The love for historical knowledge and preserving historical sites has been one of my passions my entire adult life. While most people are visiting Disneyland, sunny resorts and beaches I dragged my family through restored historical homes. I completely understand the financial struggles historical sites must contend with, volunteers and members are the life blood to keeping their doors open. Restoration as well as normal upkeep does not leave a lot of extra money for publicity and freebies.
I have been perplexed with the paradox of how a historical site balances trying to encourage visits with the desire for tourists to want to visit haunted places. Years ago I visited the Bowers Mansion in Carson City. The restoration is wonderful, volunteers dress in period costume at special events throughout the year and the price is cheap. In the last room of the tour there is a spirit photograph from the woman that lived in that time period. I have no argument with that photo as that was common for that era. What bothered me was the statement that the docent made, "this shows a picture of Eilley with her dead child, this picture was taken before double exposures were invented." Leaving the guest to believe that the picture is truly a spirit photo not the historical fact that this was a fraud common to the era. I have visited this site at least 3 times and each time the guide mentioned this. Why didn't I speak up? Lets just say I was a lot shyer back then.
Winchester Mystery House, who hasn't visited San Jose and been mesmerized by the stories of this strange woman and her home? I think this place is amazing, yet all through the tours the tour guides pepper the history with spooky tales. Halloween season is a big hit for the Mystery home with midnight flashlight tours through the rooms.
The Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado spends an great deal of energy focusing on the ghost element of the hotel. They have a fabulous tour full of history of the Stanley Steamer car, amazing place and views.
All of these places fall into the ghost trap, focusing more on the ghosties and less on the history of the site. My friends Baxter and Bryan tell me that the Stanley Hotel "borrowed" the ghost stories from another building down the street when that place was knocked down. The main tour guide has hundreds of autographed postcards of himself in ghostlike styles in the gift shop. In fact one thing all these places have in common is that the gift shop always has one or two "Ghost Books from the area" for sale in the gift shop.
So what does this all have to do with today? Why am I writing about this tonight?
This weekend, Caspian, Stirling, Mark Edward and I drove around Monterey and stopped in the Point Pinos Lighthouse museum. Mark always thinking of ghosts and seances asked the volunteer if the lighthouse was haunted. The woman rolled her eyes and said, "are you are one of those people that is trying to find something I'm sure you will find something" Mark said later that he wished he had a camera when she said that cause her look was amazing, Caspian said that it was the "perfect rolling of the eyes expression" after that he didn't need to finish listening to the answer as he knew where she stood.
The woman, said that once a man came in all wooing and stated that he could see Francine standing "there". She told the man that the woman who lived here years ago might had been named Francine but she was never called that, everyone called her "Fanny" and if you could see her you would know that. She said that they are always getting people who are trying to make a name for themselves come in and see ghosts, hoping to land on the news.
Wonderful! The woman (who was also named Francine) gave us a nice tour of the oldest still working lighthouse on the west coast. No mention of ghosts or deaths, just hard working people who kept the light flashing saving lives.
My point, if there is one, is that we need to support our historical sites. And for the reasons that they are historical sites. Volunteer, Donate, Visit and tell others. Buy a postcard or two. Maybe if we support these sites for their historical value to society they can ease off the ghost stories and hauntings.
Oh, By the way...as I was buying my postcard at Point Pinos I noticed two books on Ghost Stories of Monterey Bay on the shelf. Oh well...
Monday, November 9, 2009
Gary Schwartz Review
I first met Dr. Gary Schwartz at the Eugene Skeptic Toolbox in 2001. Actually I didn't meet him but was introduced to his “research” by Ray Hyman who runs the Toolbox every August. Hyman had been invited to spar with Schwartz at his lab at the University of Arizona1 where Schwartz is a tenured professor. Which means he can not easily be removed from the teaching staff. Schwartz and his wife, Dr. Linda Russek run the Human Energy Systems Laboratory (HESL) which is a fancy name for laboratory looking for mediums. A part of the Toolbox involves workshops that read and discuss themed assignments. That year the theme was Talking to the Dead & Other Transcendental Seductions, Hyman used the current published journal articles that Schwarts and Russek produced in 2001.
We spent many hours tearing though the papers and frankly were shocked at the naivety of the researchers. The mediums that were being tested were clearly in charge of the testing. Some lived with Schwartz, socializing with the sitters, and in full contact with the other mediums. The controls were anything but. It was a total embarrassment for the University of Arizona and for paranormal research.
Now fast forward to 2009 and I am introduced to more recent work by Schwartz and his assistant Dr. Beischel by a supporter called “MrEvidential” on Mark Edward's Skeptologist blog.2 I was really pleased to see Hyman's nemesis is still healthy and active, enough so that his supporters are pasting his journal articles on skeptic blogs. I wondered if I might take a stab at understanding all the interest?
So before I read anything negative or positive about the publication I thought lets see if I can discover the problems that are sure to be inherent.3
ANOMALOUS INFORMATION RECEPTION BY RESEARCH MEDIUMS DEMONSTRATED USING A NOVEL TRIPLE-BLIND PROTOCOL4
Really cool title don't you think? I especially love this word that was used ad nauseum throughout the article, “discarnate”. Which seems to mean “dead person”5 This idea of “other fit” or “fit with interpretation” that seems to be a general catch-all. Here are a few things that jumped out at me...
