text:
Author's response to his critics (8)
In Defence of HistoryRichard J. Evans
Granta, 1997 307 pp., £15.99 (hardback)
Professor Antony EasthopeManchester Metropolitan University
Criticism 8: The book is unfair to those postmodernists whom it criticises.
As well as misunderstanding or misrepresenting postmodernist theory, some critics of In Defence of History have attacked the book for what they see as its unfairness to other individuals whose work it criticises. For example, a number of reviewers, such as John Charmley and Ronald Hutton, not necessarily defenders of postmodernism, have suggested that Keith Jenkins's hostility to conventional history as practised in the universities is ascribed by In Defence of History to the fact that he has never had a job in a university himself. But this is not so. What the book actually says, after summarising Jenkins's argument that professional historians believe in an 'objective' and on the whole liberal-conservative interpretation of the past because they teach in 'multi-million pound' universities engaged in the 'ideological control' of society, is as follows:
That Keith Jenkins sees university history departments in this jaundiced way may, if one wishes for a moment to borrow his own mode of argument, have something to do with the fact that he is only a lecturer in an institute of higher education, as so feels excluded from the multi-million pound institutions he is criticising so aggressively. Doubtless this would be an unfair charge, but no more unfair than the charges he is levelling at the university historical profession as a whole.
In other words, the book was not saying that Jenkins takes the views he does because he is not teaching in a university, only that if he applied his own arguments to himself, that is the kind of argument he would end up with.
Indeed this is actually put forward as an example of how unfair, how reductionist, postmodernist arguments can be. As Hutton observes, one of the main techniques of In Defence of History is to apply the postmodernists' theories to their own writings, and no more should be read into this passage than precisely that. Elsewhere, indeed, the book points out that a number of postmodernists have major posts at senior universities, so the argument as applied to Jenkins (ultimately by Jenkins) falls down on this count too, since I explicitly argue that, contrary to what some postmodernists appear to believe, we are not dealing here with conservative empiricist orthodoxies entrenched in major citadels of academe and confronting progressive thinkers who have been deliberately excluded from the centres of academic power.
This argument, like some of the others dealt with in the previous section of this 'Reply to Critics', comes down again to the relationship between knowledge and power. I confess that when I wrote the book, I did not realise quite how dangerous the cruder attempts to link the two could be. If you think knowledge attains the status of truth solely through the exercise of power, then power is what you will try to get, and there might indeed be some justification in the Marxist writer Chris Harman's claim in his review of In Defence of History that 'popular postmodernist arguments have been used to terrorise students in innumerable university departments into submission to their lecturers' dogmas'. If this were true, it would be a betrayal of all the values of rationality and the free exchange of ideas which the concept of a university is supposed to be about. In this sense, it is not just history that needs defending, but the spirit of rational argument and the unfettered discussion of differing views, indeed, the whole spirit in which academic and intellectual life is lived.
That this spirit has been violated by my book is the complaint of Diane Purkiss, who writes to defend her own book The Witch in History against the brief remarks made about it in In Defence of History. Purkiss accuses me of misquoting from her book and claims I have discussed it without having read it, or alternatively that I have read it but have not read it accurately (that these two accusations are mutually contradictory does not seem to occur to her - or is this mere rhetorical hyperbole not intended to be taken seriously?). A merely inaccurate reading as distinct from no reading at all would seem to be a relatively venial sin, for Purkiss takes my allegedly inaccurate reading as evidence for her view that 'reading all the words that are there, just those words and no others, not adding, not taking away, just reading' is a 'nearly impossible task' which 'none of us do...most of the time.' Purkiss's 'Response' would certainly provide startling evidence of this point, supposing one was inclined to agree with it.
Let us start with a rather trivial example. On page 4 of In Defence of History, she charges, I attribute to her opinions which have been put forward not by her but by unnamed 'conservative defenders of history'. When we look up page 69 of The Witch in History, however, which is where the passage in question occurs, what do we find? At the end of a paragraph attacking male historians for their lack of interest in feminist and gender theory, Purkiss concludes that they evade the truth-claims of such theory by dismissing it as of no use to them in their work. There follows the sentence: 'The fact that poststructuralism threatens to throw historians out of work does not make it untrue.' This opinion is not attributed to anyone else and is neither set in quotation marks nor supplied with a footnote referring the reader to someone other than Purkiss herself as its author.
It is, to be sure, followed by another sentence, which reads as follows: 'Though some historinas (sic) do offer other refutations, these are usually based on fairly comprehensive misreadings of what they refute, again suggesting a certain interpretive carelessness.' The footnote to this sentence, like the previous footnote in Purkiss's text, refers to Joyce Appleby, Lynn Hunt and Margaret Jacob's Telling the Truth About History (a book by three historians, or perhaps we should now call them 'historinas', who can hardly be accused of a conservative approach to the past, or of a lack of interest in feminist and gender theory, or indeed of being male). But the view that poststructuralism threatens to throw historians out of work is not put forward in their book either, nor as far as I know in any other book except The Witch in History, apart from Keith Windschuttle's exaggeratedly alarmist The Killing of History, which is not cited anywhere in The Witch in History and which, presumably therefore, Purkiss had not read at the time when she wrote her book. Purkiss does not say in her book that conservative defenders of history often sound as if they believe that poststructuralism will make them unemployed. The sentence in question is unambiguously her own. Indeed, Purkiss's claim that it would be 'hilarious' if she had actually said that poststructuralism threatened to do historians out of a job does not prevent her from repeating this view in her 'Response', where she remarks: 'Any resemblance between my work and claims made about it by Evans is purely coincidental, but of course one simply must have grist for the conservative argufying machine, otherwise, I suppose, redundancy would truly beckon.'
This leads on to a broader assumption in Purkiss's 'Response', reflecting a more general prejudice in her book, which is that In Defence of History is part of a 'conservative argufying machine', and, by implication, that I am part of a wider group of 'conservative defenders of history'. Since Purkiss never actually explains what she means by 'conservative', this is a charge that it is difficult to refute. However, if she rereads the book, she will find that it defends, as noted earlier in this 'Reply', a broad approach to history, including social history, cultural history, feminist history, and all the other recent innovations condemned by the true conservative defenders of history like Gertrude Himmelfarb, Geoffrey Elton, John Kenyon, and indeed all the historians to whom the young-fogey critics of my book think I have been so unfair. The book argues that socialist, feminist, black and other radical histories need a concept of truth and objectivity just as much as any other histories do, but it says nothing against them in principle, quite the contrary. It also points out that once you open the relativist door, not only conservatives but also fascists and neo-Nazis can come in through it too. The U.S. edition of the book provides fresh evidence of the conservative tendencies of at least some postmodernist writers on history (in particular, David Harlan, who calls for a more positive, patriotic approach to the American past and its rescue from over-critical modernists in his book The Degradation of American History). It is a travesty to assume that postmodernism or poststructuralism are radical, and anyone who criticises them is conservative - a view put forward in a particularly unthinking way by Keith Jenkins in his Why History?, which has a whole Chapter praising Harlan's work.
Purkiss also assumes, to read out the implications of her rhetoric, that I regard feminist and postmodernist historians as a 'rabble'. Where have I ever said such a thing? This is pure invention. Perhaps Purkiss would care to read the books, articles and reviews I wrote on feminist history in the 1970s and early 1980s, or to note the close and repeated attention paid to gender as a social construct in my recent books Rituals of Retribution and Tales from the German Underworld. Or, indeed, the criticisms advanced in In Defence of History of a historian like John Vincent who has declared recently that history is about the rich and powerful, 'history is deeply male'.
What I object to is not feminist history - the more of it there is, the better - but crude and blatant sexism of the sort Purkiss displays in her book and her 'Response'. In the latter, she is insistent on referring to me as a 'man', goes out of her way to describe historians of witchcraft as 'gentlemen', says that I think historians should argue in a 'manly fashion', accuses 'academic historians' of 'duffing up a woman historian (i.e. Margaret Murray) for being somehow too close to the figure of the witch', and argues that 'male historians tend to ground rationality in a repudiation of the feminine as problematically inchoate'. She goes on to allege that Keith Thomas and Alan Macfarlane unconsciously try 'to use the figure of the witch to define history in masculine terms'.
To realise how sexist such remarks are, one only has to reverse the gender designations. If Purkiss thinks it is legitimate to write about male historians in such terms, then what objection could she possibly have to a male historian who insisted on pointing out that someone he disagreed with was a woman and as such part of a school of 'ladies', who accused her of wanting to argue in a 'womanly' fashion, whatever that might be, who objected to her 'duffing up a man historian for being somehow too distant from the figure of the witch', and who raised similar objections about female historians trying to use the figure of the witch to define history in feminine terms? She would rightly find such views offensive.
Or, to refer again to Purkiss's book, if it is wrong for male historians to 'ground' male identity in a historical myth of women's powerlessness in the past, then why is it not also wrong for female historians to 'ground' female identity in a historical myth of women's articulacy in the past? The point once more is that such arguments cut both ways. If an antifeminist wants to attack Purkiss's work with sexist political arguments of this sort, if the persuasiveness of historical scholarship depends not on the extent to which its arguments fit the evidence but on the political and moral assumptions behind it, then she has no means of defending herself against her critics. If for example Purkiss objects to the fact that Keith Thomas has used the figure of the witch as the ground for his own academic identity, then what reason has she for objecting to the view that she herself has used the figure of the witch as the ground for her own academic identity?
Purkiss alludes to my description of her as a postmodernist as 'hysterical'. How would she feel if I described her arguments as 'hysterical', or imagined her, as she does Thomas and Macfarlane, writing 'tearfully' and 'with a maniacal cackle'? Purkiss complains about the 'discourtesy' and 'disrespect' with which she alleges I have approached her work. These epithets would seem to be more properly applied to the way she deals with people (men) with whom she disagrees in her own book and in her 'Response'. Leaving this aside: once again, I am not using the label 'postmodernist' as a term of condemnation, simply as a useful description, and one to some of whose various manifestations I attribute positive and fruitful intellectual developments; I would be equally happy to call Purkiss a poststructuralist, a designation she appears to accept, if that made things easier. My footnote on the term 'postmodernist' tries to justify its usefulness while conceding its problematic nature.
In terms of Purkiss's own work this means that I place it in the context of an approach which makes no distinction between fact and fiction, or to put it another way, different forms of representation. Here we come once more to 'the witches themselves', a phrase which has obviously provided something of a hostage to fortune, and here again I have to explain that what I meant was the real people in the past - men as well as women - who were accused of witchcraft and who appear in trial and other historical records. I continue to think that there is an important distinction to be made between these people, who really lived, and the figures who appear in literature, poetry and other fictional representations, who did not. I do not say, however, and never have said, that it is wrong to study the latter or even to study both real people and fictional people side by side (indeed I do this in my own book Tales from the German Underworld).
This brings us to Keith Thomas and Religion and the Decline of Magic. It may be true, as Purkiss remarks on page 44 of her book, that 'Keith Thomas and Alan Macfarlane, the dominant voices in English witchcraft studies for over a decade, are rarely read by modern witches, and none of those I met had even heard of them.' However, Purkiss has more serious criticisms to make than this. She denies that she simply dislikes their work because they are men, or because they are creating myths of male dominance rather than serious historical scholarship. She says they base their work on a 'misreading of historical materials' and that they 'get it wrong'. Thomas uses only printed sources and 'neglects to read these sources scrupulously or carefully' and 'often uses literary sources without distinguishing them carefully from trial materials'.
I do not accept Thomas's interpretation of early modern English witchcraft in my book, nor do I say anywhere that Religion and the Decline of Magic is the 'last word' on the topic (in fact there is now a superb example of an explicitly postmodernist approach to the subject in Stuart Clark's Thinking with Demons, a book which does not manage to avoid the inherent contradictions of poststructuralist theory, but nevertheless provides a stunning illustration of how they can be used to breathe new life into an old subject). Thomas's book uses manuscript sources in a variety of archives as well as pamphlet and printed literature. But yes, of course I haven't read this literature myself - I'm not an expert on seventeenth - century English witchcraft. To demand that a critic or commentator on a book has to examine all the evidence on which it rests before being capable of saying anything about it would disqualify anyone from saying anything about any historical work apart from their own.
One might indeed legitimately turn the tables and ask how much of the evidence used by Thomas has also been studied by Purkiss. This is not easy to discover since she has not troubled to provide her book with a bibliography. However, a check through Chapter 3 ('The witch in the hands of the historians - a tale of prejudice and fear') reveals references to primary printed sources in seven notes out of eighty, with a total of seven works listed. There are a handful, and no more than a tiny handful, of manuscript sources cited in the footnotes to other Chapters, but Purkiss's book itself is based overwhelmingly on printed material. It does not cite more than a tiny fraction of the source material cited by Thomas. Purkiss says in her book that she has read more than she cites. Be that as it may, her book's criticism of Thomas in Chapter 3 is not based on a comprehensive comparison of what he says with the materials on which it draws, so that her attack on me for not doing this in my discussion of Religion and the Decline of Magic must appear disingenuous, to say the least.
Of course Thomas and Macfarlane's work has been rightly criticized on a number of grounds, some of them mentioned by Purkiss. But this doesn't justify the crude and sweeping dismissal of it as 'wrong'. I have reread the relevant parts o f her book, moreover, and I still can't find any evidence presented by her that convinces me that they were out to empower men in the present and build their own careers in the process by repudiating the feminine, using the silent figure of the witch to disempower women, and so on. Women do appear in their work as prepared to use weapons like cursing in order to get their own way; they are not merely silent and submissive objects of elite persecution. Moreover, there is a whole genre of feminist historical writing which portrays women as victims in order to highlight the oppression and injustice under which they have had to suffer through the ages. In any case, the motives for which a historian writes, while they may be relevant to understanding the interpretations advanced, are altogether irrelevant to the validity or otherwise of the interpretations in question, a point that Purkiss does not seem to understand. Her own account of the historiography of witchcraft has depressingly few detailed or convincingly supported criticisms of the interpretations this historiography has advanced.
The real quarrel Purkiss has with my discussion of her work, however, does not relate to the historiography of witchcraft, but, once more, to postmodernism and 'Holocaust denial'. Purkiss points out quite rightly that Holocaust deniers claim they are telling the truth, and do not on the whole use the conceptual apparatus of poststructuralist relativism. The key passage at issue in her book is on page 70:
Historians are fond of pointing out that deconstruction's leading American exponent was a Nazi sympathiser and anti-Semite during the war, indicating the dire political consequences of deconstruction's challenge to conventional history. But in that case, traditional empirical history must also have dire implications, since most neo-Nazi historians adopt the most conservative possible protocols of discovery, revelation and truth-telling. It might be equally valid to argue that not ions of the indeterminacy of truth can be used against the self-proclaimed certitude of deniers. Deniers' assumption that the "truth" about the Holocaust lies around waiting to be "discovered" and encapsulated in a historical text form s the greatest possible contrast with the discourse of Holocaust survivors' testimonies, which affirm the impossibility of representing the ultimate "truth" of the event.
In her 'Response', Purkiss quotes selectively from this passage in her own book to make it look, once more, as if what she puts forward there as her own views are in fact her summary of other people's. She achieves this by omitting the second sentence in the passage above. Purkiss just didn't quote what she wrote with even the meanest level of care. Or rather, to put it less charitably, she took very good care to ensure that the incriminating sentence in her text mysteriously vanished when she quoted it in her 'Response'.
If readers want to look up the passage in my book which discusses this argument, they will find it, not on pages 140-1, where Purkiss directs them (they contain a discussion of postmodernist concepts of time), but on pages 241-2. She does, however, quote the sentence in question correctly, and I accept that I should have put 'dire implications' instead of 'dire consequences'. The meaning and effect are the same, however. The problem with this passage, as I pointed out in the book, is that it assumes that - at the very least - one cannot distinguish between the methods of real historians and the methods of Holocaust deniers because both present themselves as seekers after historical truth and both use the conventional apparatus of historical scholarship to achieve this effect. Either they both really are seeking after the truth, or they are both putting forward political arguments dressed up as such, but in both cases the effect is the same.
What this argument ignores is the fact that Holocaust deniers are not engaged in a search for truth, but manipulate and falsify the historical record for their own political purposes. Whether or not they really believe they are searching for truth is a question which cannot be answered without recourse to speculation about their own psychology, but the way they treat historical evidence strongly suggests that their falsifications are conscious and deliberate. What I argue in the book is that it is possible to draw a line between this fundamentally dishonest abuse of the historical record and the honest attempts of real historians to approach some kind of truth about the past. The book cites examples of people who have quarried the remains left by the past in order to support a present-day thesis, and contrasts this with the true historian's willingness to jettison dearly-held theories and interpretations if they are not supported by the evidence. But the falsifications of Holocaust deniers go a lot further than this, and anyone who has read their work (as I suspect Purkiss has not) will not find it difficult to tell the difference. It isn't that they are bad historians, they are not historians at all. Purkiss goes on to say on pages 70-71 of her book that 'careful reading of texts and especially stories is germane to Holocaust studies. Reading in detail and with due attention to textuality need not imply a fixed or cynical scepticism; such care in reading can signify proper respect for the unique and moving humanity of stories'.
Why not proper respect for their truth? Why does it matter that stories are uniquely and movingly humane, but whether or not they are true is a matter of such subordinate importance that it doesn't even warrant a mention? Why should car e in reading merely 'signify' respect instead of helping us determine the truth or otherwise of the representations the text contains? Coming after a plea for the validity of 'notions of the indeterminacy of truth' in writing about the Holocaust, these two sentences do indeed warrant the statement in my book (described as 'not even a reasonable inference' in Purkiss's 'Response') that Purkiss is saying that we should tell stories about the Holocaust and not worry too much about whether they are true or not.
What in any case is the truth in such matters, asks Purkiss? 'We can never know the whole or absolute truth' about the Holocaust, she says, 'because it would be more than any of us could bear'. If we cannot know it, how do we know we could not bear it? In pursuing this argument, Purkiss not only gets herself tangled up in contradictions, but also attributes to me a whole series of propositions that I have never advanced. How my book, for example, 'conflates the Holocaust with the witch- trials, ignoring the historical specificity of each', as Purkiss charges, is beyond me; I cannot see any evidence for this absurd charge anywhere in my book.
More importantly, however, to come to the point that really seems to annoy Purkiss, I have never equated her or any postmodernist or poststructuralist either implicitly or explicitly with Holocaust deniers. What I said was - to repeat a point made by Deborah Lipstadt in her book Denying the Holocaust - that postmodernist hyperrelativism encourages tolerance of Holocaust denial because it rejects the idea that one can tell truth from fiction and interpretation from falsification. Purkiss's own arguments are themselves evidence of this. But of course they are not responsible for Holocaust denial themselves, just as postmodernism is not responsible for Holocaust denial. Nowhere have I said this; such a claim would be absurd. I am not 'upset' because Purkiss is threatening to merge me and my 'party' (I wasn't aware that I had one - perhaps Purkiss would care to supply me with a few names?) with the deniers. Rather, I am arguing that extreme historical relativism, the idea that the truth about history can never be discovered, makes it impossible to refute Holocaust deniers. Notions of the indeterminacy of historical truth encourage Holocaust deniers to gain a hearing because their point of view is thought to be as valid in principle a s anyone else's (Lipstadt cites a number of disturbing instances of this in her book). This does not mean that they would have any truck with such notions themselves, something I have never claimed anywhere. The notion of the indeterminacy of truth is no asset to Holocaust deniers in framing their pseudo-arguments, nor have I claimed that it could be. But it is an asset to them in getting their claims heard.
This does not mean that they are in league with 'sinister' postmodernists. In the first place, I have never described postmodernists as 'sinister'; this is pure invention on Purkiss's part. Secondly, in summarising Lipstadt's view that 'the increase in scope and intensity of the Holocaust deniers' activities since the mid-1970s has among other things reflected the postmodernist intellectual climate, above all in the USA', I did not mean to imply that Holocaust deniers were themselves affected by this climate, though I can see that it would be easy to misconstrue my statement in this way, and perhaps I should have phrased it more carefully. As the rest of the passage on pages 240-41 of my book makes clear, I agree with Lipstadt's view that the climate of total relativism in American intellectual life has encouraged Holocaust deniers to expand their activities on American campuses by lowering resistance to their falsifications and manipulations of the truth. But of course neither she nor I would claim for a moment that postmodernism was responsible for the rise of Holocaust denial or that postmodernists endorsed the Holocaust deniers' views.
I continue to think, however, that the 'notion of the indeterminacy of truth' espoused by Purkiss robs us of our ability to say to the Holocaust deniers that what they are claiming is not true but false. In this sense I do indeed think that her work demonstrates, as I say in my book (p. 241) that the threat posed by Holocaust denial to all who believe in the power of reason is a real one, and it seems to me that the utterly inadequate way in which Purkiss responds to the threat is an ex ample of how postmodernist views undermine the power of rational argument to refute it. I did not say, however, and do not think, that Purkiss herself is, as she claims I said, 'part of the threat of Holocaust denial', which is a different thing altogether.
In this context, it is deeply troubling that Purkiss should choose to end her 'Response' by criticising the reliability of the testimony of Holocaust survivors, something which of course is grist to the Holocaust deniers' mill, though s he may not realise it herself. It is not true, to begin with, that, as she maintains, 'the only testimony, with a few rare exceptions, is from survivors'. It depends of course on what the testimony refers to, but even as regards the actual operation of g as chambers, mass shootings and other forms of the deliberate mass murder of millions of Jews and others by the Nazis, there is a substantial quantity of perpetrator testimony as well, though of course Holocaust deniers have attempted to discredit this, a s they have attempted to discredit the testimony of surviving victims.
Secondly, whatever Primo Levi said, the survivors are witnesses to the mass murders carried out by the Nazis, and are regarded as such in courts of law. Of course, as Purkiss says, 'the very process of shaping memory into story alters and reshapes memory'. But this does not mean, as Holocaust deniers maintain, that all survivor testimony is invention after the fact. The whole discipline of history from the very beginning has been geared to trying to sift out truth from falsehood in sources, and although memoirs and memories are rather more problematical that contemporaneous sources, they cannot simply be dismissed in this fashion; they have to be sifted for the truth just like any other source, and are just as capable of leading us towards it.
This brings us, finally, to the question of truth itself. Of course Purkiss is right in saying that 'we can never know the whole or absolute truth' about the Holocaust or indeed about anything else. I tried to express this belief in the much-misunderstood concluding sentence of my book. But just because we can never attain the whole or absolute truth, just because we make mistakes in our search for the truth about the past, just because there will always be something new to say about any historical subject, it does not follow that there is no such thing as the truth at all. In a similar way, as Susan Haack has pointed out (TLS, 9 July 1999), just because what is accepted as true isn't necessarily so, does not mean that the concept of the truth itself is merely ideological. Purkiss argues 'against "the truth"' and in favour of 'truths' that are 'local and specific', but it is impossible on the evidence of her 'Response' to see what the difference is. Truth, as Haack points out, is not relative to perspective, though what is accepted as true is; 'a statement is true if and only if things are as it represents them to be.' So there cannot be incompatible truths - and although some postmodernists argue that there can (despite the fact that, as Haack notes, 'incompatible' means 'cannot be jointly true'), I don't see Purkiss taking this position in her 'Response'. So if her 'local and specific truths' fit together with other truths, then they are true, they are aspects of the truth, and Purkiss believes in the truth.
Indeed, as Haack says, 'everyone who believes anything...implicitly acknowledges...that there is such a thing as truth', and it is encouraging to see Purkiss, along with other critics of my book, acknowledging this by attacking what they se e as errors and falsehoods in it, even though for the most part they miss their target. When Purkiss sweepingly condemns a variety of representations of witchcraft as 'wrong because all allow the play of fantasy to replace rigorous reading' she is indeed correct to say that this suggests she believes in truth, even though earlier in the same paragraph she argues 'against "the truth"'. The 'fantasies' she describes, therefore, are not 'local and specific' truths but falsehoods. 'Rigorous reading', one presumes, will deliver the truth rather than fantasies and falsehoods. So far, so good, then; we are in agreement.
And yet Purkiss also describes 'attempts to find out "what really happened" as 'doomed'. Questions such as why witchcraft persecution in England rose and fell are, she says on page 3 of her book 'unanswerable', and she goes on : 'I do not try to answer the empirical questions that preoccupy many of my contemporaries' (p. 4). The obvious question to ask is, if questions about why witchcraft persecutions rose and fell are unanswerable, then why aren't questions about the meaning of texts unanswerable? If attempts to find out what really happened are doomed, then why aren't attempts to find out what is really there in texts like Religion and the Decline of Magic doomed as well? Purkiss indeed concedes this argument in principle, as we have seen, but I doubt whether she would accept it in practice when applied to the questions asked - and answered - in her own book.
Purkiss argues against 'attempts to squeeze disparate materials into a large and general hypothesis', but her feminist approach itself is based on such a hypothesis about early modern women empowering themselves by fantasising that they were witches (an interesting idea, let me make clear, and one that deserves further debate and research), and more generally on an even larger and more general set of hypotheses about the power-driven nature of gender relations in past and present. All of this is accompanied by repeated attacks on historians and the historical profession for not reading sources rigorously, failing to note the rhetorical content of documents, and naively 'treating each text as a transparent window onto the mind of its writer or the mentalité of an entire society' (p. 71). I think these attacks are largely misplaced, but no-one could dispute the wisdom of the advice they imply. Once more, it comes down to urging historians to pay more attention to the style and content of the documents they use, the motives, if they can be discovered, of their authors, the audience to which they were addressed, and so on. Who could quarrel with that?
(Richard J. Evans, November 1999)
Author's response to his critics (introduction)
- The book is unnecessary because history doesn't need defending.
- The book is unfairly critical of conservative historians.
- The book fails to engage directly with the major postmodernist philosophers.
- The book defends an outmoded empiricist concept of objectivity.
- The book defends a conservative approach to history.
- The book's concept of a fact is untenable.
- The book misunderstands key arguments of the postmodernists.
- The book is unfair to those postmodernists whom it criticises.
- The book's arguments are contradictory.
Original review (by Prof. Antony Easthope)
A response by Dr. Diane Purkiss
A further response by Dr. Diane Purkiss


