867 When age doesn't matter

While adding a site to my coffee blog today, I decided this one might be worth another look here.

"We got together for coffee recently. We both live close enough to Panera's to walk. We are both retired--I in 2000 and she in 2004. I haven't missed work a single day, but she's having a bit more of a struggle--misses "her kids." I've lived in the community for 37 years, and she grew up here. I've been a member of the church since 1976 and she is a charter member. But when she mentioned her best friend in high school, I said, "but she used to baby sit for us."

When she was 18, I was 28. We were worlds apart. I was changing diapers, shopping for groceries, making the dollars stretch for wallpaper and drapes for the new house, feeling the oldest I've ever felt in my life--wondering where had life gone. She was going to football games, planning for college, looking forward with excitement to all that was to come. And now, that 10 years doesn't make much difference at all."

Today's Laugh

I saw this link at Schadenfreude. If you are old enough to remember Johnny Carson (Tonight Show) and Jack Webb (Dragnet), you’ll love this.

Johnny Carson and Jack Webb

865 Freed Martha

My cooking may be a bit slip-shod and borrowed from my Mom's recipe box of the 1950s, but I'm a big fan of Martha Stewart's products even if I've only read one of her magazines (the first issue). Sheets, bedspreads, towels, rugs, and kitchen utensils are all well designed and made.

Now she's getting out of prison. Some men are still complaining that she hasn't admitted to a crime, even though she's done the time. Could be that in addition to beingsmart, talented, successful and providing a lot of quality for value, she's also innocent. All those guys who were wrong about her stock (jumped 40% from the low last fall) are also wrong about her. See WaPo for a less than flattering story.

From the Alderson, West Virginia prison Martha wrote her staff about foraging for wild greens on the grounds, decorating the chapel for a memorial service, and cooking impromtu recipes in the microwave with whatever the commissary had for sale. She read voraciously with the new found time she had, taught yoga, crocheted gifts, cast and painted ceramics from old molds she found, and played cards and scrabble (as reported in the latest issue of Living). This lady knows how to make lemon-ade from even dried up lemons.

You go girl! And welcome back.

Note: Last March I started my blog about premiere issues with a few paragraphs about Martha:

"The reasons people give for starting a new journal are wonderful, and that will probably end up being my focus, rather than ISSN or editor or publisher or cost. For instance, I have the "Preview Issue" of Martha Stewart Living, Winter 1990, published in the fall of 1989 for the coming holiday season. She quotes Samuel Johnson, the famous 18th century writer: For at the end of the day, no matter who we are or what we do, we want to go home. Our philosophy was nicely stated by Samuel Johnson a couple of hundred years ago: "To be happy at home is the ultimate result of all ambition."

The issue is filled with wonderful recipes, projects, and decorating ideas. I don't think she ever changed her plan (I also don't think she is guilty, but that's another blog. The pages are drying out a bit, so I have to be careful when I open to the stencils of stars and moon to be carefully removed to spray paint a table cloth. I smile when I see the photo of the golden threads of spun sugar on cups made of brandy snaps holding black currant icecream topped with caramel syrup. Ah, Martha, nobody does it like you!

864 How did you meet your spouse?

SmockMomma of Suma Mamas writes: “we met in january of ’90 in a class entitled “ethics and moral issues” at Texas Tech. i thought he was the spawn of jimmy swaggart because he quoted lots and lots of scripture, and right from the hip, too. he thought i was a wiccan hippy – but aside from my habit of wearing lots of black and espousing very militant pro-choice, pro-gay/lesbian/transgender, rabid feminist, anti-established religion views, i can’t imagine why he thought that. i mean, he was the dingleberry who voted for a democrat, not me. he thought all i needed was a little salvation and i thought he prolly just needed to get a little. there must be something to that “opposites attract” theory cuz fifteen years later here we are, albeit a tad more complacent 'n civilized.”

