2. These Tributes for the Passing of Queen Elizabeth – I’m worried for the UK. From what I’ve read, the new Prime Minister is like Margaret Thatcher on steroids. That is the last thing they need right now. And they don’t have the EU to keep things from going off the rails and now they don’t even have the Queen. Guess we’ll see what mettle King Charles is made of.
4. This Rousing Speech by Michael Sheen – If you ever doubted Sheen’s talent, you won’t after watching this. If he had been born 100 years ago (or more) he’d have ruled the world. Hell, he could rule the world today if he wanted to.
This was posted by a friend of mine on FB and one of her friends posted a comment saying here’s evidence that this speech is completely spontaneous –
As a Welshman I’d like to explain a few things for those that might not know:
Spirit of ’58 – This is referring to the last time Wales got to the World Cup – 1958. The teams have been pretty poor between then and until the last 5 or so years so it’s seen as a massive achievement just to get to the finals.
Rob’s page – This is referencing the current Wales manager Rob Page who has been somewhat of a really good stand-in after Ryan Giggs, the previous manager, was removed after assault allegations surfaced.
Yma o hyd, you sons of speed – This is two references, the first is a very popular Welsh language folk song called Yma O Hyd, which has been co opted recently by the Welsh fans and Welsh FA to stir support. It’s a song about although being invaded and ruled by the English and despite their best efforts, the Welsh language and the Welsh people / culture are ‘still here’ (yma o hyd in welsh).
The other reference in this is to Gary Speed, a Welsh football legend who sadly committed suicide in 2011 that was adored by Welsh football fans.
[Shared with me by Angela G., Thanks Stasie!]
5. This Video Showing a Cartoonist Creating a Work of Art – MESMERIZING!
6. This Artist’s Drawings of the Queues Waiting to Say Good-bye to the Queen – Beautiful art illustrating an historic moment.
Well, I missed another week. This time it was due to a happy reason – visitors (had THE BEST time!)
I’ve found that I’m doing a lot more things out of the house in general. I think I’ve finally been able to convince my brain that the pandemic is over.
Socialization, what a concept!
One thing I’ll miss (as an introvert) is being able to use the pandemic as an excuse – that sure was convenient…
Okay, let’s get to it…
1. This New Podcast by Meghan Markle – The Duchess of Sussex launched her new podcast called ‘Archetypes‘ and boy was I excited when I first read about it.
There’s only one episode so far but it was a doozy – an interview with Serena Williams. Hearing these two successful and accomplished women, who both happen to be people of color, talk about their experiences with sexism and misogyny, was emotional, sometimes infuriating, and definitely relatable.
For example, at one point they discussed the double standards of how men are often referred to as “passionate” when they get loud, emotional or have a short temper but when women behave exactly the same way they are described as having a “melt-down.” They gave a few different examples of this.
I don’t think this podcast is going to solve the sexism/misogyny problems in the world BUT what it will do is make women realize they are not crazy for feeling the way they feel. Too often women have been kept in place through gaslighting – men and superiors making women believe that they are wrong for feeling disrespected or used or mentally abused. Discussions like this will help women know that they aren’t crazy and they certainly aren’t alone.
2. This Mom Speaking Up Against Book Banning – BRAVO! And note the sound of people applauding her. Honestly, I know that all the pundits and experts are saying that the midterms are going to be close and that everyone is more concerned with the economy that book banning and Roe v Wade and other social issues, but I don’t believe that our country is so lost.
Me speaking at the Granbury ISD school board meeting tonight . Granbury ISD is continuing to purge books. The folks that show up at every meeting demanding books be removed , not a single one is a GISD parent. Yet , the school board seems to be giving them everything they want . pic.twitter.com/CUqCacoqYI
3. This Little Article from 1912 – Yes, you are reading that correctly, it is from August 14, 1912. We’ve known that fossil fuels are damaging to the climate for well over 100 years and yet people have been ignoring the warnings. And by people I mean those who PROFIT from fossil fuels. Don’t get me started…
4. This New Bill Nye Show – Bill Nye for Adults (and teens). One part disaster film, one part political commentary (Nye does NOT hold back), two parts science lesson (but done with flair, cuz it’s Bill Nye!) A-W-E-S-O-M-E! Too bad the people who need to watch it won’t be watching it. But hopefully a lot of tweens and teens watch it and they’ll be able to vote soon enough.
5. These Posters – I was able to see the Always New: The Posters of Jules Cheret exhibit at the Milwaukee Art Museum about a week ago. The exhibit includes over 100 of Cheret’s posters from the collection of 600 posters that were donated to the MAM by James and Susee Wiechmann.
