tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30550802049206652772024-03-19T01:52:27.756-07:00In Not OfA little spot for my thoughts on books, music, art, movies and other random subjects as well as a place to highlight my own fiction.Susan Joy Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15175162058220262157noreply@blogger.comBlogger32125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3055080204920665277.post-86501893559740503572012-07-24T18:51:00.001-07:002012-07-24T19:32:47.995-07:00Watering the Garden -- The Invisible Progress Below the SurfaceLately, I have found myself looking for visible and measurable progress in many of my personal projects. It got me thinking that much of our progress in a long-term project is not visible or easily measurable. It's a little like watering a garden. You till the soil, plant the seeds, water the garden... Things are invisibly happening below the surface, but it is some time before you see sprouts appearing in the soil, and even longer before you see the plant in its full maturity.<br/>
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<b>Below, <i>Young Woman Watering a Shrub</i> by Berthe Morisot</b><br/>
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So, very recently, I have taken to list making in order to encourage myself that I'm doing something right, something which in some way moves me closer towards the end result. I also know that it helps to enjoy the process, to find the process rewarding, not just the end result.<br/>
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It's hard, at times, for me to feel that reading a book as research for a writing project is as much of an accomplishment as adding words, paragraphs, pages to the actual work in progress. However, in reality, of course, these things are important. The written work is built on inspiration and information drawn from many sources, so each stage of the creative process has some value. In a little notebook I keep by my bed, I take note, "I read so many chapters of such and such a book by which I hope to learn such and such." It somehow gives encouragement to see it noted in a visible way.<br/>
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Although I am trying to focus on one book project currently, I have many irons in the fire, many book projects, with a notebook for each one. When I get ideas, I note my plot outlines, character descriptions, other bits and pieces of loose ideas, maybe even bits of dialogue into my notebooks. I keep another notebook for almost everything else: prayers and prayer requests, general to-do lists, general planning, other thoughts that seem worth noting down in writing. This is the one I've been using to encourage myself on my personal progress.<br/>
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At work, I'm employing some similar methods. As a reporter, I spend a lot of time on hold for various things, waiting for return phone calls, while I have several documents for stories open, plugging along as much as I can on each simultaneously. I've always had a way of tracking all my attempted calls along with the times I left messages. Lately, I list this in one place along with each thing I do towards progress in the final story. Somehow, in spite of the frustration of phone tag and waiting, it helps to visually see I'm taking all the proper steps towards the end result.<br/>
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Another personal goal that has its ups and downs is my goal for weight loss. It is such an act of perseverance when you have more than just five or ten pounds to lose. A friend of mine, who was also working on his weight, once said, "The scale is demonic." Although we are both Christians and believe in the supernatural, he meant this more facetiously than literally. However, stepping on the scale is often a source of discouragement. The scale measures everything: the meal you just ate and are still digesting, any clothes you happen to be wearing, the extra water in your system. Those numbers just bounce around, five up and then five down. At times, it's hard to tell if you're climbing upwards towards the goal or walking backwards down the stairs. Sometimes, you just have to avoid that "demonic" scale for a longer period of time and believe that if you do the right things -- consume less food and exercise more -- you will eventually see the right kind of results.<br/>
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With weight loss, note taking is also important. Keep track of what foods you eat and what type of exercise you did for how long on what day. As mentioned before, enjoying the process certainly helps. To keep to a fitness plan, find a type of exercise that you actually enjoy. For me, I find that I enjoy any type of exercise more when it's set to music I like and that gets me going. Also, I discovered I like dance exercise and have tried it in multiple styles and forms. The process is rewarding, because it is fun, the creative aspect of it is endless, and it releases endorphins, the feel-good hormones.<br/>
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Setbacks will happen. For me, some niggling physical issues have given me trouble in recent days, putting me a little behind with some progress in some areas. If you have a worthy goal, whether they are the same as mine or otherwise, don't give up.<br/>
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One Scripture I keep thinking about in recent days is Galatians 6:9 "Do not be weary in well-doing, for in due time, you shall reap, if you faint not." The apostle Paul here is writing about spiritual goals and doing good works. I don't want to stretch the verse to take on a meaning that was not intended, but God does care about our work and our endeavors that are not clearly spiritual in nature. Although it's possible to have a goal in mind that God would not choose to bless -- it's important to ask God's guidance and let Him direct or even redirect us -- God cares about every aspect of our lives and all of our work. My father, a retired engineer, has often told me he feels that God has helped him solve tough problems as an engineer when he prayed over his work.<br/>
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<b>"For in due time, you shall reap if you faint not."</b><br/>
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<b><i>Watering the Garden</i> by Daniel Ridgeway Knight</b><br/>
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"Through perseverance, many people win success out of what seemed destined to be certain failure." -- Benjamin DisraeliSusan Joy Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15175162058220262157noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3055080204920665277.post-22809121517761000482012-07-17T11:43:00.001-07:002012-07-17T11:43:54.166-07:00A Visual (Partial) Genealogy of the Three Royal Cousins, Ruling Monarchs During World War II have very much been enjoying the book "King, Kaiser, Tsar" by Catrine Clay. The book describes the three royal cousins who ruled during World War I: King George V of England, Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany and Czar Nicholas II of Russia. The book does more than describe political situations but gives many details about the upbringing, education, courtship and lifestyle of all three monarchs, taking many excerpts from personal letters and diaries.<br/>
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As the royal relationships between the three are somewhat complicated, I thought it would help me to visualize it, so I collected some historical photographs.<br/>
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All three cousins are descended from Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. Queen Victoria reigned in England from 1837 to 1901.<br/>
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<b>Queen Victoria and Prince Albert </b><br/>
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<b>Queen Victoria, Prince Albert and children</b><br/>
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Unfortunately, I do not know precisely who is who among the royal children in the above photo. I do know that Princess Vicky was the oldest daughter, Princess Alice was the second daughter and Bertie (who became King Edward VII) was the oldest son, so that may give us some idea while trying to interpret this photo.<br/>
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<b>King Edward VII and Queen Consort Alexandra</b><br/>
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King Edward VII reigned in England from 1901 to 1910.<br/>
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King Edward VII's wife Alexandra was a sister to Russian Empress Maria Federovna, who became the mother to Czar Nicholas II. The two sisters were Danish princesses, children to King Christian IX of Denmark and Princess Louise of Hesse-Kassel.<br/>
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<b>Queen Consort Alexandra of England and Empress Maria Federovna of Russia, sisters</b><br/>
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<b>King George V, son of King Edward VII and Queen Consort Alexandra</b><br/>
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King George V reigned in England from 1910 to 1936.<br/>
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Princess Vicky, daughter to Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, married Kaiser Frederick III, Kaiser of Germany, King of Prussia. She became Empress of Germany and Queen of Prussia. Kaiser Frederick III reigned in Germany from March 9 to June 15, 1888.<br/>
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<b>Kaiser Frederick III of Germany and Princess Victoria</b><br/>
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<b>Kaiser Wilhem II, son to Kaiser Frederick III and Princess Victoria</b><br/>
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Kaiser Wilhelm II reigned in Germany from 1888 to 1918.<br/>
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Princess Alice, daughter of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, married Grand Duke Louis IV of Germany and became the Grand Duchess of Hesse.<br/>
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<b>Princess Alice (Grand Duchess of Hesse)and Grand Duke Louis IV of Hesse, of Germany</b><br/>
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<b>Empress Alexandra Federovna of Russia, daughter of Princess Alice (Grand Duchess of Hesse)and Grand Duke Louis IV of Hesse, granddaughter of Queen Victoria and wife of Czar Nicholas II</b><br/>
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Just a reminder -- Czar Nicholas II was also related to King George V by their mothers who were sisters, Empress Maria Federovna of Russia and Queen Consort Alexandra of England, Danish princesses. Czar Nicholas II reigned from 1894 to 1917.<br/>
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<b>Czar Nicholas II of Russia and Empress Alexandra Federovna</b><br/>
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<b>Photo of King Edward VII of England and Czar Nicholas II of Russia with families</b><br/>
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The photo above was taken during Cowes Week on the Isle of Wight in 1909.
From left to right: David (future Duke of Windsor, his mother Princess of Wales Mary (later Queen), Grandmother Queen Alexandra, her granddaughter Princess Mary, Czar Nicholas II,Princess Victoria(daughter Alexandra, King Edward VII, Grandduchess Olga of Russia, her Mother the Empress of Russia Alexandra, her daughter Grandduchess Tatiana,Prince George of Wales (later King George V) next to him Grandduchess Maria and in the front, Grandduchess Anastasia and Czarevitch Alexis.<br/>
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<b>The children of Czar Nicholas II: Maria, Tatiana, Anastasia, Olga, Alexei</b><br/>
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<b>King George V and Czar Nicholas II</b><br/>
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In the above photo, first cousins Tsar Nicholas II and King George V exchange uniforms since they looked so much alike.<br/>
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So, hopefully, this collection of photographs and captions helps to visualize the succession of royalty and their various relationships. In review, all three cousins were related to Queen Victoria (one through marriage). King George V, son to King Edward VII and Queen Consort Alexandra, and Kaiser Wilhelm II, son of Kaiser Frederick III and Princess (Empress and Queen of Prussia)Victoria, were grandsons to Queen Victoria. The wife of Czar Nicholas II, Alexandra Federovna, was a daughter of Princess Alice and granddaughter of Queen Victoria. Czar Nicholas II was also a first cousin to King George V through their mothers who were sisters and Danish princesses.Susan Joy Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15175162058220262157noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3055080204920665277.post-58183213839018011772012-07-14T19:27:00.000-07:002012-07-14T19:27:50.811-07:00Books That Captivated Me at Barnes & Noble<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Today, I thought I would be blogging about the play <i>Damn Yankees</i>. Friday night, I drove down to the Menlo Park Mall in Edison, New Jersey to meet my friend, Sharon. Our plan was to eat dinner in the food court there and then go on to the nearby Roosevelt Park for <i>Plays in the Park</i>, the play of the evening being <i>Damn Yankees</i>. But, alas, we arrived at the park just in time to hear that it was cancelled due to rain. It had, by that time, already begun to drizzle. So, deciding to come back for another try in better weather, Sharon, my fellow bibliophile, and I headed back to the mall for our favorite hang-out, Barnes & Noble. After a few moments of browsing, Sharon had found a book that intrigued her and began to peruse it. My attitude at a bookstore, or with reading in general, is like a sumo wrestler at an all-you-can-eat buffet, so I found a pile of five, a fairly versatile selection, which I carried to our table in the cafe section.<br/>
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I can not give full recommendations for the books I picked, because I did not read all five books while sitting in the Barnes & Noble cafe over an iced caramel macchiato, but I can give a little description of each and tell you why they intrigued me. Each of them initially caught my attention either by the title or cover picture or both which compelled me to read the back covers. Sitting down with them, I read a few opening pages.<br/>
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First...<br/>
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<b>Sharon's pick -- <i>Runaway Girl: Escaping Life on the Streets, One Helping Hand at a Time</i> by Carissa Phelps</b><br/>
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This is the one Sharon picked up, but I quickly agreed with her that it was an interesting book. It is an inspirational autobiography. The author ran away at twelve and got connected with a brutal pimp. Eventually, she ran away from that life, feeling abused and neglected. By age 30, thanks to a teacher and counselor, she graduated UCLA with a law degree and an MBA. Now, she works with the homeless and with at-risk teens.<br/>
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I wish it was more widely understood, especially by men, that women who get into the prostitution business aren't necessarily in love with what they do. For some, it's a desperate attempt at survival, and many are entrapped. They may be abused and may be compelled to do things distasteful to themselves. In the current trends of human trafficking, many girls are ensnared into it by deceitful means. No wonder Jesus was a friend of prostitutes. He understood their pain and believed them to be totally redeemable.<br/>
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I really appreciate this organization, <a href="http://nightlightbangkok.com/">Nightlight Bangkok</a>. This organization helps the intervention and rescue of victims of commercial sexual exploitation. Women are given vocational training in jewelry making. Purchasing jewelry from the website will support these women in their new lifestyle.<br/>
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<b><i>The Night Circus</i> by Erin Morgenstern</b><br/>
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This first caught my eye by its dramatic cover in red, black and white and the words <i>#1 National Bestseller</i>, which is no indication that it will be a favorite of mine, but it is an indication that it is a favorite of many other people. One reviewer called it "a literary fantasy," and the author herself stated that all her books are "fairy tales in one way or another." The story is of two fiercely competing magicians, Marco and Celia, at Le Cirque des Reves, who, in spite of everything, fall in love. After perusing it very shortly, one thing I noticed was that its format and organization seemed creative, the style was engaging, and I immediately felt like I was expecting something exciting to happen.<br/>
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<b><i>The Thread</i> by Victoria Hislop</b><br/>
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I will need to tell my Greek American writer friend
<a href="http://asphalteden.blogspot.com/">Stephanie</a> -- check out her blog -- that this novel set in Greece caught my eye. She and I had just been commenting on a photo she posted to facebook. The photo showed a man climbing a hill, leading a flock of sheep which seemed to occupy the whole span of a public road. Stephanie posted that this was a common scene near her home in Greece.<br/>
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The sentence on the back cover that caught my attention was this, "Thessaloniki, 1917: As Dimitri Komninos is born, a fire sweeps through the thriving multicultural city where Christians, Jews and Muslims live side by side." The story seems to be some historical saga spanning 80 years of "Nazi occupation, civil war, persecution and economic collapse."<br/>
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Although, I identify with the first group mentioned, Christians, I have a great interest in Jews and Muslims and in stories where the three religious and cultural groups have lived in close proximity, such as in Bosnia. One fictional book I read recently along this line is <i>People of the Book</i> by Geraldine Brooks. The story traces the history of a mysterious illuminated Haggadah that is found in Sarajevo. The book, although fictional, is somewhat based on an actual find.<br/>
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I liked Hislop's descriptive style, giving you the feeling that you are in the setting she describes, as in this sample, "With the lifting haze, Mount Olympus gradually emerged far away from the Thermaic Gulf and the restful blues of sea and sky shrugged off their pale shroud." I did not, as with reading <i>The Night Circus</i>, feel like I was being set up for something exciting to happen. That may have been misleading as one reviewer called this book "a page turner," which to me suggests fast-paced. But even if it does not read like a thriller, that is not a deterrent to me. I enjoy books which show some lulls between the action and takes the time to make you deeply acquainted with the characters.<br/>
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<b><i>Mistress of Mourning</i> by Karen Harper</b><br/>
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A fan of the costume drama, the medieval gowns on the cover caught my attention at first. From the back cover, "London, 1501. In a time of political unrest, Varina Westcott, a young widow and candle maker for court and church, agrees to perform a clandestine service for Queen Elizabeth of York, wife of Henry VII--carve wax figures of four dead children, two of her offspring lost in infancy and her two brothers, the Princes of the Tower, whose mysterious disappearance years ago has never been solved."<br/>