text:
plural noun: ogives
- 1.ARCHITECTUREa pointed or Gothic arch.
- 2.STATISTICSa cumulative frequency graph.
I wrote about Erik Satie recently....my favorite jazz pianist. I used his 3 Sarabandes as an example of his jazz-like playing which 50 years later was echoed by Theolonius Monk. Satie's chord structures, chord voicings, and harmonic formatting were, and still are, very original. I love the moods and feel that Satie's music creates. If you have ever heard his Gymnopedies and Gnossiennes, you hopefully appreciate the beauty and serenity they invoke. This month, I "discovered" his Ogives, a set of 4 pieces he composed in 1886 and were first published in 1889. I had no idea what an ogive was, nor any idea of the story behind this composition. As you can see from the definition above, an ogive is the pointed part of a Gothic arch. According to Dr. Caroline Potter, in her book Erik Satie: Music, Art and Literature, he spent days sitting in Notre Dame Cathedral contemplating their form for they "symbolized the medieval and esoteric world in which Satie was interested."
Notre Dame is a special place. I have been there many times, and spent time just sitting and looking at it in amazement. I can see how Satie would be transfixed by its power and beauty of form. What's just as amazing is the way this composition creates the image of a cathedral in your mind when you hear it. It took me inside....I could see the ogives myself....I could sense the space around me, the enormous vaulted ceiling, the stained glass.....all of it. Dr. Potter said it perfectly: "In all four Ogives, Satie harmonized the main melodies solely with block chords, which provided a still, solemn, and solid character. Since the entire piece was full of block chords, visually, they resembled building blocks in architecture. In this case, these vertical blocks were reaching for the ceilings of the solemn cathedral with its imposing pointed arches (ogives)."
It's a remarkable piece of music. And in Satie's words himself, published in 1889 in the February 9th edition of Journal du Chat Noir, "The indefatigable Erik-Satie, the sphinx-man, the composer with a head of wood, announces the appearance of a new musical work of which from henceforth he speaks most highly. It is a suite of melodies conceived in the mystic-liturgical genre that the author idolizes, and suggestively titled Les Ogives."

