Monthly Archives: June 2013

June 22, 2013

Fiction Friday — “Fairly Really Worth Sufficient For Me”

By ritalovestowrite

Faily Really Worth titleBy: Rita Baker-Schmidt

Geneva Spivey looked at her operator with concern. The android female on the other side of the telescreen was composed and pleasant, but she was talking gibberish. Almost nothing she had said had made any linear sense in the last 2 hours.

“What I’m trying to say,” Spivey spoke slowly and clearly into her com device, “Is… I think there may be a bug in the translator.”

Marion Teague, communications model 763985, Diadactic Achievement Institute, Station 17, smiled pleasantly. “I am trusted you’re dealings with political opponent. Its barons controlled these islands for more lender volitions. It allows governments to trim its vulnerability to unlike organizations.”

Spivey shook her head and tried not to say “Whaaaaat?” out loud. “See. That’s what I’m talking about. That made no sense at all.”

Teague, blinked her perfect, emotionless eyes and continued to smile, “If you move around onto Southward beginning Street you might run across numerous sound challenges to cover the proportion unbalance,” she suggested very unhelpfully.

The Earth bound communications officer reached for her keyboard and  typed in the diagnostic sequence again… and again got the same result. Everything was functioning within normal parameters.

Except … her  Com Bot on Station 17 had either lost her ability to speak or had lost her mind. OR there was something wrong with the equipment.

“Run another 15f8n2-B scan for me, please.”

As Station 17  made it’s slow orbit around the planet Marion Teague ran the requested scan, again, for her commander dirt side.

She shrugged as the results appeared on both their consuls. “Very nice submit, Captain.I will certainly digg it and in my view suggest to my friends.”

Spivey was stumped.

A minute later her interface device buzzed and the call she placed to support came through. Darius Plummer from Fairgoer Communications, the sub contractor that had designed the translator, greeted her with a smile. “Good afternoon, Captain Spivey, I understand there’s a bit of an emergency over there?”

She filled the programmer in on the situation  and adjusted the com device so the screen in front of her was split between Marion Teague’s some what fuzzy image from outer space, and Darius Plummer’s hi-def image from Palo Alto.

She up loaded a transcript from the last two hours for his review. Then she patched him in so he could hear, first hand, what was happening on Station 17.

“Hey Marion,” He said smoothly. Darius had installed the space station’s module and programmed Teague and the rest of the Bot staff up there. His time in space had been the most exciting 3 months of his life, and he looked at the androids circling above them almost as friends. “We gotta little mumbo jumbo going on up there?”

The Bot’s smile grew more “genuine” at seeing Darius’ face. “Ahaa, its pleasant conversation concerning this paragraph here at this webpage,I have read all that, so at this time me also commenting here.”

“Come again, darlin’.”

“Its been like this all afternoon.” Spivey complained.

“I create a leave a response when I appreciate a post on a site or if I have something to add to the discussion.” Teague told him warmly.

“And that made absolutely no sense at all.” Darius told her. He started to scan the readouts of the prior conversation.

“I found lot of great points in this post. You have done an impressive occupation and our entire community will probably be grateful to you” Taegue said slightly more emphatically.

“Yeah that didn’t really help.” A frown deepened as he scanned the increasingly odd responses from his friend.

Taegue tried again. “I’ve been surfing on-line more than three hours today. It’s fairly really worth sufficient for me. In my see, if all internet owners and bloggers made great content as you did, the net will be much much more helpful than ever before.”

“Internet?” Spivey asked, “What the heck is an internet?”

“It’s an ancient communication sharing tool, They used it way back when they first started using computers. But…” He held up his hand to hold the women at bay as he looked something up. “I’ll be right back.” His portion of he screen went blank.

“A undivided someone can help clamant favourable reception,” Teague said from space.

“Yeah, what ever.” Spivey said  under her breath.

“Captain Spivey.” Darius Plummer popped back on-screen. “I think our friend Teague has a virus.”

“Explain,” ordered Spivey.

“I don’t know how it happened but I think she’s been spammed.” Darius told the two women about spamming, and what a problem it was before it was outlawed in 2054. “Some how that spamming junk language has made its way to her programming and that’s what she’s been spewing out.”