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This hooked me. I remember the story of the "Princes of the Tower" as told in one of my favorite Shakespeare plays, <i>Richard III</i>. Why I like this play is a mystery even to myself, because it is a tragedy and full of bloodshed. In college days, I saw it performed when the college hosted a series of Shakespeare film nights, and it has been a favorite ever since. I think I like the banter between Richard III and Queen Elizabeth (Woodville), queen consort of England as the wife of King Edward IV. I remember these lines. The murderous Richard III wants permission to woo her daughter, Elizabeth of York.<br/>
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<blockquote>"Richard III: Then in plain terms, tell her my loving tale.<br/>
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Queen Elizabeth: Plain and not honest is too harsh a style.<br/>
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Richard III: Your reasons are too shallow and too quick.<br/>
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Queen Elizabeth: Oh no, my reasons are too deep and too dead, too deep and dead, poor
infants in their graves.[A reference to the "Princes of the Tower."]"</blockquote><br/>
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Lately too, I am very interested in learning about the history of British royalty, both through film and books. Watching <i>The Young Victoria</i>, which I loved, inspired me to read Queen Victoria's biography by Lytton Strachey. After I saw <i>The King's Speech</i>, I was inspired to read <i>The King's Speech: A Lesson in Perseverance (What George VI Can Teach Us)</i> by Susan Crimp.<br/>
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<b><i>The Fatal Gift of Beauty: The Trials of Amanda Knox</i> by Nina Burleigh</b><br/>
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I don't have a very definite opinion on the guilt or innocence of Amanda Knox, the American girl who, while studying Italian abroad in Perugia, found herself accused of the murder of her housemate, Meredith Kercher. I am a little interested to see what the author's conclusions are. The book appears to be well-researched. The opening pages featured a detailed diagram of the house where Amanda and Meredith lived, a map pointing out key places in Perugia and their relationships to one another, and a listing and description of all the people pertinent to this story. The book's title is taken from a Lord Byron quote which is given its own page, "Oh Italia, Italia! Thou who hast the fatal gift of beauty." I wonder though if the author has given that phrase more than one meaning.<br/>
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<b><i>The Girl in the Blue Beret</i> by Bobbie Ann Mason</b><br/>
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The book I saw in Barnes & Noble had a different front cover than the one shown. That cover picture featured a girl with a bicycle, but the head of the girl was past the picture's frame of the picture. It is odd, and perhaps purposefully mysterious, that the girl in the picture, whom we could assume is the title character, does not show her head, never mind a blue beret.<br/>
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This historical novel, set in World War II, starts in an exciting way, with a fiery plane crash. I was thinking at the time that I was reading that this bit of writing was quite an accomplishment for a woman since I know very few who are knowledgeable about planes or have first-hand experience as pilots. The story is based on the real war experiences of the author's father-in-law. I can see that she likely interviewed him extensively to give you the feeling that she did have that first-hand experience.<br/>
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The story is of Marshall Stone, a U.S. flyboy stationed in England, who is forced to crash land his B-17 in Belgium near the French border. Ordinary citizens, members of the Resistance, help him find an escape route back to England. Decades later, he returns to the crash site, wanting to find the people who helped him and especially one girl who risked her life for him, the girl in the blue beret. Lovely thought, right?Susan Joy Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15175162058220262157noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3055080204920665277.post-69008810885999614052012-07-12T18:37:00.001-07:002012-07-13T07:54:05.207-07:00Six (Or Maybe Three?) Degrees to Tolkien -- Aesthetic Inspirations<b>Below, a rare beautiful binding of <i>The Hobbit</i> from abebooks.com.</b><br/>
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J.R.R. Tolkien fascinates me for many reasons. I think of him as a super-talented Renaissance man. He created an elaborate fictional world in Middle Earth. Not only did he show himself a master of letters in his <i>Lord of the Rings</i> trilogy, he illustrated his stories himself with skill. He is a writer, illustrator, cartographer,letterer, philologist, simply a creator on many levels.<br/>
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<b>Tolkien's illustration of Rivendell, a region of Middle Earth</b><br/>
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<b>A Tolkien illustration for <i>The Hobbit</i></b><br/>
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Mary Podles, a retired curator of Renaissance and Baroque art at the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore, Maryland, wrote in <i>Touchstone</i> magazine that Tolkien may have been inspired artistically by illustrators Walter Crane, Arthur Rackham, John Bauer and Kay Nielsen and even by the Art Nouveau jewelry of Rene Lalique, in his descriptions of various jewelry for his fictional characters. The Art Nouveau style, most popular from 1890 to 1910, would have been prevalent in Tolkien's childhood. Tolkien was born in 1892.<br/>
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<b>Lalique pendant, below</b><br/>
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Notice that the Lalique pendant is inspired by nature just as in Goldberry's belt of golden flag-lilies, Aragorn's eagle brooch or the hobbits' enameled leaf brooches.<br/>
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<b>Reproduction of Frodo's leaf brooch from <i>The Lord of the Rings</i> movies</b><br/>
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Whether or not these other illustrators influenced Tolkien, I appreciate all of them. Arthur Rackham (1845 - 1939) had a style that is sometimes described as a fusion of European Nordic style and Japanese woodblock. Rackham would do soft pencil sketches, block in shapes around his outline, add details in pen and India ink and layers of washes of transparent tints.<br/>
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I know, from numerous sources, that Tolkien was influenced by Nordic mythology, so it would not be surprising that he might be influenced by a 'Nordic' illustrator. In fact, Rackham did illustrations for <i>The Rhinegold</i>, <i>The Valkyrie</i>, <i>Siegfried</i> and <i>The Twilight of the Gods</i> by Richard Wagner. Wagner's operas were based on Nordic mythology, and Tolkien's friend, C.S. Lewis, was an avid Wagner fan. Here are some of Rackham's illustrations, one of which is for one of my favorite children's books.<br/>
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<b>An Arthur Rackham illustration for <i>Alice's Adventures in Wonderland</i></b><br/>
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<b><i>Dancing with the Fairies</i> by Arthur Rackham</b><br/>
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Walter Crane (1845-1915) was an illustrator of the Arts and Crafts movement as was William Morris, whose fantasy writings such as <i>The Wood Beyond the World</i>, 1894, and <i>The Well at the World's End</i>, 1896, also influenced Tolkien's writing. Crane was similarly influenced by Japanese woodblock design. He worked in watercolor and also in woodcuts.<br/>
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<b>Walter Crane's illustration for <i>Little Red Riding Hood</i></b><br/>
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<b>Walter Crane's illustration for <i>Beauty and the Beast</i></b><br/>
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Compare Rackham and Crane's illustrations to the examples below.<br/>
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<b><i>The Great Wave</i> by Hokusai, a Japanese woodblock design</b><br/>
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<b>Kay Nielsen illustration</b><br/>
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Kay Nielsen (1886 - 1957), like Lalique, was an Art Nouveau artist. Nielsen, who was Danish, illustrated a collection of Nordic fairy tales in <i>East of the Sun and West of the Moon</i>. He even did some illustration for <i>Night on Bald Mountain</i> for Disney's 1940 <i>Fantasia</i>.<br/>
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<b><i>Night on Bald Mountain</i> from the 1940 <i>Fantasia</i></b><br/>
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I see some similarities in each of these styles, in the strong use of outline, in the contrast of dark and light and the stylized shapes. Compare the curving and arcing lines in <i>Night on Bald Mountain</i> with Hokusai's <i>The Wave</i>. Compare both to the circular billows of smoke in Tolkien's own illustration from <i>The Hobbit</i>. I see both Japanese and Art Nouveau influences in Crane's illustration for <i>Beauty and the Beast</i>.<br/>
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Are we playing six degrees to Tolkien? Maybe. Really, I think the relationships would be easier to diagram with bubbles and interconnecting lines than with a linear outline. Rackham and Nielsen may have influenced Tolkien with their style of art. Japanese woodblock art influenced Rackham and Crane. I personally find it very interesting to see the different philosophical or historical influences on a new trend or movement or relationships between different artists and their influences.Susan Joy Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15175162058220262157noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3055080204920665277.post-22815810956710990742012-07-11T13:05:00.001-07:002012-07-11T13:11:20.535-07:00Musical Theater, Many Art Forms Melted Into One<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b>Above, Shirley Jones as Marian Paroo and Robert Preston as Professor Harold Hill in the 1962, <i>The Music Man</i>.</b><br/>
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I'm a fan of the musical comedy. A musical comedy can always make me smile, relax and de-stress. I know songs from musicals and their lyrics to an embarrassing degree. I once saw a T-shirt on zazzle.com that said, "Yes, I know all the lyrics to every musical, so sue me, sue me, shoot bullets through me," which was funny to me, because I recognized the "sue me, sue me" part as lyrics from <i>Guys and Dolls</i>.<br/>
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<b>Frank Sinatra as Nathan Detroit singing <i>Sue Me, Sue Me</i> to Vivian Blaine as Miss Adelaide in <i>Guys and Dolls</i>, 1955.</b><br/>
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I think I like the musical, because it combines so many art forms I like into one: singing, dancing and storytelling/acting. At various times, I have sung in choirs and concerts, acted in dramas and danced for my own benefit and exercise, but I have never performed in a musical. You can, however, see how it might suit me.<br/>
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Visual art is also an important element of the musical that can't be underestimated, the art that goes into costume design and set design. Musical comedies are often an explosion of color, with colors that pop and vibrate against one another...<br/>
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<b>Scene from <i>West Side Story</i>, 1961.</b><br/>
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Or unrealistically monochromatic as if a whole town decided to dress alike for no particular reason.<br/>
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<b>The <i>Shipoopi</i> song from the 1962 movie, <i>The Music Man</i></b><br/>
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<b><i>Think Pink</i> from the 1957 <i>Funny Face</i></b><br/>
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In the above scene, the explosion of pink does have some pertinence to the plot in that it deals with employees of a fashion magazine and a new fashion trend.<br/>
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It is the careful arrangement of color and beauty that adds so much to the musical experience. This past March, I went to visit a good friend in Florida. She and I visited Walt Disney World with her mother who said at one point that a visit to Disney World could give you sensory overload. The musical experience can be like that too, with so much for your eyes and ears to take in.<br/>
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I realize not everyone is a fan of the genre. I remember, back in college days, overhearing a guy in the cafeteria making fun of musicals and, specifically, <i>West Side Story</i>. With a cheesy, pasted-on smile, he snapped his fingers and made up his own lyrics for the fictional gang members, "We've got your drugs, and we're going to kill you." Looking back on it, I laugh. I can understand why he would see the ridiculousness of a bunch of tough guy gang members slinking down dark alleys and breaking out into spontaneous dance, especially as some of the dance moves in the movie are ballet-related. (Those moves are, however, masculine.) A more modern retelling of the story might have the Sharks and Jets dancing hiphop style. Not all musicals are comedies. Some, such as <i>West Side Story</i> and <i>Les Miserables</i>, can communicate drama, tragedy and serious ideas.<br/>
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<b>Dancing Jets in <i>West Side Story</i></b><br/>
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I think it is this spontaneous song and dance in the midst of the story that those who are not fans find hard to understand. A friend of mine once, speaking to me about it, complained that musicals were unrealistic. I then told him, "Well, comic books are similarly unrealistic," since he is a fan of comic books. He then acted as if I had stepped on his toes. It wasn't my intention to insult something he liked but only to point out that people enjoy many art forms that are not strictly realistic. The 2007 Disney movie <i>Enchanted</i> has a song and dance scene that mocks the very idea of a spontaneous song and dance breaking out of nowhere. And you know what? I actually love it.<br/>
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<b><i>That's How You Know</i> from Disney's <i>Enchanted</i></b><br/>
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<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/xRYU4cqUAUs" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br/>
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I think of these spontaneous songs as like unto a Shakespearean aside or monologue. It is not realistic for a person to make little speeches to himself either. It is merely a technique to make us privy to that character's feelings at the moment. Songs in musicals serve the same purpose. Instead of expressing feelings in a monologue or dialogue or some other action, the character expresses it through song and dance. So, if you don't get hung up on the lack of strict realism, you can enjoy the format.<br/>
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Maria Von Trapp, in <i>The Sound of Music</i>, can work out her anxiety in <i>I Have Confidence in Me</i>, and Anna Leonowens, in <i>The King and I</i>, can do the same thing in <i>Whenever I Am Afraid</i>.<br/>
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<b>Deborah Kerr as Anna Leonowen and Yul Brynner as the King of Siam in the 1955 <i>The King and I</i></b><br/>
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I don't think I will get tired of the musical, of discovering new ones or discovering old classics.Susan Joy Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15175162058220262157noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3055080204920665277.post-75303283959483069862012-07-10T18:06:00.000-07:002012-07-10T18:06:24.173-07:00Romantic Fashion Picks<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Today's post in inspired by some of my fashion picks on Pinterest. I love this top above by Anthropologie. It is romantic and feminine, flowing but not shapeless. It would certainly be cool and airy for the summer weather. It is made with polyester,cotton, wool, nylon and acrylic. I think it would look good with a pair of jeans or with a pair of slacks.<br/>
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It is also $138 which is more than I personally have ever spent on a single top. Sometimes, it is worth the splurge. Depending on your budget, it may be worth your while as quality well-made clothing has more endurance. If you are a skilled seamstress (or happen to know one), you may be able to draw some inspiration from this and create your own version. A creative one-of-a-kind fashion statement is a wonderful thing.<br/>
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Pair that with this floppy sunhat with flower by Luxury Lane.<br/>
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The hat is $48 from lookingfabulicious.com. It's lovely for summer, for a day on the beach or out at the sidewalk cafe, both functional and fashionable. The cream rose brings out the cream color of the top.<br/>
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These espadrilles by Michael Kors, $79.99 from zappos.com, would be a safer pair of heels for the boardwalk. The gold tones complement the creams.<br/>
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I adore this bag from Fossil, inspired by Italian bags of the '70's. It is feminine and folky at the same time. The applique and embroidery are charming and reminiscent of traditional folk art flowers. It would add a punch of color to the outfit, and the pink flower accents would pick up the pink of the hat. The material is a cotton and leather blend. The interior is 100 percent polyester jacquard, and there is a magnetic closure.<br/>
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It is $139.99. So, again it may not be the best choice if you are on a tight budget. Maybe, you can only afford one splurge, maybe all, but these are just some of the fashions that have caught my eye recently. Maybe, these ideas will just serve as a springboard for your own creativity. If you are skilled in needlework, you can easily replicate the folk flower look on a fabric bag, knowing your style is both classic and current.Susan Joy Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15175162058220262157noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3055080204920665277.post-3172063649879793872012-07-09T12:38:00.001-07:002012-07-09T12:38:59.425-07:00Scratching Past the Surface<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Last night, I was surfing channels and caught a part of a movie, <i>Shallow Hal</i>, 2001, that I had seen before. Soon after that finished, I caught another part of a movie, <i>The Truth About Cats and Dogs</i>, 1996, which I had never seen before. I saw similar themes in both movies, and though I have blogged on this theme, judging by appearances, somewhat recently, I felt I had some new thoughts.<br/>