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Well here she is....May Jones in the real and now available!!!
So most Sparky products are named after peeps i know that either have the same character that lies within that accessory...or they just have a really cool name::giggle! But this particular number has been named after a broad i know............She is stubbornly independent, thinks outside the box, is way too much fun, always deliciously dressed.......and without a doubt...a supa cutie...a real show stopper!
so all in all....it was the perfect name.....and really what name doesn't go with 'Jones'!!!
The brim swoops across the face and buttons up to the side...kinda retro cloche style(which is a style i have always loved, but this i guess is my version of it!)
with the ever popular same same yet lil bit different coloured band
(And don't ya love the box!!! The beau and i found this really cool shop/garage on the side of the road that sells all vintage goods...i could have spent days n' dollars in there!!!!)
with the ever popular same same yet lil bit different coloured band
(And don't ya love the box!!! The beau and i found this really cool shop/garage on the side of the road that sells all vintage goods...i could have spent days n' dollars in there!!!!)
I only have 2 in the shop, so for some more pics...look here::
NOw::: onto some different news.....the new Sparky Season has brought some new changes.....and well the long and the short of it is....a while back i read a blog post by Moop(one of my favs etsy shops/blogs to stalk) which you can here::
and for those who are in business i highly recommend the read!!......it got me to thinking and thinking and thinking. Many sleepless nights ahead!!!
Then i hired a bookkeeper/lifesaver to sort out the past year of my life - which really i should have done ages ago...i'm okay to admit that i'm the creative type not the organized numbers type!! But i'm getting better and thats my new goal for 2011.....And i guess when you actually do your taxes....YOU GET A HUGE REALITY CHECK!!!! All the numbers are starting to add up now and things are not quite as i thought!!! All the columns give you a snap shot of where everything is going and where you need to be going and where you want to be going and what kind of business you really want to be!!!
Now the changes are not because of a financial freak out lets get that straight....its because...you can get a baseball cap from Walmart for $48!!! Its going to look like everyone elses, its going to fit okay and it was mass produced in a sweatshop for 50cents....And thats... not the Sparky standard!
It made me realize how unique my products actually are. i find the perfect upcycled trousers/fabrics,wash them up real good, snip n' stitch ever so carefully so you can see the details of its last life, triple stitch everything coz i'm totally AR and don't want my products to fall apart, make sure that each one is totally one of a kind, so that you won't walk down the street and see someone wearing the same thing..........everything is totally thought out and that takes time and passion............and i think that is a very cool thing/dream/standard/uniqueness(and i could keep writing things...but i better not...because i could really be coming across as being full of myself, and thats not really what i want you to think::giggle) to be able to offer peeps
bye bye for now
lil jj
ps:: i've been busy making things....you can see on the side bar hey!!!


