Found it!

Found the joy!<br /><br />First, I'm really sorry about that awful post I wrote earlier today. I'm not sure where that came from or why I was so angry. I just re-read it and deleted it. Hopefully not too many people read it. <br /><br />After I put up the Christmas tree, sans decorations (my husband will help with that tonight), I decided to go Christmas shopping. After visiting the mall and two other stores, I came home empty handed. The stores are packed with shoppers. The lines were incredibly long, so I gave up, not one single gift was purchased. I had a few in my hands but when I saw the lines, I knew it could wait.<br /><br />As I was driving home, listening to Silent Night being sung by Bing Crosby on the radio it occurred to me, what is all the fuss about? Why am I all stressed out? I'm not Martha Stewart, and I'm not going to have the perfectly decorated tree. The relatives in other states aren't going to get their gifts on time and they probably aren't going to get the perfect gift from us either (at the rate I'm going, they'll be lucky to get a card).<br /><br />When I pulled into our driveway I could see the tree in the front winter. I left the lights on it turned on and it looked so pretty. Festive and happy. It made me smile. <br /><br />It's Christmas. I'm going to relax, stop stressing about stupid stuff, and just enjoy my time off. <br /><br />Merry Christmas!   <---said without sarcasm. :)

Found it!

Found the joy! First, I'm really sorry about that awful post I wrote earlier today. I'm not sure where that came from or why I was s...

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Returning to the land of the living

<strong>The past week</strong><br />It was a very bad week. My cold that started on Monday knocked me flat for almost six days. I basically became a bed person. I was living on NyQuil, and totally not paying attention to what I was eating. <br /><br />Of course, I didn't see the inside of the gym or any form of exercise the entire time. Six days of no exercise. That's the longest I've gone in almost three years without getting some form of exercise.<br /><br />I also had major issues with drinking water. My throat was so sore that swallowing was extremely painful. The only beverage I could drink without discomfort was hot tea. <br /><br /><strong>A new week</strong><br />This morning I woke up and was able to breathe, my sinus headache was gone, and my sore throat is only sore from coughing, a huge improvement. And when I cough, it doesn't feel like chunks of my lungs are being ripped out. I feel human and normal and alive. It is a wonderful feeling. <br /><br />The damage from six days of not paying attention to what I was eating:  a five-pound gain. From 177 to 182. Yikes!<br /><br />Today I'm back on the straight and narrow. I've eaten very healthy today, but I'm under my Points. I've had 24 Points and should have had 29 (and only two fruits). For some bizarre reason I'm just not hungry. Perhaps stuffing my face for six days has something to do with it. I don't believe in eating when you're not hungry. As someone who is always hungry, I'll take advantage of this while I can. I'm sure it won't last.<br /><br />I made it to they gym this afternoon. I was really anxious to get back. It was difficult with a lot of burning in my lungs, but I managed 15 minutes on the crosstrainer for my warmup, 30 minutes on the StairMaster (which just about killed me!), and a good upper body strength workout for 40 minutes. It was hard, and it hurt, especially my lungs, but it felt great to be exercising again.<br /><br /><strong>What I learned</strong> <br />I learned something about myself this week. For several years I've said that I could easily become one of the super obese, weighing in excess of 500 pounds and becoming a bed person. I was almost halfway there at 240 pounds.<br /><br />I have major food issues, and I thought my compulsion with food could overtake me at any time. I would be one of those people that would never leave my home. I'd be in the news when I died and they had to cut down the walls of my home to get me out. <br /><br />I realize these are horrible thoughts and no one in their right mind would think this could really happen to them. Whether or not I'm in my right mind is always up for debate, but I really did believe this about myself. I knew if I let my guard down, that is exactly how I'd wind up. <br /><br />Today, while I was on the StairMaster and my lungs felt like they were on fire, I thought that it's probably unlikely that I will let myself get totally out of control with food for any length of time. I'm not saying that it couldn't happen, but I am saying that if it's within my power, I won't let it happen. I like feeling alive.

Returning to the land of the living

The past week It was a very bad week. My cold that started on Monday knocked me flat for almost six days. I basically became a bed person. I...

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The Path to the Start Line (and the Finish Line, Too)

<i>1. Journey - Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)</i><br /><br />I walked a 5K last December, and it was my first one. I learned a lot of things on that day. First, cities that plow the side streets before the main streets are stupid cities. Second, 5 kilometers is a pretty fair distance to walk, especially if you haven't done a lot of training for it. Third, there are a looooot of people who like to run in the cold. And to be fair, I was a bit jealous. They have their 5K shirts on from their run in November, dressed in their tights and running gloves, their iPods strapped to their arms, setting a fast pace without even batting an eye. And I'm bundled in three layers of sweats trying to walk fast enough to heat up a little.<br /><i> </i>I<i> </i>thought to myself, <i>Man, wouldn't it be fun to run this race next year?</i><br /><br /><i>2. MGMT - Time to Pretend (clean version)</i><br /><br />Now, December was 12 months away, and the race cleared my memory. First, I had something more important to train for: Disney World. I was going in June with a friend, and I'd heard from people that you could walk for <i>miles </i>in just one day of touring the parks. I was not looking forward to wearing out early in my vacation, so I was determined to get my feet ready for the wear and tear.<br /><br />So as soon as the snow melted and light jackets could be worn, I started walking. I walked around town, I walked in the gym, I walked to work, I walked to church, I walked just because! My podcasts were my friend - they made me look foolish as they told their jokes and I laughed - seemingly - at nothing as I strolled down the sidewalk. If people couldn't see my earphones, they must have thought I was nuts.<br /><br />The walking continued through May and into June, when my trip took place. And even though my feet still hurt after two days at the World, my stamina was a little better than before.<br /><br />At this time, I was getting word from my friends. They had begun to run regularly, and were really liking it. One by one, my friends succumbed to the racing bug. They entered their own 5Ks, bought the clothing, posted their times on DailyMile, and made their goals. It was a little infuriating and annoying, at the start.  <br /><br />But then I was reminded, <i>"Hey - remember that race in December?"</i><br /><br /><i>3. Taio Cruz - Dynamite</i><br /><br />In June and July I walked two more 5Ks and inwardly tried to convince myself that 5K was way too long for me to try and run. This is a person who had to run upwards of 20 laps in basketball practice (for no real reason, if you think about basketball training) and that was the extent of running. Anything else would be suicide! I didn't go out for track my freshman year of high school because they ran one mile to the track EVERY PRACTICE. Torture!<i> </i><i> </i><br /><br />But I did keep walking. My routes got longer. My free lunches at work got taken away, and instead of buying something, I chose to split my large dinner into two smaller portions. I ate my fruits and veggies (the gross stuff) for one meal, and then a small entree the other meal.<br /><br />I didn't realize anything was outwardly changing until I came for a meeting one night, and my coworker gave me a look and said, "Wow - you look really good!"<br /><br />To which I replied, "Uh, thanks?"<br /><br />And that wasn't the last compliment. Into August, the recognition continued. Friends, family, and even the occasional church member I didn't really talk to! Everyone was taking a notice of my weight loss, except me. I still was in denial, I suppose. Plus I had something on my radar: I finally set a date to start running: the day after Labor Day.<br /><br /><i>4. Lady Gaga - Poker Face (don't judge me)</i><br /><br />If I had started a running journal on my first day of running, here is what day 1 would have read:<br /><i> </i><br /><i> </i><b>September 8, 2010</b><br /><b>Ran: .5 miles.</b><br /><b>OH MY GOODNESS! WHY IN THE WORLD DID I THINK THIS WAS A GOOD IDEA?!?!?!? THIS IS THE MOST HORRIBLE FEELING I HAVE EVER FELT!!!!!!!!!! THIS WAS SUCH A STUPID THING TO TRY! I AM NEVER RUNNING EVER AGAIN! I AM SOOOOOO TIIIIIIIIIIIRED! AND I'M SORE! AND I'M IN PAIN! HORRIBLE, HORRIBLE PAIN!!!!!</b><br /><br />Apparently, the more you run, the better it gets. So the next day - I can't tell you what made me do it - I laced up my shoes again and went out. And it was the same feeling.<br /><b> </b><br /><b>September 9, 2010</b><br /><b>Ran: .4 miles.</b><br /><b>WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY??????????? I AM SUCH AN IDIOT TO THINK I COULD RUN!!!!!!!</b><br /><br />But I kept trudging along - and the distances got a little longer, and a little longer, and a little longer. Finally I came home, plugged in my route onto mapmyrun.com, and realized I'd just ran a mile, and it didn't feel too terrible! As a matter of fact, after the run, I felt pretty good! (Exhausted, but good.)<br /><br />I remember wearing this great shirt to work one day. I just found a pair of pants that matched and wore it to complete the look. But when I got to work and started walking around, I realized that these pants, which I'd owned for over a year, were falling off! I had to actually get a piece of yarn and tie it through the loops so I'd stop freaking out about it! My belt loop holes went from the first one to the fifth one in mere months. It looked like I was trying to promote the baggy look because none of my clothes fit anymore! (On the plus side, clothes that I'd owned since the start of college fit me a lot better now!)  <br /><b> </b><br /><i>5. Flo Rida - Club Can't Handle Me</i><br /><br />I started setting goals for myself. I kept track of my minutes, miles, and pace. A pace of 13 minutes per mile was acceptable. Under 13 was extraordinary. Over 14 was horrible. Gradually I changed from shorts and a cutoff t-shirt to shorts and a long-sleeved shirt. Then I started running past a few leaves. Then bunches of leaves. Then I couldn't see the sidewalk because of all the leaves. They crunched for a few weeks, and then it rained and it was just gross. The trees went from green to yellow to orange and red to ugly brown to bare. I bought my first pair of running leggings, and let me tell you, that was quite the experience!<br /><i> </i><br /><i>6. Tupac - California Love (feat. Dr. Dre)</i><br /><br />I went to the Nike store and realized I could spend hundreds of dollars there and still not have everything I need. I managed to get out of there with only one item, but I could have had some shorts, a turtleneck undershirt, a fleece pullover, a jacket, a heavy winter coat, gloves, shoes, socks, more socks, a hat, and I think I could have found a treadmill if I'd looked harder! It was overwhelming. Do I really need all this stuff to run? I'd just spent three months running in my normal workout clothes - isn't that enough?<br /><i> </i><br />I still have only bought the leggings. But I'm looking into one jacket to purchase. We'll see if I step foot in that store again.<br /><br /><i>7. Owl City - Fireflies</i><br /><br />I'd been jogging around, then plugging in my routes after my route. Too many times I would plug in my route and be thisclose to hitting the 5K mark. <i>Rats! If I'd just did that last block...</i> ran through my head.<br /><br />But man, that first day I hit 5 kilometers was a momentous day. Not that I posted a fabulous time, but I finally knew that I could <i>do it! </i>And when that barrier has been overcome, the possibilities were limitless!<br /><br /><i>8. Cage the Elephant - Ain't No Rest for the Wicked</i><br /><br />Eventually I'd just go out and run. I'd make myself stay out for a certain period of time, and then see I'd run over four miles. Wow - that was four miles?<br /><i> </i><br /><i> </i>Then it snowed. And that changed everything.<br /><br />I knew that my race was in December, so I had to run in the snow - there was no way around it. I'd paid for the thing, registered under a 5K runner, and was ready to get the white bib instead of the yellow one. Snow was just part of the course.<br /><br />My times dropped dramatically. I had to be extra careful around curbs and driveways for any ice that had formed. Some people don't shovel their sidewalks, apparently, till there's over 12 inches of snow on the ground. I found that wearing layers isn't the best thing if you're running. Guess what? When you run, you work up a sweat, and you warm up. Wearing a short-sleeved shirt, a long-sleeved shirt, a hoodie, a hat, and gloves will cause you to overheat. The first time I came back from a run in all that gear, I had to peel all the layers off me. The leggings were nice, though - they have wicking power, so the sweat leaves the body. Where it goes, nobody knows...<br /><br /><i>9. Priestess - Talk to Her</i><br /><br />The Thursday before the race, it was snowing pretty hard. And I had a meeting that ran a little late. Thanks to the sun going down insanely early, my running window was incredibly slim. But I needed to run that day. I didn't care about snow, I didn't care about the dark, I was going to run for 45 minutes and that was that.<br /><br />I drove home, threw on my workout clothes, and got outside. Because it was still snowing, barely anyone had shoveled. When I would backtrack, I could see my footprints from when I'd gone the other way two minutes earlier. I didn't see another soul outside of their warm cars and houses. If people were eating their suppers and looked outside, they must have said, "Man, what an idiot for running in this weather."<br /><br />But I kept going, and ran around in circles, and prayed that the snow would give me some traction over the ice from a few days earlier. The last thing I wanted to do was sprain something on my <i>last </i>training run. But when I got back to my place, I felt fantastic. I'd run in the elements, and I'd survived.<br /><br /><i>10. Muse - Knights of Cydonia</i><br /><br />Race day dawned with cloudy skies and a threat of snow just to the west. I had a feeling we'd be fine. My friends who were running with me (remember the ones at the beginning of the story?) were predicting doom and gloom.<br /><br />We got to the race in plenty of time. I bundled up (stupidly) and made sure my iPod was filled with only the best music. (Music, in case you haven't been paying attention, that has been listed in italics every so often on this post.) I knew my friends were faster than me, but I'd made my goal. I'd never broken 40 minutes for 5 kilometers. Today I was going to try and achieve it.<br /><br />The gun sounded, and we were off.<br /><br /><i>11. Sum 41 - Fat Lip</i><br /><br />I was near the middle of the pack, and I let my friends get a good pace ahead of me before my chip timer was activated. The first part of the route was flat, but then quickly turned into an incline as we left the park and went around the perimeter of a college.<i> </i>That first half-mile was trying to find my running buddies - people that would challenge me, but not get too far ahead of me. I passed a bunch of people, a bunch of people passed me, and I did my best not to be sad about that. If you let other people's runs get the best of you, you will never finish a race.<br /><br />Finally we got to the top of the hill and into the city streets, which had been blocked off for the race. That's where I met my real competition: <b>the walker-runners. </b>You know the types - they run a burst of speed for a minute or two or three, and then walk when they get tired. When they get their energy back, they repeat. And when you're trying to run without walking at all, this can get annoying. Especially when it's people who look like they're in much better shape than you are.<br /><br />The worst was this man who must have been in his 40s who would <i>not let me pass! </i>He'd walk, I'd get right up to pass him, and he'd start running. But he'd only run for about ten seconds before he would start walking again! I was determined to pass him and finish before he did. <br /><br /><i>12. Seether - Rise Above This</i><br /><br />There were far more hills than I thought there would be. I thought that after that first climb it was all downhill from there. But there were at least two more hills in the city running that I didn't remember from before. Those were not pleasant. But I kept going. I saw the mile 1 marker, but when the mile 2 marker passed I must have been in my daze. The daze of "I am never going to finish this race. I am going to keel over and die and they will find my frozen body after it's too late."<br /><br />The second wind came when I made it to the hospital. No, I didn't go in. I ran past it. But we'd been dropped off by the hospital and walked to the starting line, which meant I knew <i>exactly how much I had left to run!</i><br /><br />I continued at my slowish pace, but I kept going with a renewed sense of urgency. Especially because I had some of my new techno music pump in to get my blood flowing:<br /><i> </i><br /><i>13. </i><i>Tron: Legacy Soundtrack - Daft Punk -Recognizer</i><br /><br />The sounds of Daft Punk got me moving a little faster, and before I knew it, I could see the finish line! It was still quite a distance away, but my feet moved a little faster. <b>I was going to finish strong.</b><br /><br />With about 100 yards left, I saw my friends, who had finished a bit earlier, cheering me on. I was in too much pain to actually recognize them, though my grimace of pain may have looked like a smile to them. I was just focused on getting past that giant steel thingy.<br /><br /><b>And finish I did! </b>The large timer was showing the time for the 10K runners, who had started 15 minutes before us. But if that was the case, and that said 53 minutes on it, that meant...I'd broken 40! By a large margin!<br /><br /><i>14. </i><i>Tron: Legacy Soundtrack - Daft Punk - Arena</i><br /><br />It took me almost two minutes of walking with my hands on my head to catch my breath. But when I met up with my friends, I felt more than great. I felt fantastic! I had accomplished something that 12 months earlier had seemed like a dream. But I'd stuck with it, lost a bunch of weight along the way (around 30 pounds), and realized that distance running isn't so bad!<br /><br /><i>15. </i><i>Tron: Legacy Soundtrack - Daft Punk - The Game Has Changed</i><br /><br />So now what? My goal has been reached. What kind of new goal can I make for next December?<br /><br />This race <i>does </i>have a 10K. That is in my sights now. If I can continue running in late winter and early spring, and continue through the summer, I think I can get my body to go over six miles. After that, who knows? Maybe I'll have all the experience needed to run one of those fancy half-marathon races!<br /><br />Whatever the goal, I'll be sure to keep you posted.<br /><br /><i>16. The Ting Tings - Great DJ</i><b> </b><i> </i>

