Colleen's Corner

Crazy Weather

2012-01-28T13:54:00.003-05:00

January 21

January 28

Year of the Dog?

2012-01-20T03:00:00.000-05:00

Most of the birthday cards I received had a dog theme. (The bottom one is a gray wolf.)

Today's Birthdays

2012-01-19T10:53:00.000-05:00

Tippi Hedren

Dolly Parton

E. A. Poe

Paul Cézanne

Robert E. Lee

Happy Birthday Mr. Bears

2012-01-16T05:00:00.000-05:00

What's New?

2012-01-12T10:52:00.001-05:00

Not Really Old...

2012-01-10T22:22:00.005-05:00

...but very funny!

A Sober New Year's Eve

2012-01-03T15:46:00.000-05:00

My neighbor Rosemary and I went to Boston to check out the "family" (early) New Year's activities.

As we passed Colman's, we saw Shop Cat sleeping under a ladder. How unlucky is that?

At Copley Square, the parade was already in progress. There was a light display on The BPL

We saw parade leftovers as we walked to Boston Common, where we saw a splendid fireworks display.

We checked out ice scuptures.

A clever display in a Newbury St. store.

More Gifts!

2011-12-31T15:05:00.001-05:00

From Rosemary, a kitty-cat mug with a tail handle and different sunken pictures on both sides.

From Dad, a foot-spa to soothe my aching feet.

Also from Dad, a new bag to soothe my soul!

New Year's Eve Brunch

2011-12-31T12:14:00.001-05:00

I went to Cafe Luna this morning with some of my buddies.

Julie and Dave,

Lynn and Sue,

and my special friend Mr. Banana-split French Toast.

Sue passed along another novelty candle: a teapot with a maple-leaf raised design.

It was proudly designed in San Diego, CA, USA; but made in China.

Relaxing at Home

2011-12-26T21:23:00.001-05:00

Unusually mild weather fooled this tree into budding.

Techies Tell Me Why....

2011-12-18T10:26:00.000-05:00

Why does my laptop screen periodically have curtain shadows at the bottom?

It doesn't have to do with a low battery; it happens sometimes after the battery is totally charged.

UPDATE: Here's a screen capture of when shadows manifest.

A Nice Old Post Card

2011-12-18T10:19:00.000-05:00

This nice old post card is from a Map Collection collection not-yet-processed, so I cannot provide a call number. They are using the image to advertise an exibition of the Panama Canal in maps. It is a rare illustration of Aqua-eroticism.

Retro Office Supplies

2011-12-15T20:30:00.000-05:00

While rummaging around in Ranald's cubicle, I found a handsome metal document box.

He told me he had rescued it from the trash. Why are they always throwing out good stuff and replacing it with crappy new stuff?

Weekend Gifts

2011-12-11T11:42:00.001-05:00

Dave gave me a bottle of his home-brewed beer, which I must store in a dark place at 66-72 degrees for a least 10 days. Sue gave me a candle that looks like a piece of cheese.

Romeo was fascinated by the flame.

Foreign Food

2011-12-09T18:00:00.000-05:00

Some Japanese librarians were visiting our library. To thank us for our hospitality, they left us a box of Japanese cookies. I couldn't figure out what they were made of, because I can't read Japanese. But they were pretty enough to photograph.

A New Me

2011-12-08T12:42:00.001-05:00

I am treating photos to pumped-up hue then the filter "find edges." After which I usually lighten the shadows or brighten up the whole thing.

So Thankful When I Don't Have to Cook

2011-11-25T14:27:00.001-05:00

My neighbor Rosemary and I went out for our Thanksgiving meal to a little French restaurant in Harvard Square called Sandrines. We had the Prix Fixe, which was a good deal. Our waiter had moved to from Paris to Arizona, where they opened a restaurant. But after 9/11, there was such a bad feeling towards anything French that they moved east.

So Hooray east! Rosemary had a nice cuppa wine (not pictured).

I had a sidecar (not pictured).

The turkey and fixins' were nicely presented.

And the lemon and pumpkin tarts were pretty enough to eat.

The good food reminded Rosemary that she must go back to Paris.
Sandrines is a bit too expensive for everyday eating out.

The All-Seeing Mechanical Eye

2011-11-24T10:32:00.000-05:00

Today’s topic isMechanical Remote Viewing, (as distinct from ordinary Remote Viewing). MRV devices allow an operator to view sceneslive at a great distance without the intermediary of a spy satellite, helicopter, orsurveillance camera. Some MRV devices caneven see through fog, walls, and mountains, and some can also pick up audio. MRV turns up in science fiction and actionshows with a hi-tech component.

I was thinking about this recently as I watched thewonderful 1950 classic RadarSecret Service. The cops in thismovie had “tele-meters” which allowed them to watch their colleagues clash withbad guys out on the roads just as if they were watching a movie. The miracle of radar made this possible. (Did you know that radar started out as an acronym for radio detectionand ranging?)

Of course, Captain Video was theking of MRV with his OpticonScillometer. Check out some of the episodes here, here, and here.

The MartianSpaceship of Santa Claus Conquers the Martians had a MRV screen that a clear view of various Santa Clauses on the citystreets of Earth.

The scientists in Riding With Deathmanage, in the 2^nd half of the movie, to come up with aremote-viewing TV that allows the female lead to watch the male lead’sactivities in a bar and parking lot. Themovie’s writers felt obligated to explain scientifically the male lead’sability to become invisible at will (radiation accident), but theremote-viewing TV is pretty much taken for granted.

My Dad was visitingin mid-October, and we watched the new Hawaii Five-O. At one point McGarret needed to know if therewere any people in a boat on the deserted wharf, so he calls up a Navy friendwho pushes a button and retrieves a thermal image of said boat showing oneperson inside. She didn’t have to waitfor a spy satellite or surveillance chopper. It had to be Remote Thermal Viewing
.
Perhaps the audiences of the 50s were prepared to accept MRV because of precision bombing during WWII. Paul Fussell explains that "precision bombing" was something of a misnomer: "The fact was that bombing proved so grossly inaccurate that the planes had to fly well within anti-aircraft range to hit anywhere near the target, and even then they very often missed it entirely. As the war went on, 'precision bombing' became a comical oxymoron relished by bomber crews with a sense of black humor. It became obvious to everyone except the home folks reading Life and The Saturday Evening Post that although you could destroy lots of things with bombs, they weren't necessarily the things you had in mind."* But civilians believed that each dropped bomb landed exactly where it was meant to. If you could drop a bomb precisely from 7 miles up without worrying about wind, then why not MRV?

I found a precision bombing propaganda pamphlet that Fussell mentioned and scanned it. Here's one image from it:

Please check out the pilot I have pointed the green arrow at. Tell me what you think: "Dude looks like a lady," "Dude, that is a lady," "Other."

*Paul Fussell, Wartime: Understanding and Behavior in the Second World War, New York: Oxford UP, 1989, p 14.

Can a Big Thing be Subversive?

2011-11-14T17:03:00.000-05:00

I was doing the Veterans Day shift, when a young man asked me if I didn't think the locking down of Harvard Yard was "subversive." The question sounded odd; and I wondered, "Why does this question sound odd." It was the word "subversive," which, in academia usually has a positive value. Note these titles of academic articles and books:
Das entfremdete Subjekt : subversive psychoanalytische Denkanstösse bei Lacan und Derrida
A subversive voice in China : the fictional world of Mo Yan
Unvarnishing reality : subversive Russian and American cold war satire

In modern academic literature, "subversives" are the powerless chipping away at the Powers That Be. They are intellectuals challenging received wisdom. They are avant-garde artists. They are despised minority groups.
Probably this positive spin on "subversive" is a reaction to earlier (mostly conservative) uses of the word:

Guide to subversive organizations and publications (and appendix)

Subversive activities control act of 1950. Report ... Eighty-fourth Congress, first session

Interim report of the Special commission established to study and investigate communism and subversive activities and related matters in the Commonwealth. April 26, 1955. [Appendix A ... Resolve reviving and continuing the Special commission ... until February 1, 1956.

Subversion in racial unrest, an outline of a strategic weapon to destroy the governments of Louisiana and the United States. Public hearings, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, March 6-9, 1957

The web of subversion; underground networks in the U. S. Government..

