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Wednesday, February 16, 2011

365 things - week 12

Ooodeoooh, it's week 12 in giveaway-land! And there are still a few stones left, although you'll have to be fast if one strikes your fancy, there is quite a queue for them. Which pleases me, since it means my little treasures will all find a beautiful home.

Again, I'm trying to describe the size by x (~=acorn) - xxxx (~=chestnut)

The last few stones here are already reserved for Corinne who asked for specific colors. ;o)
And Tali, as promised, you can have all of them that don't get claimed!

In other news, I've just created a button for the project that I can insert on every post and it links to a page where the project is explained shortly. Everybody has buttons to share what they do these days and they are always so pretty and cool, so now I have one of my own, yay!!  Feel free to post it on your webspace if you like the project so other people can come and see if they'd like something I have to offer.

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A Conversation with the Sneaker World’s Most Notorious Infomation Leaker

In an Era where everyone wants to be the source, there’s only one person outside of a handful of credible publications who can be trusted for accurate early information in regards to important plans from the biggest sneaker companies on the planet.

Getting your hands on proprietary information is risky business, but @BaltSneakerShow makes it look easy. So easy, in fact his alias is Dino Hatfield — as if to say he’s got access to information that top designers at Nike such as Tinker Hatfield only have.

Dino’s impact is felt way beyond the 70,000+ followers he’s amassed on social media. Chances are, you already follow him. I recently got a chance to chat with the notorious info leaker for an in-depth conversation longer than 140 characters that ends with some of the best news we’ve gotten all year…

TSG: Let’s get to straight to it. What do you personally gain from leaking sneaker information a year or sometimes years in advance?

DINO: Nothing, really [laughs]. For a long time I’ve had access to this info and it’s better if the world knows instead of just my small circle. It’s fun to me. The “game” isn’t really as fun as it used to be. I feel like leaking the info brings the fun back. It gives me that feeling I used to get when I would read Eastbay magazines at the house in the ’90s. Eager for more.

When I drop early info like that, we get to talk about these releases like six months to a year, even 2 years ahead of time.

TSG: I’ll be honest, it feels as if Mark Parker emails you details on Nike plans as soon as they get approved, lol. That’s how accurate you are.

How did you establish this relationship with your plug? And how long ago?

DINO: There’s NO WAY all of this info could come from one person. Over the years, I’ve acquired a team of people from different divisions in retail, mostly at Nike. A lot of them aren’t even into sneakers to be quite honest. It’s just their job. They’ll hit me with a SKU number, model and colorway, then ask about the shoe’s significance. At times I reach out to certain people but mostly this stuff just comes to me. I’ve been involved with most of these people for the greater part of 10 years. It’s nothing new to me, I’ve had this type of access to information long before social media.

TSG: Brands reach out to us quite a bit to take down information that could hinder their marketing plans. Have you ever been contacted by any brand? If so, which ones?

DINO: Just once. Well, twice. It’s how I met Just Blaze. I leaked the pic of his Saucony collab. And I pretty much been rocking with him ever since. We exchanged numbers and stuff. No major brand has reached out to me about what I leak, though.

TSG: I kind of want to revisit the first question again, but from a different perspective. A lot of people are making money off of the information you provide for free. Whether it be Blogs, Bot creators, YouTubers, etc. Have you ever thought about turning this into a legit business? Maybe a consultant of sorts?

DINO: Yeah. I definitely have been pursuing this over the past year. It’s the reason why I’m implementing the INFO BAR into my sneaker show. And I have a few other ideas I’ll be putting into motion in the near future. But I don’t wanna be that “guy” who just sells info. Gotta make it tasteful and fun. I could definitely be a consultant for blogs, I guess. But even that sounds corny, haha.

TSG: What’s the biggest news you ever leaked?

DINO: The Aqua 8 leaked in January 2015 that released on Black Friday 2015. A couple of my retail buddies who were at a Nike Retail meeting in Las Vegas February 2015 told me Nike used my tweet(s) as reference to the holiday releases in their reveal meeting.

I laughed the whole day. BALTSNEAKERSHOW AQUA 8 LEAK

TSG: That’s crazy! Nike pretty much co-signed you as the plug.

Anyways, lets switch things up a bit.

Name three things you hate about sneaker blogs. Be honest, you know I won’t get offended.

DINO: The reaching. I know blogs need everyday content for ads/sponsors, but now it seems like blogs are the new rumor mill when it wasn’t always like that. Blogs are the new TMZ of the sneaker world now, lmao. I don’t think I have any other hates.

TSG: That’s something I can speak on. To be fair, the rumor mill has always been there. Speculation has always been there and that’s how the blog culture started.

Previously, brands used to be a lot more open to confirming or denying any rumors if we were to email them direct. Now that there’s so many things releasing, they won’t confirm/deny because they’re focused on pushing whatever shoe is dropping right now and not focused on 8 months from now. There’s a lot behind the scenes people don’t see and won’t ever get.

Back to you, though.

Name your top 3 cereals of all time.

DINO: Frosted Flakes. Fruity Pebbles. French Toast Crunch.

TSG: Last three sneakers you copped to wear?

DINO: Pusha T adidas EQT Guidance Black Market, Nike Air Force 1 Hi OG Varsity Purple, and another pair of OG colorway Stan Smiths.

TSG: Solid choices.

How nerve racking is it to hold all this information? And tell me how much strategy and thought is put into how you go about leaking information.

DINO: It’s hard. I always wanna push out all the info I have. But about half of the time I can’t for particular reasons. Most times, only a certain amount of people know about the news at a given time. So, I can’t leak it because the companies would know who told me.

Other times, some sneakers are in the sample process and may get changed up.

I’ve switched things up recently. I’ll wait for somebody or a blog to speak on a certain thing, then I’ll just chime in with the rest of the details. This go ’round I’m withholding all of the important leaks for the show. It hasn’t been easy. Things keep leaking that I wish could’ve been saved for the show. But it’s cool. I have more, lol.

TSG: You have your next sneaker show #BaltimoreSneakerShow2K16 coming up on March 26th where you’ll be introducing the INFO BAR. Explain what that is for the people who don’t know.

DINO: The INFO BAR is an element where people can chill in a certain section and watch a slideshow filled with information on new releases happening over the next year or two. This is my first time doing something like this, so I’m excited for it. I want to continue to evolve the idea in the future as well. If you’re in the DMV area come through! If not, hop on the Megabus, a plane, or drive down. You won’t want to miss it. Check my Twitter bio for more info.

TSG: Last but not least. You’ve gotta leak something exclusive right here, right now. GO!

DINO: Black Cat Air Jordan 6. NEW YEARS EVE 2016. BOOM!

About The Author

Professionally sarcastic, but I also enjoy cameras, orange juice, & airheads. instagram/twitter: @rayp_photos

Related Posts

  • Damn Dino about to blow up my spot. People are starting to realize I’m his plug. smh

  • fook yo

    peopel gonna be all over these blackout 6s. including me. only jordan model i ever buy to wear. 1s too

  • he just ran off on you in this interview lmao

  • curt diggler

    disappointed that the exclusive is just another pair of j’s.

  • alexander O’neal

    Dissapointed means that you are also part surprised. You weren’t really expecting sum’n else, rite?

  • MikeyDrums86

    Good read at the end of the day.. And dude is def the info plug

  • bluethasavior

  • bluethasavior

    Bro I cnt even tweet dis ion wnt niggas being ahead of the game #Savage ?

  • curt diggler

    I’m a fool for expecting otherwise to be honest.

  • Thad Greer

    A Black Cat 6, huh? I can dig it. Good read.

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Tuesday, April 6, 2010

This side of winter.

My favorite part of my house is the balcony attached to my room. It's just big enough for two chairs and a few plants and I used to spend every morning on it since last August. I put my legs up on the railing, ate my breakfast and watched the neighborhood slowly, sleepily come to life. Gradually this became my favorite part of the day but as the seasons went on the temperature dropped. With each passing day, I wore an extra layer of clothing in order to keep warm. I wrapped up in a blanket, wore a hat, slippers and two pairs of socks. I made a larger mug of coffee to clutch between my hands, slowly sipping it to warm up from the inside out. I did everything I could to stay on my balcony, but eventually it just got too cold.

I locked the screen and closed the door for the last time in late November. I learned to enjoy my mornings in the living room with my feet tucked between my body and the couch, snow falling softly outside, the same cup of coffee to keep me warm and Colin on the other couch; both of us quietly reading before getting ready for class. I learned to enjoy these mornings as much as I did the balcony; but this morning, this first day of class since spring break, I once again unlocked that door. I unfolded my chair put my legs up on the railing and there I spent my first breakfast this side of winter. Only this time, Instead of hot coffee, I sipped an icy smoothie to cool down from my run.

The neighborhood was not quite so lively yet, but the birds are out and chirping the arrival of Spring.

Banana, Mango, Strawberry Smoothie
The spinach flavor isn't really noticeable and ups health factor a bit, but feel free to leave it out if it scares you. Makes 1 very large smoothie or two small (snack size?) ones.

1/2 fresh or frozen banana
1/2 a mango
2 large strawberries
1 cup 1% milk
a small handful of ice cubes
small handful of spinach (optional)

Put all ingredients in a blender and blend until frothy. Enjoy immediately.

Carolina pictures are on my flickr. Click here to check them out.

1 comment:

  1. Ah. Simple pleasures. I'm like that with our un-winterized lake home. I go there for as long as I can stand into November, what with the measly heat a simple stand alone furnace can offer. I sleep under massive piles of blankets, wear extra clothes and socks and sip on something warm all the time until I inevitably just cannot stay warm enough. Then with sadness, I close the door for the last time. Until Spring. Glorious Spring.

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Millward, Steven Wesley (2007) The design, synthesis, and evolution of macrocyclic mRNA display libraries containing unnatural amino acids. Dissertation (Ph.D.), California Institute of Technology.

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Monday, April 25, 2011

Life in the Mobile World Haiku

My entries to this Haiku contest:

Losing your cell phone
Is worse than losing your keys.
My thumbs get so bored.

Any time or place
The world at our fingertips.
Data on the wind.

Message sent through air,
Dodging wind and rain and snow.
"Remember the milk."

"Secure mobile phone".
Truly an oxymoron
Like "gentle winter".

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

InfoSec Haiku

Data breach occurred
Like wind through a closed screen door.