I’ve had an obsession with vintage French posters for ages. This is the second vintage poster exhibition I’ve been lucky enough to see at the Milwaukee Art Museum and I’m thrilled to know that these posters are going to be part of its permanent collection.
6. This Photo of Daddy Pete – SO sweet!
[From my friend Jeanne, thanks sweetie!]
7. This Film Short – Has a slight Gorey-esque quality.
2. This Service Offered by NASA – A few days ago the International Space Station (ISS) few over my hometown. Unfortunately I didn’t hear about it until after it had happened, as I read all my neighbors commenting about how cool it was on Next Door. Bummer!
The International Space Station is pictured from the SpaceX Crew Dragon Endeavour during a fly around of the orbiting lab that took place following its undocking from the Harmony module’s space-facing port on Nov. 8, 2021.
That’s when I discovered that you can sign up to be notified whenever the ISS flies over your zip code. It’s called “Spot the Station” and it’s simple to do. Choose whether you want to be notified via email or text and enter your zip code (be sure to select the actual community you live in on the map) Once you sign up they will send you a confirmation code. Enter that and you’re good to go.
This is what one of the text notifications look like (I got my first one already!)
3. This Collaboration Between Kellogg’s and Penguin Random House – I’m not a big fan of sugary cereals (well, truthfully I am a big fan, but everyone knows they’re unhealthy, especially for us menopausal broads.) I am, however, an ENORMOUS fan of promoting summer reading and I love that Kellogg’s is healing kids (and adults) get free books just for eating cereal. I mean, the kids can read these books for the Summer Reading programs that they’ve signed up for at the LOCAL PUBLIC LIBRARIES.
The Kellogg’s Feeding Reading program is in its fourth year. It’s odd that I’ve never heard of it before now.
5. This Bold Kindergarten Teacher – On November 9, 1938 Mrs. Helen (Hurlick) Beebe was called to testify in court as a witness to a burglary. Judge Arthur S. Guerin, noticing that Mrs. Beebe was wearing trousers, reprimanded her for wearing something that was so distracting. To everyone’s amazement, Judge Guerin rescheduled the proceeding so that Mrs. Beebe could return in what he deemed a more “acceptable outfit.” In other words, he wanted her to put on a dress.
Well, Helen wasn’t going to have any of this jerk’s misogynistic bullshit. And she showed up at the rescheduled hearing once again wearing slacks. The judge rescheduled the hearing again, this time warning Helen that if she showed up in slacks she would be held in Contempt of Court.
After the second postponed hearing, Helen was interviewed and quoted as saying”
“Listen, I’ve worn slacks since I was 15,” She said, “I don’t own a dress except a formal. If he wants me to appear in a formal gown that’s okay with me. I’ll come back in slacks and if he puts me in jail I hope it will help to free women forever of anti-slackism.”
Helen Hurlick Beebe
Anti-slackism – I LOVE IT!
Sure enough, when she showed up in slacks a third time, the judge threw her in jail for contempt. Her sentence was five days. And just to add salt to the wound, the judge made her wear a denim dress while she was incarcerated.
Helen was released early and her case went to the Appellate Court. They overturned Judge Guerlin’s ridiculous ruling, giving her carte blanche to wear whatever she wanted to the next hearing. She chose to wear a formal evening gown. Sassy.
6. This Sunday Morning Story on Refrigerators – now I want one. And I want to remodel my kitchen…. Mostly though I love that this is a long-time Fitchburg, Wisconsin company that is still going strong AND manufacturing here.
7. This Upcoming Hallmark Movie – Hallmark has really been upping its game on diversity. They’ve aired several LGBTQ+ movies (not just ones with peripheral characters who are LGBTQ+ but actual movies ABOUT LBGTQ+ love stories); they have a line of Mahogany cards & ornaments targeted for African-American customers and now they’re adding a series of Mahogany movies; and just a few days ago I saw a trailer for this movie…
Romance in Style is all about BODY POSITIVITY! Yippee. You can see the trailer HERE.
1. This Cartoon – Fight Extremism and Save Democracy!
GIRL POWER!
2. These Mini-Histories – These beautiful little videos (I feel like they should be called filmlets) about specific cathedrals and castles in the UK include a brief history narrated by Evelyn Edwards.
3. These Photos of the Stars – You’ve probably already seen these photos someplace but I’m including them nevertheless. The first photos were released from the James Webb Space Telescope and they are freaking amazing!