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In <i>Shallow Hal</i>, Hal is a guy who is constant pursuit of very beautiful women who do not return his interest, overlooking women he finds less physically attractive. Hal comes across an inspirational author who hypnotizes him into seeing the inner beauty (as outward) in the women he meets. This hypnosis trick even works on how Hal views other men (not that the story suggests that Hal is sexually attracted to other men.) Men with good hearts, Peace Corps volunteers, appear to him as more physically perfect than they are in reality.<br/>
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Hal meets and dates a lovely woman named Rosemary whom Hal believes looks like, well, like Gwyneth Paltrow. The real Rosemary looks like Gwyneth Paltrow greatly fattened with some help from the makeup department. When Hal's shallow friend, Mauricio, learns that Hal is in a hypnotic state, he feels Hal's eyes should be opened and snaps him out of it. Hal then has to see if he can accept Rosemary as she really appears and, as this is a happy story, he does.<br/>
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<b>The Real Rosemary in <i>Shallow Hal</i></b><br/>
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The hypnosis aspect is interesting to me after doing some research for a previous blog entry <i>Robot Love?</i>. I had recently come across some Youtube videos of a hypnotist doing a comedy hypnosis demonstration at a state fair. I posted one in the previous blog. In a separate video I did not post, I came across one where the hypnotist had convinced some young guys they were seeing a naked photo of Britney Spears in a "magic" wallet. Their faces certainly registered that, in their minds at least, they were seeing something that was not there.<br/>
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What was interesting to me in this movie, that I did not remember from my previous viewing, is that Hal not only sees the inner beauty as outward in certain women, he also sees the inner ugliness as outward in certain others. What if we lived in a world where evil people looked evil and ugly, and lovely, kind people looked beautiful? It rarely works exactly that way in reality.<br/>
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In fairy tales and certain genres of fiction, the hero is always handsome, the heroine is always beautiful and the villain is always ugly. Real life is not so simple as that.<br/>
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<b>The Beautiful Cinderella and Handsome Prince Charming according to Disney</b><br/>
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<b>The Ugly Stepsisters (Who are also ugly in character)</b><br/>
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The 1998 movie <i>Ever After</i> had a slightly different take on the Cinderella story. In <i>Ever After</i>, the stepsisters are not physically unattractive. The brunette, Jacqueline, is rather kind to Danielle (Cinderella), but she is also dominated by her mother and sister. The blonde, Marguerite, is beautiful but selfish and scheming, which makes her more threatening than an ugly stepsister when she attempts to charm the prince.<br/>
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<b>Megan Dodds as Marguerite De Ghent and Melanie Lynskey as Jacqueline De Ghent, the stepsisters, in <i>Ever After</i></b><br/>
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Drew Barrymore as Danielle (Cinderella), of course, is not unattractive either, but she is unlikely to catch the prince's attention dressed as a peasant and acting as servant to her stepmother. She first captures the prince's attention when she is dressed in her mother's clothes, acting as a noblewoman. The initial reason behind the disguise was not to fool the prince, but so that she would have the power to ransom a servant in court. She does, however, when questioned, give her mother's name to the prince, Comtesse Nicole de Lancret. As in other Cinderella stories, Danielle does go to the ball in a beautiful gown.<br/>
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<b>Drew Barrymore as Danielle in the ballroom scene in <i>Ever After</i></b><br/>
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There is a reason why physical beauty and negative inner traits often go together. Someone who receives too much affirmation for his or her looks can easily develop arrogance. Some beautiful people even learn to use their looks to their advantage as a manipulation tool.<br/>
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At times, bad parenting can influence a person to be self-consumed. I've watched quite a few episodes of "Toddlers and Tiaras," the reality show about child pageants. These children are taught that it is extremely important not only to be beautiful but to be the most beautiful. They are pampered, indulged and rarely denied (unless denying the child's wishes helps her pageant chances which the parent wants more than the child does.) These children learn that their world revolves around them. This is an excellent way to foster outward beauty and bad character at the same time. On this show, I even observed one mother teaching her daughter how to manipulate her father for money to spend on pageant expenses. By being "cute" and acting charming, the girl could get what she wanted from her father. If this girl, at four or five years old, learns to manipulate her father with beauty and charm, what kind of girlfriend or wife will she be in the future?<br/>
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Observe the spoiled behavior of the girl in the "Toddlers and Tiaras" video below.<br/>
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I am not completely without sympathy for MacKenzie. All of the fussing that goes into preparation for pageants likely creates some stress that could provoke her to be cranky. I think she should be spared that stress. At the same time, no child should learn to speak with such disrespect towards her parents, and the parenting style has allowed her that freedom.<br/>
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Evil does not always look evil. One example of that is with the "Barbie and Ken Killers."<br/>
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<b>Barbie and Ken Killers</b><br/>
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This couple is as attractive as Barbie and Ken dolls. They do not look evil. They even had the appearance to those who knew them of being happily married. Who would have guessed that this man was an absolutely brutal serial rapist and killer and that his beautiful wife assisted him in his crimes?<br/>
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Paul Bernardo bragged to police that he had raped 30 women. With his wife, Karla Homolka, they sexually assaulted and killed at least three girls. Some time ago, I watched a made-for-TV Lifetime movie about the couple and the crime spree. The movie was not at all graphic, but the nature of the crimes that are hinted at are quite disturbing even so. It was bothersome to the point that my emotional reaction, as I watched, induced a migraine or migraine aura. Bernardo was influenced by sadistic pornography, and suffice it to say that his victims went through a variety of torture, both physically and psychologically.<br/>
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By looking at Bernardo, we do not see him as the type of character he is in reality. Perhaps, that is because we expect a criminal person to look the part. There are certain things we judge by appearances, sometimes with accuracy, sometimes not. If a person dresses with a spiked collar around the neck or a spiked bracelet, we may get the idea that the person is hostile. Similarly, you may get a certain idea of a person's character if they wear the T-shirt below.<br/>
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I remember buying a pretzel at a pretzel stand in the mall from a young teen guy wearing a T-shirt with that very saying. I remember thinking, "What a terrible shirt to wear when you deal with the public all day." And then I wondered if his boss knew he was wearing such a shirt.<br/>
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Even this area can be confusing. Not every hostile person dresses in a way as to outwardly display that attitude, and some hurting people, like a porcupine, present a prickly exterior as a defense mechanism. Hopefully, we can show that hurting person with the strange attire more kindness and understanding than he or she expects.<br/>
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I am not trying to point out that all beautiful people are evil and that the average or below average looking people of the world are all stellar saints. Of course, that is not true. I do want to point out that character has a great deal more importance than appearances and that, without scratching past the surface, it is impossible to make a judgment about a person one way or another.<br/>
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<i>The Truth About Cats and Dogs</i> explores the idea that the mate who is most suitable to you on a deeper level may come in different packaging than you expect, which, as I pointed out before, is a somewhat similar idea to <i>Shallow Hal</i>. <i>The Truth About Cats and Dogs</i> is essentially a retelling of <i>Cyrano De Bergerac</i>.<br/>
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<b>Cyrano De Bergerac, hidden in the bushes, woos Roxane with beautiful words, while Christian De Guiche presents the handsome front.</b><br/>
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Cyrano De Bergerac was a real person in the 17th century. A loose biography was made of him in an 1897 play <i>Cyrano De Bergerac</i>. De Bergerac is in love with his cousin Roxane. He is intelligent and witty but embarrassed by his large nose. He learns that Roxane loves Christian De Guiche, another soldier in De Bergerac's regiment. De Guiche is quite the opposite, handsome but lacking in intelligence and wit. Together, they woo Roxane as one man, with De Guiche presenting the handsome front and De Bergerac writing all the love letters and poetry. Roxane marries De Guiche and corresponds with him (actually De Bergerac) while he is at war. De Guiche dies in battle, but Roxane still does not learn the true identity of the man she loves until 15 years later when De Bergerac visits her and reads to her one of De Guiche's letters which he wrote himself. Tragically, at this point, he is dying.<br/>
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<b>Cyrano De Bergerac and Roxane</b><br/>
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<i>The Truth About Cats and Dogs</i> follows the story line somewhat of <i>Cyrano De Bergerac</i> in the confusing way that two women woo one man as one identity, but the ending is much more satisfying and happy. Dr. Abby Barnes (Jeanine Garofalo), a radio host of a show called The Truth About Cats and Dogs, has a wonderful stimulating conversation with a caller to the show, Brian (Ben Chaplin). Brian arranges a date with her, but insecure over her own looks, Abby sends instead her neighbor and friend, Noelle Slusarsky (Uma Thurman), a model who has more beauty than brains. This leads to all sorts of confusion. Brian continues to bond with the real Abby over the telephone while believing the beautiful Noelle is the actual Abby. Noelle tries several tactics, at times trying to assist her friend, and at times, pursuing Brian herself. Eventually, the confusion is sorted out, and Brian and Abby go on on a real date with one another.<br/>
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<b>From left to right: Brian, Noelle and Abby in <i>The Truth About Cats and Dogs</i></b><br/>
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There are a couple of wonderful lines in the movie. One is said by Brian, and when I heard it, it sounded like my very own thoughts, if not exactly verbatim, while watching <i>Shallow Hal</i>, something I have thought many times.<br/>
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Brian says, "You know how someone's appearance can change the longer you know them? How a really attractive person, if you don't like them, can become more and more ugly; whereas someone you might not have even have noticed... that you wouldn't look at more than once, if you love them, can become the most beautiful thing you've ever seen. All you want to do is be near them."<br/>
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In my own experience, I have found this to be true and thought a very similar thought, that an attractive person of poor character begins to look less attractive and a more ordinary person with a wonderful personality and character, begins to look better and better.<br/>
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At one point, before the whole mystery is unraveled to Brian, Abby says to him, "So say you meet one of these no sparks women, and you really take the time to get to know her and then you become intellectually stimulated by her. You just really enjoy her personality, thereby igniting all your lust and passion. Have you ever thought about that?"<br/>
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I don't like the word "lust" so much. I'd rather replace that word with "attraction." Even so, I would hope it would work this way. I know it did for my parents. They wrote for years before they met in person and for quite some time even before photos were exchanged.<br/>
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<b>Brian and Abby one on one</b><br/>
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I love Charles Dickens as a writer for a variety of reasons. I own the full collection of all his books, have read nine of his novels so far and jump at the chance to watch every BBC "Masterpiece Theater" special based on his books. This sounds like I am about to recite poetry to him, "How do I love Charles Dickens, let me count the ways," or stand on my desk like those students in "Dead Poets' Society," reciting, "Oh Captain, My Captain."<br/>
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I know worship belongs only to God, but I admire Dickens very much, perhaps because some of Dickens' thoughts and feelings seem akin to the thoughts and feelings of God.<br/>
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Dickens had a pronounced sense of social injustice. He wrote with much sympathy about the hardships of the poor and downtrodden, pointing out some of the flaws of his society, and even inspiring change. In "Nicholas Nickleby," the cruel schoolmaster of Dotheby's Hall, Wackford Squeers, is based on William Shaw of Bowes Academy in Yorkshire, a school Dickens had visited. Shaw's school is said to have gone bankrupt as a result of the novel's publication. Shaw was prosecuted in 1823 when two of his students went blind, allegedly because of the poor conditions in the school.<br/>
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<b>Below, Jim Broadbent as Wackford Squeers in the 2002 movie, "Nicholas Nickleby"</b><br/>
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Dickens knew some of the hardships that inspired his writing firsthand. Dickens' father was imprisoned for debt in the Marshalsea Prison just like the father of his character Little (Amy) Dorrit.<br/>
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<b>Photo from the 2008 "Masterpiece Theater" version of "Little Dorrit"</b><br/>
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At twelve years old, with his father in prison, Dickens was put to work in Warren's Blacking Factory. It was a shoe polish factory. Young Dickens would stand in a little window, pasting labels onto bottles, where the passersby could watch him. Dickens wrote of this part of his life, "My whole nature was so penetrated with the grief and humiliation of [the experience] that even now, famous and caressed and happy, I often forget in my dreams that I am a man; and wander desolately back to that time in my life."<br/>
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<b>Warren's Blacking Factory</b><br/>
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Similarly, some of the boy characters in Dickens' novels were also introduced to oppressive work conditions in childhood. Oliver is almost apprenticed to a cruel chimney sweep called Gamfield. Gamfield "happened to labor under the slight imputation of having bruised three or four boys to their death already." A board member of the workhouse where Oliver Twist lives tells Gamfield that boys have been smothered in chimneys.<br/>
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From "Oliver Twist:"<br/>
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<blockquote>"'That's acause they damped the straw afore they lit it in the chimbley to make 'em come down again,' said Gamfield; 'that's all smoke, and no blaze; vereas smoke ain't o' no use at all in making a boy come down, for it only sinds him to sleep, and that's wot he likes. Boys is wery obstinit, and wery lazy gen'l'men, and there's nothink like a good hot blaze to make 'em come down with a run. It's humane too, gen'l'men, acause, even if they've stuck in the chimbley, roasting their feet makes 'em struggle to hextricate themselves.'"</blockquote><br/>
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What a different picture this presents than the jolly dancing chimney sweeps in a favorite movie of mine, "Mary Poppins."<br/>
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I prefer the idea of the jolly chimney sweep with the roofs of London as his playground, but you wonder how jolly you could be breathing in soot and crawling into tight spaces, with or without a cruel Gamfield to give you additional grief. The poet, William Blake, also wrote with sympathy about the child as chimney sweep.<br/>
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In Oliver's case, his fate was saved from chimney sweeping. The magistrate, seeing Oliver's terrified face, does not sign the indentures. Oliver is later sold into service with an undertaker.<br/>
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<b>"Boy For Sale" from the 1969 musical "Oliver!"</b><br/>
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In "David Copperfield," life changes for the title character when his mother remarries, a Mr. Murdstone.<br/>
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David's stepfather, who has no affection for him, eventually sends him out to make his own way in the world.<br/>
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<blockquote>"Murdstone and Grinby's Warehouse was at the waterside. It was down in Blackfriars. Modern improvements have altered the place: but it was the last house at the bottom of a narrow street, curving down hill to the river, with some stairs at the end, where people took boat. It was a crazy old house with a wharf of its own, abutting on the water when the tide was in, and on the mud when the tide was out, and literally overrun with rats. Its panelled rooms, discoloured with the dirt and smoke of a hundred years, I dare say; its decaying floors and staircase; the squeaking and shuffling of the old grey rats down in the cellars; and the dirt and rottenness of the place; are things, not of many years ago, in my mind, but at the present instant. They are all before me, just as they were in the evil hour when I went among them for the first time, with my trembling hand in Mr. Quinion's.<br/>
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Murdstone and Grinby's trade was among a good many kinds of people, but an important branch of it was the supply of wines and spirits to certain packet ships. I forget now where they chiefly went, but I think there were some among them that made voyages both to the East and West Indies. I know that a great many empty bottles were one of the consequences of this traffic, and that certain men and boys were employed to examine them against the light, and reject those that were flawed, and rinse and wash them. When the empty bottles ran short, there were labels to be pasted on full ones, or corks to be fitted to them, or seals to be put upon the corks, or finished bottles to be put in casks. All this work was my work, and of the boys employed to it, I was one."
