the current reunion tours end up at the state fairs, then the PBS fund raisers, and finally Lakeside? Today's Plain Dealer listed a few on the nostalgia (i.e. money) bandwagon.

Police
Genesis
Spice Girls
Raspberries
Eagles (got an early start on this in the 90s)
Fleetwood Mac
Smashing Pumpkins
Crowded House
Squeeze

Drug problems, big egos, stealing and womanizing usually break these groups up, and love of money and dimming memories bring them back together to play for audiences who want to reconnect with a time in their lives which they recall as less complicated.

Eric Carmen, singer guitarist of the Raspberries was quoted, "There's something about being in a band. It's like being through a war with someone. . . it's a powerful thing."

4024

The Abandon-the-Iraqis Candidates

Elizabeth Sullivan's column in the Plain Dealer today listed the Democrats who wanted to withdraw, run out, abandon, retreat, provide the enemy a timetable, whatever you call it.

Hillary
Obama
Edwards
Biden
Dodd
Kucinich
McCain

She was drawing attention to McCain, but I'd like to draw attention to her use of Mrs. Clinton's first name while addressing the others by their surname. Why is that? Is it familiarity? Demeaning? Less prestige? Removes confusion because her husband is called Clinton and she doesn't want to be aligned with him?

I'm not supporting Mrs. Clinton, but I think she ought to be addressed the same as the rest of the guys.

4023

What they're saying in Minnesota

about the bridge collapse. Ed Morrisey at Captain's Quarters is one of the best bloggers you'll read on any topic, but since the writer is a Minnesotan, his take on the local politics is instructive:

Yesterday, Senator Amy Klobuchar blamed the collapse of the I-35W bridge on a lack of highway funds -- even though the 2005 highway bill increased federal funding to Minnesota by 46% over its five-year span. Apparently realizing that line of argument wouldn't hold, Rep. James Oberstar accused MnDOT of being too cheap to use advanced technology for bridge inspections. He left out of his accusation that the technology hasn't proven itself for that purpose

Read the rest here.

I also read or heard somewhere that local environmentalists wanted the highway funds to be spent on light rail and other "non-polluting" transportation, not on bridges and highways. These are cousins of the folk in Arizona who won't let them cut down diseased trees for fear more people will find an area desirable for building, then scream global warming when the area dries up and burns. In any case, I don't think the administration of President Bush has a dog in this fight. As in hurricanes, the locals have the responsibility to be prepared after the Congress members bring home the pork.

More Signs of Lakeside

Many golf carts; many flags; lots of fun. Sometimes it's the only way to settle down some lively grandchildren--a ride with grandpa in the cart, followed by an ice cream cone.

It's been a lot of years since I dropped the little ones off at the staff supervised playground. Parents are also allowed, and I see there is a covered play area now. I had to move a few strollers to get this photo.

The sign says, Where the world comes to play shuffleoard, and it really does. There are international tournaments here, with a very impressive closing ceremony where the participants walk down the aisles of the auditorium carrying their flags. But usually we just see family groups--all ages can play this game together.

I hadn't seen this sign about profanity before--I guess Lakeside does eventually catch up with the "world." The only thing I've done on the court is square dancing, and you didn't hear anyone cussing with swing your partner round and round.

This sign is new too--probably a reflection of today's more cautious parents, or someone not accustomed to having their front door and street boundary so close. This is one of the oldest streets with a number of the cottages from the 1800s before there were set backs and footprint requirements. The newer areas have a bit more space between buildings.

Now it's all about bridges

Within 12 hours of the collapse of the bridge on Interstate 35W in Minneapolis, the kooks and krazies of the Daily Kos, the blogger behemoth to which Democratic presidential candidates are all rushing (especially John Edwards), were blaming George Bush and the Republicans. Now the johnny-come-latelies of the MSM are trotting out, "if only we weren't in Iraq, we'd have enough to repair our falling down bridges." They don't blame the "experts" who have been doing the inspections, or the report in 2001 by the U. of MN that said the bridge had years of service left. Each inspection seemed to call for more reports and inspections; none called for its closing. They don't blame the engineers. They don't blame the Congress who doles out the Highway Trust Fund from our gasoline taxes. They don't blame our rush to bio-fuels which will defund that Fund. They don't blame the wall of red tape snarling local, state and federal agencies responsible for highway safety. Nope. It's all in the power of the president/king/emperor George.