Skeptics and non-believers were not allowed to participate as sitters, not sure why that would have any relevance, but it was included in the document.
Then there is the bigger problem of how this was supposed to work…let me just quickly explain how this experiment was done. They call it being triple-blinded…
16 sitters are selected (believers or semi-believers all undergrad students) half have had a parent die, the other half had a close friend die. The dead (called discarnates)were grouped together by gender.
The “medium” was at home on the phone.
The place-holding sitter is selected to just sit in the lab.
Everyone has no idea who anyone is or anything about the dead person who is trying to be reached. The people in charge are also blinded.
The medium calls the lab, is given the first name only of two dead people (one is a parent of the sitter the other a friend of the sitter) Remember the sitter is at home doing whatever (they could be cleaning the house or asleep that is not clear) The medium is “talking” to a place-holding sitter at the lab (the place-holder knows nothing about the dead persons except the first names). The medium gives a reading about both dead people.
The reading is transcribed and importing telling info is gleaned out (info that would give away age, location ect.) then both readings are given to the sitter. The sitter selects either reading A or reading B as being closest to their dead person.
The conclusion the researched is that more sitters selected the correct dead person’s reading than by chance.
————-
Here’s what I’m really having problems with, maybe you can help me here…
The medium is “reading” a name given to them that is the true name of someone dead, Mary or Alice or something. The sitter to which the dead person is connected is not on the other end of the phone, they are off somewhere else possibly bathing their dog. So explain how the medium is doing a reading without a subject and without an object or anything to latch on to? How are they not just doing a cold-reading? I just don’t get it.
Again, this study means nothing unless it can be replicated by other experimenters. I would also like to see how the transcripts were gleaned for info. It almost sounds like the sitter had a 50% chance to select their reading? Arn’t those pretty good odds?
Oh yeah, I’m not sure these comments are fitting of PhD's doing real science, “Moreover, given the controversial nature of mediumship and the survival of consciousness hypothesis as well as the unexplored biases of most traditional scientists regarding concepts that do not adhere to conventional theories, it is understandable why such studies are rarely reported in conventional journals.”6
So now there are my comments, not exactly amazing. But then again I'm not a scientist (nor do I play one on TV). There are more scientific minds out there, so with a few keystrokes I found a critique on the Skeptic's Dictionary.7 Carroll calls his review, A Novel Way to Make an Ass of Yourself: Gary Schwartz Rides Again. Touching I think.
Apparently Carroll knows something I don't about this experiment I don't know, “Schwartz avoids one common criticism of his past experiments: the mediums do not come in contact with the sitters. But the mediums, he says, feel comfortable with somebody on the other end of the phone line when they do their readings, so he incorporated "proxy sitters," namely himself and his assistant. The proxies ask questions of the mediums during the phone readings. What part of experimenters should not participate in their own experiments because they might bias the process doesn't he understand? “8
So as I mentioned earlier, “Interesting concept: a student who has lost a parent is given a pair of readings to rate, one for his parent and one for a "peer" and the one for the peer is a "control." Each student reviewing the readings given to them (count two readings) has a 50% chance of getting the correct reading. Hum. Carroll also points out that 1,600 students were gleaned for the the chance to be a sitter, only believers or sorta believers were allowed. Were these people biased towards psychics? Sounds like bias to me.
In conclusion, I don't know what to think. Sounds like the experimenters still don't have a sound protocol despite having done a triple-blind study (whatever that is supposed to mean). Carroll clearly has knowledge beyond what I read in the article as I didn't get that the “stand-in sitters” were actually Schwartz and Beischel. I must have missed something about the odds, the real sitters were only given two choices to pick from which is a 50% chance of getting it right or wrong. I can't imagine the Keystone Cops being that inept, feel free to point out the error of my ways....
Susan
1From what I understood then the University of Arizona is extremely embarrassed to have Dr. Schwartz on their campus and use a disclaimer on their website that they do not support his findings. I'm too lazy to see if this disclaimer still exists.
2http://skepticblog.org/2009/08/25/everbodys-an-expert/#comment-11974
3Yes, yes I know. I'm supposed to be open-minded about paranormal research. But based on Schwartz's track record and the added fact that CNN had not announced that science as we know it has not been overturned I felt that there would be problems somewhere.
4http://www.windbridge.org/papers/BeischelEXPLORE2007vol3.pdf Beischel, J., & Schwartz, G. E. (2007). Anomalous information reception by research mediums demonstrated using a novel triple-blind protocol. Explore: The Journal of Science & Healing, 3, 23–27.
5Even this spell checker never heard of the word discarnate.
6How many studies would there have to be published to have rarely used?
7http://skepdic.com/essays/novelway.html
We spent many hours tearing though the papers and frankly were shocked at the naivety of the researchers. The mediums that were being tested were clearly in charge of the testing. Some lived with Schwartz, socializing with the sitters, and in full contact with the other mediums. The controls were anything but. It was a total embarrassment for the University of Arizona and for paranormal research.
Now fast forward to 2009 and I am introduced to more recent work by Schwartz and his assistant Dr. Beischel by a supporter called “MrEvidential” on Mark Edward's Skeptologist blog.2 I was really pleased to see Hyman's nemesis is still healthy and active, enough so that his supporters are pasting his journal articles on skeptic blogs. I wondered if I might take a stab at understanding all the interest?