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Dickens novels may be fiction, but some real people lived a life that resembled that fiction. David Cody, associate professor of English at Hartwick College, writes on www.Victorianweb.org,<br/>
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<blockquote>"Many children worked 16 hour days under atrocious conditions, as their elders did. Ineffective parliamentary acts to regulate the work of workhouse children in factories and cotton mills to 12 hours per day had been passed as early as 1802 and 1819. After radical agitation, notably in 1831, when "Short Time Committees" organized largely by Evangelicals began to demand a ten hour day, a royal commission established by the Whig government recommended in 1833 that children aged 11-18 be permitted to work a maximum of twelve hours per day; children 9-11 were allowed to work 8 hour days; and children under 9 were no longer permitted to work at all (children as young as 3 had been put to work previously). This act applied only to the textile industry, where children were put to work at the age of 5, and not to a host of other industries and occupations."</blockquote><br/>
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Cody added that both boys and girls started work in coal and iron mines at age five and generally died by age 25.<br/>
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<b>Children working in a 19th century textile mill</b><br/>
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But sweatshop labor did not die out with the 19th century or the making of Dickens novels. I have been vaguely aware of this for some time, hearing, at times, that we should boycott certain products made in China. The issue became more real to me recently when I delved into research, with my fictional mystery story in mind, on the toy industry. (My main character is a toy inventor.) I learned a lot from reading "The Real Toy Story" by Eric Clark, (who is, as far as I know, no relation to me.)<br/>
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A staggering 80 percent of America's toys are made in Chinese factories. There are 8000 toy factories, employing 3 million workers, in China. These include Barbie dolls, Bratz dolls, G.I. Joe, Etch a Sketch and many others.<br/>
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China does have labor laws in place, but they are routinely violated. The <i>China Business Journal</i> states, "Labor rights violations are so widespread in China that violations can be presumed to exist in every factory until proven otherwise."<br/>
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In 1997, Mattel, the maker of Barbie, announced that all plants would have to comply with a code of conduct regarding hours, wages, conditions and minimum age of workers. Mattel, to their credit, has run routine inspections on their Chinese plants, but the situation is almost impossible to police. The plants will put on a good front for the sake of inspection while operating differently the majority of the time.<br/>
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<b>Chinese workers in a Mattel plant</b><br/>
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Clark describes the conditions in these Chinese toy plants, the unbearable work conditions and living conditions for workers in the dormitories, unbelievably low wages, as well as the unfair contracts in which workers are essentially held in slavery, by systems of fines and deductions, with no options to go elsewhere. Most moving to me personally is the testimony of a particular individual, gained from clandestine interviews away from the factory.<br/>
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From "The Real Toy Story" by Eric Clark:<br/>
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<blockquote>"Li Mei is worn out, so she looks older than her 18 years. Her hair is in a smooth black ponytail, but her skin is bad from too little daylight, and she has many healing and still-open cuts on her hands. Her neck, chest and forearms are heavily mottled with the raised red patches of allergy caused by toxic chemicals, which she scratches as she speaks. She coughs a lot and has chronic aches and pains, frequent headaches and sometimes blurred vision. All these ailments appeared during the last two years: Li Mei works in a Dongguan toy factory.<br/>
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She is a rural migrant from Xiaoshan, a remote mountain hamlet in the rural province of western Sichuan. Li Mei was thrilled to be one of the <i>dagongmei</i>, the working girls, to quit the hamlet where there are no roads, one telephone, and only limited electricity. She was also frightened because she knew that Dongguan has a reputation as a sweatshop. Many young people returned from the factories with disfigurements and strange illnesses. And then there was the fate of Li Chunmei, who was born in her village. She had been a runner in the Hainan Toy Factory in Songgang near Shenzhen, rushing stuffed animals swiftly from one worker to the next for each step in production. They said in the village that she ran all the time, 16 hours a day, seven days a week, for two solid months, without a day off. She was paid the equivalent of 12 cents an hour. She collapsed one night, bleeding from the nose and mouth on the bathroom floor, and was found hours later. She died before the ambulance arrived; she was just 19."</blockquote><br/>
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<b>Bratz dolls in Chinese plant</b><br/>
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Later, I read about Li Mei's own experience in the factory.<br/>
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<blockquote>"The air in the coloring and spraying department was filled with paint dust and smelled sourly of chemicals -- acetone, ethylene, trichloride, benzene -- and hurt her throat. The windows were filled with heavy wire mesh, the exits locked to prevent pilfering. Noisy ventilators added to the din of the spraying machines, so the team leader had to shout at Li Mei to be heard. She was given a blue chef's apron to wear and shown how to paint eyes of the dolls with four pens of different sizes: fussy work, she thought, easy enough. But she had to paint one every 7.2 seconds -- 4000 a day. She was warned to check the chemical labels on the tins of paint and thinner she was to use but not asked if she could read. One of the girls -- some were only 12 o 13 -- told her no one understood the labels or even if they were correct, and some were labeled in English anyway. Li Mei's cotton mask and gloves were thin, and by the end of the second day, they were thick with paint particles and useless. She asked for new ones but was refused; they were replaced just once a week. Her hands were stained with the chemical paint, which plain water would not remove. The girls would show her how to clean them with solvents that irritated the skin and whose hazards they are ignorant of. During the first few days, she found the overpowering heat, combined with the smell of chemicals, repulsive. She felt she was going to throw up and she had stomachaches and felt dizzy. Once she fainted; her section leader told her to have a rest, rub on some herbal ointment, and go back to work."</blockquote><br/>
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I am not a parent. My niece and nephews are grown. I don't have great need to buy toys for the people in my family, with the exception, perhaps, of some more sophisticated toys such as board games, computer and video games. I buy toys once a year to benefit poor children around the world, through <a href="http://www.samaritanspurse.org/index.php/OCC/">Operation Christmas Child</a>, an aspect of Franklin Graham's organization, Samaritan's Purse. Many, many others also get involved with this organization as well as other organizations such as Toys for Tots that do toy drives around Christmas time. I now have mixed feelings about giving toys to benefit one poor child when another (perhaps) child was exploited in the making of that toy.<br/>
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And the particulars of the suffering is much more than I can share in so few words. So, what do we do? What <i>would</i> Charles Dickens do about the toy sweatshops in China? Charles Kernaghan, executive director of the Institute for Global Labour and Human Rights, stated, "You can't call for boycotts. It is true that in this global economy, it is better to be exploited than to have no job at all." But a team of faculty and students at MIT said, "While accepting that a bad job may be better than nothing, we should continue to fight the abuse of human lives...If we justify abuse under the premise that is better than the worst alternative, we create a slippery slope, leading down to the complete devaluation of human life."<br/>
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Would Charles Dickens boycott? Would he buy from only the 20 percent of toys not made in China? Perhaps. I'm sure that, even if he felt he could do very little else for such a complex problem, he would pick up his pen and write. And, so I hope I have begun to do my part by sharing information.Susan Joy Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15175162058220262157noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3055080204920665277.post-87620807717600066982012-07-05T13:59:00.000-07:002012-07-05T14:26:43.354-07:00Three Examples of Wild and Innovative Architecture<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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This piano and cello house is located in Huainan City, An Hui Province in China. A staircase or an escalator inside the glass cello takes visitors up to the piano building which serves as a performance and practice hall for music students from the local college. It also acts as a planning exhibition hall for the developing region, displaying city development plans.<br/>
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What an intriguing place to visit! I wonder if you would feel like you were "in a fishbowl" while in that transparent cello. Perhaps you would, but the view from inside must be so spectacular.<br/>
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How would you like to stay in the hotel above? This is the Inntel Hotel in Zaandam, near Amsterdam, in The Netherlands. My mother would call this structure "hockerjawed," a term that does not seem to be a real term at all. I've never found "hockerjawed" in a dictionary. Maybe, somewhere down the line, one of my Midwestern ancestors invented their own word. Whopperjawed, however, is a real term of sorts I found in online slang dictionaries, and hockerjawed is synonymous with it, meaning askew or crooked.<br/>
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This crazy hotel looks like a lot of of traditional Dutch houses stacked Jenga style. I imagine a child creatively stacking a series of Lego houses one upon another. I'm sure, however, the architect, Wilfried Van Winden, had an entirely different method.<br/>
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According to Jonathan Glancey in "The Guardian" online, the architect based the appearance of these stacked houses on traditional homes ranging from a stately notary's dwelling to workers' cottages. On the top of the structure is a blue house based on one that was painted by Claude Monet on a trip to Zaandam.<br/>
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Below is Claude Monet's "Blue House in Zaandam."<br/>
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I like the Monet painting, but the house is painted at such an angle that you do not see the curvy Dutch style gable as visible in the hotel.<br/>
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How about an upside-down house? Is that sufficiently hocker/whopper...askew for you?<br/>
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This house is not really a home but an exhibit open to the public on the island of Usedom in Germany. According to "The Telegraph," the house was designed by Polish partners, Klausdiusz Golos and Sebastian Mikiciuk, for the Edutainment exhibition company.<br/>
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There is even furniture affixed to the ceiling. It looks like something Hildi Santo-Tomas of "Trading Spaces" would do. (In fact, she did affix furniture to the ceiling in one episode.)<br/>
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Wandering through this upside-down exhibit, I think you'd feel a bit like Fred Astaire doing his famous dance on the ceiling.<br/>
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If walls slanted inward at the bottom, rather than at the top, is not sufficiently confusing, how must it feel to stand beneath an upside-down toilet?<br/>
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What's next? A room based on M.C. Escher's "Relativity?"<br/>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibzWtgM5tN3qxuznEGk0qIVZjn8JGpbFLROEgBwxjNMkHj6TODmNL-YoPYRDm_zLLn3Zjm2kgB2jKjfJpGbdy_a2BX6d3pysoT3Fd6BuIZzmcnnXt6XgxFql563nCKOi_opcP9j6JZJrQ/s1600/Escher.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="220" width="229" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibzWtgM5tN3qxuznEGk0qIVZjn8JGpbFLROEgBwxjNMkHj6TODmNL-YoPYRDm_zLLn3Zjm2kgB2jKjfJpGbdy_a2BX6d3pysoT3Fd6BuIZzmcnnXt6XgxFql563nCKOi_opcP9j6JZJrQ/s320/Escher.jpeg" /></a></div>Susan Joy Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15175162058220262157noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3055080204920665277.post-32297614051234507822012-07-03T08:22:00.001-07:002012-07-18T18:13:32.557-07:00"How To Tell a Prince from a Frog" -- Interview with Artist and Author Christine Kerrick<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkQKF6E8psYzbqs7Ip-XY0ph3O0k2IU2gvkLfvFgC9qp4h7eklMal7MJ4uBREJ_Rok-tuYMty-p66iFl-ApCzLgDwBeyWtvRQ9-2vmas1T2P-jz4Q1EG8RW2jqA0hB_IKIbnjw3bVDoGs/s1600/ChristineKerrick.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="289" width="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkQKF6E8psYzbqs7Ip-XY0ph3O0k2IU2gvkLfvFgC9qp4h7eklMal7MJ4uBREJ_Rok-tuYMty-p66iFl-ApCzLgDwBeyWtvRQ9-2vmas1T2P-jz4Q1EG8RW2jqA0hB_IKIbnjw3bVDoGs/s320/ChristineKerrick.jpg" /></a></div><br/>
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Christine Kerrick is a wonderful and talented artist. She is a friend I know only through facebook, but I've admired her art for a while.<br/>
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I've enjoyed her whimsical art like this one.<br/>
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And her art centered on spiritual themes...<br/>
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When I found out she had a book coming out, "How To Tell a Prince From a Frog: Law Enforcement Techniques For Knowing Who You're Dating," I knew I could get behind her with it.<br/>
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I told Christine that I joke sometimes that I should write a book called "Dates From Hell and How To Avoid Them."<br/>
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I know some princes. Three of them are my biological brothers. Some of them are my Christian brothers, and some have already found their princesses. I'm grateful for the good guys in my life.<br/>
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But, I've also known some frogs. I seem to attract them. The froggiest of frogs and the wartiest of toads have hopped out of the bog to either date me or be my admirer. I've known a frog with a prison record, a frog who ended up in prison some time after I was no longer in contact with him, a frog with a drug abuse history, a frog with mental illness, who was also a liar and manipulator, and frogs who showed warning signs that they had the capacity to be abusive (although I was not the victim of it) either sexually or physically. My experiences were short-lived, because I did see the warning signs. I did not pick up these men (ahem, frogs) in bars. I met them in what should be the safest of all places to meet a potential mate, in church.<br/>
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I apologize to any reader who may be avoiding church with the thought that the church is full of hypocrites, because the above statement would seem to confirm your fear. The father of Corrie Ten Boom, a Christian Dutch woman who hid Jews in her home during the Holocaust, once said, "Just because a mouse gets into the cookie jar doesn't make him a cookie." Just like that mouse in the cookie jar, going to church by itself doesn't necessarily make a person a Christian. Even Jesus Himself talked about hypocrites whom He likened to "whitened sepulchres" and false prophets whom He called wolves in sheep's clothing. Notice that if there are wolves in sheep's clothing among the flock, there is also a true flock.<br/>
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In Matthew 10:16, Jesus says to His disciples, "Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves." In other words, we should be harmless but not naive. Christine's book should equip you to be "wise as a serpent."<br/>
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Her book addresses how to pick up on clues of your date's character, whether good or bad, and how to recognize red flags.<br/>
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Christine Kerrick was born and raised in West Chester, Pennsylvania and received a BFA in illustration from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. Christine has some other book projects in the works as well as six published comic books which, of course, she illustrated herself.<br/>
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One of Christine Kerrick's comic books below:<br/>
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"How To Tell a Prince From a Frog" also features several of Christine's illustrations.<br/>
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"I love writing fiction and have written six comic books. I am working on a couple of novels and have finished (but not published) a children's book. I'm working on a second one," she said.<br/>
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Christine told me she felt inspired to write her current book "when I met one final Frog who lied to me and manipulated me and those around me."<br/>
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Christine's artwork below, "Sweet Nothings," is intended to represent a sweet-talking liar.<br/>
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"I wondered how this could happen and how I could let someone so dangerous slip past me. As I started researching things, I saw that other women had encountered dangerous men like this one too," she said.<br/>
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The book is aimed towards single women of any age, not necessarily towards teenagers or young women.<br/>
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Christine feels that her personal experiences have given her the wisdom to write this book.<br/>
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"I couldn't have written this before that final experience with deception. I have also done extensive research in the years following and talked to scores of women about their experiences, all of whom share many common threads as far as how these Frogs deceived, what they said, the repetitive nature of their sins and the fact that the women 'knew' something was off but went ahead anyway," said Christine.<br/>
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I noted that the title of the book sounds humorous and asked if the book's content was humorous.<br/>
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"It is humorous off and on, but focuses on teaching and encouragement," said Christine. "It is a heavy subject, so I tried to inject humor whenever I could."<br/>
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Christine expressed that frogs can be found in other contexts besides dating such as in business or acquaintance type relationships.<br/>
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"This isn't to say we should condemn people but be able to know the signs that they are being deceptive and be wise enough to either confront the topic with them or leave and move on. In a dating realm, it is better to move on when you experience deception. Someone who lies to you or otherwise deceives you is not someone who will make a trustworthy spouse," she stated.<br/>
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Purchase Christine's new book on <a href="http://www.amazon.com/How-Tell-Prince-From-Frog/dp/0978668715/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1342660269&sr=8-1&keywords=Christine+Kerrick+How+To+Tell+a">Amazon</a> and learn to distinguish a prince from a frog!<br/>
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<br/>Susan Joy Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15175162058220262157noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3055080204920665277.post-85597990371242703422012-07-02T14:46:00.000-07:002012-07-03T10:29:24.928-07:00Women in Literature and in Life -- Modesty and Misogyny<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Three years ago, I read <em>Ivanhoe</em> by Sir Walter Scott, the story that weaves bold knights and chivalry with Richard the Lion-Hearted from history and known characters from the Robin Hood tales. It had only been sitting on my shelf for 16 years waiting for me to get to it. I know it was sitting on my shelf for 16 years, because it's encased in a fragrant leather book cover I brought back from a trip to Riga, Latvia in 1994. When I brought it home, I searched for the appropriate paperback to put in it and chose <em>Ivanhoe</em>; and there it sat in its place of honor neglected until recently.
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<br />There are many themes and thoughts I could expand on from <em>Ivanhoe</em>, such as the very unchristian way that the Jewish people were treated during this period of the Crusades. I do want to talk about a Jewish character, Rebecca of York, not as a Jewish woman, but simply as a woman.