Birds softly singing
Sad songs of un-patched systems.
SysComps like leaf buds.

Summer rains come hard
Like spam through email servers.
An endless torrent.

Friday, April 15, 2011

I am pursuing a CAPTN certification.  Part of the certification process is to compose a poem literary essay or fictional short story on the topic of APT.  This is my composition.

Beware, my dear friends, of the A-P-T,
A threat so insidious it will make you flee!
It is here for your data and will use it for sin!
It is here to hack you and steal all your women!

A-P-T does descend from the Axis of Evil.
It attacks your resources like cotton, the weevil.
Through intrusion detection and strong firewalls
Like a venereal infection to a young man's... pride!

A-P-T's gonna get you, it's the new Boogie Man.
A-P-T's gonna own you, get out while you can!

WesBot's Hat

This is the story of Wes' Hat
It's hip head gear, knows where it's at.
It's been on statues, it's gone sight-seeing
The hat's attended the Member Meeting.

Wes' Hat is loved by all.
You'll find it happily on top a wall.
The hat may come, the hat may go.
The hat may visit the Alamo!

But Hat and Wes can never part.
Hat loves Wes with all its heart.
Hat may travel, hat may roam,
But Hat will always come back home.

WesBot Rap

I'm MC Wes/I'm here to say/Get you some SES/It's here to stay.
Don't you know/punks be playin'?/You think your BRO/Knows what they sayin'?
SESbot knows/what you needs/SESbot grows/with all my feeds.
I got your logs/your spam email/When your IDS bogs/SES won't be fail.

You might think your know the score
What you might know makes my SES snore.
My Powerpoint might be a bore.
But SES will kick hackers out your door.

I'm MC Wes/Hacker über leet/I gave us SES/Don't drop the beat!


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Clutch, or not?

2008 September 12
by Skip Sauer

The numbers guy at the WSJ examines the case of “clutch” hitting. A-Rod “lack of clutch” takes center stage.

Jahn Hakes and I looked pretty carefully for clutch effects several years ago. We were excited since newly available retrosheet data offered new ways of looking at the issue, including the “leverage” effects (changes in probability) of different hits at different times. We found nothing significant. Zip, zilch, nada. And we tried hard. We tried hard because I think real factors (psychological makeup, physical condition) have time-varying effects and thus contribute to some streaks. But randomness is so dominant in baseball that it apparently conjures up the bulk of them.

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Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Mele Kalikimaka!

I was over on the Cricut message boards the other day and happened on THIS TUTORIAL. It's about adding a wobble motion to your card. Well, right away I thought of the hula dancer on Life's A Beach, but didn't get around to executing it right away. Then yesterday I saw this CARD and VIDEO--someone else had the same idea! I love hers, but I like mine too.The hula dancer is cut at 4.5 " and backed with thin chipboard. Colors used are Wild Wasabi, Real Red, Early Espresso, and Blush Blossom. I used an old SU set called Paint Prints for the flowers on the BG and printed my sentiment on the computer (Hawaiian Punk is the font--it's free). I also used Cricut markers to outline the dancer and added glitter to the centers of her flowers. I wish you could see the way she "hulas"--for that you will have to see the video tutorials I posted above. I like this somewhat different Christmas card--hope you've enjoyed it too. Thanks for looking!

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Where do you find your inspiration?

I find my inspiration EVERYWHERE! Sometimes it's so overwhelming all the sensory input that this world provides. I was at Wal-Mart yesterday, buying groceries, but I also needed some ornament hooks, so went over to the Christmas decorations area. There I saw some unusual gift wrap--kraft with blue snowflakes and some rust or burgundy ones. I loved the non-traditional color combo, all the more so because the new SU color Cajun Craze is one of my faves, and let's face it, there's not a lot of opportunity to use it around Christmas. So last night between supper and a meeting I had to go to, I banged out this card.
You know, back in the day, before we had tons of gorgeous patterned paper flooding the market, we used to stamp our own backgrounds. And that's what I did here. I used PTI's Snowflake Serenade set and stamped Bashful Blue, Marina Mist, and Cajun Craze snowflakes on Crumb Cake (SU's new kraft). Then I ran into trouble. I wanted to use my Marina Mist ribbon and brads, but the ribbon is so thick. And I should have made my brads go down the long side of the paper. I distressed the edges of the Crumb Cake and mounted it on a card base of Cajun Craze. I stamped the sent., roughed up the edges, layered and mounted. I'm pleased with this color combo and plan to make some more of these. Gotta find some better sketches to use! Thanks for dropping by!


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Here's The Jist:

As a Drink Editor I receive a lot of requests for restaurant, bar and nightlife recommendations. So I started a blog to chronicle Chicago's social scene which eventually morphed into New York's drinking and dining scene. After years in Chicago, I'm now a full time resident of NYC, the East Village to be exact. Look forward to sharing the latest and greatest from the wine & spirits world, straight from the Big Apple.

Monday, November 30, 2009

Michael Kors Opening, Chicago 2009

A couple of weeks ago, my cohort and I sipped bubby from Swarovski Crystal embellished Moet & Chandon White Star bottles as we sifted through Michael's 2010 Spring and Resort collections. The shops at 900 N. Michigan were magically transformed into a runway as local amazons strutted down the white catwalk.

Michael Kors Opening, Chicago 2009

Michael Kors Opening, Chicago 2009

Sunday, November 29, 2009

Vodka Quadruple Distilled Through Diamonds

Every vodka has a point of differentiation. Some are marketing ploys, others are legit; and this lush is thrilled to share one of the coolest offerings she’s come across in quite some time.

Crystal Head Vodka first caught my eye when I was perched at the bar at Kuma’s, downing a Two Hearted double IPA and noshing on a dish so gluttonous (waffle fries topped with BBQ pulled pork may or may not have been involved), I can’t even bring myself to share with you. I was sandwiched between a Kings of Leon-hating guy with silver dollar spacers and a full tattoo sleeve and a 40-year-old suburbanite, trying too hard to fit in with new Chuck Taylor’s. The crowd at Kuma’s is an anthropological study that speaks to the power of food and how it brings people together, but that’s a whole other story and this isn’t an ‘Analyze This’ Cheeky column.

It was at this crossroad that a glass bottle, shaped as a human skull, caught my eye. Above it was a note that read: Not for Public: Don’t Drink. I was intrigued and asked the girl behind the bar what was in the skull.

“Not sure. Something to do with Dan Akroyd.”

“Hmmm…okay. Dan Akroyd? What? Really?”

And so the fascination with the mysterious glass skull bottle began.

The bottle is an accurate glass rendering of a human skull and was designed with the utmost attention to the symbolic nature of the skeleton. For those who have seen Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, this crystal skull may look familiar. It is. Both are based on a similar legend:

Thousands of years ago, thirteen Crystal Heads were scattered across the earth. Their workmanship is perfect: they contain no tool marks and have been cut against the natural axis of the crystal, defying the laws of physics. Some say they’re artifacts from the lost civilization of Atlantis, others claim that they date back to the Mayans, and there have been rumors that the skulls were created by a higher intelligence.

Brought together, the Crystal Heads are said to have vast knowledge and enlightenment capable of unlocking our most enigmatic ancient mysteries. Alone, each is believed to house radiant psychic energy, which has magical powers and healing properties.

According to the videos on the Crystal Head website, Dan Akroyd claims that he’s always been interested in the supernatural and legends of a higher power, so he teamed up with Milan glass manufacturer, Bruni Glass, and worked with Diamond Estates Wine & Spirits (Akroyd is part owner) to produce a pure spirit that has been quadruple distilled through Herkimer diamonds. Two things are clear: one, Crystal Head Vodka is smooth and balanced; and two, there’s more to Dan Akroyd than Blues Brothers and Ghostbuster fame. He’s also a reputable wine maker with his Dan Akroyd Winery. We love it.

You can find Crystal Head Vodka at Binny’s and Sam’s locations in Chicago, but don’t expect to find it in local bars or lounges just yet. It’s a selective spirit, so just keep an eye out for it next time you’re jockeying for a position at Kuma’s.

Crystal Head Vodka


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The Death of Plaid?

2014-01-22 16.12.50-2
Not plaid. Josh Sweeny of Hippy Tree shows off the cutting edge: horizontal stripes.

For the past three Outdoor Retailer shows, I’ve blogged about the longstanding prevalence of plaid shirts in the outdoor industry. This year, I was burned out; I didn’t want to talk about plaid any more. But as I walked the red-carpeted runways of the show last week, I realized I wasn’t alone—lots of people have had their fill of plaid and are ready for a change. So I’ll talk about that instead…

Perusing the show between meetings, some new trends began to take shape. Several plaidternatives were in evidence, from paisley to animal prints, vertical stripes to polka dots.

The simple solid color option, often in subdued grays, greens, and blues, was popular, too. Meanwhile, I noted quite a few button-up shirts with heathered yarns or herringbone weaves or other subtle textures. Several denim shirts were even in evidence.

As with many aspects of modern society, cultural fashion norms at the OR Show appear to be moving ever towards the informal. Where plaid, short-sleeve, button-front shirts once served as the “dress up shirt for the outdoor guy” (to quote Patagonia’s Kristo Torgerson), now wicking synthetic base layers and even T-shirts are becoming acceptable garb for meetings, especially among the younger crowd.

As I stopped passers-by in the crowd to snap photos of their plaidless ensembles,  I asked a few why they had opted to leave the tartan tailoring at home.

“I wear paisley to the show because I don’t want to be just like everyone else,” said one gentleman. “I’ve been boycotting plaid at the show for years,” said another. It was a common refrain.

A confidential source whose spouse works at a prominent outdoor apparel brand confirmed that the coming season’s lines contain more solid colors and fewer plaids.

One friend went so far as to suggest that previous plaid exposés on The Stone Mind may have drawn attention to the trend, spurring self-conscious show-goers to seek other options. It seems unlikely that a lowly blog might move the needle on the outdoor industry’s entrenched plaidiction, but I suppose anything is possible.

Of course, plaid isn’t really dead, just a little less lively. Whereas a few years ago one out of every two men walking the Salt Palace during the OR Show were wearing plaid, now the ratio, by my unscientific methods, is more like one in five.

When I asked a designer for the Seattle-based brand Kavu if plaid was on the way out, she said, “No way—we still sell tons of plaid flannel shirts,” adding that the palette has shifted: towards brighter plaids, comprised of primary or neon colors.