The Path to the Start Line (and the Finish Line, Too)

1. Journey - Separate Ways (Worlds Apart) I walked a 5K last December, and it was my first one. I learned a lot of things on that day. First...

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Must Try!

<p align="left">I made a new try last night for supper! I think this is definitely a family friendly recipe! Not sure where I got it from, but trust me, it’s good! Keep in mind the points are calculated based on the old system. I haven’t even come close to checking out all the changes with WW lately! I’ve had other things on my mind! ;)</p> <p align="center"><strong>BBQ Beef Filled Biscuits</strong><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXNO2fzVQMRN-nKsZ9JlL51n2zBTsyoxVBiQjLsX9Kk0hw1whSzBs4wKXvr6MAbvHbE1j_AG73GbxbtUUfa9_tzDeHw3InMYiHb027tf0tB2_qblrpexLBe0Lk8Mk_r9GUk3HMe8z3ymGc/s1600-h/DSC095573.jpg"><strong><img alt="DSC09557" border="0" height="304" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVnpUFEkHHo5203l9jJXwyLxoPSxOtTBNkWoae_rKYZ03Pz4fPtVcbAr1Jeqoj_iJvlLmR29wq46TqdFIFuxFlKKJwnfSU-Vpzne1Urge0VoTI3IsZ91tQLJPI_vLjQpJi2lQLHjC-oMkJ/?imgmax=800" style="border-top-width: 0px; display: block; border-left-width: 0px; float: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; border-right-width: 0px" title="DSC09557" width="404"></strong></a> </p> <ul> <li> <div align="left">1/2lb lean ground beef</div> <li> <div align="left">1 small green pepper, finely chopped</div> <li> <div align="left">1 small red pepper, finely chopped</div> <li> <div align="left">1/3c BBQ sauce</div> <li> <div align="left">1 7.5oz can buttermilk biscuits</div> <li> <div align="left">1/2c 2% shredded cheddar</div></li></ul> <p align="left">Heat oven 375 degrees.</p> <p align="left">Brown meat w/peppers. Remove from heat & stir in BBQ. Separate biscuits and press each one into the bottom & sides of muffin pan. Spoon meat mixture into biscuit cups. Filling will be mounded. </p> <p align="left">Bake 10 minutes. Top with cheese and bake 3-4 additional minutes. </p> <p align="left">Serves 4, 2 each. 7 points/serving</p> <p align="left"><strong><em>Enjoy!!</em></strong></p>

Must Try!

I made a new try last night for supper! I think this is definitely a family friendly recipe! Not sure where I got it from, but trust me, it’...

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Planning de la semaine du 20 au 23 décembre 2010

<BR><br /><h2><strong><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 113%;color:#005c9b;" >Permanences<br /></span></strong></h2><ul><br /><li>Le <strong>Conseil Général du Loiret</strong> sera présent dans les locaux de la Maison de l'Emploi du bassin d'Orléans<br />- le lundi 20 décembre de 9h à 12h30,<br />- le mardi 21 décembre de 9h à 12h30 et de 13h30 à 17h,<br />- le mercredi 22 décembre de 13h30 à 17h,<br />- le jeudi 23 décembre de 13h30 à 17h.<br /></ul><br /><h2><strong><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 113%;color:#005c9b;" >Atelier</span></strong><br /></h2><br /><ul><li><strong><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com/2008/12/atelier-parcours-emploi.html">Parcours Emploi</a></strong> - mardi 21 décembre à 9h30<br /></ul><br /><h2><strong><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 113%;color:#005c9b;" >Information collective</span></strong><br /></h2><br /><ul><li><strong>Boutique de Gestion</strong> - lundi 20 décembre à 14h</ul>

Planning de la semaine du 20 au 23 décembre 2010

Permanences Le Conseil Général du Loiret sera présent dans les locaux de la Maison de l'Emploi du bassin d'Orléans - le lundi 20 dé...

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Christmas in Connecticut (1945)...one special holiday season...

