July 2, 2012

Thought of the Day 7.2.12

By ritalovestowrite

“None of us got where we are solely by pulling ourselves up by our bootstraps. We got here because somebody – a parent, a teacher, an Ivy League crony or a few nuns – bent down and helped us pick up our boots.”

—Thurgood Marshall

Thurgood Marshall was born in Baltimore, Maryland in 1908. Today would have been his 104th birthday.

The grandson of a slave, Marshall knew first hand the long arm of a segregated society.  In 1930, after graduating cum laude from Lincoln University,  he applied to the University of Maryland Law School, but wasn’t accepted because of his race. Marshall went instead to Howard University Law School where he graduated magna cum laude. He later successfully sued UofM to admit Donald Murray to the Law school.

He moved to New York and became a special counsel for the NAACP. He helped draft  the constitutions for Ghana and Tanzania on the behest of the United Nations.

Marshall argued in numerous Supreme Court cases, most revolving around segregation. The landmark decision of Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas demolished legal “separate but equal” segregation in the United States.

In 1961 Marshall was appointed by President Kennedy  as a circuit judge.  In 1965 President Johnson appointed him Solicitor General, and in 1967 Thurgood Marshall was appointed to the Supreme Court of the United States. He served on the Court until 1991.

He saw the Constitution as  living document , noting in 1987 on the bicentennial of the Constitution that:

“the government they devised was defective from the start, requiring several amendments, a civil war, and major social transformations to attain the system of constitutional government and its respect for the freedoms and individual rights, we hold as fundamental today…Some may more quietly commemorate the suffering, struggle, and sacrifice that has triumphed over much of what was wrong with the original document, and observe the anniversary with hopes not realized and promises not fulfilled. I plan to celebrate the bicentennial of the Constitution as a living document, including the Bill of Rights and the other amendments protecting individual freedoms and human rights.”

 

Thurgood Marshall, appointed by Kennedy to the...

Thurgood Marshall, appointed by Kennedy to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Leave a comment   |  tags: , | posted in American History, Baltimore, History, Maryland, Patriotic, postaday, Slavery, Thought of the Day, Thurgood Marshall, Today's Birthday, United States

July 1, 2012

Thought of the Day 7.1.12

By ritalovestowrite

“There is only one happiness in this life, to love and be loved.”

—George Sand

George Sand was born Amandine Aaurore Lucile Dedvant in Paris, France in 1804. Today is the 208th anniversary of her Birth.

She grew up in the French countryside, a setting often used in her novels. After an unsatisfying early marraige Dedvant moved to Paris  where she wrote articles and developed her writing. She reveled in Parisian life and fell in love with another writer Jule Sandeau. They wrote collectively under the byline of “J. Sand.” In 1832, when her first novel, Indiana, was accepted for publication she chose the pseudonym “George Sand.”

Sand wrote at night, every night, from midnight to sunrise. Her novels, which are romanic idealism in nature, include Indiana, Valentine, Lelia, Le Compagnon du tour de France, La Mare au diable, Consuelo, La Petite Fadette, and Le Peche de Monsieur Antoine.

She wore men’s clothing in public, had affairs (most notably with Polish pianist and composer Frederic Chopin), smoked tobacco, and was considered a loose woman by some people in society. Yet she was admired for her spirit and frankness by countless others.

 

Image courtesy Wikipedia

Leave a comment   |  tags: | posted in postaday, Thought of the Day, Today's Birthday, Writing

June 30, 2012

Thought of the Day 6.30.12

By ritalovestowrite

“Shadow owes its birth to light.”

John Gay

John Gay was born on this day in Barnstaple, England in 1685. We are celebrating the 327th anniversary of his birth.

Gay was a poet and dramatist. His most famous work was the Beggar’s Opera, but he wrote several other satirical plays. The Beggar’s Opera is considered the first successful ballad opera, and the predecessor of the popular operetta that would take hold on the English stage a century or so later with Gilbert and Sullivan.

He was a contemporary of Jonathan Swift and Alexander Pope. He studied music with George Frideric Handel.

Gay died at 47 and was buried in Poet’s Corner of Westminster Abbey. His epitaph is from the Beggar’s Opera “Life is a jest, and all things show it: I thought so once and now I know it.”