“I love plaid!” declared Sam Krieg, of Krieg Climbing and Cycling, as the show wrapped up. “Seriously. I really do.”

50 Shades of Plaid: The Unofficial Uniform of Outdoor Retailer

The Outdoor Retailer Summer Market (ORSM) is, according to the website, “the world’s largest outdoor sports industry gathering.” For this much-lauded trade show, thousands of brands, athletes, non-profits, retail store buyers, media outfits, and so forth gather at the sprawling Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake City every summer to do business of one sort or another.

Whatever the reason a person attends the OR Show, almost everyone – every male, at least – will at some point don the “OR uniform”: a plaid shirt, probably short-sleeved, with khakis or jeans, and either approach shoes or flip-flops.

After years of administering lighthearted ribbings to my friends and co-workers for their unconscious adherence to the OR dress code, I decided to pick up my camera and document just a few of the tartan-clad attendees walking the red-carpeted walkways of the Salt Palace, which, one busy year, an event goer referred to as looking “like a table cloth.”

If you look carefully, you’ll find 50 different plaid (or near-plaid) shirts pictured in the gallery below. These I photographed with a modest effort – maybe 15 minutes over the course of Sunday, the final and slowest day.

With this, I hope to draw attention to a curious fashion phenomenon for which I can conjure no reasonable explanation. I have also included an image of myself, pre-show, in a plaid shirt — proof that an awareness of the plaid plague offers no immunity.


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Monday, December 31, 2007

My Uncle's Situation

Many readers and listeners have inquired about how my uncle, Richard Goldman, is after my lengthy vigil with him and my aunt, Susan, at the hospital in New York earlier this month. Richard has struggled with pancreatic cancer since summer of 2006, a rather long survival period. Anyhow, I figured I'd post this email from my Aunt Robin, Susan's sister and Richard's sister-in-law, informing the family of the situation. My parents are Neil and Joan, my uncle's brother and nephew are Larry and Morgan, my uncle's daughter (my cousin) is Heather.

It was sent today and starts from the beginning:

On Dec. 6, Richard was rushed to New York Presbyterian Hospital because the biliary stents were not working and his body was purging bile. Over the previous few days, he had been experiencing increasingly tremendous pain that wasn't really being addressed adequately at home. He was also having difficulty tolerating the hyperalimentation. When admitted, it was found that Richard had an infection, probably related to the hyperalimentation and, initially, his vitals were all over the chart. We did not anticipate that he would last more than a few hours, perhaps days.

I had been in Albany but came down and met them at the Emergency Room (with a short stop for a speeding ticket...) Since it was the weekend that Susan and Richard traditionally host a Hanukkah party, Neil and Joan were in New York and Steven decided to surprise everyone with a wonderful Hanukkah gift of being with us for the party; what was anticipated as being an overnight day visit, resulted quite a bit longer visit. Richard's brother, Larry, flew back from Costa Rica on Friday evening, and both he and Morgan camped out with us at the hospital. As seems to be the Friess family way, we all gathered to support Susan and Richard during those very difficult first days.

The room was large enough to accommodate a cot so Susan was able to stay over at night, and we made sure that she had someone with her from morning to bedtime. Neil and Joan extended their visit for a few days but, with a new business to run, had to return to Florida. Richard's condition deteriorated day by day, with his morphine level being adjusted higher and higher to combat the excruciating pain. Both Shoshana, Susan and Richard's rabbi, and Rabbi Shem-Tov, Heather's rabbi, visited and provided him and Susan with much needed succor. When articulate, Richard very clearly declared his wish that there not be any extraordinary care, no tests, no machines, no nutrition. He was very calm and determined, and wanted everyone around him to understand that he was at peace.

After 10 days of decline, suddenly, late on Monday, December 17, Richard became very much awake and aware. He asked for some apple pie. Over the next week, his condition seemed improved. His blood pressure, pulse and oxygen level was strong and his pain was being contained. He developed a great appreciation for the smell and taste of Pepsi, enjoying mouthfuls of it as if it were the finest wine. He would have a teaspoon of Jell-O occasionally. He was very conversational and very upbeat. However, he did not change his wish regarding extending his life. Susan engaged the services of a night nurse and was able to go home to sleep. This phase lasted for about a week.

Over the past week, he has become weaker. An MRI on Thursday showed lesions on Richard's liver. The oncologist, Dr. Sherman, suggested that Susan and Richard speak with a surgeon about the possibility of having a feeding tube inserted directly into his intestines (since his stomach was not processing food) and even hinted that if that were possible, Richard might be able to go home. Initially, Richard seemed interested in hearing more about this but unfortunately, the surgeon did not feel that inserting the tube would be a good idea. He said that given Richard's condition an hour long procedure would be very trying to his system, that this method of providing nutrition has a very high incidence for infection and that given the liver lesions, it was not advised.

He reiterated what the palliative nurse had said a week earlier that when 'shutting down,' the human body naturally compensates by producing endorphins so that people in Richard's condition do not feel hungry. We were assured that by not providing nutrition, we were not causing any suffering. In fact, he said, if the tube was inserted, it would be more for those around Richard than for Richard's sake. It would not improve his comfort level.

On the same day, Susan was notified that a bed had become available at a hospice that is just a few blocks from their home in Riverdale and we are hopeful that Richard will be moving there later today. Richard remains emphatic about his wishes for his care and the hospice would seem to be the best way to respect those wishes.

doc said...

PEG tube placement for feeding has been increasing over years but the beneficial effects of this procedure in many patients esp dementia or terminal situations is controversial and impacted by complex considerations.


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Random Fist

The guys finally discuss their impressions of Logan, and as a bonus, Jack gives a detailed review of the Amazon Firestick! The Justice League trailer has the boys cautiously optimistic, but you only care about what they thought of Netflix’s Iron Fist! They have thoughts! Dave Chappelle has made his triumphant Netflix debut, and the guys discuss it! Well, they actually discuss the criticism… ALSO…The Random Crew would like to help send a kid overseas! Check out “Whitney’s Trip To Europe” on the Go Fund Me site!

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Netpix (My Netflix picks and pans!)
  “Heyaaaah”! I have a few recommendations courtesy if the world’s largest video streaming service, Netflix.   While listening to Jack’s Random reviews that consist of Movies streamed via Netflix, a few suggestions of my own often come to mind and finally, here they are some nice and one... Read more

The band is back together for the first time. Join Rare English Rose, Stalkeye and Bop in this special Marvel Netflix podcast.
Iron Fist, Luke Cage, Daredevil and Jessica Jones. Need we say more?

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Netflix’s Iron Fist review
Netflix and me are not always good pals. They started out wonderfully with Daredevil, then dropped the ball with Jessica Jones and then also dropped the ball with Daredevil season 2. Luke Cage I haven’t finished yet and that will need to happen sooner or later. However, after a... Read more
IRON FIST: Enter the Drag-on!
Daredevil, Jessica Jones and Luke Cage has made their mark courtesy of the venerable streaming service-Netflix, now comes my most anticipated series from the (aforementioned) characters that will eventually form The Defenders. Iron Fist based on a 4th tier Marvel Comic protagonist who has gathered a huge cult following enough... Read more
Spinning Headlines – Week 40: NYCC(John Wick Chapter 2, Marvel/Netflix, Power Rangers etc.), Weekend Box Office, Blade Runner 2049, Logan, Underworld 5, Resident Evil 6, Black Panther…

A heavy load of trailers, both from NYCC and elsewhere: “John Wick Chapter 2”, “Iron Fist”, “Power Rangers”, “Trollhunters”, “Stan Against Evil”, “The Great Wall”, “Resident Evil: The Final Chapter”, “Underworld: Blood Wars”. “Blade Runner”-sequel and “Wolverine”-sequel get official titles, “Black Panther” adds cast, Max Landis whines about something, spit-take of the week and more.

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Sunday, September 07, 2003

Napolean Hill's famous book
"Think and Grow Rich"
was originally entitled:
"Use your Noodle and Get the Boodle"
-changed by the publisher
the meaning is exactly the same
and deals with thought -
to achieve the change that you want-
Where does this thought come from?
Now think - how can the supreme terminator be linked with all these concepts?
Dedicated to pure energy -
thought - power - spirit - being - however it manifests itself in life -

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Friday, 3 August 2012

Almost Finished....Foundry Photojournalism Workshop

Photo © Ahmed Shajee Aijazi
Well, the week passed by like a flash! The hard work during my Multimedia For Photographers class (yesterday -Friday-, my students and I spent around 12 hours non-stop in class putting the finishing touches to the multimedia projects) paid off, and the projects are very well done, imaginative and personal.

Tonight is the night when all the students attending the Foundry Photojournalism Workshop will be presenting their individual work...and I bet some haggard-looking people will be walking around like zombies by the end of the day.

Despite spending long hours in class, I find that reviewing portfolios is the most difficult and exhausting of all the tasks I do during the Workshop. It's challenging to provide honest but candid yet constructive opinons about the work presented by the photographers...much of the work I've seen during the portfolio review session was thoughtful, interesting and some outright beautiful...and all was needed was a few suggestions here and there.


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Monday, February 4, 2013

Zombies and a Book

I'm still at home with a cold, but hope to be more active again soon.

I did receive awesome mail today though!

A Zombie Tarot!

This amazingly cool tarot deck was send to me and my owner as a (late) birthday present by Laura and Sparky. They know just what I like!

Thanks Laura and Sparky. We're very happy with this tarot and will consult it regularly to see what those zombies have in store for us.

I also received a book today.
A Luring Murder by Stacy Verdick Case is a fun murder mystery which I reviewed at my other blog when it released as an ebook. Stacy was kind enough to send me the print version now that it's released. If you haven't read any of Stacy's books yet, I can advice that you give them a try. They're really fun in my opinion.

Oh, look!
They printed a bit of my review of Stacy's first book in the back of A Luring Murder. How cool!

Thanks Stacy!

Jerry and Ben said...

Congrats on the printed review! So cool!

Alexander Mackenzie Bear said...

Oh, you are a famous reviewer! Congratulations - hope your tarot cards predict more in-print reviews!

Aurian said...

Wow, that is so cool, to be mentioned in a book you loved! Congrats Sullivan!


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Friday, May 4

That's Dr. O'Neal to you!