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<br />As the story goes, she is sexually harrassed and kidnapped by the Knight Templar Brian De Bois Guilbert, a man who is sworn by his order to a chaste life. Rebecca must have feared for her chastity, because, in one of the book's dramatic moments, she threatens to throw herself from a parapet of the castle to save herself from him.<br/>
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When De Bois Guilbert's crime is discovered by a superior of the Templars, it is explained away as the result of the Jewish woman's witchcraft and evil spells. That is the only thing that can explain this man's bad behavior. Rebecca is put to trial and sentenced to death at the stake for her supposed witchcraft. Of course, she is rescued by Sir Wilfred of Ivanhoe who acts as her champion and wins her life back for her in a jousting match.<br/>
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In the novel <i>The Hunchback of Notre Dame</i>, Archdeacon Claude Frollo parallels De Bois Guilbert in some respects. He falls in "lust" with the gypsy woman Esmerelda. Frollo's feelings cause him to kill his romantic rival, the soldier Phoebus whom Esmerelda loves, and have Esmerelda arrested for the crime. Later, he visits Esmerelda in prison, after she has endured torture, explains to her his feelings for her, saying, "Each night, on examining myself, I found that I was more helpless, more spellbound, more <b>bewitched</b>, more undone."<br/>
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Frollo states:<br/>
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<blockquote>"I learned who thou wert; Egyptian, Bohemian, gintara, zingara. How could I no longer doubt that there was witchcraft in the case? I hoped that the law would break the charm. A sorceress had bewitched Bruno D'Ast: he caused her to be burned and was cured. I knew him. I decided to try the same remedy."</blockquote><br/>
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Just as Rebecca had Sir Wilfred of Ivanhoe as her champion, Esmerelda has the hunchback Quasimodo. He swings down on the ropes from the bell towers to rescue her from the gallows and takes her into the church for sanctuary.<br/>
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Frollo makes several attempts to win Esmerelda's affection but is rejected each time. In the end, Esmerelda dies at the gallows, and Frollo dies at the hands of Quasimodo. The story of <i>The Hunchback of Notre Dame</i> is over all a tragic one. All of its major characters die in some tragic way.<br/>
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Frollo, like De Bois Guilbert, could not take responsibility for his own actions. If he had feelings he shouldn't have for Esmerelda, it must be that he was bewitched. A psychologist might say that both De Bois Guilbert and Frollo used psychological projection. Unable to accept failure for their own sins, it was necessary to blame another.<br/>
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Notice that it is two literary men, Sir Walter Scott and Victor Hugo, that write with such sensitivity about these issues concerning women.<br/>
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<b>Sir Walter Scott</b><br/>
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<b>Victor Hugo</b><br/>
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Sadly, these examples in fiction make me think of real situations with real women. Another book I have read somewhat recently is the non-fiction <em>Reading Lolita in Tehran</em>, written by Azar Nafisi, a female literature professor, who gives a glimpse into what life is like for Muslim women in Iran.<br/>
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There is one example in the book I remember where some Muslim girls find themselves in a similar position as Rebecca or Esmerelda. In one chapter, Nafisi describes comforting her daughter Negar who came home from school crying. Negar tells her mother her story.<br/>
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<blockquote>"That day in the middle of her last class -- science -- the principal and morality teacher had barged in and told the girls to put their hands on their desks. The entire class had been escorted out of the classroom, without any explanation, their schoolbags searched for weapons and contraband: tapes, novels, friendship bracelets. Their bodies were searched, their nails inspected. One student, a girl who had returned from the United States the previous year with her family, was taken to the principal's office: her nails were too long. There, the principal herself had cut the girl's nails, so close she had drawn blood. Negar had seen her classmate after they were dismissed, in the school yard, waiting to go home, nursing the guilty finger. The morality teacher stood beside her, discouraging other students from approaching. For Negar, the fact that she couldn't even go near and console her friend was as bad as the whole trauma of the search. She kept saying, Mom, she doesn't know about our rules and regulations; you know, she just came back from America -- how do you think she feels when they force us to trample on the American flag and shout, Death to America? I hate myself, I hate myself, she repeated as I rocked her back and forth and wiped the mixture of sweat and tears from her soft skin.<br/>
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This, of course, diverted the whole class [girls meeting in Nafisi's home.] Everyone tried to distract Negar by joking and telling stories of their own, how once Nasserin had been sent to the disciplinary committee to have her eyelashes checked. Her lashes were long, and she was suspected of using mascara. That's nothing, said Manna, next to what happened to my sister's friends at Amir Kabir Polytechnic University. During lunch, three of the girls were in the yard eating apples. They were reprimanded by the guards: they were eating their apples too seductively!"</blockquote><br/>
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<b>The picture below is from the graphic novel <i>Persepolis</i>, an autobiography of Marjane Satrapi, depicting her life in Iran during and after the Islamic revolution.</b><br/>
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An incredible burden is placed on Muslim women in some nations to guard their own modesty, to what would be deemed in most other cultures as ridiculous extremes. As with Brian de Bois Guilbert or Claude Frollo, if a Muslim man has a lustful attraction to a woman who is not his wife, the woman is blamed. Perhaps, she showed a little ankle or made direct eye contact. Maybe, she bit an apple seductively! A woman might even be blamed in her own rape, and thus victimized twice. Certainly, it is mysogynistic to put the full burden of purity on the woman, even to the extreme of defying all reason.<br/>
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I confess I don't know how to bite an apple seductively. Perhaps, there are some people who might know how to make an attempt at it. But since what might be perceived as seductive is subjective, my thought is that these girls were merely eating apples with no thought of flirting.<br/>
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I think I can relate to those apple-eating girls in a scenario from my own life. Once, I was with a friend shopping at a drug store in New York City.<br/>
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The temperature was stifling hot inside the store, and my friend and I both found cold drinks to purchase which we carried with us around the store. My hair was quite long at the time, hanging halfway down my back. At one point, I lifted my hair and put the cold bottle I was carrying on the nape of my neck. Shortly after that, a man, who was a complete stranger to me, said something to me with a creepy leer on his face. I did not hear what he said. I only know that he made me uncomfortable, and I quickened my pace to hurry past him. It wasn't until months, maybe even years later, that I considered the thought that, perhaps, in this man's mind, my cold bottle to the neck was some sort of attention-getting flirtatious gesture, as I have since seen women on TV do a similar trick with a cold can or ice cube to some part of the body. The creepy leering man was quite mistaken if that's what he thought. My neck was hot, and that's all.<br/>
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In the U.S. and Canada, rape shield laws have been put in place to prohibit cross-examination of the accuser(alleged victim)in certain areas, such as what she was wearing at the time of the incident. Of course, there have been cases where women have falsely accused men, such as in the 2006 case against three members of the Duke lacrosse team.<br/>
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So it is hoped, that the truth would come out during a fair trial. Of course, it should be determined if the accusation rings true or not. However, in a case where there is force, not consent, I don't think it is really that consequential what the woman was wearing. Some choices of clothing may show poor judgment on the woman's part, but her state of dress or undress doesn't give license to the man to lose control of his behavior.<br/>
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Modesty, pornography and related topics have often been a discussion point in my workplace, so I have given it much thought. Where does the burden lie in cases of sexual sin and sexual crime? Does the burden lie with women to guard their own modesty or does the burden lie with men to guard their own minds? I have heard arguments for either side, sometimes with an extreme lean towards one side or another, but I think the answer is more straight down the middle, a little bit of both.<br/>
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As a Christian, I believe that all mankind descended from Adam and Eve. When sin came into the world with Adam and Eve, so did clothing. Adam and Eve first made clothing for themselves from fig leaves, and then God Himself made clothing for them from an animal's skin. If sin had not come into the world with Adam and Eve, I think it is reasonable to assume from the Bible that people would have continued to live in the Garden of Eden, as strange as it seems, in some sort of nudist colony type civilization. If everyone could be trusted to be pure-minded, nudity would not be an issue.<br/>
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Nudity itself does not equal lust or necessarily produce lust. People of certain professions -- doctors, surgeons, medical examiners, people in the funeral business -- look at naked bodies repeatedly. We certainly hope that these professional people look at the body with a pure mind, in a professional way, and not a lustful way. Some people I know, who are not coming from a Christian worldview as I am, in debating with me, have taken this point to the extreme, that if we, as a culture, were less prudish about the body, if we were more lax about modesty and more lax about pornography, sexual crime in this country would actually decrease rather than increase. I think the point that my debaters attempted to make was that removing the mystery of the naked human body would remove the unhealthy obsession with it.<br/>
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If this is the case and that point is valid, then it is only reasonable that cultures where people have traditionally worn less clothing should have less sexual violence.<br/>
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In doing some research on this subject, I read Chapter 7 of "The Origins of War in Child Abuse," 2010, by Lloyd DeMause. What I found is far too disturbing to share in detail -- Feel free to look it up yourself. The book is online -- but the author made a study of this aspect of life in Papua New Guinea, Australian aboriginal culture and African tribal cultures. His study would certainly seem to suggest otherwise. In fact, some child abuse seems to be encouraged by the fact that some families in Papua New Guinea would sleep close together in the nude. This includes the abuse of boys and not just girls or women.<br/>
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Clearly, removing the mystery of the human body does not lessen lust or sexual crime. It is true that, to the pure-minded, nudity is not necessarily pornographic. Titus 1:15, "To the pure all things are pure, but to those who are defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure." At the same time, we are a fallen, sinful people, and we need the fig leaves. It is not wise to live as nudists or to wear provocative clothing. The mind can not be trusted to be pure, and we can not trust the minds of others to be pure. This makes modesty a necessity.<br/>
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But how modest is modest? How much covering do we need? I Timothy 2:9 in Scripture says, "In like manner also, that the women should adorn themselves in modest apparel, with propriety and moderation..." But how do you define what modest apparel is?<br/>
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Should women wear burkhas, smothering garments that impair both vision and movement?<br/>
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Should we go back to wearing cumbersome Victorian swimsuits on the beach?<br/>
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These measures are a bit extreme (certainly in the case of the burkha) but I think it's clear from the modern culture what is considered to be sexually provocative. Otherwise, a prostitute would not know how to dress. To be modest, a woman should not dress like a prostitute. She should not draw too much attention, as in showing cleavage, to the parts of the body that are eroticized.<br/>
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Though she's far removed from being a theological or moral expert, I like this quote by fashion designer Edith Head.<br/>
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In closing, yes, a woman should guard her own modesty, but, that said, a man should also guard his mind. "Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it." Proverbs 4:23Susan Joy Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15175162058220262157noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3055080204920665277.post-91356987808443973902012-06-30T13:20:00.001-07:002012-06-30T15:53:35.895-07:00Robot "Love?"<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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In 2004, I went to the theater with a friend to see the movie "Stepford Wives." Even before I had seen the movie, I had some understanding of the basic story concept since my mother had seen the 1975 version of the movie.<br/>
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The story, a slightly creepy dark comedy, explores several interesting ideas. What if a human being could be robotically programmed to "love" you? Would that love be rewarding if the person's will was not involved? Similar themes have been explored in other ways such as in the movie "Love Potion Number 9." What if someone loved you but only because that person was under the influence of a potion?<br/>
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<b>Sandra Bullock and Tate Donovan in "Love Potion Number 9."</b><br/>
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"Stepford Wives" also explores another "what if." What if a human being could be robotically programmed to do all the perfect things? The person's natural weaknesses and flaws would be erased. The person would be "perfect," but the person's will is not involved. How rewarding could this arrangement be?<br/>
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<b>The Female Improvement System</b><br/>
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<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/HkfaRh__E6U" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br/>
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Although the 2004 "Stepford Wives" movie explores the husband and wife relationship, with the wife as robot, the '70's series of movies included "Stepford Children" and "Stepford Husbands," so the same concept could be applied to artificially perfect husbands and children. If your wife or husband, son or daughter hugged you, but only because they were programmed to do so, would it be as rewarding as if it were an act of the will? Planting computer chips in human brains is a bit far-fetched for real life, but other mind control devices such as brainwashing and hypnosis are not.<br/>
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Sometimes experts in hypnosis persuade people to do goofy things they wouldn't normally do for our entertainment. I personally would never volunteer for such an experiment, but at the same time, I confess I have found watching these experiments entertaining and disturbing at the same time. Below is a man hypnotising members of an audience at a state fair. Notice that one of the girls is convinced she is in love with the hypnotist and wants to hug him.<br/>
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<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/7VGXiuoYWeQ" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br/>
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On the subject of robotics, I've been doing a bit of reading as research for some of my fiction writing. Some roboticists are interested in making robots as human-like as possible. This Japanese humanoid robot below, HRP-4C, sings and dances while imitating human-like mouth and head movements and human breathing.<br/>
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The "Daily Mail" online, on June 12 of this year, had an article about this "last moment" robot below that could soothe a lonely person who is about to die in lieu of family or friends.<br/>
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Eddie Wrenn of the "Daily Mail" writes:<br/>
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<blockquote>"A smooth white robot starts gently rubbing your arm with a swing-saw motion and then, with a metallic voice, says: 'I am the Last Moment Robot. I am here to help you and guide you through your last moment on Earth.
'I am sorry that your family and friends can't be with you right now, but don't be afraid. I am here to comfort you. You are not alone, you are with me. Your family and friends love you very much, they will remember you after you are gone. '
Last moments: The robot gently swings its arm back and forth to simulate a relaxing stroke.<br/>
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Is this a better way to go than dying alone? Or is it creepy? Is this kind of affection wanted when it is received by placebo, or worse, simply the pre-recorded responses from an unthinking, programmed machine?"</blockquote><br/>
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As fascinating as robot technology is, I don't think robots can replace humans in such a personal role, and judging from the reaction to the article, I think most people agree.<br/>
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On a less creepy note, Connie Francis, in the '60's, sang a light and funny song, but suitable to the theme of this blog, "Robot Man," about how a robot's company would be more reliable than a live date. Here are some actual robots dancing to the song.<br/>
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Really though, the "Stepford Wives" story plot has always made me think of a theological application. God could have created us, automatically programmed to be morally perfect and to love God as He loves us. He didn't He gave us free will.<br/>
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"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." John 3:16 To believe or not to believe is a choice of our will.<br/>
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Once we believe, God works with us to morally perfect us. Romans 8:28 a"And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son..."<br/>
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From C.S. Lewis in "Mere Christianity:"<br/>
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<blockquote>"God created things which had free will. That means creatures which cn either go wrong or right. Some people think they can imagine a creature which was free but had no possibility of going wrong: I can not. If a thing is free to be good, it is also free to be bad. It makes evil possible. Why then did God give us free will? Because free will, though it makes evil possible, is also the only thing that makes possible any love or goodness or joy worth having. A world of automata -- of creatures that worked like machines -- would hardly be worth creating. The happiness which God designs for His higher creatures is the happiness of being freely, voluntarily united to Him and to each other in an ecstasy of love and delight compared with which the most rapturous love between a man and a woman on this earth is mere milk and water. And for that they must be free."</blockquote><br/>
<br/>Susan Joy Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15175162058220262157noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3055080204920665277.post-174018212021520192012-06-29T10:17:00.002-07:002012-07-14T19:37:26.618-07:00"Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" and "Mars Needs Moms" -- What These Movies Say About MotherhoodBefore I offend some female readers, I think I should preface this blog by saying that I am not opposed to all women's progress accomplished by the feminist movement. I'm glad American women have the right to vote, that we can pursue a number of interesting careers, and, especially personally, that we can write books under our own names rather than Currer Bell(Charlotte Bronte)and George Eliot(Mary Anne Evans.)I'm glad that the 19th century "Bloomers" thought it was a good idea women should have more practical clothing than skirts to our ankles for doing more active things such as riding a bicycle.<br/>
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I might even agree with some of the issues supported by today's feminists such as in this partial statement from Wikipedia, "Since the 1980s, standpoint feminists have argued that the feminist movement should address global issues (such as rape, incest, and prostitution) and culturally specific issues (such as female genital mutilation in some parts of Africa and the Middle East..."<br/>
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I do have a problem with ultra-feminism, where women want to be superior and not just equal to men, where motherhood and children (particularly unborn children) are devalued. That said, I will point out the anti-feminism themes I see in two movies.<br/>
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I grew up listening to two Disney movie soundtracks on vinyl record. As the movies were released in the theater before I was born, I was familiar with the soundtracks long before I actually viewed the movies. One was "Mary Poppins." The other was "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang." I love both. The story of "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang," as presented in the Disney movie, has so many elements that I enjoy: the Victorian setting, the folk art aesthetic, a family friendly story and an absent-minded inventor/dreamer/visionary main character. It's hard for me to fully express just what I love about this movie.<br/>
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In recent years, as an adult, I read the original "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" book by Ian Fleming, who is more famous for his James Bond stories. I was disappointed that, aside from the main characters and their ridiculous names like Truly Scrumptious and Caractacus Potts (perhaps to imply Cracked Pot) and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, the flying car, the book had absolutely no resemblance to the movie whatsoever. The plot is entirely different. There is no trip to Vulgaria, no Baron and Baroness Bomburst and no children banned to the underground. I have to confess I like the Disney movie plot better.<br/>
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As an adult, however, I see something different in the movie than I saw as a youth. Children are outlawed in Vulgaria. The baroness who rules the land recoils from children as if they were mice or vermin.<br/>
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This makes me think of China where there is a two child limit per household, and children are aborted to keep the number under this quota. But it also makes me think of the selfish ultra-feminist who devalues children as an inconvenience, who treats the unborn child as an extension of the mother's body, a lump of unfeeling flesh to be disposed of if it's inconvenient. She has the right to abort, because "It's my body" as if aborting a baby was something like trimming hair or nails. Clearly, there are two bodies involved.<br/>
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<b>A sixteen-week-old baby in utero</b><br/>
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I have some past experience as a child care worker, and I saw an ugly side to motherhood there too, as did the writers of "The Nanny Diaries," a selfish motherhood that puts career above all else, where children are shuffled from one program to the next, to before-care, then school, then after-care to ballet or karate class. I cared for affection-starved children who wanted me to hug and cuddle them and asked me, "Pretend you're my mom."<br/>
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The fact that the child-hating baroness is the villain, and the story is in favor of the children, seems to me to have a parallel to a pro-life and pro-children message, whether or not that was the intention of the Disney writers.<br/>
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The other more recent movie where I saw a subtle anti-feminist message was in "Mars Needs Moms." Other reviewers saw just the opposite, but since this female-dominated world (on Mars) is presented in a negative not positive light, I see it as taking a different stance. Although perhaps it could be stated that children viewing the movie might not be able to see the subtlety.<br/>
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In the female-dominated world of Mars, young girls are raised by nanny-bots, not mothers, and young boys are thrown into the trash heap where they are raised by the "hairy tribe guys." I have to think that the script writers are making a point about ultra-feminism and not a positive one.<br/>
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In the end, they discover a cave painting that shows "two parents," showing that in the past Mars had a family structure more similar to that on Earth. They had forgotten about a mother's care and love for her children and the need for children to have two parents. One critical reviewer disliked the fact that the word "father" is never mentioned specifically in the movie. I can understand that, but perhaps the point was that this society had degraded to such a point they no longer understood what "father" was. However, the point of the movie seems to be that two parents is a good thing rather than otherwise.<br/>
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The fact that the young boys are treated so differently than girls in the Mars society is, of course, disturbing. I remember (not verbatim) the disdainful line that the villainous matriarch of the society makes about young boys, "always laughing and playing." There does seem to be a similar prejudice in our modern society about active and excitable young boys.<br/>
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I was talking some months ago to a female friend of mine who is the mother of two teenaged boys. She mentioned a female educator who unfairly made things difficult for her sons on a number of occasions and had the nerve to announce during a public ceremony that she "hated boys." Really? It reminded me of stories my own mother has told me about when my oldest brother was in elementary school. My poor brother who was a quiet, well-behaved boy who was far from being hyper was getting stomach aches from the stress his teacher put on him and the boys in his class in general. She screamed and yelled in a paranoid way even when they were behaved, and one time, my mother caught her in the act and understood my brother's stress.<br/>
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Why are so many children, especially boys, labelled ADD and ADHD? It may not be natural to every boy (or girl,)especially at a young age, to sit quietly in school for hours on end. I tend to think, and this is just my opinion, that these levels of energy are more basic and normal human differences. Why is the active child "abnormal" and needs a label and a prescription for Ritalin? If these children are so abnormal, why are there so many of them? There may be some cases where medication is needed, where the problem has some root in some neurological abnormality, but I don't believe it's a good thing to label a child because he exhibits some unwanted traits or to give out Ritalin as a panacea.<br/>
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The throwaway children in both movies, the underground children in "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" and the trash heap boys in "Mars Needs Moms", makes me think of another social problem that is not a direct result of feminism, street children in Peru. The problem comes as a result of the breakdown of the family, as much from problematic fathers as problematic mothers, but the boys in the trash heap of Mars make me think of the boys in the trash heaps of Peru. My pastor has written a book, <a href="http://kingscupbearers.blogspot.com/">Habitations of Cruelty</a>, about this very problem and other problems affecting the world's children. There are, I believe a preponderance of street children in other nations as well, but my church in particular has concerned itself with the street boys of Peru, supporting an organization called Centro Shama.<br/>
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From the Centro Shama website,
<blockquote>"Only in Lima it is calculated that approximately 1500 to 2000 boys, girls and adolescents, with the age among 6 to 17 years, are living in the street.
This phenomenon is consequence of the family crisis that we experience, the increment of disfunctioning families, extreme poverty, migration to Lima, that during the last two decades ascended to exorbitant percentages, the crisis of values that our society experience and the infantile abuse, that every day is increasing.