 

John Gay

John Gay (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

1 Comment   |  tags: , | posted in Musical Theatre, postaday, Thought of the Day, Today's Birthday, Writing

June 29, 2012

Thought of the Day 6.29.12

By ritalovestowrite

“True happiness comes from the joy of deeds well done, the zest of creating things new.”

-Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Antoine de Saint-Exupery was born in Lyons, France on this day in 1900. He would have been 112.

Saint-Exupery was an aviator, adventurer and writer. He made his first solo flight in July of 1921. By 1926 he had secured a job flying mail for Aeropstale over North Africa. His first novel, Southern Mail, was written shortly after. His move to South America and work as director of Aeroposta Argentina became the basis of his second novel, Night Flight. The book was an international best seller and was made into a movie starring Clark Gable in 1933. While recovering from two serious aviation accidents he wrote Wind, Sand and Stars.

At the outbreak of WWII he joined the French Air Force and flew reconnaissance missions. When France fell to Germany, he travelled to the United States and tried to build support for the US entering the War. While here he published Flight to Arras. After two years in the States he joined the Free French Air Force in North Africa, again flying reconnaissance missions. On July 31, 1944 he took off  from an airbase on Corsica and never returned.

The Little Prince  was written while he was in the US, and was published in 1943. It was Saint-Exupery’s best selling book. It has been translated into 250 languages and has sold 200 million copies.

Cover of "The Little Prince (Turtleback S...

Cover via Amazon

 

6 Comments   |  tags: , | posted in postaday, Thought of the Day, Today's Birthday, Writing

June 28, 2012

Thought of the Day 6.28.12

By ritalovestowrite

“There are many little ways to enlarge your child’s world. Love of books is the best of all.”

-Jacqueline B. Kennedy Onassis

 

Jacqueline Lee Bouvier was born on this day in Southampton, New York, in 1929. She would have been 83.

She she had a  privileged childhood full of books and riding lessons. She went to Vassar College and after her Junior year abroad, in France, transferred to George Washington University.  In 1951 she began to work for the Washington Times-Herald newspaper as an “Inquiring Camera Girl,” roving the streets of the city shooting the people she met and asking them for their opinions on current events. One of the people  she met was a young Congressman — and soon to be Senator — from Massachusetts, John F. Kennedy.

Bouvier and Kennedy  wed in 1953. In 1960 he ran for President of the United States. Jackie was  pregnant with their second child and was confined to home, but she helped Jack with the campaign by writing a weekly column “Campaign Wife,” filming commercials and answering letters. Kennedy won the election by a narrow margin over Richard Nixon.  and Jackie became First Lady (a term she disliked because it made her sound like a race horse.)

As First Lady she made renovations to the White House, promoted the arts, and became Good Will Ambassador  to the World. But above all she wanted to be a good wife and mother. “If you bungle raising your children, I don’t think whatever else you do well matters very much.”

President Kennedy was assassinated on November 22, 1963 in Dallas, Texas, and Jackie became a widow at the age of 34.

In 1968 she fell in love with Aristotle Onassis a Greek shipping magnate and the two married. Sadly, Onassis died in 1975, leaving her a widow for the second time.

Jackie returned to the publishing world, becoming an editor at Viking Press and then a senior editor at Doubleday Press.

She died on May 19, 1994 and is buried next to President Kennedy at Arlington National Cemetery.

 

Mrs. Kennedy's trip to India. Udaipur, Rajasth...

Mrs. Kennedy’s trip to India. Udaipur, Rajasthan, cruise on Lake Pichola, March 17, 1962. (Photo credit: Sacheverelle)

 

Leave a comment   |  tags: , | posted in History, Jackie Kennedy Onassis, postaday, Thought of the Day, Today's Birthday

June 27, 2012

Thought of the Day 6.27.12

By ritalovestowrite

“When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us.”

–Helen Keller

Helen Keller was born on this day in 1880 in Tuscumbia, Alabama. She would have been 132.

 

When Keller was 19 months old she contracted an illness that left her deaf and blind. Although able to communicate with rudimentary “Home Signs” she was essentially isolated from the outside world until Anne Sullivan arrived at the Keller home. Sullivan taught Keller American Sign Language. Keller went on to become the first deaf blind person to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree. Eventually she learned to speak, could read Braille, and could communicate through sign language and by reading people’s lips with her hands.