I just read that Shaq is on his way to getting his doctoral degree....good for him!

I really hope the youth of today realize the significance of education.  Let`s face it, Shaq does not have a shortage of cash flow.  He can probably by anything he wants whenever he wants! But he still chose to pursue his education because he understands the value of it.  And not only did he just get his undergrad, he pursued his master and doctorate.

He studied Organizational Learning and Leadership, with a specialization in Human Resource Development of the past 4.5 years and not only that, he has a GPA of 3.813.

Shaq will receive his doctoral degree from Barry University in Miami Saturday

Congrats Dr. O`Neal

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Thursday, July 26, 2012

Hey Dolls,
I have the most exciting news ever! Yesterday night around 9:50pm Kal and I were eating dinner and as I was telling him a story, our baby decides to show us how strong he/she is by kicking my tummy!!!! I just cant believe it!!! It was just comical only because when it happened I yelled so loud and grabbed Kals arm so tight. His expression was soooooooo funny! He didnt know what had happened and kept asking me over and over "are you okay, what the.....and gives me a confused look" and when I told him our baby just kicked for the first time we bursted our laughing and smiled literally from ear to ear. To all the mothers to be or mothers out there Im sure you dolls would agree a baby's first kick is one of the best moments during pregnancy.  In a few more weeks, this baby will begin to kick and move non stop and I cant wait :) Like always, love, peace, and happiness.

xoxo Mommy Linda

1 comment:

  1. Hi Linda ! Congratulations for your baby !!! My name is Denisa and I am from Romania , I am such a big fan of yours. You are beautiful and I am sure you will be a really good mother ! Thank you for making more videos because I used to watch your make up videos and read your old blog . I don't know why , you just motivate me ( hope I don't seem like a stalker lol ) . Wish you and your baby the best !

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2011 Workshops

9 am -9:30 am Opening remarks

9:30 am. – 11 am- “The Greek Vowels in Hellenistic Magic” – Tony Mierzwicki – Bibliography

Hellenistic Magic is characterized by the extensive use of voces mysticae–mystical/magical names and the seven Greek vowels which often occur in long strings of various combinations. The vowels were sometimes sung and had numerous associations, including the seven Chaldean planets and musical tones. The voces mysticae were used by some theurgists to achieve Sustasis (contact) with a deity or daimon – a necessary preliminary step in the liberation of the soul from the bonds of fate.

11am – 12:30 pm – “Theurgy, Astrology, and the Mystery of the Decans” – Don Frew – Bibliography

While most Neoplatonists dismissed the use of astrology for spiritual guidance, both Neoplatonic and Hermetic theurgists recognized its utility in the construction of effective rituals. However, the astrology practiced in their time — the first few centuries CE — was very different from the astrology practiced today. We will go through the basics of Hellenistic astrology, its application to ritual, and how it was understood by the practitioners of theurgy. This will present original research on the Decans. Having had my curiosity piqued by mysterious references in Hermetic texts to the Decans as secret sources of great magical power and knowledge, I have spent the last 10 years collecting material on them from obscure Hellenistic sources. I will describe my reconstruction of a system of Decanic magic that I have used to significant effect.

12:30pm – 2 pm – Lunch in hospitality suite

2 pm – 3:30 pm – “Animation: How It Works and How to Do It” – John Opsopaus – Bio/Bibliography

The “god-making passage” is one of the most famous parts of the Hermetic texts. It discusses “animating” a statue, that is, giving it a soul, but provides little information. In this workshop I will present the Neoplatonic theory of animation, which explains the process for invoking a god or daemon into a statue. From theory I will turn to practice and explain effective operations for animation and how they may be used for various theurgical purposes.

3:30pm – 5 pm – Closing panel discussion

Includes lunch in our hospitality suite where we’ll gather after the event for evening discussions

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Recent Posts

Wednesday, December 25, 2013

Merry Christmas And Happy 2014

Merry Christmas and Happy 2014 from all of us at THEVINTAGELAUNDRY.COM

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Thursday, December 12, 2013

Heavy Sigh, Face-palm With an Eye Roll Dismount

It has been proven to me again, and again that life is a great unfolding ... that opportunities, wisdom, and understanding will be revealed to me as I go along. I wait, as patiently as an instant-gratification junky can wait, for cues from the universe as to what I should fix my gaze and energies upon next. But here's the thing … and I hate "The Thing" …especially "my" thing. Because my thing is … STARTING. I'm a marvelous starter, a comer-upper of great ideas, an enthusiastic believer that if you work and live and love hard enough that everything is possible. I've started hundreds of things, DIY projects, blog posts, paintings, book writings, entrepreneurial ventures, relationships, conversations, thoughts, sentences … the list is endless and more than a little embarrassing. But here's my "Un-Thing" … FINISHING. I'm like the opposite, evil twin of a premature ejaculation … the iceman never cometh, if you know what I'm sayin'.

And, naturally, the only logical next step in my ever-so-cluttered mind is to start a new project … (insert face-palm.) The new project is a book (insert combination heavy sigh, face-palm with an eye roll dismount.) The chapters are good-natured pokes at all that is me, but are also turning out to be a kind of love letters to myself and to others that share "The Thing." Writing about this has offered me a revelation that although I want to escape, running and screaming from this utterly frustrating habit I have of putting off till tomorrow what I could do the day after tomorrow - I've just decided to embrace it. Because, as they say, you are defined not so much by your imperfect moments, but by your reactions to them.

So, only time will tell if I can see this "reaction" through to the end … wish me luck, think "finishing thoughts" and if necessary shame me into completing and publishing it.

Below is a snippet from one of the thirty-five chapters in the book. I hope you enjoy and have a marvelous Thursday!

Chapter 1

Read Label Before Use

You know how packaged products are required to have a label listing ingredients and such? Well, I think some people should come with them, as well … and I'm sorry to say, that I'm one of them! Before you even think of speaking to me or engaging me in any manner, you should probably read my label. It has recommendations for your use and safety (see label below.)

Nutritional Facts:

Calories: None of your business
Sodium:  Queen of the Swelling & Bloating Float in the High Blood Pressure & Congestive Heart Failure Thanksgiving Day Parade
Carbohydrates:  Girl please!
Sugar:  Can I get a witness?!

LeAnn Stephenson is fun for the whole family. Made from 100% morose introspection and existential crisis, she was founded in Alamogordo, New Mexico in 1965. She played in the White Sands Basin Range where, twenty years earlier, the Trinity nuclear (atomic) bomb was tested (which explains a lot.) She contains more than 75% of the world's eyebrow hair (see nuclear bomb) and in a blind taste test, 2 out of 5 children tested chose LeAnn Stephenson as their mother.

LeAnn Stephenson's singing voice has been described as "very disturbing."

So, as you can see, I may appear to be perfectly harmless, but I can assure you that I am anything but.

For starters ...

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Monday, December 9, 2013

Catnip Roasting on an Open Fire

We have a crazy cat.  She's called Eva June.  She's a beautiful Maine Coon with striking yellow-green eyes . . . . she's also the spawn of Satan . . .  wicked, evil, mean, and totally unsocial.  She won't let anyone touch her, except me and on occasion my daughter, who's her Mom (but not her real Mom). Most of the time I want to dragon-kick her across the room for using the furniture as her own personal scratching post or string her up by her elbows for hacking up little kitty cigars that I will, without fail, step in with bare feet.  But, for some reason, when she does want to cuddle, I'm her girl.  Which makes me fairly sure that if we were trapped in the house in a blizzard and everyone died . . . . She'd totally eat me last.

I tell you that to tell you this, Christmas decorating at our house is like hugging our crazy cat, "Evil June:"  a little dangerous, a little warm, and a lot of awesome.  Tradition follows that we crank up the psychotically-challenged Christmas carols in her honor.  To start, we play the old standard, "Do You Hear What I Hear?" to soothe Eva's schizophrenia.  We celebrate her multiple personalities with, "We Three Kings of Disorient Are" and poke fun at her paranoia with, "Santa Claws Is Coming To Get You." As a tribute to her dementia we play, "I 'Think' I'll Be Home For Christmas" followed closely by her personality disorder's favorite, "You Better Watch Out, I'm Gonna Cry, I'm Gonna Pee, Maybe I'll Tell You Why."  And finally we all join in with a rousing-ly manic rendition of, "Deck the Halls and Walls and House and Lawn and Streets and Office and the Stores and the Cars and the Buses and Trucks and Trees and Fire Hydrants and . . ."

Hope your Christmas decorating is bright, beautiful, and full of crazy kitty power.  Here are few photos of our efforts.

We hung our Christmas wreath on our newly painted door! We added a bit of vintage silver and a wide red satin ribbon to our boxwood wreath to give it a little patina.
My girl baby was home from university and got to hang all of her childhood ornaments and reminisce . . .  she loves to decorate the Christmas tree

… and my baby boy just loves the Christmas tree!

Baby It Was Cold Outside!
We had temperatures in the teens during our decorating extravaganza, so, the Hubbs
built a roaring fire, chilled a bottle of champagne and threw down a sheepskin rug  to
keep our tootsies warm!

And it just wouldn't feel right without our vintage ornaments.
I'm kind of partial to our Shiny Brite collections! I love to contain them in apothecary jars on the mantel, in silver Revere bowls on side tables and in niches!

And this is what happens when I clean vintage brass and gold flatware all afternoon . . .
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Friday, December 6, 2013

Simply Brilliant: Wes Anderson's The Grand Budapest Hotel

My girl baby is in the middle of her sophomore year at university.  My boy baby is in the middle of the exciting ordeal of applying to universities he would like to attend next Fall after he graduates from high school this June.  He would like to be a filmmaker and is concentrating his search on universities that have exemplary Radio-Television-Film colleges.  Austin's very own University of Texas is well-known for its program and boasts some very successful alumni.  Topping my son's list of favorite directors and screenwriters is fellow Texan and UT alumnus, Wes Anderson.

Which brings me to today's Simply Brilliant talent.  Anderson's next film will be entitled The Grand Budapest Hotel and will star his regular collaborators Bill Murray, Owen Wilson, and Jason Schwartzman, along with many others cited below. It recounts the adventures of Gustave H., a legendary concierge at a famous European hotel between the wars, and Zero Moustafa, the lobby boy who becomes his most trusted friend. The story involves the theft and recovery of a priceless Renaissance painting and the battle for an enormous family fortune - all against the back-drop of a suddenly and dramatically changing Continent.