To really see how incredible these photos are you can visit this interactive webpage that NBC created where they have side-by-side comparisons of photos taken by Hubble vs. Webb.
This is the most spectacular of the photos…
This landscape of “mountains” and “valleys” speckled with glittering stars is actually the edge of a nearby, young, star-forming region called NGC 3324 in the Carina Nebula. Captured in infrared light by NASA’s new James Webb Space Telescope, this image reveals for the first time previously invisible areas of star birth. Called the Cosmic Cliffs, Webb’s seemingly three-dimensional picture looks like craggy mountains on a moonlit evening. In reality, it is the edge of the giant, gaseous cavity within NGC 3324, and the tallest “peaks” in this image are about 7 light-years high. The cavernous area has been carved from the nebula by the intense ultraviolet radiation and stellar winds from extremely massive, hot, young stars located in the center of the bubble, above the area shown in this image.
And these are pretty damned impressive (especially when you look at the NBC interactive site.)
This side-by-side comparison shows observations of the Southern Ring Nebula in near-infrared light, at left, and mid-infrared light, at right, from NASA’s Webb Telescope. This scene was created by a white dwarf star – the remains of a star like our Sun after it shed its outer layers and stopped burning fuel though nuclear fusion. Those outer layers now form the ejected shells all along this view. In the Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) image, the white dwarf appears to the lower left of the bright, central star, partially hidden by a diffraction spike. The same star appears – but brighter, larger, and redder – in the Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) image. This white dwarf star is cloaked in thick layers of dust, which make it appear larger.
One last thing, as usual the twitter-verse has had some fun with something that went viral. Here’s an article from Hyperallergic that has compiled some of the best memes about the James Webb Space Telescope but here’s one just to lure you in…
4. This Drink Tip – I saw this video on the Milwaukee Journal Facebook Page about summer mocktail drink tips (I LOVE Kristopher!) One of his suggestions was to use frozen fruit to keep drinks cold. Genius! Who likes a watered down drink and as Kristopher mentions, you get a healthy snack to boot.
The only draw back is that there may be a limitation on which fruits you can use based on size.
Somehow I ended up finding these and I think they are an equally good solution if there are any fruits that you like that may not work as well frozen by themselves.
(For some of us, things have been difficult for a while – in Wisconsin it’s been particularly difficult for those of us who are/were public employees for example.)
But last week was, by far the most audacious example of complete disregard of the Constitution, Precedent, Freedom of Religion (which is literally why our country exists), Respect for Women, and Democracy.
Of course I am talking about the Dodd Decision which resulted in the overturning of Roe vs. Wade. But, the decision on abortion wasn’t the only major decision SCOTUS made last week that will impact millions of Americans and that went against wishes of the majority of Americans.
On Tuesday SCOTUS ruled that Marietta Memorial Hospital could reimburse their employees requiring dialysis at low rates in the hopes that the employees would switch to Medicare (so they’d be completely off the hook.). DaVita (a dialysis provider, frankly not necessarily the hero in this – they’re just trying to get more business) sued the hospital claiming that the hospital was discriminating against their employees by offering the low reimbursements. SCOTUS said that because the hospital offered the same reimbursement amount to all renal disease patients, whether they had end-stage renal disease or not, it wasn’t discrimination. (End stage costs a lot more.) I think it’s appalling that insurers, especially a hospital, can pick and choose what diseases to cover. (FYI, shockingly Sonia Sotomayor voted with the conservative justices. I wonder if it was her effort to “regain the public’s confidence“. Think she feels differently now? And/or after hearing this?)
Also on Tuesday, SCOTUS ruled that Maine could not prevent religious schools from receiving public funds through the statue tuition program. Separation of Church and State is gasping for air and about to take its last breath.
On Thursday three rulings came down. The first SCOTUS ruling was not only an attack on States’ Rights but was an outrageous interpretation of the 2nd amendment. The timing was also deplorable considering the Uvalde, Brooklyn, and other recent mass shootings. In this ruling, the conservative majority struck down a New York State law that set limitations on carrying guns outside of the home.
To me, the Second Amendment seems fairly clear: “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.“
It’s that second comma that is the problem. It basically says – because a WELL-REGULATED Militia is necessary for a “State” (or government) to remain free and secure, the government shall not infringe the rights of individuals to keep and bear “Arms.” Setting aside that it SAYS “well-regulated” right in the amendment, my feeling is as long as people are able to have access to some “arms” (it doesn’t define arms, could that be pitchforks, pinking shears, a rolling pin?), I would think the government would be within its right to regulate guns that it felt were a threat to public safety. After all, that is one of the government’s main jobs. But what do I know. I’m no lawyer. Clearly.
