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  • Song Without An End

    by Julia Sneden

    “This is the song that never ends;
    It just goes on and on, my friends.Darts on a Dartboard
    Some people started singing it, not knowing what it was,
    And they’ll continue singing it forever, just because
    This is the song that never ends
    It just goes on and on, my …

    … etc. ad infinitum, ad nauseam, and ad, if you will, insanity. As in Over and Over and Over.

    According to Wikipedia, we may thank composer/writer Norman Martin for this little but endless ditty. Having heard it through several kindergarten generations of delighted children, I can testify that it qualifies as the earworm from hell.

    There are many things in our lives that do not end, worthy things like sunrises and sunsets that operate quite independently from our witness, although no doubt there is an astronomer somewhere who will point out that the sun will one day grow dim or maybe explode, in which case sunrises and sunsets will cease to happen, although no one will be around to witness, let alone mourn them.

    Words like “forever” are relative. It means one thing to that astronomer, and quite another to someone enduring a painful root canal. Speaking in the context of human life, “forever” may constitute just about any time span, as in: “Oh, this old dress? I’ve had it forever!”

    But for most of us, forever means simply something that endures throughout one’s life, or maybe throughout a few generations. Consider: “my family has loved dogs forever,” or “My grandmother says that at least one child in this family has always had a dimple.”

    The long line of humanity stretches back to what feels like forever, although the fossil record would deny it. Certainly we look at the patterns of human life and identify instincts and reactions that seem to have been around forever. Babies are born; children grow up; adults do their best to protect their young, until eventually the young can take care of themselves; and often, the former protectees wind up protecting their weakening elders. The round goes on, yes, for what we call forever.

    Someone once said that parenthood, if you do it right, is a self-destructing chore. The point is that kids grow up and seize the reins of their own lives, and launch themselves into the adult world. Some parents find this hard to accept. Some are thrilled to be let off the hook. Most, I suspect, find a kind of balance between the two extremes, feeling pride and delight in the kids’ independence, joy in the anticipation of grandchildren, and – dare I say it? – relief that they have met the requirements of child-rearing, coupled with a thrill of freedom from it.

  • Elaine Soloway’s Caregiving Series: Green Thumb

    It’s 6:30 in the morning and I’m at the breakfast table reading the newspaper when my eyes veer from the print to catch the sunlight streaming in the window. Tommy, who is asleep upstairs, has raised the blinds to make room for seedlings he placed on the sill.garden image

    I leave my chair to read the tiny sticks stuck in the dirt. There are three Tomato Super Marzanos, two Habanero Hot Peppers, one Cayenne Long Slim Hot Pepper, one Super Chili Hot Pepper, two California Wonder Bell Peppers, and one Cucumber Pickling.

    It was yesterday when my husband sped through the aisles of the garden center with me, and a green-uniformed salesman, following after. “Tomatoes,” I called out behind me. “This way,” the man said, and reversed our directions until we ended up in the proper row. And so it went with the rest of the plants now on the sill.

    Tommy has had a green thumb as long as I’ve known him. When we first met in 1996, he was living on the second floor of a friend’s two-flat with a back yard and a garden. But because he worked a full-time job, he never had time to till that soil, plant, or reap.

    When we married in January of 1998, outdoor gardening was out, so my new husband started with indoor plant maintenance.

    “These need watering,” he said as he inspected my sorry potted plants. Moving along the  dieffenbachia, schefflera, palm, and lily, he dug fingers deep into the soil and shook his head. He went to the kitchen, filled a pitcher with water, and after dousing, asked for a rag to dust leaves. My plants perked up. I was grateful to have a custodian assume a role not in my DNA.

    As soon as we moved into this house, with its big yard surrounded by fencing, Tommy surveyed his land and staked out plots for a vegetable garden. When Burpee catalogs arrived in the mail, I’d hand them over. He’d grab them as if they were letters from a long-lost relative.