Other Anderson films that might be of interest are  Bottle Rocket (1996), Rushmore (1998), The Royal Tenenbaums (2001), The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004), The Darjeeling Limited (2007), a stop-motion animation adaptation of the Roald Dahl book, Fantastic Mr. Fox, released in 2009, and perhaps his best received film to date, Moonrise Kingdom, which opened the Cannes Film Festival 2012.

The Grand Budapest Hotel is to be released March 7, 2014 in the U.S. with cinematography by Robert Yeoman and screenwriting/direction by Wes Anderson.  I can't wait for its release and would like to suggest you not miss it either!

Video and photos courtesty:  IMBb and

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Thursday, December 5, 2013

Two Words, One Finger

The life that I think I lead and the actual life that I have are two distinctly different states of being.  Each comes with its own appalling revelations and pace.  That is to say, that the past week or so has left me a little ruffled, unsure of myself, and questioning every move.  I appall this state of being and I have something to say to these feelings … and I'm sorry to say it involves two words and one finger.

Hence, the touch-y, feel-y quote above.  Just needed to remind myself to live an authentic life and relish the messy unplanned parts, as well as the perfectly planned ones.

Happy Thursday to you!

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President Obama's decision to intervene in Libya is backed by a majority of Americans, but he's still getting battered from all sides in Washington. Liberals have attacked him for launching an unnecessary war without congressional approval. Conservatives have swiped at him for waiting too long to get involved, and failing to clearly define the mission. Obama has pledged that the U.S. role in the fighting will be limited and brief, but he has plenty of doubters on that front, too. With critics all around, could Obama's 2012 reelection hopes be a victim of Operation Odyssey Dawn?

Yes, Obama may have lost the Left: Libya is not only "a significant military risk" for Obama, but "a big political one," too, says Steve Chapman in the Chicago Tribune. Republicans already dislike him, and launching a war could send disappointed Democrats "looking for their Gene McCarthy — a credible challenger who stands for peace." If history is any guide, a strong challenge from the Left would be "fatal to Obama's re-election prospects."
"Will Obama be challenged from the left in 2012?"

If the war doesn't sink him, the economy will: Obama's "incomprehensible" Libya strategy has his presidency "hanging by a thread," says John Podhoretz in Commentary. And while "there's no reason anyone would cast a vote in 2012 directly based on what happens in Libya," it won't take a mess abroad to scuttle Obama's reelection hopes. There's already plenty of problems here at home, and most Americans think the country is on the wrong track. "If the economy remains anemic while the world seems to be going to hell in a handbasket, The One will be The One Term no matter who runs against him."
"Obama's presidency still hangs by a thread, but for a different reason"

And yet, the GOP hopefuls can't capitalize: So far, "every would-be Republican challenger is lagging behind Obama in the polls," says Robert Schroeder at MarketWatch. And that's when unemployment is 8.9 percent, health care reform is heading to the Supreme Court, and "even some Democrats are questioning the president’s intervention in Libya." Until the Republicans find a formidable challenger, Obama remains the obvious frontrunner, regardless of the situation in Libya.
"GOP finds Obama hard to beat — so far"


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After discovering dangerous levels of radiation in the tap water in Tokyo and surrounding areas, Japanese officials have warned parents to prevent their infants from drinking it — triggering a run on bottled water. Radioactive fallout from the struggling nuclear reactors in Fukushima prefecture has also prompted restrictions on agricultural products in Japan and several other countries. How dangerous are the contamination risks for Japan's reeling population? Here, a brief guide:

1. Tap water
Tokyo's water officials said Wednesday that they'd found dangerous levels of radioactive iodine-131 — 210 becquerels per liter, to be precise — in the city's drinking water. Although levels up to 300 becquerels per liter are considered safe for adult consumption, anything over 100 becquerels is a risk for babies. Officials pledged to deliver bottled water to the 80,000 homes with kids under age 1, but people in Tokyo and surrounding areas didn't wait around, emptying store shelves of bottled water. Though iodine levels had dipped back to 79 becquerels by Thursday, city officials said that "continued monitoring of the situation is essential."

2. Vegetables
Dangerous levels of radioactive contamination were found in 11 kinds of vegetables in Fukushima and neighboring Ibaraki prefecture. The Japanese government ordered those two prefectures, plus two more, to halt all shipments of affected vegetables, and restricted sales from six other surrounding prefectures. U.S. health experts agreed that the recorded radiation levels in these green leafy veggies don't pose much of a health risk, but a Japanese official still warned that people should "refrain from eating them as much as possible, as a precaution."

3. Milk
Dairy products are perhaps the biggest health concern, especially for Japan's children. In the U.S., milk that was contaminated by the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear plant disaster — cows ate grass blanketed in radiation, and kids drank the milk — is blamed for at least 6,000 cases of thyroid cancer so far. The U.S., Singapore, and Hong Kong have banned milk products from the four worst-hit prefectures, and Japan has suspended raw milk shipments from Fukushima and Ibaraki. That's a bit of an overreaction, says U.S. health physicist Peter Caracappa. He estimates you'd have to drink 58,000 glasses of tainted Japanese milk to raise your lifetime cancer risk by 4 percent.

4. Seafood
The high levels of radiation in the seawater around the Fukushima reactors are a big threat to Japan's multibillion-dollar seafood industry, and several Asian countries have already banned Japanese seafood. Japan insists that no fish are being caught anywhere near the reactors, and that they're diligently testing seafood, and have found no dangerous levels of radiation. A U.S. sushi chain's refusal to buy Japanese fish is an "overreaction," says Edward Flattau at The Huffington Post. But radiation could still increase as it moves up the food chain, from small fish to bigger ones, "insidiously concentrating at the top where we reside."

Sources: New York Times, Reuters, The National, The Daily Yomiuri, CNN, VPR, Bloomberg, Huffington Post


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Monday, November 08, 2010

Hats Off to Weston, MO!

Sometimes people stand up when the authorities cannot, and this is one of those cases. The exerable Fred Phelps and his hateful drones of Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, KS are nothing less than a dangerous and disgusting side effect of First Ammendment rights.

There are ways around the allowance of these lowlifes from excercising "their rights" and it would appear that Weston, MO has found the perfect way.

May this practice spread!

Residents of Missouri Town Block Protesters From Picketing Soldier's Funeral

Members of a small Missouri town banded together Saturday to block a controversial pastor and members of his Westboro Baptist Church from protesting the funeral of a fallen U.S. soldier, reports.

Hundreds of residents in Weston, Mo. -- as well as people as far away as California and Australia -- rallied in support of Sgt. First Class C.J. Sadell, who died from injuries suffered during a surprise attack in Afghanistan.

The residents sought to block Fred Phelps, leader of the Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kan., and his followers from picketing Sadell’s funeral, according to the station.

Phelps' church has been the subject of intense criticism for holding more than 44,000 pickets at funerals and other events – including the services of fallen service members.

Citing their First Amendment right to protest, Phelps' followers say they use funerals as an “available public platform” to “deliver the message that there is a consequence for sin.” Phelps is openly opposed to homosexuality and all government policies they he says supports homosexuals.

"We got everybody here early so we could take up all the parking spots," Rebecca Rooney of Weston, Mo., told "We did that so Mr. Phelps wouldn't have a contingency that was really close."

"I'm glad they left, but I'm sad they came," she said.

Sadell, who leaves behind a wife and two sons, was stationed in the Arif Kala region of Afghanistan when his unit was ambushed on Oct. 5. Five soldiers were killed in the attack and Sadell was badly injured.

The 34-year-old died from his injuries on Oct. 24.

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Saturday, June 18, 2011

The (Worldwide?) Peak of Human Resources

In my last post, I discussed the fallen tendency of some of us humans to conduct ourselves as predators and to regard all the rest of humanity as prey. I also briefly described how this tendency has shaped the evolution of industrial society. Another way of framing this predator-prey relationship is that to the wealthiest members of society, the global official economy over which they preside exists for one purpose, namely their own personal enrichment. Just as that economy requires an ever-expanding supply of material resources in order to generate ever-increasing wealth, so it requires an ever-expanding supply of human capital in order to generate ever-increasing wealth for its elites. The Hubbert Peak of the rate of extraction of various non-human resources is now appearing as a threat to the survival of the economy. I'd like to suggest the existence of a Hubbert Peak of the rate of exploitation of “human resources” as well, and that this poses a further threat to the owners of our present economy, in addition to the Hubbert Peaks of use of other resources. I will present evidence that suggests that we (at least in the First World) are already “past Peak” with regard to human resources. As one version of a favorite song of mine says,

Well, there's a change in the wind, you know the signs don't lie,

Such a strange feelin' and I don't know why it's takin'

such a long time;

Backyard people and they work all day,

Day gets wasted, it's safe to say that they're tastin'

to make the words rhyme...

First, it should be mentioned that Hubbert depletion analysis has been applied not only to inanimate resources, but to biological resources that are exploited at rates beyond their natural rates of regeneration and renewal. One such analysis is “Price Trends Over A Complete Hubbert Cycle: The Case of the American Whaling Industry in 19th Century” by Ugo Bardi, a professor at the University of Firenze in Italy and author of the blog, Cassandra's Legacy. Those who study the history of whaling in the 19th century will find an interesting perspective among whalers and those who depended on the whaling industry, namely, a failure to recognize or acknowledge the effects of overfishing and exploitation of whales at a nonrenewable rate. The closest anyone seems to have come to an acknowledgement of this reality is found in a book published in 1878 by Alexander Starbuck who acknowledged that declining production of whale fisheries was due to “an increase of consumption beyond the power of the fishery to supply.” However, like apologists for our present oil industry who blame “aboveground factors” for production constraints, Mr. Starbuck cited “the scarcity and shyness of whales” as a contributing factor in fishery production decline.

Since there are limits to the maximal sustainable rate of exploitation of non-human biological resources, it stands to reason that there is a limit to the maximal sustainable rate of exploitation of human beings as well. Breaching this limit would cause the breakdown of an industrial society even if that society was well-supplied with all other production inputs. Moreover, there would be increasingly severe signs and symptoms of breakdown as the society was driven further and further beyond sustainable rates of exploitation of its members. Finally, it would not be surprising to see the elites at the head of such a society rationalize and refuse to acknowledge the true meaning of these signs and symptoms.

