Last week in The Guardian I read a fascinating article about artist Laura Dodsworth‘s show featuring photographs of 100 women’s breasts. In an attempt to humanize the breasts, to turn them from objects into subjects, “Dodsworth interviewed each woman at length, starting by asking them how they felt about their breasts. The interviews soon became… Read more Courage Made Flesh
Yesterday I got an email from Dr. Laura Vivanco, in regards to my article on Teedie Roosevelt. She is an amazing researcher and a fabulous (albeit exacting) editor. I’ve had the privilege of collaborating with her and I have immense respect for her opinions. Thus, I got her permission to share extracts from it with… Read more Yes, Teedie Roosevelt Had Feet of Clay
Theodore Roosevelt is my all-time most favorite President. Sure, there are others I adore – Lincoln, FDR, Eisenhower, Washington, – but Teddy Roosevelt stands out. Which reminds me; he was never called Teddy by his family. Being rich, genteel, Dutch-descended, New York Old Money kinda people, they called him Teedie. He actively dislike the name… Read more Theodore Roosevelt
I hope many of you are enjoying your Monday off. (Although I know several people in the service industry who have to work today – including moms!) This post is just a quick reminder that, like Memorial Day, this holiday marks something for which people died. “It all started with a bad recession in the… Read more Happy Labor Day!
I loved reading Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House books as a child. Then when my girls were old enough, I started to read the series to them and discovered that I had to edit the crap out of the lavish racism lest my daughters burst into tears with horror. Which then inspired me to ponder the… Read more The Real Little House
This weekend I bought and then voraciously read a book by Pauline Kiernan entitled Filthy Shakespeare. I was a wonderful read for a potty-mouthed Tudor enthusiast like myself, but is not for those whom the Anglo-Saxon derived earthy words for body bits and sex offend. Let’s just say that while the book dealt with Tudor… Read more Merry Old England
One of the many, MANY quirks of my personality is that when I am very close to finishing a project I become frantic to complete it. During the last 5% or so of the task I am obsessed with getting it all done. It doesn’t matter if I am painting a room, cross-stitching a sampler,… Read more Almost there …
Children from South America, who have legally entered the USA to request asylum (AKA refugees), are being rapidly deported. Regardless of the excuses given, the real reason these kids are being shipped back to hell is because they are brown and speak Spanish. There is solid evidence that those kids are in grave dangers …… Read more Suffer the Little Children
Protesters in Ferguson (including plenty of white folks who aren’t being shown as much on the news because white people shouting out for racial justice isn’t as titillating as ‘scary’ black people doing it) are protesting because they are angry. They are angry about racial inequality. They are angry because all too often black men/boys… Read more No Justice, No Peace
One black man is shot by a police or security officer every 28 hours in America on average. Too often these men are young and unarmed and had only committed the crime of being “uppity” or something as minor as jaywalking. Black men are shot by authorities when in the same circumstances white guys aren’t.… Read more Culture and Narrative