“Well,” the officer demanded, “what the hell do we do about it?”

“I’m sending up a patch now.” He assured her.

Teague gave him a genuine — for an android —  smile “This submit truly made my day. You can not imagine simply how a great deal time I had spent for this info! Thank you!”

“How long before we know if it works?” Spivey asked.

Darius shrugged. “Honestly, I don’t know. I’ve never seen anything like this. I don’t even know if it will work.”

They had a three-way staring match for a moment. Then  Marion Teague blinked her perfect eyes and smiled. “Oh, that’s much better. Thank you Darius.” She turned her attention to Spivey, “I’m ready to give my report now Captain.”

Fairly Really 2

————————–

All the gibberish is real SPAM from my SPAM folder. I figured if some one was KIND enough to send it to me the LEAST I could do was to use it as fodder for a story. Likewise, the character and company names are from unsolicited and dubious Emails that have made their way into my account (a surprising number of which beg to inform me that I have inherited a great deal of money!)

3 Comments | posted in Fiction, postaday, Writing

June 20, 2013

Errol Flynn 06.20.13 Thought of the Day

By ritalovestowrite

“I allow myself to be understood as a colorful fragment in a drab world.”

 

“It isn’t what they say about you, it’s what they whisper.”

 

“By instinct I’m an adventurer; by choice I’d like to be a writer; by pure, unadulterated luck, I’m an actor.”

 

— Errol Flynn

 

English: The front cover of Errol Flynn's auto...

English: The front cover of Errol Flynn’s autobiography, “My Wicked, Wicked Ways”. The front cover is part of John Kobal’s Kobal Collection images. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 

Errol Leslie Thomson Flynn was born on this day in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia in 1909. Today is the 104th anniversary of his birth.

 

Son of Theodore and Lily Mary “Marelle” Flynn, Errol had a knack for adventure and trouble,

 

 Young Flynn was a rambunctious child who could be counted on to find trouble.
Errol managed to have himself thrown out of every school he was enrolled in. [IMDb]

 

That included Sydney Church of England Grammar School, the Shore School, which he managed to get expelled from for both fightiing and for having a romanitic assignation with the school’s laundress. [Per his autobiography “My Wicked, Wicked Ways”]

 

By the time he was in his late teens he’d left (or was ejected from) school for good and set out to find his fortune… literally…

 

he set out to find gold, but instead found a series of short lived odd jobs. Information is sketchy, but the positions of police constable, sanitation engineer, treasure hunter, sheep castrator, shipmaster for hire, fisherman, and soldier seem to be among his more reputable career choices. [Ibid]

 

By the early 1930s he was in England, and by 1933 his good looks, atheletic ability, and smooth voice had landed him a gig with the Northampton Repertory company. That same year he appeared in his first movie as Fletcher Christian on In the Wake of the Bounty. (Ironically, Flynn claimed that his mother descended from a midshipman of the Bounty).

 

Cover of "Captain Blood"

Cover of Captain Blood

 

Now that he had his sea legs under him, Warner Brothers signed him to a contract and he moved to America to star in Captain Blood.

 

He quickly rocketed to stardom as the undisputed king of swashbuckler films, a title inherited from Douglas Fairbanks, but which remains his to this day. Onscreen, he was the freedom loving rebel, a man of action who fought against injustice and won the hearts of damsels in the process. [Ibid]

 

He wasn’t fulfilled with the roles Hollywood was offering him.  Of the well over 50 movies he made he said, “I’ve made six or seven good films – the others, not so good.” He also noted, “I felt like an impostor, taking all that money for reciting ten or twelve lines of nonsense a day.”

 

Cropped screenshot of Errol Flynn from the fil...

Cropped screenshot of Errol Flynn from the film That Forsyte Woman (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 

 

 

Off Screen he ran at life full throttle. He drank hard, romanced the ladies (especially the young ladies) and self-medicated with both legal and illegal drugs.  He lead –as author Benjamin S. Johnson put it–an “Errolesque” life. His hard living eventually caught up to him. His youthful, handsome face gave way to a puffy lined one. He was no longer able to do his own stunts. Roles came fewer and father between.  “A few good roles did come his way late in life, however…” [IMDb]  and he was finally “making a name as a serious actor before his death.” [Ibid] The Sun Also Rises (1957) was, perhaps the best performance of his career.