Are there modern societies in which we can see this breakdown taking place? (Is the Pope Catholic?) A better question might be, “Which modern country might best serve as a poster child for the effects of unsustainable exploitation of its human capital?” There are many contenders for this doubtful honor, but today I'd like to focus on Japan – not because I believe that country is worse than, say, the United States, but because the capitalists of that country have created trends which most of the industrial world has been obliged to follow. First, we need to look briefly at the history of Japan from the end of World War Two onward.

The end of the war left Japan both shattered and occupied. The United States provided approximately $18.6 billion in aid, both under the Marshall Plan and other outlays, for the rebuilding of nations whose infrastructure and economy had been damaged by the war. Japan received $2.44 billion. (Total U.S. expenditures from 1945 to 1953 amounted to $44.3 billion.) (Source: Wikipedia, Marshall Plan.) Yet even with American aid, life was very hard for the majority of Japanese citizens just after the war. Their suffering and privation motivated them to quickly fashion an economy which would guarantee robust prosperity for the nation.

Many growth strategies were employed both by the Japanese government and the leaders of its most powerful financial and industrial sectors. While some of these strategies focused on protecting Japanese domestic markets from foreign competition, others focused on building Japan into an industrial powerhouse. One aspect of the building of that powerhouse is of particular interest – namely, the fostering of a certain kind of relationship between the managers of large corporations and the majority of their employees. This relationship was the outgrowth of the Japanese Production Management system (JPM) which has given the world such concepts as TQM (Total Quality Management), JIT (Just-In-Time Manufacturing). SCM (Supply Chain Management), Kaizen, (embodying, among other things, “lean manufacturing”), Zero Defects and Quality Circles. (One other thing to note: although these ideas came to full implementation in Japan, many of these ideas were introduced to Japan by American business and economic teachers such as W. Edwards Deming . This is rather like communism, which was not invented by Russians, yet was wholeheartedly adopted by Russia for several nauseating decades.)

The essence of many of these elements of JPM was to eliminate as much “waste” as possible from the manufacturing process. As JPM spread to other sectors of the Japanese economy, this same focus on “eliminating waste” spread too. The aim of kaizen was continuous improvement of a business process. The measure of “continuous improvement” was continuous growth of profits and continuous reduction of operating expenses. Industry leaders fostered a culture in which workers supported cost cutting and continuous process improvement, identifying fully with the goals of management. This led to situations in which workers on a line assembling car engine parts might have only two minutes allotted per car and no spare time allowed, thus forcing a typical worker to assemble engine parts for 250 cars every five hundred minutes. In such a factory, the production method would involve synchronized production (JIT, no pool of parts and no waste), value organization (to identify the spare time each worker had after one assembly operation in order to identify “waste time”), and supplement production (obtaining the minimum necessary parts from suppliers and subcontractors in order to reduce stock). (Source: “Karoshi – Death From Overwork: Occupational Health Consequences of the Japanese Production Management,” Katsuo Nishiyama and Jeffrey V. Johnson.)

This frenzied work environment was not confined to blue collar occupations, but spread through the ranks of lower and mid-level management as well, giving rise to the salaryman as a cultural icon. It has also given rise to Karoshi (death from overwork), a medical phenomenon of epidemic proportions, along with the related phenomenon of Karo-jisatu (suicide from overwork). Yet this work environment has been reinforced through many means, including identification with traditional Japanese religious and cultural values; unions that have been thoroughly co-opted by management; rigorous standardized schooling with heavy emphasis on conformity, rote memorization and high-stakes, standardized tests, and mass media which promotes the idea of the salaryman as a modern-day samurai contending on behalf of his employer. (As one television commercial put it, “Can you fight 24 hours for your corporation?”)

(To those of you who are not Japanese and who have no knowledge of Japanese culture, I ask: does any of this look familiar? Can you see these things happening in your own societies? Karoshi may soon be coming to a town near you.)

Though this culture has taken a heavy toll on Japan, the government, along with leaders of business and industry, have been extremely reluctant to acknowledge that toll. (What? You're telling me that stress kills people? Aw, come on! “Not all scientists would agree with you.”) But now there are signs that the society which has been built on this culture is starting to break down. The origin of the breakdown is among the Japanese youth, who see their parents being dehumanized and worked to death and who are saying to themselves that they refuse to become like their parents. They are angered by their parents' unrequited sacrifices and they are choosing to opt out of the system.

The opting-out takes a number of different forms. There are the freeters, young people who deliberately choose low-paying part-time jobs so that they can have control over their lives instead of running in an ever-accelerating corporate hamster wheel. There are also the hikikomori, youth who have been damaged by a high-stakes schooling system and who are unable to face the thought of going out into a predatory world without any social support system. There is the larger movement of the datsusara, people who quit work as salarymen or office women in order to launch careers that are more in line with their values.

These people are a threat to the dominant economy, in large part because they represent lost profits (or, to put it differently, they are escaped prey). They have caught the attention of the leadership of Japan, one of whose members suggested not too long ago that all freeters should be forced to join the Japanese Self-Defense Force and go to Iraq. Yet they are part of a phenomenon which is arising in many different countries. As globalization and uber-capitalism have swept the globe, youth who are now coming of age (along with not a few older people) are also coming to realize that the society created by their masters holds nothing for them, and they increasingly feel no obligation to that society. They are dropping out of their respective societies – much as air leaks slowly out of even perfectly good tires on a hot day. The trick is to escape without losing one's mind in the process.

  1. Karoshi – Death From Overwork: Occupational Health Consequences of the Japanese Production Management,” 4 February 1997, Katsuo Nishiyama and Jeffrey V. Johnson.

  2. The Japanese 'Death by Overwork' Phenomenon,” 25 July 2007, Josefine Cole.

  3. Karoshi (Work to Death) in Japan,” 2008, Atsuko Kanai.

  4. Workplace Stress: A Collective Bargaining Issue,” 2002, Anne-Marie Mureau.

  5. The Impact of Globalization on Post World War II Japan,” 2 April 2010, Phillip Luu.

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Thursday, April 15, 2010

What's the newest Google related time waster?

I'm a big fan of 6 degrees of Wikipedia (where someone challenges you to get to an entry from a randomly generated entry in 6 hyperlinks or less). Big surprise.

Here's a new game. Type in any animal name and then "vs", and you'll find out what people on the internet think about animals and their relative powers. This is all sort of inspired by the in-the-making animal-battle-card game, but may be even more "open source" and a better mindless time waste. I do want those cards though.

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Managers &

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Do you want to be the person you thought you could be? This will help you accomplish your professional dreams!


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Nov 18, 2014

Danceteria: The Beginning and the End

February 1982

Well, sort of the beginning... this was for the opening on West 21st Street. The club's second, but much more well known & established location.

July 1986

It was time. Thanks to John Argento for the images.

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Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Meet our neighboors

Ok, there might be some humans too, but really, this is what I LOVE about where we live.

Friday, February 19, 2010

Livi & Isaac

It's been far too long since I've taken pictures of these two together. These two are the very best of friends. And they couldn't be cuter together. Truly, they have been friends since birth and all that time together has paid off. They play SO well together. They are kind to each other and have so much fun that it makes it such a joy when we are all together. We love our surrogate daughter Livi! I'm telling you, this girl is HILARIOUS.

Telling me a story.

Sadly, the best picture I got of Livi was caught right when Isaac had some freak accident and smacked his face on the floor. After he stopped crying, they thought it was pretty cool that I got a picture of it.

Sunday, February 14, 2010

Happy Valentines Day

I love this holiday! Mostly because it involves my favorite color, red, but also because it's a day solely devoted remembering those you love. I was happy to spend it with a lot of the people I love the most; my own family, and my family of brothers and sisters and their families. We made the most delicious dinner, followed by a nice walk to see the neighbor's horses, and then my first attempt at molten lava cakes, which were heaven in chocolate form. Happy Valentines Day!

Lucy took a pavement dive yesterday on the way to the BYU basketball game. So sad!
Isaac's bowtie was made by my friend, the very talented, Likely.

Wednesday, February 03, 2010

"Somewhere in my youth, or childhood, I must have done something good."

Today was kind of a downer day, but one that made me extra grateful for my darling kids and even sweeter husband.

(taken for a project my little sister was doing)

He asked me to take a picture of him being a walrus. Classic.

Monday, February 01, 2010

Go bold or go home...

to my home.

Geoff's building some cool numbers for the front of the house that I'm excited about. Nerdy, I know.


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Thursday, July 17, 2008

Use blank fixtures for Bj tables when testing with Bj

I have an integration test where I need to test a web process that starts a background process with Ara T Howard's awesomely named Bj plugin (Background Job - but never has overhearing talk about Rails testing cause so many funny looks and stifled laughs).

I found some great notes here: which show how to wait for a job to finish during a test.

One problem I ran into, though, was that I somehow had a bad job that got stuck in the testing database table, and that was messing up testing results because Bj would wake up during the test, see the old bad job, and resubmit it. It took a while to track that down.

I fixed it by simply putting blank fixtures in test/fixtures for each of the Bj tables: bj_config, bj_job, and bj_job_archive. That way Bj starts from a blank slate when each test starts. There's a Bj protip for you. Another one is to watch the Bj logs for the test environment.

Monday, July 14, 2008

360's coming, did you bring your coat?

So Tom and John have really been putting on the pressure to blog, so here I am! Finally blogging!

I'm going to be at 360 Flex in San Jose on August 17th (register at, and if you're new to that conference, you should definitely think about going. 360 is more fun than a lot of other conferences I've been to in the past because of the close-knit community and the effort that Tom and John put into making the event work smoothly and fun for everyone.

I'm going to be speaking about my perennial topic, Flex and Rails, this time with more focus on RubyAMF and getting things connected. I'm also lucky enough to be presenting on Data Visualization with Juan Sanchez of fame, a friend and colleague. We're going to try to put on a good show for you guys, so, we'll see you there right?

Sunday, July 13, 2008

UIRC scores Iron Man Interview

Ok, maybe not with Iron Man himself, but close. The User Interface Resource Center, (UIRC) which is sponsored by my company EffectiveUI, has a great interview up with Kent Seki, the designer in charge of visualizations and HUDs for the Iron Man movie.

