L'Union Fait La Force

One thing we know is that the need in Haiti is enormous now and will continue to be so into the foreseeable future. Haiti was the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere when the earthquake struck just before 5:00 p.m. Tuesday. Now it is in desperately worse straits.

There are many ways to contribute; many honorable, effective and efficient organizations are directing resources to Haiti. The Center for International Disaster Information, CIDI says “Americans Should Send Cash Donations to Best Aid Victims of Devastating Earthquake”. The Federal Bureau of Investigation, FBI however, is warning folks to be cautious of scams. I’d suggest using Charity Navigator which provides very good ways to evaluate a charity. Their top rating is “4 Stars”, but each listing contains a wealth of information beyond that brief headline.

Here are some organizations which are accepting contributions to specifically help the people of Haiti:

Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (4 Stars)



Partners In Health (4 Stars)



Habitat for Humanity International (4 Stars)



American Jewish World Service (4 Stars)


American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (4 Stars)

I am unable to find an on-line reference, but on the radio today, we heard a statistic that the majority of donations will come in within the first six days following a disaster. Haiti will be in need for months, most likely years. So you may wish to consider periodic or ongoing donations to a favorite charity which will be in Haiti for the long haul.

Haiti’s motto is “L'Union Fait La Force”, which translates into “Strength Through Unity” - a phrase we can take inspiration from.

Senator Coakley

Yes I was underwhelmed by all the candidates before the primary and I wasn’t alone in that. But push has come to shove. The Massachusetts Senate Election is Tuesday. I’ll be voting for Martha Coakley.

Lord knows I could never pull the lever for Scott Brown. According to his own issues page, he’s planning to vote against the health insurance and healthcare legislation - and it’s not because it doesn’t include a sufficiently robust Public Option! Brown defends waterboarding, saying it isn’t torture. And, in my opinion, doesn’t have enough faith in our legal system and our Constitution to endorse the prosecution of terrorists in our own courts. Even though we have been doing that successfully since the first World Trade Center Bombing in 1993.

Have I wrapped my mind and heart around the fact that Martha Coakley is not Ted Kennedy? No. But Senator Kennedy became the Liberal Lion of the Senate over time. Now it’s Martha Coakley’s time to start to walk down that same path.

I Have No Clue

As I headed back to the car across the grounds of the Big E on Saturday, the icy wind was whipping. It was in the low twenties F (below zero C) and I was well bundled up. But I’d been walking for more than hour and really wanted to thaw out. The nearer I got to the car, the more direct my route became. I ignored any and all interesting architecture, angles and shadows to cut through a parking lot outside the huge building where a wedding expo was taking place. That’s when I spotted this vehicle.

My first reaction was “Ah Ha! Dunkin’ Donuts = Hot Coffee = Perfect”. But as I got closer, I realized it was a giant cup of ICED Coffee! I immediately felt colder! I know New Englanders are a hearty bunch. And we are known for consuming a greater amount of ice cream, in winter, per capita than anywhere else in the United States. But Iced Coffee was just plain silly! I snapped one last photo and went directly to the car, which I had purposely left in full sun. Ahhh... Perfect!

Same Sex Marriage Is Good For Society

Jeff over at Wormtown Taxi posted about this earlier today and I wanted to share it over here. Newsweek Magazine has published a piece entitled “The Conservative Case for Gay Marriage” written by someone with impeccable conservative credentials, attorney Theodore B. Olson. Olson has made a logical, thoughtful, fully reasoned case in support of same sex marriage. He takes every specious argument and calmly refutes each one.

The Village That Never Really Was

Yesterday, Chuck and I drove out to the Big E in West Springfield. Chuck visited a woodworking show and I took the camera with me as I walked around the extensive grounds. The photos below are all from the Storrowton Village. Storrowton was created by Helen Osborne Storrow in the 1920s and 30s by purchasing buildings from around New England. They were dismantled and then reconstructed on the grounds of the Eastern States Exposition, creating the museum which stands to this day.
The old Southwick Baptist Meeting House (c. 1822), which was modified and joined with the old Atkinson Tavern (c. 1789) to create the current Storrowton Tavern.


The steeple of the old Union Meeting House (c. 1834)


I love this tiny building! The old Zachariah Eddy Law Office (c. 1810), with its arched copper roof, would make a wonderful retreat or studio.


