Diane Girard
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Rose Madeline Mula: If You Can’t Stand the Heat
Rose Madeline Mula Writes: “It was with considerable trepidation, therefore, that I entered the kitchen of my hostess, the legendary actress, Joan Fontaine, one long-ago Thanksgiving morning, to offer my assistance. Acting was not Miss Fontaine’s only talent. Not by a long shot. She was also a hole-in-one golfer, a prize-winning fisherwoman, a hot air…
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An Undocumented Childhood by Rose Madeline Mula
Rose Mula Writes: Some people never leave home without their American Express card; I never leave home without a camera. Digitized pictures of the twenty-five countries and forty-plus states of America that I’ve visited since my first tour of exotic New Hampshire constantly flash on my computer monitors and digital frames throughout my home, helping…
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Julia Sneden Wrote: Love Your Library
Julia Sneden Wrote: My mind’s eye can still see the face of the Children’s Librarian, although I have long since forgotten her name. We will be wise to continue to back up our knowledge of history and literature and art and science with hard copy. She kept up with my reading level, suggesting writers and…
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Julia Sneden Wrote: If The Shoe Fits … You Can Bet It’s Not Fashionable
Julia Sneden Wrote: My mother was a mini Imelda Marcos. She kept upwards of 40 pairs of shoes well into her 80’s, and was crushed when she had to give up high heels following a heart attack at the age of 89. Her sole criterion in buying shoes was style, not comfort, and she was…
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Joan L.Cannon Wrote: A Family Inheritance: More Than ‘Things’ … Emblems of Our Lives
Joan Cannon wrote: As one advances in years, one accumulates possessions the way a caddis fly larva accumulates grit. The glue that makes us carry it all along with us is in a way self-secreted as well. However, it’s psychic rather than physical — emotional rather than material. Perhaps the most obvious example is a…
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Julia Sneden Wrote: Old Dogs, New Tricks
Julia Sneden wrote: At the age of 37, I started a new career as a kindergarten teacher. My first day on the job, the lead teacher, who was in her 70’s and scared me every bit as much as she scared the children, watched me writing a note. “You’ll have to change the way you…
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Joan Cannon Writes: Finding the Right Excuse; Committing Words to Paper Because …
Joan Cannon Writes: Think of the poets and novelists and playwrights whose words sink into the consciousness of thousands and even millions and remain there, as emblems, guides, beacons of hope or warnings of disasters, and the excuse (as if one is needed) presents itself. Maybe there’s information or a revelation for some unknown viewer…
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Joan Cannon Asked: What is a Book Club? An Old-Fashioned Book Report? A Program Given By an Author? What Is the Accepted Practice?
Joan L. Cannnon wrote: A year or so ago, I was invited to attend a tea given by the combined membership of all the book clubs in the town where I now live. A presentation was scheduled for the proprietor of the much-loved local independent book store cum gift shop. She is a legend in…
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Beyond Words: The Symbolic Language of Plants
In the ancient world, Roman artists used roses to represent Venus, the goddess of love; Egyptian art connected the lily to Isis, the goddess of fertility; and Asian art included lotus flowers to convey beauty.
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A Statement from Olympia Snowe on Re-Election Campaign
“As I enter a new chapter, I see a vital need for the political center in order for our democracy to flourish and to find solutions that unite rather than divide us. It is time for change in the way we govern, and I believe there are unique opportunities to build support for that change…
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Aside from the Yoga Expose: An NIH View, History and Guidelines
It’s possible you’ve heard about the Yoga controversy which involves sexual improprieties. The California Code of Professional Ethics for Yoga Teachers sets forth guidelines and answers to questions that had arisen. The NIH backgrounder on Yoga provides the history of an immensely popular and, presumably, very profitable activity
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Tips About Finding the Cheapest Gas; Do You Really Need High Octane?
“MapQuest updates gas and diesel prices up to seven times a day. MapQuest offers a variety of tools to make the most of driving trips, but also understand alternative means of transportation that may not involve getting in the car at all.”
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Social Sites: Have You Pared Down Your Friends? And Did You Regret Your Choices?
63% of Internet users have deleted people from their “friends” lists, up from 56% in 2009; 44% have deleted comments made by others on their profile; and 37% have removed their names from photos that were tagged to identify them. How many social networking sites do you currently have a profile on? Feb 24, 2012,…
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Yosemite’s Alpine Chipmunks Take Genetic Hit From Climate Change
Global warming has forced alpine chipmunks in Yosemite to higher ground, prompting a startling decline in the species’ genetic diversity, according to a new study by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley.
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Chronic Pain Fuels Boom in Opioids
Underlying fallacies: That the use of narcotic painkillers to treat non-cancer pain lasting many months or years is supported by rigorous science. “This epidemic has been caused by a brilliant marketing campaign that dramatically changed the way physicians treat pain.” Prescriptions for narcotic painkillers soared so much over the last decade that by 2010 enough…