However, in both cases we are talking about small subverting large. Small communist cells would be slowly subverting the whole United States. So, can a big thing subvert a small thing? There's nothing in the definition of subvert to suggest that size is important. So I suppose the question was not odd.

Tree-in-a-Hole

2011-11-07T18:30:00.000-05:00

The tree in the Pusey hole looked quite brilliantly red today.

Everything's Better With Photoshop

2011-11-03T11:30:00.000-04:00

Barb and I in Times Square, improved.

Do Shoes Come From Heaven?

2011-10-28T11:55:00.001-04:00

wait for the other shoe to drop wait for the next or final thing to happen. North American *

Sure! Shoes come in pairs, so when the other shoe drops, you have a complete pair. Then it's time to walk.

But why does the shoe drop? What's it doing way up there? My shoes are on the floor or hanging on my closet door. Do other people keep their shoes on such high shelves that they must knock them down with a pole?

Or maybe shoes used to grow on tall trees, and people had to shake the trees to get the shoes to drop. (Thus, the "shoe tree.")

Do shoes come from heaven?

*"shoe" Oxford Dictionary of English Idioms. Edited by John Ayto, Judith Siefring and Jennifer Speake. Oxford University Press Inc. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press. Harvard University Library. 17 October 2011

TGIT

2011-10-21T11:03:00.001-04:00

On Thursday Diane and I had Chinese takeout for lunch.

We made JB call in the order because he was being such a lazy boy. (He doesn't like to be photographed, but this is his cubicle.)

Missed Kay Ryan

2011-10-20T10:53:00.003-04:00

I was going to hear Kay Ryan at the MFA last night. But the heavy, cold rain held me back; I just wanted to go home and get in bed with the cats. Here is a poem of hers based on a museum experience.

Outsider Art
by Kay Ryan

Most of it’s too dreary
or too cherry red
If it’s a chair, it’s
covered with things
the savior said
or should have said—
dense admonishments
in nail polish
too small to be read.
If it’s a picture,
the frame is either
burnt matches glued together
or a regular frame painted over
to extend the picture. There never
seems to be a surface equal
to the needs of these people.
Their purpose wraps
around the backs of things
and under arms;
they gouge and hatch
and glue on charms
till likable materials—
apple crates and canning funnels—
lose their rural ease. We are not
pleased the way we thought
we would be pleased.

Origins

2011-10-03T20:14:00.002-04:00

When JB gave me the robot ornaments, he asked me if I recognized them from movies. I didn't. He thought maybe they were toys. I found images of 2 of them.

The Great Outdoors

2011-10-02T21:40:00.001-04:00

This afternoon Rosemary and I checked out the Oktoberfest in Harvard Square. As usual, there were no beer-bearing Mädchens, just the usual outdoor-fair paraphernalia.

An Early Christmas Gift

2011-09-23T11:43:00.002-04:00

JB brought this in for me today. Robot Christmas decorations! (Some assembly required.)

Here they are next to the Coke Slut. Thank you JB!

A Grave Visitor

2011-09-20T15:51:00.001-04:00

This odd truck was parked on my street today. Fortunately, no sythe-bearing visitor came to my door.

The Office Beautiful

2011-09-13T18:03:00.001-04:00

Here are some more office decorations.

A Piet Mondrian left here by John Collins.

A Map showing Stalin's plans for cutting up Russia into rectangles.

A Map mixing geography and genealogy.

Back from Paris, France

2011-09-04T20:58:00.000-04:00

Rosemary went on a Rick Steves tour of Paris and was thoroughly satisfied with her travel experience. She brought me some nice souvenirs.

There is a Claude Monet fan and some goodies from Versailles.

Rainy-Day Activities

2011-08-28T17:17:00.000-04:00

As usual in hurricane situations, by the time it gets to me, it's just some rain and wind. It's mostly the suburbs that get the flooding and power outages. But I stayed indoors. The T shut down after 8 am, I'm guessing that stores closed too. There are always lots of things to do indoors:

One can investigate new venues and postures for relaxation.

One can replace that piece of fabric art one got tired of with some pictures of the Painting Goddess.

And one can hang out on the patio and eat bugs.

More Cute (and Educational) Cat Pictures

2011-08-24T21:37:00.000-04:00

Here are a couple of educational shots showing the thumb placement on a polydactyl cat.

This is the Cat on my Hat.......................

........and this is the Cat on my Hat from the Back.

The cat's in the bag.

MAPS: We'd be Lost Without Them

2011-08-19T23:02:00.036-04:00

When the Map Room mounts a display, they make reproductions of the maps they want to display. So when they take the display down, I can take the discarded reproductions for interior decorating purposes. I've manage to brighten up many of our boring office walls.

Here's one that takes the world's highest mountains and longest rivers out of their geological context and puts them side by side for comparison.

This map is an American product made during WWII. It had propaganda value and was beautifully designed.

This map isn't so pretty, but it interests me. Another American product from WWII, it is a paranoid's dream document.

You may have to click on the image to read the key.

Look how innocent New Mexico was!

But now look at Massachusetts. Wow!

NOTE: I fixed the links so they work now. And I also browsed some of the other works of Joseph P. Kamp, compiler of the last map. He was quite productive: The fifth column in Washington! By Joseph P. Kamp, It isn't safe to be an American, We must abolish the United States : the hidden facts behind the crusade for world government / Joseph P. Kamp, Behind the plot to sovietize the South, and
many more.

Non-Satanic Naming

2011-08-15T17:16:00.001-04:00

Since product names came up in a recent blog post, I decided I would report on my correspondence with Bumble Bee Foods. I was discussing Bumble Bee tuna with my office mates one day, when I wondered aloud why a seafood company named itself after an insect. I searched their site without finding an answer, so I e-mailed them. This was their answer:

Dear Colleen:

Thank you for taking the time to contact us about our Bumble Bee products.

The Bumble Bee name can be traced to the early days of the company. The company was originally the Columbia River Packers Association (CRPA) and produced canned salmon primarily from Astoria, OR. The company grew quickly with salmon being a staple food product in American households. The canners used separate and distinct labels for specific salmon species and runs, even for different markets and specific customers. The labels were often the names of different animals and plants like Bear and Cloverleaf. The “Bumble Bee” name eventually became the most popular of the CRPA brands.

In 1938 the packers introduced a new catch, Albacore tuna, which was found seasonally and in abundance off the Oregon coast. Soon, Albacore tuna surpassed salmon as the company’s primary product. Today, Bumble Bee has become one of the most respected premium labels for canned tuna and other seafood items in the United States, bringing more variety in the company’s offerings for shelf stable protein.

Thank you again for contacting us.

Thank you,
Bumble Bee Consumer Affairs

I had assumed that the bee's stripes had something to do with it, since the Bumble Bee spokesinsect wears a striped sailor shirt.

I had further supposed that the bee's nectar-collecting had been seen as analogous to fishing. But no, they just slapped various animal and names on their products. This story is as dissatifying as that of King Arthur flour, which was named after a popular musical. And I had been wondering what King Arthur had to do with baking!

Attribution Can Be Hell (or The Web of Deceit)

2011-08-06T23:31:00.007-04:00

Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.

Some months ago we got an attribution question from a Professor who wanted to use the quotation above in an article or book (I can't remember which). The internet attributes it to Leonardo da Vinci; but the internet does not give a citation. So I looked in every quotation book and every online quotation thing, but it's not there. I did a JSTOR search in art history titles. No results. Then I did Google Books searches and found Leonardo's notebooks and Thoughts on Art and Life (translated into English). But I couldn't find anything like it in there. Finally I asked an art librarian who asked a friend of hers who is a Leonardo da Vinci scholar. The scholar had never heard that quotation.

Widespread quotation misinformation predates the internet. William Safire got himself embroiled in just such a scandal. He had used a quotation attributed to Edmund Burke in a column, and then a reader wrote him a letter asking when and where Burke had said said quotation. Safire checked his copy of Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 14th edition, which placed the quotation in a certain letter. Safire sent a reply. The guy wrote back: he'd examined that letter, and the quotation wasn't in it. So then Safire embarked on a fruitless quest to prove that Burke really wrote, " The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing."*
The 16th edition of Bartlett's lists this under Burke as "Attributed."