 

Flynn in The Sun Also Rises. [Image courtesy: Warner Brothers]

Flynn in The Sun Also Rises. [Image courtesy: Warner Brothers]

Flynn died  on October 14, 1959 of  myocardial infarction, coronary thrombosis, coronary atherosclerosis, liver degeneration, liver sclerosis and diverticulitis of the colon. Allegedly his last words were “I’ve had a hell of a lot of fun and I’ve enjoyed every minute of it.” He was 50 years old.

 

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This image shows a photograph of Errol Flynn, ...

This image shows a photograph of Errol Flynn, taken ca. 1940. Under Australian law, all photographs taken in Australia before 1955 are in the public domain. This image is in the public domain under both Australian copyright law and US copyright law. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 

8 Comments   |  tags: , | posted in Errol Flynn, Film, postaday, Thought of the Day, Today's Birthday, United States

June 19, 2013

Farm Fresh Challenge — Fennel meet Orange

By ritalovestowrite

I’m inspired by a recipe on Fox and Fawn Farm’s blog for the muffin half of today’s post. Fox & Farm is a CSA near Minneapolis, MN that’s run by Red and Nina Kirkman. I found the recipe (which I adapted here) through a Google search on ‘what the heck am I going to do with Fennel?’ (really I search for ‘Fennel Muffins’).  If you are looking for some additional farm fresh recipes give their site a look. It is well organized and equally well stocked with recipes and ideas.

Here’s what I took home from my fabulous CSA — Calvert’s Gift — today:

The box was bountiful this week. Carrots, turnips, beets, fennel, zucchini, garlic scrapes. romaine lettuce, mixed greens, eggs

The box was bountiful again this week. My haul included:  Carrots, turnips, beets, fennel, zucchini, garlic scrapes. romaine lettuce, mixed greens, spring onions, green and purple basil and eggs. (Items in bold face are used in today’s Farm Fresh recipe.)

I knew right away that I wanted to make a twist on a Caesar Salad and I wanted to find a muffin recipe for those lovely fennel bulbs. So here we go…

[Not associated with the real Chopped, the Food Network or Tim Allen.]

Week Four [Not associated with the real Chopped, the Food Network or Tim Allen.]

Round One: Fennel Orange Cherry Muffins

INGREDIENTS:

  • 1/2 cup Orange Juice
  • 2 Eggs
  • 1/2 cup Vegetable Oil (I used Peanut Oil)
  • 3/4 cup Brow Sugar
  • 1 tsp Vanilla
  • 1 cup grated Fennel Bulb (save the Fennel Tops for the salad)
  • 1/2 cup grated Zucchini
  • 1/2 cup grated Carrots
  • 1/2 cup diced Cherries
Zucchini, Carrots, Cherries and Fennel.

Zucchini, Carrots, Cherries and Fennel prepped and ready to go.

  • 2 1/4 cup Whole Wheat Flour
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon Baking Powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • Sliced Almonds

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prep muffin cups with spray.

2. Grate the Zucchini, Carrots, Fennel. Dice the Cherries.

3. Put the Orange Juice, Eggs, Oil, Brown Sugar, and Vanilla in a large bowl and combine. Add the Zucchini, Carrots, Cherries an Fennel.

Isn't that a festive bowl of liquid ingredients?

Isn’t that a festive bowl of liquid ingredients?

4 Add the Flour, Baking Powder and Salt all at once to the liquid and fold in.

5. Divide evenly into 12 muffin cups (I had some left over… so BONUS MUFFIN !) Top with Almonds.

6. Bake for 25 – 35 minutes. (It took the full 35 minutes for me) until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean and muffins look golden brown.