So before I read anything negative or positive about the publication I thought lets see if I can discover the problems that are sure to be inherent.3
ANOMALOUS INFORMATION RECEPTION BY RESEARCH MEDIUMS DEMONSTRATED USING A NOVEL TRIPLE-BLIND PROTOCOL4
Really cool title don't you think? I especially love this word that was used ad nauseum throughout the article, “discarnate”. Which seems to mean “dead person”5 This idea of “other fit” or “fit with interpretation” that seems to be a general catch-all. Here are a few things that jumped out at me...
Skeptics and non-believers were not allowed to participate as sitters, not sure why that would have any relevance, but it was included in the document.
Then there is the bigger problem of how this was supposed to work…let me just quickly explain how this experiment was done. They call it being triple-blinded…
16 sitters are selected (believers or semi-believers all undergrad students) half have had a parent die, the other half had a close friend die. The dead (called discarnates)were grouped together by gender.
The “medium” was at home on the phone.
The place-holding sitter is selected to just sit in the lab.
Everyone has no idea who anyone is or anything about the dead person who is trying to be reached. The people in charge are also blinded.
The medium calls the lab, is given the first name only of two dead people (one is a parent of the sitter the other a friend of the sitter) Remember the sitter is at home doing whatever (they could be cleaning the house or asleep that is not clear) The medium is “talking” to a place-holding sitter at the lab (the place-holder knows nothing about the dead persons except the first names). The medium gives a reading about both dead people.
The reading is transcribed and importing telling info is gleaned out (info that would give away age, location ect.) then both readings are given to the sitter. The sitter selects either reading A or reading B as being closest to their dead person.
The conclusion the researched is that more sitters selected the correct dead person’s reading than by chance.
————-
Here’s what I’m really having problems with, maybe you can help me here…
The medium is “reading” a name given to them that is the true name of someone dead, Mary or Alice or something. The sitter to which the dead person is connected is not on the other end of the phone, they are off somewhere else possibly bathing their dog. So explain how the medium is doing a reading without a subject and without an object or anything to latch on to? How are they not just doing a cold-reading? I just don’t get it.
Again, this study means nothing unless it can be replicated by other experimenters. I would also like to see how the transcripts were gleaned for info. It almost sounds like the sitter had a 50% chance to select their reading? Arn’t those pretty good odds?
Oh yeah, I’m not sure these comments are fitting of PhD's doing real science, “Moreover, given the controversial nature of mediumship and the survival of consciousness hypothesis as well as the unexplored biases of most traditional scientists regarding concepts that do not adhere to conventional theories, it is understandable why such studies are rarely reported in conventional journals.”6
So now there are my comments, not exactly amazing. But then again I'm not a scientist (nor do I play one on TV). There are more scientific minds out there, so with a few keystrokes I found a critique on the Skeptic's Dictionary.7 Carroll calls his review, A Novel Way to Make an Ass of Yourself: Gary Schwartz Rides Again. Touching I think.
Apparently Carroll knows something I don't about this experiment I don't know, “Schwartz avoids one common criticism of his past experiments: the mediums do not come in contact with the sitters. But the mediums, he says, feel comfortable with somebody on the other end of the phone line when they do their readings, so he incorporated "proxy sitters," namely himself and his assistant. The proxies ask questions of the mediums during the phone readings. What part of experimenters should not participate in their own experiments because they might bias the process doesn't he understand? “8
So as I mentioned earlier, “Interesting concept: a student who has lost a parent is given a pair of readings to rate, one for his parent and one for a "peer" and the one for the peer is a "control." Each student reviewing the readings given to them (count two readings) has a 50% chance of getting the correct reading. Hum. Carroll also points out that 1,600 students were gleaned for the the chance to be a sitter, only believers or sorta believers were allowed. Were these people biased towards psychics? Sounds like bias to me.
In conclusion, I don't know what to think. Sounds like the experimenters still don't have a sound protocol despite having done a triple-blind study (whatever that is supposed to mean). Carroll clearly has knowledge beyond what I read in the article as I didn't get that the “stand-in sitters” were actually Schwartz and Beischel. I must have missed something about the odds, the real sitters were only given two choices to pick from which is a 50% chance of getting it right or wrong. I can't imagine the Keystone Cops being that inept, feel free to point out the error of my ways....
Susan
1From what I understood then the University of Arizona is extremely embarrassed to have Dr. Schwartz on their campus and use a disclaimer on their website that they do not support his findings. I'm too lazy to see if this disclaimer still exists.
2http://skepticblog.org/2009/08/25/everbodys-an-expert/#comment-11974
3Yes, yes I know. I'm supposed to be open-minded about paranormal research. But based on Schwartz's track record and the added fact that CNN had not announced that science as we know it has not been overturned I felt that there would be problems somewhere.
4http://www.windbridge.org/papers/BeischelEXPLORE2007vol3.pdf Beischel, J., & Schwartz, G. E. (2007). Anomalous information reception by research mediums demonstrated using a novel triple-blind protocol. Explore: The Journal of Science & Healing, 3, 23–27.
5Even this spell checker never heard of the word discarnate.
6How many studies would there have to be published to have rarely used?
7http://skepdic.com/essays/novelway.html
Monday, January 26, 2009
Toilet Training the Cats - Day One
Well today's the day. I love cats but hate cat boxes. I have 4 cats and I don't plan on spending the rest of my life cleaning out boxes. Caspian has been doing it all this time, but he isn't going to live here all his life.