Now it is possible that Leo from Vinci said something that could be translated as the above quotation and that somebody found it somewhere written down by Leo on some forgotten manuscript in a hidden archive. So if you are that somebody, I wish you would identify yourself and cough up a citation.

It is also possible that some person has, through error or evil design, perpetrated a web-lie. If you are that person, please fess up. And tell the world who really said "Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication."

* William Safire On Language, NY: Times Books, 1980, pp 224-227.

UPDATE 11/08/11 I find a reference to this problem in Wikiquote.

Desk Sets

2011-07-29T18:11:00.001-04:00

People Food

2011-07-24T14:23:00.002-04:00

The 50th birthday of Charlie the Tuna got me thinking about the anthropomorphism of food in advertising. This was particularly popular in the 50s and 60s...

...but it still goes on today.

So why do we like our food to look human? Well, our food becomes a part of us, and therefore human. Perhaps such anthropomorphism suggests that the food is already on the way to humanness, so will require less digestive work, or that it is suitable for humans--it is people food.
Eating anthropomorphic food is also a socially acceptable form of cannibalism, an ancient practice fallen out of favor in recent times.
My favorite explanation is that human-like food suggests that we will attain the qualities or states suggested by the food's form. We shall become distinguished and gentlemanly like Mr. Peanut, as beautiful and sultry as Chiquita Banana, or as happily energetic as Kool-Aid Man. (How do they know it's male?)
I invite my readers to put forth their own theories.

Old Tyme Trumpets

2011-07-16T18:42:00.000-04:00

I get a monthly e-mail from the local chapter of Big Brothers Big Sisters; and the July e-mail said that, besides old clothes and household items, they would take musical instruments. Well I still have the trumpet I played in high school and college. I haven't played it for years; and if I wanted to, I'd have to build up my armature again. But I encountered a strong internal resistance to parting with my horn.

I used to take my trumpet playing quite seriously: I practiced daily. I bought a number of Nonesuch records featuring Baroque trumpet tunes.

I treasured a picture, cut out of a Nonesuch catalogue, of 18th C. trumpet players. In high school I got the nice Selmer trumpet I have now. I took lessons from Mr. Mac, the band director, who had actually studied with Edward Tarr, a Baroque trumpet expert. Daily practice and weekly lessons helped me to reach the last chair of the first trumpet section in my senior year. That same year Mary Beckett, an incoming freshman, took first chair. She had an awesome tone. The boys in the first trumpet section appeared not to be threatened by Mary's superior talent. In fact, they fawned all over her and ignored me. It was an important lesson for me: being unafraid of success does not actually ensure success.

Fond memories! How can I ever let go of my trumpet?

Dummy v. Dummy

2011-07-10T01:27:00.001-04:00

Barb told me about this interview on the O'Reilly Factor. Neither Mr. O'Reilly nor the president of the American Atheism Society was listening during science class when they talked about the tides.

The Missing Pictures

2011-07-08T07:20:00.001-04:00

I've posted the pictures I took in NYC to Picasa, but Brenda also took pictures. Here are her pictures of me and Barb. Note: they are not in chronological order!

Before taking the harbor cruise, we posed in front of the Intrepid.

Grand Central Station.

At the Met.

At the Schubert Theater.

Times Square.

At Lincoln Center.

This Summer's Bunnies

2011-07-07T11:12:00.001-04:00

I saw the first bunny nibbling at the grass near the "Roosevelt" wall outside Lamont (corner of Quincy and Harvard Sts.). People were walking by, but the bunny was unfazed.

This bunny was in the Dudley Garden. It was timid and difficult to photograph.

NYC

2011-07-03T16:06:00.000-04:00

So, I hadn't been to New York City for over 30 years. It's always seemed so large, complex, confusing, and treacherous. However, my college buddy Brenda has been there frequently. So she and Barbara (another college buddy) and I took a 2-day trip to the Big City.

The New Yorkers on the sidewalks were nice people who gave directions and helped with change for the bus. It was only the ones driving that showed tooth and claw. We saw 2 musicals: Memphis and Avenue Q. We ate some good food. We went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. We took a harbour tour. OK, maybe I'll go back.

Foot Fix

2011-06-21T20:35:00.002-04:00

At last the mystery of my foot pain has been solved! I turned my right foot in Rome, but kept walking on it until I got back to the U.S.A. But all the R.I.C.E. only worked for a bit. I'd try to do a triangle in yoga class, and the owie would come back. Today the physical therapist manipulated my foot until she found the trouble spot, illustrated below.

The ouch bone was too mobile, and its excessive moving around caused the hurt. The PT taped my foot in such a way to give the battered bone a rest.

Next I get to got to ankle class.

A Slow Few Days

2011-06-20T19:29:00.003-04:00

Last Thursday I and some buddies went to Jordan Hall to hear the Boston Early Music Festival Orchestra. I had never been to Jordan Hall before, so it was a double-treat. However, getting there was harder than we thought it would be.

First, when we descended into the Harvard Square T Stop, we encountered an enormous crowd. The T was broken, and people had been waiting for some time. Oh no! But we only had to wait about 5 minutes. Then we got off at Symphony. We planned to eat at Lucy, a place highly praised at Yelp.com. We had 2 hours before the concert, so we were not concerned that it was a small place with only one table left. The owner assured us he could feed us within the 2 hours. Well, time passed and passed and passed. And Julie asked if we were going to get our food on time, and the guy said yes. And then we had only a half hour, and the guy said it's coming out in a minute. So 5 minutes later we got our food. And it was great food! The bread looked like sheets of sponge, but it was good.

We got to the concert in time. We heard strings with harpsichord and sometimes trumpets. I couldn't see the trumpets from my seat. I like Baroque music. I like Baroque art. I even like Rococo. I like opera that is highly stylized and heavily ornamented. (I'm not saying I have good taste. I'm just saying this is what tastes good to me)

On Saturday Laureen and I went to another concert at Jordan Hall featuring the guy who played harpsichord at the first one, but playing the piano this time. There was a victory parade for the Bruins at 11, but since the concert wasn't until 2:30, I figured we would be safe. But I hadn't considered that as the victory parade progressed, fans would be returning to the T. As it turned out, 1 1/2 million people showed up for the parade, and the T got swamped. I left extra early, because Laureen and I were going to get frozen yogurt before the concert, but the train was creeping along between Park St and Copley. We made it.

Proof Positive!

2011-06-18T10:27:00.000-04:00

My rose bush hasn't produced any flowers for a few years. So why is it producing this year? Maybe it liked all the rain. Anyway, here's the proof. (I confess to pumping up the color saturation, since the blooms are a very light pink.)

Romeo is enjoying the opportunity to go outside.

Im/peccable = With(out) Sin

2011-06-06T23:06:00.001-04:00

Perhaps you read my post on the word vincible. Well, would you believe that there is a peccable as well as the better-know impeccable?


	peccable, adj. truetrue Pronunciation: Brit. /ˈpɛkəbl/ , U.S. /ˈpɛkəb(ə)l/ Etymology: < French peccable (c1050 in Old French as pecables; compare Anglo-Norman pecchable, peccable, pechable) and its etymon post-classical Latin peccabilis capable of sinning, liable to sin (9th cent.; 14th cent. in British sources), sinful (14th cent. in British sources) < classical Latin peccāre to sin (see peccant adj. and n.) + -bilis-ble suffix, after impeccābilisimpeccable adj.... (Show Less) Thesaurus » 1. Capable of sinning; liable to sin. In later use also (freq. in humorous contrast to impeccable): fallible, imperfect, flawed. 1604 T. Wright Passions of Minde (new ed.) v. §4. 210 All men by nature are sinners, are peccable, the iust offend often. 1675–6 H. More Let. 10 Jan. in Conway Lett. (1992) vii. 417 Which is wonderfull how else to understand of the Humanity of Christ, unlesse he had such a soul as other men have, of itself indeed peccable but by reason of his perpetuall Faythfulnesse, alwayes devoyd of sin. 1741 G. Berkeley Let. 7 June in Wks. (1871) IV. 272 We hold all mankind to be peccable and errable, even the Pope himself. 1833 J. H. Newman Arians 4th Cent. ii. 249 At first it [sc. Arianism] had not scrupled to admit the peccable nature of the Son; but it soon‥avowed that, in matter of fact, He was indefectible. 1857 H. Miller Test. Rocks iii. 154 Fitting and preparing peccable, imperfect man, for a perfect impeccable future state. 1900 F. Thompson in T. L. Conolly Literary Crit. (1948) 137 The sublimest teaching, if the utterance be peccable, is not worth one impeccable stanza. 1936 D. B. MacDonald Hebrew Philos. Genius vii. 141 The state‥was a divine foundation and, therefore, peccable only on its human side. 1992 N.Y. Times (Nexis) 13 Mar. c6/1 Its credentials are about as impeccable as you can find in the peccable atmosphere of Hollywood. 1604—1992 †2. Sinful, wrong. Obs. rare. 1633 W. Prynne Histrio-mastix 563 Is not the selfe same sinne as sinfull, as peccable? 1633—1633 peccable, adj. Third edition, September 2005; online version March 2011. ; accessed 06 June 2011. An entry for this word was first included in New English Dictionary