    Every day my husband would tend his garden. I’d watch as he inspected, watered, fertilized, and pampered. “Looking good!” I’d call out. He’d turn to my voice, wave a spade, and grin, “Not too long now,” he’d say.

    I’m not sure who was sunnier in those scenes. Me, witnessing my husband revel in a simple hobby long awaited? Or Tommy, blooming into a proud landowner?

    When his crop yielded vegetables to rival a farmstand’s, he’d place a half dozen ripe tomatoes and several hot peppers in a plastic bag. “These are for the boys,” he’d say, referring to his golfing buddies who savored his garden’s output.

  • My Quarter-Century Daily Destination, Grand Central Terminal, Celebrates 100 Years

    Editor’s Note:

    Aside from my own home and the Time-Life Building across from Radio City Music Hall, Grand Central Terminal was the building I spent time the most time in,  to and from my job. It was familiar, imposing, welcoming and spectacularly beautiful. * According to Grand Central’s statistics and Travel +Leisure magazine, more than 21, 600,000 annual vistors come to the station making it the 6th most popular tourist destination in the world. Riding down the escalator from the 45th street side of the MetLife building entrance, I was provided with a visual introduction to the high-vaulted and renowned constellation ceiling. I’d find my track from an information board each night and begin that the railroad journey home.

    Happy 100th Birthday, Grand Central.

    “Selden paused in surprise. In the afternoon rush of the Grand Central Station his eyes had been refreshed by the sight of Miss Lily Bart. It was a Monday in early September, and he was returning to his work from a hurried dip into the country; but what was Miss Bart doing in town at that season?

    If she had appeared to be catching a train, he might have inferred that he had come on her in the act of transition between one and another of the country-houses which disputed her presence after the close of the Newport season; but her desultory air perplexed him. She stood apart from the crowd, letting it drift by her to the platform or the street, and wearing an air of irresolution which might, as he surmised, be the mask of a very definite purpose. It struck him at once that she was waiting for some one, but he hardly knew why the idea arrested him. There was nothing new about Lily Bart, yet he could never see her without a faint movement of interest: it was characteristic of her that she always roused speculation, that her simplest acts seemed the result of far-reaching intentions.”

    —  Edith Wharton’s House of Mirth, via Project Gutenberg

    A CENTURY OF TRANSPORTING NEW YORK

    Grand Central Terminal stands as one of America’s greatest transportation hubs and one of New York City’s most iconic buildings. It is both a national institution and an international example of giving new life to an historic building that may otherwise have been destroyed. Over the course of a colorful and tumultuous 100-year history, Grand Central has gone from being simply the start and end points of long-distance rail travel, to being the iconic home of Metro-North Railroad and a destination for commuters, tourists and residents that boasts restaurants, cocktail lounges, a gourmet market, and numerous specialty shops. Its storied Vanderbilt Hall, once the receiving area for travelers, is one of the most-desired public events spaces in the city.Interior of the terminal

    *My mother had spent most of her Parents’ Magazine career on Vanderbilt Avenue, across the street from the terminal. However, her railway route was at Pennsylvania Station designed by architects McKim, Mead & White and sadly dismantled in 1963. “Until the first blow fell, no one was convinced that Penn Station really would be demolished, or that New York would permit this monumental act of vandalism against one of the largest and finest landmarks of its age of Roman elegance,” lamented The New York Times.

     

  • Gorgeous People in Trouble – The State Department warns about Internet dating and romance scams

    State Department Alert About a Financial Scam

    United States citizens should be alert to attempts at fraud by persons claiming to live outside of the US, professing friendship, romantic interest, and /or marriage intentions over the Internet.Internet Romance Dating Scam

    Typically, once a connection is made, the correspondent asks the US citizen to send money or credit card information for living expenses, travel expenses, or visas.  Sometimes, the correspondent notifies the American citizen that a close family member, usually the mother, is in desperate need of surgery and begins to request monetary assistance. Scams have even advanced to the point where the US citizen is informed of a serious or fatal accident to the correspondent and the “family” asks for money to cover hospital or funeral costs. Several citizens report losing thousands of dollars through such scams. (Above: Types of photos used by “Gorgeous People in Trouble” scammers)

    The anonymity of the Internet means that the US citizen cannot be sure of the real name, age, marital status, nationality, or even gender of the correspondent. In every case reported to the embassy, the correspondent turned out to be a fictitious persona created only to lure the US citizen into sending money.