I looked at the list of bridge failures since 1980 in the USAToday. All seemed to be human error (barges or boats hitting them) or caused by earthquakes. None were on the list to watch, that I know of. I've been hearing stories for 20 years that the infrastructure of our cities was crumbling, but that George Bush is so powerful, his hand can reach backward.

Friday Family Photo

Last week my niece Cindy and family visited us. She and her husband are teachers in Bradenton, FL. About 18 years ago, Cindy also got a nursing degree. Here she is with her proud mother, my sister Carol, and her brother Greg at her graduation ceremony in May 1989.

4019

That was our parents' Play Station

said one cartoon character to another in Salt and Pepper, the Wall Street Journal cartoon. They were walking past a playground with monkey bars, swings and a metal slide. Maybe it should read grandparents, because I don't think I've seen them in the last 35 years.

It may be a cartoon, but it might also explain the rise in childhood obesity. It's a drawing of the playgrounds of the 1940s and 1950s, not the 70s and 80s. By the time my kids could climb on to a swing in the mid-1970s, playgrounds had profoundly changed from my school days. More plastic and rubber, special ground covers of shredded mulch or wood chips, brightly painted little animals on springs that rocked with very little effort. Slides looked more like mystery mazes. Also, when I was a child, almost no one had playground equipment in their own yard--a few might have had a tire tied to a rope or a tree house. Usually we had to ride a bike or walk to a playground--our little towns didn't have parks so they were on the school property.

Yesterday I walked past the playground where my children played in the 1970s. It's still in the same place, but I think this is the third or fourth generation of equipment since then. The little rocking animals have been replaced with rocking race cars. It was a hot day, but only one mother was there with her children.

Thursday Thirteen

13 things to check for that important job interview
Yes, I'm retired from academe, but I remember a few things about being on a "search committee." Maybe things have changed since 2000, but this was my experience.

1) Check your personal appearance. Some will groan, others will say, doh! I can still remember interviewing women in the late 1980s and early 1990s (think shoulder pads and big hair) who looked like a time warp from Woodstock--sandals, peasant blouse, flouncy, ethnic skirt, and long, straight stringy hair. For the committee the message, even if incorrect, is that you haven't had a new idea in years. Maybe update the frames for your glasses or toss the t-shirts. Take out the nose ring and cover your tattoo; get a real haircut. If you're too proud or haughty to snip off the pony tail, maybe this isn't the time for a job change.

2) Check your resume's appearance and content. These days you've sent it in a digital format, but it still needs to be grammatically correct, attractive when printed out for the committee, accurate, and not too wordy. It's a job, not a biography. I remember reading a resume that had a sentence with more than 100 words.

3) Check your network. This is on-going whether you're job hunting or not. Don't burn any bridges. Someone at the new location/ job will know someone from your past. . . someone you dissed in the cafeteria or meeting, someone you flirted or slept with, someone who thinks you're not a team player, someone who's heard all your excuses for being late.

4) Check your references. Talk to them personally. What has changed? If it's been a few years and you're both in other jobs, maybe it's time to freshen the list, or it will look a little odd.

5) Check the geographic location. Unless the candidate grew up in Bucyrus, or had a parent living in Indiana, we all knew we have no oceans or mountains in central Ohio, but occasionally the candidate seemed surprised by acres of corn and soybeans and wanted more than we could offer. It was a waste of everyone's time.

Check your oral presentation

6) How's your English? Not your accent, but your grammar and slang. Do you mumble? Stare at your feet? Do you start every sentence with "like," or "now" or "yeah?" Work with a coach if need be. Videotape yourself if you need to give a presentation and have someone you trust critique.

7) How are your teeth? If you are 40 or younger, you've probably had them straightened, capped, bonded or whitened. If you are older, at least have them whitened if you smoke, drink coffee or tea. If this seems odd, just take a look at the smile of a Gen-Y friend (18-29). You'll be doing a lot of smiling (I hope) at this interview.

8) Talk too much? It's hard to break this habit--but for a job interview, you may have to bite your tongue. Do you chatter, leap from topic to topic, wear out even your spouse? Women particularly give out more personal information than anyone wants to know. Keep quiet about your children, your pets, in-laws, etc. Be prepared to answer a few probing questions with even fewer words.