So I watched a few YouTube videos (I love the Internet) and think I can do this my own way. We shall see. Ariadne really needs to go, she is trying to get back to where we used to keep the cat box, but she can't (I've taped it all up) They have all seen where the box is at, (inside the toilet). I've cleaned everything really good so now it is a matter of wills.
They have to go sometime, at the moment they are all holding it, they keep drinking water though. Who will be the first?
This may be a nightmare or the smartest thing I have ever done, we shall see. Do you wanna take bets?
So I watched a few YouTube videos (I love the Internet) and think I can do this my own way. We shall see. Ariadne really needs to go, she is trying to get back to where we used to keep the cat box, but she can't (I've taped it all up) They have all seen where the box is at, (inside the toilet). I've cleaned everything really good so now it is a matter of wills.
They have to go sometime, at the moment they are all holding it, they keep drinking water though. Who will be the first?
This may be a nightmare or the smartest thing I have ever done, we shall see. Do you wanna take bets?
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
2008 Book List
The last day of 2008, and I'm all caught up. Don't hate me - its a curse. Just put the last page in my 2008 photo album, cleaned out my purse and finished off my reading journal. I like goals, and apparently so does George W. Bush, we share another thing in common, he also loves to read. Combining those two items (maybe our only shared traits) you end up with someone who likes to set reading goals. That's me!
In 1998 I started keeping a reading journal. I made up the rules and I strictly follow them. No book can be entered unless it is finished, if you skip a chapter (rarely done) then you must deduct the pages from the total page number. Yearly I get to add up all my pages, total books and get a average number of pages per book. I tend to average about 230 pages per book. I can read whatever I want, children's or scholarly but no books on tape. (If so I could amass an amazing about of books read each year). Being in school of course I don't get to select all the books I have to read, so there tends to be a theme at times.
I am almost finished with my second journal, need to make the decision tonight if I should try to cram 2009 into this journal or purchase a new one. When I finished the first one in 2004, I indexed the journal and broke down the book type into more detail. 196 books in total. The biggest categories were mystery (50), history (43), fiction/novel (40), Sci-Fi (34), Childrens (24), Science/Skeptic (20) and (12) non-fiction. Asimov was the leader in author count (25) followed by Agatha Christie (8). Curious what the end of the next journal will bring. Bet it will be overly full of history books.
So President Bush managed to read 40 books in 2008, 95 was his top count in 2006 (that year I read 31). I finished 2008 with 30 books, so sad the leader of the free world managed to get in 10 more books than I did. Guess that is what happens when someone else is always doing the driving. We both quit watching television so we could consentrate on our reading.
Here they are 2008's entries (in order, starting with January)
A Secret of the Universe: A Story of Love Loss, and the Discovery of an Eternal Truth - Stephen L. Gibson
The Golden Compass - Philip Pullman
The Subtle Knife: His Dark Materials Book II - Philip Pullman
The Amber Spyglass - Philip Pullman
The Prisoner - Thomas Disch
Martha Washington: An American Life - Patricia Brady
Founded Upon the Seas: A History of the Cayman Islands and Their People - Michael Craton
Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury
Mary Chesnut's Civil War - Mary Chesnut
Letter to a Christian Nation - Sam Harris
Surly Your Joking, Mr. Feynman! Adventures of a Curious Character - Richard Feynman
Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife - Mary Roach
An Anthropologist on Mars - Oliver Sacks
The Trouble with Tom: The Strange Afterlife and Times of Thomas Paine - Paul Collins
The Horse and His Boy - C.S. Lewis
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader - C.S. Lewis
The Silver Chair - C.S. Lewis
The Magician's Nephew - C.S. Lewis
The Last Battle - C.S. Lewis
Philip of Spain - Henry Kamen
From Reliable Sources: An Introduction to Historial Methods - Martha Howell
The Mask of Nostradmus - James Randi
The Blessings of Liberty: A Concise History of the Constitution of the United States - Michael Benedict
Women Aren't Supposted to Fly: The Memoirs of a Female Flight Surgeon - Harriet Hall
A People's History of the Supreme Court: The Men and Women Whose Cases and Decisions have Shaped our Constitution - Peter Irons
Great Tales From English History - Robert Lacey
40 Days and 40 Nights: Darwin, Intelligent Design, God, Oxy Contin, and other Oddities on Trial in Pennsylania - Matthew Chapman
The Sky is Not the Limit: Adventures of an Urban Astrophysicist - Neil DeGrasse Tyson
The Strange Case of William Mumler: Spirit Photographer - Louis Kaplan
Desert Exile: The Uprooting of a Japanese-American Family - Yoshiko Uchida
My libary
Reading over the editoral (by Richard Cohen 12/30/08) about Bush's reading list I noticed the author, Cohen, mentioned that Bush's reading list shows a more complex man than the media portrays. His reading list also reveal's this about him, "they are not the reading of a widely read man, but instead the books of a man who seeks and seesvindication in every page. Bush has always been the captive of fixed ideas. His books just support that." And later Cohen writes, ". . . his books reflect a man who is seeking to learn what he already knows." I wonder what Cohen would say about me, someone he does not know. It is easier to judge someone whose life is an open book (sorry) and fit the analysis to the person, than it is to render judgement on a total stranger.
I know I felt it was time to re-read the Narnia series; also have been told repeatly to read the Pullman books (all children's books). Lots of history books in this list, but only some are required reading, the rest were just interesting to me. Several books on this list I picked up at TAM6 and had autographed, so really wanted to read them.