A window on the west side of the old Union Meeting House. I was instantly smitten with the old glass, the reflections in it, the candle with glass hurricane on the windowsill and the second window on the eastern side.

Angels

Even angels need a bit of fun; a moment’s respite; a return to childhood. Letting go of her responsibilities for just an instant, she flies down, letting her wings rest briefly in the light January snow. A laugh, bell-like; no, more like chimes, spills out into the wind. Then, as swiftly as she arrived, she’s gone. Only the snow angel remains - and that only ‘til the wind or sun or next snowfall makes us wonder, was she ever really there...

Update

You know that post-holiday lull that often happens right after New Year’s Day? Well, apparently it is not happening in 2010. A new wrinkle has developed with an ER (Elderly Relative) and that means it’s a preempt. Thankfully, health is not the issue; it’s more of a chess challenge! However, when I sit down at the keyboard, what I want to do is pour it all out in a post. But that’s way too much like a twenty-something’s middle of the night drunken phone call to an ex-boyfriend. It might feel good in that brief moment, but the next morning - between the hangover and the regret - Oy!

The meeting with our attorney was great. Very productive and it was good to catch up with her. We had reviewed all of our documents, annotated a copy of the will and felt we went in well prepared. She had some good suggestions, which we will follow up on. As a result, we should have all the “I”s dotted and all the “T”s crossed in fairly short order. Drawing up Last Wills and Testaments may not be a fun thing to do, but once it is completed and signed, it really does bring peace of mind.

I’m hoping to get out in the sunshine with the camera tomorrow. Fingers crossed...

Lineage

It wasn’t until I typed the title of this post that I thought about the interesting and coincidental meaning of it. You see, this evening, we had dinner at a restaurant on Harvard Street in Brookline, Massachusetts called “Lineage”. We went there with Chuck’s newly 87 year old aunt on this, her birthday. Hence, lineage had an extra depth to it!

The restaurant was lovely - spare, with white tablecloths, unusually shaped white plates and bowls, clam shells as salt and pepper dishes - a nice mix of formal and casual. The service was good - my standard of being attentive without being intrusive was met and exceeded. The only problem was when the restaurant suddenly filled up and there was significant delay between ordering dessert and coffee and its arrival at table. The daily menu was fresh, tasty and inventive without being pretentious or self consciously clever. I began with the roasted beet salad with goat cheese, greens and balsamic. It was delicious. Chuck had the cauliflower soup with curry - delicate and also delicious. The birthday gal definitely enjoyed her entree of grilled salmon with beluga lentils. Chuck chose pan seared striped bass with cippolini and tasso ham. While I ordered the ricotta cavatelli with butternut squash, spinach and shaved black truffle. Both dishes were delectable. For dessert, Auntie chose the butterscotch pudding with pecans, Chuck the apple streusel tart and I the pot de creme. Chuck was the clear winner there. The pot de creme was not nearly as complex as I had hoped. I guess years of savoring and cooking with Scharffen Berger chocolate has spoiled my taste buds!

All in all, it was a very nice way to kick off Tante’s “88th year”!

Planning For Alligators

Chuck and I are off to our attorney tomorrow. It’s been about a decade since we had our wills and all the attendant documents drawn up. Having gone through a rather lengthy process after Chuck’s Dad passed away last February, we are acutely aware of how important it is to dot all the “I”s and cross all the “T”s. Milton was very well organized, but even he lost track of a few details. Thankfully, while he was in his prime and full powers, he worked with a wonderful attorney in Seattle who thought of darn near everything. The few hiccups we have encountered (one of which is still hanging fire) have been sorted out by either Chuck or his sister. The two get along beautifully and have been consistently on the same page - both prior to Dad’s passing and ever since.

But because Chuck and I have no children, the burdens of our estate will fall to other relatives. It’s one thing to plough through a mound of paperwork and legal documents on behalf of your parents. But it really is something quite different to do it for your aunt and uncle. So our goals tomorrow are twofold: One - to make sure all of our estate documents are fully up to date and reflect our wishes within the confines of the current laws of the Commonwealth; and Two - to do everything we possibly can to make the eventual settling of our estate as streamlined and automatic as possible for our executor and heirs. If there were a way for us to magically handle it for them after we have been eaten by alligators and buried, we would! But, alas, we will have to trust our brilliant, thoughtful, excellent attorney to get us as close to that wish as reality will allow!

Free Your Photos!

