tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36860962586592368372024-03-18T16:50:04.104-04:00notanotherbookreviewThis blog covers books, loved, hated or in-between. Is it a new classic? Does an old one hold-up? Major houses, university presses, art publishers, theater reviews. Opinions are mine. Leave yours if so inclined. No ads here but comment if interested in sponsorship. Susan I. Weinsteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08327145154416720160noreply@blogger.comBlogger218125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3686096258659236837.post-8494888833174371922024-03-18T16:49:00.001-04:002024-03-18T16:49:11.908-04:00Is magic fantasy, theory, science or lunacy? SUSAN WANDS' Arcana Oracle Series. MAGICIAN and FOOL, HIGH PRIESTESS and EMPRESS<p> Is magic fantasy, theory, science or lunacy? I was entranced by <b><i>M</i></b><i style="font-weight: bold;">agician and Fool, </i>the first fantasy novel in Susan Wands' <b>Arcana Oracle Series (Spark Press.) </b>I recently<b> </b>finished<i style="font-weight: bold;"> </i><i style="font-weight: bold;">High Priestess and Empress (april), </i>the second novel and look forward to the third. Though not a regular reader of fantasy novels nor ones about magic, it's the history, characters and sheer imaginative leaps that I enjoy in this work. <i> </i> The series, projected to cover the creation of the entire deck, is a challenge. History is the bedrock for this series, enriching the fantasy with depth and plausibility. Then there's the characters, who would be fascinating in any time. </p><p>Pamela Coleman Smith (1878-1951) is the artist who created the famous Rider-Waite tarot deck, perhps the most used in the world. Her inspired designs are on display in the collection at NYC's Whitney Museum of Art, as her colored prints of ocean waves with female spirits. The real Coleman Smith attended Pratt School of Art, was a designer-illustrator, performer of folk tales, and an "empath." </p><p>It was an easy leap to Pamela's "second sight" in <i><b>M</b></i><span><i style="font-weight: bold;">agician and Fool. </i><span>The fantasy novel </span>begins </span>with Pamela Coleman Smith's growing up in America., where she has paraormal experiences. Her older friend and guiding light in childhood is Maud Gonne, a historical figure in the Irish Revolution. Pamela begins her education in understanding the "hidden" world.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1732" data-original-width="1127" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXcqgH5G7FM-IE0aqwtgTi61tawGunfvhrnuAxAwOHhciIhxlvov3i1xH__TbeV_5LYdVBEZvYDumSSSlhkyDN6TtwuuIjiD6NeIrdjsV6MYpwSbS9aaepYP3vbZ5n0wzoIOtkh1PAc2skqPcGPw6yk61w82wQk-5F3pzSYVi6OCgVoGHhAy5tbXuDJMIq/s320/IMG_5033.jpg" width="208" /></span></div><p></p><p>In Victorian London (1837-1901), magic was an art, as well as a science. The <i style="font-weight: bold;">Order of the Golden Dawn </i>was a secret society devoted to the study and practice of occult Hermeticism (Hermes and the Egyptian God Thoth). Theurgy(evocation of deities) was practiced in Great Britain. (In the U.S., Wicca and other practices of spiritual development were inspired by the Golden Dawn.) In<i style="font-weight: bold;"> M</i><span><b style="font-style: italic;">agician and Fool, </b>the Golden Dawn's main purpose is to </span>acquire magical knowledge. The Victorian era of science and invention included magic as a field of exploration for educated young men. They wanted to harness the forces of nature through hidden knowledge. In this fantasy novel, such magical forces shape the fates of historical characters, in theater, art, and politics. </p><div style="align-self: baseline; border: 0px; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 0.875rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 700px;"><p style="align-self: baseline; border: 0px; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 0.875rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 700px;">In the Victorian years, when Britain controlled Egypt, priceless treasures were shipped as Egyptian property from excavated sites and museums to British museums and the homes of aristocrats. Secret knowledge was thought to be hidden in Egyptian hieroglyphs, of interest to the Golden Dawn members, who funded Ahmed, an Egyptian scholar cataloguing accurate details of these treasures. When young Pamela is looking for employment, she is given to Ahmed as an assistant. Later, when she's commissioned to make designs for a new deck, he is able to teach her about tarot imagery and traditions. </p><p style="align-self: baseline; border: 0px; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 0.875rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 700px;"><span>The other major influence in her apprenticeship is the legendary Lyceum Theater. Here Pamela meets Henry Irving, actor-producer-manager, his partner the inimitable Ellen Terry, his right-hand man, Bram Stoker (Dracula author), and William Terris, matinee idol. These historical characters were critical to the grand evolving enterprise of Victorian theater. They are also often unwitting instruments of esoteric mystery. Young Pamela is employed to do odd jobs, painting, designs, publicity. filling-in as an extra. And she experiences occurrences of magical import, even a dramatic rescue from the Thames River that changes her life.</span></p><p style="align-self: baseline; border: 0px; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 0.875rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 700px;"><span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiqAy-QvK9qTHvx9ubChObNQCoXQmxlFYa8AA36Yu_e1a15w9xyDmiAa7nIUhK_enxxH-iDIdkXbUVFuWhwzGuAlbMEG58zlErvwS5eLZcOF762tbrgaR6pJd4FDhEDbyRxSruJekx8S2u5GyMjg8QrXcbuqX7iToZbgAQeFnxSmUYt6kXY6N17-uFm38BI" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="324" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiqAy-QvK9qTHvx9ubChObNQCoXQmxlFYa8AA36Yu_e1a15w9xyDmiAa7nIUhK_enxxH-iDIdkXbUVFuWhwzGuAlbMEG58zlErvwS5eLZcOF762tbrgaR6pJd4FDhEDbyRxSruJekx8S2u5GyMjg8QrXcbuqX7iToZbgAQeFnxSmUYt6kXY6N17-uFm38BI=w208-h320" width="208" /></a></span></div><p></p><p style="align-self: baseline; border: 0px; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 0.875rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 700px;"><span>In Book 2</span><b><i>, High Priestess and Empress</i></b><span>, Pamela, now a young adult and orphanedreturns to the theater looking for home, family, and employment. She gets it in parts, resumes some friendships, finds odd job work, though her dream of designing sets is unfulfilled. These parts of the book, where you are backstage with her are especially fun for theater people. And there's lore, like the historical basis for "break a leg" </span></p></div><p>As part of the Golden Dawn, Aleister Crowley, a historic occultist and writer, is the "dark magician" to Pamela's light. In the first novel, the objective of the Golden Dawn group was not to become magicians but to gain access to paranormal power. Only Crowley wished to be a god. The others seemed to assume that as higher beings (aristocrats) they were destined to responsibly manage such power. Yet these educated men, had problems sharing it with talented women who joined the group. And their objectives differed. </p><p>In America in the 1960s-70s, Crowley's writings were rediscovered as a means to manipulate underlying reality. He proves dangerous for Pamela and other gifted women in Book 2, <span><b style="font-style: italic;">High Priestess and Empress. </b>Crowley, who wants to</span> bring the Egyptian God Horus to his time, sees Pamela as a threat. Having found her power in <i><b>Magician and Fool</b></i>,completing two cards, she has interferred with his plans. The battle between the two grows with her increased ability to use magic and faith in her own power. Yet she is still vulnerable and less experienced. <b style="font-style: italic;"> High Priestess and Empress</b> shows how expanded consciousness was tough on a day-to-day basis. With her extraordinary abilities and Crowley's emity she finds herself in constant conflict. </p><p>Francis Farr, an important member of the Golden Dawn, depicted in <b style="font-style: italic;">High Priestess and Empress</b>, is a balanced personality, fearless about her learning and abilities. Farr wants to see the language behind physical reality.<span style="font-style: italic;"> </span>Faith and religion seem one side of magic, the unidentified forces in nature the other. For Ellen Terry, an ageless theater icon, dispersing love to all who are dear and necessary to her. She is an inimitable force, a dramatic figure who can convey emotion and justice in work, family, and her unconventional partnership with Henry Irving. And he, aware of his power, yet unaware, in a time of enterprising actor-managers, joins the "family" helping Pamela in her fight. The amazingly handsome and couragous William Terriss, and Bram Socker's generousity round-out Pamela's protectors. Engaged with the monstrous Crowley, her battle will need their engagement. </p><p>A big theme is the purpose of power in nature and women's lives. The biggest invention in these fantasy novels may be that they allow readers to experience magic as a tangible force in the world. I applaud how Wands ties together both Crowley's "will to power" harnessing an Egyptian god, and Pamela's scrying in a Church. These are means to spiritual and worldly ends for both. </p><p>In our era of technology, many people wonder what forces will triumph to what end? Literature is a safe battleground to play out such questions.. Mary Shelley's <i>Frankenstein </i> poses questions we might ask about AI--Is it possible to control machines who aren't human? And our environmental crises asks the big question of intent. <i>Suppose our instincts to transcend death didn't focus on amassing as much wealth as possible, weapons of mass destruction, and subjugating nations with eternal warfare? </i> What else could human existence be?</p><p>For that answer, we need more imagination. Wands' Arcana Oracle series shows history shaped by forces I never considered...read on.</p><p>S.W.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><div style="align-self: baseline; border: 0px; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 0.875rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 700px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div style="align-self: baseline; border: 0px; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 0.875rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 700px;"><br /></div><div style="align-self: baseline; border: 0px; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 0.875rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 700px;"><br /></div></div>Susan I. Weinsteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08327145154416720160noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3686096258659236837.post-29302625408730693292024-02-12T13:50:00.002-05:002024-02-12T15:26:19.481-05:00 PERESTROIKA & The "Plays Are Literature Campaign." Collected plays by LUCY WANG, JON SPANO, BARBARA ALFARO<p>TCG, Theatre Communications Group, published Tony Kushner's <i><b>PERESTROIKA</b></i>, the second part of <b style="font-style: italic;">Angels of America </b>in 1994<b style="font-style: italic;">. </b><span>Would</span><b style="font-style: italic;"> </b>book reviewers mention a book of this play, a huge cultural breakthrough? As a book publicist and playwright, I was excited about this idea, as was the publisher, who created The "Plays are Literature Campaign." Packages of books with materals supporting this book as literature were sent. A couple weeks later, I began my follow-up. Was the exclusion of published playscripts arbitrary?</p><p><br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjcggj9JRmQTNVOHngzzpRhDIBlrU-O4PiDjQjTYCmCOL1rctGMpDdEDRyF9qSG_rWNh7ubV7njkZE3mJR1ZNjwNIULHP4p2n1NFSBI_r0sOhs7R6wPI2L1H64uEbzSz9d7Lha6EOAxKL7_njGiAnyK2KcgHD3JhWPHjlP88frKLW2JNHlOgiDmChJ_J-Nl" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="318" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjcggj9JRmQTNVOHngzzpRhDIBlrU-O4PiDjQjTYCmCOL1rctGMpDdEDRyF9qSG_rWNh7ubV7njkZE3mJR1ZNjwNIULHP4p2n1NFSBI_r0sOhs7R6wPI2L1H64uEbzSz9d7Lha6EOAxKL7_njGiAnyK2KcgHD3JhWPHjlP88frKLW2JNHlOgiDmChJ_J-Nl" width="153" /></a></div><br /><i>"Everyone knows,</i> plays are only reviewed in performance." But in England, play scripts in books are reviewed.<i><b> Some are reviewed both IN PERFORMANCE and when the book is published. Why? Playscripts are accepted, like poetry, as a form of LITERATURE! </b>The</i> <i>Plays are Literature Campaign</i> showed <b style="font-style: italic;">Angels in America </b><span>was a</span> unique literary achievement published in two books.<i><b> Perestroika</b></i> was a worthy exception to an arbitrary editorial rule. Why this play? AIDS, at that time, was an unprecedented epidemic in the U.S., which affected Americans of many races, classes, genders and religions. The script's examination of our national identity, through the lens of this disease, surely merited a review or acknowledgement of the playscript's existence in a book? <p></p><p>In 1994, more book editors answered their desk phones. Some agreed <b><i>Perestroika</i></b> was<i><b> literature</b></i> but emphatically stated, "<i>our paper only covers plays in performance." </i>BUDGET was mentioned as a reason, along wih <i>Expertise. </i>As one editor explained,<i> "Once</i> we hired a<i> </i>university professor, skilled in reading scripts and it cost 800!"I did not buy this excuse. (Professors are the only competent reviewers? Why not offer a book of plays to editorial staffs? (Former lit and drama majors might love the chance for a printed review, paid a base rate or not. And if not staff, "dramatists" are widely available.(defined as a playwright or person who makes plays.) In that capacity, I reviewed a couple times for a national paper.</p><p><i><b>"Audiences for scripts in book form are too small why that category has long been eliminated."</b></i><b> was another comment</b><i>. The same idea was cited, when </i><i><b>The</b><b> </b></i><b style="font-style: italic;">New York Times recently announced it will no longer be reviewing major books of poetry. S</b>ince the pandemic, the national audience for poetry has expanded, as has audiences for playwrighting and books of scripts. Poets and playwrights are celebrities. (<span style="font-weight: bold;">New video games releases are reviewed with an assumed large </span>audience, as are the prospects of polo ponies. Shall America's serious poets, publishing lifetime achievements, find an environmental sponsor?)</p><p><i>Of course,</i> coverage is linked with advertising and though the audiences for books of playscripts is growing, like novels, there is only <i>seasonal advertising</i>. Budgets don't compare to those of streaming services for movies and mini-series. Media is flooded incessantly with "sky is the limit" advertising budgets for ongoing dramatic products.Yet the audience for new plays and books of new playscripts persists, an argument demonstrated by<i><b> Hamilton</b></i>'s success. <i>Televised </i>performances grew audiences and fanned interest in the script of <b style="font-style: italic;">Hamilton. </b><span>That play is read as </span>literature across America. </p><p>The playwright is a skilled promoter who championsthe reading of books of plays. His scripts are bought in books by librarians, schools, theaters, performers, playwrights and the general public. Lesser known playwrights and scripts might have a local production, and air on public access TV. Occasionally, especially if successful in England, a play will show up on PBS and audiences may buy a book if they can locate it in the U.S. O<b style="font-style: italic;">nly a fraction of plays written in the U.S., will ever be produced and fewer will be published in book form. </b> Our rising dramatic writing talent, often have a miniseries in mind. They must. Our media doesn't support plays as <i><b>literature.</b></i></p><p><span>Months after the conclusion of The Plays Are Literature Campaign,</span><b style="font-style: italic;"> </b><span>I learned</span><b style="font-style: italic;"> The Los Angeles Times DID </b><b>mention the publication of the book of <i>PERESTROIKA</i>.</b> (Probably not linked with my efforts). My guess is that publishers of theater books may lack the budgets of producers of streaming fare, yet both are interested in dramatic storytelling. Someone at <i><b>The LA Times Book Review</b></i> may have made that connection.</p><p>I see our major and minor areas of dramatic writing as differing in their objectives. The streaming medium must rivet audiences emotionally. For instance, a "car chase" is standard in many commercial products because it's been tested and humans "on alert" don't turn off until the action is resolved. Formulas also aim to please audiences, as do many plays in theaters.<b><i> Literature</i></b> allows the unfettered search for meaning that may be embodied in idiosyncratic play structures and language. Whether seen in-person or experienced on the page, these dramatic vehicles can offer unique experiences unseen on commercial screens. (Occasionally <b><i>independent </i></b><b><i>film </i></b>makes it out of the dwindling art houses to become an "event" on a screening service.)</p><p>Books offer structures and styles of classic drama that can be a revelation. Much of the dialogue actually differs from the accepted form of "contemporary realism" in the U.S. This language, derived from the 1950s American Actor's Studio, was popularized in seminal films, like "On the Waterfront." Required of all screenplays and by most producers of plays in the U.S.,this dialogue style can inhibit verbal expression, a marvel even in translation of some classics.( Lost to many new playwrights not enrolled in academic programs.)</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg5NBJ_zi-X_UdmMXq0NebfLeTJ1E-c56Dw9MMutuK2Yu5CxpKWJOFwSD9UJOBRbvsVRCBXHbpiIFr9ZwrDcsOeZtyOb9H9BOvlrlXAo9noyYvhXHD_rQAfEJMB37GjRT3EdtTvDeUtF5gAyV3FByPkz83Eo9Jt0eDbN_DCuKFjawfNHkg3G3vI63z02PHt" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="605" data-original-width="599" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg5NBJ_zi-X_UdmMXq0NebfLeTJ1E-c56Dw9MMutuK2Yu5CxpKWJOFwSD9UJOBRbvsVRCBXHbpiIFr9ZwrDcsOeZtyOb9H9BOvlrlXAo9noyYvhXHD_rQAfEJMB37GjRT3EdtTvDeUtF5gAyV3FByPkz83Eo9Jt0eDbN_DCuKFjawfNHkg3G3vI63z02PHt" width="238" /></a><div style="text-align: center;"><img alt="" data-original-height="350" data-original-width="205" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgArCAdSZg_3-dycZ1HMLlx1zj8ge29KW-cjTvOO_S5I8-rbpHHj2GTw1NR7Svtwo1YwOaXEx2xfB5W3S2adBKllJ0aggYMv3cVL_bO8enFDxauIC4BKc0b8Tsbj3zVLO_E6OSlSoyE4KpaOGwzJJCbcy-mBAzRcmZnBP4r63ACz9n5mtqruJiwLvtkcxFj" width="141" /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgjPbxQpEpNrp29LArwZFsm1Xp8Wybe6iPlUAbCbpQ4uWyBRlz9xeJLOVRGvaB2KjOEmOZ3vGwnMKX93PCrF0h58DaJ_JqPrrnX62T7mhL_GPnQR3PV-J3SS4RhcgCEnDRJ6zhWL0Q7C0sKrKe-6G8shy81CTwDniHRfKnAQGuHVUGxv_B2ovwlhhDvvk1x" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="350" data-original-width="235" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgjPbxQpEpNrp29LArwZFsm1Xp8Wybe6iPlUAbCbpQ4uWyBRlz9xeJLOVRGvaB2KjOEmOZ3vGwnMKX93PCrF0h58DaJ_JqPrrnX62T7mhL_GPnQR3PV-J3SS4RhcgCEnDRJ6zhWL0Q7C0sKrKe-6G8shy81CTwDniHRfKnAQGuHVUGxv_B2ovwlhhDvvk1x" width="161" /></a></div></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg5NBJ_zi-X_UdmMXq0NebfLeTJ1E-c56Dw9MMutuK2Yu5CxpKWJOFwSD9UJOBRbvsVRCBXHbpiIFr9ZwrDcsOeZtyOb9H9BOvlrlXAo9noyYvhXHD_rQAfEJMB37GjRT3EdtTvDeUtF5gAyV3FByPkz83Eo9Jt0eDbN_DCuKFjawfNHkg3G3vI63z02PHt" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></a></div><p>An explorer of plays as <i>literature </i> might encounter circular plays w/political content, (Brecht's <b><i>Mother Courage</i></b>), (Fugard's <b><i>Boesman and Lena</i></b>). Mythology and life meeting in engrossing folk story adaptations, such as (Brook's <i>The</i> <b><i>Congress of the Birds</i></b>). Surrealism is the lens of (Cocteau's <i><b>T</b></i><b><i>he Infernal Machine</i></b>) and (Williams' <i><b>Camino Real</b></i>). Hyper-realism is the style of (Shepherd's <b><i>Buried Child</i></b>) and the Rock saga of <i><b>Tooth in Crime</b></i>). (Jarry's absurdist <b style="font-style: italic;">Ubu Roi) </b>is with us<b style="font-style: italic;"> now,</b> in his "potato head" dictator which prefigured Hitler and our "Orange Menace." These scripts (even in translation) are written with language that fits the vision.) Free or improvised verse, fractured song lyrics, street lingo, nursery rhyme, even computer lingo, can have a strange, startling effect. There are many exciting plays from around the world. In the U.S. many have disappeared, rarely performed or read outside academia. Such scripts are <i><b>literature waiting to be rediscovered.</b></i></p><p><span> </span><span> <span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span> **********</span></p><p>The spirit of "plays as literature" is alive in books of new scripts. Usually not "experimental," they are for public school, regional club performances and for actors exploring audition pieces. Short plays are more often performed than full-length (some playwrights have files of the same play by length--10 minutes, 30 minutes, one-act play of 45 minutes or full-length, one to two hours.) Below are examples of plays for actors and schools by playwrights who write varied formats.<b><i> The catalogues of TCG and The Drama Bookshop have more. </i></b></p><p><span><span><b>Lucy Wang</b>'s award-winning full-length play<i> <b>JUNK BONDS</b></i>, was the beginning of a career writing and performing her scripts. I saw and loved her <b><i>Silver Menace,</i></b> a witty short one-woman play of about 45 minutes (a 10 minute version on NetScripts). Both plays, besides being funny, have much to offer from the viewpoint of a working woman, who is Chinese, trying to succeed on Wall Street. and in Hollywood. Wang, who cares about new audiences, is also an educator. Besides being an Instructor at</span> The Dramatists Guild Institute of Dramatic Writing and at escript.ws, her collection, <i><b>Plays for Youth, i</b></i>ncludes the full-length <b style="font-style: italic;">Teen Mogul, </b><span>th</span>e short comedies in <i style="font-weight: bold;">Gray Matters</i>, and <b>Playing with a purpose:</b> <i>Monologues for Kids Ages 7-15. </i>She has also compiled <i><b>Audition Monologues for Young Women, </b></i>a rare resource. Her most recent play, <i><b>Good Mourning America</b></i>, is now available.</span></p><p><span><img alt="" data-original-height="927" data-original-width="600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjGpGxsS6g6H9aPoRYoGuWVHe8DSN40g0ahViDg0rFs4Eq8kjl1CIR8JL4obp31FL7blR_ZNwWKrnLOppzbEAg27rkNeKlGzRAX8V2WZmkyLOJfcuLj0JCHQlME52ApnS5cALPd3Ov7R7zhvOpyejRmaWNpm_sFZcBHuTcCgAsRLIGMI9rIm0roLeBGmQOB" width="155" /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhO_sf8IE_J055K1jQ8vxn05r5E3apWYRlCCpiwZ076Vem1G_SJpT-b32IELiJlyVnp2KPEMTP0R18r1InsU6cQ0BjnCbzFoLDOmQjQpMpG9mq0GkJe681tMVqmG17htg_WAAMdIaodiADyK45GkPXzmESOHxWhEuvzLPPMxJDUbydwvjgvZ1XkZob-6UI3" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img alt="" data-original-height="850" data-original-width="561" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhO_sf8IE_J055K1jQ8vxn05r5E3apWYRlCCpiwZ076Vem1G_SJpT-b32IELiJlyVnp2KPEMTP0R18r1InsU6cQ0BjnCbzFoLDOmQjQpMpG9mq0GkJe681tMVqmG17htg_WAAMdIaodiADyK45GkPXzmESOHxWhEuvzLPPMxJDUbydwvjgvZ1XkZob-6UI3" width="158" /></a></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjhJkGkzCrgA2pbVnS0BlggeD0QpzUUpm_eH7IGrcMwBsq9U82umrRBeaI_YdAfTTStZ4lXtCy9AamMEG80x3Vb8BR_rxbXKGdIpbNi9xMWYjzQLgQ9Xp5QjLeeuiVpCE_EL22nBYCvv3S-_YZU5OQjDns3PO5wDj3Jw2jaS_jfpSVl7uD-H2QCKSXNF2uA" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img alt="" data-original-height="850" data-original-width="561" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjhJkGkzCrgA2pbVnS0BlggeD0QpzUUpm_eH7IGrcMwBsq9U82umrRBeaI_YdAfTTStZ4lXtCy9AamMEG80x3Vb8BR_rxbXKGdIpbNi9xMWYjzQLgQ9Xp5QjLeeuiVpCE_EL22nBYCvv3S-_YZU5OQjDns3PO5wDj3Jw2jaS_jfpSVl7uD-H2QCKSXNF2uA" width="158" /></a></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj2dpvQbe_rohkjNtPOQMAt6G139ocxK0o6SZrGnbhSC_ZCKkioYQhX0JRkAdx4RFIUoXpJJgjr4OJHk2TmYQ0m5SQ3zNrN2X6DXrtWemsGtuWvTJIgLN9HDDnHhp6Q5LVdCnHYg4Vd9dUHXwBashrtiW3cuP8f13KVXqEoTbLQTTk-sVDyqQ6QPZi2dbqp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="324" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj2dpvQbe_rohkjNtPOQMAt6G139ocxK0o6SZrGnbhSC_ZCKkioYQhX0JRkAdx4RFIUoXpJJgjr4OJHk2TmYQ0m5SQ3zNrN2X6DXrtWemsGtuWvTJIgLN9HDDnHhp6Q5LVdCnHYg4Vd9dUHXwBashrtiW3cuP8f13KVXqEoTbLQTTk-sVDyqQ6QPZi2dbqp" width="156" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>Jon Spano who began as a dancer-writer, recently added filmmaker to his resume. A favorite play of mine in his <b>Anthology of Short Plays & Monologues:</b> <i>Comedies and Dramas for Diverse Casts</i> is <b><i>Second Son</i></b>, which appeared in 2018 in Urban Artist's Collective one-act play festival. It is a story of a father's meeting with his deceased son's war buddy. It is less dark than intriguing, as the father learns about the son he thought he knew. Spano's plays are surprising, mixing farcical absurdity with situations real and concerning, depending on how you look at it. His chameleon viewpoint embraces diversity of all kinds racial, sexual, generational, in an entertaining "whatever" spirit. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg5h16tosAiM1zsqA51sutgqfzwOQsCMCTB29A-__zJW5hhvK4XY7muvosrhj4W_MEA5ikLGhvc3VJqr1PLB87BzcxYd9BIWwFo4QbJwpWrPBiTKM8Cv55CYooTTqquZTnGUnUcVLuXN2Q56u6IZtqLFW8d169BbtHMb2BlIYSc0eZ4K700UejQZ94eynPK" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="544" data-original-width="342" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg5h16tosAiM1zsqA51sutgqfzwOQsCMCTB29A-__zJW5hhvK4XY7muvosrhj4W_MEA5ikLGhvc3VJqr1PLB87BzcxYd9BIWwFo4QbJwpWrPBiTKM8Cv55CYooTTqquZTnGUnUcVLuXN2Q56u6IZtqLFW8d169BbtHMb2BlIYSc0eZ4K700UejQZ94eynPK" width="151" /></a></div></div><p>Some of his plays scripts included are: <span class="wixui-rich-text__text" color="rgb(var(--color_20))" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; font-size: 14px; font-style: italic; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="wixui-rich-text__text" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Ripple Effect </span> </span><span color="rgb(var(--color_20))" style="font-size: 14px;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14px;">Spano shines as a clearly talented playwright. (<b>Erika Karp, Village Times)</b></span></p><div style="text-align: left;"> <span class="wixui-rich-text__text" color="rgb(var(--color_20))" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; font-size: 14px; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Eighth Wonder</span><span color="rgb(var(--color_20))" style="font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold;"> </span><span color="rgb(var(--color_20))" style="font-size: 14px;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14px;">Winner Phoenix Theatre’s One-Act Festival<br /></span><span style="font-size: 14px;">“Powerful and tear-inducing” <b>(Steve Parks, New York Newsday)<br /></b></span><span style="font-size: 14px;">“A terrific selection to begin the evening… </span></div><p class="font_8 wixui-rich-text__text" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; color: rgb(var(--color_20)); font-size: 14px; line-height: normal; margin-block: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; pointer-events: auto; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="wixui-rich-text__text" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">"fascinating and moving" (<b>broadwayworld.com</b>).</span></p><p class="font_8 wixui-rich-text__text" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; color: rgb(var(--color_20)); font-size: 14px; line-height: normal; margin-block: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; pointer-events: auto; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="wixui-rich-text__text" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> "moves exquisitely from comedy to drama" (<b>theatre2nytimes.com</b>).</span></p><p class="font_8 wixui-rich-text__text" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; color: rgb(var(--color_20)); font-size: 14px; line-height: normal; margin-block: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; pointer-events: auto; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="wixui-rich-text__text" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> "an interesting study in celebrity" (<b>oobr.com)</b>.</span></p><p class="font_8 wixui-rich-text__text" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; color: rgb(var(--color_20)); font-size: 14px; line-height: normal; margin-block: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; pointer-events: auto; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="wixui-rich-text__text" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span></p><p class="font_8 wixui-rich-text__text" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; color: rgb(var(--color_20)); font-size: 14px; line-height: normal; margin-block: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; pointer-events: auto; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="wixui-rich-text__text" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span></p><p class="font_8 wixui-rich-text__text" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; color: rgb(var(--color_20)); font-size: 14px; line-height: normal; margin-block: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; pointer-events: auto; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="wixui-rich-text__text" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGbu1mEXWY86VWUhK8mP8LQbeSGHG3PO4yaFxpmFp9-1QuOOXLghMKiP8VjfwkvN6_WCjYIklWEZe8FwOyawFaqW4pr6rzZemRlsgO8iEqVBZvMXLP4m_MMURI5Ypd07M6U3ba8LIS4uVLteOHsSwgjytKo6sxZ7ri8l5w5BWnYqX6B20BURimhQB5L4-1/s2560/Use%20this%20jpg.jpg" style="font-size: 14px; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2560" data-original-width="1707" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGbu1mEXWY86VWUhK8mP8LQbeSGHG3PO4yaFxpmFp9-1QuOOXLghMKiP8VjfwkvN6_WCjYIklWEZe8FwOyawFaqW4pr6rzZemRlsgO8iEqVBZvMXLP4m_MMURI5Ypd07M6U3ba8LIS4uVLteOHsSwgjytKo6sxZ7ri8l5w5BWnYqX6B20BURimhQB5L4-1/s320/Use%20this%20jpg.jpg" width="213" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><span style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: "Alegreya Sans SC"; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">In Barbara Alfaro's new collection </span><span style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: "Alegreya Sans SC"; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;"><b><i>StageStruck and Other Short Plays, </i></b></span><span style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: "Alegreya Sans SC"; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">she probes situations comic and serious, with emotions crossing borders. I enjoyed the title play, <i><b>Stagestruck</b></i>, for it's send-up of American thespians in France.</span><span face=""Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 15px; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> </span>Her <span face=""Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 15px; white-space-collapse: preserve;">10-minute comedy about a celebrity canine <b><i>"The Sirius Interview" </i></b>is also part of the 2022 Equity Library Theater Virtual Play Festival. It can be viewed on their website by clicking on the title. Her </span><span face=""Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 15px; white-space-collapse: preserve;">monologue, <b><i>"Irrestible Impulse" </i></b>was part of the 2023 Equity Library Theater Summer Festival. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 15px; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> Her collection of short comedies called "Theatre Mad" was recently published by Smith Scripts in the UK. </span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face=""Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space-collapse: preserve;">