Finished muffin

Finished muffin

Round Two: Orange Caesar Salad w/Veal Sausage

Ingredients:

  • 1 head Romaine Lettuce
  • 2 cups assorted Spring Mix
  • 2 Spring Onions
  • 1/4 cup Garlic Scrapes, finely chopped
  • 1/4 cup Fennel Tops, finely chopped
  • 1/4 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
  • 1 teaspoon Garlic, finely minced
  • 5 leaves of Purple Basil, chopped
  • 2 slices of Bread, cut into 1/2″ chunks
  • 1/2 cup Orange Juice
  • 1 teaspoon Worcestershire Sauce
  • 2 Eggs, coddled
  • 2 ounces grated Parmesan Cheese
  • Salt
  • Pepper
  • 1 pound Weisswurst (Veal Sausage)

DIRECTIONS:

1. Whisk together the Olive Oil and Garlic in a large bowl and set aside.

2. Bring a pot of water to boil. Add the EGGS and let cook for 1 to 2 minutes to coddle. Remove eggs from water and set aside. Refresh water and bring to a boil.

Eggs Coddled

I’m not big on adding raw eggs to a salad, which is traditional for a Caesar. I found a recipe that recommended Coddling the eggs so they are par cooked. You still get the lovely velvety-runny yolk, but it isn’t 100% raw. **

3. Clean the Lettuce/Spring Mix and pat dry with a paper towel. Break up the Romaine into  1″ to 2″ pieces. Chop the Spring Onion, Fennel tops, Purple Basil and Garlic Scrapes. Cut up the Bread.

4. Toss all the veggies and bread*  into the Olive Oil.

All the veggies in the salad before mixing or dressing

All the veggies  and bread in the salad before mixing or dressing

5. Put the Weisswurst in the boiling water to cook. When the skin breaks on the sausage it is ready.

6. In a medium bowl whisk the Orange Juice, Worcestershire Sauce, Coddled Eggs, Parmesan Cheese and a dash of Salt and Pepper together.  Pour the dressing over the greens and toss gently but well.

7. Plate the salad topped with sliced Weisswurst with a muffin on the side. Garnish with an additional sprig of Fennel top. Enjoy.

Plated meal.

Plated meal.

I liked the brightness that the orange juice brought to the Caesar Salad, and I’m digging the Orange / Fennel combo. The muffins were just sweet enough. The Cherry / Orange / Fennel combo worked well there too. They are moist and you’ll probably want to keep them in the fridge on these summery days.

 

Previously on Farm Fresh Challenge / Parkton Chopped:

• Farm Fresh Challenge: Kohlrabi Stir Up

• Roasted Turnip Salad

• Turnip and Ham Salad

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*Maggie suggest adding the bread later.

**(If a par cooked, runny egg still leaves you running for the hills, then hard cook the eggs. Chop up hard boiled eggs and use a garnish. — But add a tablespoon of mayonnaise to the dressing to act as a binder.)

Leave a comment   |  tags: , , , | posted in Cooking, Farm Fresh Challenge, Fennel, Thought of the Day

June 18, 2013

James Montgomery Flagg 6.18.13 Thought of the Day

By ritalovestowrite
English: American artist James Montgomery Flag...

English: American artist James Montgomery Flagg (1877-1960) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

“I Want You for U.S. Army.”

James Montgomery Flagg was born in Pelham Manor, New York, USA in 1877. Today is the 136th anniversary of his birth.

He knew he wanted to be an artist at a young age. By 12 he sold his first illustration to St. Nicholas Magazine for $10. “By 14 he was a contributing artist for Life magazine, and the following year was on the staff of another magazine, Judge.”  [RoGallery.com] Although he attended art school in New York, London and Paris he was dubious as to their benefit. He once said “Art cannot be taught. Artists are born that way…I wasted six years of my young life in art schools… You can’t breed an artist. You can only breed mediocrity.”  [spartacus.schoolnet.com.uk] When he returned to the States he married Nellie McCormick, a St. Louis socialite 11 years his senior. The couple moved about the country eventually landing in New York City where Flagg established himself as a magazine illustrator.

English: Caricature of Rupert Hughes (1872-195...

English: Caricature of Rupert Hughes (1872-1956) by James Montgomery Flagg (1877-1960) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

He worked with a dozen or so of the top publications in the country and produced an illustration a day (on average).