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It has been a couple weeks since I joined in on green day over at Raindrops and Daisies.
My weeks are all meshed together.
But here we are on Green Friday once again.
With limited photos and green.
I am once again in search of something green.
I am having to get a bit creative for this hop.
I am now able to adventure a little away from the couch; not much but at least I'm not on total rest any longer.
So it will be fun to see what I come up with once again.
Meet Hancho my Quaker bird.
She is a beautiful hues of greens.
You really cannot see all of her beauty in this photo.
She is very hard to snap a photo of.
She is a chatty thing.
She really is dear hubby's bird.
When we got her, she original was for me.
She fancied dear hubby over me and really doesn't have much to do with me except to annoy me.
Though I must say since the accident with the ankle she has given me company and laughter.
Do you have any thing special going on for the long weekend?
|X-ray 8-29-2012
Continue Healing
Below is two fundraiser links to help through this four months of recovery and medical bills. As I carried half the bills through my work.
We have no medical insurance to cover medical.
We are in the process of applying for help.
Through much prayers and through encouragement of some friends they suggested I give these a try.
Medical bills are piling up.
Just the few that have arrived already are near $30,000.
And still coming in.
God is faithful and I trust this is alp going to be paid in full;
and every need meet through Him
Thank you!


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Believe it or not, this, to the untrained tongue is simply 'uncooked'. But we in South East Asia eat this on a regular basis, sometimes every morning. It's surprisingly easy to make it at home.
Tag: Singapore
Chwee Kueh
Wikipedia describes it as: "Chwee kueh (or chwee kway) (Chinese: 水粿 literally "water rice cake") is a type of steamed rice cake, a cuisine of Singapore and Johor." Of course it is cheap in Singapore. A mere dollar and I get to enjoy it immediately. But nothing beats making it with your own hands. Eating…


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I joined Golden Princess again on 19th. April 2017 for her repositioning to Sydney followed by a cruise to Fiji followed by another to Papua New Guinea, returning to Sydney, 30 days in all. As usual, the service throughout was excellent and the food aboard very good. An added pleasure was that my good friends from several previous cruises, Julianne and Phil were also aboard for the PNG cruise. A fabulous time.
|Outbound in the Port Melbourne channel.
|Golden Princess at anchor off Kiriwina Island.
|I had this lovely cabin from Melbourne to Sydney
|Early morning arrival in Sydney, 21st. April, from my balcony.
|The obligatory photo of the harbour bridge.
|A lovely day for a walk around The Rocks.
|The ship at the Overseas Passenger Terminal.
|Early evening sailing for the South Pacific.
|Admiralty House and Kirribilli House.
|HMAS Sydney, shortly before being towed to WA for demolition,


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I feel a warm bubble in my chest when I think about Animation Mentor. The school literally changed my life and pushed me deeper into the wonderful world of animation and of animatORS than I ever could have achieved on my own.
So when they asked me to film an interview for one of their newsletters, I was extremely excited to have the chance to "give back."
The interview went very smoothly -- their film crew are total professionals! The final footage was split into two films. The first covers going through school as a new parent. The second covers the shot I did that was used for the AM Student Showcase (a HUGE honor I had been dreaming of since before attending AM!!)
Thank you SOOOO much to Bobby, Shawn, Carlos, the wonderful Animation Mentor film and editing crew, and Dana's rockin' mowhawk for EVERYTHING!!
Part 1:
Part 2:
[Please forgive the lisp... I was killing off the tail end of a lung infection when this was filmed]
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Interview with Animation Mentor!
Posted by Animator Trav at 9:59 AM 0 comments
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Thank God we're cute...)
"Okay, we'll just take two..."
The thoughts and work of Jennifer Eolin... comedian, actor and general all around weirdo.
I like bacon. Not as much as you, but I do like bacon. Sounds like you two had a great time in spite of the bacon shi- shots and bacon mints and stuff.
I really like your hair long, by the way. ;)
Wow, Jennifer! You documented the event better than WE did! It was great to meet you and Lauren and we look forward to seeing you again next year...if we survive. :) Barring that, come back and see the play in November! I'll go with you!ReplyDelete
Mmmmm.... That looked awesome! Though if I ate that much I would never fit into those cute Carol Hannah clothes she sells on etsy that I can't afford. I should start a bacon only blog now, just to hope for an invite next year.
Glad you enjoyed it!
I like bacon yes I do I like bacon how 'bout YOU!
We (clap clap) like (clap clap) bay-connn, bayconnnnn...
Oh, man, this blog is like fresh cut bacon by the pound cooked over a campfire in the early morning dew. Delicious, and for me? Chewy.
Oh my Lord!! Looked like an incredible day. I'll bet you were in Heaven, Jennifer. And I'm glad you like it crispy, that's really the only way to go. Thanks for taking us there via your blog!ReplyDelete
Ed - "Bacon shi-- shots" = HAHAHA! Perfect!
Marianne - GREAT MEETING YOU TOO! I can't wait for next year! Let me know if you have any other events, as I love bacon and blogging about bacon. :)
Melissa - I want Carol Hannah's dresses SOOOO BADLY! They are perfection! (But I will still eat bacon, dangit.)
Mintzworks - Chewy? We will never work.
Brad - It was Bacon Heaven for SURE!
Thank you for allowing me to live vicariously through you. Very brave.ReplyDelete
Just did a blog on Baconaisse and my daughter remembered your post on Bacon '09! Come visit..