My stack of unread books seems to grow monthly. The school books for next semester are starting to arrive. When it is time to start the next book I look at my stacks, and the stacks look at me, finally the next book is selected. Best of luck to 2009.
In 1998 I started keeping a reading journal. I made up the rules and I strictly follow them. No book can be entered unless it is finished, if you skip a chapter (rarely done) then you must deduct the pages from the total page number. Yearly I get to add up all my pages, total books and get a average number of pages per book. I tend to average about 230 pages per book. I can read whatever I want, children's or scholarly but no books on tape. (If so I could amass an amazing about of books read each year). Being in school of course I don't get to select all the books I have to read, so there tends to be a theme at times.
I am almost finished with my second journal, need to make the decision tonight if I should try to cram 2009 into this journal or purchase a new one. When I finished the first one in 2004, I indexed the journal and broke down the book type into more detail. 196 books in total. The biggest categories were mystery (50), history (43), fiction/novel (40), Sci-Fi (34), Childrens (24), Science/Skeptic (20) and (12) non-fiction. Asimov was the leader in author count (25) followed by Agatha Christie (8). Curious what the end of the next journal will bring. Bet it will be overly full of history books.
So President Bush managed to read 40 books in 2008, 95 was his top count in 2006 (that year I read 31). I finished 2008 with 30 books, so sad the leader of the free world managed to get in 10 more books than I did. Guess that is what happens when someone else is always doing the driving. We both quit watching television so we could consentrate on our reading.
Here they are 2008's entries (in order, starting with January)
A Secret of the Universe: A Story of Love Loss, and the Discovery of an Eternal Truth - Stephen L. Gibson
The Golden Compass - Philip Pullman
The Subtle Knife: His Dark Materials Book II - Philip Pullman
The Amber Spyglass - Philip Pullman
The Prisoner - Thomas Disch
Martha Washington: An American Life - Patricia Brady
Founded Upon the Seas: A History of the Cayman Islands and Their People - Michael Craton
Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury
Mary Chesnut's Civil War - Mary Chesnut
Letter to a Christian Nation - Sam Harris
Surly Your Joking, Mr. Feynman! Adventures of a Curious Character - Richard Feynman
Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife - Mary Roach
An Anthropologist on Mars - Oliver Sacks
The Trouble with Tom: The Strange Afterlife and Times of Thomas Paine - Paul Collins
The Horse and His Boy - C.S. Lewis
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader - C.S. Lewis
The Silver Chair - C.S. Lewis
The Magician's Nephew - C.S. Lewis
The Last Battle - C.S. Lewis
Philip of Spain - Henry Kamen
From Reliable Sources: An Introduction to Historial Methods - Martha Howell
The Mask of Nostradmus - James Randi
The Blessings of Liberty: A Concise History of the Constitution of the United States - Michael Benedict
Women Aren't Supposted to Fly: The Memoirs of a Female Flight Surgeon - Harriet Hall
A People's History of the Supreme Court: The Men and Women Whose Cases and Decisions have Shaped our Constitution - Peter Irons
Great Tales From English History - Robert Lacey
40 Days and 40 Nights: Darwin, Intelligent Design, God, Oxy Contin, and other Oddities on Trial in Pennsylania - Matthew Chapman
The Sky is Not the Limit: Adventures of an Urban Astrophysicist - Neil DeGrasse Tyson
The Strange Case of William Mumler: Spirit Photographer - Louis Kaplan
Desert Exile: The Uprooting of a Japanese-American Family - Yoshiko Uchida
My libary
Reading over the editoral (by Richard Cohen 12/30/08) about Bush's reading list I noticed the author, Cohen, mentioned that Bush's reading list shows a more complex man than the media portrays. His reading list also reveal's this about him, "they are not the reading of a widely read man, but instead the books of a man who seeks and seesvindication in every page. Bush has always been the captive of fixed ideas. His books just support that." And later Cohen writes, ". . . his books reflect a man who is seeking to learn what he already knows." I wonder what Cohen would say about me, someone he does not know. It is easier to judge someone whose life is an open book (sorry) and fit the analysis to the person, than it is to render judgement on a total stranger.
I know I felt it was time to re-read the Narnia series; also have been told repeatly to read the Pullman books (all children's books). Lots of history books in this list, but only some are required reading, the rest were just interesting to me. Several books on this list I picked up at TAM6 and had autographed, so really wanted to read them.
My stack of unread books seems to grow monthly. The school books for next semester are starting to arrive. When it is time to start the next book I look at my stacks, and the stacks look at me, finally the next book is selected. Best of luck to 2009.
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
December 18th ~ Grandmother Day
Once in a while something odd happens to make you think. And if I were as gullible as I was as a teenager I would probably freak out over this next story. December 18th is my special Grandmother Day. I am the only one who puts any thought into this day at all.
On this day in 1
925, my mom's mom, Myrtle Nora Finley Dale died of TB. My mom barely remembered her as she was only 3 years old. Here is the video of my mom telling the story. I recorded this video Nov 2, 2007 on my mom's 85th birthday. With my mom's death Aug 6, 2008 all of Myrtle's children are dead. I suppose once in a while one of the grandchildren or even great-grandchildren might think of Myrtle, probably my cousin Rebbecca as she very sentimental about family and family objects. Myrtle's sister Willie married my grandfather and went on to have 5 more children, 3 of whom are still alive, and will be for many years as they are much younger than my mom was.