Flagg was not only a productive illustrator, he was also enormously versatile.. Flagg displayed his powers in opaque and transparent watercolor and oils. He worked in monochrome for halftone reproduction; with a full palette for color reproduction. He was equally skilled in charcoal and pencil. He was even a consummate sculptor. No medium was too difficult for him and except for pastel (which he disliked) he used them all with ease.” [spartacus.schoolnet.com.uk]

Flagg started to draw for Photoplay Magazine in 1903, producing illustrated portraits of movie stars.

When the US entered World War I he joined a group of fellow artist called the Division of Pictorial Publicity which designed patriotic posters. Among the 46 posters Flag created is his famous “I Want You for the US Army”. He posed as Uncle Sam himself (to save the trouble and expense of finding a model.)

English: Uncle Sam recruiting poster.

English: Uncle Sam recruiting poster. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

He was a fan of Franklin D. Roosevelt and created political posters promoting the New Deal and Roosevelt’s presidential campaigns.  When the US entered WWII he revived Uncle Sam and made a series of Red Cross posters.

After the War he mounted an exhibition of his fine art at the Ferargil Gallery in New York City. But by the 1950’s magazines had moved to photography over illustration and he found his skills less in demand.

He was outspoken and he didn’t suffer fools. He had a high opinion of himself and once said “The difference between an artist and an illustrator is that the latter knows how to draw, eats three square meals a day and can pay for them.”

Along with his artwork he also wrote screenplays and acted on both the stage and set.

Flagg died on May 27th , 1960. He was 83 years old.

Click HERE to see a nice selection of his artwork.

Jas. Montgomery Flagg (LOC)

Jas. Montgomery Flagg (LOC) (Photo credit: The Library of Congress)

Leave a comment   |  tags: , , | posted in American History, Art, James Montgomery Flagg, postaday, Thought of the Day, Today's Birthday

June 17, 2013

Muffin Monday Banana Cherry Muffins DF

By ritalovestowrite

Happy Muffin Monday everyone! Here’s a recipe for all you Dairy Free folks out there. Hope you like it! IMG_5343

Banana Cherry Muffins

INGREDIENTS: 1 1/2 c Whole Wheat Flour IMG_5324 1 1/2 c Almond Meal IMG_5323 1/4 teaspoon Sea Salt IMG_5325 1 teaspoon Baking Soda IMG_5326 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil IMG_5329 2 Large Eggs IMG_5280 2 tablespoons Demerara Sugar

IMG_4937

2 teaspoons Almond Extract IMG_5332 2 Bananas

IMG_5327

1 cup Cherries (diced)

The Bing cherry owes its development to the Ch...

1 Zucchini (grated) IMG_5294 Topping: 2 tablespoons Almonds (silvered) 2 tablespoons Whole Wheat Flour 2 tablespoons White Sugar 2 tablespoons melted Butter DIRECTIONS: 1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prepare muffin cups. 2. In a large bowl place Flour, Almond Meal, Salt and Baking Soda. Mix. 3. In a medium bowl, mash the Bananas add Eggs one at a time, mixing  well with each addition. Add Olive Oil, Demerara Sugar and Almond Extract. 4. Mix the dry and wet ingredients together. IMG_5333 5. Add the Cherries and Zucchini  and mix gently. 6. Divide the batter evenly into 12 muffin cups. IMG_5335 7. In a small bowl combine all the topping ingredient. Divide evenly onto the muffins. 8. Bake for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of one of the muffins comes out clean. IMG_5346 Both Maggie and I thought these muffins could have used a little more sugar… so you might want to add a bit more, or serve with marmalade. They are moist — especially considering there’s no milk or butter in the recipe — and moderately fluffy. You can really taste the Banana, not so much the Cherry. Give ’em a try and let me know what you think.

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13 Comments   |  tags: , , | posted in Baking, Banana Cherry Muffins, Dairy Free, Muffins, postaday, Thought of the Day

June 17, 2013

Random thought — HOW to be a REAL WOMAN

By ritalovestowrite

Little things prompt me to action sometimes. Today, for example, an article entitled “How To Be A Woman” came across my feed and it sparked in me a need to respond. I found it limited, insulting and misogynistic.