I read this article today and I think the question is not just specific to California. Are Americans prepared for black and brown people to be carrying guns in public? This is not going to end well.
Another ruling was an attack on every American’s right to Miranda. A man named Mr. Tekoh wasn’t read his Miranda rights and was questioned “at length” by a sheriff. He ended up signing a confession.
The judge ALLOWED the confession (which is hugely problematic for so many reasons,) Still, the jury acquitted the man. Mr. Tekoh filed a civil lawsuit against the sheriff for violating his constitutional rights.
These conservatives (@#$%^(#*) Justices have ruled that Miranda isn’t actually a constitutional right. Alito had the balls to say that although Miranda has constitutional roots, “a violation of Miranda does not necessarily constitute a violation of the Constitution.”
Justice Kagan wrote in dissent:
“Today,” she wrote, “the court strips individuals of the ability to seek a remedy for violations of the right recognized in Miranda. The majority observes that defendants may still seek ‘the suppression at trial of statements obtained’ in violation of Miranda’s procedures.”
“But sometimes,” Justice Kagan continued, “such a statement will not be suppressed. And sometimes, as a result, a defendant will be wrongly convicted and spend years in prison. He may succeed, on appeal or in habeas, in getting the conviction reversed. But then, what remedy does he have for all the harm he has suffered?”
The third ruling on Thursday had to do with an individual on death row. A man was asking that his death sentence be carried out by firing squad instead of lethal injection because his veins were compromised, which means a lethal injection death would be cruel and unusual.
There are only four states in the country that use firing squad as an approved method of execution. Georgia, where this prisoner resided, is not one of those four states.
Coney Barrett, Thomas, Alito, and Gorsuch were in dissent. They claimed that the man was trying to get out of his punishment because death by firing squad may never be approved in Georgia. It’s telling that these four put execution before the 8th Amendment. But then they are all Federalists.
AND TODAY (Monday) SCOTUS issued three more decisions: a. The first was interesting – it will allow some prison inmates to ask for reduced sentences. The reason for this – Trump’s First Step Act, signed into law in 2018. And it was the three liberal justices, Gorsuch, and THOMAS who said Yea! The intent is of the law is to reduce racial disparity. Shame on the other four. b. The second – And the wall came tumbling down. No surprise the praying coach won. Prayer is soon coming to a public school near you. c. The third – Doctors are pretty much off the hook (or getting a second chance) on the opioid thing.
There is one more big decision come down the road. That is WEST VIRGINIA v. the EPA. If SCOTUS rules against the EPA, the US will have no way to limit greenhouse gases, power plant emissions or any pollution that is creating climate change. The likelihood that this Supreme Court would rule in favor of WV is fairly high.
I will say though, there are a few things that ensued from this shitstorm of anti-democratic decisions that made me feel better, gave me hope, but also made me recognize that this country is most likely going to become more divided before we return to any semblance of normalcy.
These tweets would be two of them…
Let’s be clear: if you believe the government belongs in a woman’s uterus, a gay persons business or marriage, or that racism is okay- THEN PLEASE IN THE NAME OF YOUR LORD NEVER FUCKING LISTEN TO MY MUSIC AGAIN. AND ALSO FUCK RIGHT OFF. We good?
1. This Font – Honestly, this is genius and if I could read everything in this font I would not only be a happier person but a more educated one as well. If you click HERE it’ll take you to the Bionic Reading website where there is a Chrome extension you can add to convert pages into the font (I haven’t tried that since I don’t use Chrome) and there is a general convertor where you can either enter a URL (which is great for those really long Atlantic and New Yorker articles) or you can upload a file (unfortunately it only accepts TXT, RTF, RTFD, EPUB or DOCX – NO PDFs.)
Maybe someday everything will have Bionic Reading as an option and we can just turn it on!
2. This Seventeenth-Century Woman Artist – Artemisia Gentileschi – “Judith and Her Maidservant with the Head of Holofernes” (c. 1624-27), oil on canvas, 73 11/16″ x 55 7/8″. Detroit Institute of Arts
3. This News about Mandy Patinkin and Kathryn Grody – O…..M…..G I don’t know how many of you made it through the pandemic watching videos of Mandy and Kathryn (like I and millions of others did) but I could watch the two of them ALL DAY! Sadly, this show will only be a 30 minute sitcom on Showtime, it’s called Seasoned. Just like with their home videos, their son Gideon is involved. I cannot wait!!!