9) Know something about the company, product, campus, etc., but also prepare some questions for others. People will like you better if you aren't a know-it-all. There's a fine line between sounding stupid and interested.

Check these at the door.

10) Evangelism. Whether it is religion, politics or your carbon footprint, you won't know who on the committee or in the personnel office thinks Al Gore is a nut, or who is a libertarian, or who hates Baptists, Mormons, Muslims, Unitarians, etc.

11) Your cell phone, BlackBerry. This should be self-explanatory, but a lot of people forget to turn them off, or think it is OK to check their e-mail at lunch. Leave it in the motel or the car! A blast of your your favorite rock ringtone wouldn't be good if you're sitting in the CEO's office. If you can't unplug long enough to complete an interview or resist text messaging your best friend, perhaps you need to stay where you are.

12) Your blog or social networking site on the internet. Unless you've been writing about a product line or an information service, dump these. Quick. Someone will always know, no matter how anonymous you think you are. I know I've seen conflicting advice on this, but not everyone in the company is up on blather and gossip as a networking tool and may think you just have a trash mouth on a back-stabbing body.

13) Your music. You wouldn't list your age on your resume, so why do it by talking about what's on your i-pod? You may be a fan of Led Zeppelin because the group was big in your teens, but that's "classics" or dad's music for the younger set.

Rupert Murdoch and the WSJ

It seems to be a done deal--Murdoch now controls the Wall Street Journal. It's a little like gay marriage--he didn't really need to do it, he already had it all, there was no social pressure, but he wanted acceptance. At least that's what I concluded after reading the funeral draped pages of today's edition. If Dennis K. Berman has a job in the new organization, I'd be surprised. You see, only the editorial pages are conservative and pro-business. The articles were every bit as liberal as the New York Times. Every evil in the world can be blamed on capitalism, did you know that? And recent evil is all Bush's fault. Journalism schools are turning out people, both for newspapers and journals, who see their role not to research, report, sift and sort, but to change their readers' beliefs and attitudes. To their own, of course. I see it in the medical journals, the library journals, teachers' journals and the architectural journals, too. According the Berman article (A1), Murdoch

orchestrated a deal for the forces of capitalism

plotted his moves

found a willing dance partner in a CEO

has perpetrated a "dark day in journalism"

has showed a thick skin secure in his belief that his critics are antibuiness elitists (change that to "antimedia" and you'd describe most reporters)

is interfering and politicizing journalism (but that's the journalists' role, not the owner)

has views in accord with the editorial pages (oh my gosh!)

will use his influence to advance his political interests (pot to kettle, etc.)

is irresponsible.

Actually, I don't expect to see much change. Although I suspect some writers will leave anyway. They'll write books, or apply for work with liberal think tanks.

The workers respond: "As for the Journal news coverage, the critics insult the standards and culture of our reporters and editors. They aren't potted plants who will abandon the habits of a lifetime because someone else owns Dow Jones. Yes, we all must adapt to the new ways in which readers want to receive business and political news. But to claim that the Journal will cease being a credible source of such news is to malign the integrity of 700 career professionals."

Assurances from the publisher

Happy Anniversary

"Rush Limbaugh launched his phenomenally successful radio broadcast into national syndication on August 1, 1988, with 56 radio stations. Seventeen years later it is heard on nearly 600 stations by 20 million people each week and is the highest rated national radio talk show in America." Read. Wouldn't that be 19 years? Maybe it's an old page. WJR says 645 stations.

4015

Treadmills in coffee shops?

According to the Cheerful Oncologist, recent research on nude mice shows that caffeine and exercise offer some protection from sun exposure. His take on this interesting story here.

The last day of July

This is a rerun from July 31, 2004. Our friend Jane mentioned 3 years ago did buy a cottage.

-----------------

Lakeside streets and cottages could tell you a thousand love stories--the community is over 130 years old. The vacationers seeking a beautiful place to worship, learn and have fun first arrived by steamship (ended in 1939), and rail (ended in 1930) and interurban (ended in 1939). Bridges and high ways brought changes that come with automobiles, but they didn't change why people come here. Our neighbors (in Columbus) stopped by the cottage yesterday returning from upper Michigan. They had never been here. "We've been here an hour and a half," Jane said, "and I want to buy a place."