All this causes, that every day a boy escapes from his house."</blockquote><br/>
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I'm so happy that my church supports the shelter, care and rehabilitation of these children at Centro Shama.<br/>
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<br/>Susan Joy Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15175162058220262157noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3055080204920665277.post-35424004223291245042012-06-28T07:31:00.001-07:002012-06-30T08:24:00.453-07:00Women's Beauty, Photoshop and the Pursuit of an Ideal<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Here is Keira Knightly in a poster for the movie "King Arthur" before and after Photoshopping. In the Photoshopped poster, her waist shrunk and her bust grew. According to an article by Dana Macario on MSNBC News online, "Concerned that the perfect images of celebrities we see every day are affecting kids' self-esteem, the Brits are fighting back. As part of a Body Confidence campaign, the government is urging parents to teach their kids about altered images." The British government is apparently providing youth with downloadable pamphlets showing images altered with Photoshop, concerned these ideal images would be damaging to self esteem and put girls under extraordinary pressure to measure up.<br/>
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There are some videos I've seen put out by Dove, the soap company, that show similar transformations of models going through the entire process of beauty, make-up, photos and then all of the Photoshop retouching to the photos. They are astonishing to watch. This model, prior to this rigorous routine, actually seems to look much more like an every day "ordinary" woman.<br/>
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I'm not suggesting women "let themselves go." I'm all in favor of women doing all they can within reasonable means to look their personal best which may include proper diet, exercise, makeup, choosing clothes that are flattering and so forth. Clearly though, some women, and young teen girls especially, go through turmoil in their pursuit of perfection and develop self-harmful behaviors like anorexia and bulimia. I also believe that plastic surgery, except for cases such as in correcting a birth defect or damage from an accident, is also going to harmful extremes in the pursuit of beauty.<br/>
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Women have been distorting and crippling their bodies throughout history in the pursuit of a beauty considered ideal by the culture of the time. There was the practice of foot binding that took place in China up until the early 20th century. It stunted foot growth and caused women to hobble. I apologize for this painful photo below.<br/>
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Some would say today's high heeled shoes and pointy toed shoes for women are also potentially damaging to the feet.<br/>
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From Stylite.com on January 25 of this year, "In results published last week in 'The Journal of Applied Physiology,' the scientists found that heel wearers moved with shorter, more forceful strides than the control group, their feet perpetually in a flexed, toes-pointed position. This movement pattern continued even when the women kicked off their heels and walked barefoot. As a result, the fibers in their calf muscles had shortened and they put much greater mechanical strain on their calf muscles than the control group did." This information, by the way, has not prevented me from wearing heels, but neither do I wear them every day and for every occasion.<br/>
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In Victorian times, bustles and corsets were used to enhance and create an unnatural silhouette. Look at this "Gibson girl" with her corseted waist. Does this not look painful? No wonder the women in Victorian novels are prone to fainting.<br/>
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Much of what we see in Hollywood today is "fake" or artificially enhanced beauty, as so many celebrity women, the ones that are considered "bombshells," received their unnatural proportions through surgical enhancement. As harmful as this is to young girls, I think it may also be just as harmful to men. Even men who choose to avoid pornography -- it's easy enough to stumble across it accidentally on the Internet -- could be more subtly influenced by the media in unrealistic expectations of female beauty.<br/>
<br/>Susan Joy Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15175162058220262157noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3055080204920665277.post-2486932006439795162012-06-27T08:38:00.002-07:002012-06-27T09:06:29.768-07:00Assorted Thoughts on Reading Inspired by C.S. LewisC.S. Lewis is a personal hero of mine for his imaginative writing and his theological writing, spiritual insights, deep thinking, studious nature and many other reasons. He was also a voracious reader all his life, starting in childhood.<br/>
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<b>"You could never get a cup of tea large enough or a book large enough to suit me."</b><br/>
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I can relate to this, can you? I am continuously reading. I constantly desire to enrich my mind and learn and explore new things or just appreciate the beauty of language and storytelling. Now that I have a Kindle, I can carry a large library with me everywhere. Some evenings, I go from my office to restaurants for dinner and then to municipal meetings at night.(I'm a reporter.)So, my Kindle is my companion when I eat solo or when I have a waiting period before the meeting starts or when the municipal council goes into a closed session. Council people will approach me and ask in a friendly way, "What are you reading today?"<br/>
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I've heard many people say they prefer traditional books made from paper to the Kindle or the Nook, and I can understand those feelings somewhat. I would never want these contraptions to completely replace traditional books. However, it is much easier to carry around a "large book" such as Lewis liked around on a Kindle than tote around, say, "War and Peace" to read on your lunch break (which I actually did at a former job.)Toting "War and Peace" might be just as much exercise for the body as for the mind.<br/>
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I only half-agree with Lewis on the tea part though. I'm an American but have a bit of the Anglophile about me. I adore pretty tea cups and teapots, and I do drink tea fairly often. My favorites are Darjeeling and Earl Grey. This said, I prefer coffee. So, this mug with a similar quote is perhaps more personally suitable.<br/>
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I remember how inspired I was after reading Lewis's autobiography, "Surprised by Joy," reading just how voraciously Lewis read growing up. I remember reading how his family never borrowed books from libraries but always bought them and how they did not put any limitations on what books he could read. He did some pretty ambitious reading at a young age. Books were stashed in odd places throughout the house, even stacked on the stairs. This photograph I found on Pinterest reminded me of it.<br/>
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I don't recommend this book storage system. I don't have a husband, but I think this would drive a husband berserk. As a single, I would still want friends and guests, and this, I would imagine, would drive your friends and guests berserk too. As much as I love books, I love people more. Still, it makes quite an interesting visual.<br/>
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I've made such a hero of Lewis that, when I read about the books that inspired him, I have a desire to read those same writers and books. So, in recent years, I have explored George MacDonald and G.K.Chesterton like the books listed below.<br/>
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I also have an interest in reading books written by the other Inklings, Lewis's writing friends, such as Tolkien.<br/>
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I don't read these writers exclusively, but Lewis's example to me has inspired me to read more, to read more books of great quality and to keep book lists of the works I read each year.<br/>
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This brings me to another quote of his.<br/>
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One of my goals is to read more.<br/>
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1) Read more good books.<br/>
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2)Write good books. Finish what you start. Publish to Kindle.<br/>
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3)Exercise more.<br/>
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4)Lose weight.<br/>
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5)Work on my weaknesses. Develop, with God's help, those positive traits that don't come naturally to my personality type. I am, by the way, a phlegmatic.<br/>
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What are your goals?Susan Joy Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15175162058220262157noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3055080204920665277.post-16860213128607335962012-06-26T09:37:00.002-07:002012-06-26T14:05:27.993-07:00Primitive Art and Child Art -- Miro vs. Olmstead<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqGASvIsMPSR7sKn-1l-JiFNMdxtQCPiydEkCdXuz2ON5tT681OYU1WdiyXFqdeMoTQnzR_oLO84tj8lnfBEUuFW9bmJvs87BZi5XrAe2g_12JVvBmZqaHTyX2a4OLHy4KnWx5MOgosoQ/s1600/sonnens.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="320" width="234" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqGASvIsMPSR7sKn-1l-JiFNMdxtQCPiydEkCdXuz2ON5tT681OYU1WdiyXFqdeMoTQnzR_oLO84tj8lnfBEUuFW9bmJvs87BZi5XrAe2g_12JVvBmZqaHTyX2a4OLHy4KnWx5MOgosoQ/s320/sonnens.jpg" /></a><br/>
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A friend of mine recently talked to me about surrealist artist Joan Miro and said, "It looked like something a five-year-old would draw." Looking at this one, the painting "Sonnens" above, I tend to agree with my friend. It certainly looks like something a five-year-old would do. Actually, come to think of it, it reminds me somewhat of Wall-E from the Pixar movie, only Wall-E was much more skillfully rendered. It hardly took the skill to make this painting as it did for Michelangelo to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel or sculpt the "David," so it does make you wonder how this is just as museum worthy as Michelangelo.<br/>
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Anyone else see a resemblance?<br/>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmknIpUW8c9H0KgTkVRj5H0qZ2F_fif3_3tgv6f9HIVV4hyphenhyphen7ssj0-PjysmpTiGDFAlZ3xdaOWPNp-4qffJkXs02jCNjpZpalt9U2xtDp5_3pfgjDd7ZxB7BULZdHG5ZViwfuUAiDwxv_I/s1600/Wall-E.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="214" width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmknIpUW8c9H0KgTkVRj5H0qZ2F_fif3_3tgv6f9HIVV4hyphenhyphen7ssj0-PjysmpTiGDFAlZ3xdaOWPNp-4qffJkXs02jCNjpZpalt9U2xtDp5_3pfgjDd7ZxB7BULZdHG5ZViwfuUAiDwxv_I/s320/Wall-E.jpg" /></a><br/>
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According to Wikipedia,"Earning international acclaim, his work has been interpreted as Surrealism, a sandbox for the subconscious mind, a <b>re-creation of the childlike</b>, and a manifestation of Catalan pride. In numerous interviews dating from the 1930s onwards, Miró expressed contempt for conventional painting methods as a way of supporting bourgeois society, and famously declared an 'assassination of painting' in favor of upsetting the visual elements of established painting." So, "childlike" is actually mentioned in one of the opening paragraphs of the article. Obviously, my friend and I are not the only ones who've made such an observation.<br/>
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Just like not all Picasso's paintings were cubist and some had more realism, for example, "The Old Man with Guitar," so Miro does have a few paintings that show a little bit more realism. I can't say the painting below, "Painting of Toledo" looks like something a five-year-old would do. It is a bit of a surrealist landscape with the unnatural colors and wavy lines in the foreground, and even the more realistic building is only semi-realistic, but I don't mind it quite so much. As a whole, it makes me think of some of the Post-Impressionists like Van Gogh or Cezanne. I can see it as a stylistic sort of illustration for, say, a fantasy story of some sort. When my focus is on the foreground, I'm reminded more of psychedelic art.<br/>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDLmWu9VNErK7pUvCYCFpWvEwf77pT5QZ0Pm3eD4ZM29QxrvT23fGnAUTROZE7_SW6xe5ARdGOl_IVq5eqCofNrX83WVJTtKJ4MN3QTaF-nsHIS2ecYgZQKSWYq7epTG5h6oe8z90bs7k/s1600/toledo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="283" width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDLmWu9VNErK7pUvCYCFpWvEwf77pT5QZ0Pm3eD4ZM29QxrvT23fGnAUTROZE7_SW6xe5ARdGOl_IVq5eqCofNrX83WVJTtKJ4MN3QTaF-nsHIS2ecYgZQKSWYq7epTG5h6oe8z90bs7k/s320/toledo.jpg" /></a><br/>
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Many of Miro's paintings I've observed are more similar to the one below, "The Red Sun," an abstract and odd assortment of peculiar shapes with a lot of use of primary colors. His paintings may show a sense of balance and a use of vibrating color, but there is not an incredible amount of skill involved that is different or superior than what a lot of other artists could easily do. According to www.joanmiro.com, "Joan Miro had a very eccentric style that is the embodiment of his unique approach to his artwork." I suppose that's what is unique about him, that he defined his own style, one that may be as difficult to imitate convincingly as some individual's quirky handwriting. I wonder if anyone has tried to forge an "undiscovered" Miro? His quirky style is, however, not something I prefer. Much of the modern art in museums seem more like philosophical statements, in his case maybe the "assassination of art," than works of superior skill.<br/>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDL-fM0lGIq1Y1A4ywZmwrBH1HI-JR05tGJ9GR0R-sH_NOLsQLrqpp7XexIkgmLD8Qv53E-UqKCIU_nqG4lMmTecGwAVXMRDlPIDTpzKR17JdEfEplWNk8gBEal8PAaIUBM3UnTKH1Pmw/s1600/joan-mir%25C3%25B3-the-red-sun.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="320" width="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDL-fM0lGIq1Y1A4ywZmwrBH1HI-JR05tGJ9GR0R-sH_NOLsQLrqpp7XexIkgmLD8Qv53E-UqKCIU_nqG4lMmTecGwAVXMRDlPIDTpzKR17JdEfEplWNk8gBEal8PAaIUBM3UnTKH1Pmw/s320/joan-mir%25C3%25B3-the-red-sun.jpg" /></a><br/>
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Recently, I have read about a six-year-old abstract artist, Maria Olmstead, who is selling her paintings for big bucks. When it comes to Miro vs. Olmstead, I prefer the actual child paintings to the childlike Miro paintings.<br/>
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This is not something the average six-year-old paints. For instance,I remember a painting my nephew Bill created as a child where colors were swirled together and turned into a muddy puddle. No offense to Bill. His skills lie elsewhere, in math and in computer programming. :) Olmstead's painting style may not be realistic, and it may be somewhat random, but it is also a very pleasing pattern of texture and color. There is, I think, a place for that in the world of art and design. Below is her painting "Lollipop House."<br/>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6eZZGeEWg5dxYicfrhyfd9pjkR-oMIVIy2NOIs5NKmN6yAwHOvImuOnxxKbUfZA1WYad0Le2IvvivEfg93mCWLdgQkAdvKrEpQHv7cP_c9a2NusP7zsELEMCPIt651JiPb4GUdabimIM/s1600/lollipophouse.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="259" width="194" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6eZZGeEWg5dxYicfrhyfd9pjkR-oMIVIy2NOIs5NKmN6yAwHOvImuOnxxKbUfZA1WYad0Le2IvvivEfg93mCWLdgQkAdvKrEpQHv7cP_c9a2NusP7zsELEMCPIt651JiPb4GUdabimIM/s320/lollipophouse.jpeg" /></a><br/>
I do realize that artistic preferences are somewhat subjective. "Lollipop House" is not likely a painting I would love to have framed on my wall, because my preference for wall art is more representational than abstract. It is something that I feel would be a great design for any number of textiles or fabrics, rugs, scarves, etc., where the design is repeated over a large surface. What is your preference, child artist Olmstead or childlike artist Miro?Susan Joy Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15175162058220262157noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3055080204920665277.post-29088862318224350302012-06-25T18:11:00.002-07:002012-06-26T13:50:51.221-07:00My Mystery Novel "Soundtrack" PlaylistI am writing a mystery story currently called <b>"More Than Meets the Eye: A Jack Donegal Novella."</b> I hope to finish it and publish directly to Kindle soon. My hero, Jack Donegal, a quirky but lovable toy inventor, stumbles into a mystery when he purchases an antique teddy bear at auction with his marketing assistant, Andy Westin. There are dangers, comical misadventures, lots of techno gadgetry and even spy intrigue.<br/>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYvodVSyiWQ6YjscIy6haNGPllsa_den5u1PcUwhSXUtlO_YsmAtY4XtBKPksPL4ORYy5uB4b0Diguac_KgJI_8IgKpMzMnGK7yOMpqjE74XgKB5e-1vbGRl3AMt9-_vWS8uOD6pE4Pm8/s1600/antiquebear.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="215" width="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYvodVSyiWQ6YjscIy6haNGPllsa_den5u1PcUwhSXUtlO_YsmAtY4XtBKPksPL4ORYy5uB4b0Diguac_KgJI_8IgKpMzMnGK7yOMpqjE74XgKB5e-1vbGRl3AMt9-_vWS8uOD6pE4Pm8/s320/antiquebear.jpg" /></a><br/>
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I was surprised by how many songs I mentioned in the context of the story. Often, when I write fiction, I have a soundtrack in my mind to go along with it, as if my story, in written form, was a movie.<br/>
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But, in my current story, almost all of the playlist songs are mentioned by name in the context of the story. At times, they play an actual part in the plot! But, at other times, they are merely mentioned in passing by the story's narrator, Andy Westin. So, on Youtube, I made a "soundtrack" for my mystery story thus far. Who knows? Maybe, there will be more songs woven into my story by the time I am done.<br/>
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The songs mentioned are basically all over the musical map, I mean <i>really</i>, very widely varied. Part of the reason for that is that my musical interests are very widely varied, and another reason is that several of them are mentioned in comical contexts. It is, after all, a comedy mystery.<br/>
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Song #1) <b>"If You're Going To San Francisco"</b> by Scott McKenzie -- The beginning of the story is set in San Francisco, and well, yes, it is mentioned in a comical context. Trust me. :) I know it was never meant to be comical, but this song just makes me laugh anyway.<br/>
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Song #2)<b>"Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds"</b> by the Beatles.(I used the Bono version in my playlist.) I hate the reference to LSD in this song, but, here, it is used in reference to someone with "kaleidoscope eyes."<br/>
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Song #3)<b>"Mission Impossible Theme"</b> Jack and Andy are on a mission impossible!<br/>
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Song #4)<b>"The Major General Song"</b> from "Pirates of Penzance." I can't give all my secrets away, but it is fitting (and funny.)I told you we were all over the musical map.<br/>
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Song #5)<b>"Bad Boys"</b> by Bob Marley. Jack and Andy are after some bad boys! Whether the bad boys are coming after Jack and Andy or Jack and Andy are coming after them is the question.<br/>