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Thursday, February 28, 2008
Check this gorgeous card out I got from Claudia, isn't she just the greatest??? The stamps is from Magnolia and I have just fell in love with them. Go check out Claudia's blog her work is just beautiful. She also designs for Magnolia. No wonder she is on the design team check it out.
Labels: rak
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Journal Notebook
I got some new die cuts from Debbie's Die Cuts so I had to jump in and try them out. These are the new brackets from there. Oh so many things you can do with these!!!! This notebook uses the SU Close to Cocoa DSP and there Enjoy every moment stamp set. I also used Tim Holtz grungboard and crackle paint for the word notes, and I used the prima flowers with rangers stickles in the middle as well as on the brackets. The ribbon came from HL.
Labels: Altered, Debbie's Die Cuts
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Pictures from the Shower
My daughter is getting married the 5th of April so they had a wedding shower for her today at the Conservation Club. They got some very nice presents. She is registered at her favorite place and he registered at Target and I think Rachelle won the prize lol Most of the packages were from Bed Bath & Beyond.
Anyway here are a couple of pictures from today. This is Jeremy, Kirstie and Rachelle soon to be Conyer.
Labels: Family
Just love Magnolia
I am trying so hard to learn to blend in my colors. I don't know why but I have always had so much trouble with that. But Claudia has the most gorgeous Stamps I have ever seen they are so adorable they are from Magnolia. So she stamped me some images still I could get my order in. They are just the cutest stamps ever. So anyway I tried blending again so here is a card I made for a friend of mine at work. Paper and punches and the wording stamps are from SU. The stamp is from Magnolia.
Labels: Cards, Magnolia, Stampin Up
It's the Weekend !!!!!
And you know what that means !!! It is time for Beate's Sketch Challenge HOORRAY !!!!!!!
I used the sketch challenge to make one of my grandkids a Easter Card. I used SU Fall Flowers DSP and there Very Vanilla and there ticket punch and ribbon . I also used WWP Colormates Dark and Medium Orange Dream. I used Rangers Spiced Marmalade to sponge around the edges and the stamps were from TAC
Labels: Cards, Sketch Challenge, The Angel Company
Thursday, February 21, 2008
My Brother
Here is a couple of pictures of my brother and the band he plays in. One of the guys couldn't make it Sunday but my brother is the one in the funkie hat and the one playing the big cow base. The band is called BlueGrass Gospel Alliance. I just love listening to them play. We had a good time and sure got full on all the food lol
Labels: Bluegrass Gospel
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Mothers Day Card
I made this card for a Challenge I saw on Papertake Weekly Challenge!!
I am so glad I came upon this blog. Sounds like so much fun.
The theme was to make a spring card and they said you could make a Mother's Day Card. So I made this card for my Granddaughter to give her mommy for Mother's Day.
Stamps are from Stampland and the colored paper and word stamp is from SU.
Thanks again for such a wonderful Challenge.
Thanks for stopping by today!!! Donalda 5 comments:
Labels: Cards, challenge, Stampin Up, Stampland
Monday, February 18, 2008
Birthday Card
I made this birthday card today from a sketch challenge at Techno Stamper. All paper and stamps are from SU. THank so much for a great sketch.
Labels: Cards, Sketch Challenge, Stampin Up
Swap time
I made this card for a swap I am in. It is the Reinker Splash from TJ. The paper is from SU and my stamps are from Innovation Stamp Creations.
Labels: Cards, Innovative Stamp Creations, Swaps
Oh don't laugh to hard lol
A very sweet lady stamped me a few images of the gorgeous stamps from Magnolia and I gave it a shot of trying to color blend for my first time. Needless to say I need tons of practice at this. Just don't laugh to hard lol I made the card for Claudia's Bog Challenge.
I used colored pencils and some gamsol but these images are just the most adorable stamps I have ever saw and I sure ruint it. But I won't give up I will keep at it till I get it lol
Thanks for stopping by today!!! Donalda 4 comments:
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Notebooks for the wedding party
Well I finally finished the rest of the notebooks for the girls in Rachelle's wedding party. I am making matching pens also but don't have ethem done yet The stamps are from PaperBag Studio and the paper is mostly from SU along with the punches.
Labels: Altered, Bind it all, PaperBag Studio
Saturday, February 16, 2008
Beate's Sketch Challenge #35
Well it is the weekend again and that means it's time for Beate's Challenge.
This weeks sketch I used to make a new online friend a thank you card. All materials are from SU.
Chipboard notebook
I made this chipboard notebook for a new online friend I met. She loves the color chocolate chip from SU so I made it with that too. All paper is from there outlaw DSP and the punches and stamps are also from SU.
Labels: Altered, Bind it all, Debbie's Die Cuts, Stampin Up
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Another sympathy card
I also have another very good friend that lost her mother in law last night. So I made this card for her. Stamps are Stubby Stampers and SU.
Labels: Cards, Stampin Up, Stubby Stampers
Card for a friend
I made this card for a friend of mine , her husband just passed away. The stamps are from SU and I used the TJ technique Aged Metal.
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Stampin Up's Feb Sample
This is a card I made for the Feb SU Sample from Lisa. I had recieved my new cuttlebug folders so thought I would check them out with the new technique from TJ Aged Metal. The stamp is from SU. The card is for my Feb Just One partner.
Matron of Honor Notebook
This is the chipboard notebook I made for my daughter's Matron of Honor. Her name is Amber and she is a sweetheart and loves the color pink !! Images are from Paperbag Studio. The paper is from The Paper STudio and the punches and word is from SU
Labels: Altered, Bind it all, PaperBag Studio
Claudia's Challenge
Claudia is having a challenge on her blog for one of the most gorgeous stamp companys I have ever seen. Once you see these cuties you are hooked. They are so precious !!! So we were to make a card or project with our favorite color. So anyone that knows me knows what my favorite color is lol PURPLE !!!! So I made myself a chipboard notebook for her challenge. Wish me luck everyone for I am so loving these stamps !!!!!! I used Paperbag Studio's stamps and SU. the paper is from SU and The Paper Studio. I also used Debbie's Die Cuts new flourishes on it I painted it with rangers Eggplant paint and there purple stickles on top
Labels: Altered, Bind it all, challenge, Debbie's Die Cuts, PaperBag Studio, Stampin Up
My Granddaughter
Well my oldest granddaughter who is going to be 5 in May, is giving her mother away at her wedding in April. Yesterday they had a girls shopping day getting the last minute things for the wedding and Kirstie finally got her dress she is going to wear. They all came down last night to do the invitations and she had to bring her dress for grandma to see and of course she had to model it for me lol She is such a doll.
Labels: Family
It's Beates Sketch Challenge34 !!!
Yipee !!!!!!!! I just love the weekends for Beate always has her sketch challenge up when I get home from work on Friday. I just love doing these. I took the layout this time and made a chipboard notebook. My youngest is getting married in April so she asked me to make the girls in the wedding some chipboard notebooks. Which she knows I love to do. So I took advantage of the sketch and made my first one. The girl stamps are from PaperBag Studio and the paper and word stamps and punches are all from SU
Labels: Altered, Bind it all, PaperBag Studio, Sketch Challenge, Stampin Up
Sunday, February 3, 2008
More Flourishes from Debbie's Die Cuts
Well I got to play some more with the wonderful Flourishes from Debbie's Die Cuts. These are so ADDICTING !!!! This is the guest book for my daughters wedding. Yes it isn't the typical guest book but the wedding isn't going to be that typical either lol.
I cover chipboard with some textured wallpaper. Cut out the names with my sizzix alphabet and then I painted the flourishs with Rangers weathered blue crackle paint. After this was dry I sponged on some Faded Jeans distressed inks to them. You all need to check these out at Debbie's Die Cuts for these things are like I said very Addictive
Labels: Altered, Bind it all, Debbie's Die Cuts
Wow New Die Cuts
Man you all have to go check out Debbie's Die Cuts new dies !!!!!!!!! And she is getting some more dies in too. Oh have I had a blast with these new flourishes. Talk about so many possiblities !!! She has out done herself now.
I made a chipboard notebook cover with the large flourish on it and a card with the smaller ones. These here are made of out chipboard but she cuts them in different products. Here I painted mine with the Rangers paint Pesto then added some stickles to the top of them. Man folks these are a must have.
Labels: Altered, Cards, Debbie's Die Cuts, Stampin Up
Friday, February 1, 2008
Two for One
I made a card for a sketch challenge that Lisa has on her blog and I made the card for the COTM at SSR. The paper is from SU and the stamp is from TAC. This card is going to be traveling to Hong Kong !!! How cool is that ??
Labels: Cards, Sketch Challenge, The Angel Company
Weekend Sketch Challenge 33
Well it is finally Friday again !!!!! Two reasons to love Fridays 1. I don't have to work for 2 days lol and then it is Beate's challenge's. I just love these challenges she has. All paper and stamps are SU. I made a Valentines Day card with this challenge for my brother and sister in law. Thanks so much Beate for the challenges
Labels: Cards, Sketch Challenge, Stampin Up
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I used to think, like most people, that full-fat dairy was a no-no once you were not in elementary school any more. So, I started drinking skim milk...or should I say "white water". I wasn't enjoying milk anymore. I would also go for non-fat yogurt and sour cream. Those aren't too enjoyable either.
Just before my senior year in high school, I went on an exchange program to Germany. I noticed something right away...the only dairy available was full-fat. If you asked for skim milk, they looked at you like you were asking to buy crack! I fell in love with dairy again. All the delicious yogurts, cheeses, and yes, milk! It was creamy and delicious. I have heard this is a trend all over Europe....and I didn't see too many overweight people. They may have eaten foods with a lot of fat in Germany, but they kept the carbs and processed foods at a minimum.
I found a wonderful website that had an article about the topic. Diagnosis Diet: Are High Fat Dairy Products Better for you? It is very simple article to read, and it has me convinced that I shouldn't feel bad for enjoying my full fat cheeses and other dairy!
Here are some delicious recipes for dairy:
- Chia seed yogurt blend:
- Blend a 6oz container of plain Greek yogurt, 1 Tbsp chia seeds, and 1/4 cup of coconut milk in a bowl. Then add your favorite sweeteners to taste. I put about 1 tsp vanilla, 1 Tbsp honey or agave nectar, and a pinch of cinnamon. Let sit overnight and enjoy for breakfast the next morning. Feel free to top with your favorite fruit. **Chia seeds are a wonderful food that is considered a "power food". They are full of fiber and Omega-3's. They are also known to keep you hydrated, fuller longer, and help to control blood sugar.
- Ricotta Cremes:
- Mocha Ricotta Creme: Blend 1 cup part-skim or full fat ricotta cheese,21 packets Splenda (or your favorite sugar substitute), 1 heaping tsp cocoa, 1 t instant coffee, 1 T chocolate syrup (I use dark chocolate syrup), 1 T vanilla extract, and 1 T half & half (milk or coconut milk can be used also) in a bowl. Top with some dark chocolate chips. Chill for at least an hour. Makes 2 servings.
- Lemon Zest Ricotta Creme: 1 cup part-skim or full fat ricotta cheese, 2 packets Splenda (or your favorite sugar substitute), 1/2 t vanilla extract, and 1/2 t lemon zest in a bowl. I also like to add a squeeze of lemon juice. Chill for at least an hour. Makes 2 servings.


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Here's a good example - a series, and probably not connected, of pictures suggesting that 'Doctor Who' co-exists with "Back To The Future".
Based on just these pictures, it would have been an adventure in which Doc encountered two incarnations of the Doctor - Tennant's Tenth and Smith's Eleventh, a perfect tale to be told during the fiftieth anniversary.
Here's an idea for a further complication: at some point during the story, the two time travellers had to take command of each other's time vehicle. I'm sure the Doctor would have had no problem mastering the DeLorean, but Doc Brown would have had to wing it at the controls. This is why I think this adventure would have needed River Song along for the ride so that she could help Doc out as his companion.
(More Wish-Craft: the Doctor would be teamed up with the now adult Marty McFly. And because of the Parkinson's tremors that Michael J. Fox has, they might delve into a temporal cause for his affliction. This could be why the Doctor had to get involved with Doc Brown again.)


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So here is the "Mashup" Challenge :
- Make a "Fall themed" Project.
- Or Make a Project that uses "Brads".
- Or "Mash it Up" and create a "Fall themed project using Brads".
The colors were pretty darn close to Poppy Parade and Melon Mambo. Here's my attempt at copying nature.
I also used this month's sketch from Splitcoaststampers' Creative Crew.
Paper: Poppy Parade, Melon Mambo, Daffodil Delight, Garden Green, River Rock, Early Espresso, Paisley Petals DSP; Ink: Garden Green, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White craft; Accessories: Sponges, Vintage brads, Early Espresso quilted satin ribbon, Hodgepodge Hardware ribbon slide, Daisies #2 die, Leaves #2 die, Texturz Plate Kit #4, Big Shot, Sewing machine, Thread, Dimensionals.
Thanks for stopping by!