Clearly a bee got in my bonnet and I felt the need to write my own list of What Makes a Real Woman. Here goes…

Daisy

What Makes a Real Woman

  1. Be true to yourself
  2. Love
  3. Think
  4. Give
  5. Respect
  6. Conserve
  7. Rejoice
  8. Share
  9. Create
  10. Educate

Luckily you don’t have to be a Woman to follow these guidelines. They also hold true for What Makes a Real Human Being.

—————–

In  “How To Be A Woman” author Clarrisa Taylor advises to, among other things…

  • play dodgeball,
  • enter a male-dominated work field (and not leave to have a child),
  • learn to fall asleep without a man,

OK. Not my definition of Womanhood, but, if that’s how she chooses to define her life…

I had more of a problem with her advice to  “Show everyone how big your heart is” by falling in love with a broken man and not trying to fix him. Advice that, to me seemed more appropriate to a romance novel or a list entitled “How to Tell if You are a Woman in an Abusive Relationship”, maybe.)

But, the one that really got me was #4 …

 4. If you get raped, share your story. Make sure your voice is heard. But don’t prosecute him. You’re above that. This is how you win.

YES. Share your story. YES. make sure your voice is heard. Absolutely. But “don’t prosecute him”?  “You’re above that.” ? WHAT? If  you have been the victim of rape or sexual assault I hope you will prosecute the perpetrator, because the likelihood is that they’ll do it some one else. Seeking help (at qualified centers like  MCASA in Maryland or NSVRC nation wide ) “is how you win.”

3 Comments | posted in Thought of the Day

June 17, 2013

Mary Katherine Goddard 6.16.13 Thought of the Day

By ritalovestowrite

“He carries every point, who blends the useful with the agreeable, amusing the reader while he instructs him.”
— the English translation of the Goddard family motto.

[Image courtesy: The Baltimore Sun]

[Image courtesy: The Baltimore Sun]

Mary Katherine Goddard was born on this day n Groton, Connecticut, USA, in 1738. Today is the 275th anniversary of her birth.

She was elder of two children born to Sarah Updike Goddard and Dr. Giles Goddard. Mary Katherine and her brother William learned to read and write at their New London, Connecticut home. Their mother also taught them “Latin, French, and the literary classics.” [WHMN.org] Shakespeare, Pope and Swift  were favorite reading assignments.

When Mary Katherine was 19 her father passed away. The family stayed in Connecticut for a few years while William was apprenticed to a local printer, but in 1762 they moved to Providence, Rhode Island, and  Sarah Goddard lent William the money to start his own printing business. All three members of the family pitched in to help establish the business.

William was ostensibly in charge, (but) he traveled a great deal, and it was Sarah Updike Goddard who was the true publisher of the Providence Gazette and Country Journal.  Mary Katherine took a great interest in the business and forewent many of the usual activities for young ladies to work as a typesetter, printer, and journalist.  The mother/daughter team made their print shop a hub of activity at a time when newspapers exerted great political influence.  They added a bookbindery, and in addition to the Gazette, printed almanacs, pamphlets, and occasionally books.[WHMN.org]

In 1765 William left Rhode Island for the more metropolitan Philadelphia.  Mary Katherine took over the printing operation in Providence.

…Left with a burden upon her shoulders, Mary Katherine acquired the skills she needed to print a successful publication. “It was probably during the years of [William’s] absence… that his sister… learned the practical side of typography and journalism… ” Lawrence C. Wroth wrote.[University of Rhode Island web site URI.edu]

Three years later William asked the two women to sell the Providence business (They sold the Gazette,  press and building for $550) and move to Pennsylvania to help him with the Philadelphia Chronicle.

Upon their arrival they ran the newspaper and press and William headed to Baltimore, Maryland  on a new venture.  Mary Katherine followed him again in 1774 when she took over her brother’s weekly publications the Maryland Journal and Baltimore Advertiser as he continued to travel.