<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYVRKeYqxZs7QPbP6FsXTeWLm9Yje23zyoKb_Dvc41ImNNghN5zySgy-fDqeDcopdWvNbyn0QrTg0RiprIL7-F1jfGbxaWfFW1O1DU5q0egT-sruoZz3NGog8ikYXFjB08w_AZHHYTSU21/s1600/ct+tree.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="275" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYVRKeYqxZs7QPbP6FsXTeWLm9Yje23zyoKb_Dvc41ImNNghN5zySgy-fDqeDcopdWvNbyn0QrTg0RiprIL7-F1jfGbxaWfFW1O1DU5q0egT-sruoZz3NGog8ikYXFjB08w_AZHHYTSU21/s320/ct+tree.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><i>Christmas in Connecticut</i> (1945), a jewel of a holiday romantic comedy, was released at a  time unlike any other in America...scant months after VE Day, just days before VJ Day - and by December 1945, World War II was finally over and many veterans were home in time for Christmas.</span><br /><a name='more'></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">A <i>Time Magazine</i> article of December 24, 1945 observed, “For most Americans, on the first Christmas without war since 1938, these two facts transcended all others: peace…had come back to earth; millions of U.S. fighting men, now a peaceful army of longed-for occupation, were streaming back to their homes…”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">A reviewer of the recent book <u>Christmas 1945</u> observed the contrast between 1945 and the previous Christmas, “In 1944, the Allies thought they had the war nearly won when the last days of turmoil broke out in a wooded, mountainous region of Germany. The Battle of the Bulge was to be the last major conflict in a war winding down…If Christmas 1944 was a frightening reminder that the war was not really over yet, Christmas 1945 was a collective prayer, a nationwide sigh of relief.“</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaLBeISJuHm3yJfQajtlF2r2ad4oRhI3kHRjI9JHdvPYK2l4FfRAfonkclf6B1rl6IIIAF9CKtQHfefDUKz2Ng-wR3ILly8QZ3_-yVUn0eU8L0X7VLlDh71eJm74yrlIA7e5SRwhR72ams/s1600/ct+scene.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaLBeISJuHm3yJfQajtlF2r2ad4oRhI3kHRjI9JHdvPYK2l4FfRAfonkclf6B1rl6IIIAF9CKtQHfefDUKz2Ng-wR3ILly8QZ3_-yVUn0eU8L0X7VLlDh71eJm74yrlIA7e5SRwhR72ams/s320/ct+scene.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">With <i>Christmas in Connecticut</i>, director Peter Godfrey spins an appealing home front fantasy. Barbara Stanwyck stars as New York sophisticate Elizabeth Lane, popular writer for a women's magazine. Lane's forte is home and hearth and her articles wax euphoric about her house in Connecticut, her husband, her baby and the joys of homemaking...with loads of household hints and recipes. But none of it is true. Not married nor a mother, Lane can’t cook, doesn’t clean – and has no interest in any of it! However, almost no one, including her publisher, knows this.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">But…very soon a Navy vet (Dennis Morgan) is headed her way thanks to his nurse/fiancée’s letter to Lane’s publisher (Sydney Greenstreet). The sailor, recently rescued after weeks adrift at sea on a raft where he endlessly dreamed of fine food (<a href="http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Pan-Seared-Rib-Eye-Steak-with-Bearnaise-em-Entrecote-Bearnaise-em-241756"><span style="color: #990000;">like this entree</span></a>), has visions of an Elizabeth Lane-style holiday. With the war still on, Lane's publisher is not about to disappoint a returning hero...so the vet's wish is granted. Lane’s masquerade goes off the rails and she ends up under a romantic spell, ready to give up her "bachelor girl" high life for the regular guy, a war veteran, who's stolen her heart… </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The farcical plot, an outstanding cast and a set replete with snowy New England sleigh-ride scenery create a heartwarming and reassuringly merry Christmas movie.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQg1sm_5UGjlM0zuHV9VBcOqcC51Jl9hBxeqGRkvuz8M6a2HdRcaDwNBoBc4gF-iyrIO5JtL6XBegfuR_yfhuddsC11jShZcENK3zpQRsdb86okxFIehhNK7sZSFYzTEWVpL2el0ia4Yle/s1600/ct+sakall.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQg1sm_5UGjlM0zuHV9VBcOqcC51Jl9hBxeqGRkvuz8M6a2HdRcaDwNBoBc4gF-iyrIO5JtL6XBegfuR_yfhuddsC11jShZcENK3zpQRsdb86okxFIehhNK7sZSFYzTEWVpL2el0ia4Yle/s320/ct+sakall.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Barbara Stanwyck doesn't miss a beat as a high-flying careerist who discovers she’d like to come down to earth. Reginald Gardiner is smooth as her over-civilized long-time suitor; S.Z. Sakall is endearing as Felix the chef; Sydney Greenstreet is the bombastic publisher. Dennis Morgan is all-American as the Navy man, and sings "I'm Wishing That I May." Joyce Compton also stands out as the chirpy nurse/fiancée.  </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">  </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The popularity of <i>Christmas in Connecticut</i> seems to grow with each passing holiday…but that first year, the film's original Yuletide season, was singular...</span></div><br /><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Writer Bob Burdick, whose boyhood during WWII included “air raid drills, blackouts, rationing, and simply doing without...” recalled his father’s return from the war and remembered that though money was tight that year and his own gifts under the tree numbered just two, “before the day was over, I considered these gifts the best I’d ever received.” Looking back Burdick added, “no Christmas has been more memorable than the one of 1945.”</span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh80C_tYmYUeTyL4VOGg4VXdVVQ52gTc5kBMc5CrM6gjZh2gWJNG2VkjjUh5ZzvOScHuF2iHZr6D38lfvrDWmcYW5cQmetOdATJxsqknziYa6EN2ZDLZ48K3p-iJ2hPjFScrH4CJR6G07Tt/s1600/ct+love.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh80C_tYmYUeTyL4VOGg4VXdVVQ52gTc5kBMc5CrM6gjZh2gWJNG2VkjjUh5ZzvOScHuF2iHZr6D38lfvrDWmcYW5cQmetOdATJxsqknziYa6EN2ZDLZ48K3p-iJ2hPjFScrH4CJR6G07Tt/s320/ct+love.png" width="320" /></a></div>

Barbara Stanwyck Christmas in Connecticut Dennis Morgan Joyce Compton Peter Godfrey Reginald Gardiner S.Z. Sakall Sidney Greenstreet The Lady Eve (author) World War II Christmas in Connecticut (1945)...one special holiday season...

Christmas in Connecticut (1945), a jewel of a holiday romantic comedy, was released at a  time unlike any other in America...scant months a...

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Fermeture exceptionnelle

<BR><br />Exceptionnellement, la Maison de l'Emploi du Bassin d'Orléans sera fermée le vendredi 24 décembre 2010.<br /><BR>

Fermeture exceptionnelle

Exceptionnellement, la Maison de l'Emploi du Bassin d'Orléans sera fermée le vendredi 24 décembre 2010.

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10.16.10

<p>October 16th, 2010 is a day that Kyle & I will never forget!</p> <p>I woke up early, 5am to be exact! I think I was so sure I was pregnant I couldn’t sleep! And I took the test I had purchased the night before. I didn’t tell Kyle I had purchased it though!</p> <p>Seeing those 2 pink lines was almost surreal. I was excited, surprised, shocked, anxious, happy, etc all at the same time!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZlRbnkVEvysrjQzsWI_zt7zCBmBrfZn2wUz-bVkKJEogR6jFp9DEKggyBLwnWALab0kAZnOMO5FehTfQssdbbhvDXVK1zERcbuRQcY1bTe4JDBerQtfzb820kyGFKY029oDZhEnFx9m2Y/s1600-h/DSC090693.jpg"><img alt="DSC09069" border="0" height="304" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguAo2Lx9zHVkOq5VWvgIs0zGf288MCdUzLkhOvVH5CybpWeq5p9_TVp5cexnC3216nCpzA7a9KCNYaM2-8NvQWoSnUnoxar_wAbUFANmhkoKdNjgQHbKJqSxy9CiW_eLgagE8XvkFNbu9T/?imgmax=800" style="border-top-width: 0px; display: block; border-left-width: 0px; float: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; border-right-width: 0px" title="DSC09069" width="404"></a></p> <p>Since it was early on a Saturday I let Kyle sleep in & I ran down to my craft room to get busy! I wasn’t 100% sure how I wanted to tell Kyle. I brainstormed and knew just the way!</p> <p>Before I show you a picture of the card I need to give you some background! The weekend before was 10.10.10, the day of the Chicago marathon. I tracked a bunch of people, fellow blog friends, strangers, and a few “real life” friends! I was so inspired that day, people of all shapes, sizes, weights, ages ran & conquered this race!</p> <p>I had always thought I didn’t want to run a marathon, the 1/2 marathon was enough for me. But something changed that day and I had this HUGE urge to run a marathon! The next day I started researching spring marathons and came across <a href="http://grandmasmarathon.com/site/">Grandma’s Marathon</a> in Minnesota. I read that it was a great marathon for your first, a mostly flat course! Race day was June 18th, 2011. I had convinced myself I was going to do this! I was so pumped that week, researching training plans, reading race recaps, setting dates to get started training, etc, but then…</p> <p>Friday I realized I was about 1 week “late” and that’s when I decided to buy the test! And Saturday morning it was positive! Ok, so now that you’re caught up here is the card I wrote to Kyle:<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwOqQXDL_XQPqYFIjBfEUg85zax9xLQfRipV3WiQZSvjWyVBQzTHKvgBeF7RfcjsbnS9ItYQJVeVj3OwlTLvu4d9no4Au49O8UWb0LV9O0h_9IAueKdYHyrrngtPfkjlq6Yuz-pRV3F0NX/s1600-h/DSC090466.jpg"><img alt="DSC09046" border="0" height="304" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx1JZfY9KPhzKOxb570C9Gj7hZ77dCQryMwlH_PtsFnXG2W7q6RPXXeREEaWyBD3b93XNmOJKg4KkFnnpZsFLlZmMlTXwP9SIF9djpBZNR3nevCltbkNRfO_dt23aPE7_tzdXgHEVeK3sN/?imgmax=800" style="border-top-width: 0px; display: block; border-left-width: 0px; float: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; border-right-width: 0px" title="DSC09046" width="404"></a></p> <p>And I wrapped a gift with a few things! When he finally woke up, I gave him the card & gift. He was a little confused, but I told him to just open it! The card totally threw him for a loop, almost made him mad! ;) First I didn’t want to run a marathon, then I was all for it, and now I was saying I didn’t think I wanted to do it! It was perfect because he didn’t have a clue!</p> <p>Confused, he then opened the gift! Once again he was confused at first, why did he need baby clothes?!?!? He thought maybe it was for some friends who were coming over that night for supper who were 8 weeks pregnant at the time! But then he read the notes: </p> <p><em>“Not only are you SuperMan, a Super Husband, but I know you’re going to be a Super Dad!”</em> Kyle loves anything Superman!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj986v0FnSW1mGJJ-Ccqo_5ulQc3eYYfg8SSNcax8IltNsHka1Pd0SJrJg9kO76uOxp9msYxpM3XEm6dKLVdIPsXNSvAnipxr5ZooDRuTHOt5UR1P1NVhvvuFc6LWz3LoA1SLP1CuwtNrF5/s1600-h/DSC090423.jpg"><img alt="DSC09042" border="0" height="304" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQsyoUUT-eNOfyPRlVvYSyBCFp8s-bBvUJo3CgyKP5WZ5U6cGxDIpjCG3AKqn7kHdvyvqLlmqtN7RzFSObHSs0hlb4mfHt8BDhFYnxvNM_RkS6icXcdapyfuY8o51rsugY4cM6o-OtbSu9/?imgmax=800" style="border-top-width: 0px; display: block; border-left-width: 0px; float: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; border-right-width: 0px" title="DSC09042" width="404"></a><em></em></p> <p><em>“We may not need this to cheer on the Hawks today, but our little Hawkeye will get good use out of them next fall!”</em><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDjTj0_xLWUFcIJ84gpm6BYNN1xVrpZyUrE9O4EMPSFpcTy8cFdHhyphenhyphenZgLmfdXXZECuRxBOO51ycULmzGce-92mr7MjjLZlXuH5JRZS5jPJkGdVQB5yVX-BcS1ZAboOugf0t-CPk1b-3Tlo/s1600-h/DSC090443.jpg"><em><img alt="DSC09044" border="0" height="404" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4kFXqt0mytmcxIXbBv3H-C_vSQhYGIokPUXt4tVDHxPXIf9eJF0Jl3IadxgaiMoyLpGylQLcWcqKIry4IvJVO88ZZWjMR-y8-5tP78qXgEumhB3-EXT4XgVPsmudH3pR_H7oQrxyV3KFF/?imgmax=800" style="border-top-width: 0px; display: block; border-left-width: 0px; float: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; border-right-width: 0px" title="DSC09044" width="304"></em></a></p> <p>With an ear to ear smile, he looked up and said “We’re pregnant?!?!?!?!” All giddy with tears, I squealed YES!!!!<img alt="DSC09049" border="0" height="304" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKbx5BEn7PS0b0GQodTJIH1axIRhZqn8_vbXSIgXVC2e9A4EvC_1JJKQDzajnARUimQjFr1js48kViM40eXASLTp6vvh3YYdEpOeVL_4ouec33MLnufTlId51wzTBgUzuLp5XeNJlz2oRj/?imgmax=800" style="border-top-width: 0px; display: block; border-left-width: 0px; float: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; border-right-width: 0px" title="DSC09049" width="404"></p> <p>We spent the next few hours talking & talking! It was a <a href="http://weightloss-stories.blogspot.com/2010/10/wonderful-weekend.html">wonderfully happy day</a>!! But let me tell you hanging out with our friends who were 8 weeks pregnant that night was SO hard not to spill the beans!!</p>Last, but definitely not least, Kyle & I thank each & every one of you for all your sweet comments on the <a href="http://weightloss-stories.blogspot.com/2010/12/wordless-wednesday_15.html">Wordless Wednesday</a> post yesterday!! We were overwhelmed with your excitement & kindness! So obviously the focus of my blog is going to change, gaining weight is now ok! I hope you all are up for some changes & continue to follow me in the new stage of my journey! Stay tuned for more!