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Remember a while back when I didn't find a surname board on RootsWeb Mailing lists and message boards? No? What say, you have a life??
OK, so the surname I didn't find was Newans and that's one of my Revolutionary War ancestors that I've been digging around for. So I volunteered to be the administrator for the Newan/s board. And whatta ya know, a researcher named Kris popped up and contacted me!
Now Kris is no run-of-the-mill amateur genealogist (like myself:) She's a real researcher working on her graduate thesis and is presently focusing on foodways in western New York state. She noticed the RootsWeb post to the Newan/s board and the connection to Ontario County and in particular, Canandaigua, NY.
So she and I have been back and forth and the really interesting thing is that she's opened my eyes to the importance of agriculture in the very early 1800s. She even reminded me that in the 1820 census two individuals living with Nehemiah Newans were agricultural workers. Must say that I'd been thinking of him as a stone mason, which he was. But Kris pointed out that almost everyone in the area at that time was involved in ag. There were even ag fairs!
Even more flesh is being put on his bones: he had a thriving business as a stone mason with apprentices, and Kris thinks they might have been Italian as many were at that time. He had a wife and son living with him. He owned property, which included at least four good sized lots in the center of Canandaigua. And he was also engaged in agriculture and the household had two individuals just for that purpose.
Amazing what we find out if we just go look! Thanks Kris for your gift of a deeper understanding of my ancestor!


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Have a view of my daily photos or photos from my past. We all need to document the world around us visually. What I see is mostly what you get.
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Younger Days......
I can remember having more hair, dark hair, and I stood a lot straighter and taller. The only child's name in the photo that I actually remember is the Becky Verrips the girl in the background behind my shoulder. I have a good idea as to who the others are but could not give you exact names. They look like they are in the seventh grade and Becky is now out of collage and working downtown Des Moines. She is planning on being a missionary in Africa for a half of year at the end of next year.
A former fellow staff person brought this picture to me and I must have snapped it while it was laying on top of another photo. That is why there is a disoriented look in the background.
As an art teacher I started maintaining aquariums and birds for others and so I looked a lot like a science room than an art room. The kids liked having them in there and took turns taking care of them.
I don't think I will try to date this but it does have to be at least 10 maybe 15 years ago.
Posted by L. D. at 1:12 PM 4 comments:
Labels: art classroom
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
What can I say?????
It is getting close to the decoration explosion that takes place in our house. No family will be home to see it this year so we may have to invite neighbors in for coffee and cookies.
Posted by L. D. at 11:33 AM 3 comments:
Labels: Christmas
Monday, November 28, 2011
Seeing Red Again........
Our son and his wife went crazy night shopping and brought us a free poinsettia from Menards. They didn't buy anything but did get us a free wreath too. They said it was very crowded and not a pleasant experience. The crowds with long lines were too much for them and they just left with their free items.
Posted by L. D. at 6:31 PM 2 comments:
Labels: poinsettia
Sunday, November 27, 2011
A Quilt Landscape.............
Posted by L. D. at 6:33 PM 4 comments:
Labels: quilt
Saturday, November 26, 2011
Sunday's still life.......
This was a glass arrangement that was being readied to be put away in the cupboard. I snapped it just before it was dismantled.
Posted by L. D. at 6:48 PM 2 comments:
Labels: glass
Sky country.......
The gazing ball reflects different colors from that which are actually there. You know I keep taking them of this guy who forever shoots the gazing ball. It is on it's way to the basement today as it is cold and windy today. We had a light rain over the night time.
Posted by L. D. at 12:07 PM 4 comments:
Labels: gazing ball
Thursday, November 24, 2011
Concrete Swan
It seems to be floating in the lake of leaves as the dead stems and low light gives it a mysterious effect.
Posted by L. D. at 6:58 PM 3 comments:
Labels: fall
Thanksgiving Day
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Wednesday's old things.........
One of my older photos that I haven't shared is my still life of old jars. I see I have one of those rubber seal rings balanced on the lid of the one
When I say
Posted by L. D. at 8:09 AM 5 comments:
Labels: Antique jars, zinc lids
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Can you see me now?
Let's go hunting!!! I snapped this photo last spring while I was over visiting Mr. Randall. He wanted me to frame something for him and also to see his peach tree blossoms. He has many projects going on all of the time and this one is a different kind of thing. I don't know if he created it for someone specific or if he just did it for his grandsons. I like the elaborate set of stairs for an outdoor blind.
I don't know if you remember my past blog but the guy had himself penned in with the wood that he was gluing together and I had to move some major stuff to get him out of his work station. He was totally blocked in the shop with boards, tables and saws all around him. It was not a good thing for a guy who shuffles when he walks.
Posted by L. D. at 10:28 AM 1 comment:
Sunday, November 20, 2011
An indoor Spring........
I rescued this geranium from the neighbor's compost pile and it is rewarding me for the save. It actually does seem like a Spring bloom in my dining room window as it enjoys the violet potting soil that I used for it's root system.
Posted by L. D. at 10:23 PM 4 comments:
Saturday, November 19, 2011
The remaining leaves......
A decorative pear tree and a chokecherry tree continue to have leaf beauties falling from them. I was doing yard work and couldn't keep from picking up these colorful beauties. When it is so brown and gray out there the bright colors are a welcomed sight.
Posted by L. D. at 6:39 PM 4 comments:
It has been the season of life for my wife and I to have been involved with disposing of our parents homes. My parents home has involved a three year adventure of removing the things that three people could accumulate in one dwelling and one garage for over thirty years. It then was the journey of getting the house into shape for it's sale. The house my Dad built back in 1978 now has a new owner as of noon on Friday.
In October my wife's parents and grandparents house, shown above, was demolished and sent to the landfill. The above house had it's cement fiber shingles removed and the house was then crushed. Truck loads of debris were removed and the metal appliances were sorted for recycle.
In less than a month's period my wife and I have seen these major changes take place. One would never believe that it would have happened within a four week period for the both of us.
Posted by L. D. at 9:07 AM 4 comments:
Friday, November 18, 2011
Another late day posting........
My one burning bush has shown pinkish colored leaves every year for quite some time. I think that because it is growing close to my burn pile if affects the color of the leaves it puts out. The ash from the burn pile must wash down into the root system and cause the leaves to be a lighter red than my other two bushes.
Posted by L. D. at 10:13 PM 2 comments:
Labels: burning bush
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Only a membory........or memory
I finally was able to address the leaf problem in my yard yesterday afternoon. I mowed with my mulching mower and they all turned to powder. I was so late getting to them that they were really in perfect condition for shredding.
I still need to pull my zinnias and that will happen this weekend.
When I blog at school during a break I use a laptop that has a small screen. So when I type a heading and have a stray b in my word memory, I just don't see it. It has been posted misspelled most of the day. I will correct it and leave it for everyone to see.
Posted by L. D. at 8:21 AM 4 comments:
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Corn crib wood repurposed.......
The Town Craft building, Perry, Iowa
Before the era of very expensive combines that picked and shelled the corn right in the field we had corn pickers. My dad had a two row corn picker and he would have a wagon follow the picker, it was attached to the tractor, and it would collect the days harvest via an elevator type chute that sent it up and dropped it into the wagen. Back then the corn was brought in on the cob and stored in corn cribs that had spaces between the boards to allow the air into the storage area. That allowed the corn to continue to dry out and not mold while it was in storage.
The ISU students found a source for these boards and created a wall with them as a replacement for a partition wall in the room. They also made shutters the same way for the south windows that glided on a rail to allow them to be opened or shut. The boards had been sent through a table saw to get them back to perfect widths and then they nailed them on evenly.
We were able to take down a display of student's work and use the same nails to hang our work, without adding a single new nail hole blemish. If you look closely they left a part of a license plate on the boards. They were used to cover knot holes or areas where rodents had chewed opening for entrance to the corn crib.
Posted by L. D. at 8:53 AM 2 comments:
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
It's an off day for me......
No, everything is ok. I just have the need to be off theme today. I am sort of on theme as I sat bored for a while at the art show and I ate a banana. It looked like a perfect pose for the banana so I snapped a picture. Good composition sometimes comes naturally and especially at unplanned moments. Even a reclining peeled banana can have artistic merit. Have a good day.
Posted by L. D. at 8:41 AM 5 comments:
Monday, November 14, 2011
Reflection time......
Works of art that were ready to be packed for the show lay on the dining room table in the bright light. The dining room window always gives me a great place to take photos even though I need to adjust my shots for such a bright light source.
Posted by L. D. at 8:59 AM 3 comments:
Labels: artshow
Saturday, November 12, 2011
"Art on the Praiirie" Showtime........
This is our home away from home through Sunday in Perry, Iowa. We will be returning home on late Sunday afternoon with all the leftovers. It has been a good experience so far.
Posted by L. D. at 9:24 PM 3 comments:
Labels: artshow
Friday, November 11, 2011
It was a 12 hour day on Thursday and of course I didn't blog. It happens and I noticed the world didn't stop turning. My wife and I spent the day getting final things ready for a two day art show and spent the evening setting it up for a pre-showing on Friday evening before the Saturday and Sunday times.
It is in an old remodeled building, a project of the Iowa State University architecture students. I should have plenty of photos from the next two days as well as I already have work photos from yesterday. No time to download and edit them last night as we were both dead from work of the day. We stopped at Burger King last night at 7:30 to have lunch and supper and I don't remember the rest of the evening.
As you can see I am clinging to my coffee cup to make it through my day today back at school.
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Wednesday'a flash.......
The green and the red remind me of Christmas. We had lots of rain and then a slight covering of snow last night. Some places south of us had 4 inches of snow but we were on the edge of storm. There were chool delays south and east of us.
Posted by L. D. at 8:52 AM 1 comment:
Labels: burning bush, yew shrub
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Violets are so great as you can ignore them and it makes them bloom. I had not watered them for a couple of weeks or more and they thought they were experiencing a drought. Once watered they give me this kind of response.
Labels: African violets
Monday, November 7, 2011
Two heads are better than one.........
Doll heads that I rescued from the attic floor of the farmhouse that was recently demolished. They are in bad condition but both have mechanical devices to make the eyes move up and down when they are either laid down horizontally or a bottle is put into the mouth of the one on the left.
My wife says they were her older sisters dolls so that makes them at least 60 years old. I will try to clean them up later in life but for now they didn't go to the landfill. They do make a surreal sort of photo as the heads stare off in different directions.
Posted by L. D. at 8:54 AM 2 comments:
Sunday, November 6, 2011
Sunday's Single Bloom.....
My new geranium start that I rescued from the neighbor's garbage pile is budding nicely and blooming now.
Posted by L. D. at 8:08 PM 6 comments:
Labels: geranium
Saturday, November 5, 2011
It was a very windy day and the leaves just keep falling to the ground. It was a busy day and maybe soon I can devote more time in reading other blogs and finding so new things to shoot.
Posted by L. D. at 9:35 PM 3 comments:
Labels: maple leaves
Friday, November 4, 2011
Friday's Making of Hay.......
The barn loft was filled by pulling hay up by a pulley and pulling it into the mow. I worked for a farmer, as a kid, when he would set the knives into hay down below and when the rope was pulled on at the other end, it would raise the hay up to the peak.
When the hay hit the top peak, the hay would be pulled inside on the rail. The hay traveled across the rail and the knives would then release the load once it reached about ten feet inside the barn. I don't know what gadget caused the knives to be tripped to drop it but it worked the same way each time. One who is in the mow would hear the farmer yell when he was sending up the load and you had better be out of the way when that batch was dropped.
Posted by L. D. at 10:25 PM 4 comments:
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Recycled cycles.....
My father in law bought used bikes at the auction for another guy who would refurbish them and maybe sell or give them away to those in need. This batch never made it to that guy so 15 years later we found another man who also recycles them. I think that parts is all he will get from these as they sat out in in the meadow for a long time.
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
A Farmer's Insulator.........
The white insulator attached to the pole is ceramic and usually is used to support wires for an electric fence. A frequent jolt of charge would scare the animal back and they would respect the wire even when it wasn't actually working. It was a quick solution for my dad to install an electric wire for a fence that was being ineffective to keep the cattle from getting into the corn field.
Posted by L. D. at 8:30 AM 2 comments:
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
The short handled story.......
When I was closing down the last of my parents home I had used this rake for various jobs to help keep the yard cleaned up from debris, so I threw it into the back of my car. I brought it home thinking I could put a longer handle on it, but it has been useful with a short handle. It fits in the car trunk easily.
I have used it on the farm and here at home frequently. Then down at the farm, my brother in law gave me his dad's short handled sand spade to go along with my rake. The rake will go with us to the landfill today after school. They are a nice pair of tools.
Posted by L. D. at 8:51 AM 2 comments:
Labels: shovel and rake
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"You're old and, and... You're fat!"
That was a little gem said by my pre-schooler to my mother. Bless her heart, she said she laughed it off. Possibly after locking herself in a closet and crying for 20 minutes.
Last night grandma decided to treat the kids to Pizza Hut. Possibly because when I walked in the house and my little one latched onto my leg screaming that he was starving, I told him to go have a bowl of cereal. Or some Diet Coke. Whatever. It's Monday, and Mom's had a long day.
Soooo, we head to a Pizza Hut close to home and get 1 block away before Grandma decided she wants to go to a different Pizza Hut. Do you have any idea what kind of reaction that garnered from my starving children???? Seeing Pizza Hut only to then DRIVE AWAY?! Off we go, and Grandma decides to take the express way (We live in Chicago, "express" is a relative term) and misses the entrance. Then overshoots the next one. Will she give in and just take the streets?? Nope. The sun is setting and we're searching for the next entrance to get to Pizza Hut like it's a desert mirage.
Eventually we make it to another Pizza Hut. Little one decides the salad bar (another relative term) is a good idea. He will eat nothing but pineapple and bacon bits and doesn't even care that they've turned into pineapple chunks covered in bacon bits. Ew. The wonderful, nice waitress hears my little one saying (screeching - same thing) Grandma! Grandma! over and over so she comes and tells my mom that she's going to apply the senior discount to the order. This does not delight Grandma because she's not technically a senior (yet) So she turns to my older son, points to me and says, "Don't let her put me in a nursing home" and my darling child's eyes light up and he replies
"Yeah! You should go to a nursing home! You could live in one with a pool and I could come and visit!"
When I cleaned myself up -Dr. Pepper in one's nose is messy - I asked him if perhaps he meant one of the "55 and better" co-ops or condos instead of nursing home? At this point, he's off the subject so he doesn't really care about the specifics, so long as Grandma's going to live SOMEWHERE with a pool.