With her mother dead and her brother prioritizing his political inclinations, Mary Katherine Goddard finally assumed the title of publisher of the Maryland Journal and the Baltimore Advertiser.  She put “Published by M.K. Goddard” on the masthead on May 10, 1775 — and it remained there even when William returned from his New Hampshire-to-Georgia travels in 1776.  [WHMN.org]

She also became a postmaster in 1775 — the first woman in the colonies to do so. As postmaster she was at the  “center of the information exchange.”  [Ibid] and was privy to the news before her competitors. The Journal broke important news stories  (like the skirmishes at Lexington and Concord).

[Image courtesy the Library of Congress]

[Image courtesy the Library of Congress]

Mary Katherine kept the tone of the Journal professional. Other newspapers — and William — editorialized and included op eds that advanced political agendas. “Mary Katherine Goddard used a more objective, impersonal, and professional tone.” [Ibid]

She was a shrewd business woman who accepted alternate forms of payment when the taxes or the War made cash subscription payments difficult.

These included beef, pork, animal food, butter, hog’s lard, tallow, beeswax, flour, wheat, rye, Indian corn, beans and other goods she could sell in her shop. [University of Rhode Island web site URI.edu]

She ran a stationary and printing press where fine printing was produced. She also had a local paper mill.

Mary Katherine biggest scoop as a newspaper woman came in January of 1777 when her press printed the first official copy of the Declaration of  Independence to include the names of the signers.

Goddard's published copy of the Declaration of Independence with all the signers identified. [Image courtesy McHenry Country Turning Point.org]

Goddard’s published copy of the Declaration of Independence with all the signers identified. [Image courtesy McHenry Country Turning Point.org]

She successfully ran both the publication and the related printing and paper companies AND served as postmaster through out the long Revolutionary War. But things changed in 1784. She had a falling out with William and he forced her off the paper’s staff. Then in 1789 Mary Katherine was forced to give up her postmaster position. As a woman — it was as argued — she could not handle the traveling the job would demand. Her appeals — backed by a petition of endorsement signed by over 200 Baltimore businessmen — went to President Washington and Congress but got nowhere. She resigned her self to running her bookstore.

Mary Katherine Goddard died att he age of 78 on April 12, 1816. “A copy of the Declaration of Independence printed by her is at the Maryland Hall of Records.”[WHMN.org]

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Leave a comment   |  tags: , | posted in American History, Baltimore, History, Mary Katherine Goddard, Maryland, Newspaper, postaday, Thought of the Day, Today's Birthday, United States

June 15, 2013

Secondary Character Saturday: James Montgomery “Scotty” Scott

By ritalovestowrite

James Doohan as Scotty. [Image courtesy: Paramount Pictures]

James Doohan as Scotty.
[Image courtesy: Paramount Pictures]

WHO: James Montgomery Scott

FROM: Star Trek

BY: Created by Gene Roddenberry

PUBLISHED: The series premiered in 1966.

PROS: Loveable, brave, funny,  and  super smart, Mr. Scott knows every thing there is to know about the Enterprise. He’s the ultimate engineer, so he’s got that going for him too.

Scotty's position on the far left of this cast picture puts him firmly in the Secondary Character rhelm... But what would the crew of the USS Enterprise have gotten with out him? Pulled over to a service station and had the dilithium oil checked? I don't think so.

Scotty’s position on the far left of this cast picture puts him firmly in the Secondary Character category… But what would the crew of the USS Enterprise have gotten without him? Pulled over to a service station and had the dilithium oil checked? I don’t think so.

CONS:  Mr. Scott was very proud of his ship… blindingly proud… and it often got him in trouble, like when he…

started a bar fight aboard Deep Space Station K-7 when the Klingon named Korax suggested that the ship should be hauled away as garbage. As a result, he was confined to his quarters by Kirk. Scott smiled and told Kirk the punishment would give him a chance to catch up on technical journals he had not had time to read. [Memory Alpha.org]

MOST SHINING MOMENT:  Every other episode when he fixed the transporter, cajoled the engines to perform at warp 9 (plus) for an extended period of time, or otherwise earned his  nickname of “the miracle worker.”

LEAST SHINING MOMENT:  Being accused of murder on Argelius (3 times!) Fortunately it was just the alien reincarnation of Jack the Ripper.