Was it Hewlett Packard that had the advertising campaign showing family photographs trapped on the memory card inside a camera? Epson? No matter. Back when we used our Canon SLR film camera, we would send our exposed rolls off to be developed and request the free double prints. But that was also a time when a week’s vacation might only generate 36 photos because film was expensive and developing was really expensive. The Christmas photos might share the same roll as Easter. Now, with my beloved Canon PowerShot S2 IS digital camera (and a decent sized memory card), I can snap away without limit. It’s been great for my photography skills. It’s been great for capturing life’s little moments. It’s even been great because I can view the photos anytime on my laptop or my iPod. But it wasn’t all that great for motivating me to print off photos.

Enter digital scrapbooking. Instead of printing off individual photographs, I could take a group of photos from an event, create a layout and print out one piece of paper. I could also e-mail the layout to family members so that they could download them in their computers and print them out. That’s also worked in reverse a few times, such as when a niece e-mailed some photos of her daughter’s school promotion. I was able to turn it into a simple layout and share it with the family. Because my Mom doesn’t have (and doesn’t want!) a computer, I can print layouts out for her. Which brings me to the point of this post: What’s the best paper to print on? I love “Staples Photo Supreme Double-Sided Matte Paper”. It takes the ink from our Canon and HP inkjet printers beautifully, dries quickly, cuts cleanly and has a wonderful weight. Because it is double-sided, if you goof up (and it’s destined for an album or a frame) you can get a second shot on the reverse. It also works well for postcards - 4 to a sheet - and gift tags and bookmarks! You can buy it in packages as large as 100 sheets and Staples often has it on sale or with a rebate.

I have to admit, that while it’s fun to see your photographs and layouts on the computer screen, it’s an even bigger thrill to hold them in your hands or pass them on to folks.

Cabin Fever Turns Rosy

The snow has been falling off and on since forever. O.K. Maybe it was only Thursday? Chuck ran the snowblower a couple of times. There’s a rumor the sun may come out tomorrow - but I ain’t bettin’ my bottom dollar! (Sorry Annie!) To fend off cabin fever, I have been playing in Photoshop. The whole Texture thing has continued to fascinate me. Today I chose a sky photo I took in the summertime. I converted it to black and white. Then I used it to make a piece of background paper for digital scrapbooking projects.


If you’re interested in the details, here’s what I did using Adobe Photoshop CS3 for Mac:

Created a new document 11” x 8.5” landscape.
Layer > Duplicate.
Working on the new layer, I chose a foreground color and used Paint Bucket to “pour” the color onto the layer.
I opened a photo of the sky.
Converted the sky photo to black and white using Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Black & White.
Dragged the new black and white sky photo onto the solid pink layer.
I experimented with the Blending Modes. I chose Overlay.
With the sky layer highlighted I went to Filters > Artistic > Paint Daubs.
I chose Brush Size 20, Sharpness 15, Brush Type Sparkle.
Pretty cool.
You can adjust the opacity on the color layer or the sky layer to further tweak the look.

As long as I keep the original PSD file saved in layers, I can change the color as the spirit moves me. And keep generating new variations.
So, choose Image > Duplicate.
Add COPY to the end of the file name.
You now have two layered versions of the Pink Sky open.
Flatten the COPY by choosing Layer > Flatten Image.
Now save that COPY as a JPEG.
I usually create a new folder, naming it the same as the PSD file.
Then I keep the PSD, the JPEG and the RTF all in the same folder.
This takes up valuable room on my computer, which is why I move it to an external hard drive.

Remember to save your files as you go along.
Remember to work from COPIES of your original photos.
Have fun!

Thoughts On Style

I’ve always worn my hair long. Well, except for one disastrous home “trim” my mother gave me in fourth grade, which required an emergency trip to a hairdresser for salvage work. Then I made a rash decision in the early 1980s which also involved a complete and equally disastrous dye job. Back in 1979, when I turned twenty-one, my mother told me it was time for me to get my hair cut. I was unaware of the you-must-get-a-short-haircut-at-age-twenty-one-rule and “declined”. Now I am 51, turning 52 in May. I continue to wear my hair long enough to pull it back in a braid. The older I get, the more I recognize that my female peers have short haircuts. And it seems that the older women get, the shorter their hair gets. Sitting at a large meeting several weeks ago, attended by many folks in their 70s and 80s, the vast majority of women around me had hair nearly as short as the men. No thank you.