    These scammers have created male as well as female characters and entice same sex correspondents as well as those of the opposite sex. A disturbing recent twist are scammers who have connected to US citizens through chat rooms for HIV positive individuals, posed as HIV positive individuals themselves, and asked for money for treatment or travel to the United States.

    Correspondents who quickly move to professions of romantic interest or discussion of intimate matters are likely inventions of scammers. A request for funds almost always marks a fraudulent correspondent. US citizens are cautioned against sending any money to persons they have not actually met.

    Romance scams involve one or more – sometimes all – of the key signs below:

    • The scammer and the victim meet online – often through Internet dating or employment sites.
    • The scammer asks for money to get out of a bad situation or to provide a service.
    • Photographs that the scammer sends of “him/herself” show a very attractive person. The photo appears to have been taken at a professional modeling agency or photographic studio.
    • The scammer has incredibly bad luck– often getting into car crashes, arrested, mugged, beaten, or hospitalized — usually all within the course of a couple of months. They often claim that their key family members (parents and siblings) are dead. Sometimes, the scammer claims to have an accompanying child overseas who is very sick or has been in an accident.
    • The scammer claims to be a native-born American citizen, but uses poor grammar indicative of a non-native English speaker. Sometimes the scammer will use eloquent romantic language that is plagiarized from the Internet.

    Gorgeous People in Trouble – The Damsel in Distress

    The Setup: An American man meets an alleged American woman through an online dating service. After a successful online courtship, the two agree to meet. However, before they do, she must travel overseas to attend to some important personal business. While out of the U.S., she befalls an unexpected tragedy. She is now feeling lonely and vulnerable, and is counting on him to help her through this difficult time.

  • Matisse: Pushing “further and deeper into true painting”

    Reviewed by Val Castronovo

     Sailor by MatisseHenri Matisse (1869-1954), 20th century Modernist master, is the subject of a dazzling show at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, now on view until March 17, 2013.  Modern and Contemporary Art Curator Rebecca Rabinow has culled 49 paintings that showcase the artist’s preoccupation with painting in pairs (and trios and series) and his focus on the process of creating his art.

    Henri Matisse (French, 1869–1954), Young Sailor II 1906;  Oil on canvas.
    The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Jacques and Natasha Gelman Collection, 1998. © 2012 Succession H. Matisse / Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY

    For process — repainting, revision, reevaluation — is the central concern here, a greatest hits collection of canvases that trace the evolution of Matisse’s style and his experimentation with color, line and form in side-by-side displays of identically-sized still lifes, interiors, landscapes and portraits.  He was constantly reworking and rethinking his paintings, repeating compositions on new canvases with a new twist — a different colored background, a different perspective, enhanced abstraction — in order to “push further and deeper into true painting.”

    Like the masters who preceded him, Matisse copied classic works on display at the Louvre as part of his academic training and later mimicked the styles of contemporary artists like Cezanne and Signac.  But this avant-garde pioneer, who has been dubbed the King of Color, increasingly sought to express his own vision, using color and light and flattened, highly decorated forms to mark his territory.

    Anyone familiar with 20th century art will thrill to the sight of so many iconic paintings gathered in one place.  A handsome catalogue displays on its cover Matisse’s well-known Fauvist image of a French teenager from the fishing village of Collioure, Young Sailor I (1906).  That same year he drew inspiration from Van Gogh’s L’Arlesienne (Madame Ginoux, 1890) and reworked the subject to such an extent — adding a pink background, flattened imagery, wide, slightly slanted eyes, and a new vantage point — that he disowned the new painting, Young Sailor II, and credited the postman.  As he later said, he wanted to “condense the meaning of [a] body by seeking its essential lines.”