She became a political activist and writer, advocating for people with disabilities.

Helen Keller

Helen Keller (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 

4 Comments   |  tags: | posted in postaday, Thought of the Day, Today's Birthday

June 27, 2012

My Darcy Weekend

By ritalovestowrite

As you may recall from Will (and Jane) This Summer in B’more (June 6) THIS past Friday, Saturday and Sunday was Regency Weekend at the Chesapeake Shakespeare Company (CSC).  The acting troupe put on Christina Calvit’s adaptation of  Jane Austen’s delightful Pride and Prejudice.  The Jane Austen Society of North America: Maryland Chapter (JASNA:MD) joined forces with CSC on Sunday for our Summer meeting, and I came by with some family and friends on Saturday to help with a Game Tent and to drum up some interest in JASNA.

SATURDAY:

My lovely daughter Maggie, my sister Margie, my husband Bill and I headed to Ellicott City’s Patapsco Female Institute (the stabilized ruins of an old girls school that is now an open air theatre and part of the Howard County Park System) where we met our friends  Lynn Reynolds, Chris and Matt. There  we split up to handle Game Duties and the JASNA recruitment table.

I created the Jane Game while working with a graphic design student. It was a side-by-side project and our goal was to create a board game that we would want to play. It is a trivia game based on the novels of Jane Austen and comes with a laminated or cloth playing board, 100 cards on Pride and Prejudice, glass game pieces and a draw string bag. If you are interested in securing your very own game send me a message.

At the Game Tent we set up The JANE GAME a trivia game based on Pride and Prejudice and Austen BINGO.

WoMANning the JASNA table. (Photo courtesy of Kim Rock)

Over at the JASNA info table we had registration forms and some fun Austen inspired gear. JASNA is a terrific organization dedicated to the appreciation of Jane Austen and her writing. The over 4,000 members in JASNA (US and Canada) enjoy reading and discussing Austen’s books, learning more about the things Jane liked to do, and exploring the world that influenced her writing. Membership is open to every one interested in the life and works of Jane Austen and includes: a subscription to JASNA News; JASNA’s literary journal — Persuasions; an invitation to the Annual General Meeting; An invitation to join one or more local chapter — like  JASNA: MD ; and participation in members-only tours of Austen sites.  Membership is only $30.00 per year (for individual members.)

We got to talk to some lovely people (first from the cast, then  from the audience) and then we got to see the play.

Mr. Darcy observes Caroline and Lizzy in a scene from Pride and Prejudice (running now through the end of July at the Chesapeake Shakespeare Company.)

As you may have already figured  out, I’m a huge Jane Austen fan (I’ve created a board  game based on her books and I’ve got my own Regency dress, for heavens sake!)  So I was primed and ready for this stage play of P&P.

And I’m happy to say it was universally charming! Happy thought INDEED!

The pre-show panel “Kitty and Lydia: Mischief and Merriment” with Rachael Jacobs, Karen Stakem Hornig, Mark Turner, Jana Stambaugh and moderator, Polly Bart.

SUNDAY:

JASNA:MD worked with CSC to pull together a special treat for Sunday’s audience, a pre-show panel discussion on “Kitty and Lydia: Mischief and Merriment.” Polly Bart, JASNA:MD’s Programming Chair, co-ordinated the event for the group and acted as the moderator for the panel. She brought together the actresses who play Kitty and Lydia, Jana Stambaugh and Rachael Jacobs, with JASNA members Mark Turner and Karen Stakem Hornig.

Kitty and Lydia on stage.

The actresses spoke on the joys and challenges of bringing their 200 year old characters from the page to the stage. Turner, who is known for delighting JASNA members with his mind tickling Austen era Charades, took over with “Kitty and Lydia: Their Roles and Relationships” (aka “The Case of the Ugly Bonnet”)

Hornig holds up her favorite film adaptation of Pride and Prejudice.

Hornig presented “Kitty and Lydia as Character Types in Film Adaptations of Pride and Prejudice.” (Note the image of Colin Firth on the cover the Collector’s Edition of the DVD.)

Photo courtesy Kim Rock

My friend Kim helped me at the JASNA registration/info table on Sunday. We met some wonderful Jane fans who were interested in learning about the organization, as well as tons of lovely current JASNA members stopped by to say hello!

Jane and Lizzie share a sisterly moment in Act One.