To get an idea of what it’s gonna be like…
[Sent to me by Ann L. – Thanks Ann!]
4. This Clever Pride Flag – Kitsch + Pride Month = Perfection.
5. This Chihuly Museum – How have I never heard about this??? It’s located in Seattle.
Photos by Mellanie Mercier
[Found by my friend Mellanie]
6. This Sparkling Water – Finally something I can drink that isn’t caffeinated, has no sugar or artificial sweeteners, and isn’t overly carbonated. I picked up an 8 pack of this from Imperfect Foods and gave it a try. Was I delighted! Found out it’s at my local grocery and I promptly picked up a second 8 pack. I really like the raspberry-lime flavor. The only other one I’ve tried is the “Arnold Palmer” (half lemon/half tea).
They have cocktail recipes on their website. These would be genius in cocktails or mocktails!
7. These Magazine Covers – I think all of them except for the Blondie cover are from the best decade of the 20th century, the 1980s (the Blondie one is from the 70s.) Richard Bernstein created the covers of Warhol’s Interview Magazine from 1972 through 1989. Iconic.
1. This Grrrl – It’s no surprise that Lizzo the goddess would handle a mistake like an adult.
After the release of the track Grrrls from her upcoming album ‘Special,’ there was a bit of a social media uproar because the lyrics contained some words considered derogatory to the disabled community.
Instead of making excuses and getting defensive or apologizing and then doing nothing about it, Lizzo apologized andchanged the lyrics. She actually listened. Shocking!
2. This Performance Artist / Dada “Dynamo” – She was one of those people who lived many lives in a lifetime. Elsa Hildegard Plötz was born in 1874 in Swinemünde in Pomerania, Germany (now Świnoujście, Poland.) ,
In her younger years she did vaudeville in Berlin and then traveled around Europe leaving a string of lovers behind her. She eventually landed up in NYC where she worked as an artist’s model and she also created her own art, mostly with found objects – sculpture, fashion, performance art, she didn’t limit herself in the mediums she worked with.. She also wrote poetry and it was considered “perhaps the best of any woman’s of our time” by TheLittle Review.
She made sculptures and costumes from found objects (her wedding ring was a rusted metal hoop picked off the pavement) and wrote experimental poetry, which she also performed. Memorable ensembles included a bra constructed from tomato soup cans and a caged canary; hats tinkling with stolen teaspoons; postage stamps worn instead of rouge. Modesty, whether in the studio or on the street, was for squares. She collaborated with fellow surrealists Marcel Duchamp and Man Ray on the film The Baroness Shaves Her Pubic Hair. Alas only a few stills survived the editing process.
From ‘Sleep with everyone! Be embarrassing!’ – the dada baroness who shocked society by Hettie Judah; The Guardian; 31 May, 2022
It was in NY that Plötz acquired her Baroness title, after a brief marriage at age 39.
She was considered a pioneer in dadaism, she is credited with having invented “Readymade” (though like so many woman in art, she isn’t really given any sort of honors for the achievement – case in point, an article about Readymade that doesn’t even mention her and which is linked to from the article about the Baroness where it saying she invented “Readymade”!)
She was a contemporary of Marcel Duchamp and Man Ray and other , were members New York’s literary and art scene, especially those in the Arensberg Circle of Artists. In fact she collaborated with Duchamp and Man Ray on a film called “The Baroness Shaves Her Pubic Hair” (there are only a few stills remaining.)
Still, despite all these accomplishments, her male counterparts, who actually, in some cases, were working on concepts thought up by the Baroness, are the ones people know of, whose names people recognize, who are in the museums, who received the credit. Will the historical sexism ever be rectified?
3. These Crocs – These are wonderful sandals – They have great support and cushiness which are the two things most important to me nowadays. They don’t run particularly wide or narrow, which is good because the straps aren’t adjustable (and they don’t come in a “wide” size). I also like that they give me a little height. For decades I tried to hide my height but now that I’ve started shrinking I am actually happy to have a little lift back.
Having said all that, there are a couple things I wish were different…
Ass I mentioned, the straps aren’t adjustable. That’s actually not a good thing. My left foot is slightly bigger because I broke it years ago. The sandals fit me great but when my feet swell, as they are bound to do, especially if I’ve been on them all day, or if it’s hot, or if I’ve had too much sodium, the left shoe gets uncomfortable tight.