10.16.10

October 16th, 2010 is a day that Kyle & I will never forget! I woke up early, 5am to be exact! I think I was so sure I was pregnant I c...

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Down with a cold...Merry Christmas to me

I've had a sore throat for four days, with a few sneezes here and there, so I thought maybe it was an allergy to something. Well, it turns out I was coming down with a nasty cold. Today I have it full force and it is not fun.<br /><br />Maybe that's why I've been so tired these last few days. Yesterday I forced myself to clean the house, top to bottom, to prepare for putting up the Christmas decorations. It was a miserable day. Between coughing and sneezing I managed to get the hardwood floors sparkling, all the clutter cleared away to make room for Christmas clutter, then by 7pm I literally fell into bed. I was exhausted. <br /><br />There's still not a single Christmas decoration up, instead we have bare spaces everywhere. It sort of looks like no one lives here. I kind of like that look. <br /><br />I was super annoyed last night when I discovered we were out of NyQuil. Not totally out, there was about a teaspoon left in the bottle. Then I remembered my husband had a bad cold a few months ago and lived on NyQuil for about three days. He never mentioned we needed to pick up some more. I still slept twelve hours, even without the NyQuil. <br /><br />Plans for today are to make some chicken noodle soup, a Weight Watcher recipe. Next I'll watch movies in bed and maybe, if I'm up to it, write my third Christmas card (I wrote a second one yesterday). <br /><br />Yes, I'm really moving along on this Christmas thing. My best friend that is also on vacation at home this week and is also down with a cold, and who loves Christmas like no one you know, told me yesterday maybe she could just sleep through Christmas this year. She said "it'll be over in two weeks, and I could easily sleep for two weeks, then it would be all over". Talk about two Scrooges!<br /><br />No gym yesterday, but I was working up a sweat from cleaning house (or maybe that was a fever). No gym today either. I sort of hurt everywhere, and I don't really feel like working out. Maybe tomorrow.

Down with a cold...Merry Christmas to me

I've had a sore throat for four days, with a few sneezes here and there, so I thought maybe it was an allergy to something. Well, it tur...

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Wordless Wednesday

<p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGahno9rPeWfGYkTnBVEWMMh4sGEVR3otScROctR84YQZeueGrvELtFdL0eb3f7DIn9UhIdLbmHJFFq6ZwAlujPlrASj1_lQWceCGRrS6nIfv0kTQUNzl8ucO-_vle3w7MdAlF8IxNd8FW/s1600-h/DSC09052%5B3%5D.jpg"><img alt="DSC09052" border="0" height="304" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL0wNoadWU70AjkqLUWZifAE8KeG55Fg6k0MU7brJQ_jjfZrcGBvMU1SLRtqPuAh4ZQXoOQUdxwBINuWN_5HpnIFS5LXJuN7ucl2tPmzSsmYPmNh2su098Gl3BZ1WdlK5D1yDJL4uXB7-h/?imgmax=800" style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; margin-right: auto; border-bottom: 0px" title="DSC09052" width="404"></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoZh80hRdNf9Ym5H8qJ5ZoKM9vvPgBTXnnb1CN2Pw3ScNRBHTvPvblLsSfVCTLzFo3cQ0NAHyvFzTdWPD-C-DlakB1gUIVfZfIrzR7J0y2_KwKcrAaYM-pfBkoYL9-GlxqcqBKNAJX3MkL/s1600-h/DSC09069%5B3%5D.jpg"><img alt="DSC09069" border="0" height="304" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirnBUlQzlWfILHjxGMJjgPxJXrfV97Y7a02TR9vmjGiB19dA4170HL9XGYhDYImInit4JJrRNfePKUbh8UDNM4hi1kWNEMuaTigaqugrAvCK8MvkqXYfHjAaJWva4KsmaDzfTn3DG4yBOt/?imgmax=800" style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; margin-right: auto; border-bottom: 0px" title="DSC09069" width="404"></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim8vw281ZcfONEUn1Q1rRF5yaGWrJO3zrgNMXFTruXgZ5ML2j4UxbYLSyfubwTveLphMsvFb5QTHi3OUV8dV84VxKr2RZvgZFRJyqLbTSfTQG1izy9Ka7FWw4zAJt9p3KSsWreegrqkaVM/s1600-h/11.14.10%5B3%5D.jpg"><img alt="11.14.10" border="0" height="304" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW9gAumeliTJJJL_Nzyw3CTZKdjupFUVNkuR8yxbb7eVY_6iQwidp_jquQexo0EfCD3GuOBU2DoyrOgNzUkj4Pxg9VSE530IPmPrWxDNA4R7YGCZUE6qgMmTlzraH6kLbFjBBOC0VzTfy0/?imgmax=800" style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; margin-right: auto; border-bottom: 0px" title="11.14.10" width="404"></a></p>

Wordless Wednesday

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24 Days

I'm on vacation from work, 24 glorious days. Days of doing what I want, when I want and how I want. Twenty four days of having total control of my life. I could get use to living like this.<br /><br />I don't have any plans for this time, just time at home, relaxing, taking it easy. Some of my coworkers consider this a waste of vacation time. I consider it something I really needed for myself. Some quiet time .<br /><br />The problem is that I feel like I'm wasting time. I'm four days into my vacation and although I'm loving doing nothing, I still have things I need to do, and for some reason, I'm not doing them. <br /><br />Christmas shopping, Christmas cards and decorating the house are at the top of my list. Yet each day I tell myself I don't feel like it today, maybe tomorrow. My husband says it's post-traumatic stress from months of long hours at work, and that I'm tired from trying to meet what seemed like impossible deadlines. He keeps telling me I deserve a break.<br /><br />Maybe he's right, or maybe I'm just lazy. Regardless, I've decided to set a schedule for myself tomorrow. A flexible one, but one where I have to get at least a few things done. I wrote out one Christmas card today. That was my big accomplishment (and the gym, always the gym). <br /><br />It also occurred to me this would be a great time to do the <a href="http://www.daytwenty.com/index.html">Twenty Day</a> experiment. I've been following <a href="http://gravelandrust.blogspot.com/">Roxie</a> doing it and it sounds sort of fun. It just happens I have 20 days left of my vacation, a perfect time to do this experiment. <br /><br />Exercise and Food<br />I've rediscovered Pomegranates. They're at the peak right now, and I absolutely love them. They keep my hands busy for a good 45 minutes, eating them one arils (juice/seed sacs) at a time. <br /><br />The only issue I'm having with them is that Weight Watchers now has the zero Points for fruits rule. So that makes Pomegranates, well, zero Points. One big Pomegranate (4" in diameter) is 234 calories. I know these are healthy calories, but still, they are calories. <br /><br />Just for fun I entered the nutritional information (fat 3.4, protein 4.7, carbs  52.7 and fiber 11.3) into the PointsPlus calculator online and the Pomegranate (if fruit had Points) would be 6 Points. I know this isn't how the new plan works, and I'm not suppose to think of fruit having Points, but you know what I'm thinking. I could gain weight on Pomegranates if I ate enough of them. <br /><br />Exercise was good today. 10 minutes on the crosstrainer for my warmup and then a hard push on the StairMaster for 30 minutes. There was an old guy on the one next to me and I think we were having a competition. He looked like he was about 70 and he was really going to town, taking two steps to my one (and my average step rate is 67 steps per minute). Although he was leaning heavily on the front railing (a no-no to proper form on the StairMaster). I also got in 40 minutes of weight lifting, upper body. <br /><br />Tomorrow...Day One of Twenty.

24 Days

I'm on vacation from work, 24 glorious days. Days of doing what I want, when I want and how I want. Twenty four days of having total con...

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The Artful Nostalgia of Richard Amsel