Cats and Food

2011-06-05T14:22:00.000-04:00

Juliet likes sleeping on top of the clothes-drying rack. This is how she looks from underneath.

Yesterday I went with Sue, Julie, and Dave to True Bistro, a vegan place in Somerville. Above, Julie and Dave look serious.

Sue's hand gestures are echoed by the gentleman at the next table. How artistic is that!

A salad with farro, which tasted something like barley. Nice presentation.

Wilted spinach, smoked tofu, pecans, cranberries, red onion, balsamic vinegar. The smoked tofu had a meaty taste reminiscent of bacon.

Housemade spaghettini, smoked tofu, English peas, blanched almonds, cream sauce. I liked this; Julie didn't love it.

Cornmeal-crusted oyster mushrooms, horseradish/dill aioli. You can't go wrong with fried stuff!

Black bean and plantain torte, salsa verde and sour cream. (I think I got that right.)
I generally think of vegan diets as very restrictive, but the True Bistro makes great use of plant foods. I could be vegan, if I could eat stuff like this every day.

A Good Enough Storm

2011-06-02T17:41:00.000-04:00

We had a lot o' lightning last night. So I took some movies from my windows. Then, in iMovie, I ramped up the brightness, then I moved the white point so the white places got color, then I ramped up the hue saturation, and then I was done.

Kitty Corners

2011-05-28T23:38:00.000-04:00

Romeo and Juliet have been with me now for nearly 5 months. They have scoped out the comfortable places in their new home.

More Granary Burial Ground Photos

2011-05-28T14:44:00.003-04:00

The Mary Goose buried here is not Mother Goose, but people still pay her penny-homage.

This monument reminds me of something...but I can't think what.

Gorey Hallelujah!

2011-05-27T22:32:00.002-04:00

Yesterday was commencement day, an extra holiday for me and my library buddies. So Sue, Julie, Laureen, Lynn, and I decided to see the Gorey exhibit at the Boston Athenaeum. I'd never been there before.

Sue, Laureen, Lynn, Julie

Inside, photography was strictly forbidden, so you will have to take my word that the exhibition was awesome, or buy the exhibition catalogue. My favorite items were the envelopes young Gorey used to mail letters to his mother when he was an undergraduate at Harvard. He decorated them with weird watercolor pictures. He must have been well-known by the post office.

Next we visited the Granary Burying Ground, which is visible from Athenaeum windows.

Note that the woman buried on the left was named Silence. Talk about Puritan names.

Next we backtracked and ate lunch at Zen Grille and Sushi Bar. I had noodles; I don't eat anything raw. The sushi was very attractive. Take a look at Julie's lunch.

Next we stopped to look at a Memorial Day installation on Boston Common.

Now go to Youtube to see our our Swanboat ride.

Catching Up

2011-05-25T19:11:00.002-04:00

Lately I've been watching old TV that I missed the first time around. I was only 5 when the series Thriller started up; it's a good thing I discovered it on Netflix, because it had many good episodes.

The Host of Thriller

Most of the plots had supernatural elements. I've just finished season 1, in which I saw a very young William Shatner in two episodes; but the fun doesn't stop there! In The Hungry Glass Shatner played opposite Russell Johnson (a.k.a. the Professor on Gilligan's Island). In The Grim Reaper Shatner was joined by Natalie Schafer (a.k.a. Eunice 'Lovey' Wentworth Howell on Gilligan's Island). Small world! What are the chances of running across two people from the same island?

So my Thriller-watching inspired me to seek out Thriller-host Boris Karloff's lesser-known films. First I saw The Man Who Changed His Mind (1936), which was a classic mad-scientist story with the familiar theme of mind transplant. By working really, really hard, Dr. Laurence manages to construct a machine that switches minds into different bodies. But the scientific world won't even give him a chance to demonstrate his machine; they just walked away scoffing. Then Laurence thinks of a practical use for his machine when his backer threatens to take away his lab... Another noteworthy aspect of this flick is its strong female character, the lovely Dr. Clare Wyatt, who ends up saving the day at the end.

More History of the Future!

2011-05-25T16:41:00.000-04:00

Thanks to Steve who saved the Wall St. Journal article that sent me looking for images of Arthur Radebaugh's syndicated strip: "Closer Than We Think" This stuff is my kind of stuff!

The Overextended Month of May

2011-05-23T16:03:00.000-04:00

May (thank you Wikipedia)

What's the World Coming to?

2011-05-19T14:36:00.001-04:00

When I found out that the so-called Botox Mom had not really injected Botox into her daughter, that she was a hoaxter, I felt the same sting of betrayal that accompanied the discovery that Dean Martin was not actually a drunk. What's the world coming to when we can't believe what we see on TV and read on the internet? One thing's for sure, when the rapture comes on Saturday, she'll be left behind!

Quit Looking at Cuteoverload and Listen to Me!

2011-05-17T15:43:00.000-04:00

Gone to Her Reward

2011-05-15T21:16:00.002-04:00

The cybersphere has been full of Dolores Fuller, who died on May 9. Although known chiefly through her association with Ed Wood, Jr., her most successful enterprise was serving on the Elvis Presley song-writing team. She co-write that unforgettable tune: Do the Clam.

Here she is running into her old boyfriend and his old friend in the after-life: (click to enlarge picture.)

May Day at the MFA

2011-05-04T17:27:00.001-04:00

So Rosemary and I went to the MFA to see the Chihuly glass stuff and the Art in Bloom.flower arrangements. The new cafe looks good.

The Chihuly stuff was mostly displayed against black, reflective surfaces. Mr. Chihuly was OK with photos taken for non-commercial purposes.

There was also a room with a glass ceiling on top of which were many glass goodies that were reminiscent (in many cases) of sealife, which tempted me to call it a sea-ling.

I only photographed a few flower arrangements.

For more of my photos go to: https://picasaweb.google.com/bryant.colleen08/MuseumOfFineArtsBoston#

Two Birds with One Stone

2011-04-30T18:49:00.000-04:00

It's the last day of National Poetry Month and the day after William & Kate's wedding. So here is a poem by Stevie Smith in the nick of time.

The Hat*
I love my beautiful hat more than anything
And through my beautiful hat I see a wedding ring
The King will marry me and make me his own before all
And when I am married I shall wear my hat and walk on the palace wall.

*Stevie Smith, The Collected Poems, New York: New Directions Books, 1983, page 272.