As I grew up, my personal style was somewhere between preppie and hippie. When Midi-skirts made their appearance, I was an early adopter. As a result, some younger kids in my high school thought I was a student teacher! In college I wore farmer overalls with shitkickers, long skirts with Frye boots and business suits with pumps. As the years have gone by I now wear Birkenstocks and Smartwool striped socks whenever possible. I’m happy in quarter zip sweatshirts and henleys. I carry vintage purses by Walborg, JR and Margaret Smith or an L.L. Bean Healthy Back bag. And I always have a folding Asian fan in those purses. I wear the same gold jewelry nearly every single day, along with a mans Timex Expedition watch. But I sometimes like to add a vintage and over the top Eisenberg pin.

For many years, I have been taken with Jenny Joseph’s poem “Warning” which begins: “When I am an old woman I shall wear purple; With a red hat that doesn't go and doesn't suit me.” However, I am decidedly not taken with its commercial corruption into the Red Hat Society and their over boa-ed tea parties. Ms. Joseph’s 1961 poem deserves better than that. Written when she was 29, published when she was 42, the poem imagines the freedom of the future compared to the responsibilities of the present. It ends on a wistful note of the possibility of being just a wee bit less sober now.

It is said that as we age we become more like ourselves. O.K. But I am committed to becoming more of the better parts of myself. I wish to become braver, kinder, freer, more generous, less worried. When I look ahead - ten, twenty years and beyond - I do not wish to look in the mirror only to find I have morphed into one of those cookie cutter women I sat with at that recent meeting. No thank you. I would rather grab onto the pendulum and fling myself out to the opposite side of the spectrum, to fall in among folks who look more like this - all verve and flair and most decidedly free!


Thanks to Ricë of the Voodoo Cafe for alerting me to “Advanced Style”.

So Far So Good

It was a very quiet day at home. A hockey game was played at Fenway Park. It had a happy ending for the Boston Bruins, which even for non-hockey fans like us was pretty darned exciting. We watched a couple more episodes of “Mad Men” and continued to find them mesmerizing and creepy. A little bit of snow drifted down, but not enough to need to shovel.

True, it is just the first day, but 2010 has yet to disappoint!
;o)

Moving Along

“Out with the old; in with the new” is the way the saying goes. Spurred on by this recent blog post from Dr. Wayne Dyer and the turning of the year, we rummaged through our closets this afternoon. The result was two bags of clothes destined for donation to charity. The phrase that helps me is: “moving things along in the world”. Of course there’s always more to move along! And I both envy and fear the mantra the uber-organized have adopted of “one thing in, one thing out”. But progress in any degree is good.

May 2010 hold peace, happiness, success, laughter, contentment and good health for us all...

H1N1

Chuck and I got our H1N1 influenza shots today. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts, which had been restricting the H1N1 vaccine to high risk groups, opened it to the general public as of December 17th. I had been checking the MassPro Clinic Finder website to find a location near us, which was open to all. Fortunately, I took the advice noted on the website to : “Call any flu clinic listed in the Flu Clinic Finder BEFORE going to get a flu shot to confirm the time and date, and to see if there is any charge.” I called a couple of locations which were listed as “open to all” only to find that they were in fact restricted to town residents. But I finally located one in the North Quabbin town of Orange. The gentleman I spoke with said it was truly open to all, so we decided to drive over.

The Orange flu clinic was well organized. The Clinic Finder site had advised that “Some clinics may bill your health insurance, so please bring your health insurance card with you.” We did and spent a few minutes filling out some paperwork. Then we got in line which shuffled along quickly enough that neither of us got any reading done in the paperback books we had brought along just in case. From arrival to departure it took less than an hour. As we left, the line looked quite short.

According to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health's H1N1 Blog: “The amount of flu in the state continues to decline, however, it is important to remember that flu season typically lasts through the spring in New England. Therefore, we continue to encourage everyone to get the H1N1 vaccine and to keep practicing good health hygiene as we ring in the New Year!”

: : In addition to using the MassPro Clinic Finder you can also utilize the Flu.gov Google Map which includes commercial establishments like pharmacy chains that have the H1N1 vaccine available.

: : If you’d like to learn more about seasonal influenza, as well as the H1N1 virus, check out flu.gov. It’s a very good, user-friendly website with a wealth of information.