</span></div></span></div></div><div>Barbara Alfaro is also a writer and poet. She is<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Alegreya Sans SC"; font-size: 16px; text-align: justify;"> the recipient of a Maryland State Arts Council Individual Artist Award in Playwriting and two Jenny McKean Moore writing scholarships at The George Washington University. </span><em style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: "Alegreya Sans SC"; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">Mirror Talk</em><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Alegreya Sans SC"; font-size: 16px; text-align: justify;">, her memoir won the Indie Reader Discovery Award for Best Memoir. Her poems have appeared in various journals including </span><em style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: "Alegreya Sans SC"; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">Poet Lore</em><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Alegreya Sans SC"; font-size: 16px; text-align: justify;">, </span><em style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: "Alegreya Sans SC"; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">The Blue Mountain Review</em><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Alegreya Sans SC"; font-size: 16px; text-align: justify;">, and </span><em style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: "Alegreya Sans SC"; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">Glassworks. </em></div><div><br /></div><div><div dir="auto" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space-collapse: preserve;">S.W.</div></div>Susan I. Weinsteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08327145154416720160noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3686096258659236837.post-15162701625857726152024-01-05T14:59:00.062-05:002024-01-09T10:45:58.137-05:00 From WINSLOW HOMER to FASHIONED by SARGENT- Artists pursuing the Fabulous in Nature and Humanity<div class="separator"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA5CZvwXFahmmEQ4VqD1NPbjnGrFO7zLjP967yUyVe4Df6c6N3R_lLszO30BZSn9HfduoEwwvcD81bpOn1WspUkEjfC_Ood0MNwn3dSDblzptRG-0JkyDBnOjghTwWT6o4we5nrUlXteeHtPD2nvSBCXciLv0Fkz7M-3tjUayL95WOZjg2R13gApI71suH/s860/FashionedbySargent_Cover_4x3_1.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="645" data-original-width="860" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA5CZvwXFahmmEQ4VqD1NPbjnGrFO7zLjP967yUyVe4Df6c6N3R_lLszO30BZSn9HfduoEwwvcD81bpOn1WspUkEjfC_Ood0MNwn3dSDblzptRG-0JkyDBnOjghTwWT6o4we5nrUlXteeHtPD2nvSBCXciLv0Fkz7M-3tjUayL95WOZjg2R13gApI71suH/s320/FashionedbySargent_Cover_4x3_1.jpg" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcsaP3eryufFCwPNhkuHYc1DMNUz9ddHnwkxC5nhahgEv7tixnj13mKKVoj4_7fUmWRDef34TvcOCTrlLX9HcJja2Qn8OTmUGtkoodUjyfZxhxpm18Wy40RWeWu_3lqPT1cuWUHbpdMG-xDpy6Fj_gDwIUHQJAFfZTl_8dZ2SClq66-Fj5ZdiTxdWercj1/s640/IMG_5359%20(2).jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="614" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcsaP3eryufFCwPNhkuHYc1DMNUz9ddHnwkxC5nhahgEv7tixnj13mKKVoj4_7fUmWRDef34TvcOCTrlLX9HcJja2Qn8OTmUGtkoodUjyfZxhxpm18Wy40RWeWu_3lqPT1cuWUHbpdMG-xDpy6Fj_gDwIUHQJAFfZTl_8dZ2SClq66-Fj5ZdiTxdWercj1/s320/IMG_5359%20(2).jpg" width="307" /></a></div><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitAy7NIvrKkcuW2M1tS59OvaRovKZSUM5urJGSTGZ_3YUgGEMV82Q0Sc0DAJKBUlqHsEM_g9VXPHzEj0eO0GIapD88D1RWpkGKQnuMe8H3phvPkH9y7OALZMoK2BbQfyBDDXcUjqNrAjgQhY8V_UJgZRIdmiOMlFQuzL0PDwSxijyysO2ABf9zWf-fgoFw/s600/The-Artists-Studio-In-An-Afternoon-Fog.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="495" data-original-width="600" height="330" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitAy7NIvrKkcuW2M1tS59OvaRovKZSUM5urJGSTGZ_3YUgGEMV82Q0Sc0DAJKBUlqHsEM_g9VXPHzEj0eO0GIapD88D1RWpkGKQnuMe8H3phvPkH9y7OALZMoK2BbQfyBDDXcUjqNrAjgQhY8V_UJgZRIdmiOMlFQuzL0PDwSxijyysO2ABf9zWf-fgoFw/w400-h330/The-Artists-Studio-In-An-Afternoon-Fog.jpg" width="400" /></a> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b style="text-align: left;">The World of Winslow Homer</b><span style="text-align: left;"> </span><span style="text-align: left;">(</span><i style="text-align: left;">Time Life</i><i style="text-align: left;"> Library</i><i style="text-align: left;"> of Art, 1966</i><span style="text-align: left;">) by John Thomas Flexner shows unpeopled sea and landscapes, humans battling nature with revelatory emotion and technique. A favorite of mine is the watercolor of the </span><span style="text-align: left;">artist's studio, both specific and abstract. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div>Winslow Homer (1836-1910) was part of The Hudson River School but he also stood apart. Many of these self-taught "Yankee" painters, like Cole, an Englishman, came to paint the pure luminous light of the New World with unknown seasons. Cole, a portrait peddlar, knocked on doors with canvas and art supplies strapped to his back, until he quit to "learn from nature." Homer, <span style="text-align: center;">apprenticed to a printer, learned to produce in-depth black and white illustration. After his freedom, he became a master of watercolors and taught himself to paint "what he saw" in oils. Surprising to him, the work sold. </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgZUtYgSpoQQWFYDEbIp9MooqznMwlj6946enTvE1021UMKnWR1DrSSKqQS_ZmHg2lBtj5CDNcCWUxEDFTwnvA6vlYZB-RBUJ9rRkwdhx1-RGfUP946noYbFdxceceA0B3vYgRwgRQEnJaUO7FpwpGSpwpSjTcf7rJN3IxE6Qlvz2Sj-ZUl7VzMm3VwSHCa" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="250" data-original-width="335" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgZUtYgSpoQQWFYDEbIp9MooqznMwlj6946enTvE1021UMKnWR1DrSSKqQS_ZmHg2lBtj5CDNcCWUxEDFTwnvA6vlYZB-RBUJ9rRkwdhx1-RGfUP946noYbFdxceceA0B3vYgRwgRQEnJaUO7FpwpGSpwpSjTcf7rJN3IxE6Qlvz2Sj-ZUl7VzMm3VwSHCa" width="320" /></a></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEireW2VnslfZVjOSf1WBuv6Ids0IijQB4OkXvhoQgmgAOXgUscqCKgQnljjatnEIrE7mNc_YcC-Yf4DkqhReKz7tvMRGe_JHeV_etrdqyoj6OW5SP6_-6s0vewagZ7olfr4HsqO74aJJqVFIubontq-UPZyez9zbZlW0U3LM75mQAPeR-pZOOJ70clINh1L/s1527/IMG_5360.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1527" data-original-width="984" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEireW2VnslfZVjOSf1WBuv6Ids0IijQB4OkXvhoQgmgAOXgUscqCKgQnljjatnEIrE7mNc_YcC-Yf4DkqhReKz7tvMRGe_JHeV_etrdqyoj6OW5SP6_-6s0vewagZ7olfr4HsqO74aJJqVFIubontq-UPZyez9zbZlW0U3LM75mQAPeR-pZOOJ70clINh1L/s320/IMG_5360.jpg" width="206" /><br /></a><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">New England light contrasted to a brutal environment, where men</span><span style="text-align: left;"> and women fought storms. He also saw divers for sponges, who worked in extreme heat. Above is "Lifeline,"an etching, and an oil painting of a sponge hunter.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"> </span></div></div><div><div><span>The breakthroughs of Cole, Church, Eakins and Homer, who were largely self-taught, were new and completely American. Known as The</span> Hudson River School, their work was popular in America and abroad. Before them, nature was not considered an appropriate subject for serious painters. Later the group<span> formalized their work in an "Academy," </span>so it would not disappear. The Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts was based on the Hudson River School teachings. But their world was to change radically. </div><div><span><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA5CZvwXFahmmEQ4VqD1NPbjnGrFO7zLjP967yUyVe4Df6c6N3R_lLszO30BZSn9HfduoEwwvcD81bpOn1WspUkEjfC_Ood0MNwn3dSDblzptRG-0JkyDBnOjghTwWT6o4we5nrUlXteeHtPD2nvSBCXciLv0Fkz7M-3tjUayL95WOZjg2R13gApI71suH/s860/FashionedbySargent_Cover_4x3_1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="645" data-original-width="860" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA5CZvwXFahmmEQ4VqD1NPbjnGrFO7zLjP967yUyVe4Df6c6N3R_lLszO30BZSn9HfduoEwwvcD81bpOn1WspUkEjfC_Ood0MNwn3dSDblzptRG-0JkyDBnOjghTwWT6o4we5nrUlXteeHtPD2nvSBCXciLv0Fkz7M-3tjUayL95WOZjg2R13gApI71suH/s320/FashionedbySargent_Cover_4x3_1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div><span></span></div><div><br /></div><div><span>The Erie Canal made </span>Boston a backwater to the leading metropolis, New York City. Though Boston possessed a school of painting that insisted on American inspiration, the Industrial Revolution brought a darkening of Yankee light. The aesthetics of The Hudson River School were overshadowed by the smoke of the Industrial Revolution. Factories and fortunes were to be celebrated in the new <b>Gilded Age. John Singer Sargent (1856-1925) </b>was considered by Winslow Homer one of the "New Men," who studied in France in ateliers. They learned to draw and paint from plaster busts, imitating Italian Masters. They brought Impressionist techniques and theory to American painting, though many, like Sargent, lived in England and France. </div><div><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> **************</span><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div><div><b>FASHIONED BY SARGENT (MFABoston)</b> <i>by Erica E. Hirshler, with Caroline Corbeau-Parsons, James Finch and Pamela A. Parmol, </i>is the extraordinary companion book to the exhibition produced by two museums,<b> </b>the<b> Museum of Fine Arts in Boston </b>and the<b> Tate Museum in Britain.</b> It is available at D.A.P. (Distributed Art Publishers, $65.00). Besides the evolution of individual portraits, there are fascinating essays on the techniques of fashion (materials and design), social conventions in women's dress, and the roles of class and politics. Photos of actual dresses worn or facsimiles constructed by the artist, reveal surprising design, fabric and finishes. Readers experience how portrait painting in Sargent's hands was not only creating a likeness for family histories, but a vehicle for commentary on the personality of the sitter and milieu in which they lived. </div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkjp5rsPh_AT7y3diR1pzC_s2DZVsRTypyHw9gcRC7KW13xMsx7QhTTr9EdUAFGyK3UMdufezMUymkTafNxQPRlJpWWabdEEsDAZX2fdlTusVvSUQDKqYQoakEbQzxskDN-upggrjU_t1G2OOU2Sm3Puqyxd_EjAcHyIFTNF-idB1VXBR5VbB_mnyaf1u1/s1947/IMG_5366.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1947" data-original-width="993" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkjp5rsPh_AT7y3diR1pzC_s2DZVsRTypyHw9gcRC7KW13xMsx7QhTTr9EdUAFGyK3UMdufezMUymkTafNxQPRlJpWWabdEEsDAZX2fdlTusVvSUQDKqYQoakEbQzxskDN-upggrjU_t1G2OOU2Sm3Puqyxd_EjAcHyIFTNF-idB1VXBR5VbB_mnyaf1u1/w204-h400/IMG_5366.jpg" width="204" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>Sargeant's work, often reproduced in the press, became an event. Fame began with infamy, his scandalous portrait of Madame X. The glamorous American Madame Gautreau, the wife of a wealthy businessman, curated her "look" like a chic fashionista. Though she was an eager collaborator with Sargeant, her portrait was "no charge," because he was an admirer of her style. Why was the portrait a scandal? The morals of France dictated formal outrage over a shoulder strap, but it's suggested it may also have been a cultural slap at the effrontery of two Americans intruding on the French monopoly of chic. Sargeant, like many a celebrity after a scandal, retreated from France and public scrutiny. Eventually, he returned a star in demand for his incomparable renderings.</div><div><br /></div><div>.<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhP9Mc62leyQT_6pIKJvjsdNGKFi_s-7Q1lCZ-avppejtWkAqVxM9S9XECyFEdavHLJdIBaS8evfYXLjbaGJCsz0Iobfe9191C8TpfUasB_IPk4bpD_5OCrfTwnEcOtlJ8KlPZFNEGKtgHS0CtI4hbFbwETQ4J5YkgiqWJj1yNvkbKCGaTjPwAjB7YpxJWW" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="356" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhP9Mc62leyQT_6pIKJvjsdNGKFi_s-7Q1lCZ-avppejtWkAqVxM9S9XECyFEdavHLJdIBaS8evfYXLjbaGJCsz0Iobfe9191C8TpfUasB_IPk4bpD_5OCrfTwnEcOtlJ8KlPZFNEGKtgHS0CtI4hbFbwETQ4J5YkgiqWJj1yNvkbKCGaTjPwAjB7YpxJWW=w224-h400" width="224" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Helena (Ena) Wertheimer</i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></div><div>Rarely was a commission left unpaid (or undelivered). Portraits were essential, whether commissions were of aristocratic or nouveau riche origin. In the bridal portrait below, typically painted before the event, the young woman, <i style="text-align: center;">Helena (Ena) Wertheimer </i> was painted in a pose and attire far from that expected of aristocratic ladies. She's like a Cavalier, wearing a plumed hat and a man's cloak created from draped fabric with the hint the of a sword hilt. Sargeant admired the free spirited exuberance of this young woman, the daughter of a Jewish merchant, and honored it in a cross-dressing look. </div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; display: inline;">"Dress"was a loose term for Sargeant, who routinely rejected couture gowns brought by his wealthy clients for fabric he draped and pinned into painterly shapes. He also used garments in his studio. Ironically, he once called himself "a painter and dressmaker," because of the "looks" he devised for effect.</div></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; display: inline;"><br /></div></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; display: inline;">His bases were often black or white, used to focus character, How they were worn and accompanying objects were part of his total vision. </div>In his portrait of the beautiful <i>Lady Helen Vincent,</i> there is an improvised look. </div><div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; display: inline;"><span style="color: black;"><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; display: inline;"><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP4Bdz1s1otukNM3VDP6ExXWic_KUQfZweSgRKka9ap2uiFCsx2Guqk-9S8wKS24CFwDiIiA1LqBhrLZEaHiJ9IpuQM86DnI_ogXwPeOAGhr71SBKociANJ31YzyzW9VVmZKyo3yZuncrNpBQlh-Gr2G1ifVCIcd24dV_3krpACZ9S72HO2W9J9VwN3Zly/s1873/IMG_5362%20(2).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"></a><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP4Bdz1s1otukNM3VDP6ExXWic_KUQfZweSgRKka9ap2uiFCsx2Guqk-9S8wKS24CFwDiIiA1LqBhrLZEaHiJ9IpuQM86DnI_ogXwPeOAGhr71SBKociANJ31YzyzW9VVmZKyo3yZuncrNpBQlh-Gr2G1ifVCIcd24dV_3krpACZ9S72HO2W9J9VwN3Zly/s1873/IMG_5362%20(2).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><img alt="" data-original-height="630" data-original-width="421" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgzJV74dOSs81_RaclgT8yOVbpNG9XMSR-ehA3OTCDOBXrEeXAzJpJlcDKHyXNO0pxhVk8mlmQOA14i3FXiV7cA15sAYegXaXkxqrrQ4X5WBhM4PYPngmPvqQoIFv7PqVbgYGQZ8xRG1ArRefIR4CLYilIgCO2HZ8e3y5cXWhuItb1_SSdnPUP17RQozgS1=w266-h400" width="266" /></div></div></div></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; display: inline;"><i><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span>Lady Helen Vincent</i></div></div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; display: inline;">Sargeant's interpretations brought something new to American portrait painting. Eakins sitters sometimes failed to pick up their portraits because of his uncompromsing "honesty." Sargeant challenged his sitters to see themselves through his enigmatic sensibility. If it was at odds with a husband's view of his wife, or her feelings about herself, he was the Master. Most of his clients were glad to have his paintings.</div></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; display: inline;"><br /></div></div><div>In his portraits of men, character and roles in society were carefully enunciated. In <i>Lord Ribblesdale</i>, who Edward VII called the "ancestor," Sargeant painted not just a known figure of the English aristocracy, but of an era on it's way out. The Queen's former "Keeper of the Hounds,"(whose portrait Sargeant pursued at no fee), lost that hereditary title and aristocratic influence. in the ascendency of the House of Commons. Sargeant took a hereditary costume and modernized it. Where the bottom garment might have appeared ridiculous, he created sleekness.</div><div><br /></div></span><span style="color: black;"><div><i><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span>John D. Rockefeller <span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> <span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span></span></i><i>Lord Ribblesdale</i></div></span><span style="color: black;"><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjnVj075_ZbUFSiNrKSbMwU8As2YdPmonr5WPYHIQDdncd2RIIUWnZtjzUVQbSbbGFt8dFS4Rk1cGbVaVHn92nz9lEJ5bQO4sD0VVA5YxxfEk40BFP-Bbq5XtoJlsMyJW_5E1i33Diqub4FLlOtMWc46IzaHWiL6GhDXg55SdSStDedngBOZfaqMOyzWTJZ" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img alt="" data-original-height="630" data-original-width="345" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjnVj075_ZbUFSiNrKSbMwU8As2YdPmonr5WPYHIQDdncd2RIIUWnZtjzUVQbSbbGFt8dFS4Rk1cGbVaVHn92nz9lEJ5bQO4sD0VVA5YxxfEk40BFP-Bbq5XtoJlsMyJW_5E1i33Diqub4FLlOtMWc46IzaHWiL6GhDXg55SdSStDedngBOZfaqMOyzWTJZ=w219-h400" width="219" /></a><div class="separator" style="clear: both; display: inline;">,</div><img alt="" data-original-height="630" data-original-width="490" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiB_LfjrTniFyZ72wtq-jheduLTBUGyrQET_0Vt9aCJvchP0Yc7RS1XOz3WJZc9K46MXtsuYp7MiDtzWJO9eCvLEOJPoIXi4HFdo13r54U9hfL6_SArMx0Lu3fmgHlbecKzzWmA9jpMy5FUPhf9kG-b5LbPkCWnZQlmSFdPjxkFntQAkQiNKw60ziFAOx7U=w311-h400" width="311" /></div></span></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">An interesting contrast to Ribblesdale is the portrait of the American mogul, </span><i style="text-align: left;">John D. Rockefeller. </i><span style="text-align: left;">The shades of white are enhanced by the black jacket. Legs crossed casually, hands ready, a face with a set expression, show the character of an original. </span></div><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP4Bdz1s1otukNM3VDP6ExXWic_KUQfZweSgRKka9ap2uiFCsx2Guqk-9S8wKS24CFwDiIiA1LqBhrLZEaHiJ9IpuQM86DnI_ogXwPeOAGhr71SBKociANJ31YzyzW9VVmZKyo3yZuncrNpBQlh-Gr2G1ifVCIcd24dV_3krpACZ9S72HO2W9J9VwN3Zly/s1873/IMG_5362%20(2).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></a></div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>Dr. Pozzi at Home </i>caused an uproar in England for painting a professional man so casually. While the U.S. critics thought the flamboyant robe and posture made him effeminate. The robe was a pre-made garment, as was the costume the actress Ellen Terry wore for her portrait. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The "immortal" actress's portrait, commissioned by her equally famous stage partner Henry Irving, was to be in everyday dress. But when the artist saw her robes in "Macbeth" onstage, he made a sketch. The dress, made of beetle wings, was so unique, Sargent convinced her to wear it for her portrait. Here she is in character, as Lady Macbeth.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; display: inline;"><span style="color: black;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; display: inline;"><span style="color: black;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><img alt="" data-original-height="630" data-original-width="307" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiK6Au7IYM7W1ihCpxx0TxbJ9T5nh7N8CtQaVaoSoYh6eNslQ0qnx6G9FXfcVwFs8reEx4GnW65x269UFzAAKyFRPo100elsZnrdiknEm7NdMWrivkuR1vfCylfWUGEmZ9AYH4hT5CHtWyfzkVOdxUxAeY4-ypgtkyXTZ2RwiFS_l3pvtMlpZFwAmiv3tU_=w195-h400" width="195" /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhJU57Dc3BZ-olr0MX4xzFnPYDFwVQn6hVjZQghfyquM0jXQdxizMemncOvjqGhj28X0rE5c9WWZDWJG7Vj7Je-Ryebtomiuvkar1FVsL68xYwva2E0Oo4bGCbd8nJx-wNyFFncuRiubb-M9Bt4ZNhTL8x5bCSJmaN0nw3Y8NPHot5B2eqBwNbQhpkXtvvR" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="630" data-original-width="318" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhJU57Dc3BZ-olr0MX4xzFnPYDFwVQn6hVjZQghfyquM0jXQdxizMemncOvjqGhj28X0rE5c9WWZDWJG7Vj7Je-Ryebtomiuvkar1FVsL68xYwva2E0Oo4bGCbd8nJx-wNyFFncuRiubb-M9Bt4ZNhTL8x5bCSJmaN0nw3Y8NPHot5B2eqBwNbQhpkXtvvR=w202-h400" width="202" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i style="text-align: center;"> </i><i>Dr. Pozzi at Home E</i><i style="text-align: center;">llen Terry as Lady McBeth</i></div></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i> </i></div></div><br /></div></span></div></div></span></div></div></div><div>When Sargent stopped painting portraits, the authors relate it to Baudelaire's declaration "that color had an essential independence." In Sarent's work , they say, we see the independence of paint. It is here in this tremendous self-portrait. Here also is a wonderful oil painting of Capri</div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjZFum0xJaCpUnt_jYUyJQSMnUF7dGIGGN4JoWl5cy73AWUD_g5i0-xWTk2v8BZueP2GXSJGR_v5BKhAgnCeyae9ONlR2Wdthf0e13EMeDqHgpoej4bhaYzX1384Cc7zld9O6JzGBqnUanRWs5VloyLSmGqTIhcTytbfndVmYHv-y0n0jLZ3lBkeLAzjjDh" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img alt="" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="421" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjZFum0xJaCpUnt_jYUyJQSMnUF7dGIGGN4JoWl5cy73AWUD_g5i0-xWTk2v8BZueP2GXSJGR_v5BKhAgnCeyae9ONlR2Wdthf0e13EMeDqHgpoej4bhaYzX1384Cc7zld9O6JzGBqnUanRWs5VloyLSmGqTIhcTytbfndVmYHv-y0n0jLZ3lBkeLAzjjDh" width="168" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgsjGlKcy2vFJKWHzd-muY3fQMj86Zjpa_iXFOYFS-XqHHyFDE98YvYf_MKzH7OBrbF9UlOhA19YWHK8IxN8KciATVhCvWtsOLbu-rVB0cqrVPzF79jrisWTzA8lgqK03EBrAaMsNtcLA1BHU06JT_DHoVIWuGR0LQR0hxfuY1VX0x7AKO9DihnT-XOq-1F" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img alt="" data-original-height="498" data-original-width="600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgsjGlKcy2vFJKWHzd-muY3fQMj86Zjpa_iXFOYFS-XqHHyFDE98YvYf_MKzH7OBrbF9UlOhA19YWHK8IxN8KciATVhCvWtsOLbu-rVB0cqrVPzF79jrisWTzA8lgqK03EBrAaMsNtcLA1BHU06JT_DHoVIWuGR0LQR0hxfuY1VX0x7AKO9DihnT-XOq-1F" width="289" /></a></div><div><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><br /></div><div> While I love the light and joy in many of his landscapes, the portraits are singular. Sargent's sitters seem aware of their moment in time. FASHIONED BY SARGENT is a fabulous journey.</div><div> </div><div><br /></div><div>S.W.</div><div><br /><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><p> </p><p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; display: inline;"></div><span style="color: black;"></span><p> </p></div></div></div>Susan I. Weinsteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08327145154416720160noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3686096258659236837.post-22213315018928187812023-09-20T16:22:00.002-04:002023-09-20T16:22:59.917-04:00Is "Happily Ever After" a destination, a phantom or beside the point of life? MY TWO AND ONLY by CARLA MALDEN, THE SPINDLE by ASHLEY GRIFFIN, tales of transformation for adults<p>Is "Happily Ever After" a destination, a phantom or beside the point of life? Carla Malden's <b><i>My Two and Only</i></b> (Rare Bird Books)and Ashley Griffin's <b><i>The Spindle </i></b> (Oaklea Books) address this question from points of view human and otherworldly. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjpm1roDA0zKRkECHquY10KnCcVIXhcO77SCw-fbIGcpJZdOS0GYNzOkrTlyO49KOeT9j37pRui7US7GzI4-4nIKqguLAapuVCeyslyId9JsHWW5deulrRxETdI6Xo5zrJ0KSZPbC6nnWUl28WdOxV34fXmsIFr6LmAgdYoZYU5hHJ_oKTlArBsCNHoT84b" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1195" data-original-width="880" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjpm1roDA0zKRkECHquY10KnCcVIXhcO77SCw-fbIGcpJZdOS0GYNzOkrTlyO49KOeT9j37pRui7US7GzI4-4nIKqguLAapuVCeyslyId9JsHWW5deulrRxETdI6Xo5zrJ0KSZPbC6nnWUl28WdOxV34fXmsIFr6LmAgdYoZYU5hHJ_oKTlArBsCNHoT84b" width="177" /></a></div><p></p><p>Carla Malden's novel is a deceptively quiet book about adults in Los Angeles' middle class, distanced from the media drumbeats of apocalypse--climate disaster, homelessness, nuclear war. (There is no mention of AI). The environment, business are topics but the real concern is family--what makes one? How do you keep the heart, that most essential pulse of people's lives, beating when your most essential human dies? </p><p><span>Dysfunction here is less about psychology, than the crucial adjustment a human being makes when their "One and Only" dies. When it happens in an accident both everyday and strange, it leaves much to the imagination. For twelve years Charlotte lives with the "what ifs." Yet she's able to be a mom for her adult children, suffering their own grief yet moving on. Charlotte channels her own grief into a career redoing rooms for people. Her interior design focuses not just on practicality, but the emotional quest of her clients for a place fully their own.</span></p><p>Fulfillling these quests is fun and satisfying, though Charlotte herself lives in limbo in her "starter" house with memories of the life that died with her husband. Grief has an austere beauty. She feels it's enough. Yet when she visits her mother, Alice, in her 90s in a nursing home, she wonders what makes a life? Alice's present and past are a continuum of people, places and feelings--constantly shifting. But with her daughter, there's a thread of comfort; a reminder who she was where. Time, as Charlotte discovers, is a porous thing. There's stability in memory.</p><p>Until she finds herself crying in a Jack in the Box. A guy pulls in and buys her one milkshake, then another. <b><i>My Two and Only</i></b> looks at a widow's dilemma. Ostensibly, she's complete with children and a career she loves. She's declined fix-ups (What's the point after the incredible happiness she had with her husband?) Her new friend first amuses her with stories of his dating life. They're still friends, when he presents her with a blue tiffany box. She relegates the box to a drawer, though not her friend. He's got a place in her heart.</p><p>As life happens, her work begins to mirror her emotional queries. She gets a commission to redo an intimate room for a famed female entrepreneur, a widow. This singular woman, renowned for her taste, culture and backing of pivotal endeavors, has chosen Charlotte. Then the dream job takes a quixotic turn, and her question remains--what's of value in a life? </p><p>The ends of her days and the beginnings, are marked by Alice visits. Her mother's lapses and clarity underscore the landmarks of self, family, love. Shockingly, Charlotte is forced from her careful cocoon into terrible unexpected events. Living moment to moment, she finds a lifeline and is transformed. In a magical sense, she becomes a person she has never been. </p><p> </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhYm981Hj7WGeHMERWw6TNVKN940Qqebl7NeDPdhMEoedJIl6yujqeW0Qx2BB-CjwBfxFLLxDHgwh3sazTTtO5yqFS8fGQfnenybvi48cP6n8yiCeuKzKViC377h9QZKPOf6U1wUFnnccVcaUPUpBiExjDUU2BY0fFTkZirHyuM3DST277d1mrWMMI8_4UC" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="2775" data-original-width="1875" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhYm981Hj7WGeHMERWw6TNVKN940Qqebl7NeDPdhMEoedJIl6yujqeW0Qx2BB-CjwBfxFLLxDHgwh3sazTTtO5yqFS8fGQfnenybvi48cP6n8yiCeuKzKViC377h9QZKPOf6U1wUFnnccVcaUPUpBiExjDUU2BY0fFTkZirHyuM3DST277d1mrWMMI8_4UC" width="162" /></a></div><br /><br /><p></p><p><b><i> The Spindle</i></b> by Ashley Griffin looks at the classic fairytale <i>Sleeping Beauty</i> from the viewpoint of Nor, the dark fairy of life and death. Unlike <i>Wicked</i><b>, </b> a retelling of <i>The Wizard of Oz</i> from the Witch's point of view, <b><i>The Spindle</i></b> repurposes a classic less for psychological insight than a reimagining of the classical role of nature in "magical" stories. Like Greek mythology, mysterious nature in <b><i>The Spindle</i></b> is the source of otherworldly creatures and events, here the realm of fairies and their role of fairies on the planet. </p><p>This version of<i> Sleeping Beauty </i>reveals how the curse on the infant Rose's birthday party was not due to a bad fairy's pique over not being invited. That story, made up for human consumption, covers the fact that the fairies had to compensate for a huge mistake. Responsibility for the world looms large in Griffin's amusingly coherent universe. Fairies, as well as humans, suffer from their weaknesses. Sure they're immortal and know more than us about reality, but where does it get them? They are, after all, an endangered species, who exist on human belief. </p><p>This elegant reimagining follows the course of the original with details that fill-out the gaps left by the authors, the brothers Grimm. For instance, imagine the consequences of a fateful curse on one's life as an infant? Logic might suggest isolation was a means to protect her life. And, as tradition dictates servants over mothers, servants are rotated and friends rarely repeat in Rose's childhood. The one exception (and only important human addition to the story) is Arthur, the Palace Gardner's helper, who brings flowers and news, as well as games and books to amuse her. Like a hot house flower, this Rose develops unusual intelligence and intuition. Arthur both admires her and feels it's his duty to protect her from a curiosity as huge as his own.