I enjoyed the show even more on Sunday. (All the stage shots in this blog are from Sunday’s performance — you aren’t allowed to use a  flash, but since the Sunday show starts two hours earlier… I could shoot with out a flash.)

Sadly I don’t have any photos of Jose Guzman as Mr. Collins. He was hilarious as the sycophant clergyman. Jonas David Grey (Mr. Bennet) and James Jager (Mr. Bingley) were also very funny. Blythe Coons (Lizzy) and Adam Sheaffer (Mr. Darcy) gave more subtle, but equally delicious performances. I particularly like how the audience on Sunday was cheering for Jana Stambaugh — after her pre-show talk about how she, Kitty,  was the “Jan” of the Bennet family, she definitely had us in her corner.

This just in: Thanks to Kim Rock, we now have a picture showing Mr. Collins! (fourth from the right).

Although my weekend with Mr. Darcy, Lizzy and the rest of the Pride and Prejudice cast is over I hope that you will take the opportunity to visit Chesapeake Shakespeare Company this summer and catch this charming adaptation of Jane Austen’s classic.

Pride and Prejudice runs in repertoire with Romeo and Juliet until July 29th.

Cheers! Rita

3 Comments   |  tags: , , , | posted in 1812, Jane Austen, JASNA, Pride and Prejudice, Theatre

June 26, 2012

Thought of the Day 6.26.12

By ritalovestowrite

“You can judge your age by the amount of pain you feel when you come in contact with a new idea.”

–Pearl S. Buck

Pearl S. Buck was born Pearl Comfort Sydenstricker on this day in Hillsboro, West Virginia in 1892. She would have been 120.

She was one of seven children born to Absalom and Caroline Sydenstricker. The Sydenstrickers were Southern Presbyterian missionaries who were stationed in China. Pearl spent much of the first half of her life in Asia and drew on her experiences there for East Wind, West Wind and The Good Earth. The latter won the Pulitzer Prize and the Howells Medal. She was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1938

In 1935 she moved back to the US and became active in both the Civil Rights Movement and the Woman’s Rights Movement. She also worked to bridge the cultural gap between the US and China, and she founded the Welcome House and the Pearl S. Buck Foundation.

English: Pearl Buck

English: Pearl Buck (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

1 Comment | posted in Pearl S. Buck, Thought of the Day, Today's Birthday, Uncategorized, Writing

June 25, 2012

Thought of the Day 6.25.12

By ritalovestowrite

“Every generation imagines itself to be more intelligent than the one that went before it, and wiser than the one that comes after it.”

–George Orwell

George Orwell was born Eric Arthur Blair  in Motihari, Bihar, British India today in 1903. He would have been 109.

Orwell was a writer who both drew on his own experiences and penned dystopic fantasy to skewer social injustice and totalitarianism.

Although born in India he was raised in England. He returned to the East as a member of the Indian Police Service  in 1922.  He worked there for five years until he came down with Dengue fever, at which point he came back  to Great Britain. Orwell’s novel Burmese Days and his essays “A Hanging” and “Shooting an Elephant” are based on his experiences in India and Burma.

Upon his return to England he took up housing on London’s Portobello Road and decided to write about the lives of the impoverished in his own country. He dressed as if he lived in the streets, took menial jobs and purposefully got himself arrested so he could write first hand accounts of society’s

underbelly.  The book Down and Out in Paris and London chronicled this time period. But he was a man living two lives, as he also held respectable jobs as a journalist and as a teacher much of that time.

Other novels include: The Clergyman’s Daughter, Coming up for Air, The Road to Wigan Pier, Homage to Catalonia and Keep the Aspidistra Flying

Animal Farm, an allegorical take on Communism and corruption,  was published in 1945. It was a critical and financial success, but Orwell was is poor health. He published Nineteen Eighty-Four , his last novel, about a grim society  with perpetual war, thoughtcrimes, doublethink,  and Newspeak in 1949.

Category:George Orwell Category:Nineteen Eight...

Category:George Orwell Category:Nineteen Eighty Four (Original text : George Orwell, 1984. This self-made image is based on a picture that appears in an old acreditation for the BNUJ.) Picture of George Orwell taken from File:GeoreOrwell.jpg. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

2 Comments   |  tags: | posted in Fiction, postaday, Thought of the Day, Writing