I Turned In My Elf Badge

The hush-hush project which had me working overtime as an elf was a success. I made a photo book for my niece and her husband of their wedding day. When Carrie and Al opened it they were both surprised and happy, which was exactly what we had hoped for. After scads of research (bordering on the obsessive!) which included familiarizing myself with their websites and Googling lots of reviews and testimonials, I settled on Blurb to work with. These days there are a number of self-publishing outfits on the web. Shutterfly seems quite popular, especially in the digital scrapbooking world. But I didn’t want to upload my photographs to their site and then work on-line. Lulu was once almost exclusively text based, but has rapidly expanded their range. MyPublisher struck me as sophisticated as well as full service and was my second choice. But I chose Blurb because their site was welcoming, easy to navigate and intuitive. Plus, I was able to download their “BookSmart” software and work on the book on my computer. They offer templates and pre-made layouts for use. You can also create your own designs and templates. Or use a combination of the two. Blurb’s “BookSmart” software was a little difficult for me to work with initially. But after a couple of false starts and a few trips to their on-line “Help” pages I got it all sorted out. I ended up using some of their templates and creating several of my own. Because the book I made was photo rich, I decided against using any of their decorative layouts.

Once Al and Carrie’s 40 page book was completed I checked and rechecked unto the nth degree. I did follow Blurb’s advice and order just one copy, even though they were running some good pre-Christmas specials. Waiting was difficult! But as soon as it arrived and Chuck and I had a chance to look at it, appreciate the quality and feel the weight of the premium paper we had requested, I went directly to the website and ordered the other copies. Happily, they were offering substantial shipping discounts. Blurb allows you to keep your book “Private” and send folks an invitation link. That flexibility was another selling point for me. Here are some wedding photo books other people have published which will give you an idea of what you can do. I already have lots of ideas for other books I would like to create. And I would definitely use Blurb again.

Snow

It began this morning as light flurries. Soon there were squalls. Then, in stillness, came the big, fluffy flakes, filling the sky and drifting down to rest delicately on every surface.

It was lovely.

Yiddish Proverb

In freydn iz a yor a tog, in leyden iz a tog a yor.
In happiness a year is like a day,
in suffering a day is like a year.


Translation and transliteration by Marvin Zuckerman and Marion Herbst from “Learning Yiddish In Easy Stages”

Revisionism

I cannot abide Holocaust deniers. I can’t tolerate contemporary revisionist history of a political nature either. Both leave me angry and incredulous. But what tears at my heart is when someone I know personally, turns on a dime and creates an entirely new version of an experience. One day an event is perceived as positive; another day the same event is described in wholly negative terms. I imagine the work involved in reweaving the memories from good to bad is substantial. And I can’t fathom the benefit one would derive from the activity. I only know it saddens me.

Charades

I used to play Charades frequently. When I was in high school and college my friends and I would play it on a regular basis - but in a very competitive manner. (I once drew “Zbigniew Brzezinski” on my turn!) For many years it was a common activity for us to do as a family at holiday get-togethers. But somehow, over the last several years, as our holiday traditions evolved and locations changed, we just stopped playing. Then yesterday, while we were celebrating Christmas at Al and Carrie’s home, Carrie suggested we play Charades after dinner. Our side of the family immediately agreed. While some members of Al’s family had never played before and needed just a wee bit of persuasion. Soon we had all gathered around the tree in the living room, divided into teams which were approximately “boys against the girls” and were jotting down the books, movies, events, people, objects and animals we wanted the opposing team to act out. The slips of paper were folded and tossed into a red bowl for one team and a yellow colander for the other and we were off.

Goodness gracious, sakes alive it was a complete blast! Because the veterans were rusty and there were lots of newbies, we dispensed with timers. No one kept score and members of the opposing team would sometimes make suggestions to the person acting out the phrase (“Hey, try “sounds like” on the first word.”). Could we have laughed any harder? Could we have screamed and clapped any louder? No and no! Sometimes all we had to do was pantomime the category, gesture the number of words and give the first clue, when a teammate would call out the correct answer. Sometimes a person could be completely flummoxed by trying to communicate a simple thing like “stone wall” - a person like me perhaps! There were a few, well, let’s call them graphic concepts acted out, while still maintaining a PG rating! Although I did find myself explaining a couple of things to my 86 year old mother which, when I woke up Christmas morn’, I had not anticipated!

It was a terrific couple of hours of pure fun which left us hoarse and happy. I have a feeling we’ll be doing this again soon!