</p><p>Yet he's drawn to a certain place in the woods, where he meets two men living in an odd dwelling in a tree, They know things about him and show him curiosities, like a whole orchestra in a box. He also tells Rose about a strange building on the edge of the castle grounds that shouldn't be there. And, as the story goes, on her 15th birthday, she will find that building and the room, where Nor must put her to sleep for a hundred years--so the world can be right. All the fault of her fool sister, playing the "good fairy" again!</p><p>And what happens to Rose and Arthur? Reading to find out was really fun. I recommend this book to anyone who loves fairytales. It's a fine antidote to Netflix, especially after a round of board books to get your little beauty to sleep. </p><p>S.W.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Susan I. Weinsteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08327145154416720160noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3686096258659236837.post-3578291940507081872023-06-28T13:51:00.033-04:002023-07-02T13:20:21.144-04:00 Where does fact meet fantasy in a history of the information age, FANCY BEAR GOES PHISHING by SCOTT J SHAPIRO and in a fantasy novel of magical systems, MAGICIAN AND FOOL by SUSAN WANDS<p style="text-align: justify;"><span><b><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span>Where does fact meet fantasy in a history of the information age, and in a fantasy novel of magical systems?</b></span></p><div style="align-self: baseline; border: 0px; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 0.875rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 700px;"><div style="align-self: baseline; border: 0px; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 0.875rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 700px;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_rg2KPInGT3Y9TfRz_T2mas8BiwYP6eMMnKP2D1yhdK98IM5p5Uy-PGdK8eTu3nG6xGdrD-QUKqNngCyNQgfOz3CbP7Gdo6i4xvB8stocFoiD5ImlCTtYgoyfKn1Q-O0_XB8UVpy0BPnbJ4H7qEkj55Y0FzqHLOagWoxKp_uABqJVBbu1FnH_tvie8kej/s1546/IMG_5032.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1546" data-original-width="959" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_rg2KPInGT3Y9TfRz_T2mas8BiwYP6eMMnKP2D1yhdK98IM5p5Uy-PGdK8eTu3nG6xGdrD-QUKqNngCyNQgfOz3CbP7Gdo6i4xvB8stocFoiD5ImlCTtYgoyfKn1Q-O0_XB8UVpy0BPnbJ4H7qEkj55Y0FzqHLOagWoxKp_uABqJVBbu1FnH_tvie8kej/s320/IMG_5032.jpg" width="198" /></a><h4 style="align-self: baseline; border: 0px; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 0.875rem; padding: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline; width: 700px;"><span>Fancy Bear Goes Phishing:The Dark History of the Information Age in Five Extraordinary Hacks by Scott J. Shapiro (Macmillan) <span style="font-weight: normal;">confirmed my suspicions that the online world is more chaotic and dangerous than I expected. What happened to computer science, once a visionary frontier of knowledge? In the beginning academia and the defense industry fostered the new area. The idea was thinking machines would enable human advancement and make our nation safer. With unique access to talent and technology, computer science departments were galvanized for an exciting future. So where did the hackers come in?</span></span></h4><div><span style="font-weight: normal;">Author Shapiro (Professor of Law and Philosophy at Yale and Director of the Yale Center for Law and Philosophy, as well as Yale's Cyber Security Lab) explains how "hacker" was once a complimentary term, meaning a rare creative thinker able to write code to make something new. Elite mathematicians competed to develop his new "baby." Yet in this Eden of pure intention, a graduate student, like other gifted young men testing their abilities and the capability of the net, invented the "Morris Worm." His intent was never to harm. At trial, his friend testified how elated they were at the discovery. The creator of the first "worm" was shocked to be found guilty of a "malicious" crime.</span></div><div><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-weight: normal;">Skills grew quickly, not only at public institutions but in the anonymous underworlds at home and abroad.</span></div><div><span style="font-weight: normal;">The objective became less about pure science than an almost alchemical search to make "gold." The U.S. industry's innovative software and computers were considered a "gold standard" for talented hackers from poor countries. A group of young Bulgarians, who collected around a fan magazine, made "worms" and "viruses" to penetrate the West. Was this malicious? Yes, though Shapiro explains that piracy became normal in poor countries, where no one bought software and most computers were shared. The editor of the fan magazine, a scientist in a university, at first thought the "aesthetics of self producing computer programs could be elegant, fruits of some esoteric black art." But then one of his subscribers became the most dangerous virus writer in the world.</span></div><div><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></div><div><span><b style="font-style: italic;">Fancy Bear Goes Phishing</b> chronicles the origins of the internet's vulnerability in five hacks of different kinds. After the Worm came Dark Avenger, a virus that destroyed computers in the 1990s. There was the hack in 2005 of Paris Hilton's mobile-phone data, a feat that freaked-out celebrities and CEO's alike. Then in 20016 the more serious hack of the Democratic National Committee and<b><i> Fancy Bear</i></b>'s leak of Hilary Clinton's presidential campaign emails. Interestingly, while Hilary has been held responsible for "lax security," Shapiro shows why that wasn't the issue.</span></div><div><span><br /></span></div><div><span>After reading this book, which I found wise and wryly amusing, I better understand the Darwinian nature of the internet. I also am less skeptical of the incessant fear stoked by my antivirus company. I am surprised by the strange zeitgeist of hacking. To my mind, it resembles mythology. Consider the Arthurian legend and change it for this time. Once we had an enlightened ideal of communication, our internet "grail," Clinton and the technocrats provided a reign of prosperity before the fall into darkness of Mordred and the cruel barbarians. Are we perhaps in a technological Dark Ages characterized by ignorance and exploitation in our overloaded consciousness?</span></div><div><span><br /></span></div><div><span>Few doubt that the promise of the web has been darkened by invisible forces scheming to steal our identities. We even have a monster, a golem AI, capable of profiting from human failings? Myths often have an eternal quality. I recall a visceral painting of Prometheus chained to a rock, after stealing fire from the Gods, while a bird of prey attacks his liver. The image has new meaning with the infernal attacks of advertising that must be continually deleted. The grad student who created the "worm" might be our Oedipus at the crossroads of civilization, who unwittingly kills his father (the grad student's real father was a university computer scientist) and becomes both a king and a criminal</span></div><div><span><br /></span></div><div><span>Science was to counter such as idiocy as myths and legends. In fact, Alchemy, the forerunner of chemistry was considered a "hermetic" (sealed and airtight) system to harness the forces of nature and become its master. The status of computer hacking in international law is similarly irrational. (would that it was contained). According to Shapiro, espionage is basically legal, interfering in the internal affairs of another country is not. Yet, he asks, when does cyber-espionage tip into cyber-crime or even cyber-warfare? </span></div><p style="text-align: left;"><span>Have we exited the world of facts and entered a kind of mythic logic? Might makes right...program your javelin? </span></p></div><div style="align-self: baseline; border: 0px; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 0.875rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 700px;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXcqgH5G7FM-IE0aqwtgTi61tawGunfvhrnuAxAwOHhciIhxlvov3i1xH__TbeV_5LYdVBEZvYDumSSSlhkyDN6TtwuuIjiD6NeIrdjsV6MYpwSbS9aaepYP3vbZ5n0wzoIOtkh1PAc2skqPcGPw6yk61w82wQk-5F3pzSYVi6OCgVoGHhAy5tbXuDJMIq/s1732/IMG_5033.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><span><img border="0" data-original-height="1732" data-original-width="1127" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXcqgH5G7FM-IE0aqwtgTi61tawGunfvhrnuAxAwOHhciIhxlvov3i1xH__TbeV_5LYdVBEZvYDumSSSlhkyDN6TtwuuIjiD6NeIrdjsV6MYpwSbS9aaepYP3vbZ5n0wzoIOtkh1PAc2skqPcGPw6yk61w82wQk-5F3pzSYVi6OCgVoGHhAy5tbXuDJMIq/s320/IMG_5033.jpg" width="208" /></span></a><span> </span></div><span><br /></span><h4 style="align-self: baseline; border: 0px; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 0.875rem; padding: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline; width: 700px;"><span><i> M</i><span><i>agician and Fool </i>by Susan Wands</span><span style="font-weight: normal;"> (Spark Press) is a fantasy novel based on cultural figures in a Victorian era (1837-1901) of science and invention. Magic was also a field of exploration for educated young men who wanted to harness the forces of nature through hidden knowledge. This esoteric knowledge was thought to be hidden in ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs shipped from excavated sites and museums. (Britain controlled Egypt and considered these priceless treasures their property, regardless of how Egyptians might feel about losing their patrimony.)</span></span></h4></div><div style="align-self: baseline; border: 0px; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 0.875rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 700px;"><div style="align-self: baseline; border: 0px; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 0.875rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 700px;"><span><br /></span></div><div style="align-self: baseline; border: 0px; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 0.875rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 700px;"><span>Acquiring magical knowledge was the real purpose of The Hermetic Order of The Golden Dawn, "a secret society devoted to the study and practice of occult Hermeticism and metaphysics during the late 19th and 20th centuries." Wikipedia goes on to say Wicca and other practices of spiritual development were inspired by them. In this novel, the heroine, Pamela Coleman Smith (1878-1951), who was an artist and empath, is hired to illustrate a deck of tarot cards. The novel shows her in America, as a young girl, experiencing "second sight." Her older friend and guiding light in childhood is Maud Gonne, who became a literary figure in the Irish Revolution. </span></div><p style="align-self: baseline; border: 0px; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 0.875rem; padding: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline; width: 700px;"><span><br /></span></p><p style="align-self: baseline; border: 0px; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 0.875rem; padding: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline; width: 700px;"><span>Susan Wands' <i>Arcana Oracle Series</i>, centers around the "coming of age" of Pamela Coleman Smith, the artist who created a famous tarot deck. Her compelling designs are on view at The Whitney Museum of Art's permanent collection, as are her very moving prints of ocean waves with female spirits. I liked this work, so I was willing to make that leap to "second sight" and enjoy the book. The novel's alternative reality is both plausible and entertaining. </span></p><div style="align-self: baseline; border: 0px; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 0.875rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 700px;"><br /></div><div style="align-self: baseline; border: 0px; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 0.875rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 700px;">As part of the Golden Dawn, Aleister Crowley, a historical occultist and writer, is a pivotal character. Henry Irving of the legendary Lyceum theater, his leading lady, Ellen Terry and his right-hand man, Bram Stoker (Dracula author) were historical characters involved with the theater and mystery. When Pamela comes to England, and later begins work at the theater, this fascinating era comes to life.. Wand's accurate historical detail adds to the pleasure of Coleman Smith's story, as she becomes an artist and a magical adept. I was also touched by her mentor Ahmed, the Egyptian scholar's seriousness, guarding artifacts from ignorance. </div><div style="align-self: baseline; border: 0px; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 0.875rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 700px;"><br /></div><div style="align-self: baseline; border: 0px; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 0.875rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 700px;">In this novel, the objective of the Golden Dawn group was not to become magicians but to gain access to paranormal power. Only one wished to be a god, the others seemed to assume that as higher beings (a matter of class/money), they were destined to responsibly manage such power. Yet they had problems sharing it with talented women who joined the group. Mary Shelley's Frankenstein poses the question we might ask about AI--Is it possible to control machines who aren't human? And to what end.</div><div style="align-self: baseline; border: 0px; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 0.875rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 700px;"><br /></div><div style="align-self: baseline; border: 0px; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 0.875rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 700px;">Nature is not exactly linear, why progress seems a short-lived concept. Suppose our instincts to transcend death didn't focus on amassing as much wealth as possible, weapons of mass destruction, subjugating nations with eternal warfare?" In <b><i>Magician and Fool</i></b>, nature poses paths rarely explored. Expanded consciousness was tough for Pamela to live with, along with her extraordinary abilities. Yet maturity gives hope of transformation and mastery, in our real world and this fiction. I look forward to Susan Wand's next book. </div><div style="align-self: baseline; border: 0px; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 0.875rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 700px;"> S.W.</div></div><div><br /></div>Susan I. Weinsteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08327145154416720160noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3686096258659236837.post-18872903184228171732023-05-19T09:47:00.007-04:002023-06-18T11:14:16.662-04:00Unexpected surprising books: OTHER PLACES, OTHER TIMES stories by Robert Wexelblatt, NOT TOO LATE, essays edited by Solnit, Lutunatabua, WOMAN ON THE RUN poetry by Carla Sarett, THE PLEASURE PLAN memoir by Laura Zam<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj-46mDGbT5XJjoDGOgHzJTZb1XBQp5vPul6F-pekxUA0BS0UxvTFWPC1YtIO-boYQam2wlIixxoNLKFZbYjiNH2pht2Kk5W1SoeCUdN1XxUjrvgMLYdL0Msh_EnQuRRAWk0PKMBs26yOTd7RceqTt8IKlEUYWd1urkJUz2cs8jCrUer8xnHR1OD7yurw" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1711" data-original-width="1106" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj-46mDGbT5XJjoDGOgHzJTZb1XBQp5vPul6F-pekxUA0BS0UxvTFWPC1YtIO-boYQam2wlIixxoNLKFZbYjiNH2pht2Kk5W1SoeCUdN1XxUjrvgMLYdL0Msh_EnQuRRAWk0PKMBs26yOTd7RceqTt8IKlEUYWd1urkJUz2cs8jCrUer8xnHR1OD7yurw" width="155" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: center;"><b>Other Places, Other Times by Robert Wexelblatt </b></span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: center;">(Pelekinesis) </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: center;">is a collection of twenty-six short historical fictions. Thirteen of the stories are about Chen Hsi-wei, an imaginary peasant-poet of the Sui period, circa 600 C.E. As a boy, he</span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: center;"> served the emperor and turned down material rewards for an education. He became a poet (though nobility found an educated peasant as implausible as a flying pig), Hsi-wei travelled the empire making verses, along with straw sandals for customers. </span></span><div><span style="background-color: white; font-size: medium; text-align: center;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: center;">He often </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: center;">set up a sign for sandals in marketplaces, before looking for a corner to sleep in an inn or stable. Often Hsi-wei's curiosity about people and places led him to incongruous events and mysteries. The poem, <i>The Madness of Nowa</i> sums up a strange murder he resolved for a skeptical magistrate. At a seasonal festival, a chance meeting inspired rare insight about time, nature and men. U</span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: center;">nknown truths, injustices, fateful sorrow inspired poems. After some years, his reputation preceded his travels, as </span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: medium; text-align: center;">rich and poor quoted lines to him that he may have forgotten. </span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large; text-align: center;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: center;">Grand ladies and influential men provided comfortable respite from the road, and, when his travelling days were over, he was gifted a small house with a garden. </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: center;">These stories, and resulting poems, preserved a historic figure--no less real for being imaginary. I imagined Chen Hsi-wei's history in a museum scroll, delicate figures and landscape with calligraphy.</span></span></div><div><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: center;"><i>Philharmonia</i> and <i>Luciana di Parma </i>are two of my favorites, among Wexelblatt's other stories. Both are about </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: center;">t</span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: center;">alented young women in times uncongenial to women. In an 18th century European city, a female cellist auditioned in a "blind"competition for a position. What is to be done, when she wins and the prestigious orchestra is paralyzed with chaos? L</span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: medium; text-align: center;">uciana di Parma, set in Renaissance Italy, is about a brilliant 14-year old prodigy, a daughter of a duke, fated to be a political pawn in marriage. Yet she finds a surprising destiny.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large; text-align: center;"> </span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; font-size: medium; text-align: center;">Wexelblatt, a Professor of Humanities, has published eight short story collections. While humanities (along with history) may be regarded as "impractical," there is much purpose in these stories. I was amazed and entertained. There is wonder in his wit. </span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; font-size: medium; text-align: center;"><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> ******</span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjnUsv2cax-hM8LjPEf88y88LNm8RUD2eOjviyvDz-SKvYxV7AjKrO20qzA5Ms_OaXEvLASUwuzngHrRcvrzvexDkBZp5Epl0T7L_WC9R3zSD7gnPYdpje3ajeIDuF2zDL931pmv-gFtBpzlhk5uk9Nfo4WahrkU8L1awOnUPytSQbIEtGSYT2zf6vHUA" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="284" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjnUsv2cax-hM8LjPEf88y88LNm8RUD2eOjviyvDz-SKvYxV7AjKrO20qzA5Ms_OaXEvLASUwuzngHrRcvrzvexDkBZp5Epl0T7L_WC9R3zSD7gnPYdpje3ajeIDuF2zDL931pmv-gFtBpzlhk5uk9Nfo4WahrkU8L1awOnUPytSQbIEtGSYT2zf6vHUA=w227-h320" width="227" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p><span style="background-color: white; text-align: center;"><br /><span style="font-size: medium;">While the existential angst about climate seems the background of our lives, there are unexpected books that fuel hope. The Experiment's excellent <i><b>How to Save the World for Just A Trillion Dollars </b></i>made me realize scientists had already developed ideas that work. If governments remain paraplyzed, perhaps Musk and Bezos might wrap their cash around the Mothership. Gates, is already reforesting among other planet initiatives.</span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; font-size: medium; text-align: center;"><b>NOT TOO LATE: </b><i style="font-weight: bold;">Changing the Climate Story from Despair to Possibility </i>is a surprising book (Haymarket Books). Edited by Rebecca Solnit & Thelma Young Lutunatabua, there are 22 essays from activists around the globe. Students, scientists, teachers, writers, artists, from many countries, of different ages and backgrounds--effecting change. The essayists are clear-eyed about impending disaster; what's at stake, the timeline. They also have the grit to have hope. </span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; font-size: medium; text-align: center;">Among the essays issues that moved me: <i>To Hell With Drowning </i>by Pacific Islander Julian Aguan (irreplaceable culture in high risk locations), <i>The Asteroid and the Fern</i> by scientist Jacquelyn Gill (clues about survival in the permafrost, beasts who perished and plants that survived). <i>How the Ants Moved the Elephants in Paris </i>by Renato Redentor Constantine (how small forces can effect big change) and <i>From the Hunger Strike with Love,</i> Nikayla Jefferson (her support work with starving student demonstrators). </span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; font-size: medium; text-align: center;">In Editor Rebecca Solnit's essay, <i>Difficult Is not the Same as Impossible,</i> she points out a pragmatism not obvious from headlines:</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: center;">"Over the past two decades, breakthroughs in technology have made renewables a genuine alternative to fossil fuel for electricity generation, one that is rapidly expanding across the world. This means we can leave the age of fossil fuel behind. The cost of solar dropped 90% between 2010 and 2020, and wind is not far behind. Solar has been dubbed "the cheapest energy in history" by the International Energy Agency, which pivoted a few years ago to recognize the urgency of the energy transition and the rapid decline of fossil-fuel</span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: center;"> extraction....</span> " </span></p><p><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span> ******</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiEe0_LRbOGtEwN7tMKFtG6xjAt0NJFC_OfoPtvTfM6MgFEjGUtxEK2Ns9dnjK68Nct5JllRlAZR9jJGh_AZkopGHSDoEHjpaMC-JUE7_UcaGUjjv-mdYoxtw_IF7Dw1Q1BlYQOPKGQNSx8_u-uUOhLRKZpdIBmEuNDqy7N4LZGC1iXxB98JCURhcdIFw" style="font-size: medium; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img alt="" data-original-height="916" data-original-width="838" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiEe0_LRbOGtEwN7tMKFtG6xjAt0NJFC_OfoPtvTfM6MgFEjGUtxEK2Ns9dnjK68Nct5JllRlAZR9jJGh_AZkopGHSDoEHjpaMC-JUE7_UcaGUjjv-mdYoxtw_IF7Dw1Q1BlYQOPKGQNSx8_u-uUOhLRKZpdIBmEuNDqy7N4LZGC1iXxB98JCURhcdIFw=w293-h320" width="293" /></a></div><p><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Among unexpected, surprising books was Carla Sarett's WOMAN ON THE RUN (Alien Buddha Press). This volume of entertaining "knowing" poems, is poignantly on target for the title. These poems are narratives of a woman's flight-- from and to herself, meanings past-present and the "no sense" reality visible in coffee shops, street life, subways, portraits and music fleeting as time. In 32 poems, catch her, if you can.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">@2023 Carla Sarett, WOMAN ON THE RUN (Alien Buddha Press). First appeared in ONE ART,</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b>Woman on the run</b></div><p></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span>you know the story</span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span>a woman is seeking,</span></p><p style="text-align: center;">you know,</p><p style="text-align: center;">and she meets,</p><p style="text-align: center;">you know</p><p style="text-align: center;">and everything seems fine until</p><p style="text-align: center;">marriage,</p><p style="text-align: center;">well, you know. her mother,</p><p style="text-align: center;">his mother,</p><p style="text-align: center;">and couldn't he,</p><p style="text-align: center;">and couldn't she,</p><p style="text-align: center;">and really, who could with...</p><p style="text-align: center;">and no money.</p><p style="text-align: center;">and children, oh, the children, </p><p style="text-align: center;">and maybe if he,</p><p style="text-align: center;">and maybe if she,</p><p style="text-align: center;">but no one expected</p><p style="text-align: center;">well, you know.</p><p><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> <span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span> ******</span><br /></p><p><br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg7tqw1t_bY2HD0RlhcJp0ne1D1nkcaGXXpOtlrjrS_SIbDXDiDyV2TkL0M-RX42N_wBZPsUvFzWoIBirxcO52kbrRDqs61j6__u-k_iJ6QMXVbFxaLACg5id9fRwCrUFxuY9gszCTr6c-BP10t_RmW73rsJGNlBNmIOqZ5KpQ6RD39UggTqeL7vty19A" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="218" data-original-width="141" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg7tqw1t_bY2HD0RlhcJp0ne1D1nkcaGXXpOtlrjrS_SIbDXDiDyV2TkL0M-RX42N_wBZPsUvFzWoIBirxcO52kbrRDqs61j6__u-k_iJ6QMXVbFxaLACg5id9fRwCrUFxuY9gszCTr6c-BP10t_RmW73rsJGNlBNmIOqZ5KpQ6RD39UggTqeL7vty19A=w207-h320" width="207" /></a></div><br /><br /><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">THE PLEASURE PLAN: One Woman's Search for Sexual Healing (Health Communications Inc.-Simon & Schuster) by Laura Zam is a health guide and memoir few women would have the courage to write. Based on her essays in <i>The New York Times; Modern Love</i> column and<i> Salon</i>, this book is a call to action for women, whose sexual health isn't just neglected but taboo to discuss. It is also a love story. At 45, Zam met the love her life and married, only to find that she was unable to enjoy sex. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span>In fact, </span><span style="font-family: times;">50 <span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111;">percent of adult women have some form of sexual difficulty at some point in their lives, preventing them from enjoying sex. Physical pain, lack of desire for a beloved partner are often not openly discussed with partners or friends. Childhood sexual abuse is also private. Women are taught to "forget" problems and search for "love and romance." If fortunate, they will appeal to a partner they can love. With the double standard alive, e</span></span><span>rotica for women is fairly invisible. </span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span>While sexual education for a generation of young men has been sourced in the porn industry, a generation of young women have felt pressure to conform to commercial male expectations about sexual behavior and "sexiness." For some, depersonalization has made them question not the "standards" but themselves. Some women opt out of sex or ignore their feelings, </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111; font-family: times;">rather than admit they want a decent sex life.</span><span> Laura </span><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111;">Zam relates the shame and embarrassment of feeling "bedroom broken" that led her to pursue The Pleasure Plan. Visiting medical and mental health professionals was obvious but other resources took research. First she had to catalogue objectives for a soul-satisfying sex life.</span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span><span> <i>T</i></span></span><span style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-family: times;"><i>he Pleasure </i></span><span class="a-text-italic" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-family: times;"><i> Plan</i></span><span style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-family: times;"><i> is</i> a roadmap for sexual healing that empowers women to speak up, seek help, and take charge of their health. Though initially reluctant, </span><span>Zam's husband agreed to accompany her on this journey. T</span><span>hey visited </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111; font-family: times;">15 healers, tried 30 pleasure-enhancing methods (including hypnosis with a bawdy therapist; Tantra with a geriatric mistress; and cutting edge workshops in desire, arousal, and orgasm.) She also learned about pelvic floor mishaps, hormonal imbalances, and female erections. It was a real sexual education. They could learn what was relevant to them, individually and together.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111; font-family: times;">The memoir part of the book, interlaced with the research, shows the painful work of emotional recovery from child abuse, from horrific family stories. Zam, like others, thought all that was in the past. But the effects of emotional memory reverberate during sex. The process of <i>The Pleasure Plan</i> </span><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111;">helped Zam and her husband grow, in and outside the bedroom. </span><span style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111;">In this #MeToo era, partners can learn from Zam's journey how to support a significant other who's been affected. In this story, </span></span><span style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-family: times;"><i>Her </i>healing becomes </span><span class="a-text-italic" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-family: times; font-style: italic;">their </span><span style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-family: times;">healing. She also gives a</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111; font-family: times;"> clear view of how medical and mental health professionals might better serve women with sex problems. </span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111; font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><i>The Pleasure Plan </i>has an honesty and audacity that makes you think about humanity in a way AI can't. The birthright of being human begins with sexual pleasure. Our continuity depends on it, Here's an invitation to make your own Pleasure Plan. </span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111; font-family: times; font-size: medium;">S.W.