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Song #6)<b>"Hit Me With Your Best Shot"</b> by Pat Benatar, <b>"One Way or Another"</b> by Blondie. In my playlist, the two are combined in a medley by Glee.<br/>
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Song #7)<b>"What's the Matter with Kids Today?"</b> from "Bye Bye Birdie." It is just mentioned in passing.<br/>
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Song #8)<b>"Three Little Birds"</b> by Connie Talbot (cover of Bob Marley song.) I actually had this in a spot where my male heroes were comforting their female friend, Ellen, encouraging her not to worry, but I switched it for another song. I kept it in the Youtube playlist though.<br/>
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Song #9)<b>"Watermelon Man"</b> by Herbie Hancock. I love this one. :)<br/>
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Song #10)<b>"Smooth Criminal"</b> by 2Cellos (cover of Michael Jackson song.) Jack would rather be a slightly inept superhero than a smooth criminal.<br/>
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Song #11)<b>"Escher's World"</b> by Chagall Guevara. Escher (and some other artists) have some importance in the story.<br/>
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Song #12)<b>"The Last of the Secret Agents"</b> by Nancy Sinatra. Cute song. Funny lyrics. I like the part, "I never had to slap his face," as my gentle hero is, by no means, any kind of a James Bond womanizer.<br/>
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The playlist is embedded here. You should be able to flip from one song to the next. A few seem not to work in the playlist, but you should be able to skip to the next one on the list. I may replace the few that don't play at a future time.<br/>
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<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/videoseries?list=PL1C29699ABAD6BA56&hl=en_US" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>Susan Joy Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15175162058220262157noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3055080204920665277.post-4016561817874605272012-06-25T10:26:00.000-07:002012-06-27T11:15:35.555-07:00Pride, Prejudice and Penitence<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMIyaQHSQMnOKncOU82_acMyhMOE2CR8phC7tyFi7-yPqETO6MqPTsgBKLxaCzeEBRpVlkhFSVNe3Us2BcSt7S1UZUSM610uWyAnZ1vFDG8W9Bg7nT0hB4sjVsXJrwHx3Y3WYE7nTnTTI/s1600/little-black-girl.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="214" width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMIyaQHSQMnOKncOU82_acMyhMOE2CR8phC7tyFi7-yPqETO6MqPTsgBKLxaCzeEBRpVlkhFSVNe3Us2BcSt7S1UZUSM610uWyAnZ1vFDG8W9Bg7nT0hB4sjVsXJrwHx3Y3WYE7nTnTTI/s320/little-black-girl.jpg" /></a><br/>
One summer not too long ago, I was walking along the boardwalk in Ocean City, New Jersey, getting acquainted with a new friend. We had traveled with a mutual friend. He asked me a deep question, what from my past did I regret the most. I had a hard time thinking of something at first. I think my friend was expecting I might have a terrible story of rebellion in my youth, but really, I don't have any such stories. I've never been drunk. I've never experimented with drugs. I've maintained my purity. After a time, I did think of something in my childhood that I regretted. It was not something that continuously nagged at me -- I believe God has forgiven me -- but it is something that I remember with pain when I recall it. At times, I want to travel back in a time machine to replay the scenario a different way. It has to do with how, in my easygoing and people-pleasing nature, I was sometimes manipulated into doing things I wouldn't normally get involved in.<br/>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpGKn_wRU5sPBsU1AX5Jasg2xANIWj5fGo4rE9nwGshyjceyEdqlix656LEe0fS3nJNialHGIM-IVnwQcYkr62FsQWRNuRmmtejv_G_UPydWm3GczMXnSBgiGFg9OxTLdosNbMuXwD_VU/s1600/oceancity2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="244" width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpGKn_wRU5sPBsU1AX5Jasg2xANIWj5fGo4rE9nwGshyjceyEdqlix656LEe0fS3nJNialHGIM-IVnwQcYkr62FsQWRNuRmmtejv_G_UPydWm3GczMXnSBgiGFg9OxTLdosNbMuXwD_VU/s320/oceancity2.jpg" /></a><br/>
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In the community where I grew up, I had almost no exposure to people of color. My first exposure to black people was probably through television, through shows like "The Jeffersons," "Sanford and Son," "What's Happenin'," "Good Times" and maybe even Bill Cosby's "Fat Albert." In some of the neighboring towns that abut my own, the demographics would have been quite a bit different, but in my grade school, there were no black students whatsoever. Later, when I moved to the next neighboring town at age twelve, out of a class of 100 seventh grade students, there was one black boy. My first significant black friend was a boy I met in the eighth grade through a parachurch Bible study group. He was from the Dominican Republic and liked me very much. He would have liked to date me if I was able, but I was young, younger then he was by three or four years,and not allowed to date.<br/>
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But further back in my childhood, when I was perhaps eight or nine years old, for a short while, there was a black girl my own age who lived in my neighborhood. I never saw her in school, since she attended a private Catholic school in town; however, she lived just around the block from me. A school friend, whose backyard was adjacent to mine, had befriended her, and there was one occasion when the three of us played together. The other two, my backyard friend and this girl, got into a fight at some point. I no longer have any recollection of what started it or what the cause of the conflict was.<br/>
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What I do remember was that I was somehow manipulated into taking the role of the middle man, delivering hateful messages from one girl to the other. Each stayed in her own yard, and I walked back and forth carrying messages. One girl would tell me, "I'm not talking to her, but tell her (blank) for me." One of the messages to our black friend included the use of the "n" word...nigger. I remember qualifying it by saying, "This isn't me saying this, but she says..." And, I'll admit that I was an equal opportunity insulter, that is, I was being diplomatic in delivering the insulting messages from both sides.<br/>
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Why would I participate in this? I'm not sure. Maybe, initially, I thought I might be able to play the peacemaker, but, of course, it worked out quite differently. It afflicted my conscience at the time, especially the use of the "n" word, even repeating it as the neutral messenger. Most likely my cooperation was due to the fact that the nature of my friendship to my backyard friend was a strange one. You might even call it an abusive relationship. She would take advantage of my placid nature by manipulation and sometimes made threats or became violent when I did not cooperate with her. Still, I wish now I'd had the backbone to stay out of it, or if I did interfere, to use more of a peacemaking effort rather than repeating the words like some sort of messenger parrot. I was being a pushover. So, this is one regret that brings me pain when I remember it.<br/>
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On a different note, I remember when my nephew, Micah, who grew up in Maine, saw his first black person while on a family trip with us to the Statue of Liberty.<br/>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf5ajoh6RZRaaibdX9NTT-IQRXIOlN7OK_AiQEHAYs3m1pbI25pgQcPkLBIUW0j7ss7BRg72wWrkklSBX_2ljZzkgAODyWia7pu7uTD89wZ-MjxOTvRU4IXopYWTg1qihwjhcEbPhENjU/s1600/Statue+of+Liberty.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="240" width="198" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf5ajoh6RZRaaibdX9NTT-IQRXIOlN7OK_AiQEHAYs3m1pbI25pgQcPkLBIUW0j7ss7BRg72wWrkklSBX_2ljZzkgAODyWia7pu7uTD89wZ-MjxOTvRU4IXopYWTg1qihwjhcEbPhENjU/s320/Statue+of+Liberty.jpeg" /></a><br/>
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Like my early childhood, Micah did not see any black people where he lived. He was only two or three years old, and as he was too young to understand rules of etiquette or that it's impolite to stare, he stood gazing at this man with wide eyes as if to say "I've never seen someone who looked like you before!" My brother, Micah's father, was beginning to feel embarrassed. Happily, the man who was the object of his stares was not at all embarrassed and chatted with my little nephew in a friendly manner. My brother was pleased that this first experience for Micah was a positive one that did not instill in him any negative feelings of awkwardness.<br/>
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The best book I've ever read on race or racisim is "One Blood." I read it while I was writing my novel, "And the Violin Cried," which deals with anti-Semitism. It is the opinion of the authors that there is no such thing, scientifically speaking, as race. There is only the human race. The whole concept of race, and, in fact, racism, by implying that different races evolved from different types of monkeys at different rates, is influenced by Darwinism and evolutionary theory. It is this evolutionary theory that inspired Hitler to feel as he did towards the Jews and the blacks. The Bible has a much more favorable view on humankind.<br/>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJaGN90OHhxc2O_rE2qY2gDmj-g46KmCX9v-FdVPMhRo_MDncpFxMRX-p5Uxi3Lo9N7znAgAnJhcqup3ympMyYszP6b9ehJHtva2HL5rRCrbk9gbakm7uYq9MCNTZ9kiNgD1U5GFjQs6M/s1600/OneBlood.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJaGN90OHhxc2O_rE2qY2gDmj-g46KmCX9v-FdVPMhRo_MDncpFxMRX-p5Uxi3Lo9N7znAgAnJhcqup3ympMyYszP6b9ehJHtva2HL5rRCrbk9gbakm7uYq9MCNTZ9kiNgD1U5GFjQs6M/s320/OneBlood.jpg" /></a></div>Susan Joy Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15175162058220262157noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3055080204920665277.post-23022133592590801592012-06-24T12:55:00.005-07:002012-06-25T12:14:00.364-07:00The Mystery of the Cross<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1QpYhjSWmKGFO1y6cMwzWSsfcw41B9TXI3E16PEnsynlIyYd6IzP7Pv3Dz-BL5GIv72tP20QxstmdpA0tkXVTzxuVrZc5iu7vtjnr83AI5R3JU42R-KdeZgfRTpjW2EVC8J0T8y0fWwI/s1600/ancientCelticcross.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="243" width="207" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1QpYhjSWmKGFO1y6cMwzWSsfcw41B9TXI3E16PEnsynlIyYd6IzP7Pv3Dz-BL5GIv72tP20QxstmdpA0tkXVTzxuVrZc5iu7vtjnr83AI5R3JU42R-KdeZgfRTpjW2EVC8J0T8y0fWwI/s320/ancientCelticcross.jpeg" /></a><br/>
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(I'm republishing a book review I wrote in 2009, so the book is no longer a recent release.)<br/>
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I was one of those strange people that liked my freshman requirement humanities class at Cedarville University, in spite of numerous warnings from other students. Later, as a Gibbs College student, art history was again a subject of interest. So, when author, Judith Couchman, was looking for blog reviewers for her new book, “The Mystery of the Cross: Bringing Ancient Christian Images to Life,” the idea intrigued me and I volunteered.<br/>
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Couchman is the author of many Bible study books, including several my girlfriends and I have studied together from the “Women of Faith” series: ones on Mary (mother of Jesus,) Deborah, Esther and Ruth. She is also a part-time art history professor at the University of Colorado in Colorado Springs. Her new book explores the history of Christian art, specifically cross images.<br/>
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Certainly, the book could appeal to anyone interested in art, but it would not be quite right to say it was simply an art history book. “The Mystery of the Cross” could be a lesson in Christian church history, a Bible study book and a devotional book as well.<br/>
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Her writing style is interesting and descriptive; you will not get the feeling of reading a dry textbook. Although it relates to art and several specific pieces are mentioned, it is not full of color images but there are plenty of black and white sketches and photos throughout. The book is divided into seven major sections with several short chapters organized under each. Each of these chapters focuses on a specific art object, explores its historical context, and from this, Couchman draws illustrations for an aspect of the Christian life, sharing Scripture verses.<br/>
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Couchman’s first chapter even discusses the cross image in pre-Christian times. Counchman thoughtfully states, “Some skeptics claim this ancient sign of the cross disproves Christianity. Because this image recurred in early divergent cultures, they claim Christ’s story wasn’t true; that the first Christians borrowed ‘the cross myth; and its sign from pre-existing religions. But couldn’t the God who oversees the universe and its events have etched the cross image into humanity’s soul before Christ appeared? Could this early sign have prophesied our need for a savior? Perhaps, when the pagan ancients created their own gods and religious signs, they unwittingly patterned the way of Christ.”<br/>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRgpGh8nELlK-W93sBmHg7Ux6T8pouJafDpajbUUOlEify_XFR0HELSbzcMDhyphenhyphenkCPWRtuc02R8-6PZpQ-Xx2uSy6b9j-QGpWgTScA1dwXeEcgbiGrN46ays7KF5sDqTZZUA5jYuZYtESY/s1600/astrology-timeline-Bible-meaning-history-God-jesus-christ-story.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="298" width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRgpGh8nELlK-W93sBmHg7Ux6T8pouJafDpajbUUOlEify_XFR0HELSbzcMDhyphenhyphenkCPWRtuc02R8-6PZpQ-Xx2uSy6b9j-QGpWgTScA1dwXeEcgbiGrN46ays7KF5sDqTZZUA5jYuZYtESY/s320/astrology-timeline-Bible-meaning-history-God-jesus-christ-story.jpg" /></a><br/>
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Tied in with this thought is something gained from a second book, “The Real Meaning of the Zodiac” by Dr. James Kennedy, Ph.D, in which Kennedy says, “Therefore from the very beginning, God has given a story of His salvation from which have come most of the ancient mythologies and ancient traditions.” Kennedy claims that the constellations have Christian meaning, quoting a verse in Genesis, “And God said, ‘Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years…” This is truly a strange thought for someone who has long been taught that the study of astrology is evil. Kennedy doesn’t argue that point, quoting Bible verses that support this idea, but believes that astrology and predicting the future by the stars is a corruption of their original meaning.<br/>
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The Southern Cross is a decan or minor sign which is sometimes seen and sometimes not seen in the sky at different times and centuries. Kennedy wrote of this, “It is interesting that this constellation, though it is now far to the south from the latitude of Jerusalem, had been seen there for many centuries, but disappeared from view at almost exactly the same time that Christ, the real Sacrifice, died on the cross. It has not been seen there since!”<br/>
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Reading either book is recommended. Reading Couchman’s book, you will be sure to discover things you never knew or pondered about before. She easily weaves one thought in with another, leading you on a tour of the world’s Christian art treasures and yet bringing to thought Bible lessons and Christian applications for your personal life.Susan Joy Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15175162058220262157noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3055080204920665277.post-32358696830956275842012-06-24T11:02:00.004-07:002012-06-25T07:12:35.262-07:00Hobcaw Cafe<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh__y8Ies2V5bD2i8SabMBGZRgncdkDEFL3HURvy3jDjrolkmwqdklmiP_5SyBlRSOldyH8tiefVsI0ed8wjyNxI63cYkawKuVhU_Tumc0sOMlTLZNFKHz1ZPh08-jL-ULwNVAQtm3v-gQ/s1600/Hobcaw.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="88" width="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh__y8Ies2V5bD2i8SabMBGZRgncdkDEFL3HURvy3jDjrolkmwqdklmiP_5SyBlRSOldyH8tiefVsI0ed8wjyNxI63cYkawKuVhU_Tumc0sOMlTLZNFKHz1ZPh08-jL-ULwNVAQtm3v-gQ/s200/Hobcaw.jpeg" /></a><br/>
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Today, I dropped by the Hobcaw Cafe at 20 Grove Street in Verona, New Jersey. Hobcaw Cafe is a unique little spot with a pleasant atmosphere. I sat at a small table facing the self-serve coffee area with an assortment of novelty tea pots on display. On the wall behind me, there is a mural of a lovely beach with pieces of driftwood. When I was a patron for the first time, someone explained to me that the name Hobcaw Cafe comes from Hobcaw Barony in South Carolina, a favorite spot of the owners. They do all their own baking on the premises and serve a nice selection of gourmet sandwiches. But, today, I went for brunch.<br/>
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I asked for the tea menu. They have a wide selection of gourmet teas and herbal teas available. I asked my server, Kim, for her recommendation. She recommended the toasted coconut apple tea which I had iced. The menu described it as an Indonesian black tea with coconut and apple flavors. My iced tea was lovely, not too sweet and with a recognizable coconut flavor.<br/>
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From the brunch menu, I selected the black and white French toast. Three thick slices of French toast were arranged on my plate, one black (chocolate,) one white, and another black. I ate my slices in that order. I told the server later that it was a nice combination, that there was one vanilla with the two chocolate, to cut the richness.<br/>
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My black slice was topped with powdered sugar and mini chocolate chips that were quickly melting. As I cut into it, I was surprised to see how it squashed down into a seeming puddle of chocolate. I forgot that I had read on the menu that it was made with chocolate bread. Someone from the kitchen later informed me that there were large pieces of chocolate baked inside the bread. It must have been these melted chunks that made my bread seem like a pool of chocolate. The richness was, however, not overwhelming. Otherwise, it has a spongy bread texture with chocolate flavor.<br/>
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The white slice was also enjoyable, between these two richer offerings. It was made with brioche, coated with powdered sugar and had a spongy texture. I could taste more of the egg coating and real vanilla.<br/>
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If you're local to northern New Jersey, give Hobcaw Cafe a try. It's special and unique, and the service is friendly.Susan Joy Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15175162058220262157noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3055080204920665277.post-96831498757532502012-06-23T14:04:00.001-07:002012-06-24T17:59:25.666-07:00"Brave," Movies and Romance<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I went to see "Brave" last night on its opening night. I won't share any "spoilers," but I will share some of my thoughts that sprang from watching the movie. The basic plot, which you might have picked up from commercials or trailers, is that Merida, the princess, must be betrothed. The fiance-to-be must win her hand in an archery contest. There is a running theme of "choosing your own fate," as most of Merida's decisions are made for her in her regimented life as a princess. Without sharing too many plot details, eventually, Merida's mother decides that she should break tradition and let her daughter find love in her own time.<br />