    After seeing four views of Notre Dame (which he painted from the window of two different studios on the quai Saint-Michel), a trio of brilliantly colored portraits of the Italian model Laurette (wearing a green gandoura, a Moroccan robe made for a man), and a host of color-drenched still lifes and light-filled hotel interiors from Nice, we move on to the photographs which were taken beginning in the 1930s, and which record Matisse’s progress on a given painting. 

  • I’m a Liberal …. Because of Bobby Kennedy

    by Liz Flaherty

    I never wanted to be a liberal. Truth be told, I never wanted to be political at all. It’s all Bobby Kennedy’s fault, because way back in the 1960s, he made me think all things were possible. For everybody.Bobby Kennedy in 1964

    It’s that “everybody” part that got me.

    In case you don’t know anything about me, I am a stereotype to end all stereotypes. I’m Christian, white, straight, married, and retired. You know those people who say they worked their butts off for 40 years and now it’s their turn to sit on them and draw their “entitlement?” — I’m one of them.

    I love Christmas for all the “right” reasons — I love the Lord, peace on earth, good will toward men — and the “wrong” ones — I love presents, parties, and Christmas songs. My clothing and the stuff in my house is traditional. I drive an SUV. I am happy to be an American and I’m proud of it, too, though … oh, good Lord, do I think we have problems!

    Most of them, I’m prone to believe, have to do with two things:  (1) Greed. And, no, I’m not going to explain that one. If you don’t get it on your own, you’re not going to, and (2) People are always mad at other people. For such a myriad of reasons it would be silly to make a list.

    However, besides being a stereotype, I occasionally step across the line from sane to silly in a heartbeat. Or a keystroke if you want to get literal about it. So here’s my list of why I think people are mad at others:

    Photograph: Robert F. Kennedy, Cabinet Room, White House, Washington, DC.; January 1964.  LBJ Library photo by Yoichi R. Okamoto

  • Shakespeare Uncovered on Television: Drawing on historical sources and developing dramatic ideas from politics of the day

    In a unique series of six films debuting on PBS,  Shakespeare Uncovered will combine history, biography, iconic performances, new analysis, and the passions of its hosts, actors Ethan Hawke, Jeremy Irons, Derek Jacobi, Trevor Nunn, Joely Richardson, and David Tennant,  to tell the stories behind the stories of Shakespeare’s greatest plays.shakespeare uncovered

    Each episode explores and reveals the extraordinary world and works of William Shakespeare and the still-potent impact they have today. The films combine interviews with actors, directors and scholars, along with visits to key locations, clips from some of the most-celebrated film and television adaptations, and illustrative excerpts from the plays staged specially for the series at Shakespeare’s Globe in London, right.

    Behind every Shakespeare play there is a story. One  such story is  how he and his company dismantled their theatre and rowed it across the river Thames when their landlord cancelled their lease and then staged Henry V for the first time. There are echoes of the playwright’s life: naming his twins Hamnet (a boy, who died at age 11) and Judith in plays like Twelfth Night, where the plot turns on the adventures of separated twins, and Hamlet, where the drama begins with the grief of a son who has lost his father. The series shows Shakespeare defining early the tenets of playwriting;  drawing on historical sources, stealing and adapting ideas, bringing back popular characters, writing prequels, and developing dramatic ideas from the politics of the day.

    Each program’s host has deep personal experience with Shakespeare’s work and relates not only the stories of the plays themselves, but also the stories of how they came to be written, how they have been performed, and how they have survived over 400 years.