</span></p><h1 style="background-color: white; color: red; font-family: Playful, sans-serif; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: normal; text-align: center;"><div class="mane2" style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large; line-height: 30px; margin-left: 20px; margin-right: 50px;"><p></p></div></h1><div class="mane2" style="background-color: white; font-size: large; line-height: 30px; margin-left: 20px; margin-right: 50px; text-align: -webkit-center;"><p></p></div></div>Susan I. Weinsteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08327145154416720160noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3686096258659236837.post-5843944137015681372023-05-08T15:11:00.345-04:002023-08-14T10:38:48.012-04:00Will the Center Hold? Factionalism in the United States. A look back to think forward, from great biographies of Founders--Franklin, Hamilton, Jefferson, Adams<p>What did the Founders intend for a future United States? While no historian, I began reading biographies in lock-down for insight into our fractious nation. It's oddly comforting to learn of similar divisions in colonial times--a political split between the east and north (which wanted a strong Fed) and the south and west(which wanted power invested primarily in the States). During the Continental Congress, some representatives were more interested in keeping their British trading partner than war. After winning independence, there were rebellions against government authority. The Whiskey rebellion (against a tax) had to be quelled in-person by Washington and Hamilton with troops.</p><p>I wondered if the optimism and unity of post WW2 America, when I grew up, was a historic aberration--result of a boom economy built on war production. Perhaps factional discord is the norm? Is our time more dire--can the center hold against the assaults on democratic ideals? Can anything solid emerge from our ideological chaos? Did the colonies really back up Jefferson's Declaration? </p><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhxcBttDlfp-Ldg8W8hyYprd9qB3ZzKihcf5VSnHcM08xjSCQLE7tLLE0cwB2Rpxp_UcfrGbfLj06BrwDPePyVomfRHYce85KGMDgUgb6iqgBGvgjoXN7FTtFLrHlu-MG9e4i3G5l9dJf54MnJsE5mNPH5f9QUxc_0V8eMXAibHZqIRpIKxF_sXwjrWDQ" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img alt="" data-original-height="389" data-original-width="320" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhxcBttDlfp-Ldg8W8hyYprd9qB3ZzKihcf5VSnHcM08xjSCQLE7tLLE0cwB2Rpxp_UcfrGbfLj06BrwDPePyVomfRHYce85KGMDgUgb6iqgBGvgjoXN7FTtFLrHlu-MG9e4i3G5l9dJf54MnJsE5mNPH5f9QUxc_0V8eMXAibHZqIRpIKxF_sXwjrWDQ=w263-h320" width="263" /></a>The idea of a war with Britain, the pre-eminent military power in the world, was a joke to many nations. A recent book on Samuel Adams (Stacy Schiff) shows the colonies were divided about Britain, before Adams united them with his "news" about British outrages. In a time of scarce communication, he created a network. Building a consensus for the war was only a start. There was no money to fight the war without a central government or agreement to collect taxes. Washington's few troops were often unpaid, unfed, and naked without uniforms. They deserted. </p><p>When Washington asked Franklin to go to Paris to secure financing, it was a desperate assignment. At 70, Franklin was the only choice with diplomatic experience. Fortunately, unlike America, post-enlightenment France was infatuated with inventions. The genius who tamed electricity was welcomed as a huge celebrity. </p><p>Playing the "savage" in his coonskin cap, as Stacy Schiff relates in <i style="font-weight: bold;">Franklin in Paris: A Grand Improvisation,</i><b> </b>invitations from influential hostesses in Paris society became a route to court. Despite little understanding of the French language, over a period of <b>20 years </b>Franklin obtained financial and military support. This surprisingly entertaining book shows how and why funds were given to the U.S. That decision played a part in bankrupting France's Treasury--a cause of the French Revolution.</p><div><p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhLPqhp87xm-qRKHRv4dl87nRz5vircEYSAcYADKaIPXRbga90N8vKpPeDld3h6OdOHR6f8kfHwpfUnKOrbdQeTyxOkjBGZKz8rZCW-B4-9X58yaMQk_lCPsJvbtJ6SgDCa8SDIDoinA2p-_w9noDVho_4AEMb7D_7KlbrkUvx8ZKdejp7T4xUb-uA_LA" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="300" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhLPqhp87xm-qRKHRv4dl87nRz5vircEYSAcYADKaIPXRbga90N8vKpPeDld3h6OdOHR6f8kfHwpfUnKOrbdQeTyxOkjBGZKz8rZCW-B4-9X58yaMQk_lCPsJvbtJ6SgDCa8SDIDoinA2p-_w9noDVho_4AEMb7D_7KlbrkUvx8ZKdejp7T4xUb-uA_LA=w320-h320" width="320" /></a></div><p>Franklin's "long game" meant supplies were sent to Washington sporadically and at great risk. Quelling rebellion was imperative to Britain, whose valuable colonial resources had to be safeguarded from competitors, like France and Spain. This created opportunity for Franklin, who sought help from their foreign ministers.When Franklin enlisted Beaumarche, a playwright (the Barber of Seville) they inflated troop numbers and painted the progress of the war in glowing terms to France's wily minister and his King.. Beaumarche obtained ships and facilitated the procurement process of unirforms, weapons, ammunition, food stuff. And, despite British and French spies in Franklin's house and reading his correspondence, ships sailed. Some were sunk and captured, but Washington was thankful for what he got.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhXjUv2Wrh5tuY89elC7rXNQpdvkhD4fizvhpcOhtl0aIANz2J-iLIJ_Wa2xNbvuAWodjrlElKpo0Pcga_XmsxR_SsNEUUlCqDJAsPhoSfEKacPqk0FCvwr4o9f3cQK1KgwyPapJKYQ9FzAUxTXGIBiiY_8NNLNOWtA7yIy7h0RTjTc42FVaApMlkfllw" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="499" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhXjUv2Wrh5tuY89elC7rXNQpdvkhD4fizvhpcOhtl0aIANz2J-iLIJ_Wa2xNbvuAWodjrlElKpo0Pcga_XmsxR_SsNEUUlCqDJAsPhoSfEKacPqk0FCvwr4o9f3cQK1KgwyPapJKYQ9FzAUxTXGIBiiY_8NNLNOWtA7yIy7h0RTjTc42FVaApMlkfllw=w320-h320" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br /><p></p><p>Ron Chernow's <b><i>Hamilton</i></b>, Jon Meachum's <b><i>The Art of Power </i></b>on Jefferson and<b><i> Passionate Sage: The Character and Legacy of John Adams</i></b> by Joseph J. Ellis picked up the Founders' stories (pre and post revolution). They collaborated and clashed to define "democracy" in a singular unique republic. While Washington, military commander and first President, existed on a rarified plane to the public, he was down to earth in his assessment of his own abilities and how the talents of others might be used to develop and advance the nation. Defining direction was an ongoing collaboration. </p><p>During the war, Washington recognized his ability to express his ideas in words was limited. He relied on young Alexander Hamilton, his aide de camp, to draft his orders, speeches, policy. Hamilton's desire to fight was ignored by Washington. Despite Hamilton's unease over this situation, he later continued to serve Washington, who needed his in-depth knowledge of government. Hamilton's model was a strong central government and banking system, which had enabled Great Britain to be the most successful nation of its time. The two men worked as allies with mutual respect and objectives. Hamilton founded a Federalist party to stabilize the country and Washington supported it. But the ascendant Federalists were contested by Jefferson's Republican party (the ancestor of today's Democratic party), which advocated powerful state governments making policies with a weak Fed.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjMouFCK76eDdlASKJ3SuPKJ8kPF_1tDmXOy0E13WY9PpWkQTeYZ81soHRTC2BNS9J8ptD3w9v11M1DQcOFio9j6NjvDI4IauY7EjYyGfJw3fp89XF2KSFbKwF_rid-kLomA7TECd8JHN72aD2U5nqk4b2Ts-IlgiUOVxRH_vvJyDZ7s7qJmznrGHzM5A" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="500" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjMouFCK76eDdlASKJ3SuPKJ8kPF_1tDmXOy0E13WY9PpWkQTeYZ81soHRTC2BNS9J8ptD3w9v11M1DQcOFio9j6NjvDI4IauY7EjYyGfJw3fp89XF2KSFbKwF_rid-kLomA7TECd8JHN72aD2U5nqk4b2Ts-IlgiUOVxRH_vvJyDZ7s7qJmznrGHzM5A" width="240" /></a></div><br />Washington and Jefferson, though both southern plantation owners, found little common ideological ground. Jefferson's advocacy of states' rights, based on the "wisdom" of the common man, was opposite Hamilton's views of the need to control the violence and irrationality of men ruled by passion. Founders' policies were shaped, (even as ours) by education, genetics, class, and sheer force of personality.</div><div><br /></div><div>Hamilton's deep, yet wide-ranging education (law, business, government, philosophy, literature and science) reflected his self-discipline and thirst for learning. Growing up poor on the islands of St.Croix and Nieves, he saw how a culture of indebted plantation owners with brutal laws maimed rebellious or hungry slaves. He never forgot the senseless suffering of the enslaved. Orphaned young,Hanilton realized he needed discipline and study to make something of himself. At 15, he entered a trading company as a clerk. Local businessmen sent him to college in America, where Hamilton remade himself as a gentleman and lawyer. He was known for his knowledge and as a man of principle. Where Jefferson, an American-born aristocrat was also an intellectual, his were solitary pursuits--architecture, inventions, music. Jefferson saw men (like himself), as well-meaning sensible and capable of self-rule. Hamilton saw dangerous mobs as inevitable without orderly structures. </div><div><br /></div><div>Washington originally viewed Jefferson as a threat to the solid rational government he was evolving with Hamilton. But toward the end of his term, as he witnessed Jefferson's skill interpreting and manipulating the public ethos, and his growing popularity, he thought him the most able politician to succeed him. (At that time, the Federalist movement was ineffectual and Hamilton disgraced.) Unexpectedly, John Adams won the ballot. Known for his stormy paroxysms, as he grappled with duty, morality and the fate of nations, yet this Puritan schoolmaster's son had serious convictions and integrity. At issue was the seeming contradictions of his behavior and reason.</div><div><br /></div><div>While Washington took the oath of office in a suit of simple homespun fabric, he found Adams' display of imported finery hard to fathom. Adams also kept a fancy carriage, reminiscent of British gentry. In office, his emotional expressions, temper made him less than comprehensible to his peers. They noted how often he left Washington to be at his home in Massachusetts. But in later years, he was viewed as a sage, profound scholar and thinker of the mission of his country and civilization.</div><div><p></p><p>Though Adams and Jefferson were lifelong friends (both died on the same July 4th) Adams never forgave Jefferson his support of the French Revolution (unfettered "liberty" led to the bloody Guillotine and ultimately to the despot Napoleon). And Adams, who never catered to popular opinion, believed a strong government with checks and balances was the only safeguard. His logic was rooted in his studies of man's destiny-- from life to decline and death. He saw the same trajectory for nation-states. Underappreciated as a visionary (there is no monument to John Adams), he looked unflinchingly at the nature of mankind.</p><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgKvQ5-uSBv6PwlPsJd6_WBPqMihSB5QKcE6tx90MyTdxkdgkGk1YC9qQ283qWEnsPX9Z3jM63bXVWvG2hqhokgxQjJkwrn7gSXKBdwKntyZ6B27F6FR0MEKQVA1BUk03XxkI0wtWrYKYn2h7rJ0v7d7m7VbWnu_6XCikWTmBw-pEUFcqrUVZD70mitKQ" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img alt="" data-original-height="140" data-original-width="99" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgKvQ5-uSBv6PwlPsJd6_WBPqMihSB5QKcE6tx90MyTdxkdgkGk1YC9qQ283qWEnsPX9Z3jM63bXVWvG2hqhokgxQjJkwrn7gSXKBdwKntyZ6B27F6FR0MEKQVA1BUk03XxkI0wtWrYKYn2h7rJ0v7d7m7VbWnu_6XCikWTmBw-pEUFcqrUVZD70mitKQ=w227-h320" width="227" /></a></p><p>In Adams' retirement, the dramatic economic and geographic expansion of the U.S. made him both proud and nervous. He wrote "our country is rising with astonishing rapidity in population and wealth," but it was also "proportionally sinking in luxury, sloth and vice." <b> At the same time his colleague Jefferson, applauded "progress" and saw government's mission, as to get out of the way and let mankind be as inventive and creative as possible. </b>Adams, who was more aware of the savagery of men, believed the role of government was to slow expansion, guarding progress as a gradual process. </p><p><b>Government was to guide the nation so decline, though inevitable, was not destructive. Just as individuals are run by emotional often irrational impulses, so are nations, thought Adams. For him, strict self-knowledge was the essential route to self control. </b>Adams and Jefferson mirror our conflicts in 2023--strong government vs. states' rights, unfettered liberty vs. laws to protect people. <b>The constitution's three branches were to balance each other, and safeguard democracy from becoming an oligarchy or dictatorship. </b></p><p>Founders seized every chance to form and advance their unique republic. President Jefferson called it luck, when he managed to buy Louisiana from Napoleon, doubling the nation's size. Yet these leaders were flawed as are all men. <b>Knowing slavery was an abomination, they feared dissolving the tenuous union of north and south. In 1780's there was a resolution to outlaw new slavery in America in the north. But it continued in the South. The Missouri compromise, not to allow slavery in the open west, was diluted by the wealth of tobacco and cotton.</b> So the Civil War, when it came, was no surprise. The schism of North and South with Western states made government again untenable. </p><p>John Adams' nightmares of the eventual decline of American culture and his passionate distrust of man's undisciplined nature, made him unpopular. But despite his fragmented writing, his ideas are singular, passionate and true. And his correspondence with Jefferson is considered unprecedented in American history. <b>Inoculated with the Jeffersonian dream of mankind's unlimited "progress," are we successors harder hit now by our threats--dissolution of government, armed uprisings, social chaos? </b>Do unprecedented environmental breakdown means societal breakdown? Perhaps the Center will hold. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgS1TKpLMQ1LQHvFsRjdkQWTlkVPiZ_tZGXu4sw6c3lgE5Q5sMs-70oopN84EbI7AKo8ziTYJf2O6ryuWVqQYq6yxJgTjOk-5FaGWJw0nDKXZC7fASL4f_EdmAUk5SxWvqfVlYiaeg1Su4M7A66ZADiKlKEjl1jr7xtLyJwnBLjpxwZKEFsUcysl-S4Fw" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="392" data-original-width="320" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgS1TKpLMQ1LQHvFsRjdkQWTlkVPiZ_tZGXu4sw6c3lgE5Q5sMs-70oopN84EbI7AKo8ziTYJf2O6ryuWVqQYq6yxJgTjOk-5FaGWJw0nDKXZC7fASL4f_EdmAUk5SxWvqfVlYiaeg1Su4M7A66ZADiKlKEjl1jr7xtLyJwnBLjpxwZKEFsUcysl-S4Fw=w261-h320" width="261" /></a></div><br /><p><b>Founders were aware that the Declaration of Independence was just words</b>. And even inspired words are useless without precedents to guide them. They had to act in real time, as situations developed. These men knew fate had a role and did not want to be thought exceptional. Each had vanity about their gifts but believed every generation had men as competent. The danger (I think Franklin wrote about this) was enshrining Founders in myth that future generations could not "live up to." Every generation had the duty of redefining what democracy meant. He saw this duty as handed off, one generation to the next.</p><p>Yet where are the women in these narratives? They were mostly "silent partners" to history--listening advising. Abigail Adams' astute correspondence with her husband survives. She wrote, in one well-quoted letter, that the the men should "not forget the ladies" in the constitution--which they did. Black men got the vote in 1870, women 1920. Maybe future Founders will be any gender?. (And it will be no big deal.) While this hasn't happened much in Earthly councils, I can look to those in Star-Trek...)</p><p>P.S. As a nonacademic, I strive for clarity but don't pretend expertise. Thought this threading of narratives might be of interest to those pondering the state of our nation. </p><p>S.W.</p></div>Susan I. Weinsteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08327145154416720160noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3686096258659236837.post-64355165953696196542023-02-17T14:47:00.419-05:002023-03-27T12:49:49.309-04:00 NOW until 8-13 SPECIAL EXHIBITION: Colonial Firefighting & The American Revolution at the NEW YORK CITY FIRE MUSEUM. Opening Press--News 12, GothamToGo, FireRescue1 <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;"><span style="color: red;">S</span><span style="color: red; font-family: Georgia, serif;">PECIAL EXHIBITION </span><b style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><i>Colonial Firefighting & The American Revolution</i></b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"> <span style="color: red;">Closes </span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">8/13 </span><b style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">at New York City Fire Museum, 278 Spring Street, New York. </b></span><a href="about:blank" style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">www.nycfiremuseum.org</span></a> and www.savingnewyork.com.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;"> </span><a fg_scanned="1" href="https://bronx.news12.com/new-york-city-fire-museums-colonial-exhibit-takes-visitors-back-in-time" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" style="color: blue; cursor: pointer; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;" target="_blank">News 12</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;"> interview with Exhibition originator; Bruce Twickler, </span><a fg_scanned="1" href="https://gothamtogo.com/the-colonial-fdny-the-american-revolution-opens-at-nyc-fire-museum/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" style="color: blue; cursor: pointer; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;" target="_blank">GothamToGo</a><span style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;"> </span><span style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;">and</span><span style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;"> </span><a fg_scanned="1" href="https://www.firerescue1.com/firefighting-history/articles/nyc-fire-museum-opens-new-exhibit-colonial-firefighting-the-american-revolution-0PDMR3co9KGNZPVB/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" style="color: blue; cursor: pointer; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;" target="_blank">FireRescue1</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;">.</span></div></div></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;"><span style="color: red;">C</span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="color: red;">elebration of fire fighting!</span> The untold story of a group of volunteers, the colonial FDNY, that stood between New York and disaster during years of rampant arson, wars for North America, and the American Revolution. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">1000 copies of </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="color: red;">The Art of Saving New York</span> gifted to the first viewers of this Special Exhibition. </i></p></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhnzxe0XD8pCU-44sg5XuDPbiJOr7AXzb3UB7bABkCnlk8cd8rqV0mrmCVddvt2Fzi8CcltZU6JApCfBxipezTVGxsJkHTGr39tLHvr_Bspiq14LuP5cfc-iSSGo_QbXMo8GSh9m1EWFl7HKSJjmBJawPiF8drruiAwc6Ynb-rM3GuONIblGLht0xOhLg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1288" data-original-width="838" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhnzxe0XD8pCU-44sg5XuDPbiJOr7AXzb3UB7bABkCnlk8cd8rqV0mrmCVddvt2Fzi8CcltZU6JApCfBxipezTVGxsJkHTGr39tLHvr_Bspiq14LuP5cfc-iSSGo_QbXMo8GSh9m1EWFl7HKSJjmBJawPiF8drruiAwc6Ynb-rM3GuONIblGLht0xOhLg" width="156" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">THE FIRE DEPARTMENT SAVING THE EXCHANGE</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgmRyM3JKMWMiPvxuffKBNY8ztCUNuV9Lb85F1bRqWMyz1-He5NSq96oJHQyLMewqgp-ZA5tjjVyqk_uAWTcWuOfLjMvK3TWoBfNo9dyHQ19fSlRUI6t2SqoXQ8oYAbqVzoFx65nlo5yzsM5V7RSQi0rB9oAF7dT8iQHWRg__DEO_27fxTcJkRAktSxIA" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="727" data-original-width="1200" height="243" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgmRyM3JKMWMiPvxuffKBNY8ztCUNuV9Lb85F1bRqWMyz1-He5NSq96oJHQyLMewqgp-ZA5tjjVyqk_uAWTcWuOfLjMvK3TWoBfNo9dyHQ19fSlRUI6t2SqoXQ8oYAbqVzoFx65nlo5yzsM5V7RSQi0rB9oAF7dT8iQHWRg__DEO_27fxTcJkRAktSxIA=w400-h243" width="400" /></a></div><br />The FDNY at the Exchange</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">The FDNY rallied at the inception of the fire to save the Exchange, a large covered market with a second story meeting hall, located in the middle of lower Broad Street. They stopped the initial blaze from destroying the building even though it was just a few yards from the White Hall fire-storm. Although they saved the Exchange and the rest of the city east of Broad Street, they were too undermanned to keep the fire from blazing north.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">TRINITY CHURCH BEFORE AND AFER THE FIRE OF 1776</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg8Av5Twp60iWKNWNVAIZoXKjm2IF2GKsbbUWWx_ZEOefHvT8ayqiwnoYi-hgHoOoOBHx0ZYCa5dlANaqD1M8QJL-Rv7dDDWnlR9e6-_iSvsR6OkjvzD0OiTn2y0XtTD2_3q5EdqLArX46vPq44XkxcidWg7HZ799JwEZ1WrJ7OXUYalEGYH3A4aY2sVA" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1800" height="178" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg8Av5Twp60iWKNWNVAIZoXKjm2IF2GKsbbUWWx_ZEOefHvT8ayqiwnoYi-hgHoOoOBHx0ZYCa5dlANaqD1M8QJL-Rv7dDDWnlR9e6-_iSvsR6OkjvzD0OiTn2y0XtTD2_3q5EdqLArX46vPq44XkxcidWg7HZ799JwEZ1WrJ7OXUYalEGYH3A4aY2sVA" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg2HL3TucfUgt4BppSHu3fzEy9C_cS7EToedvmd6mEoMb6ujo6giTVLt6RXbJOnEfVzVHy_YqtOhuPDmfiTfz11cP3nsWQFqFvYJuevubAES_tnbFicHko_uBqwfm2jIp67ZROr12JYCVt5O8oRwQ-RJBT9cUTrG80JnPtLpfoRpJOLlOWjEcUxG2c71w" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1375" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg2HL3TucfUgt4BppSHu3fzEy9C_cS7EToedvmd6mEoMb6ujo6giTVLt6RXbJOnEfVzVHy_YqtOhuPDmfiTfz11cP3nsWQFqFvYJuevubAES_tnbFicHko_uBqwfm2jIp67ZROr12JYCVt5O8oRwQ-RJBT9cUTrG80JnPtLpfoRpJOLlOWjEcUxG2c71w" width="306" /></a></div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgphLpeM-qPgwvwtBl-KQmAfX7GDCkO2nb8-_Y-6NZxxNNxZ8e8wpeUQQWJNu45h-j4tEhq7BjyNRmiawCQOq4IZG6wKn2gLfwmXrK5tVpvvxulPJ2NMosbif3DnrrA8wOirr_1RXFZY0cIyR9HOCSKdaFHBxUZh10FFOseB9bOlSkeEobXoqGmKCByuw" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1200" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgphLpeM-qPgwvwtBl-KQmAfX7GDCkO2nb8-_Y-6NZxxNNxZ8e8wpeUQQWJNu45h-j4tEhq7BjyNRmiawCQOq4IZG6wKn2gLfwmXrK5tVpvvxulPJ2NMosbif3DnrrA8wOirr_1RXFZY0cIyR9HOCSKdaFHBxUZh10FFOseB9bOlSkeEobXoqGmKCByuw" width="270" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Trinity Church succumbs to wall of flame</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">After the fire crossed Broadway about 2AM, it burned north towards the Lutheran Church, on the corner of Broadway and Rector Streets, the English Charity School, on Rector going down to the Hudson River, and Trinity Church. This view from just north of Trinity shows the fire as the spire of the church bursts into flames. That the fire had advanced faster than any firefighting forces could respond meant that the fire would keep burning, unstopped and unchallenged, north through the west side of Manhattan.</div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">TRINITY CHURCH REDUCED TO FOUNDATIONS</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhRI9-ORBZim_DseTASZFN3Y0kptd-ju5JfA-Z5W_KFqilBBrr9UioIwSLw7_ogZJKJ9M6mIy_His1T33e6xCwDrtgj8COZGBWhmVt7Q_NHH5j46w_QA8vMZ-Y1jw7uGSo03HCgZGEryMCAND-Lqb7Oe8xvKtQ7RwkqiISJ5PS95ptCudRDsXHS1Lz4yg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1375" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhRI9-ORBZim_DseTASZFN3Y0kptd-ju5JfA-Z5W_KFqilBBrr9UioIwSLw7_ogZJKJ9M6mIy_His1T33e6xCwDrtgj8COZGBWhmVt7Q_NHH5j46w_QA8vMZ-Y1jw7uGSo03HCgZGEryMCAND-Lqb7Oe8xvKtQ7RwkqiISJ5PS95ptCudRDsXHS1Lz4yg" width="306" /></a></div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">FDNY fights to save Broadway, the Oswego Market, and St. Paul's.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjktLqN2Vdi8SvoN7sJV2Df0CugitgSYU8fGfB2juy7QQA-paxJzveNMxZqodlyOsZ-GrQA4ANL5xFMnWKaydTT3mI9Ff_V2UKyDTP0xRI2l_dc5C4b97zwDiDSGGCn9y1y3gV1y2cDShjD0Ki2Uy_Jmn2YGrSsZrmmPbS0XrBtV5rUUtKiMs9sgzdBMA" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="858" data-original-width="1200" height="229" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjktLqN2Vdi8SvoN7sJV2Df0CugitgSYU8fGfB2juy7QQA-paxJzveNMxZqodlyOsZ-GrQA4ANL5xFMnWKaydTT3mI9Ff_V2UKyDTP0xRI2l_dc5C4b97zwDiDSGGCn9y1y3gV1y2cDShjD0Ki2Uy_Jmn2YGrSsZrmmPbS0XrBtV5rUUtKiMs9sgzdBMA" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">As the fire burned north of Trinity, the FDNY repositioned along Broadway to save its west side north of Trinity including the Market and the Church. SOMEBODY FOUGHT THIS FIRE (A<b>nimation of 1776 fire at <i>savingny.com.</i></b></div><div><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i><b> </b></i><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">SPECIAL EXHIBITION <b><i>Colonial Firefighting & The American Revolution</i></b>, 3/15-8/13 <b>at New York City Fire Museum, 278 Spring Street, New York. </b></span><a href="about:blank" style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">www.nycfiremuseum.org</span></a> </div></div></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Celebrate the untold story of a group of volunteers, the colonial FDNY, that stood between New York and disaster during years of rampant arson, wars for North America, and the American Revolution. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: center;"><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span>****************</span></p></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">This 2000 FT wall, built in 1653 gave <b>Wall Street </b>its name. The "palisade" style required a 3ft holed be dug for each log. Eventually the less expensive "plank" style replaced the Palisade. Yet the bulwark, like much of NYC was made of wood. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">For updated scholarship, including how the fire was started and fought, there is Bruce Twickler's book NEW YORK FIREFIGHTING AND THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION: <i>Saving Colonial Gotham from Incineration. </i> PANEL DISCUSSION 3/21 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1oHn4TnTWBo4xCGKxhAmFkjlySfVh5xOEIcbWo6pdFvydFlruvaKyBn864x6qinJQWRK7vunLjDD2BzQOLF18EScaGJEYyiTAYM2K99xcYnNYLEfFCXUAiUU18gUqD8ccb8vD4WkbL3GeRQ9kWp1LRwUcFlm7CBpvjPqrP6rV4iyryaSOsJj6hDoR0Q/s930/Gallery-Palisade1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="756" data-original-width="930" height="260" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1oHn4TnTWBo4xCGKxhAmFkjlySfVh5xOEIcbWo6pdFvydFlruvaKyBn864x6qinJQWRK7vunLjDD2BzQOLF18EScaGJEYyiTAYM2K99xcYnNYLEfFCXUAiUU18gUqD8ccb8vD4WkbL3GeRQ9kWp1LRwUcFlm7CBpvjPqrP6rV4iyryaSOsJj6hDoR0Q/s320/Gallery-Palisade1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwnvz37NQG6Pj9oCyjpvGTW0mctvwFBib7PBdsdkSHI3B5Tt92y7Sm2_33NycRo8lSHIQoF0CQ9kHuPHDXVs48DMMIR-YBDncAcw1HXTgKf_tJPurSkiyQ7rkqrOsF9-78-3hNhQ5ppm62Rq-BbZAZnB9Kx7udHq9hWkU1zH4SSr6gkkPy5GSeS8MJJw/s1589/IllustrationWallPlanks3.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1589" height="217" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwnvz37NQG6Pj9oCyjpvGTW0mctvwFBib7PBdsdkSHI3B5Tt92y7Sm2_33NycRo8lSHIQoF0CQ9kHuPHDXVs48DMMIR-YBDncAcw1HXTgKf_tJPurSkiyQ7rkqrOsF9-78-3hNhQ5ppm62Rq-BbZAZnB9Kx7udHq9hWkU1zH4SSr6gkkPy5GSeS8MJJw/s320/IllustrationWallPlanks3.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg_tJi7ffBA2t5iyBBlhsXEEghylu-2O5Usl5TmKEXxQnFkpN9rbWVB3wjtXfmLm_-qlj6Gcsk3XsJTI5H2Rk_LwG6-ZoLoDudcZ-6dhpQ8jW0mAJpkw7tq9LccFgbl3cqrYkJ0X9YBsT89pliH_9ff6elLi9Ev9BPNw7D3_CuttBhyQPpQHmzY3_nZFg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="863" data-original-width="975" height="354" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg_tJi7ffBA2t5iyBBlhsXEEghylu-2O5Usl5TmKEXxQnFkpN9rbWVB3wjtXfmLm_-qlj6Gcsk3XsJTI5H2Rk_LwG6-ZoLoDudcZ-6dhpQ8jW0mAJpkw7tq9LccFgbl3cqrYkJ0X9YBsT89pliH_9ff6elLi9Ev9BPNw7D3_CuttBhyQPpQHmzY3_nZFg=w400-h354" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /><i><b> </b></i><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">SPECIAL EXHIBITION <b><i>Colonial
Firefighting & The American Revolution</i></b>, 3/15-8/13 <b>at New York
City Fire Museum, 279 Spring Street, New York. </b></span><a href="about:blank" style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">www.nycfiremuseum.org</span></a></div></div></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Celebrate the
untold story of a group of volunteers, the colonial FDNY, that stood between
New York and disaster during years of rampant arson, wars for North America,
and the American Revolution. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Multimedia, video animations, and 3D models
illustrate the major events of the colonial era, including a breathtaking
video-animation of the devastating fire in 1776 that destroyed 500 buildings –
homes, churches, schools, stores, and factories. Original artworks depict the Wall