I know almost nothing about Myrtle, this is the only picture we have of her that I know of She resembles my mother and myself a bit. I suppose she had red hair and blue eyes like my mom did.
Next in the line of deaths only on December 18, 1954 (?) this time in Northern Ohio. Mary Skufsa Gerbic, born in Slovenia a former part of Yugoslavia. I have tried to find out more about my grandmother, Mary but she has been elusive as Myrtle has been.
I have a few pictures of Mary (this is her on the left) she is sitting with her granddaughter, my older sister Toni. The other woman is Toni's other grandmother.
I have heard quite a few stories about my grandmother, almost none of them pleasant. She spoke almost no English, drank a lot and was a lot of trouble for my father and his brother Victor. My dad didn't talk much about her, I remember him telling me that where she grew up it was so cold she used to sleep on top of the stove. When my father left for WWII he left behind a pregnant wife (the baby in the picture) and his mother. He moved to Salinas, CA (for reasons left for another blog) and almost never saw his mother again. I think he sent her money, they did write a bit, and my sister Mary is named for her. But I think it ends there.
Neither of these women had a good life, both lived a life of poverty, and I would expect very little education. I can only speculate on how different their lives would be if they lived now.
Now it gets a little weirder, enter Lillian Dahlberg Forsyth. She is my husband's (now ex) grandmother (on his father's side), from Connecittut. She lived here in town near us and we saw quite a bit of her. She had been a widow for many years when I met her, and also from a different world. Formal, Victorian, and delicate I could not picture her as young and exciting. I have all the family portraits (dated and organized) and know just what I can derive from the photos, newspaper clippings and family stories.
I include here two portraits I have of her, out of the many I have. She had an odd sense of humor, and would surprise us with her wit at times. I remember my husband telling me that she drove only one speed. 40 freeway or school zone. When he got her car, from the 60's it was in perfect shape and only had about 30K miles on it. Lillian volenteered at Salinas's two hospitals as a aid in the reception area. I can't quite remember how many hours, but it was over 1,000 hours. When she died on Dec 18, 1996 she was 89.
Lets just add another death of a grandmother to make things interesting. I was telling this story to Butch's mom and stepdad, when he went into another room and came back with the death certificate for his mom. You guessed it Dec. 18th. I think it was in 2000 as it was after Lillian but before my husband left me in 2002. I had met her a couple times, and no I don't have a picture. But I do have several letters and cards from her as she was quite a writer and I sent her pictures of my kids regulary. Her name escapes me at the moment (when I remember it I will update this) Her son (the stepdad I mentioned) had taken care of her in her elderly years, they had a nice apartment set up nearby them and would visit her daily. I remember going over with them on a visit (this was Carson City, NV) the room was very dark, I think she was nearly blind and didn't bother with lights. She was so sweet and very welcoming.
She worked for the government during WWII, not sure what but her son said she could not talk about it. He was her adopted son I found out later when after her death he tried to sell the family portraits to antique shops. They must have been a well-to-do family with lots of children. He said that he was the last and he didn't want all those pictures. I think he kept a few for himself but all the rest are gone.
If you have made it this far and think, WOW that is errie all of them died on the same day. It really isn't all that odd. If you think there is more to it than that then you are practicing retrofitting. This is when you already have the answer and try to find a link. The next two women who died, Betty DeBrouwer (my husband's other grandmother) didn't die on Dec. 18th, nor did my mother (who was a grandmother also).
So December 18th is my special day to remember these women whom I didn't know and imagine the day will come when I will join them. Maybe it will be Dec. 18th? Just not this year PLEASE!
On this day in 1
925, my mom's mom, Myrtle Nora Finley Dale died of TB. My mom barely remembered her as she was only 3 years old. Here is the video of my mom telling the story. I recorded this video Nov 2, 2007 on my mom's 85th birthday. With my mom's death Aug 6, 2008 all of Myrtle's children are dead. I suppose once in a while one of the grandchildren or even great-grandchildren might think of Myrtle, probably my cousin Rebbecca as she very sentimental about family and family objects. Myrtle's sister Willie married my grandfather and went on to have 5 more children, 3 of whom are still alive, and will be for many years as they are much younger than my mom was.I know almost nothing about Myrtle, this is the only picture we have of her that I know of She resembles my mother and myself a bit. I suppose she had red hair and blue eyes like my mom did.
Next in the line of deaths only on December 18, 1954 (?) this time in Northern Ohio. Mary Skufsa Gerbic, born in Slovenia a former part of Yugoslavia. I have tried to find out more about my grandmother, Mary but she has been elusive as Myrtle has been.
I have a few pictures of Mary (this is her on the left) she is sitting with her granddaughter, my older sister Toni. The other woman is Toni's other grandmother. I have heard quite a few stories about my grandmother, almost none of them pleasant. She spoke almost no English, drank a lot and was a lot of trouble for my father and his brother Victor. My dad didn't talk much about her, I remember him telling me that where she grew up it was so cold she used to sleep on top of the stove. When my father left for WWII he left behind a pregnant wife (the baby in the picture) and his mother. He moved to Salinas, CA (for reasons left for another blog) and almost never saw his mother again. I think he sent her money, they did write a bit, and my sister Mary is named for her. But I think it ends there.