Miscellaneous

2011-04-27T17:35:00.002-04:00

I finished The Bones of Avalon. I don't usually go for historical novels, but I love Phil Rickman's Merrily Watkins series. So I was waiting for the next one to come, and instead out came The Bones of Avalon. I did enjoy it. It had many of the same themes as the Merrily Watkins series: mysticism, murder, church politics. It takes place in Elizabethan times, but Rickman only slightly antiqued his language. In his afterword he thanks various linguists for their advice which he ended up mostly not taking since, "a strict adherence to Elizabethan written structures and terminology would only have made it sound stilted in ways it never would have been at the time." Fair enough. He has a great talent for taking masses of material and making it into a riveting story

Speaking of stilted language, I was thinking about the pronoun thou, which is no longer used by most speakers of English, but which used to be the informal form of you--the form you'd use for family, close friends, or people you were insulting. Nowadays we mostly hear it used in prayers and hymns, so that it has formal, exalted associations. That's why The Philadelphia Story had this scene between Macaulay Connor (Jimmy Stewart) and a Quaker Librarian

Librarian: What is thee wish?
Macaulay Connor: I'm looking for some local b - what'd you say?
Librarian: What is thee wish?
Macaulay Connor: Um, local biography or history.
Librarian: If thee will consult with my colleague in there.
Macaulay Connor: Mm-hm. Dost thou have a washroom?
[the librarian points]
Macaulay Connor: Thank thee

It's hilarious to use a holy, exalted word in the same sentence with washroom--at least from the Judeo-Christian viewpoint.

In other news, we had pizza for lunch in the office today.

I think this must be a magic mushroom pizza.

Two Layers of Cat

2011-04-26T15:18:00.000-04:00

The Romeo Suspension bridge over the Juliet river of snooze.

From above.

Romeo's famous thumbs.

A Snooty Cutie

2011-04-20T20:27:00.000-04:00

I need to sleep like this so I can keep my nose up.

A Cat in a Box is Worth Two in the Bush

2011-04-19T15:31:00.000-04:00

Vacation Recap: March 18

2011-04-13T20:58:00.000-04:00

Friday morning we went back to the Leather School, so I could re-buy the items I lost. We took the train back to Rome.

We wanted to eat dinner at a well-reviewed place, but it was full. We ended up at La Scala, Via Sabotino, 2. We had a mushroom pizza and some pasta. The pizza was good; the pasta a bit salty. The next day, we flew back to Boston.

Vacation Recap: March 17

2011-04-13T19:51:00.002-04:00

Museli, blood orange juice, and coffee, then it's off to the Basilica of Santa Croce. We got the audio-guides and hit all the most important points (as indicated by our audio-guide pamphlet) as well as a few that interested us. I only took one photo, because I bought myself a book of photos from the souvenir shop.

I was surprised that such a modern person would have a memorial in such an old church.

I bought a pair of boots at a tiny shop. Sue resisted buying a beautiful bag at a shop that had supplied her with other bags.

Of course we also checked out the School of Leather, where Sue ordered a belt. I bought a wallet for me, a wallet for my brother, and a change purse for my sister-in-law.

We walked through the Farmacia of Santa Maria Novella, but bought nothing.

Then, after getting back to the convent, I realized I no longer had my bag of leather goodies. I had either put it down somplace, or it had been snatched while I was tired and trying not to hit other people with my umbrella. (It was drizzley in the afternoon.) Sue felt so sorry for me that she insisted on taking me to dinner at Trattoria 4 Leoni that night, which brings me to my favorite dish of the trip: artichoke lasagne. There was a nice British couple at the next table. She had the lasagne; and her enthusiastic approval confirmed that selection plus a pasta (was it with pepper?) and the house red. We had a gelati and cheesecake for dessert. Sue said she was normally indifferent to cheesecake, but this one was good. The British couple told us they had discovered the restaurant seven years ago, and wanted to come back. (And, obviously, they did.)

Vacation Recap: March 16

2011-04-07T17:11:00.005-04:00

Now we took the train to Florence, where we would spend a couple of days before returning to Rome. The rocking train put us to sleep. At the station, Sue's Italian went back into action, finding us the bus we needed to get to Casa Santo Nome di Gesù, Piazza del Carmine, 21. An elderly Florentine woman on the bus gave us much friendly advice.
After checking in at our convent, we headed back out to Villa I Tatti. This Harvard library and research center is Bernard Berenson's former home on the outskirts of Florence. We had signed up for a 3 O'Clock tour to see some of the artworks Mr. Berenson left to Harvard. It took a while to get there. We took a long ride on bus !0, then we climbed a hill.
Among the other members of our tour was a woman Sue remembered from a Freshman or Junior Parents Weekend, at which event this woman had spent most of her time complaining about the fact that she hadn't been able to use Lamont when she was at Radcliffe. And, strangely enough, when she found out that we worked at Lamont, she again bewailed her former exile at great length. Well, it was an injustice, but that was over 45 years ago. Was this woman a Lamont-access monomaniac?
No, I don't think so. My further observations suggested that she simply needed to be the center of attention. She was the girl in your class who always had her hand up. She had a Susan-Sontag hairdo.
Our guide was an enthusiastic, charming, and knowlegeable woman. She told us a story about a portrait of a man who had been at a party where all the guests were massacred (by the Medicis?); but his name was the only one remembered among the massacred. A previous tourist had asked our guide if it was worth being murdered, just so you could be remembered. "You'd have to ask Achilles that!" said the Susan-Sontag wannabee. OK.
Inside photos were forbidden, but here's a picture of the garden.

We also had a tour of the library, so it was after 5 when we left. We wanted to eat at a place called Trattoria 4 Leoni that night, but it was full up. So we made a reservation for the next night and continued our quest for grub. We sat down in a casual place filled with student-types. A peddler came in and began pitching his stock from table to table. We agreed to leave. Finally we ate at Il Magazzino, Piazza della Passera 2-3. The guy told us we had to be out in an hour. I can't remember the meal, but the receipt says we had bevande, piatto unico, and primi piatti. I do remember they had so much wine they were storing bottles on their window sills.

We Interrupt Our Regular Blogging For a Special Post...

2011-03-30T10:36:00.001-04:00

I've been watching old movies again. The Hideous Sun Demon confirmed my belief that the sun is our enemy. But what a great surprise I had while watching Appointment with Danger, in which Alan Ladd played a hard-boiled postal inspector investigating the murder of another postal inspector. In the opening scene, two very familiar-looking thugs lug the dead inspector to an ally. They were the very young Jack Webb & Harry Morgan, who would later portray the iconic pair Sergeant Friday & Officer Bill Gannon in Dragnet! Wow! And what was really cool was what baddies they were is this film:

UPDATE: Ranald has pointed out that bronzed baby shoes are not as heavy as this clip implies. However, I'm willing to allow them poetic license. The bronzed shoes are a load on the poor hood's heart.

Vacation Recap: March 15

2011-03-28T09:51:00.000-04:00

More great Villa Rosa rolls and coffee in the morning, then it's off to the Colosseum! Wow, it was already crowded. We got the audio-guide, but we suffered geographical confusion when we tried to find the listening spots. So many people were taking photos of other people, that I quit trying to avoid getting in the way. We went to the souvenir shop, and I got a book called Rome Reconstructed which had layered pages showing sites as they were then/now. It helped me figure out stuff the audio-guide told me that I didn't understand.

Next we went to the Forum, which was roomier and quieter. I took out my book, but once again suffered geographical confusion. The arch that I attributed to Tiberius actually belonged to Septimus Severus. Then we found a shrine to Julius Caesar, and, since it was the Ides of March, it was filled with offerings.

We took a tour of an ancient church, the Oratory of the 40 Martyrs. Tours were in Italian or English, so our group had Russians and others for whom English was not the mother tongue. In fact, I believe we were the only Americans. I took a photo of the old-fashioned crosses with the yellow peacock.

We had some lunch and gelati at Valoran's Forum S.R.L. right near the Forum on Largo Corrado Ricci. Sue had 2 flavors :bacio and kiss (chocolate with hazelnuts); I had banana. Then Sue saw a couple of women standing near us as though waiting to sit down, so we got up for them. But the women weren't together. One ignored us; the other started telling us that she didn't know where her place to sit down in life was. We fled. I tried to use the debit card I'd gotten specifically for the trip. However the mnemonic I'd invented for remembering the password was not good enough. So Sue had to float me a loan, while I charged everything I could on my MC.

For dinner we went to La Buca di Rippetta Trattoria at Via di Ripetta 36. We got to the Piazza del Popolo and found our street. We looked to our right and saw numbers in the hundreds. Damn! We were going to have to walk a long way for our dinner. But suddenly there was our restaurant on the left. The left side addresses were double-digit; the right side were triple-digit. I've never run across such a diabolical numbering system in my life! We had a fish-based meaL; small servings of salmon tartare, squid in red sauce, sliced octopus over something else, and linguini with tuna and tomatoes. As usual, we had the house red wine. All was very good.