of Wall Street, the first fire engines, 1770 New York neighborhoods. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><b>Free Celebration booklet for first 1000 a</b><b>ttendees: </b></span><b style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><b> </b></b><b style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"> </b><b style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-weight: 400;">THE ART OF COLONIAL FIREFIGHTING</span></b><b style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-weight: 400;"> </span></b><b style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-weight: 400;">& THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION</span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEirHUjmXOfZQ1P04zcotGrPzaXkkyS9UWKoCZ_WahW4hxIfIkOtTgLa-7FnrxvqM2Y2KqxQfIIg8UOeJiR6-0FSpo3sxqBiIwiYxJFFFdtL4kcJLZkcJrTmWL6VbBSPCYzcSG23KRN1sNOwqy-GCwIrQw9xl6Ov192pMh2cijztSW-Qn6i5Z2hpG1H_bw" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEirHUjmXOfZQ1P04zcotGrPzaXkkyS9UWKoCZ_WahW4hxIfIkOtTgLa-7FnrxvqM2Y2KqxQfIIg8UOeJiR6-0FSpo3sxqBiIwiYxJFFFdtL4kcJLZkcJrTmWL6VbBSPCYzcSG23KRN1sNOwqy-GCwIrQw9xl6Ov192pMh2cijztSW-Qn6i5Z2hpG1H_bw" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgO-fHao8WdjN0ykDD8N9lQh7SNRwA2G1d_AwtPeUbWKYdtGls5fby-3akEzolW-F-vZeXcteetMCEBNg8ZN1ijZOxtoMjk4MKpsynNPbAUCRvgEM3_uAT4MtArVN2Xlqih5RZFIYveKysQP8ieJpOxmz_7S_-0Cn0s4z5E4Xj-zzc26Z7qpq50fI5i8A" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="295" data-original-width="240" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgO-fHao8WdjN0ykDD8N9lQh7SNRwA2G1d_AwtPeUbWKYdtGls5fby-3akEzolW-F-vZeXcteetMCEBNg8ZN1ijZOxtoMjk4MKpsynNPbAUCRvgEM3_uAT4MtArVN2Xlqih5RZFIYveKysQP8ieJpOxmz_7S_-0Cn0s4z5E4Xj-zzc26Z7qpq50fI5i8A" width="195" /></a></div><br /><img alt="" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1040" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEirHUjmXOfZQ1P04zcotGrPzaXkkyS9UWKoCZ_WahW4hxIfIkOtTgLa-7FnrxvqM2Y2KqxQfIIg8UOeJiR6-0FSpo3sxqBiIwiYxJFFFdtL4kcJLZkcJrTmWL6VbBSPCYzcSG23KRN1sNOwqy-GCwIrQw9xl6Ov192pMh2cijztSW-Qn6i5Z2hpG1H_bw" width="277" /></div><br /><b>Newsham Engine imported 1730s followed by establishing dedicated volunteers that formed the colonial FDNY.</b> It was a little over 8 feet long and 6.5 feet high. Newsham said his engines could "...go through any Passage one Yard wide, in complete working Order..."<p></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">1. A basin held the reservoir of water filled by bucket brigade into the open top of the basin or through a pipe in the back. </span><span style="text-align: left;">2. The pump housing held the pistons, air tank, etc. and provided a platform for a firemen to stand and direct the stream of water. </span><span style="text-align: left;">3. A pair of handles allowed people on both sides of the engine to pull down vigorously to draw water into the pump. This engine could throw a stream of water forty yards.</span><span style="text-align: left;">4. Unique treadles enabled people to stand and pump like a modern elliptical machine. </span></div><p></p><div> <i><b>For more on Firefighting and The American Revolution go to </b><b>savingny.com</b></i></div><div><i><b><br /></b></i></div><div><i><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><br /></b></i></div>Susan I. Weinsteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08327145154416720160noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3686096258659236837.post-29528034337557501572022-12-12T19:26:00.497-05:002023-09-25T14:10:40.923-04:00PARADISE NOW?? Paradise Gardens -Chapter 2- Year 2250, The Earth's Surface. "The Selling of Paradise Gardens" Eden Underground...<p> <span style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">SHERATON in 2250. Not much works, but meeting is scheduled.</span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjNZ-rQt-SDNaN5_4w2XhJRP8rTad3Sfqivom1H_3dLA8JHPiInxwZr2FkYXoa814roxP8OZO7U8Kl5PNjPZFxIyPhH9w3_jz9lK0hatHAkcXZRu7HajGWkwQa4Y9giF9NQiMhjV9oUFi-GKhfLIE-ebwyeoyqByrbgvLC7YNa672p6W2O5NDlLkCA4rA" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="540" data-original-width="784" height="220" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjNZ-rQt-SDNaN5_4w2XhJRP8rTad3Sfqivom1H_3dLA8JHPiInxwZr2FkYXoa814roxP8OZO7U8Kl5PNjPZFxIyPhH9w3_jz9lK0hatHAkcXZRu7HajGWkwQa4Y9giF9NQiMhjV9oUFi-GKhfLIE-ebwyeoyqByrbgvLC7YNa672p6W2O5NDlLkCA4rA" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><div><br /></div><div><span style="background-color: white;"><span><div class="WordSection1"><h2 style="margin-top: 0.05pt;"><a name="_TOC_250044" style="font-size: 22.5px; letter-spacing: -0.0666667px; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="color: #000009;">After the dissolution of the Old Fed, Corporate Business Estates consider Paradise Gardens. Chapter 2</span></a></h2><h2 style="color: #1c1e21; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; margin-top: 0.05pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a name="_TOC_250044" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem;"><span style="color: #000009; letter-spacing: -0.05pt;">Year</span><span style="color: #000009; letter-spacing: -0.9pt;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; letter-spacing: -0.05pt;">2250,</span><span style="color: #000009; letter-spacing: -0.85pt;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; letter-spacing: -0.05pt;">The</span><span style="color: #000009; letter-spacing: -0.8pt;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; letter-spacing: -0.05pt;">Earth’s</span><span style="color: #000009; letter-spacing: -0.85pt;"> </span></a><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: -0.05pt;">Surface</span></h2><h2 style="color: #1c1e21; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; margin-top: 0.05pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><o:p></o:p></h2>
<p align="left" class="MsoBodyText" style="color: #1c1e21; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; margin: 0.3pt 0in 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0in; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 22pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: "Adobe Garamond Pro";"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="color: #1c1e21; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; margin: 0in 24.65pt 0.0001pt 36.65pt; text-align: center; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #000009; font-family: "Georgia",serif; mso-font-width: 115%; mso-hansi-font-family: "Adobe Garamond Pro";">The<span style="letter-spacing: -0.1pt;"> </span>Selling<span style="letter-spacing: -0.05pt;"> </span>of<span style="letter-spacing: -0.05pt;"> </span>Paradise<span style="letter-spacing: -0.05pt;"> </span>Gardens</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; mso-hansi-font-family: "Adobe Garamond Pro";"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="color: #1c1e21; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; line-height: 105%; margin: 8.6pt 24.65pt 0.0001pt 37pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #000009;">If<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>Madge<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>Chilton wasn’t<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>sure<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>she<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>was<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>alive,<span style="letter-spacing: 3pt;"> </span>it<span style="letter-spacing: 3pt;"> </span>was<span style="letter-spacing: -2.9pt;"> </span>clear
she wasn’t dead. The problem was a matter of personal style and professional necessity. Being pleasant and<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>agreeable was<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>the<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>stock<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>and<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>trade<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>of<span style="letter-spacing: 3pt;"> </span>public<span style="letter-spacing: 3pt;"> </span>relations.<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>Who<span style="letter-spacing: 1.95pt;"> </span>cared<span style="letter-spacing: 1.95pt;"> </span>about<span style="letter-spacing: 1.95pt;">
</span>the<span style="letter-spacing: 1.95pt;"> </span>emotional<span style="letter-spacing: 2pt;"> </span>burn-out after<span style="letter-spacing: 1.95pt;"> </span>decades<span style="letter-spacing: -2.9pt;"> </span>of calculated pleasantness—her real
personality mourned<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>like a memory? <i>Eject self-pity</i>, she thought, crossing
the<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>eerily deserted lobby of the crumbling New York Sheraton.<span style="letter-spacing: -0.2pt;"> </span><i>You<span style="letter-spacing: -0.15pt;"> </span>can’t<span style="letter-spacing: -0.15pt;">
</span>afford<span style="letter-spacing: -0.15pt;"> </span>it.<span style="letter-spacing: -0.35pt;"> </span></i>Wasn’t<span style="letter-spacing: -0.15pt;"> </span>it<span style="letter-spacing: -0.15pt;"> </span>her<span style="letter-spacing: -0.15pt;"> </span>reputation<span style="letter-spacing: -0.2pt;"> </span>for<span style="letter-spacing: -0.15pt;"> </span>equa<span style="letter-spacing: -2.85pt;"> </span>nimity that<span style="letter-spacing: 0.55pt;"> </span>helped<span style="letter-spacing: 0.55pt;"> </span>her<span style="letter-spacing: 0.55pt;"> </span>win<span style="letter-spacing: 0.5pt;"> </span>Paradise<span style="letter-spacing: 0.55pt;">
</span>Gardens?</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; line-height: 105%; margin: 4.35pt 24.65pt 0.0001pt 37pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #000009;">Madge<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>reached<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>the<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>peeling<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>brown<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>and<span style="letter-spacing: 3pt;"> </span>gold<span style="letter-spacing: 3pt;"> </span>enam<span style="letter-spacing: -2.85pt;"> </span>eled elevator doors and hit the Up
button. Where was<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>Security<span style="letter-spacing: 2.35pt;"> </span>at<span style="letter-spacing: 2.4pt;"> </span>9:30<span style="letter-spacing: 2.35pt;"> </span>Sunday morning?<span style="letter-spacing: 2.35pt;"> </span>The<span style="letter-spacing: 2.4pt;"> </span>conference<span style="letter-spacing: 2.35pt;"> </span>was<span style="letter-spacing: -2.85pt;"> </span>at<span style="letter-spacing: 1pt;"> </span>ten.<span style="letter-spacing: 1.05pt;"> </span>Greenfield<span style="letter-spacing: 1pt;"> </span>was<span style="letter-spacing: 1.05pt;"> </span>expecting<span style="letter-spacing: 1.05pt;"> </span>her<span style="letter-spacing: 1pt;"> </span>to<span style="letter-spacing: 1.05pt;"> </span>deliver his<span style="letter-spacing: 1pt;"> </span>guests<span style="letter-spacing: -2.85pt;"> </span>in<span style="letter-spacing: 2pt;"> </span>good<span style="letter-spacing: 2pt;"> </span>condition.<span style="letter-spacing: 2pt;"> </span>No<span style="letter-spacing: 2pt;"> </span>easy<span style="letter-spacing: 2pt;"> </span>teleconference<span style="letter-spacing: 2pt;"> </span>for<span style="letter-spacing: 2pt;"> </span>this<span style="letter-spacing: 2pt;"> </span>job,<span style="letter-spacing: -2.9pt;"> </span>the content was too sensitive. Why they needed outside<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>PR and Greenfield had chosen her when he could have<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>had anyone. “Cracker-jack,” he said. Big agency quality<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>yet<span style="letter-spacing: 1.6pt;"> </span>small<span style="letter-spacing: 1.6pt;"> </span>enough<span style="letter-spacing: 1.65pt;"> </span>for<span style="letter-spacing: 1.6pt;"> </span>the<span style="letter-spacing: 1.6pt;"> </span>personal touch.<span style="letter-spacing: 1.6pt;"> </span>Small<span style="letter-spacing: 1.6pt;"> </span>is<span style="letter-spacing: 1.65pt;"> </span>right,</span><span style="color: #1c1e21;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 0in;">she thought, examining herself in a mirror beyond re-</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 0.05pt; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 0in;">silvering. She pressed the elevator button </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 0in;">and took a last</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 0.05pt; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 0in;">professional</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 0.35pt; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 0in;">look.</span></p></div><div class="WordSection2" style="color: #1c1e21; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; white-space: pre-wrap;"><p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 105%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 37.0pt; margin-right: 24.7pt; margin-top: 5.0pt; margin: 5pt 24.7pt 0in 37pt; text-indent: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 105%; margin-right: 24.65pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">Only 5’3” but she could inspire confidence. Madge’s<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>dark brown pageboy bobbed around her jaw
line in a<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>precise<span style="letter-spacing: 2.45pt;"> </span>curve. Her<span style="letter-spacing: 2.5pt;"> </span>neat<span style="letter-spacing: 2.45pt;"> </span>dye-cut features<span style="letter-spacing: 2.5pt;"> </span>were<span style="letter-spacing: 2.45pt;"> </span>also<span style="letter-spacing: 2.5pt;"> </span>pre<span style="letter-spacing: -2.9pt;"> </span>cise, a<span style="letter-spacing: 1.65pt;"> </span>theme<span style="letter-spacing: 1.65pt;"> </span>echoed throughout<span style="letter-spacing: 1.65pt;"> </span>her<span style="letter-spacing: 1.65pt;"> </span>thin<span style="letter-spacing: 1.7pt;"> </span>body<span style="letter-spacing: 1.65pt;"> </span>encased in<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>a<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>vintage<span style="letter-spacing: 3pt;"> </span>Chanel-like<span style="letter-spacing: 3pt;"> </span>suit.<span style="letter-spacing: 3pt;"> </span>And<span style="letter-spacing: 3pt;"> </span>the<span style="letter-spacing: 3pt;"> </span>look<span style="letter-spacing: 3pt;"> </span>needed<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>little maintenance. She made a small adjustment to her<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>pageboy<span style="letter-spacing: 2.05pt;"> </span>wig<span style="letter-spacing: 2.1pt;"> </span>with<span style="letter-spacing: 2.1pt;"> </span>scarcely<span style="letter-spacing: 2.1pt;"> </span>a<span style="letter-spacing: 2.1pt;"> </span>thought<span style="letter-spacing: 2.1pt;"> </span>for<span style="letter-spacing: 2.1pt;"> </span>the<span style="letter-spacing: 2.1pt;"> </span>once<span style="letter-spacing: 2.1pt;"> </span>rare,<span style="letter-spacing: -2.9pt;"> </span>now not all that uncommon allergy that led to hair loss.<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>Otherwise, she was amazingly intact for thirty-five, especially<span style="letter-spacing: 1.95pt;"> </span>for<span style="letter-spacing: 2pt;"> </span>those<span style="letter-spacing: 1.95pt;"> </span>working in<span style="letter-spacing: 1.95pt;"> </span>non-corporate<span style="letter-spacing: 2pt;"> </span>environments<span style="letter-spacing: -2.9pt;"> </span> in<span style="letter-spacing: 0.35pt;"> </span>the<span style="letter-spacing: 0.35pt;"> </span>late<span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;"> </span>2250’s.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 105%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 37.0pt; margin-right: 24.65pt; margin-top: 4.35pt; margin: 4.35pt 24.65pt 0in 37pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">The elevator banged to a sharp halt a foot below the<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>floor line. <i>So much for the twentieth century</i>, she thought,<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>climbing down<span style="letter-spacing: 0.95pt;"> </span>onto<span style="letter-spacing: 0.95pt;"> </span>a<span style="letter-spacing: 1pt;"> </span>powdery<span style="letter-spacing: 0.95pt;"> </span>gray<span style="letter-spacing: 0.95pt;"> </span>carpet.<span style="letter-spacing: 0.95pt;"> </span><i>No<span style="letter-spacing: 1pt;"> </span>longevity<span style="letter-spacing: -2.9pt;">
</span>to synthetics</i>, she tsk-ed. Madge pressed “Empire Room,”<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>hoping<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>the<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>elevator<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;">
</span>could<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>find<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>it.<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>Madge<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>checked her<span style="letter-spacing: -2.85pt;"> </span> purse for her elevator kit, the pocket acetylene torch and<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>nylon
cord for impromptu hikes between floors. She also<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>found her contract with the Sheraton, which spelled out<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>their obligation to supply security, digital display listing<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>the meeting,
easel signs, projector and screen for power<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>point,<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>pitchers<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;">
</span>of<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>drinkable<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>water.<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>They<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>also<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>were<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>to<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>receive a box of physical press kits for corporate honchos<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>and<span style="letter-spacing: 0.35pt;"> </span>Human<span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;"> </span>Resources.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 50.5pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 4.3pt; margin: 4.3pt 0in 0in 50.5pt; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="color: #000009;">Behind<span style="letter-spacing: -0.2pt;"> </span>the<span style="letter-spacing: -0.2pt;"> </span>softly<span style="letter-spacing: -0.2pt;"> </span>thudding<span style="letter-spacing: -0.2pt;"> </span>door<span style="letter-spacing: -0.2pt;"> </span>of<span style="letter-spacing: -0.2pt;"> </span>The<span style="letter-spacing: -0.2pt;"> </span>Empire<span style="letter-spacing: -0.2pt;"> </span>Room, M</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 0in;">adge saw folding tables, her box of kits, a few empty</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 0.05pt; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 0in;">pitchers. Well the security and signs were </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 0in;">a bust and once</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 0.05pt; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 0in;">again, she’s have to</span></p></div><div class="WordSection3" style="color: #1c1e21; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; white-space: pre-wrap;"><p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 105%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 37.0pt; margin-right: 24.65pt; margin-top: 5.0pt; margin: 5pt 24.65pt 0in 37pt; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="color: #000009;">hunt for AV equipment. With the<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>collapse of digital media in the late 2030’s, revival projectors and screens were at a premium. The sudden series<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>of<span style="letter-spacing: 0.9pt;"> </span>sun<span style="letter-spacing: 0.95pt;"> </span>flares<span style="letter-spacing: 0.95pt;"> </span>that<span style="letter-spacing: 0.9pt;"> </span>collapsed<span style="letter-spacing: 0.95pt;">
</span>the<span style="letter-spacing: 0.95pt;"> </span>grid<span style="letter-spacing: 0.9pt;"> </span>were<span style="letter-spacing: 0.95pt;"> </span>called<span style="letter-spacing: 0.95pt;"> </span>the<span style="letter-spacing: 0.9pt;"> </span>hand<span style="letter-spacing: -2.85pt;"> </span>of God by vigilantes, who destroyed
skeletons of systems<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>that<span style="letter-spacing: 0.35pt;"> </span>remained.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 105%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 37.0pt; margin-right: 24.7pt; margin-top: 4.35pt; margin: 4.35pt 24.7pt 0in 37pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">Technology became invisible, private and rudimentary<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>in an unconnected world. With scarce
access to materials<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>and suppliers,
cities had emergency systems for every day<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>and
husbanded energy within guarded compounds. She<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;">
</span>had<span style="letter-spacing: 0.45pt;"> </span>paid<span style="letter-spacing: 0.5pt;"> </span>the<span style="letter-spacing: 0.45pt;"> </span>Sheraton<span style="letter-spacing: 0.5pt;"> </span>to<span style="letter-spacing: 0.45pt;"> </span>insure<span style="letter-spacing: 0.5pt;"> </span>the<span style="letter-spacing: 0.45pt;"> </span>risk.</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 105%; margin-right: 24.7pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">Madge<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>wheezed,<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>spotting dust-laden<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>drapes<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>and,<span style="letter-spacing: -2.85pt;"> </span>poking out behind them, a projection panel. Her throat<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>tightened.<span style="letter-spacing: 0.45pt;"> </span>An<span style="letter-spacing: 0.5pt;"> </span>inhaler<span style="letter-spacing: 0.45pt;"> </span>was<span style="letter-spacing: 0.5pt;"> </span>in<span style="letter-spacing: 0.45pt;"> </span>her<span style="letter-spacing: 0.5pt;"> </span>purse. Q</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">uick puffs took her over dubious rugs to the </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">ladies</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; letter-spacing: 0.05pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">room. She sat on the floor </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">sprayed into her mouth and</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; letter-spacing: 0.05pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">breathed. </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">Eyes closed, she willed the relaxation mecha</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">nism to take over her body. Once again she reviewed her</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; letter-spacing: 0.05pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">pitch</span><i style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;">.</i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 105%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 37.0pt; margin-right: 24.7pt; margin-top: 4.45pt; margin: 4.45pt 24.7pt 0in 37pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;"><span style="color: #000009; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 105%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><i>Imagine Paradise Gardens. If you can’t leave the City,<span style="letter-spacing: -2.85pt;"> </span>go underground! Discover a business situation where you’re<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>completely the boss, on your own estate.
No outside interfer<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>ence<span style="letter-spacing: 0.35pt;"> </span>at<span style="letter-spacing: 0.35pt;"> </span>all!</i></span><i><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 105%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 105%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 37.0pt; margin-right: 24.9pt; margin-top: 5.0pt; margin: 5pt 24.9pt 0in 37pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">Her<span style="letter-spacing: 2.2pt;"> </span>throat<span style="letter-spacing: 2.25pt;"> </span>was<span style="letter-spacing: 2.2pt;"> </span>open,<span style="letter-spacing: 2.25pt;"> </span>she<span style="letter-spacing: 2.2pt;"> </span>was<span style="letter-spacing: 2.25pt;"> </span>breathing<span style="letter-spacing: 2.2pt;"> </span>easier<span style="letter-spacing: 2.25pt;"> </span>now,<span style="letter-spacing: -2.9pt;"> </span>the<span style="letter-spacing: 0.5pt;"> </span>pitch<span style="letter-spacing: 0.5pt;"> </span>ran<span style="letter-spacing: 0.5pt;"> </span>smoothly<span style="letter-spacing: 0.5pt;"> </span>through<span style="letter-spacing: 0.55pt;"> </span>her<span style="letter-spacing: 0.5pt;"> </span>brain.</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 105%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 37.0pt; margin-right: 24.7pt; margin-top: 4.45pt; margin: 4.45pt 24.7pt 0in 37pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;"><i><span style="color: #000009; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 105%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">An initial investment and monthly fee are a small outlay<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>for<span style="letter-spacing: 1.3pt;"> </span>a<span style="letter-spacing: 1.3pt;"> </span>uniquely<span style="letter-spacing: 1.3pt;">
</span>stable<span style="letter-spacing: 1.35pt;"> </span>environment.<span style="letter-spacing: 0.45pt;"> </span>What<span style="letter-spacing: 1.3pt;"> </span>you<span style="letter-spacing: 1.35pt;"> </span>leave<span style="letter-spacing: 1.3pt;"> </span>behind</span></i><span style="color: #000009; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 105%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">:</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 105%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;"><div class="WordSection3" style="color: #1c1e21; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span></div>Madge paused to spray more medicine. Now came the</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; letter-spacing: 0.05pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;">visuals. </span><i style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;">New York City at rush hour. Close-up on boarded-<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>up subway toll booths and sealed Metro-card swipers. A long<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>line<span style="letter-spacing: 1.45pt;"> </span>of<span style="letter-spacing: 1.45pt;"> </span>employees<span style="letter-spacing: 1.5pt;"> </span>give<span style="letter-spacing: 1.45pt;"> </span>a<span style="letter-spacing: 1.5pt;"> </span>transit </i><i style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; text-align: justify;">policeman<span style="letter-spacing: 1.45pt;"> </span>corporate<span style="letter-spacing: 1.5pt;"> </span>tokens.</i></div><div class="WordSection4" style="color: #1c1e21; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; white-space: pre-wrap;"><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 105%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 37.0pt; margin-right: 24.65pt; margin-top: 5.0pt; margin: 5pt 24.65pt 0in 37pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #000009; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 105%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><i>He deposits them in a locked box guarded by another transit<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>employee. Tension, as each passenger is allowed through the<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>gate. Another close shot of the policeman’s rifle. Close to the<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>barrel, a ragged derelict raves about putting “Public” back<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>into<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>transportation.<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>The<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>policeman<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>looks<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>at<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>him<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>indul-<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>gently, relaxing a microsecond. The derelict blows up the sta<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>tion and takes the box. Close on the derelict’s arm sans rags.<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>Revealed<span style="letter-spacing: 1.55pt;"> </span>are<span style="letter-spacing: 1.55pt;"> </span>undisguised<span style="letter-spacing: 1.6pt;"> </span>tattoos,<span style="letter-spacing: 1.55pt;"> </span>ritual<span style="letter-spacing: 1.55pt;"> </span>scars<span style="letter-spacing: 1.5pt;"> </span>distinguishing<span style="letter-spacing: -2.85pt;"> </span>a<span style="letter-spacing: 0.35pt;"> </span>gang-man.</i></span><i><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 105%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 105%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 37.0pt; margin-right: 24.7pt; margin-top: 4.55pt; margin: 4.55pt 24.7pt 0in 37pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">Then<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>recognizable<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>images<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>with<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>impact,<span style="letter-spacing: 3.05pt;">
</span>Madge<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>thought<i>.<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>People<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>blanked–out,<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>transit<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>blow–ups,<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>a<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>gang<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>takeover of the subway, a carpool
abduction. </i>Though cor-<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>porate<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>Human<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>resources<span style="letter-spacing: 3pt;"> </span>departments<span style="letter-spacing: 3pt;"> </span>encouraged<span style="letter-spacing: 3pt;"> </span>the<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>use of helmets, a means of processing such trauma, the<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>effect was not complete.