Bloggers are interviewing each other, and this was one of the questions she was asked--a mother of four with two on the way. The ones I’ve read are tailored to the writer and are not the general “what is your favorite beverage” type question. I thought this one could be a general conversation starter--it works better than “how old are your kids,” even if the person is divorced or widowed. And if she is single and never married, you’ll hear an even better story.

I’m not as funny as SmockMomma, but I can tell you we met at an ROTC function and that on our first date, The St. Pat’s Ball at the University of Illinois, my husband told me he was going to marry me. When I returned to the dorm that night and went to Sally Siddens’ room to return dress, I told her, “You won’t believe the line I heard tonight. And he can dance.”

863 A hitch in my git-along

Remember that old expression? I don't think I've ever actually said that one, but I know it means something hurts and isn't working right, or it means something's been thwarted depending on the area you're from. Yesterday I added two really great writers to my list of writing links, and one or both caused a hitch in my get-along. Right away, my page started having trouble. First, their pages loaded really slowly. Then mine started to balk. I'd had this happen last summer when one of them was on my list. I'd added Sal and PJ that time, and it kicked up a fuss. The template change never would work right after I made that change. So I deleted both. I snuck PJ back in (great recipes) and had no problems. So recently, I added Sal and Inkmusings. Now both are relegated to my bookmarks. I'll still return to their sites--just won't be directing you there. You geeky types will probably tell me this is just a coincidence, but rather than have people fall asleep waiting for it to load (actually, no one waits on the internet--not even me), I'd rather let them fall asleep reading my prose.

862 Dress like a voting booth

Mark Steyn comments on all the changes going on in the Middle East, Full story here, “Arabs Berlin Wall has Crumbled;” my, but I do love how he turns a phrase.

“Why is all this happening? Answer: January 30. Don't take my word for it, listen to Walid Jumblatt, big-time Lebanese Druze leader and a man of impeccable anti-American credentials: "I was cynical about Iraq. But when I saw the Iraqi people voting three weeks ago, eight million of them, it was the start of a new Arab world. The Berlin Wall has fallen."

Just so. Left to their own devices, the House of Saud - which demanded all US female air-traffic controllers be stood down for Crown Prince Abdullah's flight to the Bush ranch in Crawford - would stick to their traditional line that Wahhabi women have no place in a voting booth; instead, they have to dress like a voting booth - a big black impenetrable curtain with a little slot to drop your ballot through. Likewise, Hosni Mubarak has no desire to take part in campaign debates with Hosno Name-Recognition. Boy Assad has no desire to hand over his co-Baathists to the Great Satan's puppets in Baghdad.”

861 On fathers and dads

Tomorrow morning my husband will fly to California to see his father who had a heart attack on Saturday. He is refusing all "heroic" measures, including his regular medication, so it is possible that father and son won't meet again this side of heaven. A divorce when my husband was two years old means they didn't live together, but you don't have to be in the same room with them too long to see that they are related.

We sent our children out to see him for a week when they were about 14 and 15, and our son, who is an incredible mimic, can still do a comedy routine of Grandpa nipping into the candy bowl and frying bacon. In August 2003 we went out for his 90th birthday party, a huge bash in my brother-in-law's decorated backyard. He is a popular guy with many friends half his age. During WWII he had what must have been the dream assignment of the war--arranging entertainment for the troops. That 2003 visit was only the second time his four children had all been together with him at the same time, the other time being in Indiana sometime in the 1950s. I know it sounds sort of distant and cool, but it is amazing to me who grew up in an intact family with grandparents and great-grandparents in the same town, how close they all are and how they share mannerisms, speech patterns and body language. My father-in-law had eight brothers and sisters who took family very seriously and included his two little ones in everything. This is a blended family (I could write volumes) which sets the bar for that term.

In 1977 we flew to California with the children for an extended visit. A large athletic man, bigger than either son, my husband's father had lost about 50 pounds that year, as had my own father, and my husband's step-dad. I joked that I had lost one entire dad just from dieting.