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHYFDgVVd5aZpZ0uoBVd02eADUSqNGiyabB0dKPiUdj2dNHIS3kLANt2dpVSMe9EYqAhxH6UMkBiCkO5nyus5g1ReZXhhluFNn7bOVJGeh1owpqCl7eZDe2JWMfBr4E_FamD90HHO7B0j1/s1600/amsel+chinatown.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHYFDgVVd5aZpZ0uoBVd02eADUSqNGiyabB0dKPiUdj2dNHIS3kLANt2dpVSMe9EYqAhxH6UMkBiCkO5nyus5g1ReZXhhluFNn7bOVJGeh1owpqCl7eZDe2JWMfBr4E_FamD90HHO7B0j1/s400/amsel+chinatown.jpg" width="263" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chinatown movie poster</td></tr></tbody></table>Richard Amsel was a prolific graphic artist and illustrator who created some of the most indelible images of the '70s and '80s.<br /><br />Born on December 4, 1947, he was raised near Philadelphia, in the west side suburb of Ardmore where his parents owned a toy store. An artistic prodigy from early youth, he graduated from Lower Merion High School in 1965; he had been Art Editor of the school yearbook. He went on to attend the Philadelphia College of Art and stood out among his classmates there. Some have suggested that Amsel's precocious talent intimidated even his art instructors at the college.<br /><br />While still in art school, he won a poster art contest for the Barbra Streisand film, <b>Hello Dolly</b> (1968). His career took off as a result... he was just 21 years old.<br /><br />Richard Amsel went on to create a series of magazine ads for designer Oleg Cassini, illustrated movie posters and developed a long association with <i>TV Guide</i> magazine. In addition, he created the art for <i>Time Magazine</i>'s Lily Tomlin cover in 1975.<br /><a name='more'></a><br /><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-vGlwoRFwro19yMpOx2Meqq8eG5bHDjuWiEuaRoheyNxK8OGnDUC75244g1WjkYAXe5gS2u_hzPzq3RDOFb4hDKL_l-rqbvnNBbhZElQj1C6L52vkN5KGta1LQS-_3_2OpsUCnBZbJi4P/s1600/amsel+midler.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="315" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-vGlwoRFwro19yMpOx2Meqq8eG5bHDjuWiEuaRoheyNxK8OGnDUC75244g1WjkYAXe5gS2u_hzPzq3RDOFb4hDKL_l-rqbvnNBbhZElQj1C6L52vkN5KGta1LQS-_3_2OpsUCnBZbJi4P/s320/amsel+midler.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Divine Miss M album cover</td></tr></tbody></table>His illustrations for RCA's remastered recordings of Benny Goodman and some of the label's other catalog artists caught the eye of Barry Manilow, then accompanist for about-to-emerge Bette Midler. Manilow introduced the singer to the artist and Amsel ended up creating the cover art for Midler's debut album, <b>The Divine Miss M</b>, as well as some of her later albums and posters.<br /><br /> His best known movie posters were for classic films of the '70s and '80s and include <b>The Last Picture Show </b>(1971), <b>The Sting</b> (1973), <b>Chinatown</b> (1974), <b>Murder on the Orient Express</b> (1974), <b>The Shootist </b>(1976) and, perhaps most famous of all, <b>Raiders of the Lost Ark </b>(1981).<br /><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikK6Rbt5u8fAND9Odf1450PZDjJkhMBDnNYULVbgVNYd_KgJ3yGeH6D4MvuINMkFqLSr29ShyhjkwWY6gVATAiOFQED9bxkbxhiV7ftge4IFX2XWreDqcjv2Rfx8EVsNuSBEGUxCaDLX2B/s1600/Amsel+hepburn.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikK6Rbt5u8fAND9Odf1450PZDjJkhMBDnNYULVbgVNYd_KgJ3yGeH6D4MvuINMkFqLSr29ShyhjkwWY6gVATAiOFQED9bxkbxhiV7ftge4IFX2XWreDqcjv2Rfx8EVsNuSBEGUxCaDLX2B/s200/Amsel+hepburn.jpg" width="175" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Katharine Hepburn/TV Guide</td></tr></tbody></table>Richard Amsel's relationship with <i>TV Guide</i> began in 1972 when he was commissioned to do a portrait of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor to coincide with a TV movie about them. He created a total of 37 covers for the magazine over the next 13 years. Some of the most well known (and there are many) - "Shogun," Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh when <b>Gone with the Wind </b>debuted on television, Ingrid Bergman as Golda Meier, Katharine Hepburn, Frank Sinatra, Princess Grace of Monaco, Lucille Ball, the wedding of Prince Charles and Princess Diana and "Miami Vice." Amsel's last cover for <i>TV Guide</i> was of the three network news anchormen, Peter Jennings, Dan Rather and Tom Brokaw. <br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpqi9CEc5WbNP6zZSM9obBO4RlUHFLmgGuISfuKZMkHPgaHtuTLLuqOyJoQA-psAcZLXmFSio8lasIYsIQjgntjUqrLBtJ2Dibo5JXu2ExlgwDtvBUMhHx3VnfzLvAFeKJa36OOHjZaVd7/s1600/Amsel_GWTW_full_art%255B1%255D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpqi9CEc5WbNP6zZSM9obBO4RlUHFLmgGuISfuKZMkHPgaHtuTLLuqOyJoQA-psAcZLXmFSio8lasIYsIQjgntjUqrLBtJ2Dibo5JXu2ExlgwDtvBUMhHx3VnfzLvAFeKJa36OOHjZaVd7/s320/Amsel_GWTW_full_art%255B1%255D.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gone with the Wind/TV Guide</td></tr></tbody></table><br />Amsel's stylistic influences were diverse, among them - Gustav Klimt, Alphonse Mucha and Walt Disney. An Associated Press reporter of the time observed that his "portraits pay homage to the nostalgia of old Hollywood, often through the groovy lens of the Age of Aquarius, while still managing to look contemporary..." About his own work, Amsel said, "I'm interested in uncovering relationships between the past and present and in discovering how things have changed and grown. I don't see any point in copying the past, but I think the elements of the past can be taken to another realm."<br /><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"> </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Richard Amsel died just three weeks before his 38th birthday in November 1985, a victim of AIDS.<br /><br /><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">To learn more about Amsel's illustrative art,<span style="color: #990000;"> </span><a href="http://adammcdaniel.com/RichardAmsel.htm"><span style="color: #990000;">click here</span></a>.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQSippn2CiY3fZF5RRfvZUN0OhCd06II-5QdlZ8SZBjJg3Mu402hi-hcYvgmbLAe_4BtM2QbetxXUaaoveBP3e-47OO2Ng4cOf2U1vuMVBB6dz62nuhA1XBm7cHSYjaI4Yl073QzE4ey7k/s1600/amsel+ark.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQSippn2CiY3fZF5RRfvZUN0OhCd06II-5QdlZ8SZBjJg3Mu402hi-hcYvgmbLAe_4BtM2QbetxXUaaoveBP3e-47OO2Ng4cOf2U1vuMVBB6dz62nuhA1XBm7cHSYjaI4Yl073QzE4ey7k/s400/amsel+ark.jpg" width="315" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Raiders of the Lost Ark movie poster</td></tr></tbody></table></div></div></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><i>As I was preparing to post this piece about Richard Amsel, I realized its timeliness - December is AIDS Awareness Month.</i></div>

Barbra Streisand Bette Midler Chinatown Hello Dolly Murder on the Orient Express Raiders of the Lost Ark Richard Amsel The Lady Eve (author) The Shootist The Sting TV Guide The Artful Nostalgia of Richard Amsel

Chinatown movie poster Richard Amsel was a prolific graphic artist and illustrator who created some of the most indelible images of the '...

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Planning de la semaine du 13 au 17 décembre 2010

<BR><br /><h2><strong><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 113%;color:#005c9b;" >Permanences<br /></span></strong></h2><ul><br /><li>Le <strong>Conseil Général du Loiret</strong> sera présent dans les locaux de la Maison de l'Emploi du bassin d'Orléans<br />- le lundi 13 décembre de 9h à 12h30,<br />- le mardi 14 décembre de 9h à 12h30 et de 13h30 à 17h,<br />- le mercredi 15 décembre de 13h30 à 17h,<br />- le jeudi 16 décembre de 13h30 à 17h,<br />- le vendredi 17 décembre de 13h30 à 17h.<br /><br /><li><strong><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com/2009/01/egee-nouveau-partenaire-la-maison-de.html">EGEE</a></strong> - lundi 13 décembre de 13h30 à 17h (sur rendez-vous)<br /><br /><li><strong><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com/2007/11/solidarits-nouvelles-face-au-chmage.html">Solidarités Nouvelles face au Chômage</a></strong> - mercredi 15 décembre de 10h à 12h30<br /><br /><li><strong><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com/2007/11/boutique-de-gestion.html">Boutique de Gestion</a></strong> - vendredi 17 décembre de 09h à 12h30 (sur rendez-vous)<br /></ul><br /><h2><strong><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 113%;color:#005c9b;" >Ateliers</span></strong><br /></h2><br /><ul><li><strong>CV</strong> - mardi 14 décembre de 9h à 12h30 et mercredi 15 décembre de 13h30 à 17h<br /><br /><li><strong>Lettre de Motivation</strong> - mardi 14 décembre de 13h30 à 17h au <span style="font-weight:bold;">PIJ de Saint-Cyr-en-Val</span> - Square des Jumelages - Saint-Cyr-en-Val<br /><br /><li><strong>Préparation à l'entretien</strong> - jeudi 16 décembre de 13h30 à 17h<br /><br /><li><strong>Pôle-emploi.fr</strong> - vendredi 17 décembre de 10h à 11h30<br /><br /><li><strong><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com/2009/07/atelier-situtilises-tu-trouves.html">Sit'Utilises tu trouves</a></strong> - vendredi 17 décembre de 14h à 16h</ul><br /><h2><strong><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 113%;color:#005c9b;" >Information collective</span></strong><br /></h2><br /><ul><li><strong>RSA - Conseil Général</strong> - mardi 14 décembre à 10h</ul>

Planning de la semaine du 13 au 17 décembre 2010

Permanences Le Conseil Général du Loiret sera présent dans les locaux de la Maison de l'Emploi du bassin d'Orléans - le lundi 13 dé...

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Saturday's weighin and a fear of stairs

Saturday, December 10, 2010 Weigh-in: <strong> <span style="color: red;">177.8</span></strong><br /><br />Loss for the week: <span style="color: red;"><strong> -0.8</strong></span><br /><br />Total loss since 2/9/2008:  <strong><span style="color: red;">-61.4</span></strong><br /><br />I'm not very happy with myself about such a minor loss, but at least it's a loss. I'm still on track for my goal of losing an average of 1.5 pounds per week. I lost 2.2 pounds the previous week, and with this .8 that's three pounds in two weeks. Not the numbers I want, but the numbers I earned (through lack of discipline).<br /><br />Even though I vowed to stop eating what <a href="http://doingaone-eighty.blogspot.com/">Helen</a> refers to "Franken Food" (love that phrase), I somehow managed to eat an entire package of Skinny Cows at FOUR Points each. In one day! That was just one incident that led to such a small weight loss. I had a few others.<br /><br />It's a new day, a new week, new plan. This week will be better. I promise!<br /><br /><strong>The Big Climb</strong><br />I'm starting to realize what I got myself into by agreeing to do the <a href="http://www.llswa.org/site/TR/Events/BigClimb/80333160?pg=team&fr_id=1160&team_id=34330">Big Climb</a>, 69 flights of stairs at the Columbia Center in Seattle on March 20, 2011. I watched some videos on YouTube about it and frankly my dear, I'm a little bit scared of what I've committed to. It appears to be a young, very physically fit person's sport. <br /><br />I looked at the race results for last year and the oldest person was an eighty year old woman. She completed the race in 35 minutes. My 50-year old coworker completed it in 15 minutes last year. <br /><br />Of course I'm not going into this as a race, but I want decent results. As the team captain for our work group I want to do a good job. So far I have 30 people that have agreed to do this with me as part of our corporate team, and I only announced it last Tuesday. At the encouragement of my coworker I signed our team up as a timed team, meaning we'll have the little chip in our shoes for the timing.<br /><br />I've found all kinds of articles online about stair climbing as a sport. Tips on stair climbing techniques, workouts, and what you should wear (gloves with rubber pads on the fingers, running shoes not cross trainers). The workouts I've seen are tough, focusing not just on the quads and the glutes, but the arms and shoulders (you use the railings to pull yourself up), and the core (apparently a strong core is crucial). <br /><br />In other words, I have a lot of work to do. No more non-structured workouts where I do what I want. I have to add in some exercises that will strengthen the areas I've been ignoring, like my core and abs. As I've mentioned many times, I hate lower body workouts, like squats and lunges. I do them, but half-hearted. Sometimes on lower body workout days (three a week), I decide I'm not in the mood and double up on my cardio. Since these are areas I need to really focus on, I have to really get serious about my workouts.<br /><br />The other thing I need to get serious about is losing my 20 pounds. This is really critical. There's no way I can climb 69 flights at my current weight of 177.8 pounds. That's too heavy. I have to get under 160. The closer I can get to 155 the better. I have exactly fourteen weeks from today. If I can continue the 1.5 pounds lost per week, I could lose the 20 pounds. I really need to stay focused. I don't want March 20 to come and I feel scared and defeated before I even start the climb. I have a lot of work ahead of me. <br /><br />By the way, if anyone wants to donate to the Big Climb click <a href="http://www.llswa.org/site/TR/Events/BigClimb/80333160?pg=team&fr_id=1160&team_id=34330">here</a>. Even a $5 gift would be appreciated. All proceeds benefit The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Your tax deductible donation helps in the fight against blood cancers.