Subliminally, many people knew<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>what was going on. And the higher echelons, the corpo<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>rate planners and strategists Nate Greenfield had invited,<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>probably didn’t use the device. The
reminder would be<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>powerful.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 105%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 37.0pt; margin-right: 24.65pt; margin-top: 4.35pt; margin: 4.35pt 24.65pt 0in 37pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">Madge got up from the floor. She felt well and confident about her pitch for PARADISE
GARDENS. As<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>long as the equipment works, her last affirmation, before<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>exiting
the bathroom to return to the lobby and meet Nate. She found lobby lights and behind the reception<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>desk<span style="letter-spacing: 2.6pt;"> </span>some<span style="letter-spacing: 2.65pt;"> </span>old<span style="letter-spacing: 2.6pt;"> </span>ca</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 0in;">che, stock felt-tip and lettered “Empire Room,”</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 0.05pt; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 0in;">when she realized someone was behind her...</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 0in;">Nate creepily</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 0.05pt; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 0in;">smiling away. His sense</span></p></div><div class="WordSection5" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; white-space: pre-wrap;"><p class="MsoBodyText" style="color: #1c1e21; line-height: 105%; margin: 5pt 24.7pt 0.0001pt 37pt; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="color: #000009;">of humor, she thought with irritation.<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>Someday, maybe<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>never,<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>she<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>would<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>tell<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>him<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>he<span style="letter-spacing: -2.85pt;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="color: #1c1e21; line-height: 105%; margin: 5pt 24.7pt 0.0001pt 37pt; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="color: #000009;">smiled<span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;"> </span>like<span style="letter-spacing: 0.45pt;"> </span>an<span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;"> </span>ecstasy<span style="letter-spacing: 0.45pt;"> </span>cultist.</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="color: #1c1e21; margin: 4.4pt 0in 0.0001pt 50.5pt; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="color: #000009;">“New<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>York’s<span style="letter-spacing: 0.25pt;"> </span>an<span style="letter-spacing: 0.25pt;"> </span>open<span style="letter-spacing: 0.25pt;"> </span>sewer,” he<span style="letter-spacing: 0.3pt;"> </span>greeted<span style="letter-spacing: 0.25pt;"> </span>her.</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="color: #1c1e21; line-height: 105%; margin: 5.25pt 24.7pt 0.0001pt 37pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">“See Paradise Gardens,” she responded, “Eden under-<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>ground,<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;">
</span>an<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>environmental<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>throwback to<span style="letter-spacing: 3pt;"> </span>a<span style="letter-spacing: 3pt;"> </span>time<span style="letter-spacing: 3pt;"> </span>that<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>never<span style="letter-spacing: 0.35pt;"> </span>was.”</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="margin-left: 50.5pt; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="color: #000009;">“Funny,”<span style="letter-spacing: 0.35pt;"> </span>said<span style="letter-spacing: 3.3pt;"> </span>Nate.<span style="letter-spacing: 3.3pt;"> </span>“Anyone<span style="letter-spacing: 3.35pt;"> </span>would<span style="letter-spacing: 3.3pt;"> </span>be<span style="letter-spacing: 3.35pt;"> </span>convinced.</span><span style="color: #1c1e21;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 0in;">There</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 0.6pt; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 0in;">seems</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 0.65pt; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 0in;">to</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 0.65pt; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 0in;">be</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 0.65pt; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 0in;">a</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 0.65pt; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 0in;">personnel</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 0.65pt; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 0in;">issue?”</span></p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="color: #1c1e21; margin-top: 0.75pt; text-indent: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="color: #1c1e21; line-height: 105%; margin: 5.25pt 24.65pt 0.0001pt 37pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">“And<span style="letter-spacing: -0.75pt;"> </span>missing<span style="letter-spacing: -0.75pt;"> </span>equipment,<span style="letter-spacing: -0.75pt;"> </span>I<span style="letter-spacing: -0.75pt;"> </span>want<span style="letter-spacing: -0.75pt;"> </span>to<span style="letter-spacing: -0.75pt;"> </span>take<span style="letter-spacing: -0.75pt;"> </span>a<span style="letter-spacing: -0.75pt;"> </span>look<span style="letter-spacing: -0.75pt;"> </span>around.” Madge threw the manual lock behind the reception desk<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>and waited. No siren or flashing lights. </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem;">She might have</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem;">been a nihilist for</span></p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="color: #1c1e21; line-height: 105%; margin: 5.25pt 24.65pt 0.0001pt 37pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">all they cared. Nate was smiling but<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>with<span style="letter-spacing: 0.35pt;"> </span>a<span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;"> </span>shade<span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;"> </span>of<span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;"> </span>concern.</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="color: #1c1e21; line-height: 105%; margin-right: 24.85pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">"Security is good here despite what you might think,”<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>he<span style="letter-spacing: 0.35pt;"> </span>said.</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="color: #1c1e21; margin-left: 50.5pt; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="color: #000009;">“Is<span style="letter-spacing: 0.65pt;"> </span>that<span style="letter-spacing: 0.7pt;"> </span>a<span style="letter-spacing: 0.7pt;"> </span>fact?”</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="color: #1c1e21; line-height: 105%; margin: 5.25pt 24.7pt 0.0001pt 37pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">"I would not have signed otherwise. I gave workshops<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>here.”</span><o:p></o:p></p><span style="color: #1c1e21;">
</span><p class="MsoBodyText" style="color: #1c1e21; line-height: 105%; margin: 4.5pt 24.75pt 0.0001pt 37pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">Madge<span style="letter-spacing: 2.55pt;"> </span>taped<span style="letter-spacing: 2.6pt;"> </span>the<span style="letter-spacing: 2.6pt;"> </span>sign<span style="letter-spacing: 2.6pt;"> </span>to<span style="letter-spacing: 2.55pt;"> </span>the<span style="letter-spacing: 2.6pt;"> </span>front<span style="letter-spacing: 2.6pt;"> </span>of<span style="letter-spacing: 2.6pt;"> </span>the<span style="letter-spacing: 2.6pt;"> </span>reception<span style="letter-spacing: -2.9pt;"> </span>desk.</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="color: #1c1e21; margin-left: 50.5pt; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="color: #000009;">"They<span style="letter-spacing: 0.45pt;"> </span>are<span style="letter-spacing: 0.45pt;"> </span>still<span style="letter-spacing: 0.45pt;"> </span>rated<span style="letter-spacing: 0.45pt;"> </span>the<span style="letter-spacing: 0.45pt;"> </span>best<span style="letter-spacing: 0.45pt;"> </span>in<span style="letter-spacing: 0.45pt;"> </span>New<span style="letter-spacing: 0.25pt;"> </span>York,”<span style="letter-spacing: 0.45pt;"> </span>said<span style="letter-spacing: 0.5pt;"> </span>Nate.</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="color: #1c1e21; line-height: 105%; margin: 5.25pt 24.95pt 0.0001pt 37pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">“There are clever honchos who moved their headquarters<span style="letter-spacing: 0.5pt;"> </span>to<span style="letter-spacing: 0.55pt;"> </span>Montana<span style="letter-spacing: 0.5pt;"> </span>thinking<span style="letter-spacing: 0.55pt;"> </span>the<span style="letter-spacing: 0.5pt;"> </span>air<span style="letter-spacing: 0.55pt;"> </span>was<span style="letter-spacing: 0.5pt;"> </span>still<span style="letter-spacing: 0.55pt;"> </span>pure.”</span></p></div><div class="WordSection6" style="color: #1c1e21; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; white-space: pre-wrap;">
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 105%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 37.0pt; margin-right: 24.65pt; margin-top: 5.0pt; margin: 5pt 24.65pt 0in 37pt;"><span style="color: #000009; mso-font-width: 95%;">“The desire to live. We resuscitated it in Empowerment<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span></span><span style="color: #000009;">seminars. Pivotal work, you must know The Enlightenment<span style="letter-spacing: 0.35pt;"> </span>Group?”</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 105%; margin-right: 24.7pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">Madge handed him her marker and cardboard. “We<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>need another sign,” she said, instead of
her belief that<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>empowerment<span style="letter-spacing: 3pt;"> </span>was<span style="letter-spacing: 3pt;"> </span>an<span style="letter-spacing: 3pt;"> </span>insidious ideology;<span style="letter-spacing: 3pt;"> </span>It<span style="letter-spacing: 3pt;"> </span>appealed<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;">
</span>to retro New-Age techies. Madge had never been crazy<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>about<span style="letter-spacing: 0.45pt;"> </span>retro<span style="letter-spacing: 0.5pt;"> </span>anything.<span style="letter-spacing: 0.45pt;">
</span>Then<span style="letter-spacing: 0.5pt;"> </span>she<span style="letter-spacing: 0.45pt;"> </span>saw<span style="letter-spacing: 0.5pt;"> </span>the<span style="letter-spacing: 0.45pt;"> </span>light.</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 105%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 37.0pt; margin-right: 24.7pt; margin-top: 4.4pt; margin: 4.4pt 24.7pt 0in 37pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">Beyond the front desk was a small fluorescent-lit cor<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>ridor. An inner office, behind a Plexiglas
divider, held a<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>beige-looking woman staring at an ancient P.C. Madge<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>knocked
on the divider. The woman’s eyes stayed on the screen.<span style="letter-spacing: 2.35pt;"> </span>Her<span style="letter-spacing: 2.35pt;"> </span>hands<span style="letter-spacing: 2.35pt;">
</span>reached<span style="letter-spacing: 2.35pt;"> </span>for<span style="letter-spacing: 2.35pt;"> </span>what<span style="letter-spacing: 2.35pt;"> </span>Madge<span style="letter-spacing: 2.35pt;"> </span>hoped was<span style="letter-spacing: -2.9pt;"> </span>not<span style="letter-spacing: 0.45pt;"> </span>a<span style="letter-spacing: 0.5pt;"> </span>weapon,<span style="letter-spacing: 0.5pt;"> </span>perhaps<span style="letter-spacing: 0.5pt;"> </span>a<span style="letter-spacing: 0.5pt;"> </span>security<span style="letter-spacing: 0.5pt;"> </span>button?</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="margin-left: 50.5pt; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="color: #000009;">“No<span style="letter-spacing: 0.5pt;"> </span>signs<span style="letter-spacing: 0.55pt;"> </span>in<span style="letter-spacing: 0.55pt;"> </span>the<span style="letter-spacing: 0.55pt;"> </span>lobby,”<span style="letter-spacing: 0.5pt;"> </span>Madge<span style="letter-spacing: 0.55pt;"> </span>said.</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 105%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 37.0pt; margin-right: 24.65pt; margin-top: 5.25pt; margin: 5.25pt 24.65pt 0in 37pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">“Maintenance is not here on weekends. I’m back office<span style="letter-spacing: -2.85pt;"> </span>not<span style="letter-spacing: 0.45pt;"> </span>hospitality,”<span style="letter-spacing: 0.5pt;"> </span>the<span style="letter-spacing: 0.5pt;"> </span>woman<span style="letter-spacing: 0.45pt;"> </span>stated<span style="letter-spacing: 0.5pt;"> </span>indifferently.</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 105%; margin-right: 24.7pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">"We contracted for items for our conference in the<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>Empire<span style="letter-spacing: 0.35pt;"> </span>Room,<span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;"> </span>10<span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;"> </span>AM?”</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 105%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 37.0pt; margin-right: 24.65pt; margin-top: 4.5pt; margin: 4.5pt 24.65pt 0in 37pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">“Our clients bring their own staff,” said the woman.<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>“Isn’t<span style="letter-spacing: 0.35pt;"> </span>that<span style="letter-spacing: 0.35pt;"> </span>what<span style="letter-spacing: 0.35pt;"> </span>you<span style="letter-spacing: 0.35pt;"> </span>are?”</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 105%; margin-right: 24.7pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">"You have fifteen minutes to supply the items speci<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>fied or I invoke the stop-payment clause.”
Madge held up<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>a<span style="letter-spacing: 0.45pt;"> </span>corporate payment<span style="letter-spacing: 0.45pt;"> </span>card<span style="letter-spacing: 0.5pt;"> </span>threateningly.</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 105%; margin-right: 24.65pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">The<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>woman<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>laid<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>a<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>revolver on<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>her<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>computer<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>table. <span style="letter-spacing: -2.9pt;"> </span>Bored, she<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>recited,<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>“The<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>second<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>half<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>payment<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>is<span style="letter-spacing: 3pt;"> </span>due<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>before<span style="letter-spacing: 1.9pt;"> </span>the<span style="letter-spacing: 1.9pt;"> </span>client<span style="letter-spacing: 1.9pt;"> </span>leaves.<span style="letter-spacing: 1.65pt;"> </span>You<span style="letter-spacing: 1.9pt;"> </span>can<span style="letter-spacing: 1.9pt;"> </span>guess<span style="letter-spacing: 1.9pt;"> </span>the<span style="letter-spacing: 1.9pt;"> </span>enforcement<span style="letter-spacing: 0.866667px;"> </span></span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 0in;">capability</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 1pt; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 0in;">of</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 1pt; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 0in;">our</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 1pt; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 0in;">security</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 1pt; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 0in;">staff?”</span></p></div><div class="WordSection7" style="color: #1c1e21; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; white-space: pre-wrap;"><p class="MsoBodyText" style="margin-top: 5pt; text-indent: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 133%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 50.5pt; margin-right: 88.6pt; margin-top: 5.25pt; margin: 5.25pt 88.6pt 0in 50.5pt; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="color: #000009;">“Do you have any?” Madge challenged.<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>“I’ll<span style="letter-spacing: 0.85pt;"> </span>get<span style="letter-spacing: 0.9pt;"> </span>your<span style="letter-spacing: 0.9pt;"> </span>contract,”<span style="letter-spacing: 0.9pt;"> </span>said<span style="letter-spacing: 0.9pt;"> </span>the<span style="letter-spacing: 0.9pt;"> </span>woman. </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem;">“Paradise Gardens,” said Madge, taking it out of her</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem;">purse.</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 0.5pt;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem;">The</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 0.5pt;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem;">woman</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 0.5pt;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem;">flickered</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 0.5pt;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem;">vague</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 0.55pt;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem;">recognition. </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 17.65pt;">“I will publicize your non-delivery of</span></p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 105%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 37.0pt; margin-right: 24.65pt; margin-top: 4.5pt; margin: 4.5pt 24.65pt 0in 37pt; text-indent: 17.65pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">services to all<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>existing media outlets. The Sheraton could close. No corporate<span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;"> </span>protection,<span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;"> </span>you’re<span style="letter-spacing: 0.45pt;"> </span>on<span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;"> </span>the<span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;"> </span>street.”</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 105%; margin-right: 24.7pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">With clear resentment, the woman accessed the con-<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>tract. She revolved to face Madge. “We got
one man and<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>he’s<span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;"> </span>at<span style="letter-spacing: 0.45pt;"> </span>lunch.<span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;"> </span>I<span style="letter-spacing: 0.45pt;"> </span>can<span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;"> </span>get<span style="letter-spacing: 0.45pt;"> </span>you<span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;"> </span>cardboard…”</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 105%; margin-right: 24.9pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">“I found that,” said Madge with real menace. “Where’s<span style="letter-spacing: -2.85pt;"> </span>our<span style="letter-spacing: 0.35pt;"> </span>digital<span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;"> </span>display?”</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 105%; margin-right: 24.7pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">“People<span style="letter-spacing: 1.7pt;"> </span>risk<span style="letter-spacing: 1.7pt;"> </span>coming<span style="letter-spacing: 1.7pt;"> </span>here,<span style="letter-spacing: 1.7pt;"> </span>you<span style="letter-spacing: 1.7pt;"> </span>think<span style="letter-spacing: 1.75pt;"> </span>they<span style="letter-spacing: 1.7pt;"> </span>won’t<span style="letter-spacing: 1.7pt;"> </span>find <span style="letter-spacing: -2.9pt;"> </span>the<span style="letter-spacing: 0.35pt;"> </span>Empire<span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;"> </span>Room?”</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 105%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 37.0pt; margin-right: 24.65pt; margin-top: 4.5pt; margin: 4.5pt 24.65pt 0in 37pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">Madge turned her back in answer. A monitor would<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>record a shot. Would the woman risk it?
The voice that<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>called<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>was<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>conciliatory.<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>“When<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>the<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>electronic<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>display<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>broke, it was
too hard to get fixed. We have movable type<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>for
the lobby sign but not all the letters. If you keep it<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>simple…”</span><o:p></o:p></p><p align="left" class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 133%; margin: 4.4pt 38.2pt 0.0001pt 50.5pt; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="color: #000009;">“Someone<span style="letter-spacing: 0.65pt;"> </span>will<span style="letter-spacing: 0.7pt;"> </span>meet<span style="letter-spacing: 0.7pt;"> </span>me<span style="letter-spacing: 0.7pt;"> </span>at<span style="letter-spacing: 0.7pt;"> </span>the<span style="letter-spacing: 0.7pt;"> </span>front<span style="letter-spacing: 0.7pt;"> </span>desk<span style="letter-spacing: 0.7pt;"> </span>now?”<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>“I’ll<span style="letter-spacing: 0.75pt;"> </span>page<span style="letter-spacing: 0.75pt;"> </span>maintenance.<span style="letter-spacing: 0.75pt;"> </span>He’ll<span style="letter-spacing: 0.75pt;"> </span>come<span style="letter-spacing: 0.8pt;"> </span>when<span style="letter-spacing: 0.75pt;"> </span>he<span style="letter-spacing: 0.75pt;"> </span>can.”<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>Madge<span style="letter-spacing: 0.45pt;"> </span>walked.<span style="letter-spacing: 0.5pt;"> </span>“I’ll<span style="letter-spacing: 0.45pt;"> </span>pay<span style="letter-spacing: 0.5pt;"> </span>when<span style="letter-spacing: 0.45pt;"> </span>he<span style="letter-spacing: 0.5pt;"> </span>does.”</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 105%; margin: 0.2pt 24.95pt 0.0001pt 37pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">The<span style="letter-spacing: 0.6pt;"> </span>woman<span style="letter-spacing: 0.6pt;"> </span>regretfully<span style="letter-spacing: 0.6pt;"> </span>chimed,<span style="letter-spacing: 0.6pt;"> </span>“Don’t<span style="letter-spacing: 0.6pt;"> </span>know<span style="letter-spacing: 0.6pt;"> </span>why<span style="letter-spacing: -2.85pt;"> </span>they<span style="letter-spacing: 0.35pt;"> </span>promise<span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;"> </span>you<span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;"> </span>things.”</span></p></div><div class="WordSection8" style="color: #1c1e21; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; white-space: pre-wrap;">
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 50.5pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 5.0pt; margin: 5pt 0in 0in 50.5pt; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="color: #000009;">“Idiocy,”<span style="letter-spacing: 0.7pt;"> </span>Madge<span style="letter-spacing: 0.7pt;"> </span>said<span style="letter-spacing: 0.7pt;"> </span>to<span style="letter-spacing: 0.7pt;"> </span>Nate<span style="letter-spacing: 0.7pt;"> </span>waiting<span style="letter-spacing: 0.7pt;"> </span>at<span style="letter-spacing: 0.7pt;"> </span>reception.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 105%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 37.0pt; margin-right: 24.65pt; margin-top: 5.25pt; margin: 5.25pt 24.65pt 0in 37pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">“You do better encouraging the best than threatening<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>the<span style="letter-spacing: 0.35pt;"> </span>worst," said Nate.</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="margin-left: 50.5pt; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="color: #000009;">“Spare<span style="letter-spacing: 0.9pt;"> </span>me<span style="letter-spacing: 0.95pt;"> </span>the<span style="letter-spacing: 0.95pt;"> </span>platitude?”</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 105%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 37.0pt; margin-right: 24.9pt; margin-top: 5.25pt; margin: 5.25pt 24.9pt 0in 37pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">“Motivating<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>people<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>is<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>about<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>sensitivity.<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>My<span style="letter-spacing: 3pt;"> </span>work<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>shows<span style="letter-spacing: 0.6pt;"> </span>you<span style="letter-spacing: 0.6pt;"> </span>can<span style="letter-spacing: 0.65pt;"> </span>change<span style="letter-spacing: 0.6pt;"> </span>lives<span style="letter-spacing: 0.65pt;"> </span>by<span style="letter-spacing: 0.6pt;"> </span>changing<span style="letter-spacing: 0.6pt;"> </span>thoughts.”</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 50.5pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 4.5pt; margin: 4.5pt 0in 0in 50.5pt; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="color: #000009;">“I<span style="letter-spacing: 0.85pt;"> </span>am<span style="letter-spacing: 0.9pt;"> </span>among<span style="letter-spacing: 0.85pt;"> </span>the<span style="letter-spacing: 0.9pt;"> </span>unenlightened,”<span style="letter-spacing: 0.85pt;"> </span>said<span style="letter-spacing: 0.9pt;"> </span>Madge. </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 105%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 37.0pt; margin-right: 24.7pt; margin-top: 5.25pt; margin: 5.25pt 24.7pt 0in 37pt; text-indent: 17.15pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">“I was a graduate student in psychology when
I first<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>took empowerment training. I gained enough confidence<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>to change
course and become an urban planner. I listened and heard an inner voice. For me, helping people<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>meant planning better places for them to work. I believe<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>there’s a social destiny embodied in every building. Office<span style="letter-spacing: -2.85pt;"> </span>buildings should respond to more than a corporation’s<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>image<span style="letter-spacing: 0.35pt;"> </span>or<span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;"> </span>physical<span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;"> </span>needs.”</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 105%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 37.0pt; margin-right: 24.7pt; margin-top: 4.35pt; margin: 4.35pt 24.7pt 0in 37pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 17.15pt;"><i><span style="color: #000009; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 105%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">If<span style="letter-spacing: 1.2pt;"> </span>the<span style="letter-spacing: 1.25pt;"> </span>trouble<span style="letter-spacing: 1.25pt;"> </span>was<span style="letter-spacing: 1.25pt;"> </span>all<span style="letter-spacing: 1.25pt;"> </span>within,<span style="letter-spacing: 1.25pt;">
</span>why<span style="letter-spacing: 1.2pt;"> </span>are<span style="letter-spacing: 1.25pt;"> </span>things<span style="letter-spacing: 1.25pt;"> </span>so<span style="letter-spacing: 1.25pt;"> </span>bad<span style="letter-spacing: 1.25pt;"> </span>on<span style="letter-spacing: -2.9pt;"> </span>the<span style="letter-spacing: 1.2pt;"> </span>outside</span></i><span style="color: #000009; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 105%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">,<span style="letter-spacing: 1.25pt;"> </span>Madge thought<span style="letter-spacing: 1.25pt;"> </span>but<span style="letter-spacing: 1.25pt;"> </span>only<span style="letter-spacing: 1.25pt;"> </span>nodded;<span style="letter-spacing: 1.25pt;"> </span>glad<span style="letter-spacing: 1.2pt;"> </span>when<span style="letter-spacing: -2.85pt;"> </span>a<span style="letter-spacing: 2.35pt;"> </span>purposeful<span style="letter-spacing: 2.4pt;"> </span>man<span style="letter-spacing: 2.35pt;"> </span>approached<span style="letter-spacing: 2.4pt;"> </span>the<span style="letter-spacing: 2.35pt;"> </span>reception<span style="letter-spacing: 2.4pt;"> </span>desk.<span style="letter-spacing: 2.35pt;"> </span>“Are<span style="letter-spacing: -2.85pt;"> </span>you<span style="letter-spacing: 0.3pt;"> </span>looking<span style="letter-spacing: 0.35pt;"> </span>for<span style="letter-spacing: 0.35pt;"> </span>Paradise<span style="letter-spacing: 0.35pt;"> </span>Gardens?”she<span style="letter-spacing: 0.35pt;"> </span>inquired<span style="letter-spacing: 0.35pt;"> </span>brightly.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 105%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 50.5pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 4.65pt; margin: 4.65pt 0in 0in 50.5pt; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="color: #000009;">“Exactly,”<span style="letter-spacing: 0.55pt;"> </span>said<span style="letter-spacing: 0.6pt;"> </span>the<span style="letter-spacing: 0.55pt;"> </span>man.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 50.5pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 5.25pt; margin: 5.25pt 0in 0in 50.5pt; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="color: #000009;">“I’m<span style="letter-spacing: 0.7pt;"> </span>Madge<span style="letter-spacing: 0.7pt;"> </span>Chilton,<span style="letter-spacing: 0.7pt;"> </span>this<span style="letter-spacing: 0.75pt;"> </span>is<span style="letter-spacing: 0.7pt;"> </span>Nate…”</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 105%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 37.0pt; margin-right: 24.7pt; margin-top: 5.25pt; margin: 5.25pt 24.7pt 0in 37pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">“Michael!”<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>Nate<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>interjected.<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>“You<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>are<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>the<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>first<span style="letter-spacing: 3pt;"> </span>to<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>arrive.<span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;"> </span>Michael<span style="letter-spacing: 0.45pt;"> </span>Thorpe<span style="letter-spacing: 0.45pt;"> </span>is<span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;"> </span>a<span style="letter-spacing: 0.45pt;"> </span>solo<span style="letter-spacing: 0.45pt;"> </span>entrepreneur.”</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="margin-left: 50.5pt; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="color: #000009;">“Lone<span style="letter-spacing: 0.75pt;"> </span>wolf<span style="letter-spacing: 0.8pt;"> </span>in<span style="letter-spacing: 0.75pt;"> </span>this<span style="letter-spacing: 0.8pt;"> </span>group,”<span style="letter-spacing: 0.8pt;"> </span>said<span style="letter-spacing: 0.75pt;"> </span>Michael.</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 105%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 37.0pt; margin-right: 24.75pt; margin-top: 5.25pt; margin: 5.25pt 24.75pt 0in 37pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">“Many of us started that way. Madge is my PR person<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>and<span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;"> </span>a<span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;"> </span>complete<span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;"> </span>joy<span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;"> </span>to<span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;"> </span>work<span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;"> </span>with.”</span></p></div><div class="WordSection9" style="color: #1c1e21; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; white-space: pre-wrap;">
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 105%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 37.0pt; margin-right: 24.75pt; margin-top: 5.0pt; margin: 5pt 24.75pt 0in 37pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">“Can she say that about you?” asked Michael, with a<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>wink<span style="letter-spacing: 2.25pt;"> </span>to<span style="letter-spacing: 2.25pt;"> </span>Madge.<span style="letter-spacing: 2.3pt;">
</span>“Nate<span style="letter-spacing: 2.25pt;"> </span>does<span style="letter-spacing: 2.3pt;"> </span>pontificate.<span style="letter-spacing: 2.25pt;"> </span>I<span style="letter-spacing: 2.3pt;"> </span>can’t<span style="letter-spacing: 2.25pt;"> </span>believe<span style="letter-spacing: -2.85pt;">
</span>I’m voluntarily subjecting myself, except he’s got a track<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>record<span style="letter-spacing: 0.35pt;"> </span>for<span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;"> </span>being<span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;"> </span>prescient.”</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 105%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 37.0pt; margin-right: 24.7pt; margin-top: 4.45pt; margin: 4.45pt 24.7pt 0in 37pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;"><i><span style="color: #000009; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 105%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Charming</span></i><span style="color: #000009; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 105%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">,<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>Madge<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>observed<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span><i>and<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>handsome but<span style="letter-spacing: 3pt;"> </span>I’ve<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>never heard of the guy</i>. She must have written pieces on or<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>for every major player and organization, even connected<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>entrepreneurs.<span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;"> </span>This<span style="letter-spacing: 0.45pt;"> </span>guy<span style="letter-spacing: 0.45pt;"> </span>was<span style="letter-spacing: 0.45pt;"> </span>below<span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;"> </span>the<span style="letter-spacing: 0.45pt;"> </span>radar.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 105%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 105%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 37.0pt; margin-right: 24.7pt; margin-top: 4.4pt; margin: 4.4pt 24.7pt 0in 37pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">“We’ll go up,” said Nate, ushering Michael toward the<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>elevators.<span style="letter-spacing: 0.5pt;"> </span>“Madge<span style="letter-spacing: 0.55pt;"> </span>has<span style="letter-spacing: 0.5pt;"> </span>to<span style="letter-spacing: 0.55pt;"> </span>see<span style="letter-spacing: 0.55pt;"> </span>a<span style="letter-spacing: 0.5pt;"> </span>man<span style="letter-spacing: 0.55pt;"> </span>about<span style="letter-spacing: 0.55pt;"> </span>a<span style="letter-spacing: 0.5pt;"> </span>sign.”</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 105%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 37.0pt; margin-right: 24.7pt; margin-top: 4.5pt; margin: 4.5pt 24.7pt 0in 37pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">Madge watched them enter the elevator, wondering<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>about<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>the<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>strange<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;">
</span>connection,<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>as<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>a<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>largely<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>built<span style="letter-spacing: 3pt;"> </span>well-<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>suited executive with a flushed face was
upon her. “Para-<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>dise<span style="letter-spacing: 0.45pt;"> </span>Gardens,<span style="letter-spacing: 0.6px;"> </span>Do<span style="letter-spacing: 0.45pt;"> </span>you<span style="letter-spacing: 0.45pt;"> </span>know<span style="letter-spacing: 0.45pt;"> </span>where<span style="letter-spacing: 0.45pt;"> </span>it<span style="letter-spacing: 0.45pt;"> </span>is?”</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="margin-left: 50.5pt; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="color: #000009;">“Empire<span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;"> </span>Room,<span style="letter-spacing: 0.45pt;"> </span>Nate’s<span style="letter-spacing: 0.45pt;"> </span>there.”</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 105%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 37.0pt; margin-right: 24.95pt; margin-top: 5.25pt; margin: 5.25pt 24.95pt 0in 37pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">He extended his hand. “Jack Hagley, EMI Corpora-<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>tion.”</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="margin-left: 50.5pt; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="color: #000009;">“Madge,”<span style="letter-spacing: 0.7pt;"> </span>she<span style="letter-spacing: 0.7pt;"> </span>said,<span style="letter-spacing: 0.75pt;"> </span>briefly<span style="letter-spacing: 0.7pt;"> </span>taking<span style="letter-spacing: 0.7pt;"> </span>it.<span style="letter-spacing: 0.75pt;"> </span>“Side<span style="letter-spacing: 0.7pt;"> </span>elevator.”</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 105%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 37.0pt; margin-right: 24.65pt; margin-top: 5.25pt; margin: 5.25pt 24.65pt 0in 37pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">She pointed her finger in the right direction thinking,<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>EMI, a significant player. Hagley has a
tailor on salary<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>somewhere. Perhaps Nate had met him while pushing<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>Empowerment?