In 1995 we were both at work when we got the call about my husband's step-father. We threw things in the suitcase and quickly drove to Indianapolis, but we were too late to say good-bye. He was already on a respirator. Both fathers were at our wedding, but this was the father who paid the mortgage, put food on the table, disciplined for misbehavior and smartmouthing, mowed the lawn, went to ballgames, attended our kids' parties, and told the funny stories on holidays. My husband delivered the eulogy at his funeral, finishing with "I love you, dad." The only time he ever called him "dad."

We've been blessed to have our fathers (mine died in 2002) such a long time.

860 Music on the Internet

A few of my favorite links are to radio on the internet. I don't pretend to understand this, or know who puts it out or how, but I get really good music, some from other countries, with no commercials.

Music weblogs are even more a mystery to me. People write about the music they enjoy and then post a link. I'm not sure if what I'm doing--listening--is legal--I guess it is. But if you drop down to the bottom of my left hand links to a music weblog icon, Impudent Marriage.com and click, then go to Feb. 14, you hear something I think is really good:

Julie writes in her music blog: “This song is a perfect blend of hip hop and blues. The lyrics are haunting and convey a sense of newfound independence. The tune is catchy and fun, but at the same time low key and reminiscent of a dirge.” The Truth from "Handsome Boy Modeling School"

Apparently, there is web karaoke, too. A kid named Gary was catapulted to fame and is now in hiding because he danced the Numa Numa and put it on the internet. I watched it, laughed, and thought, "This kid has a lot of talent." I can't lipsync in Romanian, can you?

859 I'm not dead yet

"If you ever watched the TV mini-series "The Holocaust" with James Woods as an artist. In that movie they depicted the destruction of people not just in concentration camps, but prior to that. Before they started to destroy Jews and Gypsies and political dissidents, they first started destroying retarded children, people with brain defects. And they put them into vans and piped in carbon monoxide and killed them all. They looked on it as good because these people were difficult, they were expensive, they were awkward. They didn't have the quality of life required of the Third Reich. They were expendable. And from that came the Holocaust." Gregory Koukl

858 Whiny women

Articles like this one reporting women in the sciences at Harvard are still looking for excuses really make me steam.

"Students cited their experiences in introductory courses as particularly traumatic—saying that some male teaching fellows would drive their classes at relentless rate and would deflect questions from female students.

To counter this, Tracy E. Nowski '07 and Patricia Li '07, co-chairs of the policy committe of WISHR, suggested optional sections created specifically for women, perhaps being even taught by female teaching fellows."

So, after 35 years of workshops, tutoring, special classes, Title 9, and bumping men from application lists at prestigious schools, women still can't take the heat and now want their own classes at the college level?

My epiphany came about 10 years ago when I walked into the women's restroom in Sisson Hall (Ohio State) and saw a list posted on a toilet stall door of 50 organizations on campus to help me be a poor lil' oppressed woman. "Are we that weak?" I wondered as I kicked aside a huge cockroach. "We can't survive without all this stuff to prop us up?" There would be a lot of women in administration who would have to go out and get real jobs if they ever convinced other women they really can do what they want if they are willing to compete. If they don't want to compete, that's not the men's problem. Don't make it into Harvard, spend $40,000 a year of dad's money and then start trembling in your Nikes because men are acting like nut-cakes.

857 Truth is stranger than sarcasm

"In another move designed to show his love and compassion for his wife, Michael Schiavo today announced he would auction off his guardianship of Terri Schiavo on eBay."

Full story at ScappleFace

856 Listening to the Oscar chatter

Two miles north of here, I can get WJR Detroit, so I was listening to a talk show driving home from grocery shopping this morning. No one who called in was happy with Chris Rock's performance. It was not a left/right, black/white thing. People long for the "good old days" when comedians could perform for a national audience and not be political or slanderous. I suspect that time never existed, but it would be nice.