I REALLY wish they would have made these flat. To clarify, as I said, I like the height, I just wish the heels were even with the toes. I just don’t think it’s good for anyone’s foot to have all the pressure on the ball of your foot. They certainly don’t do this for men’s shoes.
One last thing, they don’t really “breathe” so your feel will may get hot sometimes.
5. This Teacher – Mr. Daniel Gill has kept an empty chair in his classroom for FIFTY years. He’s done this to teach his students the importance of making people feel welcome.
Let me explain. When Gill was a kid he had a best friends named Archie. Archie was black. Gill was white. Neither boy thought anything of this until one day when the two of the went to a birthday party together. They showed up and the mother of the child who the party was for, answered the door. She looked at both of the boys and proceeded to tell them she didn’t have enough chairs. Gill told her that was okay, they didn’t both need a chair, they could either share or could even sit on the floor. She repeated that there wasn’t enough chairs and that is when the boys realized it had nothing to do with chairs, it had to do with the color of Archie’s skin.
So, in the 1980s, when Daniel Gill started teaching, he put an empty chair in his classroom s that there would always be an extra seat available for anyone who stop by – there would never not be enough chairs.
He has taught five decades worth of students lessons of tolerance and anti-racism.
6. This Deleted Scene from Love Actually – There are so many wonderful things about this scene, I actually wish it had been left in. It makes me wonder what other deleted scenes are out there.
7. This Ragtime Song – It will put anyone into a better mood. The rag was written in 1913 by Amanda Ira Aldridge, a British composer whose father was African-American and mother was Swedish.
After completing her studies, Aldridge worked as a concert singer, piano accompanist, and voice teacher. A throat condition ended her concert appearances, and she turned to teaching and published about thirty songs between the years 1907 and 1925 in a romantic parlour style, as well as instrumental music in other styles. Among her pupils were the children of London’s politically-active Black middle-classes, including Amy Barbour-James, daughter of John Barbour-James, Frank Alcindor son of Dr John Alcindor, and composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’ssister Alice Evans.[2] Her notable students included African-American performers Roland Hayes, Lawrence Benjamin Brown, Marian Anderson and Paul Robeson, and Bermudian-British actor Earl Cameron.[3][4][5][6] In 1930, when Robeson performed as Othello in the West End, Aldridge was in attendance, and gave Robeson the gold earrings that her father Ira Aldridge had worn as Othello.[7] Aldridge also took the singer Ida Shepley under her wing and converted her from a singer to a stage actor.[4] In 1951, African-American weekly magazine Jet reported that she was still giving piano and voice lessons aged 86.[8]
1. This Overlooked Female Artist – Hilma af Klint. Have you heard of her? I’d never heard of her. But last week I was visiting with friends and we watched a fantastic documentary called Beyond the Visible: Hilma af Klint (you absolutely need to watch it) and whoa.
There’ve been many visionary women who have been overlooked in history simply because they were female. It seems this may be particularly true in the world of art.
And in fact, some of the “firsts” that have been attributed to white males were not actually done first by these men.
One person whose story fits into this category is Hilma af Klint.
Miss af Klint was born in Sweden in 1862. She exhibited artistic talent from an early age and even studied art at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts. Though she chose not to live the “traditional” life that was expected of her – to get married and have children – she did take a more traditional route with her professional art career while she was alive.
But privately she was painting magnificent abstract art, some pieces being enormous and in large series.
Another mark against af Klint was that she was a spiritualist, which led to her being called a “crazy witch”. It gave people, particularly men, an excuse to dismiss her work as being frivolous.
In 1908 af Klint met Rudolf Steiner, who was a noted occultist and clairvoyant. She asked him to visit her studio so she could share some of her private work. It did not go well. He told her he was unimpressed with the work and that it wasn’t appropriate for a theosophist. Fortunately for the world this didn’t stop af Klint from continuing her painting but it is mostly responsible for why no one saw any of her works until decades after her death.
(Side note: Wassily Kandinsky has been dubbed the “Father of Abstract Art.” Kandinsky claims to have created the first abstract painting in 1911. As noted above, af Klint was showing her abstract pieces to Steiner in 1908. Also, Kandinsky was a follower of Rudolf Steiner. Coincidence? Of course not.)
As a result of Steiner’s dismissal of her art, af Klint continued to hide her abstract paintings. When she passed away in 1944 she left all her art to her nephew – all 1200 pieces of them! She requested he keep them for at least twenty years before doing anything with them. Her nephew barely was able to store them and frankly, it’s a miracle they survived.