The program was big bucks in the inspiration business during the first downsizings in the 20th<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>century.<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>An<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>HR<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>darling,<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>Counseling<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>was<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>more<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>cost-<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>effective
than retraining employees or retooling factories.<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>When<span style="letter-spacing: 0.8pt;"> </span>the<span style="letter-spacing: 0.85pt;"> </span>individual<span style="letter-spacing: 0.8pt;"> </span>felt<span style="letter-spacing: 0.85pt;"> </span>entirely<span style="letter-spacing: 0.85pt;"> </span>responsible<span style="letter-spacing: 0.8pt;"> </span>for<span style="letter-spacing: 0.85pt;"> </span>his<span style="letter-spacing: 0.85pt;"> </span>fate,<span style="letter-spacing: -2.9pt;"> </span>a<span style="letter-spacing: 0.65pt;"> </span>dead-end life<span style="letter-spacing: 0.7pt;"> </span>was<span style="letter-spacing: 0.7pt;"> </span>obviously<span style="letter-spacing: 0.7pt;"> </span>a<span style="letter-spacing: 0.7pt;"> </span>failure<span style="letter-spacing: 0.7pt;"> </span>of<span style="letter-spacing: 0.7pt;"> </span>motivation</span></p></div><div class="WordSection10" style="color: #1c1e21; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; white-space: pre-wrap;">
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 105%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 37.0pt; margin-right: 24.7pt; margin-top: 5.0pt; margin: 5pt 24.7pt 0in 37pt; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="color: #000009;">No longer did employees blame their companies or the government. They blamed themselves. And, if they blamed<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>their stars, astrological counselors abounded. The beginning
of our end of the end, she thought. So many corporations went under, dinosaurs sinking into the swamp.<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>Nate’s<span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;"> </span>invitees<span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;"> </span>were<span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;"> </span>the<span style="letter-spacing: 0.45pt;"> </span>survivors.</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 105%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 37.0pt; margin-right: 24.7pt; margin-top: 4.4pt; margin: 4.4pt 24.7pt 0in 37pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">A man in shabby Sheraton shirt and overalls appeared<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>with<span style="letter-spacing: 0.35pt;"> </span>a<span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;"> </span>tray<span style="letter-spacing: 0.35pt;"> </span>of<span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;"> </span>type.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 105%; margin-right: 24.95pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">“We used to have a display…” he began apologetically.</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 50.5pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 4.5pt; margin: 4.5pt 0in 0in 50.5pt; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="color: #000009;">“The<span style="letter-spacing: 0.6pt;"> </span>type<span style="letter-spacing: 0.6pt;"> </span>fits<span style="letter-spacing: 0.6pt;"> </span>the<span style="letter-spacing: 0.65pt;"> </span>directory?”</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 50.5pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 5.25pt; margin: 5.25pt 0in 0in 50.5pt; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="color: #000009;">“Sure<span style="letter-spacing: 0.65pt;"> </span>but<span style="letter-spacing: 0.7pt;"> </span>it’s<span style="letter-spacing: 0.7pt;"> </span>time-consuming<span style="letter-spacing: 0.65pt;"> </span>to<span style="letter-spacing: 0.7pt;"> </span>make<span style="letter-spacing: 0.7pt;"> </span>words.”</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 105%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 37.0pt; margin-right: 24.65pt; margin-top: 5.25pt; margin: 5.25pt 24.65pt 0in 37pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">“A very hands-on proposition,” Madge agreed, soon<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>realizing he was unable to spell with the
available letters.<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>She arranged the type on his trays, thinking of Scrabble.<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>On<span style="letter-spacing: 0.5pt;"> </span>this<span style="letter-spacing: 0.55pt;"> </span>job<span style="letter-spacing: 0.55pt;"> </span>she<span style="letter-spacing: 0.5pt;"> </span>was<span style="letter-spacing: 0.55pt;"> </span>certainly earning<span style="letter-spacing: 0.55pt;"> </span>her<span style="letter-spacing: 0.5pt;"> </span>fee.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 105%; margin-right: 24.65pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">At last, she was on her way back to the Empire Room<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>with a group of executives, lightly
pitching Paradise Gardens. The men needed little convincing. They knew the<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>world
would not be a better place to live, at least in their<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>lifetimes.<span style="letter-spacing: 1.35pt;"> </span>Even<span style="letter-spacing: 1.4pt;"> </span>she<span style="letter-spacing: 1.4pt;"> </span>was<span style="letter-spacing: 1.4pt;"> </span>becoming<span style="letter-spacing: 1.4pt;">
</span>convinced,<span style="letter-spacing: 1.4pt;"> </span>wondering <span style="letter-spacing: -2.85pt;"> </span>if Nate could get her a job. Then she got hold of herself.<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span><i>As<span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;"> </span>long<span style="letter-spacing: 0.45pt;"> </span>as<span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;"> </span>I<span style="letter-spacing: 0.45pt;"> </span>can<span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;"> </span>pay<span style="letter-spacing: 0.45pt;"> </span>my<span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;"> </span>co-op’s<span style="letter-spacing: 0.45pt;"> </span>security<span style="letter-spacing: 0.533333px;"> </span>fee.</i></span><i><o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 105%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 37.0pt; margin-right: 24.85pt; margin-top: 4.6pt; margin: 4.6pt 24.85pt 0in 37pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">Outside the Empire Room, Nate signed in the new<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>guests.</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 133%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 50.5pt; margin-right: 24.7pt; margin-top: 4.45pt; margin: 4.45pt 24.7pt 0in 50.5pt; text-indent: 3.15pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">“What about the power point?” Madge whispered.<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 133%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 50.5pt; margin-right: 24.7pt; margin-top: 4.45pt; margin: 4.45pt 24.7pt 0in 50.5pt; text-indent: 3.15pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">“Functional,”<span style="letter-spacing: 1.8pt;"> </span>Nate<span style="letter-spacing: 1.85pt;"> </span>grimaced.<span style="letter-spacing: 1.85pt;"> </span>“Wait<span style="letter-spacing: 1.85pt;">
</span>five<span style="letter-spacing: 1.85pt;"> </span>minutes<span style="letter-spacing: 1.8pt;"> </span>for </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 0in;">stragglers.”</span></p></div><div class="WordSection11" style="color: #1c1e21; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; white-space: pre-wrap;"><p align="left" class="MsoBodyText" style="margin-top: 5pt; text-indent: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 105%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 37.0pt; margin-right: 24.65pt; margin-top: 5.25pt; margin: 5.25pt 24.65pt 0in 37pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">Madge compared the sign-in sheets to her RSVP list.<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>Here were familiar names of CEOs. All men, in fact, all<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>white<span style="letter-spacing: 2.85pt;"> </span>men<span style="letter-spacing: 2.85pt;"> </span>with<span style="letter-spacing: 2.85pt;"> </span>the<span style="letter-spacing: 2.85pt;"> </span>exception<span style="letter-spacing: 2.85pt;"> </span>of<span style="letter-spacing: 2.85pt;"> </span>two<span style="letter-spacing: 2.85pt;"> </span>Asians<span style="letter-spacing: 2.85pt;">
</span>and<span style="letter-spacing: 2.85pt;"> </span>one <span style="letter-spacing: -2.85pt;"> </span>Hispanic.<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>Where<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>were<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>the<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>women<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>who<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>once<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>assumed themselves<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>equivalent<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>to<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>such<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>men?<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>Self-employed? If<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>fortunate that meant </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem;">a government check. Now</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem;">there</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem;">were</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem;">no</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem;">checks;</span></p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 105%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 37.0pt; margin-right: 24.65pt; margin-top: 4.4pt; margin: 4.4pt 24.65pt 0in 37pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">not<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>even<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>heating fuel<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>for<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>those Unconnected<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>to<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>any<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>corporate<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>entity.<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;">
</span>Some<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>were<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>des<span style="letter-spacing: -2.85pt;"> </span>perate enough to burn their homes around them. <i>Nate<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>better have ordered my limo</i>, Madge thought with a jolt of<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>paranoia. She didn’t feel like picking her way through the<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;">
</span>Midtown<span style="letter-spacing: 1.8pt;"> </span>bonfires.<span style="letter-spacing: 1.8pt;"> </span>Her<span style="letter-spacing: 1.85pt;"> </span>co-op<span style="letter-spacing: 1.8pt;"> </span>was<span style="letter-spacing: 1.85pt;"> </span>a<span style="letter-spacing: 1.8pt;"> </span>safe<span style="letter-spacing: 1.85pt;"> </span>haven<span style="letter-spacing: 1.8pt;"> </span>but<span style="letter-spacing: 1.85pt;"> </span>she <span style="letter-spacing: -2.9pt;"> </span>had<span style="letter-spacing: 0.35pt;"> </span>to<span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;"> </span>get<span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;"> </span>there.<span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;"> </span>Not<span style="letter-spacing: 0.35pt;"> </span>yet.</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 105%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 37.0pt; margin-right: 24.65pt; margin-top: 4.35pt; margin: 4.35pt 24.65pt 0in 37pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">Softly,<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>Madge<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>let<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>herself<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>into<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>the<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>darkened<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;">
</span>Empire<span style="letter-spacing: -2.85pt;"> </span>Room. On the wall panel was an overhead view of a suburban
shopping center. It zoomed down inside to a surgery<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>center<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>and<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>its<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>crowded<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;">
</span>emergency<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>room.<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>People<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>tightly held paper slips. An anxious woman clung to hers.<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>Repeatedly,<span style="letter-spacing: 1.75pt;"> </span>she<span style="letter-spacing: 1.8pt;"> </span>asked<span style="letter-spacing: 1.75pt;"> </span>what<span style="letter-spacing: 1.8pt;"> </span>number had<span style="letter-spacing: 1.8pt;"> </span>been<span style="letter-spacing: 1.75pt;"> </span>called, as<span style="letter-spacing: -2.9pt;"> </span>she<span style="letter-spacing: 1.55pt;"> </span>comforted<span style="letter-spacing: 1.55pt;"> </span>a<span style="letter-spacing: 1.6pt;"> </span>sick<span style="letter-spacing: 1.55pt;"> </span>child.<span style="letter-spacing: 1.55pt;"> </span>Suddenly,<span style="letter-spacing: 1.55pt;"> </span>that<span style="letter-spacing: 1.6pt;"> </span>image<span style="letter-spacing: 1.55pt;"> </span>cut<span style="letter-spacing: 1.55pt;"> </span>to<span style="letter-spacing: -2.85pt;"> </span>a<span style="letter-spacing: 0.95pt;"> </span>miraculously<span style="letter-spacing: 0.95pt;"> </span>pristine<span style="letter-spacing: 1.26667px;"> </span>Fifth<span style="letter-spacing: 1pt;"> </span>Avenue;<span style="letter-spacing: 0.95pt;"> </span>completely<span style="letter-spacing: 0.95pt;"> </span>empty.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 105%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 37.0pt; margin-right: 24.7pt; margin-top: 4.35pt; margin: 4.35pt 24.7pt 0in 37pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">“Where<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>are<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>the<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>people?”<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>asked<span style="letter-spacing: 3pt;"> </span>a<span style="letter-spacing: 3pt;"> </span>resonant<span style="letter-spacing: 3pt;">
</span>voice<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>Madge<span style="letter-spacing: 0.3pt;"> </span>recognized as<span style="letter-spacing: 0.3pt;"> </span>Michael<span style="letter-spacing: 0.3pt;"> </span>Thorpe’s.<span style="letter-spacing: 0.3pt;">
</span>“On<span style="letter-spacing: 0.3pt;"> </span>the<span style="letter-spacing: 0.3pt;"> </span>business </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 0in;">estates of Paradise Gardens,” Nate answered. “At lunch</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 0.05pt; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 0in;">hour you’ll see inspired employees walking </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 0in;">this avenue.”</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 0.05pt; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 0in;">Behind</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 0.05pt; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 0in;">him</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 0.05pt; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 0in;">was</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 0.05pt; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 0in;">an</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 0.05pt; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 0in;">artist’s</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 0.05pt; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 0in;">rendering </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 0in;">of</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 0.05pt; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 0in;">immaculately</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: -2.85pt; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 0in;">attractive</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 0.85pt; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 0in;">people</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 0.85pt; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 0in;">cheerfully</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 0.85pt; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 0in;">strolling on</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 0.85pt; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 0in;">Fifth</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 0.85pt; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 0in;">Avenue.</span></p></div><div class="WordSection12" style="color: #1c1e21; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; white-space: pre-wrap;"><p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 105%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 37.0pt; margin-right: 24.65pt; margin-top: 5.0pt; margin: 5pt 24.65pt 0in 37pt; text-indent: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 105%; margin-right: 24.65pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">Sequence<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>three<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>was<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>a<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>simulation<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>of<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>Central<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>Park<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>underground.<span style="letter-spacing: 2.4pt;"> </span>“The<span style="letter-spacing: 2.45pt;"> </span>way<span style="letter-spacing: 2.4pt;"> </span>our<span style="letter-spacing: 2.45pt;"> </span>founding<span style="letter-spacing: 2.45pt;"> </span>fathers<span style="letter-spacing: 2.4pt;">
</span>intended<span style="letter-spacing: -2.85pt;"> </span>it,” Nate intoned, “a luscious panorama of hedges, trees<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>and<span style="letter-spacing: 1.55pt;"> </span>lawns. The<span style="letter-spacing: 1.6pt;"> </span>air<span style="letter-spacing: 1.55pt;"> </span>is<span style="letter-spacing: 1.6pt;"> </span>so<span style="letter-spacing: 1.6pt;"> </span>clear<span style="letter-spacing: 1.55pt;"> </span>you<span style="letter-spacing: 1.6pt;"> </span>can<span style="letter-spacing: 1.6pt;"> </span>make<span style="letter-spacing: 1.55pt;"> </span>out<span style="letter-spacing: 1.6pt;"> </span>shapes<span style="letter-spacing: -2.9pt;"> </span>of individual trees.” Close-up was a pond transparent to<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>the bottom with
sparkling clean water. “Our architects<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>have created a dream come true. Paradise lost is regained,<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>but commitment is crucial. Major construction will be<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>complete in ten years. You may think we’re
rushing but<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>the surface will not be able to support life even in our<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>reduced<span style="letter-spacing: 0.35pt;"> </span>state.”</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 105%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 37.0pt; margin-right: 24.65pt; margin-top: 4.3pt; margin: 4.3pt 24.65pt 0in 37pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">Nate turned on the lights and motioned Madge to the<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>lectern.<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;">
</span>“Employees<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>prefer<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>one<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>fixed<span style="letter-spacing: 3pt;"> </span>payroll deduction<span style="letter-spacing: -2.9pt;"> </span>for housing over
the rollercoaster speculation of market<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>and interest rates,” she began pragmatically. “Ownership<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>of an equivalent unit in Paradise Gardens is a desirable<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>swap. Paradise Gardens is a living
situation you control<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>but<span style="letter-spacing: 0.45pt;"> </span>you<span style="letter-spacing: 0.45pt;"> </span>must<span style="letter-spacing: 0.45pt;"> </span>make<span style="letter-spacing: 0.45pt;"> </span>commitment<span style="letter-spacing: 0.45pt;"> </span>a<span style="letter-spacing: 0.45pt;"> </span>priority.”</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 105%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 37.0pt; margin-right: 24.65pt; margin-top: 4.4pt; margin: 4.4pt 24.65pt 0in 37pt;"><i><span style="color: #000009;">Am<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>I<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>communicating</span></i><span style="color: #000009;">,<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>she<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>wondered, staring<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>into<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>expressionless<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>faces.<span style="letter-spacing: 3pt;"> </span>Only<span style="letter-spacing: 3pt;"> </span>Thorpe<span style="letter-spacing: 3pt;"> </span>looked<span style="letter-spacing: 3pt;"> </span>something and<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>that<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>was<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>hostility.<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>She<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>expected<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> s</span>kepticism,<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>which came from a young Asian man. Perhaps Indonesian or Japanese, she guessed. “Isn’t an underground city<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>extreme?<span style="letter-spacing: 1.45pt;"> </span>Aren’t<span style="letter-spacing: 1.5pt;">
</span>you<span style="letter-spacing: 1.45pt;"> </span>exaggerating<span style="letter-spacing: 1.5pt;"> </span>the<span style="letter-spacing: 1.5pt;"> </span>demise<span style="letter-spacing: 1.45pt;"> </span>of<span style="letter-spacing: 1.5pt;"> </span>the<span style="letter-spacing: 1.5pt;"> </span>sur</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 0in;">face?” he asked. She had a scripted answer but Thorpe</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 0.05pt; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 0in;">didn’t</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 0.3pt; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 0in;">wait.</span></p></div><div class="WordSection13" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; white-space: pre-wrap;"><p class="MsoBodyText" style="color: #1c1e21; line-height: 105%; margin: 5pt 24.65pt 0.0001pt 37pt; text-indent: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="color: #1c1e21; line-height: 105%; margin-right: 24.65pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">“Everyone<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>acknowledges<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>that<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>life<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>on<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>the<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>surface is<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>doomed<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>but<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>how<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>can<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>cities<span style="letter-spacing: 3pt;"> </span>underground<span style="letter-spacing: 3pt;"> </span>coexist<span style="letter-spacing: 3pt;"> </span>with<span style="letter-spacing: -2.85pt;"> </span>the<span style="letter-spacing: 2.2pt;"> </span>earth’s<span style="letter-spacing: 2.25pt;"> </span>magnetic core?<span style="letter-spacing: 2.1pt;"> </span>We’re<span style="letter-spacing: 2.25pt;"> </span>talking about<span style="letter-spacing: 2.2pt;"> </span>an<span style="letter-spacing: 2.25pt;"> </span>iron core with magnetic fields that reverse. How do you make<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>that habitable?” Then, addressing the Asian man, “Do we<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>need to discuss the
obvious; unbreathable air, undrink<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>able<span style="letter-spacing: 0.55pt;"> </span>water,<span style="letter-spacing: 0.55pt;"> </span>lethal<span style="letter-spacing: 0.6pt;"> </span>untreatable<span style="letter-spacing: 0.55pt;"> </span>viruses<span style="letter-spacing: 0.55pt;"> </span>and<span style="letter-spacing: 0.6pt;"> </span>flus?”</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="color: #1c1e21; line-height: 105%; margin: 4.4pt 24.65pt 0.0001pt 37pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">“Your government hasn’t the will and mine can’t act<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>alone,”<span style="letter-spacing: 0.35pt;">
</span>said<span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;"> </span>the<span style="letter-spacing: 0.35pt;"> </span>man. </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem;">“We have no control over city governments and the</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem;">Old</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem;">Fed,</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem;">whether </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem;">the<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>government’s<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>garrisoned<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>themselves<span style="letter-spacing: 2.8pt;"> </span>or<span style="letter-spacing: 2.85pt;"> </span>not,”<span style="letter-spacing: 2.8pt;"> </span>said<span style="letter-spacing: 2.85pt;"> </span>Nate<span style="letter-spacing: 2.8pt;"> </span>from<span style="letter-spacing: 2.85pt;"> </span>his<span style="letter-spacing: 2.8pt;"> </span>seat,<span style="letter-spacing: 2.85pt;"> </span>eliciting<span style="letter-spacing: 2.8pt;"> </span>some<span style="letter-spacing: -2.85pt;"> </span>laughs.</span><span style="color: #1c1e21; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem;"> </span></p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 105%; margin: 4.5pt 24.75pt 0.0001pt 37pt;"><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 19.8pt;">"Abdicated </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 19.8pt;">their</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 0.05pt; text-indent: 19.8pt;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 19.8pt;">authority,”</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 0.05pt; text-indent: 19.8pt;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 19.8pt;">said</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 0.05pt; text-indent: 19.8pt;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 19.8pt;">the</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 0.05pt; text-indent: 19.8pt;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 19.8pt;">man.</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 0.05pt; text-indent: 19.8pt;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 19.8pt;">“Why</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 0.05pt; text-indent: 19.8pt;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 19.8pt;">should my company have to pay off your</span></p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="color: #1c1e21; line-height: 105%; margin: 4.4pt 24.7pt 0.0001pt 37pt; text-indent: 19.8pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">local drug war-<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>lords?”</span><o:p></o:p></p><span style="color: #1c1e21;">
</span><p class="MsoBodyText" style="color: #1c1e21; line-height: 105%; margin: 4.5pt 24.65pt 0.0001pt 37pt; text-indent: 16.8pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">“A living situation you control is not an idle slogan,”<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>said Madge soothingly.
“We’re talking about business as<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>government.<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>That’s<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>what<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>you<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>purchase.<span style="letter-spacing: 3pt;"> </span>And<span style="letter-spacing: 3pt;"> </span>Michael,<span style="letter-spacing: -2.85pt;"> </span>our engineers have more than a vision.
You can see the<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>prospectus.”</span><o:p></o:p></p><span style="color: #1c1e21;">
</span><p class="MsoBodyText" style="color: #1c1e21; line-height: 105%; margin: 4.4pt 24.75pt 0.0001pt 37pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">Now<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>the<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>man<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>looked<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>enthusiastic.<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>“My<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>country<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>is<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>working<span style="letter-spacing: 0.75pt;"> </span>on<span style="letter-spacing: 0.75pt;"> </span>a<span style="letter-spacing: 0.75pt;"> </span>bubble<span style="letter-spacing: 0.75pt;"> </span>over<span style="letter-spacing: 0.8pt;"> </span>our<span style="letter-spacing: 0.75pt;"> </span>islands.<span style="letter-spacing: 0.75pt;"> </span>Isn’t<span style="letter-spacing: 0.75pt;"> </span>this<span style="letter-spacing: 0.75pt;"> </span>similar?”</span></p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="color: #1c1e21; line-height: 105%; margin: 4.4pt 24.75pt 0.0001pt 37pt;"><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 16.9pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="color: #1c1e21; line-height: 105%; margin: 4.4pt 24.75pt 0.0001pt 37pt;"><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 16.9pt;">“The United Business Estates is a Federation </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 16.9pt;">of Cor</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 16.9pt;">porate</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 1.8pt; text-indent: 16.9pt;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 16.9pt;">Businesses.</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 1.85pt; text-indent: 16.9pt;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 16.9pt;">Our</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 1.85pt; text-indent: 16.9pt;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 16.9pt;">motto</span></p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="color: #1c1e21; line-height: 105%; margin: 4.5pt 24.75pt 0.0001pt 37pt; text-indent: 16.9pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">is,<span style="letter-spacing: 1.85pt;"> </span>‘If<span style="letter-spacing: 1.85pt;"> </span>you<span style="letter-spacing: 1.85pt;"> </span>can’t<span style="letter-spacing: 1.85pt;"> </span>leave<span style="letter-spacing: 1.8pt;"> </span>the </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 0in;">city behind, go underground.’ Each business is its own</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 0.05pt; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 0in;">country.</span></p></div><div class="WordSection14" style="color: #1c1e21; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; white-space: pre-wrap;"><p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 105%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 37.0pt; margin-right: 24.7pt; margin-top: 5.0pt; margin: 5pt 24.7pt 0in 37pt; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="color: #000009;">But<span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;"> </span>we<span style="letter-spacing: 0.35pt;"> </span>govern<span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;"> </span>together.”</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 105%; margin-right: 24.7pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">Hagley stood up. “Nate, we expect more than a guarantee<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>we<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>can<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>do<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>business<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;">
</span>underground?<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>We<span style="letter-spacing: 3pt;"> </span>want<span style="letter-spacing: 3pt;"> </span>to<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>know why your plan is the best option for
our organizations and our markets.” </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem;">Hagley sat awash in clapping, as</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem;">the</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 0.7pt;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem;">anxious</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 0.7pt;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem;">men</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 0.7pt;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem;">proclaimed </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem;">him</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 0.7pt;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem;">their</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 0.7pt;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem;">spokesman.</span></p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 105%; margin-right: 24.7pt;"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 105%; margin-right: 24.65pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">Nate<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>exchanged<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>places<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>with<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>Madge<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>at<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>the<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>podium.<span style="letter-spacing: -2.85pt;"> </span>“You’ve protected<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>your<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>own<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>property<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>and<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>employees.<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>You’ve even accepted gang members into your security<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>forces.<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>But<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>you<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>are<span style="letter-spacing: 3pt;"> </span>still<span style="letter-spacing: 3pt;"> </span>hostage to<span style="letter-spacing: 3pt;"> </span>the<span style="letter-spacing: 3pt;"> </span>surface.<span style="letter-spacing: 3pt;"> </span>What<span style="letter-spacing: -2.85pt;"> </span>are your markets but employees and allied companies?<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>Resources<span style="letter-spacing: 2.35pt;"> </span>are<span style="letter-spacing: 2.4pt;"> </span>precious<span style="letter-spacing: 2.4pt;"> </span>and<span style="letter-spacing: 2.35pt;"> </span>hard<span style="letter-spacing: 2.4pt;"> </span>to<span style="letter-spacing: 2.4pt;"> </span>transport.<span style="letter-spacing: 2.2pt;"> </span>You<span style="letter-spacing: 2.4pt;"> </span>can<span style="letter-spacing: -2.9pt;"> </span>call<span style="letter-spacing: 1.8pt;"> </span>this<span style="letter-spacing: 1.8pt;"> </span>a<span style="letter-spacing: 1.8pt;"> </span>cyclical<span style="letter-spacing: 1.8pt;"> </span>problem, say<span style="letter-spacing: 1.8pt;"> </span>that<span style="letter-spacing: 1.8pt;"> </span>renewal is<span style="letter-spacing: 1.8pt;"> </span>coming.<span style="letter-spacing: -2.85pt;"> </span>But the truth is you’ll eventually be polluted from within<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>or<span style="letter-spacing: 0.35pt;"> </span>overrun.”</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 105%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 37.0pt; margin-right: 24.65pt; margin-top: 4.35pt; margin: 4.35pt 24.65pt 0in 37pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;"><span style="color: #000009; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 105%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">This<span style="letter-spacing: 2.4pt;"> </span>was<span style="letter-spacing: 2.4pt;"> </span>Nate’s<span style="letter-spacing: 2.4pt;"> </span>story<span style="letter-spacing: 2.4pt;"> </span>to<span style="letter-spacing: 2.4pt;"> </span>sell,<span style="letter-spacing: 2.45pt;"> </span>Madge<span style="letter-spacing: 2.4pt;"> </span>reminded<span style="letter-spacing: 2.4pt;"> </span>her-<span style="letter-spacing: -2.9pt;"> </span>self.<span style="letter-spacing: 1.5pt;"> </span>He<span style="letter-spacing: 1.55pt;"> </span>was<span style="letter-spacing: 1.55pt;"> </span>at<span style="letter-spacing: 1.5pt;"> </span>the<span style="letter-spacing: 1.55pt;"> </span>podium.<span style="letter-spacing: 1.55pt;">
</span>Her<span style="letter-spacing: 1.5pt;"> </span>job<span style="letter-spacing: 1.55pt;"> </span>was<span style="letter-spacing: 1.55pt;"> </span>to<span style="letter-spacing: 1.5pt;"> </span>pitch<span style="letter-spacing: 1.55pt;"> </span>facts.<span style="letter-spacing: -2.9pt;"> </span>She<span style="letter-spacing: 2.7pt;"> </span>was<span style="letter-spacing: 2.7pt;"> </span>doing<span style="letter-spacing: 2.7pt;"> </span>everything<span style="letter-spacing: 2.7pt;"> </span>within<span style="letter-spacing: 2.7pt;"> </span>her<span style="letter-spacing: 2.7pt;"> </span>persuasive<span style="letter-spacing: 2.7pt;"> </span>power<span style="letter-spacing: -2.9pt;"> </span>but success was not her responsibility. . <i>Keep your
professional distance. All hail competency and collecting my fee</i>,<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>Madge<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>thought,<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;">
</span>though<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>she<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>was<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>willing<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>these<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>men<span style="letter-spacing: 3pt;"> </span>to<span style="letter-spacing: -2.85pt;"> </span>share<span style="letter-spacing: 0.35pt;"> </span>Nate’s<span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;"> </span>profound<span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;"> </span>gamble.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 105%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 105%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 37.0pt; margin-right: 24.7pt; margin-top: 4.4pt; margin: 4.4pt 24.7pt 0in 37pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">Truth was, Madge couldn’t do a job without emotional involvement. She had to find an
emotional connection or her pitch wasn’t convincing. Often the process<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>left
her emotionally vulnerable. An artistic approach, one<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>you<span style="letter-spacing: 0.1pt;"> </span>couldn’t<span style="letter-spacing: 0.1pt;"> </span>buy<span style="letter-spacing: 0.1pt;"> </span>just<span style="letter-spacing: 0.1pt;"> </span>anywhere.<span style="letter-spacing: 0.15pt;">
</span>She<span style="letter-spacing: 0.1pt;"> </span>would<span style="letter-spacing: 0.1pt;"> </span>reward<span style="letter-spacing: 0.1pt;"> </span>Nate's </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 0in;">confidence,</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 0.65pt; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 0in;">if</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 0.7pt; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 0in;">it</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 0.7pt; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 0in;">killed</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 0.7pt; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 0in;">her.</span></p></div><div class="WordSection15" style="color: #1c1e21; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; white-space: pre-wrap;"><p class="MsoBodyText" style="margin-top: 5pt; text-indent: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 105%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 37.0pt; margin-right: 24.65pt; margin-top: 5.25pt; margin: 5.25pt 24.65pt 0in 37pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">Thorpe was on his feet. “How are you going to build<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>this underground without collapsing the
surface? If you<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>do, considering its toxicity, we’ll be in worse shape than<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>before.