Neither of these women had a good life, both lived a life of poverty, and I would expect very little education. I can only speculate on how different their lives would be if they lived now.
Now it gets a little weirder, enter Lillian Dahlberg Forsyth. She is my husband's (now ex) grandmother (on his father's side), from Connecittut. She lived here in town near us and we saw quite a bit of her. She had been a widow for many years when I met her, and also from a different world. Formal, Victorian, and delicate I could not picture her as young and exciting. I have all the family portraits (dated and organized) and know just what I can derive from the photos, newspaper clippings and family stories.
I include here two portraits I have of her, out of the many I have. She had an odd sense of humor, and would surprise us with her wit at times. I remember my husband telling me that she drove only one speed. 40 freeway or school zone. When he got her car, from the 60's it was in perfect shape and only had about 30K miles on it. Lillian volenteered at Salinas's two hospitals as a aid in the reception area. I can't quite remember how many hours, but it was over 1,000 hours. When she died on Dec 18, 1996 she was 89.
Lets just add another death of a grandmother to make things interesting. I was telling this story to Butch's mom and stepdad, when he went into another room and came back with the death certificate for his mom. You guessed it Dec. 18th. I think it was in 2000 as it was after Lillian but before my husband left me in 2002. I had met her a couple times, and no I don't have a picture. But I do have several letters and cards from her as she was quite a writer and I sent her pictures of my kids regulary. Her name escapes me at the moment (when I remember it I will update this) Her son (the stepdad I mentioned) had taken care of her in her elderly years, they had a nice apartment set up nearby them and would visit her daily. I remember going over with them on a visit (this was Carson City, NV) the room was very dark, I think she was nearly blind and didn't bother with lights. She was so sweet and very welcoming.
She worked for the government during WWII, not sure what but her son said she could not talk about it. He was her adopted son I found out later when after her death he tried to sell the family portraits to antique shops. They must have been a well-to-do family with lots of children. He said that he was the last and he didn't want all those pictures. I think he kept a few for himself but all the rest are gone.
If you have made it this far and think, WOW that is errie all of them died on the same day. It really isn't all that odd. If you think there is more to it than that then you are practicing retrofitting. This is when you already have the answer and try to find a link. The next two women who died, Betty DeBrouwer (my husband's other grandmother) didn't die on Dec. 18th, nor did my mother (who was a grandmother also).
So December 18th is my special day to remember these women whom I didn't know and imagine the day will come when I will join them. Maybe it will be Dec. 18th? Just not this year PLEASE!
Monday, December 15, 2008
School End
Just finished my last final! What a relief, all you students out there know exactly what I'm feeling right now. Don't get me wrong, I love school. But there comes a time when you are more than ready for it to be over.
Took two classes this semester (Fall 2008) both at San Jose State, and both fulfill requirements for my goal of a Master's degree in American History.
The first class is Methodology, it is also my first Graduate level class. The professor focuses on things we should know to make it though the program, and even though I have taken many undergrad classes (5 at SJSU) I learned tons. She taught us how to evaluate lots of different kinds of primary sources, like movies, book reviews, foreign works, fictional stories and the like.
She also taught us how to really read a scholarly work and get a lot out of it. If I might summarize for a moment . . . All to be done before reading the book like normal
*Really look over the book over, read the cover, the dedication, the reviews, everything. Look at the picture that is chosen for the front page, why was it chosen?
*Look at the index and see if certain names or phrases keep recurring (actually this was my idea) if you see a pattern or the same name indexed you might want to Google it and get some background on this person/place or thing so you will understand it when the book you are reading refers to it.
*Read the introduction, maybe twice. Find the purpose of the book. Who is the author mad at? (this occurs more than you think) What niche does the author think their book is filling? Who does the author think the reader is? What is the thesis statement? (write this down as you might change your mind as you read the book)
*Look through the table of contents, what is the tone of the book? You can tell lots from chapter headings.
*Read reviews about the book (she didn't want us doing this at this point as she didn't want us to be influenced while we were learning)
*Read the conclusion. Yes, I know a big no-no normally. But these are history books, we already know what happened. The author should restate the thesis and wind it all up here.
Once you have done all this, and made notes while doing it, you can proceed with the book. I know this seems like a lot, but you will gain so much more knowledge about what you are reading this way. It will also stay with you longer, and you have notes for later.
As I proceed with my Masters we spend lots of time reading books, and writing essays using only primary sources. I think if I had heard this advise years ago (and taken it to heart) I would be so much farther along with my knowledge.
The assignment for this class was to use primary sources to find and discuss nationalism. We could be very vague with the topic. Listening to my fellow students they were very varied, Jane Austin, 9/11, Chinese Olympic torch bearers, Malcom X, Greek, Baseball ect . . . All very interesting.
I reviewed the Macon Daily Telegraph from Georgia from Jan 1 - Jan 16, 1865. I figured they were about to lose and most people knew this. Lincoln had just been reelected, Sherman and friends had marched to the sea and the government was discussing arming black slaves to fight for them offering them their freedom if they did. So this was a very very low point for the Confederates. I reviewed what the editor was publishing in his paper. Quite a mix, some positive, some attacking the South for not getting along. Some articles were just bragging about their wins, and downplaying the loses. The editor seems to have been trying to hide how bad it really was, but reading between the lines you could tell they were totally demoralized.
Very interesting topic, wish I were a better writer to do it justice.