Vacation Recap: March 14

2011-03-27T12:19:00.003-04:00

We had decided that Monday would be a wonderful day for a trip to Pompeii. At breakfast, Sister Christina urged us to hurry or we'd miss the train. (She would stop by every table at breakfast, find out what the visitors's plans were, and give her own tips.) So we had only one of Villa Rosa's excellent rolls and some coffee.
We took the train to Naples then took the Circumvesuviana line to Pompeii Scavi. Once again, Sue's Italian helped us navigate the byzantine mass transit system.

At the entrance to the ruins we considered getting the audio-guide, but a distinguished man approached us and said he was collecting people for a 2-hour tour (shades of Gilligan's Island!), so we decided to go with him. His name was Gennaro, and he gave us an excellent tour. Here are some of the high points: we started at the basilica, which was a public building in the forum.

We saw a tavern with stone counters. The holes held wine in one, water in the next. Yes, they watered down their wine, but who knows how strong it was. The wine may have been like wine syrup.

We saw a brothel. Prostitution was a legitimate, tax-paying business in the ancient world.

Apparently the prostitutes preferred firm mattresses.

There was a storeroom with a chain-link fence front where you could see all sorts of artifacts they discovered. They also displayed some plaster casts of victims.

People threw coins into containers near each victim's plaster cast.* They were treated like saints.

This mosaic in an entryway says "Beware of Dog."

Sadly, there are many stray dogs around Pompeii. They beg for food from visitors. Sue said that she read somewhere that the local poor had abandonned their dogs when they left for vacation in August. (But if they are poor, how can they afford a vacation?) Be that as it may, there is a group that tries to find the dogs good homes.

We ended the tour at the town's Big Theater. Of course it has perfect aucostics.

After Gennaro left us we did some further exploration including the Villa of the Mysteries, which I had particularly wanted to see. Then we explored the adjacent modern town of Pompei. It was pretty touristy. Its economy leaned toward oranges and lemons.

These lemons are as big as a baby's head!

We returned to Rome and had dinner at Novona Notte. A maniacally cheerful waiter greeted us at the door. As he seated us he told the man at the table next to ours, "Here's a (female) friend for you. [in Italian]" So this elderly man began chatting up Sue, who was eager to practice her Italian. "Dmitry" said he was a lawyer in Rome on business. He gave us food recommendations and was snapping his fingers at the waiters to get us another fork or a sample of lemoncello, etc. As the evening progressed, his story changed. Now he was a canonical lawyer working for the Vatican and he lived in Rome. He knew the Pope personally. In the meantime an American couple sat down at the table on our other side, and we chatted with them. They were from Salt Lake City. Dmitry wanted to join in our conversation. He didn't know where Salt Lake City was, so they explained that it was near Las Vegas. That excited him. "Slot machine!" He asked the wife if she worked at a casino; no, she was a gynecolgist and delivered babies. Was the husband a doctor too? No. But before the guy could say anything more, Dmitry pointed at him, "Slot machine!" and made the pulling-the-lever gesture. Then he made the gesture of pulling-the-baby-out. He was so tickled with this combination, that he repeated it several times, to the embarrassment of the husband and amusement of the wife. To make a long story short, at the end of the evening he asked Sue if she were coming (with him), and she said no. We did have a good salad and spaghetti with olive oil and pepper.

*Gennaro told us that Vesuvius made a lot of noise before its eruption, so most of the Pompeiians fled and were saved. Some must have stayed or returned to get their stuff.

Vacation Recap: March 12-13

2011-03-26T10:30:00.009-04:00

Sue and I fly Alitalia nonstop to Rome. They serve good food. For dinner I had chicken with vegetables, green bean salad with ham, cheese-filled pasta, fruit salad, and red wine. Sue had the vegetarian option.
I believe that the seats are more cramped than they were in 1995...or could it be that I am bigger, older, and grumpier? In any case, I slept poorly. It's early morning when we land.

In Rome, Sue took charge of figuring out public transportation, which propelled her quickly into speaking Itallian. She got us to the metro stop Pyramide, from which we dragged our bags to our convent. We arrived at our room at the Villa Rosa Convent, run by Domincan nuns, about 11:30 local time. Sister Christina, who presides over this convent hotel, is originally from Ireland. First site: the Protestant Cemetery.

Of course we visited Keats's grave and got to see several kitties among the monuments. It was drizzley and dreary but warmer than Boston.

Then we walked a very long way to try out a pizza place touted in a recent New York Times article. Unfortunately, the place was not serving any of the unusual flavors (like salt cod) mentioned in the article. We each had a slice. It was good, but not otherwise noteworthy.
Rain fell heavily. We veered into the Museo Nationale Roma, which had a grumpy staff but great stuff. At one point Sue almost collapsed into a mosaic she was looking at. She realized that she was tired.

After the Museo, we wandered around looking for a cafe where we could sit down (the Museo had no cafe), but all the seats were taken in the places we passed. Finally we returned to the Termini (train station), where we found one seat at a coffee bar. Sue insisted that I sit, which I did. She had coffee; I fizzy water. If you order coffee in Italy, you get espresso, so I had to be careful not to get too buzzed.
At 7:30 we had dinner at Bucatino Taverna Testaccio. At all restaurants, including this one, we ordered the house red wine; it was always good. We had a salad made of stalks of things (Sue thought it might include fennel) topped with anchovy sauce. I liked it. We also had an artichoke cooked in olive oil, spaghetti with clam sauce, chocolate cake with a molten center, and "delizia pistachio," which was like a very dense ice cream. Sue again practiced her Italian with the waiter. Bucatino was one of the lower-priced places. The deocor was shabby; a picture hanging on a wall near me seemed to have water damage. But I enjoyed all the food.

More photos available at: https://picasaweb.google.com/bryant.colleen08/ItlayOverSpringBreak2011#

We're Back

2011-03-20T13:19:00.000-04:00

Romeo Could do This!

2011-03-06T12:14:00.000-05:00

Apparently the British are already aware of the situation I pointed out in an earlier post.

Clever Captions Will Win Valuable Prizes!

2011-02-24T20:41:00.001-05:00

Create comical captions for either of these photos and win big! Deadline for entries is March 20!

I wonder why humans stick their other ends in here?

(The winner!)

Is He Mad?

2011-02-16T11:37:00.003-05:00

JB put a lime on a cubicle divider and left it there for the longest time. When asked why he did not throw it out, he said it was a experiment to prove the hypothesis that the lime wouldn't rot and that some clementines would look pretty next to it.

Sounds fishy. Does he think limes are immortal? Are the clementines supposed to be brides of the lime?

This and That

2011-02-15T11:35:00.023-05:00

I've been watching all sorts of stuff made before I was born. Destination Moon was based on a novel by Robert Heinlein, my first favorite sci-fi writer. Heinlein's stories aimed to educate. He was always finding ways to slip in science facts. DM used its comic relief, an ignorant engineer who had to replace a sick crew memeber at the last moment, as an excuse to explain things. Joe Sweeney is always wailing variations on "What's happening?" in his heavy Bronx accent, so his crewmates can explain about weightlessness, outer space, and Newton's Laws of Motion. Also, the guy who builds the rocket is a private businessman who has to raise funds for the project, so he shows the following cartoon to his rich prospects:

Very Educational. (Though it implies that gravity is made by giant magnets.)

The other interesting thing I've been viewing is Tales of Tomorrow, a TV show that ran from 1951-1953. The DVDs include the advertisements, which were made in the same studio. Live TV! A couple of times I heard coughs or loud things drop while the end credits were rolling. Perhaps they got sloppier as the night wore on. Some good actors were in that series. Burgess Meredith played the lead in the best one I saw: The Great Silence. Most of the episodes were sponsored by Kreisler.

Dear Reader, I Totally Love You!

2011-02-14T01:14:00.001-05:00

My Natural Enemy

2011-02-11T16:40:00.000-05:00

Here is My Cubicle.

Here is JB's cubicle.

Clearly, he is my Natural Enemy.