Not only is this a great interview, but I like the way the UIRC is approaching talking about UIs. This interview and another one a little bird told me is coming up are some great cross-cutting looks into people who think hard about designing innovative interfaces.


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Bernhard Riemann On Psychology and Metaphysics ca. 1860

Today's Elites

Monday, September 05, 2011

Why I can't let this one go

Normally I take little notice of the grammatical or spelling peccadilloes of contemporaries. But sometimes the outre rears its head and I must take heed. Today's NY Times comment section displays one such case. In it appears a comment by a professed "English PhD." The following sentence is verbatim:

But we found ourselves out of sink with the era of "greed is good."

Perhaps this is a sine of the end times for our poor, brutalized language.

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In the Trenches—Day 314 Year 2: BIRTH

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In the Trenches—Day 314 Year 2:  BIRTH

Day 314 Year 2:

Birth.  Buuuuuuurrrrrrrth.  The word itself sounds deep and meaningful and existential.  That’s because it is!  It’s everything.  Here’s a definition from my Microsoft Word Reference Tools Dictionary:

Birth (verb):  ( to give birth)
1.  To produce a child or young from the womb;
2.  To originate or be responsible for creating something.

Birth is creation.  Without it nothing would exist.

It was a week of births!  Three of them to be exact—my favorite number.

1.  I was born this past week.  Thanks Mom and Dad!
2.  Ridiculously Generous, Amazingly Talented and Very Successful Actress Friend had her baby on my birthday—three weeks early!  Best surprise b-day gift ever.
3.  I gave birth yesterday.

No, a baby did not come forth from my loins but a “first-words on paper” draft of my screenplay finally flew out of my fingers.  Woo hoo!  Well, not the whole script in one day.  On November 3rd, the day after a pre-birthday emotional crisis, it hit me what I wanted for my birthday this year:  a draft of my script!  A birthday gift to me from me.

I began on Monday, November 4th, with 24 pages I really liked and a jumbled mess of notes.  I got to work.  I wrote all day every day except one, which I only wrote a half-day so I could get some post-b-day pampering.  When I got stuck I went for a walk or a bike ride then came back and kept going.  When I started to worry what I was writing was a load of crap I ignored my insecurity and kept going.  When I was sure what I was writing was total shit, I rewrote it and kept going.  By 6:03pm, November 9th, I had 85 pages and a “Fade out.”  NaNoWriMo, what? More like NaYesWriWeek, yo!

The gestation period to reach this nascent draft was 28 months.  The spark for it struck me back in July of 2011.  I started working on it when I was in New York for three weeks in August 2011.  (That was the trip when the whole concept for my company and my Yearlong Experiment In Prolific Creativity was born as well.)  The story is inspired by my experiences during 2010—AKA the most difficult, heart crushing year of my life.  Needless to say, it’s personal.  The most personal thing I’ve ever written.  And, it is the most personal thing I have ever set out to produce.

So, to review…this happened:  a literal birth on my day of birth during the birth of my screenplay.  The latter I plan to birth into a shooting script which I will then birth again into a film in 2014.  That’s a whole lot of birthing going on!

My newborn!

Gazing lovingly at my newborn!

This is where I would normally make a joke about being “scared shitless of labor pains” or “WTF, I don’t know nothin’ bout birthin’ no babies” or “where’s my tooth?”  Not this time.  Not that I plan to be a humorless grump from this point forward.  I’m just going to try something else during this next solar return.  I’m starting a new experiment—a year of creating from what I have but not indulging in insecurity, fear, doubt or the three C’s—comparing, competing and complaining—while I do it.

“Impossible,” you cry!  I’m not saying these things won’t come up, won’t try to take over and won’t be a pesky fly buzzing around my shit.  Trust me, I know they will.  Lived it.  All I’m suggesting is that when they show up and they are felt, suggested, or offered to me (by me or someone else), this go round I will not indulge in them.  I’ll get out the fly swatter, say,  “No thank you, I’ll pass,”  and then SPLAT.

I’m a natural born indulger—sweets, sex, alcohol, Netflix—I went 26 straight hours with no sleep watching The Walking Dead seasons one and two once.  (Worth it!)  I have had to cut back, stop over-indulging in and even completely abstain from certain foods, booze, and behavior over the years because for one reason or another they were toxic or harmful to my body at that time.

“No, I won’t eat an entire pecan pie this Thanksgiving, I’ll pass.”
“No, I won’t indulge in an entire bottle of champagne by myself this New Year’s eve, I’ll pass.”
“No, I won’t fuck you even though I’m drunk, lonely and horny and you look disease free in this light, I’ll pass”

If I can (not always but often) say “no” to what’s bad for my body, what’s so impossible about choosing not to indulge in and give birth to things that are toxic to my mind and emotional wellbeing, which in turn harms my productivity, my creativity, my heart, and my soul?  I posit that it is the same concept and therefore, it is possible to do if given the same effort, work and discipline.  Of course, I won’t have empirical evidence that it’s possible to not indulge in my own or others’ fears, insecurities, doubts, comparing, competing or complaining (or what that even means, looks like, or feels like) until I test the theory.  So, of course, here I go!

To my brave new life and consciously creating what is born from it.

Until tomorrow, create from what you have…things to birth.

Kelli Joan Bennett is a filmmaker, actress, writer, entrepreneur, advocate for creative thinking and Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Think Outside The Box Inside The Box Media.

  1. Now, that’s what I call a birth of creation!! Congratulations on a beyond impressive baby!

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Countdown to Scarpbook USA Expo

Monday, March 4, 2013

Starting on CTMH's "Roxie"

Well I'm finally getting around to creating with Roxie! This collection is so beautiful! I love the prints... especially the zebra print... and the roses are so beautifully done! Can't wait to get started!!! :)

I got all my supplies out, matching stamp sets, bling... all the fun stuff!

 I had saved this kit for my daughter's Birthday... which I'm so glad I did, 'cause it goes perfectly with the pictures taken!

My daughter loves zebra when I saw this paper packet I instantly thought of her!

***Finished pages coming soon...

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  1. oh I loved this pkt! cant wait to see what you make with it!!

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Monday, January 23, 2012

     At times when you can't control your feelings, when you can't hide your emotions and when you can't force yourself to smile at front of others. These are the moments when you need someone to understand you. To understand you not physically and not by vocal but through your silence and through your eyes. Do you ever look for that someone , that someone who don't need any words from you to for him to know that your not ok? Me? yah! I always search for that someone.

     I found that someone in the presence of my true friends and off course in my special someone. But when I loose control of my feelings , and specially my anger. uuhhh I just get confused after about the things I have done and said. I don't know why  I'm like this but I can't sleep whenever I can't tell someone why I'm angry or why I'm sad or anything . Specially when I am hurt by one person.

    The sad part  is when I am done already saying and doing crazy things then after all of that , I'm having this feeling of regret. Some kinda disappointment to my self. Just because I loose control and I am hurt or angry I have then the rights to hurt others feelings. I'm not really thinking. I'm getting out of mind mind. What should I say aside from I'M SORRY!! SORRY , SORRY !! for the people I hurt , and the people I disappoint.

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Sunday, March 3, 2013

Virus (Hell of the Living Dead) (1980)

Virus (Hell of the Living Dead) (1980) is Bruno Mattei's contribution to zombie cinema, following the commercial success of Dawn of the Dead (1978) and Zombi 2 (1979).  In the documentary, Hell Rats of the Living Dead (2002), included as a supplement on the Blue Underground DVD release of Hell of the Living Dead, Mattei intimates that Romero's seminal classic was his inspiration but that his take on the story would not be taken as seriously.  (1) Mattei's longtime creative partner and co-screenwriter Claudio Fragasso confirms that the screenplay for Virus changed much during shooting and reveals that, "The first draft was excellent and original, but it got mutilated because it would have been too expensive to make.  I'd conceived the idea of an entire Third World made up of an army of zombies against whom the armed forces of the industrialized nations would have had to fight.  In the end, sadly enough, although it was an excellent piece of work, the film turned out to be little more than an insipid imitation of Dawn of the Dead."  (2)

In its final incarnation, Virus is, at its heart, an episodic road movie, with strong episodes that make the film memorable and worth revisiting coupled with weak episodes that are detracting, boring, and overlong.  Its simple frame narrative involves a power plant in a Third World nation that suffers a contamination leak.  This contamination leak infects the population turning them into flesh-eating zombies.  A squad of four is dispatched (by the powers that be) to quell the menace, with Franco Garofalo's Zantoro character standing out.  Towards their mission destination, the four encounter a pair of foreign reporters, one of whom is comely Margit Evelyn Newton, who are in country studying the native culture and the subsequent outbreak virus currently infecting the people.  They reluctantly team up for the adventure.

The weakest episode of Virus begins promising.  Newton reveals to the group that she studied the locals for about a year and knows their customs very well.  She volunteers to scout the happenings at the local village to see if their group is welcome for some needed rest and relaxation.  Newton strips and covers herself in body paint.  At first blush, I thought this was an opportunity to see lovely Ms. Newton in her birthday suit, but unfortunately, as the sequence unfolds, Mattei utilizes the sequence to exploit one of his best commercial tools:  stock documentary footage.  "That movie [Virus]," explains Mattei, "was made in Spain and as there aren't any jungles there (laughs), we bought footage from a Japanese documentary."  (3)  The use of the documentary footage is almost Ed Wood-ian in its power, as it appears Mattei and company may have built the entire production of Virus around this footage.  The documentary footage is composed mostly of cultural rites, and most of the footage has a vintage, "Mondo Cane" feel to them.  A judicious use of this footage would have been welcome, but the sequence is beyond overlong.  One will easily nod off in between the cuts of Newton as observer and the various cultural rites unfolding in exacting detail.
The most famous sequence of Virus, perhaps, involves Franco Garofalo (a frequent collaborator with Mattei, see for example, La vera storia della monaca di Monza (1980) and L'altro inferno (1981)).  A group of zombies are seen by the group, shuffling down a hill and blocking the navigable path.  For whatever reason, the entirety of the group freezes and becomes oblivious as to what to do next.  Garofalo as Zantoro becomes ridiculously animated and begins to bait the group of zombies with nonsensical dialogue to entice the group to actually eat him.  As the group of zombies encroach upon Zantoro and get ready to feast, he reveals his baiting is a ploy and begins shooting the heads of the zombies at point-blank range.  For the first-time viewer of Virus, take note when Zantoro starts losing his shit and acting crazy, as the film is about to take a giant leap into quality entertainment.
The best sequence of Virus is a classic one of zombie cinema.  The group, closer to their destination yet have grown increasingly weary, find a dilapidated house and enter to take shelter.  The group splits up to search the house, and one of the soldiers finds a closet full of costumes.  The soldier mockingly puts on a ballerina’s tutu and a top hat and begins to dance around the house, alone.  No shit.  While he is playing alone, the soldier fails to note the rather sizable group of corpses on the ground in the basement:  a critical and fatal error in judgment.  Of note also in this sequence is a kitty cat found feeding with her previous owner (a scene which defies written description).  In between this beautiful nonsense, Mattei makes effective use of the classic setup:  the zombies begin a siege upon the house and the survival horror kicks in.
The final act of Virus is strong; and if Mattei had taken a serious approach to the subject matter, then I believe the final act is representative as to how it would have looked.  The group arrives at their mission destination.  The camerawork is strong as there is an overwhelming sense of dread over the location.  Mattei effectively uses the quiet atmosphere of isolation to heighten the subsequent (and inevitable) siege of horror by the zombies.  The use of Goblin’s score, here, also deserves mention.  By the way, does it sound familiar?  Mattei states that the production had no problem using Goblin’s score(s), “because we paid for the rights.  We have utilized music not only from Dawn of the Dead, but also Buio Omega/Buried Alive and the Luigi Cozzi film, Alien Contamination.”  (4)

