Sightings

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…
Libbey Dolls, Fashioning the Story: “They are representative fashion figures, depicting French style from A.D. 493 to 1915”

“They weren’t really considered dolls, at least not in our modern sense of the term,” said Marissa Stevenson, the art conservation intern tasked with researching the objects for the The Libbey Dolls — 2 exhibition. Inspiration for the figures came from works of art by French artists such as Nicolas Lancret and Louis-Léopold Boilly, drawn…
Interstate Health Insurance: Sounds Good, But Details Are Tricky

On his campaign website, Trump proclaimed that, “by allowing full competition in this market, insurance costs will go down and consumer satisfaction will go up.” He also touted the idea during the second presidential debate, and since the election, Vice President-elect Mike Pence has made the same argument. The implication is that federal law prevents…
Frontline: How “Obamacare” Became a Symbol of America’s Divide | Divided States of America

“I asked him, I said, how does this night compare to election night?” Obama’s senior adviser Valerie Jarrett tells Frontline. “And he looked at me and said, Valerie, there’s just no comparison. Election night was just about getting us to a night like this.” But then came the backlash — from Tea Party supporters, from…
Jo Freeman’s Letter to Congressman Nadler About the Confirmation of Jeff Sessions and his Prosecution of Albert Turner in 1985

Jo Freeman writes to Congressman Nadler: Even though confirmation of Jeff Sessions to be the Attorney General is not a House function, as a member of the House Judiciary Committee, I know you are concerned with who heads the DoJ. Therefore I want to give you a little background on one of the reasons Sessions…
Masterpiece’s Victoria Drawn From the Queen’s Diaries, an Eight-Part Drama

The eight-part drama follows Victoria from the time she becomes Queen in 1837 at the age of 18, through her courtship and marriage to Prince Albert. Famous for her candor and spirit, she was the first woman who seemed to have it all: a passionate marriage, nine children, and the job of being Queen of…
Janet Yellen Speaks at a Teachers Town Hall Meeting; The Gender Gap in Economics and the Leaky Pipeline Problem

Fed Reserve Board Chair Janet Yellen addresses educators in Washington and nationwide via webcast. “Very importantly for students, we try to make sure that the job market is strong so that students entering it will have a wealth of job opportunities.. we do work to make sure that unemployment is low and job opportunities plentiful.…
The Huntington: Expressionist Landscape Bit of Silvermine, Clivia and a Bronze Art Deco Lachaise Piece and a Passion Flower

The Huntington was founded in 1919 by Henry E. Huntington, an exceptional businessman who built a financial empire that included railroad companies, utilities, and real estate holdings in Southern California. Huntington was also a man of vision – with a special interest in books, art, and gardens. During his lifetime, he amassed the core of…
Buzz Polinator Endanged: Rusty Patched Bumble Bee Could Be Lost Due to Habitat Loss and Degradation

Rusty patched bumble bees once occupied grasslands and tallgrass prairies of the Upper Midwest and Northeast, but most grasslands and prairies have been lost, degraded, or fragmented by conversion to other uses. Bumble bees are keystone species in most ecosystems, necessary not only for native wildflower reproduction, but also for creating seeds and fruits that…
Women’s Action for New Directions Demands US Senate Confirm Those “who have an established record of respecting the importance of diplomacy and other tools of statecraft over the unnecessary use of force”

The letter was organized by the legislative arm of Women’s Action for New Directions (WAND), a Cambridge-based grassroots advocacy organization dedicated to amplifying women’s voices in national security, disarmament, and anti-militarization campaigns. Signed by 125 female and male state legislators, the letter has the backing of groups including the Arms Control Association, Global Zero, National…
Senate Confirmation Hearings Schedule for The Week Beginning on the 1/09/17 and Financial Disclosure Reports

Employees Entering Government: Individuals who join the executive branch may be required to take actions, either before becoming an employee or shortly thereafter, in order to comply with ethics laws and regulations concerning conflicting financial interests and impartiality. Hearings to examine the nomination of Jeff Sessions, of Alabama, to be Attorney General, Department of Justice…