My In-Tray is Full

2011-02-08T19:50:00.000-05:00

Belated Birthday Cake

2011-01-31T22:12:00.000-05:00

Friday afternoon my office mates put together a birthday party for me, Sue, and Mikel. This lovely million-layer cake is from Finale.

Vida entertained everybody with her hand tricks.

I point toward the cake, but I look into the future.

iMovie Trailer Feature

2011-01-23T16:45:00.002-05:00

Modern Maturity

2011-01-19T01:58:00.035-05:00

Today, as I turn 56, I'd like to say a few words about getting old. Many Boomers have taken on the laudable project of making their contemporaries feel OK about getting old. We get plenty of health advice and are told that we can have a sex life after 40 or even 50. All this is good.

But, as in any large movement, there are unrealistic extremes. Menopause needn't be feared, and perhaps it has been over-pathologized, but it can be troublesome for some of us. Some women seem to believe that anything menopausal should be endured, otherwise we are ruining the celebration of our later years. At one point my hot flashes were so intense that my glasses fogged up. That made it rather difficult to sleep; I went with medication.

In a recent interview Jane Fonda said, "I don't feel comfortable about having had plastic surgery. But I got tired of catching my reflection and seeing that I looked so tired when that wasn't at all how I felt."* I wish that, instead of this defensive tone, she had simply said, "I had the surgery because I wanted it. What's that to you?" The interviewer's questions weren't recorded, but criticism is implied. One of my favorite health gurus, Christiane Northrup, advises women who have decided to get cosmetic surgery to keep it secret because, "You'd be amazed at the number of judgments your friends may have concerning cosmetic surgery,..Some of your friends won't think you're very spiritually evolved, for instance, if you want to remove the bags under your eyes. Frankly, how you look is none of their business."** To Fonda's credit, she has admitted, in the past, to discomfort with becoming an old broad.

When I read that interview I immediately remembered a friend from the 90s, a man, who was always bragging about how age was "just a number" to him, blah, blah, blah. Then one day told me he was getting the eye-bag operation because his eyes made him look tired, while in reality he was energetic as all get out. His eyes lied. (I want to emphasize that he gave me this explanation unsolicited. If I looked disgusted, it was because I knew he wanted to date women 20 years his junior. Age was more than "just a number" in that respect.) So Fonda's "excuse" was not new. Then he hinted that he needed somebody to look after him for a few days after going under the knife, but I didn't oblige. His lecturing had got my goat, so I let that old goat arrange for his own care.

One of the undisputed advantages of aging is that, if you've been paying attention, you may be a lot smarter and than you were as a young pup. If you've also learned from experience, you might even become a more complicated, interesting person. So why do some people praise "young attitudes" in older people? Young attitudes are only appropriate for young people; in old people they are pathetic!

In conclusion, I'd like to encourage everybody to think positively about aging. But realize that when you've been young in an age of youth-worship, going over the hill can be traumatic. If some age-related rot is bothering you, don't be ashamed to change it, if you can. And don't annoy me with fake justifications!

*More, December 2010/January 2011, page 24.
**Christiane Northrup, The Wisdom of Menopause, page 384

Composing and Comprising

2011-01-16T11:40:00.001-05:00

In high school, I learned that there were some French people who wanted to keep English words out of their language. In response, I vowed to eliminate all French borrowings from my speech. I can't remember what this involved; maybe I avoided rendez-vous or bouquet. I hadn't heard of croissants back then.

Nowadays, I have a much less ambitious linguistic project: using comprise correctly. By occasionally sneaking a comprise into casual conversation--"You, know, my household comprises just me and two cats!"--I hope to put off the day when compose and comprise become synonymous. Someday every words will mean everything. I'm doing my small part to hold off linguistic chaos.

The Oxford Dictionary of American Usage and Style

comprise. A.

And compose.
Correct use of these words is simple, but increasingly rare. The parts compose the whole; the whole comprises the parts. The whole is composed of the parts; the parts are comprised in the whole. Comprise, the more troublesome word in this pair, means “to contain; to consist of”—e.g.: “Summit Hall Farm comprises several hundred acres on the exterior portion of the original settlement of the Gaither family” (Wash. Times).

B.

Erroneous Use of is comprised of.
The phrase is comprised of is always wrong and should be replaced by some other, more accurate phrase—e.g.: “The Rhode Island Wind Ensemble is comprised of [read has] 50 professional and amateur musicians, ranging in age from 15 to 82” (Providence J.-Bull.).

C.

Comprise for are comprised in or constitute.
If the whole comprises the parts, the reverse can't be true—e.g.: “Of the 50 stocks that comprise [read make up] the index, 40 had gains, 8 had losses and 2 were unchanged” (Fla. Today).

D.

Comprise for are.
This is an odd error based on a misunderstanding of the meaning of comprise. E.g.: “They comprise [read are] three of the top four names in the batting order of the 30 most influential sports people in B.C. for 1997” (Vancouver Sun).

How to cite this entry:
"comprise" The Oxford Dictionary of American Usage and Style. Bryan A. Garner. Oxford University Press, 2000. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press. Harvard University Library. 14 January 2011

A Storm to Impress Poss

2011-01-12T20:02:00.000-05:00

Romeo's Thumbs and the Future of Felines

2011-01-11T12:07:00.000-05:00

Romeo is a polydactyl cat. He has one extra toe on each front paw. These cats are common on the East Coast, so are sometimes called Boston Thumb Cats. Hemingway favored this kind of cat, so it is sometimes called a Hemingway Cat. (Thanks to Julie & Dave for this info.)

One of the many six-toed cats at the Ernest Hemingway House in Key West, Florida.

The extra thumbs are not necessarily a disadvantage; they can give the kitty extra dexterity. I believe the polydactyl cat's extra dexterity (and Hemingway's favor) will allow it to eventually take over the feline kingdom. In a thousand years, cats will have paws capable of making tools. Then, I have no doubt, the kitties will build a sophisticated material culture.

Ultra-civilized felines of the future.
Artist's conception.

And the Winners are...

2011-01-09T10:33:00.001-05:00

I received several name suggestions for my new kitties: Sampson & Delilah, Buster & Calliope, Sid & Nancy, Jupiter & Kona, Giorgio & Trixie, Harriett & Peter. Those who took the poll cast 4 votes for Romeo & Juliet and 1 vote for Bobo & Curlicue.

So this is what I have decided to do: their official names will remain Romeo & Juliet, but at home I will cal them Big Guy and Kitty.

A Miracle of Nature

2011-01-04T22:13:00.003-05:00

A Few More Cat Pictures

2011-01-03T22:13:00.000-05:00

At Home with Romeo and Juliet

2011-01-02T13:47:00.000-05:00

I didn't think I would adopt so soon after Snookums's death, but I saw this couple of kitties on the MSPCA website that looked perfect for me. Romeo and Juliet had already been together 3 years. Their owner died. Juliet's outstanding attribute is her black nose; Romeo's is his big front paws. When I brought them home, Romeo was shy, but Juliet was exploring in no time.

By Poss's Request

2010-12-29T12:09:00.001-05:00

These are scenes from Monday. Boston didn't get hit as bad as the 'burbs. On Tuesday the streets and sidewalks were clear. I haven't been to Harvard Square again yet. But I'm sure it's been cleaned up. The FlickR group New England Sky Scenes is a good source for snow photos from snowier parts of New England.

Christmas in Harvard Square

2010-12-25T21:01:00.001-05:00

Dinner at 10 Tables

2010-12-11T21:39:00.001-05:00

This year me and several buddies had our holiday dinner at 10 Tables, which is in the space formerly occupied by the Craigie St. Bistro. (The one time I ate at the C.S.B., I was underwhelmed.) Sue brought us all some Christmas crackers. These had valuable prizes inside, such as crowns!

I didn't get the salad, but I tasted Dave's and was impressed. Lots of flavors, textures, and a subtle dressing.

I had Pork (crunchy on the outside; tender on the inside) while others had cod, pasta, or beef stew. We were all thrilled with our food. We ordered 2 desserts to share: TRADITIONAL BISTRO CREME CARAMEL and SAFFRON & HONEY POACHED PEAR WITH TAHITIAN VANILLA BEAN ICE CREAM & CRUSHED CANDIED PISTACHIOS.