One of my readers says she used to enjoy the Oscars--particularly seeing the clothes. She went to bed last night at 9. No fun these days--she hasn't seen any of the movies, and often doesn't know the stars. And she sees a lot more movies than I do. Me? I don't think I ever watched an Oscar show.

Robin Williams' allusion to the Focus on the Family Sponge Bob Square Off was only slightly amusing, a caller to WJR said (although better than Rock). It's not clear to me if Williams was on the show, or if the caller was just comparing the two comedians. The MSM and all of Hollywood left get that Dobson story wrong. James Dobson never said the cartoon character was gay. He objected to a link on the video which used a number of favorite cartoon characters, produced by "We are Family Foundation" for children promoting explicitly homosexual material. I think the left coast all know that, but what would be funny or slur-worthy about that? What fun is it to make fun of a Christian leader when he is speaking the truth and common sense?

"If you had told me a month ago that I’d be devoting my February letter to a cartoon character named SpongeBob SquarePants, I’d have said you were crazy. Nevertheless, by now you probably know that I have been linked to that famous talking sponge by hundreds of media outlets, from the New York Times to "MSNBC" to "Saturday Night Live." The story of how this situation unfolded is somewhat complicated, but it must be told." Dr. Dobson.

You should see what librarians did to Dr. Laura! But then, that's another show.

855 Slivers and hyphens

At my other other blog, Church of the Acronym, I'll write more about the wonderful artwork of Dr. Tennyson Williams (can't find my notes at the moment). The Visual Arts Ministry hung his show on Saturday morning. Sometimes the equipment isn't the best and my husband picked up a sliver in his hand from the step ladder. A metal sliver. So I found a needle and a tweezers for him (he was on his own then--I'm squeamish).

I've written before about hyphens, and I think they are useful used with discretion, but when over done they pierce like a sliver. Hyphens are irritating to the flow of language when poking around where they aren't needed. A one column article on technology by Lee Gomes in today's WSJ had at least 14 hyphenated adjectives--my eyes were glazing over.

innovator-entrepreneurs; open-source; free-flowing; eye-glazing (yup!); start-up; hedge-fund; heat-seeking; computer-programming; space-time; already-crowded; high-tech; file-sharing; write-up; earth-shaking.

I'm thinking Mr. Gomes didn't slap all those hyphens in there on the qwerty keyboard--he'll get carpal tunnel of the little finger--but would they have that many editorial assistants with nothing to do? Is it a hyphen-gap-finding-inserting program?

These ladies are looking for you

The Summa Mamas, Catholic mothers, are blogging for Terri and looking for comments.

"We are within 22 comments of our 3000th comment. Poster who is number 3000 will get a big ol' smooch from the Mamas! (And who knew it would be such a great conversation? We appreciate each and every one of you so much.)"

I've got just the guy for them.

853 Speaking ill of the dead

Not being particularly well-read, I didn't mourn the death of Hunter Thompson--in fact, I'd never heard of him, although when I read his obits in the various columns, some of his early titles sounded vaguely familiar. But so did Sandra Dee's. Now it has come out that he shot himself while on the phone with his wife, with his young grandson in the house. Can this be the guy people are eulogizing like he is some sort of iconic literary figure?

Thinking maybe I missed something important, that perhaps 30-40 years ago he might have had something to say, I scanned my bookshelves for a clue. There was a two volume Norton's up there (given to me by someone who had finished an American lit course). It can be a nice door stop, or a quick reference, less biased than googling his name.

So I dipped into "American Prose since 1945" in Volume Two. Quite a few names I recognize, even some I've read: Vladimir Nabokov, Eudora Welty, Tennessee Williams, James Baldwin, Tom Wolfe, John Updike, Joyce Carol Oates, Bobbie Ann Mason, Alice Walker, and Louise Erdrich (but not her husband--interesting--but that's another story since he was the better writer). Even Arthur Miller, also recently deceased and eulogized beyond what was necessary. Who would remember him if he hadn't married Marilyn Monroe? But no Hunter Thompson. Good. Apparently a lot of people didn't think he was worth reading when something better was at hand.