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There is a reason the Celtics have won so many championships, they know how to attract and keep the best players within their concept of team and they know how to best use those players. And in my opinion, whatever helps the Celtics organization can only help the NBA. I don't see a down side to Durant signing with the Celtics.
Kevin Durant is a highly-coveted professional basketball player for the NBA. Durant has enjoyed several years of success playing for the Oklahoma City Thunder. Therefore, it is no surprise that he is being pursued by many teams. Durant should sign with the Celtics if the team offers him more money then any other team. There is nothing wrong with a professional athlete maximizing the amount of money he can earn from a team.
Yes, Kevin Durant should have signed with the Celtics. The Celtics had several things to offer, including the team infrastructure put into place by Brad Stephens, the history making potential of the resulting team and the fact that the team is in the Eastern Conference. With the Celtics, he would have made it to the Eastern Conference finals every year for the next 5 years.
Kevin Durant is a professional, independent basketball player. He is entitled to his right to sign with whomever he chooses, and the Celtics should not be the one he signs with. While the Celtics have many merits, they hold no candle to Golden State. If he is hoping to win a championship, and thus garner more acclaim and renown, he should not sign with the Celtics.


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Went to CVS yesterday to get the rest of the Free After ECB items on Stewart's account.
I haven't added up the merchandise worth, but to get all of this (including toothpaste for Nate which we just needed), CVS paid me $11.70
Those days are passing, since my $5 / 15 coupons are now officially expired. It's sort of fun to look forward to figuring out new good deals in the coming days!
Sunday, June 1, 2008
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text: Altadenablog sponsor Webster's Fine Stationers is being used as an example for the struggle of small businesses everywhere in this Businessweek story by local biz writer Karen E. Klein. (Of course, it doesn't hurt to have Hollywood A-listers like Tom Hanks and John C. Reilly among your clientele!) Read the Full Story at Altadena Blog...Jun 11, 2010 / More »


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Governor Burgum Signs SB 2206(The following is a media release issued by the Governor's Office)
Senate Bill 2206 provides $160.7 million for a two-year pilot program that eliminates counties' social services levy – up to 20 mills – and requires the state to pay the costs of county social services and economic assistance for 2018 and 2019. In turn, the state will discontinue its 12 percent property tax relief credit program, better known as the buydown program.
"Senate Bill 2206 gives permanency to a significant amount of property tax relief and is a more cost-effective and sustainable option than the buydown program, which lacked incentive to control local spending," Burgum said. "Shifting the cost of social services to the state relieves counties of unfunded state and federal mandates and ensures that local taxpayers aren't stuck footing the bill for services outside of their control."
Under the bill, counties will be reimbursed for social services costs based on their actual caseloads. The state Department of Human Services (DHS) will analyze ways to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of social services delivery and submit a plan to the 2019 Legislature for a permanent funding formula.
The bill was approved 44-3 in the Senate and 75-15 in the House and had the support of the North Dakota Association of Counties. It's part of more than $1.1 billion in state-funded property tax relief that will be provided in 2017-19.
"We are deeply grateful for the countless hours spent by legislators, county officials, the tax commissioner's office, DHS staff and everyone else who worked on this historic legislation that will provide substantial relief to local property tax payers for years to come," Burgum said.
Governor Burgum Signs Radio Network Bill into Law
Governor Burgum also signed House Bill 1178 creating the statewide interoperable radio network. This will improve the communications network used by law enforcement, fire fighters and first responders.
"Responding to the Dakota Access Pipeline protests brought to light critical gaps in state communications infrastructure, with a lack of connectivity putting first responders at risk," Burgum said. "House Bill 1178 recognizes the need for a robust communications system in our rural areas by streamlining and updating technology as part of a phased approach to ensure that help can reach North Dakotans when they need it, regardless of their location in the state."
The network will be paid for with revenue from a .50 increase for 911 fees on phone lines.


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In honor of April Fool's Day, let's trick a trickster!
The Badger and the Magic Fan adapted by Tony Johnston, Illus. by Tomie dePaola, 1990.
This amusing story comes from Tony Johnson, writer of more than 100 children's books. One day, three long-nosed tengu (goblin) children are playing with a magic fan, making their noses grow and shrink, when they are observed by a crafty badger. He really wants that magic for himself, so he turns into a little girl and bribes the tengu kids with some bean-jam buns. There are four buns and three tengu children, so the badger tricks them into shutting their eyes and holding their breath, and the one who can do this the longest will win the extra treat. Then he makes off with the special fan!
Badger finds a rich and beautiful girl and fans her, making her nose grow unacceptably long. Then the naughty creature sits back and waits as her father tries to find a solution, consulting Japan's best doctors, thinkers and a witch before he gives up and declares that he will give his daughter and half of his riches to the one who can restore her button nose. Perhaps the badger can do it, and enjoy a life of luxury and a lovely new wife. However, three tengu children are after him with mischief on their minds...
This light and funny story is great to read to a group. We recently had an origami program and I shared it with a bunch of 9 to 12 year olds. They listened and I noticed that they all looked up from what they were doing to see the pictures. We all enjoyed it!
Well known and greatly loved illustrator Tomie dePaola did the pictures for The Badger and the Magic Fan, and they fit the story particularly well. His Tengu children are cute as buttons, with their matching brush-like hair, plaid kimonos, and expressions of mischief. The contrast between the undisturbed beautiful maiden with her serene countenance and her shocked look as her noses grows is comical. Readers will also giggle over dePaloa's serious faced doctors and formerly intimidating witch being pelted with cabbages and pepper by the maiden's irate father.
For those that may wonder, Tony is a she:
and Tomie is a he:
- Alice Nizzy Nazzy, the Witch of Santa Fe
- Four Scary Stories
- The Quilt Story
- The Tale of Rabbit and Coyote
- The Vanishing Pumpkin