Outside, we stand in front of the restaurant, too stuffed to move.

Dante's Paradiso

2010-11-26T12:51:00.003-05:00

For the past few years I've had my Thanksgiving meal at Legal Seafood. After all, those Plimoth Plantation people probably ate a lot more fish than turkey. But this year Rosemary and I decided to try Dante, a restaurant in the Sonesta Hotel.

PRIMI: Rosemary had the wild mushroom tart with goat cheese, frisee, mizuna, and aged balsamic. We expected a tiny pie, but it was a layer of puff pastry with the ground mushrooms and goat cheese on top. Since I am frightened of wild mushrooms, I had a salad of seasonal greens, cucumber yogurt, and red wine vinaigrette. They put all the dressing on the plate and made a dome of greens on top.

SECONDI: We both opted for the turkey dinner with stuffing, potato puree, sweet potato fries, maple Brussels sprouts, cranberry sauce, and gravy. Even though the turkey was free-range, it was fat enough to be tender. They twisted pieces of turkey skin and (I think) fried it to make tasty turkey sticks. Everything was tasty, in fact. The Brussels sprouts were good, but I prefer them plainer, since I like the BS flavor. I've loved Brussels sprouts since childhood, when I pretended they were miniature cabbages.

DOLCI: Four thin slices of pie: apple, pumpkin, chocolate pecan, and ricotta. A small dish of salted caramel and chocolate ice cream. The pumpkin was different from what I'm used to. It had a thin layer of frosting on top and some kind of confection layer underneath the pumpkin layer. The ice cream had a caramel taste, but I couldn't taste any chocolate. Maybe they changed their mind.

The whole tab including wine, coffee, and tip was $220. Ouch! Pricey, but very good.

UPDATE: This is what Chuck and Jerry had for breakfast.

Rot-O-Lantern

2010-11-22T18:12:00.004-05:00

Chris pointed out this shot: an aging jack-o-lantern on a Thayer Hall lintel.

And variations.

We've Gone Over to the Dark Side (of the Year)

2010-11-17T17:51:00.001-05:00

Now that Daylight Savings Time is in effect, it's dark when I finish work. I feel like I should just go to bed.

This is what it looks like from my office window shortly before five. By the time I leave, the creatures of the night have begun to emerge.

Menopausal Misnomer

2010-11-08T23:38:00.017-05:00

I see from my PubMed searches that the medical community is now calling hot flashes hot flushes. I approve the change. I didn't recognize my first hot flashes for what they were, because of that word flash. Flash, streak, lightning, glare, dazzle, instant, split second. This is what hot flash implies.

Sela Allen

But what actually happens is a gradual heating-up and cooling-down of the head and chest lasting a few minutes. When I first noticed the change, I thought I was getting a fever, since my face got flushed, "But, no, it's better now. Uh oh, it's back." Finally I had the hot-flash-ah-ha moment.

The above graphic makes the process clear: hormonal flux trips the on switch of the Heating Element, which slowly heats to its maximum, then turns off.

You can buy all sorts of items claiming "They're not hot flashes, they're power surges." I don't know why a power surge is better. Perhaps the word power is felt to be so good, that it hardly matters that power surges blow out your electronics, and that you buy surge protectors against them. The promoters of that slogan probably are thinking of something like Sela Allen pictured above; but real menopause is not like that.

Menopause tchotchkes are fine; I have several myself. But they shouldn't be too silly. We are old enough to know better!

One Venus; Two Moons

2010-11-03T20:32:00.000-04:00

Last Saturday I saw 20 Million Miles to Earth, one of those classics I hadn't seen, in a colorized version. (There are many sci-fi and camp classics I haven't seen and some I'll never see. I'm not a camp-expert manqué who needs to speak authoritatively on every flick in the genre.) William Hopper, aka Paul Drake, crashes his rocket in the sea near a Sicilian village.

He and his plucky crew had been exploring Venus, but he and a Venusian creature are the sole survivors of the crash. The creature is still in its egg, but it quickly hatches and grows to enormous size. The action shifts to Rome. The big green Venutian and the Italian army battle in the streets and do significant damage to the Forum and the Colosseum. Naturally, they had to kill the creature at the Colosseum.
I liked the colorization. The olive green army cars were especially attractive. William Hopper's hair was the color of ripe wheat.

Next I had dinner with Mary at the Café Luna, an appropriate choice since we were going to see Moon for the Misbegotten afterwards. So we did see Moon for the Misbegotten afterwards, as per our plan, at the Central Square Theater. We both enjoyed the performance and thought the acting was great.

Then it was about 11pm, and I was surprised to see the number of people standing in line for various restaurants. But I am usually not on the street that late. We saw some excellent costumes including a guy wearing a horse's head. He was smoking, and the cigarette would light up the head.

The Ghost of Halloweens Past

2010-10-31T05:58:00.033-04:00

The costume I remember best from my little-kid days was not one of my own but that of a classmate. He dressed up as a hippie and carried a sign that said "Send Batman to Vietnam!" It was the sign that made the outfit. Perhaps he got the idea from this comic.

Of course, in my little-kid days, Halloween was about the candy. My brother and I were instructed to eat our Halloween hauls slowly over a couple of weeks. But our parents shouldn't have allowed us to store the bags under our beds. It was too easy to sneak sweets.
In junior high and high school Halloween was more about fashion and horror creation. One year I helped scare kids who came to the door of my friend Louise's house. Another year I played a corpse in a cardboard coffin. Some of my friends and I had been granted the use of a classroom at the local grade school to make a scary house. We constructed a giant papier-machete spider with glow-in-the-dark-eyes and a portrait painting that spurted blood. Vampires Karen and Don guided groups of kid through the various exhibits. After they had described my terrible death, I would suddenly sit up and yowl. This worked well until my movements nudged the coffin off the radiator and onto the floor. Wow, that hurt. But I stayed still, and Don said, "Well, she's dead now."
Then there was the year I went to a Halloween party dressed as a Star Trek style alien. I put green eyeshadow all over my face. I won best costume at that party.
Nowadays all sorts of elaborate Halloween paraphernalia is available, and Halloween parties can be lavishly staged events. Steve described one such party he attended where horror-themed stuff covered every inch of house and grounds. There was a corpse floating in the pool. Inside, a selection of meats had been laid out in the shape of a corpse. I suppose this Halloween intensification could mean something or other about our society, and if I think of any relevant sweeping statements, I'll post them.

Clover Passes Muster

2010-10-29T13:57:00.004-04:00

Today Julie, Laureen and I tried out the new vegetarian fast food place Clover. The same people have been selling food at MIT. They must have made a lot of money to afford the Holyoke Center space, the space formerly occupied by Harvard Real Estate. They did a great job renovating. They also did a great job making our lunch. I had the eggplant & Egg sandwhich; Julie and Laureen had the chickpea patty sandwhich, which they raved about. The sandwhiches come in whole-wheat pita pockets and are full of interesting stuff; picles, carmelized onions. etc. The coffee was good too.
I look forward to trying the pear & parsnip soup and the cranberry lemonade. I do wonder why if they are called Clover, their tee shirts picture an apple core.

Targets

2010-10-24T17:24:00.001-04:00

JB urged me to watch Targets, a movie starring Boris Karloff. It wasn't the usual Karloff fare. Karloff plays an elderly horror-film actor who fears he is obsolete. His story runs parallel to that of a young man who goes on a shooting spree. Both characters feel an urge to completely throw off their former lives. Of course Fate makes these parallel stories meet. (You may think that parallel things should never meet; but Fate can do anything.) As I suspected, the Texas Tower shooting inspired the story.
It was a pretty darn good movie, and it's available to watch instantly from Netflix.

Not Just Basic Black!

2010-10-20T16:16:00.005-04:00

Last Friday the Archives had a special display for visiting parents, and one of the items was this antique student gown. circa 1834. (The student was David Greene Haskins.)

Shockingly, it was not black. The accompanying rules for student dress (1822) specifically said "mixed blacks." But the student who owned it was supposed to have worn it during the summer of 1835. (The school year ended in August.) If you click on the picture, you'll see it was a charming green gingham check. I felt inspired to look into student dress in the old days. Here's an excerpt from Harvard A to Z, available on Google Books