852 Sweet Sour Meatloaf

When I retired in 2000, I had two unfinished research projects; black veterinarians in Ohio in the early 20th century, and free central Ohio newspapers and magazines. Although it was my job to teach students how to use a systematic method to prepare papers, I never followed what I taught. My method was to accumulate as much interesting material as possible, throw it in a box under my desk, and periodically bring it out and look for an interesting starting place. The next step was to go into the stacks and browse. Trust me, no one would ever actually teach others to do research this way, but I did get to Associate Professor, so it worked for me.

I was further along in the veterinarian project and actually had "hard" data drawn from material in my stacks that probably no one else would ever dig out since most of it wasn't indexed. One piece of information had been taped for years to a class photo poster in the hospital. My preliminary conclusion was that the pre-1950 classes at OSU in veterinary science had a higher percentage of African American students than the post-1970 classes when they were actively being recruited, but I couldn't find an angle on which to pitch my story. Also, the registrar doesn't let you look at student records (for residence, high school, etc.) without a darn good reason.

The free-circulation newspapers topic, on the other hand, was huge, cumbersome, and I couldn't find a soul writing on it except me. I'm guessing that over the years I'd accumulated 50 titles under my desk to explore. Normally that is a good thing if you're writing a PhD thesis, but I wasn't. It could just possibly mean no one gives a hoot, so why bother? Libraries don't collect them; indexing services ignore them; circulation compilations don't report their stats. From an information history angle, they don't exist if you can't find them. In libraries, we have a term called "gray literature." Free-circs go beyond gray into invisible. Disclaimer: this may have changed in the last 5 years.

But I still pick them up when I see them (newspapers, not black veterinarians); I can't resist. Today I noticed The New Standard; an independent Central Ohio Jewish Semi-Monthly at the coffee shop, sitting along side some other free newspapers. It is a mix of local and boilerplate with nice formatting, very healthy advertising inches without being pushy, good cartoons, interesting editorials, and a very full calendar of events, most of which I didn't know about since I'm not Jewish.

And now to the title of this blog entry. Chef Lana Covel had an article in The New Standard some time back about how she couldn't make meatloaf. So in this issue (Feb. 24-Mar. 9, 2005) she reprinted the e-mails and suggestions she received from her readers--some very funny, others quite helpful. And there is was! My Sweet Sour Meatloaf recipe that I have been using for 45 years and which I give new brides. According to H.G. who submitted it, it came from the B'nai B'rith Women's Cookbook, 1978, but mine is a bit older, having come from Mary Margaret McBride Encyclopedia of Cooking, c 1959, 1960, p. 642. It truly is the best meatloaf you'll ever taste, and if you've failed before with dry, tasteless gunk, throw away that onion soup and ketchup; this one will work for you.

1 8 oz. can tomato sauce
1/4 C brown sugar
1/4 C vinegar
1 t. prepared mustard
1 egg
1 small onion, minced
1/4 C crushed crackers
2 lbs. ground beef
1 1/2 t. salt (I use less)
1/4 t. pepper

Mix tomato sauce with sugar, vinegar, and mustard until sugar is dissolved.

Beat egg slightly; add onion, crackers, beef, salt, pepper, and 1/2 cup of the tomato sauce mixture. Combine lightly, but thoroughly.

Shape meat into oval loaf in a bowl; turn into shall baking dish, keeping loaf shapely. Pour on rest of tomato sauce mixture.

Bake in hot oven (400 degrees F.) 45 minutes, basting occasionally. With 2 broad spatulas, lift onto platter. Serves 8.

And there is an on-going class on Maimonides 13 Principles of Faith at Temple Israel each Tuesday from 12-1 p.m.

Got the munchies?

Dogwood Blue blog has some interesting photos, especially this one. Think I'll pass.