I quite enjoy Virus but not as much as other Mattei cinema.  There is quite a bit of brilliancy within yet there is also a lot of boring bits as well.  For any student of the maestro, Bruno Mattei, however, Virus is essential viewing.

1.  Hell Rats of the Living Dead.  Directed by Gary Hertz.  9 minutes.  Included as supplement on DVD release of Hell of the Living Dead.  Blue Underground Entertainment.  Documentary date, 2002.  DVD date, 2007.
2.  Spaghetti Nightmares.  Ed. Luca M. Palmerini and Gaetano Mistretta.  Fantasma Books. Key West, Florida.  1996:  p. 55.
3.  “An Interview with Bruno Mattei.”  European Trash Cinema.  Vol. 2, No. 5.  Ed. Craig Ledbetter.  Kingwood, TX.  1992:  p. 10.
4.  Ibid.


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Friday, September 24, 2010

Clare Jones, A Life Story

Mom wrote this informal bio on January 18, 2005. I think it was prepared for Nikki as part of one her school classes. Judging by the way she organized her memories, it would appear that she was answering questions from a questionnaire. Since we don't have the questions, however, I rearranged the short dialogues in a chronological manner for better reading:

My first memory was being in a large crib in a room off the kitchen. My Mother and her sisters were sitting in the kitchen visiting and I was amused with their chatter. I was standing up in the crib with my hands on the rail looking and listening through an open door.

Another memory was at 5 years old when I had my first death experience. I spent a lot of time at my Grandma’s house in my young years, mainly because I was one of the children who resembled the Myers family. My sister Betty looked like the Irish Morans, so she wasn’t welcome in the English Grandmother’s house. The English and Irish did not get along well in those days. My Father’s sister, Aunt Loretta, gave me special attention when I was in the house. I remember standing on the kitchen chair while she fussed with my pretty dress and fixed my hair. One day when I was 5, I was in the kitchen of Grandma’s house with other people when the Doctor came down the steps and announced that Aunt Loretta died. Her casket was in the parlor in front of the windows. The men gathered on the front porch and the women were inside. The Funeral Director put a black wreath on the front door.

My Father’s Mother came from Gloustershire, England in 1889 when she was 15. I remember that she had a strange accent ‑ cockney it was called. She pronounced eggs, “heggs”, and hammer and house were “ammer and ouse.”

We lived in a small coal mining town when I was growing up. My Mother took me to Scranton on my first bus ride when I was about 10 or 12. On the way back home the bus driver had to stop a couple times to let me out to vomit. That was my first experience of car sickness. There were no black people in our town, and I was surprised to see so many on the streets of Scranton. Around those same years my Grandfather Moran took me on a special trip to Gettysburg. We went on the train to Wilkes Barre, and rode the bus to Gettysburg. We ate lunch in a café. The battlefield was huge and it seemed we were the only ones visiting. I still don’t know why Grandpa chose me out of all the other grandchildren living in town, but it was a very special time. Those were the days of the steam engines, and by the time we arrived at our destination we were covered with soot.

I don’t remember having any fears while growing up, we lived a peaceful and happy life even though we didn’t have much. I’m sure my parents had fears because my Father did not have steady work and we had to move frequently because the landlords didn’t like noisy kids or they raised the rent, which my Father couldn’t afford. I hated washing the dishes after supper. When it was my turn I left the pots and pans soaking. My Mother never complained and in the morning everything was washed clean.

My Mother gave us chores according to our age and gender. The boys filled the coal pails, emptied ashes out of the coal stove and furnace. My sisters took the smaller kids out for carriage rides so Mother could get the supper ready. I used to sweep the porches and sidewalks and sometimes scrubbed the porches with a pail of soapy water and the broom. We had a parade for every holiday and I was always excited when I saw one. It wasn’t much, lots of fire engines and some horses and bands and special marchers like the VFW and American Legion members.

My Mother was probably the one who had the most influence in my life. I watched her as she struggled to raise my siblings and me. She never complained even though she had to bake bread 3 times a week, drag the washer out to wash clothes 3 times a week, can fruits and vegetables all summer. She was a wise person, knowing how to deal with each child and his/her needs.

We always had a table radio and sat around the dining room table listening to special programs, but only after the homework was done. Some of the programs were The Inner Sanctum (that was scary); Little Orphan Annie; Jack Armstrong; The Lone Ranger; and Fibber McGee and Molly. On Saturday night The Hit Parade was popular, playing the top ten songs of the week.

In fourth grade some times I would be the first one in the classroom and the Sister brought out a big bowl of hot oatmeal and milk that was left over in the kitchen.

I think the best gift I ever received was my first book; a 25 cent Christmas gift from my brother Joe when I was 12. It was Little Women. I must have read it three times. He gave me other books for other occasions: Black Beauty, Little Men and Jo’s Boys. That began my love for reading that has lasted all of my life.

When Franklin Roosevelt became President he began the WPA (Work Projects Association). That’s how I got some of my clothes that I wore to school in the early grades. I called the dresses my WPA dresses: red and white checked, brown and white checked and black and white checked.

I used to play the piano until I was in High School, but lost interest, as I got older. I really don’t know what my strongest asset is, maybe the gift of understanding and intuition.

When I was dating I remember going to a movie, swimming at a lake, and double dating with my sister and her date. One day we went to a fancy restaurant called O’Brien’s outside of Endicott, NY. We ordered fried chicken. When the plate arrived I was shocked, thinking to myself, how do I eat this? It was my first time eating fried chicken. I did my best to cut it off the bones and did a fair job. I think the most extravagant thing I ever did was buy clothes with my first paycheck. It was a wonderful feeling.

My family was Democratic. When I turned 21 my Father marched me down to City Hall to register to vote. The first President I voted for was Eisenhower. (even though he was Republican, he was remembered as a great General).

When I was in the Air Force my sister and I were stationed in Etain, France, with temporary duty in Bitburg, Germany and Madrid, Spain. It was the most memorable time of our lives. We met our husbands in the Air Force, and we were able to travel in many countries and enjoy different cultures. Over the years I have collected some interesting coins from countries other than the U.S. Someday the collection will go to a Grandchild.

I always loved to travel, and that bug is still with me. I want to go to the land of my ancestors, to Ireland, England, and now Wales.
On my Wedding Day, the Mass was scheduled for 10 a.m. My brothers insisted on driving me through town tooting the horn, consequently I was about 20 minutes late and the Priest and groom were up at the altar waiting.

In my early days of marriage I did some amusing things. Bob worked at Bethlehem Steel in Seattle, on the open hearth. One day I put jello in his lunch pail and he came home laughing and showed me the liquid jello. Another time we had a couple visit us for the first time in our apartment and I made a huge bowl of dip. I must have used a pound of cream cheese. Well, we all laughed about that and had dip forever.

Bob and I had 9 children (2 of which were adopted). There are 7 living scattered throughout the country. Being a young parent was difficult at times, but I credit my Nurse training and experiences to its success. We rocked the kids until they were too big for the laps. Most of the time, Bob had one on his lap and one on each handle of the rocker.

My profession was Nursing, and if I had to do it over again I would still choose that work. It was very satisfying and rewarding. As a young adult I remember meeting many more friends, especially after we married and moved to Seattle.

I am satisfied living here in Phoenix, and would never want to move again. Our living arrangements are satisfactory; I find it easier to live on one floor where everything is handy. My husband is still working so we feel we don’t have to adjust to another way of living right now. There is someone in my life with whom I have a warm relationship. She is the young lady who calls me just to chat and find out how I am doing. She’s the other daughter in my life who calls me “Mom”.

I try to stay healthy by eating well, taking vitamin supplements, and exercising at Slender Lady. We have 7 grandchildren and 4 great grandchildren. Our children call us frequently, especially daughter Mary, who calls every day. The older grandchildren are not good about calling or visiting, but we see the younger ones more often. I’m the one who keeps in touch with other family members, getting and giving news. Maybe I do that because I’m the family historian. We aren’t alone much with the young grandchildren. When they visit with the parents, and the parents aren’t watching them and they get into mischief, all I do is lift them up and carry them to a safer place, or just snap my fingers and when they look at me I shake my finger, no, and they walk away. I have learned that Grandma doesn’t have to say a word.

I am very proud of all of my children and their successes, but most proud of the family history book that I put together three years ago. I feel that my grandchildren will know where they came from someday.

I love my main hobby, genealogy. It’s a never ending job. I have traced my English ancestors to 1709, and the Irish ancestors to 1809.

The most important rule I lived by was don’t offend God, don’t hurt my parents, and don’t hurt myself. With those three things in mind I was able to face all temptations in life, and I felt better mentally. It showed that a person doesn’t have to follow the crowd to be popular. My best advise for today’s youth is do good in school, enjoy your job, travel as much as you can, and remember that learning doesn’t end when you get that diploma.

Michael Jones said...

Very nice. I hope you have more of these.