Rose Mula

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…
Under the Category of Another Thing to Worry About: Algal Virus Infects, Affects Humans

Oh, my: The human body is host to trillions of microbes. These microbes significantly outnumber the body’s cells. Although most are beneficial to human health, some of these microbes can cause problems. Research in both humans and animal models has shown that microbial communities can affect many biological functions, including cognitive performance.
Ferida Wolff’s Backyard: Early Morning Clouds and Squirrel — Master of All He/She Surveys

I am not a morning person. It takes me a while to gather my energy so much of breakfast preparation takes place automatically. It’s a good thing oatmeal doesn’t need special attention. Just above and beyond was an exuberance of white clouds. It woke me up right away … I felt a connection — to…
Women Veterans Historical Project, Legislation Related to Women Veterans & Pat Tillman Scholars

The Betty H. Carter Women Veterans Historical Project strengths are oral histories and materials from veterans of World War II, but it also includes the stories and materials of women who served in World War I, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, The Cold War, Desert Storm, the Gulf Wars, and the War on Terror.…
Our Saddest NPR Moment: The Retirement of the Magliozzi Brothers of Car Talk Fame

Update: With Tom’s death, we thought it appropriate to rerun our tribute to the Magliozzi brothers. How can we forget that laugh? After all, reruns may be ahead for all of us, in one way or another. Right? Right.
Thinking About Enrolling In Obamacare? Keep These 5 Tips In Mind; Supreme Court to Take Case On Health Law Subsidies

Just because you’re enrolled in a policy now doesn’t means it’s the best deal for you next year. If you’re currently in the federal marketplace and don’t take any action, you’ll be re-enrolled in the same plan you’re in now. Federal officials, as well as many analysts, are urging consumers to go back to the…
The Frick’s Scottish National Gallery Exhibit & Intimations of a Vleughels-Watteau Competition Over a Woman

Masterpieces from the Scottish National Gallery include works by Constable, El Greco, Gainsborough, Raeburn, Ramsay, Reynolds, Velázquez, and Watteau, will travel in extended form to the de Young, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, and to the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth, Texas.
“We’re Not In a Panic Now, But We’re Starting to Get Tired”: Ebola Efforts Tax Strapped Health Agencies

Dwindling resources may make it difficult for public health departments across the country to carry out intensive airport screenings, patient monitoring, public education and other preparations for a potential Ebola outbreak in the US. Since 2008, diminishing federal funding for public health preparedness has meant the loss of 51,000 state and local public health jobs…
Beyond an Audubon Era – The Singing and the Silence: Birds in Contemporary Art

The presentation of The Singing and the Silence coincides with two environmental anniversaries — the extinction of the passenger pigeon in 1914 and the establishment of the Wilderness Act in 1964. Inspired by the confluence of these events, the exhibition investigates how artists working today use avian imagery as a way to understand contemporary culture…
Revisiting Favorite Books: Kristin Lavransdatter

Julia Sneden has quoted: “When you yourself had borne a child, Kristin, I thought you would understand,’ her mother had said once. Now, she understood that her mother’s heart had been scored deep with memories of her daughter, memories of thoughts for her child from the time it was unborn and from all the years…
The Global Gender Gap Report 2014 — “2095: The year of gender equality at work, maybe”

Iceland ranks at the top for the sixth consecutive year. Finland ranks second, Norway holds the third place and Sweden remains in fourth position; Denmark gains three places and ranks this year at the fifth position. Northern European countries dominate the top 10 with Ireland in the eighth position and Belgium (10) Nicaragua (6), Rwanda…