MEMORABLE QUOTE: “I’m giving it all she’s got Captain..”

In the Star Trek prime universe Mr. Scott was played by Canadian character actor James Doohan. In the 2009 / 2013 reboot movies he’s played by Simon Pegg.

[Images courtesy: Universal Pictures]

[Images courtesy: Paramount Pictures]

For an in-depth tribute to Mr. Scott see this You tube clip:

http://youtu.be/ssme-8fnTPM

Pez Mr. Scott is ready to beam aboard from my bookshelf.

Pez Mr. Scott is ready to beam aboard from my bookshelf.

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Leave a comment   |  tags: , , , , | posted in Film, Mr. Scott, postaday, Secondary Character, Star Trek, Thought of the Day

June 15, 2013

Margaret Bourke-White 6.14.13 Thought of the Day

By ritalovestowrite

[Image courtesy: http://lichnosti.net]

[Image courtesy: http://lichnosti.net%5D

Margaret White was born on this day in the Bronx, New York City, New York, USA in 1904. Today is the 109th anniversary of her birth.

She was one of three children born to Joseph and Minnie. The family lived in Bound Brook, New Jersey.  Margaret, her brother, Roger, and sister, Ruth, went to school locally. Margaret was the editor of the high school year book. After attending several universities (Columbia, Michigan, Western Reserve University, Cornell, Purdue) she received her degree from  Cornell in 1927.

She took up photography as a hobby  but after graduating and moving to New York City she began to work in the field as a professional freelance photographer.

 She combined her own last name with her mother’s maiden name (Bourke) to create her hyphenated professional name. Beginning her career in 1927 as an industrial and architectural photographer, she soon gained a reputation for originality, and in 1929 the publisher Henry Luce hired her for his new Fortune magazine. [Britannica.com]

She went  to German on assignment for Fortune to shoot the Krupp Iron Works in 1930. That done she continued her journey (on her own) to the Soviet Union where she was “the first photographer to seriously document its rapid industrial development. She published her work in the book Eyes on Russia (1931).” [Notablebiographies.com] In 1936 she became a staff photographer for a new magazine called LIFE.

1936 LIFE First Cover

1936 LIFE First Cover (Photo credit: Chuck_893) Featuring Bourke-White’s photograph.

As America sank into the economic Depression of the 1930 Bourke-White turned her camera toward those suffering in the Dust Bowl or waiting in bread lines.

These projects also introduced people and social issues as subject matter into her oeuvre, and she developed a compassionate, humanitarian approach to such photos. In 1935 Bourke-White met the Southern novelist Erskine Caldwell, to whom she was married from 1939 to 1942. The couple collaborated on three illustrated books: You Have Seen Their Faces (1937), about Southern sharecroppers; North of the Danube (1939), about life inCzechoslovakia before the Nazi takeover; and Say, Is This the U.S.A. (1941), about the industrialization of the United States. [Britannica.com]

 

[Image courtesy: http://jewpics.blogspot.com/] Check this blog out for some more of Bourke-White's intense photography.

[Image courtesy: http://jewpics.blogspot.com/%5D Check this blog out for some more of Bourke-White’s intense photography.

During World War II she became the first female war correspondent to work in a combat zone. The transport she was taking across to North Africa was struck by a U-boat’s torpedo and sunk, but she survived. She covered the Allies in Italy, the Siege of Moscow, Patton’s march across the Rhine into Germany, and the liberation of Buchenwald Concentration Camp.

An iconic photograph of Gandhi at a spinning w...

An iconic photograph of Gandhi at a spinning wheel, taken by Margaret Bourke-White in 1946 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

After the War she covered  the independence and partition of India and Pakistan. In 1949 and 1950 she covered apartheid in South Africa. In 1952 she went to Korea, again  working as a war correspondent.

Shortly after her return from Korea she noticed signs of Parkinson’s disease, the nerve disorder which she battled for the remainder of her life. …White died at her home in Darien, Connecticut. She left behind a legacy as a determined woman, an innovative visual artist, and a compassionate human observer. [Notablebiographies.com]

 

Here’s a mini documentary on her life….

http://youtu.be/iAkBu63H8H0

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