Saturday's weighin and a fear of stairs

Saturday, December 10, 2010 Weigh-in:  177.8 Loss for the week:  -0.8 Total loss since 2/9/2008:  -61.4 I'm not very happy with myself...

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Participez à un forum d'échanges sur la gestion RH inter-entreprises

<table class=MsoNormalTable border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 style='border-collapse:collapse'><br /> <tr ><br /> <td width=915 valign=top style='width:686.0pt;border:solid white 3.0pt; background:white;padding:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt;height:118.3pt'><br /> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4qDQtf_fOl06n_dAyMpskg-hucYANKPZgQDhyjfSlNE9NXCqqAtGyMuDaWUxSaaIDZn2i7qd4bPlBYTPUWq_mABadBJZHK12IC25MK1Y2Z6RT_SZ6Xv3-0pPxHHCumzWZlBf6dRICFI-B/s1600/image001.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5549065529275701714" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4qDQtf_fOl06n_dAyMpskg-hucYANKPZgQDhyjfSlNE9NXCqqAtGyMuDaWUxSaaIDZn2i7qd4bPlBYTPUWq_mABadBJZHK12IC25MK1Y2Z6RT_SZ6Xv3-0pPxHHCumzWZlBf6dRICFI-B/s400/image001.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 94px;" /></a></td><br /> </tr><br /> <tr style='height:258.0pt'><br /> <td width=915 valign=top style='width:686.0pt;border:solid white 3.0pt;<br /> border-top:none;background:#95B3D7;padding:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt;height:258.0pt'><br /> <p class=MsoNormal align=center style='margin-right:11.9pt;text-align:center'><b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'> </span></b></p><br /> <p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><b><span style='font-size:28.0pt;color:white'>DECOUVREZ ET ECHANGEZ LORS D'UN FORUM EN LIGNE !</span></b></p><br /> <p class=MsoNormal> </p><br /> <p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><b><span style='font-size:22.0pt;color:white'>LA BOURSE D</span></b><b><span style='font-size:22.0pt;color:white'>’EVOLUTION PROFESSIONNELLE INTER ENTREPRISES</span></b></p><br /> <p class=MsoNormal> </p><br /> <p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><b><span style='font-size:16.0pt;color:#1F497D'>Des </span></b><b><span style='font-size:16.0pt;color:white'>chefs d'entreprises</span></b><b><span style='font-size:16.0pt;color:#1F497D'> ont contribué à la création de prototypes </span></b><b><span style='font-size:16.0pt;color:#1F497D'>de </span></b><b><span style='font-size:16.0pt;color:white'>solutions innovantes</span></b><b><span style='font-size:16.0pt;color:#1F497D'> pour répondre à leurs problématiques de </span></b><b><span style='font-size:16.0pt;color:white'>gestion des compétences</span></b><b><span style='font-size:16.0pt;color:#1F497D'>. </span></b></p><br /> <p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt;color:#1F497D'> </span></b></p><br /> <p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt;color:#1F497D'>Venez les découvrir et donner votre avis, afin de participer au choix des solutions qui seront finalisées en 2014.</span></b></p><br /> <p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt;color:#1F497D'>A tout moment, vous pouvez intervenir sur le forum pour faire part de vos réflexions, besoins et interrogations</span></b>.</p><br /> <p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";<br /> color:#003366'> </span></p><br /> <p class=MsoNormal align=center style='margin-top:0cm;margin-right:20.15pt;<br /> margin-bottom:0cm;margin-left:43.65pt;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align:center'><b><span style='font-size:36.0pt;color:white'>A partir du 15 Décembre 2010 – 9h</span></b></p><br /> <p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><b><span style='font-size:20.0pt;color:white'> </span></b></p><br /> <p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><b><span style='font-size:20.0pt;color:white'>Inscrivez-vous au Forum :</span></b></p><br /> <p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><a href="http://bepi.nekoediskus.com/forum"><b><span style='font-size:18.0pt;<br /> color:navy;text-decoration:none'><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5549069367154096770" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR4j5f_822xvjiiPaqpox_LW-sR5uGoOTWpM2v39VjjtKYNX1vLWMWEMRR3b0gS0xywkx3Dx84fGt0YQuIZcqLiwGIUfyK5n_Pdm295t3a00Wf5HNUGWdNacOl6ciUQs55lj9aGtshYH_m/s400/image002.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 208px; height: 88px;" /></span></b></a></p><br /> <p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:18.0pt;color:#666699'> </span></b></p><br /> <p class=MsoNormal align=center style='margin-left:35.4pt;text-align:center'><b><span style='font-size:18.0pt;color:#003366'>Nous restons à votre disposition pour<br /> tout complément d’informations. </span></b></p><br /> <p class=MsoNormal align=center style='margin-left:35.4pt;text-align:center'><b><span style='font-size:18.0pt;color:#003366'>Plus d’informations sur le projet sur<br />  : <a href="http://www.nekoe.fr/bepi">www.nekoe.fr/bepi</a></span></b></p><br /> <p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><b><span style='font-size:18.0pt;color:#003366'>Votre contact : <a href="mailto:jean-pierre.froux@nekoe.fr">jean-pierre.froux@nekoe.fr</a></span></b></p><br /> <p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:11.9pt;line-height:150%'><b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:Arial;color:#1F497D'> </span></b></p><br /> <p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><b><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Ce projet est cofinancé par l’Union européenne par le Fonds social européen (FSE) au titre du programme « Compétitivité Régionale et Emploi » – 2007-2014.</span></b></p><br /></td><br /> </tr><br /></table><br /><BR>

Participez à un forum d'échanges sur la gestion RH inter-entreprises

  DECOUVREZ ET ECHANGEZ LORS D'UN FORUM EN LIGNE !   LA BOURSE D ’EVOLUTION PROFESSIONNELLE INTER ENTREPRISES   Des...

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The Asian Journals Of Bishop Dan: Part 9

It was a sad parting in Santiago. As much as I’ll be glad to be home, it was hard to say goodbye to new friends – both human and terrestrial. I’m going to miss white cranes lifting and lowering their wings slowly as they fly just a few feet above the green rice plants while water buffalo wade through the fields.<br /><br />I boarded a small plan to Manila. The only thing eventful about the flight was the flight attendants’ delight that I was reading Noli Me Tangere, the first of two Philippine classic novels by the revolutionary hero, Jose Rizal. The works of Rizal and other Filipino writers were banned until the 1970’s along with patriotic Philippine folk songs, but the children all learned the words and music to “America the Beautiful.”<br /><br />The adventure began when I got to Manila. Someone from the National Church Office met me at the airport and dropped me off at my hotel at 1 p.m. with the intention of picking me up later, at a time TBA, for dinner with the Prime Bishop and National Church Office staff. But the hotel said I was too early. So I left my bags and ventured forth a-foraging. I lunched at the Tree House, an open air restaurant serving barbecued chicken. As I waited in that decidedly tropical ambience, the radio played “Walking In A Winter Wonderland.” The next song was an excellent cover of the R&B classic “Just My Imagination.” Manila is by the way totally decked out for Christmas in ways I cannot begin to express. One example is along one downtown street there is a 30 foot structure that is a cross between a Christmas tree and a pagoda, with large snowflake shapes of white lights along its sides. Pertinent to my story, crèches are everywhere, absolutely everywhere, some rustic, some bedazzled.<br /><br />While waiting for my room to be ready, I also stopped off for a ventoso style massage. Best massage I have ever had!!! It was a spiritual experience. I was in one mellow mood when I got back to the upscale hotel. Then they told me I had no reservation and the hotel was full. Homeless. No phone. No phone number. Nada. What to do? I needed a drink – of coffee – my drug of choice, so I went to Starbucks. A little caffeine settled my nerves. I reasoned that eventually they would have to come looking for me, maybe send the police. And the place they would start looking is the last place I had been seen – the upscale hotel. So I went back there and hung out for several hours. It was a Joseph and Mary moment – no room in the inn – but at least I wasn’t in labor. I commended myself a bit for remaining as calm as I was about the whole situation, but then I thought Joseph and Mary probably weren’t too calm. Faith isn’t always calm. It’s more about God being faithful whether we are calm or frantic. God is there with us regardless of our mood. That’s why all the crèches in Manila pertain to today.<br /><br />Eventually, the mortified National Church staff showed up and took me downtown to a less upscale but more my style kind of hotel. I’m on the 9th floor over a busy downtown street with lots of honking and whistling down below. Reminds of seminary days in New York.<br /><br />Hunger had become a factor and the dinner with the PB and staff was canceled due to my MIA status. I’m having breakfast with the PB instead. So I went looking for more food. I found a Korean restaurant and to my naïve surprise discovered that not only the servers but the clientele were all Koreans. The cooks however were young Filipinos. Not sure what to make of that. I ordered something I didn’t really recognize but felt daring, until I realized that there were no forks. I had not seen a single chop stick in the Philippines. They don’t use chop sticks in Santiago. But here it was all chop sticks and I have used them in years, never was proficient.<br /><br />Whenever I was sure no one was looking, I speared the food. Occasionally the food landed on my sleeve and I would discreetly wipe my face and snag the food with my tongue as it went by. Little by little, by hook or by crook, I ate most of it, even the rice. The music in the Korean Restaurant – Ann Murray “Just one touch and then it happens . . . .;” Abba “Dancing Queen” just what we were listening to while driving North, also the Eagles “Hotel California” and John Denver “You Fill Up My Senses.”<br /><br />So when I fly away tomorrow, what will I bring back with me? It may take awhile to answer that. Certainly a different impression of how they do church here and a lot of inspiration and ideas for how we might do church better. (This really is role reversal from the old missionary days. We can learn more from Santiago on most points. There are a couple of things we have more experience at and can share.) There is some possibility, just a faint glimmer of a possibility, of some funding from her to help us get started with an Asian ministries outreach like we started Latino ministries last year. Bishop Alex is working on it for us. We need this decidedly Christian country to support some missionary work in our not so Christian land.<br /><br />I have a new Philippine vest I intend to wear with my purple clergy shirt, so Asian people in Nevada will see it and think “What is that white bishop doing wearing a Philippine vest, here in Nevada of all places?” They will ask me about it and I will tell them about Asian ministries in Nevada. I will explain the Episcopal Church and say “It isn’t just for Igarot anymore. We have thriving Ilocano congregations in Santiago where we just ordained a non-Cordilleran” – this will all make sense to them if they are Filipino – “and,” I will continue, “there are growing Tagalog congregations in Manila and we are in full communion with the Philippine Independent Church. Our priests and their priests go to the same seminary, you know.” In other words, I’m getting ready to do a better job of evangelism to Nevada’s growing Asian population.<br /><br />Beyond that, there’s the spiritual thing. “Spirit” is not about emotions. It’s about connections -- connecting to each other in God through Christ.” I am more connected now. I have heard dozens of stories that are not in these journals. I have told the people of Santiago stories – stories about our diocese, stories about Nevada, my own personal stories. We have shared life and that is the essence of communion. I feel deeply blessed by my time here and I will return looking for opportunities to share the blessing from this watery world with my fellow desert dwellers. The Deans and I talked of connecting congregations to congregations, ECW’s to ECW’s, joining their diocesan education person, Andrea, to our Parish Educators Google Group. “It does not yet appear what (this) shall be but when (it) appears it will be like him (Christ.)”