Took two classes this semester (Fall 2008) both at San Jose State, and both fulfill requirements for my goal of a Master's degree in American History.
The first class is Methodology, it is also my first Graduate level class. The professor focuses on things we should know to make it though the program, and even though I have taken many undergrad classes (5 at SJSU) I learned tons. She taught us how to evaluate lots of different kinds of primary sources, like movies, book reviews, foreign works, fictional stories and the like.
She also taught us how to really read a scholarly work and get a lot out of it. If I might summarize for a moment . . . All to be done before reading the book like normal
*Really look over the book over, read the cover, the dedication, the reviews, everything. Look at the picture that is chosen for the front page, why was it chosen?
*Look at the index and see if certain names or phrases keep recurring (actually this was my idea) if you see a pattern or the same name indexed you might want to Google it and get some background on this person/place or thing so you will understand it when the book you are reading refers to it.
*Read the introduction, maybe twice. Find the purpose of the book. Who is the author mad at? (this occurs more than you think) What niche does the author think their book is filling? Who does the author think the reader is? What is the thesis statement? (write this down as you might change your mind as you read the book)
*Look through the table of contents, what is the tone of the book? You can tell lots from chapter headings.
*Read reviews about the book (she didn't want us doing this at this point as she didn't want us to be influenced while we were learning)
*Read the conclusion. Yes, I know a big no-no normally. But these are history books, we already know what happened. The author should restate the thesis and wind it all up here.
Once you have done all this, and made notes while doing it, you can proceed with the book. I know this seems like a lot, but you will gain so much more knowledge about what you are reading this way. It will also stay with you longer, and you have notes for later.
As I proceed with my Masters we spend lots of time reading books, and writing essays using only primary sources. I think if I had heard this advise years ago (and taken it to heart) I would be so much farther along with my knowledge.
The assignment for this class was to use primary sources to find and discuss nationalism. We could be very vague with the topic. Listening to my fellow students they were very varied, Jane Austin, 9/11, Chinese Olympic torch bearers, Malcom X, Greek, Baseball ect . . . All very interesting.
I reviewed the Macon Daily Telegraph from Georgia from Jan 1 - Jan 16, 1865. I figured they were about to lose and most people knew this. Lincoln had just been reelected, Sherman and friends had marched to the sea and the government was discussing arming black slaves to fight for them offering them their freedom if they did. So this was a very very low point for the Confederates. I reviewed what the editor was publishing in his paper. Quite a mix, some positive, some attacking the South for not getting along. Some articles were just bragging about their wins, and downplaying the loses. The editor seems to have been trying to hide how bad it really was, but reading between the lines you could tell they were totally demoralized.
Very interesting topic, wish I were a better writer to do it justice.
Family Christmas Portrait 2008
Welcome to my Christmas Family Portrait
As you may or may not know, this is not my living room but my work. I am a professional portrait photographer and this is all a backdrop, some of the other studio managers and I discovered that this background stage allows us to "personalize" the portrait in ways we have never been able to before.
There is a lot of detail in this portrait that you might not notice otherwise.
With my mom's death Aug 6th, I have been depressed to the point where I don't feel up to celebrating holidays, more that I just don't want to fuss. Last Christmas we went to a lot of trouble to make it a fun Christmas for her. We invited the whole neighborhood over for a coffee and cookies party. (more on that later) The past two years we have included mom in the Christmas greeting cards and this year I didn't want to exclude her. So I managed to get her in this picture.
On the fireplace mantel you might notice a few framed portraits. On the left side is my favorite Christmas portrait of the boys, Caspain is 3 and a half, Stirling is about 11 months old. I just love this picture and it along with most of these pictures are on my fireplace mantle at home. Next to this one is a family picture that was in my mom's home. I am the littlest one on the far left side, my sister Mary is standing in the back, brother on the right, mom and dad sitting down. My mom and dad are next in a formal portrait in the middle, taken in the late 70's it is another one of my favorites. On the top right side is a picture of Mike and his daughter Malena at her graduation from college. Under that picture is one of my dad on the way to Arkansas in the 50's. He has the engine hood up and he is filling up the raidatior with water, apparently this was something that had to be done every few hundred miles.
There are two wood toys my dad made in this picture, behind Mike's head is a frog, and on the floor beside me is a dog. I love these toys, dad would putter away in his shop for hours working on this and that. Sometimes he would come out with something cute like these. I have others that he has made and cherish them all.
Now we come to the quilts. The famous YouTube "Boy Quilt" is near Caspian, and the other she gave me is on the left side. I really like this one because of all the blues and the fabric choices. She even has flannel in it, that quilt never made an interview so I don't know when she made it, though I can't remember ever seeing her work on it. I do know it is a string quilt that is just a mix match of whatever you have lying around. The "Boy Quilt" mom made before she left Arkansas sometime in the 1940's or before.
You will notice from the picture where I am sitting on the floor, I am wearing two different socks. This is a typical day for me as is all the black my family is wearing. Caspian has several mechanical pencils in his pocket, again this is typical of him. Don't know why he needs several exact ones, seems like he should have a pen in there as well but he doesn't.
What is missing from the picture are two Christmas stockings hanging by the fireplace. I made these years ago for the boys, and they each took a couple years to make. Ma
ry did all the finish sewing and I love her for that as they came out beautiful. During the rest of the year they are kept in the fire safe, that's how precious they are to me.
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