After that he tried donating them to the Moderna Museet but they declined (I bet they could kick themselves now.) Finally a foundation int he artist’s name was created an accepted the paintings in the 1970s. It took nearly four more decades before the world finally appreciated Hilma af Klint’s work and even today the art world has not given her the status she deserves.
One last thing – this artist paints pictures of people looking at other people’s art.
2. This John Oliver Piece on School Safety Officers – There are many reasons why we need to get police out of schools. We have the data. Use your vote wisely in November.
4. This Video of the Queen Having Tea with Paddington Bear – There is so much to love about this video. I know that people have opinions about the monarchy and historically, the rulers of England have done some horrifying things, but Lilibet has always tried to do the right thing for her people. She may have been more willing to remain within the formal confines of tradition than Diana, but in a lot of ways they were more alike than people are willing to recognize.
[Thanks for the link Meta!]
5. This Glass Artist – I mentioned I was visiting with friends last week. One of them, the place where we were all staying, my one friend Dawn has an art studio and makes beautiful things there.
6. These Cookies – I think we can all agree that pretty much everything at Trader Joe’s is wonderful but some items are simply supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. These madeleines fall into that category.
7. These Pastry and Confectionery – Jules Gouffé, a renowned chef during the middle of the 19th century, was nicknamed l’apôtre de la cuisine décorative (or, The apostle of decorative cuisine.) Chef Gouffé had a huge influence on French gastronomy and published four books that were even translated into English by his brother Alphonse, who was the head pastry chef to Queen Victoria.
Clearly this man did not believe that less is more.
Nougat Vase Filled with Strawberries on Nougat Stand
Before we get started – hey Wordle fans, have you tried Artle yet? I read about it this morning on Hyperallergic. It was launched by the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. I got the second piece of art today. Haven’t a clue what the first one was.
Also, I found a large stash of British coins in a Harrods coin purse I had (much more logical than in with my foreign coin collection because I plan on using these next time I go to the UK.) And there were enough for me to make the shield. COOL! I even had enough for two more shields less one coin each. I have a ridiculous amount of foreign coinage.
Anyway, back to the important stuff!
1. These Toast Plates – Those who know me will understand why I went a little gaga when I saw these and they also know I would never leave the store without having purchased them.
I found these beauties in the gift area of my local grocery store, but if you want them (and why wouldn’t you?!?) I found them online for significantly less than what I paid (about a third of the price.) I’m thinking I may need more than 4! (Especially after I broke one of the glasses I bought in Prague today, glasses that I bought 27 years ago and can’t get any more. It me wish I had bought more than 4.)
Click on the picture below to go to the site.
2. This 13-Year-Old Singing Empty Chairs at Empty Tables – If this doesn’t make your heart ache you had better check your pulse.
3. This Turn-of-the-(Twentieth)-Century French “Influencer” – Cléopâtre-Diane de Mérode was born in 1875 in Paris. Her mother enrolled her in ballet classes at eight years old. Turns out that Cleo was a prodigy, and she debuted with the Paris Ballet when she was only eleven years old.
By sixteen, Cleo had become a teenage trend setter, becoming known for her signature hairstyle (a chignon.) The hairstyle became so popular it caused problems with the Swedish telephone service…
“The Stockholm telephone authorities are finding fault now with the way in which (switchboard operators) do their hair. It appears that of late the Swedish lassies …have adopted the mode of coiffure first initiated by the French dancer Cleo de Merode, in which the hair is drawn over the ears. The subscribers have since found a falling off in the hearing powers of the operators, as the result of which complaints of inefficiency in the service have been made.”
The American telephone journal, Volume 8, 1903
This photo was taken in 1903 and would have been sold as a collectible card/postcard. Didn’t the person who do the restoration/colorizing do an amazing job?
Cléo de Mérode has been referred to as the most beautiful woman in the world.
If you want to read more about her, there is an excellent article here.
4. This Photo – I literally love everything about it. Literally.
6. This Instagram Artist – You’ll absolutely go down the rabbit hole on this IG page. Ariel Adkins travels the world creating wearable art that matches or complements the places she is photographed.
7. This History of Why We Decorate Our Nails – This was super interesting. It’s not just about the history of why we paint our nails, but also about the cultural significance of nail art. (Melissa K, you’ll want to watch, obs.)
1. This Little Known Fact about Bea Arthur – or maybe it isn’t a little known fact and I simply never knew about it (or more likely, I just forgot.)
So, did any of you know that the woman who brought us Maude Findlay and Dorothy Zbornak was in the U.S. Marines at the tender age of 21?