The Asian Journals Of Bishop Dan: Part 9

It was a sad parting in Santiago. As much as I’ll be glad to be home, it was hard to say goodbye to new friends – both human and terrestrial...

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To Fire or Not To Fire?

That is the question, isn't it? Or at least, that's the question that U-M Athletic Director David Brandon has to mull over in this next month or so. But each Michigan football fan has, in their own mind, made their own decision about head coach Rich Rodriguez. Most of the fans I know are ready to see him go, while a few are still hoping for "one more year" to prove himself.<br /><br />Me? I am on the fence. I know you hate to hear me say that, but I am. I can see valid reasons from both sides, and it makes my choice hard. Luckily, I am not the Athletic Director, so this really doesn't mean anything besides arguing with acquaintances every once in a while. But here are some of the pros and cons about the whole situation. See it from my view: whatever happens is good for the school and the program.<br /><br /><b>Situation #1: Give him one more year.</b><br />After two years of nothing after Ohio State, Rodriguez got Michigan to a 7-5 record and a spot in the Gator Bowl on January 1. If nothing, this is a major jump. Now January 1 bowls are not as prestigious as they used to be, but it still has some clout. You are guaranteed a major audience of males who have the day off and are committed to watching whatever football game flies across their flatscreens at a particular time of the day. On January 2 people will be talking about those bowls. And nothing beats the GIANT patch they get to put on their uniforms, right? (I mean, seriously! I could take four of those patches and have four placemats for my dining room table!)<br /><br />The Michigan team we saw had its weaknesses, sure, but those are defensive and special teams problems. The most logical solution would be to fire those coaches, Greg Robinson and Tony Gibson (who also doubles as the defensive backs coordinator - it's like two firings in one!) and bring in some incredibly talented defensive minds to take over.<br /><br />In this season, you could say that Michigan beat every team it was supposed to beat (UConn, Purdue, Notre Dame, Indiana, etc.) and lost to teams that were better than them (OSU, MSU, Iowa, Wisconsin, etc.). The only game that does not fit into this mindset was the Penn State game, which was just plain horrible on every level. But that was really the only one.<br /><br />Our offense has a solid foundation. Give quarterback Denard Robinson some receivers that consistently catch the ball, as well as one (one!) main running back, and the offense can put up the points. The defense and special teams need major overhauls, but anything next year would be better than this year for both areas, right?<br /><br />The biggest problem for firing Rodriguez would be that the players are on his side. Like, majorly. If Brandon were to fire him and bring in a new coach with new ideas, and that trust between player and coach could disappear. Trust me, if these 18-23-year-old males are willing to hold hands and sway to "You Raise Me Up" by Josh Groban because their coach encouraged them to, these guys would do anything to keep him as the coach.<br /><br />I remember losing some core players from Lloyd Carr's tenure after Rodriguez came on as head coach and thinking, "Man, what if those guys had stayed?" But this was no longer the team that they had signed to play on. It wasn't Carr's system anymore; it was Rich Rod's. And because of that, they took their talents elsewhere. I can't imagine what may happen to some of our core players if a firing were to occur and someone they didn't like took his place.<br /><br />But still...<br /><br /><b>Situation #2: FIRE HIM NOW!</b><br />The old "traditions" held up in high esteem by the likes of Yost, Crisler, and Schembechler<b> </b>have all but disappeared. Rodriguez has insisted on starting new traditions which don't have the same Michigan luster. If a Michigan fan were to have gone into a coma in 2006 and then woken up before the Wisconsin game this season, he would barely recognize that football team on the field.<br /><br />I don't care that they're going to a bowl; I don't feel like any progress has been made. It just feels like they've plateaued. They aren't getting any worse (I mean, could that defense get any worse?), but there isn't that spark to be better, to get an upset win, to pummel the little guys instead of letting them hang around.<br /><br />We haven't beaten Ohio State in SEVEN YEARS. We need a coach that spends the entire season obsessing over that game! It almost seems like Rich Rod treats it like every other game. Newsflash, coach: IT'S NOT.<br /><br />Our little brother, Michigan State, has pounded us the past three years. It has been embarassing! They give us the standard Dantonio approach, and we still look like scared deer out on that field.<br /><br />I mentioned previously the lethargy that reigned at the end of last year. Well guess what? The lethargy returned during the Iowa game, and it never left. Do these players know the meaning of "getting psyched" for a game? Do the coaches instill any excitement on these players, or have they already given up before "The Victors" is even played?<br /><br />RichRod was quoted as saying, "<span id="search" style="visibility: visible;"><em>What do you want</em>, me to go jump out there and <em>hold hands</em> with all the Buckeye fans and <em>sing</em> 'Kumbaya'?" And then he goes and holds hands and sways to "You Raise Me Up" by Josh Groban. I wonder what the Michigan State band is going to play when we march out onto the Spartan Stadium grass next year...</span><br /><span id="search" style="visibility: visible;"><br /></span><br /><span id="search" style="visibility: visible;">Wake me up when he actually recruits a decent kicker.</span><br /><span id="search" style="visibility: visible;"><br /></span><br /><span id="search" style="visibility: visible;"><b>So What's an Athletic Director to do?</b></span><br /><span id="search" style="visibility: visible;">Does he use the Gator Bowl as the deciding factor? Or does he make the decision before that? Does he get down on his hands and knees and beg Jim Harbaugh to come back to his alma mater? Or does he just toss a coin? One thing is for sure:</span><br /><span id="search" style="visibility: visible;"><b> </b></span><br /><span id="search" style="visibility: visible;">Aren't you happy this isn't <i>your </i>decision?</span>

To Fire or Not To Fire?

That is the question, isn't it? Or at least, that's the question that U-M Athletic Director David Brandon has to mull over in this n...

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JOHN M. STAHL...a reappraisal and a reaffirmation