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During the archery scene, there is a lot of silliness with the various suitors showing off, flexing muscles and sometimes acting more clumsy than skilled. Fathers brag on their sons and their supposed macho and military feats. Of course, Merida is not impressed by their braggadocio or bravado.<br />
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Strangely enough, this made me think of modern dating in our modern culture. Watching this movie, we somehow sense that this scene, and this method of selecting a mate, is silly. But some modern people's concepts are equally silly, and sometimes, it is mature singles (at least in terms of age) who have silly junior high concepts that we can select a mate just by scanning a sea of faces and picking out the prettiest one.<br />
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Why is this? Modern people should have grown up hearing that it's wrong to be shallow and expressions like "Beauty is only skin deep," right? But we've also grown up with movies that glorify the idea of infatuation and promote it as true love, that promote the idea that love is something that will slap us silly some day, that we can't control and that we "fall into."<br />
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"Some enchanted evening, you will see a stranger across a crowded room, and somehow you'll know, you'll know even then, somehow you will see her again and again." from "South Pacific"<br />
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I admit I like the "South Pacific" movie for the beautiful music, but some of the romantic concepts are faulty. Even worse than the "across a crowded room" idea with Nellie and Emile is the scene with Lieutenant Joe Cable and the Polynesian Liat. These two do not speak the same language. On first meeting her, Cable says to Liat, "Avez-vous peur?" which is, "Are you afraid?" in French. The next moment, she has thrown herself on him, demonstrating just how unafraid of him she is, and they make out, and, it is implied...they go further. The greater theme in "South Pacific" is overcoming prejudices of various kinds, which I do appreciate. Many of the more recent romance movies are even worse in their depiction of infatuation and shallow relationships, showing people passionate about each other who just barely met.<br />
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Once, while on a dating site, I had a man chatting with me who wanted to meet me right away. I'm pleased to say that I did not agree to meet him. He kept carrying on about how I was "his type," judging from my photo. As surprised as I was that I could be anyone's physical type, I was not impressed by this flattery. I'd rather have someone look at my profile and take this approach, "Hey, I see you like (insert interest here.) So do I!" rather than "Gee, yer perty!" He was also convinced we were made for each other when he found out we both listened to one of the same radio stations, but this is also a bit of a silly conclusion, after talking to someone for only five minutes.<br />
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I perused match.com several years ago. I don't think I was ever an official member. I was astonished by one man's profile that included a two paragraph long description of his ideal mate. She had to be Italian and wear her hair a certain way and wear lots of lip gloss. His very long description was purely physical with no listing of personality, values or other inner qualifications. I thought to myself, "How can he expect that such a person, if he finds her, will 1) be attracted to him and 2) be a decent person who shares some compatibility?" This may not be kind, but I hoped he would find such a woman, and she would be his own punishment for having such a foolish idea. A person's looks alone tells you almost nothing of importance. It might tell you something about the person's neatness habits or fitness, but that's all.<br />
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I've been reading in "The World's Greatest Love Letters." In one of these historical letters, one man wrote to his wife, "Love is only friendship in a more exalted form." I wish I could recall who wrote that one! (I'll comment later if I can find it.) That, I think, is the best idea, romantic love that has a friendship basis. We can hope that Merida finds love in her own time in this manner. But, how can infatuation be "friendship in an exalted form?" Perhaps, in some cases, if infatuation settles down and matures, it could transform that way.<br />
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<br />Susan Joy Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15175162058220262157noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3055080204920665277.post-29169685269691845222012-06-23T07:46:00.001-07:002012-06-25T14:04:26.374-07:00"Leonardo" Notebooks<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I was inspired recently to start a project with a friend, to share a Leonardo-style notebook. Here is my first entry from that shared notebook.<br />
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Today, I hatched a crazy idea that will help us both develop our creativity and our writing as well as help us bond.<br />
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I've been reading a book called "How to Think Like Leonardo DaVinci" by Michael J. Gelb. DaVinci is a fascinating person to me. He was not only a great artist but a great inventor and a talented genius in all sorts of areas, the reason why, today, a multi-talented person is called a "Renaissance man."<br />
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The concept behind the book I'm reading is not that anybody can learn to be a genius on DaVinci's level but that everybody can learn from DaVinci's approach to learning and creativity. The book makes suggestions for exercises and one of those suggestions is to keep a notebook like DaVinci. You may have seen replicas of his drawings, sketches for his inventions and writings<br />
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This reminds me of the time when I read "The Journals of Rachel Scott" years ago. Rachel Scott was one of the teen girls who was killed in the Columbine shooting. Like Cassie Bernall, Rachel Scott was a devout Christian, and her journals illustrate her faith. The published journals we direct replicas of the original, showing both her handwriting and all the doodles and sketches with which she illustrated them. At the time, I also learned that Rachel Scott shared journals with several of her friends. She'd make an entry, exchange the journal with a friend who would write her piece and back and forth. This actually inspired me when I wrote about two female friends in my novel, "And the Violin Cried." The two friends share a journal that is a combination of a journal, sketchbook and scrapbook.<br />
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The back cover of one of Rachel Scott's last journals<br/>
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My youth novel<br/>
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So, my suggestion is that we combine these ideas and share a Leonardo notebook, Rachel Scott style! We can exchange the notebook every time we see each other and make at least a small entry each day we have it in our keeping.<br />
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Like Leonardo's notebook, the notebook should have both textual and visual elements.<br />
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Ideas for textual elements: a letter to one another, random thoughts, a poem, a story idea or the beginnings of one, a journal entry about happenings in the day, quotes from a song, Scripture or anything inspirational, slice-of-life writing (Look up Wikipedia article on slice-of-life writing or the lyrics to "Tom's Diner" by Suzanne Vega, an example of slice-of-life writing) or basically anything.<br />
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Ideas for visual elements: sketches and doodles (They don't have to super artistic,) a comic strip, a candy wrapper, ticket stubs, a short article clipping, pictures cut from catalogs or magazines...endless possibilities.<br />
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<br />Susan Joy Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15175162058220262157noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3055080204920665277.post-17537462116263111312012-06-22T13:24:00.004-07:002012-06-23T07:47:04.910-07:00Spiritual Thoughts Drawn from "The Avengers"<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg92tuETMdJJHdLyIwgnjIhS2YLQL1Kd0IumGqAnYn7w2GFopvDty7_3kJZzdOkyES8bHQWOWJJ2TjHlkjQxevbxDlUvxOdfwbZcUnMJV_Zt9AT8_SYm8FLu0OvUUacu-TkqSLbY-MTcMg/s1600/Avengers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="294" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg92tuETMdJJHdLyIwgnjIhS2YLQL1Kd0IumGqAnYn7w2GFopvDty7_3kJZzdOkyES8bHQWOWJJ2TjHlkjQxevbxDlUvxOdfwbZcUnMJV_Zt9AT8_SYm8FLu0OvUUacu-TkqSLbY-MTcMg/s320/Avengers.jpg" width="320" /></a>
I went to see "The Avengers" a week or so ago with a female friend. I have to admit that I rarely watch movies featuring comic book characters. It was a strange choice for me, because I barely understand who these characters are, with the exception of the Hulk, since I remember watching the old TV show with the Hulk growing up. I have watched a few of the Spider Man movies and enjoyed those,probably because of the romance in the plot. Yeah...I'm a girl.<br />
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My friend and I decided to go for two reasons. One,we simply wanted to watch a movie showing that particular weekend, and this one interested us the most. Secondly, several women we know, who are as girly as we are, had recommended it. I had also read a good review of the movie in "World Net Daily."<br />
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In spite of this introduction, and admitting to having no expertise in the area of comic books, I did make some interesting observations in the movie and saw what I thought to be spiritual parallels.<br />
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The reviewer for "World Net Daily" pointed out that the movie seemed to be in favor of
one God. There is one scene where Natasha Romanoff (Black Widow) states, concerning Loki and Thor, "These guys come from legend, Captain. They're basically gods."<br />
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Steve Rogers (Captain America) responds,"There's only one God, Ma'am," and then, comically,"And I'm pretty sure he doesn't dress like that."<br />
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There's another scene where Loki demands "worship" from the Hulk. Loki orates, "You are, all of you are beneath me! I am a god, you dull creature,and I shall not be bullied..." Then there is a brief gratifying scene where the Hulk picks up Loki like a rag doll and and whips him around, smashing him into the ground. It's strange to say that I would enjoy this violence, but after such a comment, the audience enjoys seeing the villain put in his proper place. After this, Hulk tells him, "Puny god."<br />
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My friend and I were sufficiently creeped out by Loki, which is, of course, how we were supposed to feel, as he is the villain. We were creeped out by his appearance and manner. At one point during the movie, my friend turned to whisper to me and said, "He's like a demon."<br />
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I thought there was something to that. Satan, who started out as an angel of God, was thrown from heaven for the sin of pride. Even today,he would like to think of himself as equal to God or a god and demand our worship. So, for me, there was another sense in which he was "like a demon" besides his creepiness.<br />
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There is another "worship" type scene in which I saw more of a political implication, which was, perhaps, the intention of the script writers. The scene is in Stuttgart, Germany, and Loki is in front of a crowd.<br />
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"Kneel before me," I said. "Kneel! Is this not simpler? Is this not your natural state? The bright lure of freedom diminishes your life's joys in a mad scramble for power. For identity. You were made to be ruled. In the end, you will always kneel."<br />
An old German man stands and says, "Not to men like you."<br />
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"There are no men like me," says Loki.<br />
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The German man says, "There are always men like you." Of course, I don't think it was coincidental that Captain America is the hero that swoops down at the appropriate moment to save this man.<br />
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The Stuttgart setting, I think, is intended to bring Hitler to mind as well as the rest of the political dictators who may have a similar attitude as Loki. So, it was interesting that the hero was Captain America, which seemed to symbolize some American patriotism and the American idea of political freedom.<br />
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But there was another scene from which I drew a spiritual parallel. This is the scene where Loki is taunting Black Widow.<br />
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Loki asks her, "What is it that you want?"<br />
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"It's really not that complicated," she says. "I've got red in my ledger, and I want to wipe it out."<br />
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Loki taunts her,"Can you? Can you wipe out that much red?" And later,"Your ledger is dripping, it's gushing red, and you think saving a man no more virtuous than yourself will change that?"<br />
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That, again, seems demonic in the sense that Loki is trying to point out her own weakness and her own inability to save herself, to redeem herself by doing enough virtuous deeds to wipe out the evil ones. But this is where the spiritual parallel ends, at least, a theologically correct one.<br />
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It's a popular religious misconception that God weighs our good deeds versus our evil deeds to determine if we are worthy of heaven. But,I'm glad God is merciful, knows my weaknesses and knows I can't earn heaven by outweighing my evil deeds with good ones. In Romans 3:10, "As it is written, there is none righteous, no not one." And Romans 3:23 "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."<br />
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The solution is much easier."For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast" (Ephesians 2:8-9 KJV).Susan Joy Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15175162058220262157noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3055080204920665277.post-26773479624783121432012-06-22T07:57:00.000-07:002012-06-23T14:05:28.256-07:00"Big Bang" with Less Bangs<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF58MFlq17dj7WzcqqRLe5W_K1PqNwwERVN6-eAO6feQifNXHJZbMg9SacQ82hf5gL1W8GNYNE_lpAhz02Tgfc7s7-aKlbrOPCAiPuuxYnOBCL80a6hD_KZEWkM7u4rx4gVECNAAsLr9I/s1600/Howard.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF58MFlq17dj7WzcqqRLe5W_K1PqNwwERVN6-eAO6feQifNXHJZbMg9SacQ82hf5gL1W8GNYNE_lpAhz02Tgfc7s7-aKlbrOPCAiPuuxYnOBCL80a6hD_KZEWkM7u4rx4gVECNAAsLr9I/s320/Howard.jpg" width="320" /></a>
Okay, so I am starting to watch "Big Bang Theory" a bit. I like the idea of a show all about scientific nerds. I don't think all intelligent scientists have all of the particular quirks of this group, but many of the great minds of the past, real inventors, have had their social quirks, and it's a good premise for humor. Plus, each of these guys is an individual, not one exact nerdy stereotype. Now that I am writing about a fictional scientific nerd type, I am enjoying the show (but not plagiarizing.) :)<br />
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I just watched the episode where Howard makes the pretense of being a Goth, so that he can pick up a date in a bar. I'm not a fan of the Goth look, and I don't like Howard's ordinary look which I would describe as being very colorful, somewhat incongruous and a little bit of a flashback to the '70's. What I do like about him is that he's his own man and determines his own sense of style. In spite of all this, I thought Howard looked a little more handsome as a Goth than he does usually on the show.<br />
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I spent a good deal of the show trying to determine why that was. I think it was because the height in his hair and less hair on his forehead did something complementary for his facial features. I don't like the look of heavy bangs on a woman -- and I had them myself in my childhood -- and I guess I don't like a similar look in a man either. It was very funny to me that I should like a Goth look at all, even in a roundabout sort of way.<br />
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I do appreciate the idea that the current fashion trends don't have to determine what everyone wears. In recent times, I think there is more appreciation for a variation of looks and personal expression. If I could no longer find any clothes in stores that I enjoyed wearing, I think I'd learn to sew or commission a tailor.Susan Joy Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15175162058220262157noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3055080204920665277.post-79869359001178093052012-06-21T08:50:00.001-07:002012-06-23T07:48:28.201-07:00"My Cousin Vinnie" Panini Sandwich<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Yesterday, I dropped by the Saddle Brook Diner on Market Street in Saddle Brook, New Jersey. Usually, the Greek host greets me with a smile that shows he recognizes me and says something friendly in his charming accent. This time, it was a lady who led me to my table for one in the rear.<br />
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The retro atmosphere in the diner is fun. "Navy Blue" by Diane Renay pumped through the sound system as I sat at my table and reviewed the menu. Just behind me, a teddy bear in Harley gear rode a bright red tricycle. Black and white photos of the Rat Pack grace the walls in the opposite corner. As I entered this room, I passed under a curious mural that shows stars like Marilyn Monroe, Elvis and James Dean in blurry form, as if they were there in spirit.<br />
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The lunch and dinner specials change daily, and I'm surprised by how exhaustive the menu is. I played "Eenie Meenie Miney Mo" with four selections before finally choosing the "My Cousin Vinnie" panini. I do remember watching the movie by that title some time ago and finding it amusing. Today, I'd have to watch it again to remind myself of the plot. The panini, however, did have a wonderful combination of Italian flavors as suggested by its creative name.<br />
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It featured mozzarella cheese, broccoli rabe, roasted garlic, juicy slices of Italian sausage and pieces of roasted red pepper. I understood the pepper at first to be red pepper flakes, maybe because of a reference in the menu to "sprinkling." The broccoli rabe made it too difficult to pick up and eat. It was more of a knife and fork sandwich. The slight bitterness of the broccoli rabe is wonderfully combined with the savory sausage and cheese and mild sweetness of the roasted garlic.<br />
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The lunch special came with a soup or salad option and a dessert option of Jell-O, pudding or ice cream. In spite of the nearly 100 degree weather, I chose the matzoh ball soup. I love how one matzoh ball just about occupies all available space in the cup and is soaked up with the broth flavor. A small cup of chocolate ice cream was a smart choice concerning the weather to end my meal. My sandwich was also accompanied by fries, the skinny kind not steak fries, at the desired level of crispiness.<br />
<br />Susan Joy Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15175162058220262157noreply@blogger.com0