    January 25, 2013,  Shakespeare Uncovered: Macbeth

    Ethan Hawke invites viewers on his quest to play Shakespeare’s murderous Thane of Cawdor by researching the true story and real-life events that served as the play’s inspiration. Historian Justin Champion visits the Scottish sites of the story on Hawke’s behalf, introducing him to Dunsinane, where Macbeth supposedly lived, and to the history books that distorted the true story and consequently led Shakespeare to do the same. Immersing himself in some of the most memorable and innovative productions of “the Scottish Play,” Hawke gleans extraordinary insights into Shakespeare’s understanding of the criminal mind. Lady Macbeth’s relationship to the titular Thane is a critical role in the play and is examined by observing Shakespeare’s Globe actors rehearsing and performing scenes from the play, and by revisiting recent productions starring Patrick Stewart and Antony Sher.

     Shakespeare Uncovered: The Comedies

    Joely Richardson investigates (with her mother Vanessa Redgrave) the legacy of two brilliant cross-dressing comedies, Twelfth Night and As You Like It, with their missing twins, mistaken identities, and characters in disguise; their connections to Shakespeare’s personal life;  and the great romantic heroines created by Shakespeare in these two perennially popular plays.  Richardson investigates the comic and dramatic potential of female roles written for male actors to play. At the same time, Richardson demonstrates that Shakespeare revealed an acute understanding and sympathy for women when he wrote these characters. Redgrave’s portrayal of Rosalind in As You Like It made her a star in England and soon after, all over the world, and the show reveals the legacy of strong, sassy, witty women that we inherit from William Shakespeare’s great comedies.

  • Doubts Before Marriage? 47% of husbands and 38% of wives in study said yes

    In the first scientific study to test whether doubts about getting married are more likely to lead to an unhappy marriage and divorce, UCLA psychologists report that when women have doubts before their wedding, their misgivings are often a warning sign of trouble if they go ahead with the marriage.
     Frans Hall painting
    The UCLA study demonstrates that pre-wedding uncertainty, especially among women, predicts higher divorce rates and less marital satisfaction years later.
     
    “People think everybody has premarital doubts and you don’t have to worry about them,” said Justin Lavner, a UCLA doctoral candidate in psychology and lead author of the study. “We found they are common but not benign. Newlywed wives who had doubts about getting married before their wedding were two-and-a-half times more likely to divorce four years later than wives without these doubts. Among couples still married after four years, husbands and wives with doubts were significantly less satisfied with their marriage than those without doubts.
     
    “You know yourself, your partner and your relationship better than anybody else does; if you’re feeling nervous about it, pay attention to that,” he added. “It’s worth exploring what you’re nervous about.”
     
    The psychologists studied 464 newlywed spouses (232 couples) in Los Angeles within the first few months of marriage and conducted follow-up surveys with the couples every six months for four years. At the time of marriage, the average age of the husbands was 27, and the average age of the wives was 25. The research is published in the online version of the Journal of Family Psychology, published by the American Psychological Association, and will appear in an upcoming print edition.

    Painting: Wedding portrait of Isaac Abrahamsz. Massa (1586–1643) and Beatrix van der Laan (1592–1639) by Frans Hals. Rijksmuseum

  • After the Speech: Lobster, Bison, Apple Pie – Inaugural Luncheon Menu and Recipes

    2009 Inaugural Luncheon

     

    Since 1901, the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies has been responsible for the planning and execution of the swearing-in ceremonies and the luncheon for the Inauguration of the President of the United States at the US Capitol. Photograph from the 2009 Inaugural Luncheon.

    Lobster Tails: 4 servings

    Ingredients

    • 4 each lobster tails, 4oz.
    • 1/4 tablespoon kosher salt
    • 1 gallon water
    • 1/2 teaspoon white wine
    • 3 each star anise
    • 2 cups mirepoix, (medium, 1/4 inch dice of carrot, celery, onion and leek)
    • 1 each large bowl of ice water

    Preparation

    1. Combine all ingredients (except lobster) in an 8 quart pot and bring to a boil. 

    2. Place lobster tails in a another 8 quart pot  and carefully pour boiling liquid over lobster tails and allow to steam for approximately 6 minutes.

    3. Remove tails from liquid and place in ice water for 5 minutes to stop the cooking process.  Remove tails from ice and begin to remove lobster meat from the shell.