Honestly, I didn’t even know the Marines let in women during WWII. Apparently it was the last service branch to do so. This was due to reservations held by Corps Commandant General Thomas Holcomb.
The primary reason for allowing women into the armed services was to free up men from non-combative positions. so they could be sent to the front. Holcomb eventually conceded and allowed women to join in 1943.
Women had already joined the army, navy, and airforce a year earlier. Each branch had come up with a name for the female sector of their branch. The army called theirs the Women’s Auxillary Army Corps (WAAC), the navy had the Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service (WAVES) and the airborn division had the Women’s Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron (WAFS). Once the Marines opened up to women the suggestions came in, including Glamarines and Femarines. Fortunately, Holcomb felt that Marines were Marines and he nixed the use of a separate group name.
2. This County Clare (Ireland) Artist’s Work – sigh.
Here is his website (though it’s extremely slow but definitely worth the visit,)
3. This Speech by Michigan State Senator Mallory McMorrow – Democrats/liberals/progressives need to start pushing back in this culture war.
ICYMI:
Senator Lana Theis accused me by name of grooming and sexualizing children in an attempt to marginalize me for standing up against her marginalizing the LGBTQ community…in a fundraising email, for herself.
4. This 3-D Virtual Tour of the Crystal Palace in London – created during the pandemic, the 3-D virtual tour of the Crystal Palace (which you can access here) is super cool though I’ll admit I had difficulty navigating at first, which is why you may want to check out the video below (or this shorter video) before trying it out.
5. This Recycling Symbol That Doesn’t Require a Magnifying Glass To Read – This is from a giant container of CostCo blueberries (about two very generous pints in one container.) I’m telling you the size to give a better idea of how large the symbol (actually called Resin Identification Code or RIC) really is. No squinting required.
It’s already so complicated to figure out what can and cannot be recycled and the US does a horrible job at recycling (so horrible that we can’t sell most of our recycling anymore – which is a huge problem.)
I don’t understand why companies make the recycling symbols so damned small on the bottom of packages.
Does it take away from the package aesthetics? No, it’s the bottom of the GD package.
Is there not enough room? No, 99% of the time there is tons of space around a teeny-tiny little recycling symbol.
Does it cost more to make the symbol bigger? I honestly don’t know. But I can’t imagine it does. I suppose the extra amount of plastic multiplied by the thousands of packages a company produced could result in a minimal cost but Jeez Louise, is it really that much of a savings?
More companies need to follow FamilyTree Farms’ example.
6. This Toast Art – The Kiss by Gustav Klimt is one of my all-time favorite paintings. Toast is on of my all-time favorite foods. Need I say more…
[Found on Facebook]
7. This Biker Jacket – There may be cooler biker jackets but none that warm my heart nearly as much.
1. This Winslow Homer Painting – I just think it’s an incredible piece of art but if you want to read an in-depth analysis of the piece, you can find that here.
“Dressing for the Carnival” by Winslow Homer, (1877)
4. This Lip Balm – I had been using the same lip balm (Sugar Advanced Therapy Treatment Lip Balm) for some time but found that whenever I carried it in places where it could get warm it got melty. Kiehl’s has a similar product that is better but I’m not sure they are making it anymore. I haven’t been able to find it for a while and their website shows it is out of stock in all colors (though they do have a “notify me” option on the page.)
They both lasted longer than most lip balms I had found but I still have to re-apply throughout the day. That is when I found this product. Well, technically I found this first, but it’s a bit pricey. So I looked for something similar that wasn’t going to break the bank AND that was an all natural product.
6. This Banned Book – Which resulted in a non-fiction graphic book about its banning to be published in fall of 2023.
Jarrett Dapier was a library science graduate student in 2013 when he filed a Freedom of Information Act request that resulted in his uncovering a Chicago school district’s attempt to remove Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi without following the formal book challenge process. Once the information became public there was an outcry from both students and parents.
The book, called Wake Now In The Fire, is written by Dapier and illustrated by AJ Dungo, and tells the story of a group of high school students who are trying to push back against censorship at their own school.
7. These Two Friends – Denise Mercedes and Maria Castellanos like to show how clothes look on bodies of different sizes. I would give anything to have had more body positivity growing up.
I thought I’d add a new section to the blog. Am I taking requests? We’ll see. Either way, hopefully you’ll discover something new or reminisce on something old.
Click on the image to go to the video to hear the song.
Natalia Lafourcade – Alma Mía (En Manos de Los Macorinos) ft. Los Macorinos
