Diane Girard

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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
Voices in American Fashion and Design USA: Contemporary Innovation

“Not long ago, the making of craft conformed to well-established traditions, and was considered distinct from the creation of design. Today, the difference is not as simple. Techniques and methods usually associated with craft are being used by designers to expand the boundaries of design.”
Toulouse-Lautrec and Paris

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (1864–1901) was, in the words of one prominent critic, “the quintessential chronicler of Paris, as it is understood by those who come here seeking bright lights and wild pleasures.” Over the course of twenty years, he produced works in a wide range of media depicting dance halls, theaters, circuses, and the celebrities…
Vacation Travel: Tracking Oil Washing Ashore on Beaches

Oiled areas should be particularly be avoided by: Young children. People with asthma or other respiratory diseases such as chronic bronchitis and emphysema.» People with a compromised immune system.» People with a hypersensitivity to chemicals, particularly hydrocarbons. Pregnant women (some of the chemicals in oil have been linked to miscarriage, preterm birth, and low birth…
New Proposed Cosmetic Law and a Shopper’s Guide

The Secretary shall require that any manufacturer, distributor, or marketer of a cosmetic or ingredient (including a fragrance or preservative) make available to any entity purchasing the cosmetic or ingredient (excluding an individual who is a consumer and who is purchasing the cosmetic or ingredient for personal use) all available information in the possession or…
Producer to Rely On: California’s Landmark Vineyards Consistently Produces Top-Rated Chardonnays

Food pairings: In general, Chardonnay complements crab, lobster, scallops, salmon, shrimp, and other seafood, chicken, veal, dishes made with butter and butter sauces and cream and cream sauces.
Heavens’ Embroidered Cloths and The Philosopher’s Walk

“The architectural structures explore the connections and oppositions between Yang-houses (architecture for the living) and Yin-houses (architecture for the dead), and how these spaces are fundamentally intertwined through the Chinese concept of geomancy, or fengshui.”
Stateline, Sales Tax Holidays: Easy to Sell But Hard to Justify

Sales tax holidays have been around since New York passed the first one 15 years ago. According to the Federation of Tax Administrators, states have found lots of excuses to declare the holidays.
An 80-ish Birthday Party for My Aunt, the Pistol

One of the guests sang a song set to the music of Sunrise, Sunset from Fiddler on the Roof but with personal and irreverent lyrics. My aunt laughed. I didn’t get all the references but I laughed, too. I figured that anything outré about my aunt must be true and no doubt funny.
FAQs for Seniors on Health Care Reform

A Harris poll entitled “Straight Talk” reveals that only 17% of seniors knew the correct answers to more than half the factual questions posed about these key aspects of new health reform law and only 9% knew the correct answers to at least two-thirds of the questions.
FDA Panel Wants Tougher Restrictions on Opioids; Painkiller abuse matches illegal drug abuse

An FDA advisory committee voted 25-10 to reject the agency’s proposed plan to prevent inappropriate prescribing, misuse, and abuse of extended-release opioid painkillers, saying the plan lacks the teeth to stem the “public health crisis” of opioid addiction, overdose, and death.”.