    4. Cut each lobster tail into 6 large pieces, place in oven safe dish and add 2 tablespoons of water to dish and cover with lid or foil. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

    5. Reheat lobster at time of service by placing it in a 170º F oven for approximately 15 minutes.

    New England Clam Chowder Sauce: 4 servings

    Ingredients

    • 20 each little neck clams, rinsed in cold water
    • 1/4 cup shallot, minced
    • 1 tablespoon garlic, minced
    • 1 cup white wine
    • 2 cups clam juice, canned
    • 2 cups heavy cream
    • 1/2 tablespoon canola oil
    • 1 cup carrot, small dice
    • 1 cup celery, small dice
    • 1 cup Yukon gold potato, small dice, peeled
    • 1 cup leek, small dice
    • 1/2 cup onion, small dice
    • 1 pinch kosher salt
    • 1 pinch cracked pepper
    • 1/4 cup tarragon, chop at the last minute

  • At the Museum: A Theatrical Headress Inspires Maria Pinto Clothing

     Theatrical headdressA Chinese theatrical headdress is created with pearls, blue kingfisher feathers, pompons, and other luxurious materials.  John Weinstein © The Field Museum

    Lovers of art, style, and history alike will enjoy the Museum’s exhibit, Fashion and The Field Museum Collection: Maria Pinto. Running through June 16, 2013, the exhibition explores the world of design, mixing clothing hand-selected from the Museum’s collections by esteemed Chicago fashion designer Maria Pinto, and Cameroon vestcontemporary pieces created by Pinto.

    A handcrafted armor vest from Cameroon (right), this masterpiece is made of crocodile skin. The vest inspired Pinto to explore the way material can be stitched together to take advantage of its patterns and textures. John Weinstein © The Field Museum

    In 2010, Pinto selected objects that inspired her in collaboration with Alaka Wali, the Museum’s Curator in North American Anthropology. Driven by her designer’s eye, Pinto chose 25 Museum garments and adornments, attracted by their form, texture, and colors. Fascinated by the range of materials people used, the pieces’ meticulous craftsmanship, and their sheer beauty, the two women developed the exhibition. Pinto then drew connections between these pieces and her own designs, seven of which are featured in the exhibition.

    Maria Pinto’s artistic perspective provides a fresh look at artifacts like a crocodile skin vest, a spectacular parka made of bird skins, and a necklace made of woven monkey fur. An incredible 18th century Chinese theatrical headdress inspired Pinto to design an entirely new ensemble of women’s wear, also on exhibit.

    A translucent Inuit raincoat made of seal intestines is paired with Pinto’s “Tema” dress from her spring 2010 collection, creating a striking juxtaposition and revealing much about aesthetic principles of both that transcend time and geography.seal dress

    Visitors are invited to engage with these objects in a new way and examine details they may not have noticed otherwise. The exhibition asks visitors how they can be inspired in their own creative pursuits by thinking of any Field Museum object as an object of beauty.

    For further information, visit fieldmuseum.org. Click here to view a stunning interactive tour of Maria Pinto’s designs and the objects she chose from the Field Museum’s collections.

    Some other collections on view

    Asian Textile Collections
    Seemingly fragile, textiles can be an enduring link to vanished cultures, as well as a fascinating cross section of the aesthetic sensibilities of far-flung contemporary peoples. Among the five most distinctive collections in the United States, The Field Museum’s holdings…
    Learn more

    Contemporary Pacific Collections
    While the acquisition of new collections for the Museum still involves obtaining actual objects, our collecting also involves much more than just this. 
    Learn more

    Latin American Textile Collections
    The Museums’s Latin American collections include fine textiles from highland Peru and Bolivia and from Guatemala.
    Learn more

    Photo Archives – Malvina Hoffman Collection
    This collection of sculptures and cast bronze figures by Mavina Hoffman depicting the peoples of the world, was comissioned in 1930 by Stanley Field the nephew of Museum Founder Marshall Field I.
    Learn more