Joan L. Cannon

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…
Prenatal Exposure to Organophosphate Pesticides and IQ Deficits in School-Age Children

Three independent investigations published in the peer-reviewed journal Environmental Health Perspectives (EHP) have reached similar conclusions, associating prenatal exposure to organophosphate (OP) pesticides with IQ deficits in school-age children
Van Cleef & Arpels Haute Jewelry Show at the Cooper-Hewitt Extended

There are highly stylized necklaces, bracelets, rings, earrings, brooches and watches, in addition to finely crafted accessories like clutches, cigarette cases and tobacco lighters. Objets d’art, such as a 1908 butler’s bell push comprised of a model yacht riding a wave fashioned from jasper, drew audible gasps.
Bills Introduced: Crime, Employment, Health, Violence Against Women

Among others, a bill to improve education and prevention related to campus sexual violence, domestic violence, dating violence, and stalking; A bill to provide more effective remedies to victims of discrimination in the payment of wages on the basis of sex
The Wall Street Money Machine: ProPublica’s Pulitzer

Bankers and hedge funds scrambled to maintain the lavish bonuses and profits, repackaging mortgages in complex securities called collateralized debt obligations. The booming CDO market masked the weak housing market and exacerbated its collapse
Reproductive Health: 916 State Legislative Measures Introduced

Legislators in 23 states introduced 49 measures applying to health exchange coverage. A proposal to revise Mississippi sex education law to require school districts to provide abstinence-only education, while permitting discussion of contraception only with prior approval from the state
Thomas Lawrence, Regency Painter: A Remarkable Blend of of Self-assurance, Artistic Excitement and Ambition

If the “zone of intimacy” Lawrence fostered in his studio apparently caused anxiety among critics and potential clients alike, “it also piqued interest in his portraits of women and gave them a sense of spontaneity, liveliness and sensuality that his competitors could not match,” one of the curators writes.
The Disappearing Funds for Reverse Mortgage Counseling

“Sec. 2245. Notwithstanding section 1101, the level for ‘Department of Housing and Urban Development, Housing Programs, Housing Counseling Assistance’ shall be $0.” This budget was zeroed-out as part of the FY 2011 Continuing Appropriations Act (H.R. 1473).
A Salon Health Hazard Alert: Hair Straightening Products and Formaldehyde

The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration has issued a health hazard alert to salons nationwide about the risks that popular hair straightening products, including well-known Brazilian Blowout, pose to salon workers and customers.
The Tax Man Cometh

I enjoy making out my tax returns. It’s the only time I can be grateful for all my medical problems. That trip to the emergency room, for example, when I cut my hand in a kitchen accident (I was in the kitchen by accident — I seldom go there intentionally)…
When It comes to Speed Dating, Too Much Choice Is a Bad Thing

“Results showed that choosers made fewer proposals (positive dating decisions) at events in which the available dates showed greater variety across such attributes as age, height, occupation and education, and this effect was particularly strong when choosers were confronted with a larger number of opposite-sex speed daters”