text:
I think it may have been the best conference I've ever attended – due in large part to the venue, and also the consistently high caliber of speakers. Like many conferences the schedule was intense – the moment I walked into the Miners Foundry on Tuesday evening I felt drawn into a vortex of intense preservation that I didn't escape until Saturday as I headed home.
I did carve out a few hours of unscheduled time between education sessions, when I checked out a few of Nevada City's shops, had lunch, and took a self-guided tour of town enjoying a wonderful collection of well-maintained historic homes and gardens. Just beyond downtown I was drawn to the Pioneer Cemetery, established in 1851, on West Broad Street. It is a small cemetery located adjacent to a newer, more modern burial ground. The Pioneer cemetery is located on a knoll surrounded by mature Ponderosa Pines with an understory of grasses, some wildflowers and a few hardy shrubs and ground covers.
Many of the graves were marked with small, simple wood markers. Some had marble headstones while many had no marker at all. The graves that most interested me were those that were surrounded by ornamental iron fences set in granite curbs. The fences varied from very simple, light-weight hoops (Alphonse and Keller), to richly detailed pressed metal (CF Taylor and Burnett).
The Meredith monument had solid cast-iron corner posts and the fence was made from ¾" thick cast iron. The gate had heavy-duty hinges and latches that have not failed after 150 seasons of snow and summer heat. The marble obelisk was engraved, "Brave, gifted, generous and faithful closed a life of usefulness and purity by a death of honor".
Top Photo: Grave of William Alphonse; 2nd Photo: MW Burnett; Third Photo: CF Taylor 18440 - 1922; Fourth Photo: Frederick, Rosa and Nicolas Keller; Photo Below: Henry Meredith.


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Friday, 31 July 2009
Zan Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei - Episode 4
The main reason for this is perhaps that this instalment was even more Japan-o-centric than usual - The first chunk of the episode in particular exemplified this with its talk of TPO, a frequently used Japanese acroynm meaning "time, place, objective"; in other words a broad comment on a person's given social situation. In short then, this segment dealt with inappropriate behaviour for any given situation, which of course with this being Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei was taken to the ridiculous (and not to mention amusing) length of playing dodgy erotic Nintendo DS games in the middle of Japan's "Warring States" period.
From here, we take in holidays that perhaps shouldn't be, pondering why Japanese prefectures who aren't directly next to water should celebrate "Sea Day". This soon melds into situations where celebrating can either be considered good or weird (celebrating a horse winning a race after 300 straight defeats for example) before introducing us to the concept of a "chimera holiday", which apparantly needs to be as boring as humanly possible. I'm pretty sure I've had a few of those actually...
Finally, we return to the concept of taking "excessive care" of things, from over-zealous copyright infringement lawsuits (oh, how I punched the air over that being mentioned, liberal despiser of modern copyright law that I am) through to the ever-increasing blight of health and safety (which sees the removal of all the fun things from a children's playground in this case). If the first two segments of this episode were a little too localised for your tastes, this is probably the one that had you nodding in agreement.
So, not a classic episode (particularly for the non-Japanese viewer) perhaps, but hey, if nothing else I feel like I've learned new things from this episode. And learning is a good thing, as we know, with your level of education only slightly less important in life than your ability to successfully complete the Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei drawing song without creating a monstrosity. That particular gag, which closes off every episode of this series, should probably be getting old for me by now, yet somehow it makes me laugh out loud every time.
4 comments:
"China's "Warring States" period"
I'm sure China also had a Warring States period but the ep clearly showed Japanese samurai and buildings indicating Japan's "Warring States" period...I'm sure you typed China by accident...
- 1 August 2009 at 00:49
- Sergio said...
Yes, I think the one shown here was that of Japan (Sengoku jidai), in the 15-16th centuries, until the Tokugawa shogunate was established and unified all of Japan, with the capital at Edo (currently Tokyo). From this period are the famous Nobunaga Oda and Hideyoshi, who are often mentioned in anime. They are the ones who conducted several wars that unified Japan under shogunate control. The emperor from this time on was just a figure head (although since the 12th century they had had no total power, there had been some balance between shogunate power and imperial power, but the Tokugawa shogunate took all power for themselves)
(And by the way, I loved Chiri here. Such a fitting historical period for her)
I don't know much about Chinese history but it's warring states period (zhanguo shidai) was at around the 3rd century BC when the Zhou dynasty's central government was weakened and many independent dukes appeared. This is a famous period above all because it was the time when Chinese classical philosophy appeared - for example Confucius, Mencius, Taoism, etc.
- 1 August 2009 at 09:22
- Hanners said...
Indeed I did mean Japan, not sure why I put China, guess it was just the first one that sprang to mind. :p Anyway, corrected, so thanks for the heads-up guys!
- 1 August 2009 at 09:50
Hanner I really enjoy your reviews about sayonara zetsubou sensei and eden of the east but the fifth episode of sayonara zetsubou sensei is out since friday or something and you were always very quick about it. I don't wanna push you or somethingg, maybe you have more important stuff to do but it would be nice to read it soon ;D
- 10 August 2009 at 15:15


text:
It's about 1D having realationships with people and...
did he give up on murdering people?
- by Jason Ross
- Rating:
- Published: 13 Sep 2014
- Updated: 13 Sep 2014
- Status: In Progress
Louis was supposed to give up being an assassin so he could go back to his life with his family and singing but did he give it up?
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text:
Paneer roast is a very delicious dish. Though we are calling it roast but the style of cooking is bit different. This is a complete vegetarian dish without using onion and garlic. I am sure you all will love this yummy paneer roast.
Preparation time : 15 minutes Cooking time : 15 minutes Serves : 4 Ingredients : 250 grm paneer ( Indian cottage cheese ) cube 2 cardamom ½ inch cinnamon 2 clove 6 to 8 black pepper 1 bay leaves 1 tsp red chilly powder or to taste ½ tsp turmeric powder 1 tbsp cashew paste 2 tbsp coconut paste 2 tbsp tomato paste 2 tbsp yogurt 2 tsp ghee / clarified butter 2 tbsp oil ½ tsp garam masala 1/2 + cup water ¼ tsp sugar salt to taste
Methods of Cooking :Heat 1 tbsp oil in a pan and fry the paneer cube a little. Then in bowl of water add little salt and place the fried paneer. Heat oil in a pan and then add 1 tsp ghee with it. Add bay leaves cardamom, clove , cinnamon, black pepper. When you get the smell of the fried masala , then add tomato paste, coconut paste, yogurt, cashew paste, coconut paste, red chilly powder, turmeric powder. Stir and cook till oil comes out. Add water let it come to boil. Then add the paneer cube and cook for 6 to 8 minutes When the gravy thickens add another tsp of ghee and garam masala . Mix well with soft hands. Put off the flame . Give 3 to 8 minutes of standing time. Serve with pulao, naan or roti ( Indian flat bread).
Happy Cooking!


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Hi there!! I hope that with the holidays approaching you'll be able to participate in this week's challenge. I will not be posting one next Saturday - I'll skip a week - just to take a little break over the weekend directly following Thanksgiving. I'm sure you all will be busy too :)
As you can see above, this is the inspiration photo for this week's challenge. I found it over at the Behr (paint) website under a section called "Designing a Dreamy Bedroom. Restful Color Schemes You'll Just Love Waking Up To." and I really liked this one. You can see the link HERE. Just make sure to click on the "Emotional" tab. I am trying to figure out exactly how I want to do our bedroom. I was thinking a light (not too light) greyish-blue color to go with our bedspread, but the bedspread does have chocolate in it and I really like this room. I don't know if it would get "too dark" though for me????.....
Anyway - here are the rules:
You will have through Monday evening (Nov 24) to comment with a link to your creation. Please post your link in a comment to THIS post. Additionally, please ensure that you leave a direct link to the actual post or specific picture in your gallery.
On Tuesday morning, November 26th, I will post my own creation along with a list of links to all of yours. I will use Random.org to select one of your entries as the "featured artist" in my own post. This means for your link to appear in the initial post or to be considered as the featured artist, I would need to have it by 8:00 pm on Monday evening.
If you upload your card to SCS, please use the keyword CBC05 with no spaces, so that we can find them easily.


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Loco politicos were drawn to last nights swearing in ceremony for the county council and county executive loco politicos like bees to honey. Not only were the friends and family of the new council members and executive in attendance, a host of other politicians were there as well. They even had their own seating area as I suppose they feel more comfortable with each other than the unwashed masses in the general audience.
There was plenty of time for socializing before the festivities got underway and the first person I ran into was James Howard. Jamie was there because he was being confirmed for his new appointment to the HoCo Alcoholic Beverage Hearing Board.
I also ran into loco politico kingmaker Roger Caplan. I had the pleasure to introduce "The Rog" to Tom Coale. I was actually surprised they hadn't met before. Rog sort of surprised me when he said that Tom was the loco righty blogger and I was the loco lefty blogger. I told him that some readers of Tales of Two Cities would beg to differ with him. Tom then insisted that he was actually more progressive than me. I suppose that would make me regressive then.
One thing I've learned over years of loco politico observation is that elected officials like to be recognized, even when they are just sitting in an audience. They also don't mind being recognized more than once. Last night, Korva Coleman the moderator for the evening, was running through the litany of officials in the room. Towards the end she also recognized the former county executives in the audience including Jim Robey who had already been recognized as a senator but then failed to mention Liz Bobo for a second time. I suspect Ms Coleman suddenly noticed the steam rising from the a seat in the VIP section and quickly apologized while recognizing Liz for a second time. Liz stood up and took a bow.
The use of the bees to honey metaphor was also fitting because last night, in the new council's inaugural session, the legislation to revise the zoning for HoCo beekeepers was formally read. The first public hearing for the bees will be on December 20th.
After the ceremony was over I had the opportunity to speak with Allan Kittleman. Allan was upset that none of the council members had the courtesy to second Greg Fox's motion to reintroduce his veterans' commission legislation. He claims that seconding a motion, even if you plan to subsequently vote against it, is a courtesy that was regularly extended when he served on the council. "Then again we had two Republican council members back then," he reasoned.