Val Castronovo
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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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Forever Valentine: Surviving the Slings and Arrows of Early Wedlock
“What are the major sources of conflict in a typical marriage? Communication. Wives often feel they’re emotionally alone in the relationship and husbands feel that their wives think they can’t do anything right. The other big point of disagreement is how to raise the children. There are crisis events, such as tension over finances or…
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Couples, the Internet, and Social Media
From a new Pew report – Tech as a source of tension: 25% of cell phone owners in a marriage or partnership have felt their spouse or partner was distracted by their cell phone when they were together. 8% of internet users in a committed relationship have had an argument with their spouse or partner…
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Tackling Spats Over Disliked Facebook Posts
From Mumbai to Menlo Park, Facebook is swamped with complaints about “inappropriate” posts, each of which must be manually reviewed by an employee. Yet rather than take down the offending content, the social network has tapped the emotional intelligence of UC Berkeley psychologists, among other top minds, to resolve disputes over posts that don’t clearly…
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Trafficking at Major Sporting Events, Part Two, Congressional Bills Introduced
“How are law enforcement personnel and partners in the travel, tourism, and hospitality industry being trained to identify potential trafficking situations – not just child sex trafficking, but that of adults as well? These are questions governments should be grappling with every day, and especially when a major gathering is on the horizon. And these…
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Janet Yellen: A Quiet Swearing In for First Woman Fed Chairwoman and a Women’s College Graduate
Janet Yellen took office as Chair of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System on February 3, 2014. She and her Nobel Prize-winning husband, wrote a paper on the fair wage-effort hypothesis, in that workers proportionately withdraw effort as their actual wage falls short of their fair wage. Such behavior causes unemployment and…
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Monuments Men (and Women): National Gallery of Art’s The Inside Story, Smithsonian’s On the Frontline to Save Europe’s Art
“These men — and women — worked to protect Europe’s cultural heritage at the height of World War II, ensuring its safety in the aftermath and returning works, when possible, to their rightful owners once peace and security were restored.” Edith Standen dug up an antique bronze cannon with her own bare hands. “”It had…
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Samples from the Sister Study: Insight into Why Cancer Incidence Increases With Age
The accumulation of age-associated changes in a biochemical process that helps control genes may be responsible for some of the increased risk of cancer seen in older people, according to a National Institutes of Health study. “On your 50th birthday, you would have 50 of these sites that have acquired methyl groups in each cell,”…