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7U82ludouBXMb4xTJ8Se8r086J4KsWLeSstz0Qt8mF1_mmOTAERKbKY5HOTnpuTV5ZDX9JhxMx6R1uWq15yvC5NVZYlGhxfBIrUlRiGsi64sqcjcgEQ5SjNlQbDm-rjalxZd_DUdtRzqn/s1600/1+stahl.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7U82ludouBXMb4xTJ8Se8r086J4KsWLeSstz0Qt8mF1_mmOTAERKbKY5HOTnpuTV5ZDX9JhxMx6R1uWq15yvC5NVZYlGhxfBIrUlRiGsi64sqcjcgEQ5SjNlQbDm-rjalxZd_DUdtRzqn/s320/1+stahl.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gene Tierney in <b>Leave Her to Heaven</b></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"></div><i><b>by guest contributor doctor sabelotodo</b></i><br /><br /><b><u>Author's Disclaimer</u></b><br /><br />Not until I started researching and reading did I realize the extent of the tremendous amount of heresay, recyled disinformation and vague references that exists in the written media about director John M. Stahl - both online and in book form. I prefer to write (cryptically) off the top of my head but felt lacking in sufficient details concerning the film legacy of Mr. Stahl. I love film but dislike film criticism...trust me...you will not see <i>mise en scene </i>mentioned...<br /><a name='more'></a><br /><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBoBy5-LF9ZZAfk1yxvwbn0S4uiNdF9iL6CfIph26aaAu3Q-JRD_emLwGTRoeDptoR1CpmLh3sNKGxHFlCWgyDk798mfWzsSVbyy4BXunwAsf4EMhPalxKxCHfaId780OPXDt9ThNwWXTP/s1600/4+stahl+stahl.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBoBy5-LF9ZZAfk1yxvwbn0S4uiNdF9iL6CfIph26aaAu3Q-JRD_emLwGTRoeDptoR1CpmLh3sNKGxHFlCWgyDk798mfWzsSVbyy4BXunwAsf4EMhPalxKxCHfaId780OPXDt9ThNwWXTP/s200/4+stahl+stahl.jpg" width="116" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><b><u>A Brief Biography</u></b></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br /></div>John Malcolm Stahl was born unceremoniuosly in New York City on January 21, 1886...attended public schools until 1901, when he left to become an actor...he worked in this vein on stage and film until joining Vitagraph Studios in 1914 and then the newly founded MGM/Meyer studios in 1917...throughout his tenure, he directed numerous films of little consequence (most have been lost or forgotten). He founded Tiffany-Stahl Pictures in 1927, but sold his interest in 1930. His "big break" came in 1930 when he joined Universal Studios and began making a number of successful and quality films.<br /><br />Stahl married Roxana Wray in 1930 (his wife until death)..then came the disaster of <b>Parnell</b> (1937), which ended his work with Universal. He he continued on working for Fox Studios and free-lancing, his sole success being <b>Leave Her to Heaven </b>along with some minor films...he retired in 1949 and died the following year. John Stahl was one of the founders of AMPAS (the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences) and has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (for whatever that is worth)...<br /><br /><b><u>Introduction</u></b><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6TZ7_MkqPqcYz_1zI6AWOUT2l2VKCYBFUnbJMVCEMn40_NSMT9ZdG9hrnVA-8KxXIwlvRRva_VA61TxhCwJk-kp9niEnnVmgYrYotOl973W3flx9EP7-p2_zXghhWnzi_NF-0SwAFiYcj/s1600/2+stahl.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6TZ7_MkqPqcYz_1zI6AWOUT2l2VKCYBFUnbJMVCEMn40_NSMT9ZdG9hrnVA-8KxXIwlvRRva_VA61TxhCwJk-kp9niEnnVmgYrYotOl973W3flx9EP7-p2_zXghhWnzi_NF-0SwAFiYcj/s200/2+stahl.jpg" width="140" /></a></div>The first time that I heard a reference to John Stahl was in the 1970s. It was a direct quote claiming that "he had been out-Sirked by Douglas Sirk." I found this interesting (knowing the films of Douglas Sirk) but like most, I was not familiar with the name John Stahl, despite having seen his <b>Imitation of Life (</b>1934) and <b>Magnificent Obsession</b> (1935). I became aware of the full impact of this statement over the years, i.e., in remaking three of John Stahl's films as a tribute, Douglas Sirk had unwittingly buried the former in the tomb of obscurity.<br /><br />Prior to 1936, I think Stahl enjoyed a good reputation as a reliable, competent, focused studio director. <b>Parnell</b> was his undoing (as director and producer he was solely responsible), and the critics and wags began to pile up the negatives: "studio director,""unoriginal,""a woman's director," "a one medium director," director of "weepies," "tearjerkers" and "soapers." Negative criticism led to neglect which was in full force by the time he made <b>Leave Her to Heaven</b> (1945). To the above I say...<br /><br />1. William Wyler was criticized for being a "studio director" (I would like anyone try to do a better job on <b>Ben-Hur</b>).<br />2. George Cukoor was also called a "woman's director"...so what? He was a good director period...<br />3. John Ford directed mostly westerns.<br />4. Being "maverick" and "original" does not guarantee quality or success...<br /><br />I also think that part of the public and critical neglect of Stahl was due to his reputation - he was a real nice guy, not a womanizaer or a drunk...got along well with the studio brass...actors and actresses loved him (especially Greer Garson)...he was pleasant to work with...productive...responsible.<br /><br />Yes, he directed melodramas...yes, he addressed strong issues on the social and sexual mores of women...yes, he featured independent (sometimes driven) characters...but this hardly justifies criticism or neglect.<br /><br />The following is a quote from Hal Erickson at All-Movie Guide: "<i>it was during this time that Stahl developed his directorial "signature"; hot house melodramas and baroque romanticisims with emphasis on strong, self reliant female characters"..</i>this was the kind of blather that I waded through.<br /><br />1. <i>Hot house...</i>What does that mean? over-the-top...yes...sauna, no!<br />2. <i>Baroque...</i>I think that he is referring to Douglas Sirk!<br />3. <i>Self reliant females...</i>that smells of Ayn Rand...<br /><br /><b><u>Selected Films </u></b><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXTlxJL8P8SDWd6rNv0wnrsHLP3ND31uhO0AsUsCF6l-fZy1J9VJmTdCqXLiP5HBb3tQx0BtL4irYb4TKSD-KuAdl7DCt_MAllivCZcMNOn-NO9_-IKuoko2hf4q4TNjOHnAa7abh1oK5x/s1600/5+stahl+backstreet.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXTlxJL8P8SDWd6rNv0wnrsHLP3ND31uhO0AsUsCF6l-fZy1J9VJmTdCqXLiP5HBb3tQx0BtL4irYb4TKSD-KuAdl7DCt_MAllivCZcMNOn-NO9_-IKuoko2hf4q4TNjOHnAa7abh1oK5x/s200/5+stahl+backstreet.jpg" width="133" /></a></div>1. <b>Back Street</b> (1932)...from the Fannie Hurstbest seller. The story of unrequited/star-crossed/ill-fated love, as Rae (Irene Dunne) chooses to be the mistress of Walter (John Boles) for 30 years. Good performances in a rather convoluted story. With ZaSu Pitts, cinematography by Karl Freund...remade poorly in 1941 and 1961...<br /><br />2. <b>Only Yesterday</b> (1933)...again featuring John Boles and the screen debut of Margaret Sullavan. In 1929, a once wealthy businessman reflects on his past and an affair in 1917 that produced an illegimate child...he had ignored the woman who had his child and now feels remorse when he finds her dying. With a chilling montage of images of the Great Depression. As with <b>Back Street</b>, a definite pre-coder...featuring a strong supporting cast including Edna May Oliver and Billie Burke.<br /><br />3. <b>Imitation of Life</b> (1933)... from Fannie Hurst once again...perfect cast with Claudette Colbert as Bea Pullman, Louise Beavers as Delilah Johnson, Warren William as Stephen Archer, and Rochelle Hudson and Fredi Washington as the daughters. Storyline...widow hires maid whose recipe becomes "Aunt Delilah" pancake formula = $$$ and disappointment. This film tackled real issues of segregation, the position of women, class structure, passing for white and the destructive power of wealth. Often described as dated, this version of <b>Imitation of Life</b> is superior to the flamboyant/unbelievable/vapid 1959 remake with Lana Turner...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijUyaaZysYKUDTDu8RWYJHilWXH3Hf828bh1ukTLAjQKN2Qlfz1QOb7y2fBXb1Ef0ouuepWu81aBlXgNwMG7jKlUBN1DtaErCcRQ7QbkPF7NLkwltF8_6SLgtN1qRKfiQVrotUh_pu91er/s1600/3+stahl+mag.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijUyaaZysYKUDTDu8RWYJHilWXH3Hf828bh1ukTLAjQKN2Qlfz1QOb7y2fBXb1Ef0ouuepWu81aBlXgNwMG7jKlUBN1DtaErCcRQ7QbkPF7NLkwltF8_6SLgtN1qRKfiQVrotUh_pu91er/s1600/3+stahl+mag.jpg" /></a></div>4. <b>Magnificent Obsession</b> (1935)...Yes, I know...from the over-the-top novel of Lloyd C. Douglas...rich/drunk playboy Bobby Merrick (Robert Taylor) causes death of the doctor husband of Helen Hudson (Irene Dunne). He feels bad, tries to apologize and as she leaves, she is struck by a car and is blinded. Merrick now feels <i>really</i> bad...tries to reform his ways...visits her...when she discovers his identity, she rebukes him once again...he mans up...becomes a physician and a renowned eye specialist and blah...blah...blah...I know it is hokey...Taylor is "stiff" as usual, but this film is so much better than the remake with Rock Hudson and Jane Wyman.<br /><br />5.<b> Parnell </b>(1937)...the story of "the uncrowned king of Ireland"...a good pedigree...Myrna Loy and Clark Gable...cinematography by Karl Freund...screenplay by John Van Druten. Unfortunately, it was a giant flop with the public and critics...beautifully filmed but <i>schizophrenic</i>. Is it a bio-pic, a star vehicle or a costume drama? As producer/director, Stahl was completely responsible for this mess that led to his dismissal from MGM...please...do NOT see this film!<br /><br />6. <b>When Tomorrow Comes</b> (1939)...a minor comeback for Stahl, as Charles Boyer and Irene Dunne renew their screen chemistry from <b>Love Affair </b>(1939)...from a story by James M. Cain, of all people...good film...improbable plot...remade by Douglas Sirk as <b>Interlude</b> (1957).<br /><br />7. <b>The Keys of the Kingdom</b> (1945)...from the A. J. Cronin novel...screenplay by Nunnally Johnson...music by Alfred Newman..and a great cast headed by Gregory Peck in his first starring role..we really see the screen presence of Peck in this film...from his visage...mannerisms...and speech...this was 18 years before <b>To Kill a Mockingbird</b>.<br /><br />8. <b>Leave Her to Heaven</b> (1945)...flamboyant and morbid, to say the least...Gene Tierney is both stunning and creepy as Ellen Berent..Cornel Wilde is adequate as her hubby Richard Harland...with good support from Jeanne Crain and Vincent Price...how this movie got by the censors is beyond me: featuring a wrongful death (<span style="color: #fff2cc;">click below to view</span>)...a deliberate fall to cause a miscarriage and suicide to implicate a rival in homicide is enough plot for three movies...this is one unique movie and represents the mastery of Stahl...famous quote: "there's nothing wrong with Ellen, it's just that she loves too much..." <br /><object height="385" width="480"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/tXHJqXyvJc0?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/tXHJqXyvJc0?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object><br /><br /><b><u>Summary</u></b><br /><br />Well, that is the best I can do...I have been a champion of John M. Stahl for 30 years...his fall from grace was multifactorial...the disaster of <b>Parnell</b>, benign neglect by critics...the ascendency of Douglas Sirk..and the unjust labelling as a studio director...I hope you will visit his films!

Back Street doctor sabelotodo (author) Douglas Sirk Imitation of Life John M. Stahl Keys to the Kingdom Leave Her to Heaven Magnificent Obsession melodrama Only Yesterday When Tomorrow Comes JOHN M. STAHL...a reappraisal and a reaffirmation

Gene Tierney in Leave Her to Heaven by guest contributor doctor sabelotodo Author's Disclaimer Not until I started researching and readi...

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The Asian Journals Of Bishop Dan: Part 8

My last day in Santiago was dominated by the retreat I facilitated for the clergy and the diocesan staff. My self-review is that parts of it went quite well. The preface on post-colonial theology generated good discussion and report back in the plenary session.<br /><br />I then did the theoretical presentation for my exercises on psycho-synthesis and bio-spiritual focusing. The response was mixed. Some folks were nodding and definitely engaged if not downright intrigued. Others were bored. The first exercise went ok, but just ok. The second went better and they had great one on one dialogues afterward. By the time we got to the transpersonal self guided meditation, almost everyone seemed deeply engaged. It felt profound. Then the free association of God’s children meditation went quite well and the loving kindness mediation seems worked exceptionally. It was moving when they meditated on the blessing, “May all persons in the Dioceses of Santiago and Nevada be filled with loving kindness. May they be well. May they be peaceful and at ease. May they be happy.” So once we got past the theory, which some liked even that, it went well.<br /><br />The deans met with me over lunch again and we continued to plan how to build a network between our dioceses. They told me more about how the deaneries work in the Philippines. The deanery is a key unit of church life here and the deans have a substantial role – more so than in Atlanta or Nevada. They really make things happen, like youth ministry. The ECW meets for the deanery and at convention. ECW lives beyond the parish boundaries here more than in Nevada. I learned much and was prodded to do more with what I already know.<br /><br />There was a wonderful farewell. The clericus gave me a large woven cloth. They also gave me the banner welcoming me to the diocese in Ilocano. There were many mutual expressions of appreciation for each other. I kept promising to return until I realized how much like Douglass MacArthur I sounded. After the retreat, two young adults, Andy Burns (a YASC engineer) and Jocelyn Ittiw (an agricultural engineer doing community development work) interviewed me. Good questions. I over answered them because I enjoyed the young people so much. I want to be them when I am reincarnated.<br /><br />This has been a fantastic visit. I feel changed by it in ways I cannot describe. I regret having to leave tomorrow though I do enjoy Manila as well and look forward to meeting the Prime Bishop. I am also just exhuasted.<br /><br />But I fly away laden with loving gifts -- a Philippine vest, wood carvings from Ifugao, a framed ceretificate from the dedication of St. Joseph the Worker, as well as the woven cloth and the banner they gave me today. The generosity of these good people exceeds even thier reputation.

The Asian Journals Of Bishop Dan: Part 8

My last day in Santiago was dominated by the retreat I facilitated for the clergy and the diocesan staff. My self-review is that parts of it...

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Wordless Wednesday

<p align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbVn7SWfXrxRiz62WwhDDkIepPe9bC87R7X5UoEtNAgY574pnmSMqK0QI45YDOzBfguUaJuC2US9F23Si9_BhkY8JVuLc-IX10LsB4fVgJ41tIKa1Xbn2VhkptFoBOPuz_TKBvDwiM_7B5/s1600-h/DSC05224%5B8%5D%5B5%5D.jpg"><img alt="DSC05224[8]" border="0" height="257" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-CVH52hjG6yYvdUTthc8ssn8Z08lg76rZBZJ1TTwnjwTyk9gBOMdHS3NabRwNvziGQEQHdWHXFLetnpKz5LXsSXqpwnE_uRKEzOZXFS56vxEANGpRNbqHLxRPrNpE7VIWS0j-XrczCdT-/?imgmax=800" style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; margin-right: auto; border-bottom: 0px" title="DSC05224[8]" width="424"></a>*Abby’s in the Christmas spirit*</p>

Wordless Wednesday

*Abby’s in the Christmas spirit*

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