849 Publishers not making cents

Not a statistic that a librarian or book seller wants to read, but according to AdAge, we're spending a lot less on reading today than we did 50 years ago.

"The share of money spent on entertainment has hovered around 5% since 1950, but priorities have shifted. Spending on consumer electronics has soared; spending on newspapers, magazines and books has plummeted. The average household apportioned just 0.3% of spending ($127) for reading materials in 2003, down from 1% ($51, or $317 adjusted for inflation) in 1960.

The rich, who also are more educated, spend more money on print media and books than the poor do. But don’t read too much into that. It turns out households in every quintile of income spent the same average 0.3% of budget on reading in 2003. For publishers, that doesn’t make cents."

We're spending a lot less on food and a lot more on "other," according to the article that appeared in American Demographics.

Complete story about "What U.S. Consumers Buy and Why" with downloadable charts at AdAge.com. (Might require registration.)

848 AP disrespect and disinformation

The Bradenton Herald has an Associated Press article by Mitch Stacy (Tampa) about the Terri Schiavo case. Then there is a national AP story also filed by Stacy. The local AP article is about as biased and distorted as anything I've read in the MSM. But then, I've heard that the Florida papers are really pushing her demise so they can move on. After so many years, they are probably tired of this case. Perhaps the local paper just uses Stacy's by-line and edits at will.

". . .kept alive artificially" Perhaps nutrition is "artificial" for Mitch, but not for me. None of us eat without the help of farmers, truckers, food processors, marketers, wholesalers and retailers.

". . .parents, who want her kept alive" isn't accurate, Mitch--"want her to be allowed to live" would be a better choice of words.

"The court is no longer comfortable. . ." Mitch, you need to look into whether this story should be about Judge Greer's comfort, or Terri's comfort. It hurts to starve.

"long-running family feud" Let's not trivialize what has much larger implications for society and the growing push for active euthanasia. It isn't called a "feud" in the national report. Is this an Appalachian/southern turn of phrase?

"Terri Schiavo's collapse brought on by an eating disorder. . ." Seems to be quite a bit of evidence of physical abuse--you might have at least presented the whole story instead of just Michael's, Mitch.

"I am very pleased . . ." Felos said. Mitch, you might have mentioned a possible conflict of interest, since it is reported Felos is on the board of directors of the hospice where she resides, and hospice facilities offer no rehabilitation or therapy, only a way to die. The national AP article has an even stranger quote from him--about if Terri could get up for an hour and see what was happening. Felos will make sure that scenario won't happen.

"[Gov.] Bush intervened in October 2003 to keep her alive six days after the tube was removed." My, she certainly is a tough little sucker for all you say about her "right to die." I don't know that I'd make it 6 days without food and water.

". . .Terri's wishes not to be kept alive artificially must now be enforced." There is absolutely no evidence that this was Terri's wish, and it is pretty unlikely that 25 year olds talk much about how they want to die.

"The Department of Children & Families is also seeking to intervene in the case." Let's see, what else do we know about this agency's prompt care and action?

"[Schiavo] started a new family with another woman" Nice turn of a phrase for adultery, Mitch. No conflict there, right? Also no mention of this tawdry tale in the national report. Probably not important, right?

"elements of a soap opera" You didn't use this cheap slam the national article.

"persistent vegetative state as court-appointed doctors have ruled." Just what were the qualifications of said doctors, Mitch.

I don't know why the same reporter's name is attached to two AP stories on the same topic and the two stories are so completely different, but in the other one (national) Stacy reports, "[Schiavo] has spent most of a $700,000 medical malpractice award given to his wife for her care to pay his attorney." Is it legal to spend a malpractice award intended for care to kill the patient? Does Felos take cases that have no such $$ attached? Does this part of the story not fly well in the south?

847 Attempt to censor the ad to support Terri

Bloggers raised $10,000 to put an ad in a major Florida newspaper. BlogsforTerri reports what happened.