And there are other love stories--this poem was inspired by a young couple I saw under the street light last summer on the last day of July. This one, however, is about a summer love story from the 1940s.

It was too late for summer love,
They cried that day and said good-bye.
Cicada announced at sunset
It was the last day of July.

As August waited at the door
The sun slipped down more quickly now.
They strolled along the Lakeside dock
and to each other made this vow.

"We'll dance and swim and sing once more
when next July we'll meet again
with kisses sweet in pale moonlight
on the corner of Third and Lynn."

He shipped out for the Philippines;
She left for school at OSU.
During July in years to come
They both recalled that lovely view.

The lovers young did not return
to stroll the lakefront side by side,
'til this year each saw the other
with great grandchildren at Lakeside.

It was too late for summer love,
After hello they said good-bye
with a kiss for their own sunset--
It was the last day of July.

4013

Practicing with the camera

I'm practicing with the new camera, and have uninstalled the Easy Share software since it had all sorts of "stuff" I didn't need and didn't seem to let me use what I was used to. So this is the cat, using the zoom, using the laptop all reinstalled, without the software for the camera, but I still have to figure out how to make a smaller file. The instructions, which are really poor, are in four languages. Hope there's more on the web.

4012

A pricey week at home in Columbus

Yesterday when I was at Meijer's buying groceries I stopped at the camera counter and bought a Canon Selphy CP720. I'd never even considered buying a printer for photos, but when my niece Cindy was here last week she showed me some views on her digital camera and asked which I'd like to have (of the family when she visited in Illinois). She pulled out a small, padded 6-pack cooler, and inside was a little 8 x 6 printer and she also had room for her camera and all the cords and instruction books in it (plus a soft drink on top). She said it was a lot handier than trying to remember later what people wanted. It probably isn't as cheap (about $.28 a print) as taking it to Wal-Mart or CVS, but for traveling as they had been doing for a month, it worked well. Hers was an early model with a docking station. The one I bought just needs to have the photo card inserted and you can select from the viewer on the top. The clerk at Meijer's was very helpful and also explained the Kodak Easy Share in detail, but they didn't have any.
Then this morning the wallet started to leak again around 8 a.m. at Kohl's with the 15% senior discount. I bought a pair of KEDS that I think will work for our trip to Ireland--I really wanted the taupe color but there were none in my size. I took my walk in them today to start breaking them in.
Then I went to Staples to pick up my laptop which I had left for a tune up and a software re-install. It had failed 2 weeks ago when I was at Lakeside (big blog withdrawal). The re-install removes all the files I had, but they were primarily photos and I think I'd captured most on disk. I had a nice comforting chat with Mike the tech; he told me which stuff was outdated and what he replaced it with and it did all the software security updates which I hadn't bothered with. I had a $29 Staples reward check, and $6.00 for returning ink cartridges, so my total with tax was only $26.43. I haven't turned it on yet. Fingers are crossed for a happy ending and more blogging at Lakeside.

I stopped at the American Cancer Society Discovery Shop and bought 7 china soup bowls that almost match my good china. I'd waited months for them to break up the set (didn't want the whole thing, only the bowls), and finally got them for $4 a piece. They are not the fine quality of my Syracuse china (now discontinued), but if I turn down the lights, who will know? Although I am in trouble if I invite 6 for dinner. If I tried to buy replacement china to match my set now, I think I'd pay about $70 per soup bowl, if I could find them (Countess pattern).
The cheap china bowl with the expensive china plate. Pretty good match.

Then it was back to Staples to look for the Easy Share digital camera I couldn't get at Meijer's. I had a $30 coupon for a $150 purchase. The camera was $129, a 2 gig card about $19, and a box of paper for my new little printer brought the price tag up. But as it turned out, they were also out of the Easy Share. The clerk called the Hilliard store (didn't know there was one), so I went there for my next purchase.When I got home I mentioned to my husband that gasoline was $2.51 across the river, but within the hour when he went back, it had gone up to $2.69. Now I have a couch full of boxes, equipment, instructions, software, paper and a shoe box.

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New photos

on the reunion blog (Mt. Morris High School, class of 1957). By clicking on the July archive, you can see most of them. The scrapbook history of the class reunions over the years kept by a classmember is going to be put in the town library for awhile, according to the newspaper. She did a wonderful job.