What about a blistering mass of fast-turning iron<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>for our new sun? How will we live among intense magnetic<span style="letter-spacing: 0.35pt;"> </span>fields?”</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 105%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 37.0pt; margin-right: 24.65pt; margin-top: 4.4pt; margin: 4.4pt 24.65pt 0in 37pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">Nate<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>was<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>the<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>senior<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>authority humoring<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>the<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>young<span style="letter-spacing: -2.85pt;">
</span>challenger. “We’re going as close to the core as possible<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>and our reinforcements will hold and act
as a barrier.<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>There’s risk but consider the plans and personnel. Our<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>team
includes the experts responsible for the cities inside<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>the<span style="letter-spacing: 0.45pt;"> </span>Alps.<span style="letter-spacing: 0.3pt;"> </span>We<span style="letter-spacing: 0.5pt;"> </span>have<span style="letter-spacing: 0.5pt;"> </span>plans<span style="letter-spacing: 0.45pt;"> </span>built<span style="letter-spacing: 0.5pt;"> </span>by<span style="letter-spacing: 0.5pt;"> </span>the<span style="letter-spacing: 0.5pt;"> </span>Swiss<span style="letter-spacing: 0.5pt;"> </span>military.”</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 105%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 37.0pt; margin-right: 24.65pt; margin-top: 4.4pt; margin: 4.4pt 24.65pt 0in 37pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">“Shangri-La,<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>Eldorado!<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>Is<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>Paradise<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>Gardens our<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>last <span style="letter-spacing: -2.85pt;"> </span>escape fantasy? We’ve pursued myth to
the ends of the<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>Earth and now you want to go underground. I had hoped<span style="letter-spacing: -2.85pt;"> </span>for
a reality-based solution,” said Thorpe with palpable<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>disappointment.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 105%; margin-right: 24.9pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">"The solution is drastic but so is our situation. We are<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>not<span style="letter-spacing: 1.1pt;"> </span>a<span style="letter-spacing: 1.1pt;"> </span>responsible<span style="letter-spacing: 1.15pt;"> </span>species.<span style="letter-spacing: 1.1pt;"> </span>Can<span style="letter-spacing: 1.15pt;"> </span>anyone<span style="letter-spacing: 1.1pt;">
</span>think<span style="letter-spacing: 1.15pt;"> </span>otherwise?”</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 105%; margin-right: 24.7pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">A<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>motion<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>from<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>Nate<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>and<span style="letter-spacing: 3pt;"> </span>Madge<span style="letter-spacing: 3pt;"> </span>turned<span style="letter-spacing: 3pt;"> </span>off<span style="letter-spacing: 3pt;"> </span>the<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>lights.<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>The<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>wall<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>panel<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>displayed<span style="letter-spacing: 3pt;"> </span>a<span style="letter-spacing: 3pt;"> </span>dramatic<span style="letter-spacing: 3pt;"> </span>montage;<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;">
</span>fires raged on city corners, gangs occupied abandoned<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>office<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>buildings,<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>turf<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>wars<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>between<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;">
</span>anarchist/nihilist/<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>fascist gangs and the nonideological tribes dedicated to<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>drugs of ecstatic, hallucinogenic and narcotic properties.<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>Sequences finished with familiar sights;:
trashcans burnings,<span style="letter-spacing: 2.8pt;"> </span>swastikas and<span style="letter-spacing: 2.8pt;"> </span>anarchist<span style="letter-spacing: 2.85pt;"> </span>graffiti,<span style="letter-spacing: 2.8pt;"> </span>beggars<span style="letter-spacing: 2.8pt;"> </span>crowding </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 0in;">sidewalks,</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 1.1pt; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 0in;">skylines</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 1.15pt; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 0in;">in</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 1.15pt; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 0in;">flames.</span></p></div><div class="WordSection16" style="color: #1c1e21; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; white-space: pre-wrap;"><p class="MsoBodyText" style="margin-top: 5pt; text-indent: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 105%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 37.0pt; margin-right: 24.65pt; margin-top: 5.25pt; margin: 5.25pt 24.65pt 0in 37pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">“Cities<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>vary,<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>though<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>locales<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>are<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>frighteningly<span style="letter-spacing: 3pt;"> </span>the<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>same,” said Nate. “To build Paradise Gardens we need more than your money, your private security forces and<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>their willing support. We must also enlist the Unconnected<span style="letter-spacing: 1.55pt;"> </span>who<span style="letter-spacing: 1.55pt;"> </span>would<span style="letter-spacing: 1.55pt;"> </span>sabotage us.<span style="letter-spacing: 1.55pt;"> </span>S.O.R.,<span style="letter-spacing: 1.55pt;"> </span>Save<span style="letter-spacing: 1.6pt;"> </span>Our<span style="letter-spacing: 1.55pt;"> </span>Race,<span style="letter-spacing: -2.9pt;">
</span>is the name of a media campaign that will garner support<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>for Paradise Gardens. It’s in the hands of my competent<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>colleague,<span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;"> </span>Madge<span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;"> </span>Chilton.”</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 105%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 37.0pt; margin-right: 24.7pt; margin-top: 4.35pt; margin: 4.35pt 24.7pt 0in 37pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">Madge saw Thorpe at the door. She could not have a<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>walk-out before her pitch. “Michael, won’t
you hear me<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>out?”<span style="letter-spacing: 0.35pt;"> </span>she<span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;"> </span>asked.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 105%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 37.0pt; margin-right: 24.65pt; margin-top: 4.5pt; margin: 4.5pt 24.65pt 0in 37pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">Politely he paused, hand on the door. “Frankly, I don’t<span style="letter-spacing: -2.85pt;"> </span>have<span style="letter-spacing: 1.85pt;">
</span>the<span style="letter-spacing: 1.9pt;"> </span>financial<span style="letter-spacing: 1.9pt;"> </span>resources for<span style="letter-spacing: 1.9pt;"> </span>this<span style="letter-spacing: 1.9pt;"> </span>investment<span style="letter-spacing: 1.9pt;"> </span>or<span style="letter-spacing: 1.9pt;"> </span>faith <span style="letter-spacing: -2.85pt;"> </span>it’s the way to go. I can’t imagine why
I received an invitation.”</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 105%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 37.0pt; margin-right: 24.9pt; margin-top: 4.4pt; margin: 4.4pt 24.9pt 0in 37pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">“You’re in uranium and precious metals,” said Nate, “a<span style="letter-spacing: -2.85pt;"> </span>successful<span style="letter-spacing: 0.35pt;"> </span>entrepreneur.”</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 105%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 37.0pt; margin-right: 24.7pt; margin-top: 4.5pt; margin: 4.5pt 24.7pt 0in 37pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">“Because of my relationships with the surface,” said<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>Thorpe.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 105%; margin-right: 24.65pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">Nate’s tone was respectful. “Your company stockpiles<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>rare but essential commodities. You
acquire them from<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>impoverished<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>nations and<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>sell<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>to<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>the<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>highest bidding<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>corporation.
Increasingly, it must be difficult for you to<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0666667px;"> </span>travel to buy goods and actually receive shipments. Soon<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>your buyers will be underground. If you join Paradise<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>Gardens,<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>we<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>can<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>ensure<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>the<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>survival<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;">
</span>of<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>your<span style="letter-spacing: 3pt;"> </span>business.<span style="letter-spacing: -2.85pt;"> </span>Your<span style="letter-spacing: 1.6pt;"> </span>customer base<span style="letter-spacing: 1.65pt;"> </span>will<span style="letter-spacing: 1.65pt;"> </span>not<span style="letter-spacing: 1.65pt;"> </span>deteriorate<span style="letter-spacing: 1.65pt;"> </span>and<span style="letter-spacing: 1.65pt;"> </span>you’ll<span style="letter-spacing: 1.65pt;"> </span>have protec</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 0in;">tion for your excursions. Eventually, you may even</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 0.05pt; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 0in;">extract </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 0in;">resources</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 1.45pt; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 0in;">from</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 1.45pt; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 0in;">the</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 1.45pt; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 0in;">core</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 1.45pt; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 0in;">itself </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 0in;">and</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 1.45pt; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 0in;">perhaps</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 1.45pt; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 0in;">sell</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 1.45pt; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 0in;">to </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: -2.85pt; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 0in;">the</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 0.35pt; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 0in;">surface.”</span></p></div><div class="WordSection17" style="color: #1c1e21; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; white-space: pre-wrap;"><p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 105%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 37.0pt; margin-right: 24.65pt; margin-top: 5.0pt; margin: 5pt 24.65pt 0in 37pt; text-indent: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 105%; margin-right: 24.65pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">Michael<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>was<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>unconvinced.<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 105%; margin-right: 24.65pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">“Ten<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>years<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>to<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>begin<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>our <span style="letter-spacing: -2.85pt;"> </span>future said Nate in great earnest. Only Paradise Gardens<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>is offering one.” Michael sat in a chair close to the door.<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>Nate<span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;"> </span>nodded<span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;"> </span>and<span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;"> </span>Madge<span style="letter-spacing: 0.45pt;"> </span>began.</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 105%; margin-right: 24.65pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">“We<span style="letter-spacing: 2.75pt;"> </span>preserve<span style="letter-spacing: 2.8pt;"> </span>the<span style="letter-spacing: 2.8pt;"> </span>human<span style="letter-spacing: 2.75pt;"> </span>races<span style="letter-spacing: 2.8pt;"> </span>by<span style="letter-spacing: 2.8pt;"> </span>segregating<span style="letter-spacing: 2.8pt;"> </span>them <span style="letter-spacing: -2.9pt;"> </span>by race.
Enforcing sexual abstinence within each group allows us to create a new Eden. You may ask what about<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>people of mixed race? Are we racist? Think again. The<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>retroviruses<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>are<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>the<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>tip<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>of<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>the<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>iceberg<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>of<span style="letter-spacing: 3pt;"> </span>diseases<span style="letter-spacing: 3pt;"> </span>out<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>there. Most we cannot identify. All we know is that they<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>are environmentally derived. Some are airborne, others<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>passed through sexual contact. They manifest differently<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>in each race,
though no studies have determined long<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>range<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>effects in<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>each<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>gene<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>pool. Without<span style="letter-spacing: 3pt;"> </span>such<span style="letter-spacing: 3pt;"> </span>studies,<span style="letter-spacing: -2.85pt;"> </span>our new society is doomed. The underground will be segregated<span style="letter-spacing: 0.6pt;"> </span>so<span style="letter-spacing: 0.65pt;"> </span>the<span style="letter-spacing: 0.65pt;"> </span>next<span style="letter-spacing: 0.65pt;"> </span>generation<span style="letter-spacing: 0.65pt;"> </span>can<span style="letter-spacing: 0.65pt;"> </span>be<span style="letter-spacing: 0.65pt;"> </span>disease-free.”</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 105%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 37.0pt; margin-right: 24.7pt; margin-top: 4.3pt; margin: 4.3pt 24.7pt 0in 37pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">“If<span style="letter-spacing: 1.55pt;"> </span>I<span style="letter-spacing: 1.6pt;"> </span>understand<span style="letter-spacing: 1.6pt;"> </span>you,”<span style="letter-spacing: 1.6pt;"> </span>said<span style="letter-spacing: 1.6pt;"> </span>Thorpe,<span style="letter-spacing: 1.6pt;">
</span>“racism<span style="letter-spacing: 1.6pt;"> </span>and<span style="letter-spacing: 1.6pt;"> </span>fear<span style="letter-spacing: -2.85pt;"> </span>are<span style="letter-spacing: 0.45pt;"> </span>the<span style="letter-spacing: 0.45pt;"> </span>basis<span style="letter-spacing: 0.45pt;"> </span>for<span style="letter-spacing: 0.45pt;"> </span>your<span style="letter-spacing: 0.5pt;"> </span>underground?”</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 105%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 37.0pt; margin-right: 24.7pt; margin-top: 4.5pt; margin: 4.5pt 24.7pt 0in 37pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">“Fear<span style="letter-spacing: 2.35pt;"> </span>is<span style="letter-spacing: 2.4pt;"> </span>fact.<span style="letter-spacing: 2.25pt;"> </span>We<span style="letter-spacing: 2.35pt;"> </span>offer<span style="letter-spacing: 2.4pt;"> </span>hope.<span style="letter-spacing: 2.4pt;"> </span>No<span style="letter-spacing: 2.4pt;"> </span>place<span style="letter-spacing: 2.35pt;"> </span>or<span style="letter-spacing: 2.4pt;"> </span>person<span style="letter-spacing: 2.4pt;"> </span>is<span style="letter-spacing: -2.9pt;"> </span>safe
now. Like Noah’s Ark, we preserve the best of the<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>Earth’s races. The beneficiaries will be the first generation<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>to<span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;"> </span>come<span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;"> </span>of<span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;"> </span>age<span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;"> </span>in<span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;"> </span>Paradise<span style="letter-spacing: 0.45pt;"> </span>Gardens.”</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 105%; margin-right: 24.7pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">“You<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>are<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>also<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>discriminating<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>in<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>your<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>choice<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>of<span style="letter-spacing: -2.85pt;"> </span>employees. Does God direct your choice?’”
Thorpe added <span style="letter-spacing: -2.85pt;"> </span>sarcastically.</span></p></div><div class="WordSection18" style="color: #1c1e21; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; white-space: pre-wrap;"><p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 105%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 37.0pt; margin-right: 24.7pt; margin-top: 5.0pt; margin: 5pt 24.7pt 0in 37pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">“Anyone can be tested for lethal disease. If they are<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>clean, they can join the underground, If
not accepted,<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>some<span style="letter-spacing: -0.45pt;"> </span>of<span style="letter-spacing: -0.4pt;"> </span>their<span style="letter-spacing: -0.4pt;"> </span>genetic code<span style="letter-spacing: -0.4pt;"> </span>can<span style="letter-spacing: -0.45pt;"> </span>be<span style="letter-spacing: -0.4pt;"> </span>donated.<span style="letter-spacing: -0.55pt;"> </span>We<span style="letter-spacing: -0.45pt;"> </span>are<span style="letter-spacing: -0.4pt;"> </span>offering<span style="letter-spacing: -2.85pt;">
</span>immortality<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>and<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>employment.<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>S.O.R.<span style="letter-spacing: 3pt;"> </span>is<span style="letter-spacing: 3pt;"> </span>a<span style="letter-spacing: 3pt;"> </span>rallying<span style="letter-spacing: 3pt;"> </span>cry<span style="letter-spacing: -2.85pt;"> </span>for
public acceptance of Paradise Gardens. The departing<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>corporations<span style="letter-spacing: 0.65pt;"> </span>offer<span style="letter-spacing: 0.65pt;"> </span>protection<span style="letter-spacing: 0.65pt;"> </span>to<span style="letter-spacing: 0.7pt;"> </span>all<span style="letter-spacing: 0.65pt;"> </span>participants.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 105%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 37.0pt; margin-right: 24.65pt; margin-top: 4.4pt; margin: 4.4pt 24.65pt 0in 37pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">Jack<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>Hagley<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>stood<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>up.<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>“My<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>employees<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>constantly<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>request<span style="letter-spacing: 1.4pt;"> </span>transfers<span style="letter-spacing: 1.4pt;"> </span>to<span style="letter-spacing: 1.4pt;"> </span>safer<span style="letter-spacing: 1.4pt;"> </span>places,<span style="letter-spacing: 1.4pt;">
</span>but<span style="letter-spacing: 1.4pt;"> </span>there’s<span style="letter-spacing: 1.45pt;"> </span>nowhere left<span style="letter-spacing: -2.9pt;"> </span>to<span style="letter-spacing: 0.3pt;"> </span>go.”</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 105%; margin-right: 24.7pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">“Exactly,”<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>Nate<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>quickly followed.<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>“The<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>fed<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>govern<span style="letter-spacing: -2.85pt;"> </span>ment<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>is<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>suffering<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;">
</span>rigor<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>mortis.<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>Local<span style="letter-spacing: 3pt;"> </span>authorities<span style="letter-spacing: 3pt;"> </span>can’t<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>hold<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>communities<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>together.<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>They<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>are<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>barely<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>collecting <span style="letter-spacing: -2.85pt;"> </span>taxes.”</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 105%; margin-right: 24.65pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">“We’ll<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>know<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>they’re dead<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>when<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>that<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>stops!”<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>Jack<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>hoarsely<span style="letter-spacing: 0.35pt;"> </span>chimed-in.</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 105%; margin-right: 24.7pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">“My<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>colleagues<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>talk<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>of<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>building underground,”<span style="letter-spacing: 3pt;"> </span>said<span style="letter-spacing: -2.85pt;"> </span>the<span style="letter-spacing: 0.35pt;"> </span>Asian<span style="letter-spacing: 0.35pt;"> </span>man.</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 105%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 37.0pt; margin-right: 24.7pt; margin-top: 4.5pt; margin: 4.5pt 24.7pt 0in 37pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">“My future will ensure not just your existence but the<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>future<span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;"> </span>health<span style="letter-spacing: 0.45pt;"> </span>of<span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;"> </span>your<span style="letter-spacing: 0.45pt;"> </span>enterprise.”</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 105%; margin-right: 24.7pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">“We are the ark in the storm,” finished Madge. “In<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>your<span style="letter-spacing: 1.9pt;"> </span>press<span style="letter-spacing: 1.9pt;"> </span>kits<span style="letter-spacing: 1.95pt;"> </span>is<span style="letter-spacing: 1.9pt;"> </span>a<span style="letter-spacing: 1.9pt;"> </span>guide<span style="letter-spacing: 1.95pt;"> </span>to<span style="letter-spacing: 1.9pt;"> </span>commitment<span style="letter-spacing: 1.9pt;"> </span>based<span style="letter-spacing: 1.95pt;"> </span>on<span style="letter-spacing: 1.9pt;"> </span>the<span style="letter-spacing: -2.9pt;"> </span>size<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>of<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>your<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>organization.<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>We<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>have<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>included<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;">
</span>a<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>range<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>because<span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;"> </span>diversity<span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;"> </span>is<span style="letter-spacing: 0.45pt;"> </span>our<span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;"> </span>object.”</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 105%; margin-right: 24.65pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">While the audience looked at materials, Madge looked<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>for Nate. He had pulled aside the heavy
drapes and was<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>absently<span style="letter-spacing: 1.95pt;"> </span>gazing out<span style="letter-spacing: 2pt;"> </span>the<span style="letter-spacing: 2pt;"> </span>window.<span style="letter-spacing: 1.95pt;"> </span>They<span style="letter-spacing: 2pt;"> </span>had<span style="letter-spacing: 2pt;"> </span>appealed<span style="letter-spacing: 2pt;"> </span>to<span style="letter-spacing: -2.9pt;"> </span>the<span style="letter-spacing: 1.3pt;"> </span>representatives<span style="letter-spacing: 1.35pt;"> </span>of<span style="letter-spacing: 1.35pt;"> </span>the<span style="letter-spacing: 1.3pt;"> </span>last<span style="letter-spacing: 1.35pt;"> </span>corporations.<span style="letter-spacing: 1.35pt;"> </span>Nate<span style="letter-spacing: 1.35pt;"> </span>needed </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 0in;">their</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 2pt; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 0in;">support:</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 2.05pt; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 0in;">money, </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 0in;">private</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 2.05pt; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 0in;">security,</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 2.05pt; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 0in;">loyalty, </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 0in;">yet</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 2.05pt; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 0in;">each</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: -2.85pt; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 0in;"> rep was concerned with the fate of their </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 0in;">own organiza</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 0in;">tion. He had given them </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 0in;">no hope of survival in the same</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 0.05pt; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 0in;">form,</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 1.9pt; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 0in;">Madge</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 1.9pt; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 0in;">worried.</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 1.9pt; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 0in;">Every</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 1.9pt; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 0in;">organization</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 1.95pt; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 0in;">must</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 1.9pt; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 0in;">become</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: -2.9pt; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 0in;">an</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 0.4pt; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 0in;">estate</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 0.4pt; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 0in;">on</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 0.4pt; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 0in;">Paradise</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 0.45pt; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 0in;">Gardens.</span></p></div><div class="WordSection19" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; white-space: pre-wrap;"><p class="MsoBodyText" style="color: #1c1e21; line-height: 105%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 37.0pt; margin-right: 24.65pt; margin-top: 5.0pt; margin: 5pt 24.65pt 0in 37pt; text-indent: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 105%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 37.0pt; margin-right: 24.75pt; margin-top: 4.4pt; margin: 4.4pt 24.75pt 0in 37pt;"><span style="color: #1c1e21;">Nate</span><span style="color: #000009;"> caught her glance and signaled they should once<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>more exchange places. As she passed, he
smiled and whispered,<span style="letter-spacing: 0.45pt;"> </span>“Thanks<span style="letter-spacing: 0.5pt;"> </span>for<span style="letter-spacing: 0.5pt;"> </span>saving<span style="letter-spacing: 0.5pt;"> </span>Thorpe.<span style="letter-spacing: 0.45pt;"> </span>I<span style="letter-spacing: 0.5pt;"> </span>like<span style="letter-spacing: 0.5pt;"> </span>the<span style="letter-spacing: 0.5pt;"> </span>man…”</span><span style="color: #1c1e21;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="color: #1c1e21; line-height: 105%; margin-right: 24.65pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">Becoming a business estate is like becoming a sovereign country,” Nate began. “The
governing center; the<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>soul of our linked nations, are my psychologicians. More<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;">
</span>about them later. First the preservation of your invaluable<span style="letter-spacing: 0.35pt;"> </span>organizations.</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="color: #1c1e21; line-height: 105%; margin-right: 24.65pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">Trust was the stumbling block, thought Madge. With<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>the<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>public<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>contempt<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;">
</span>of<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>psychology,<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>couldn’t he<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>have<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>found<span style="letter-spacing: 0.35pt;"> </span>a<span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;"> </span>better<span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;"> </span>name?</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="color: #1c1e21; line-height: 105%; margin-right: 24.65pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">“We stress the autonomy of your organizations,” Nate<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>reassured his audience. “The borders of
each estate will<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>approximate<span style="letter-spacing: 1.55pt;"> </span>your<span style="letter-spacing: 1.6pt;"> </span>size<span style="letter-spacing: 1.6pt;"> </span>and<span style="letter-spacing: 1.6pt;"> </span>projected<span style="letter-spacing: 1.55pt;"> </span>growth. You<span style="letter-spacing: 1.6pt;"> </span>reveal<span style="letter-spacing: -2.9pt;"> </span>to us your goals and resources, products and services you<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>have in development. Our common database determines<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>the
workforce necessary to produce your goods and consume<span style="letter-spacing: 2.35pt;"> </span>them.<span style="letter-spacing: 2.35pt;"> </span>Growth with<span style="letter-spacing: 2.4pt;"> </span>consistent<span style="letter-spacing: 2.35pt;"> </span>gains<span style="letter-spacing: 2.35pt;">
</span>over<span style="letter-spacing: 2.35pt;"> </span>time<span style="letter-spacing: 2.4pt;"> </span>is <span style="letter-spacing: -2.9pt;"> </span>the<span style="letter-spacing: 0.35pt;"> </span>result.”</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="color: #1c1e21; line-height: 105%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 37.0pt; margin-right: 24.7pt; margin-top: 4.4pt; margin: 4.4pt 24.7pt 0in 37pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">“Let me get this straight,” Thorpe interrupted, “You<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>will be producing people as a facet of
corporate planning?”</span></p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 105%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 37.0pt; margin-right: 24.7pt; margin-top: 4.4pt; margin: 4.4pt 24.7pt 0in 37pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="color: #1c1e21;">"</span></span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 0in;">We</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 0.8pt; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 0in;">will</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 0.85pt; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 0in;">be</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 0.85pt; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 0in;">safeguarding</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 0.8pt; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 0in;">the</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 0.85pt; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 0in;">marketplace.”</span></p></div><div class="WordSection20" style="color: #1c1e21; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; white-space: pre-wrap;"><p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 105%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 37.0pt; margin-right: 24.65pt; margin-top: 5.0pt; margin: 5pt 24.65pt 0in 37pt;"><span style="color: #000009;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 105%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 37.0pt; margin-right: 24.65pt; margin-top: 5.0pt; margin: 5pt 24.65pt 0in 37pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">“Why do you want my company, when you can make<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>me superfluous? Especially, when you can
produce people<span style="letter-spacing: -2.85pt;"> </span>to<span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;"> </span>satisfy<span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;"> </span>corporate<span style="letter-spacing: 0.45pt;"> </span>needs?”</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 105%; margin-right: 24.65pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">“You’re<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>a<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>risk<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>taker<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>and<span style="letter-spacing: 3pt;"> </span>somewhat<span style="letter-spacing: 3pt;"> </span>unpredictable.<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>Since<span style="letter-spacing: 1.15pt;"> </span>the<span style="letter-spacing: 1.2pt;"> </span>beginning of<span style="letter-spacing: 1.2pt;"> </span>time,<span style="letter-spacing: 1.2pt;"> </span>human<span style="letter-spacing: 1.2pt;"> </span>beings<span style="letter-spacing: 1.2pt;"> </span>have<span style="letter-spacing: 1.15pt;"> </span>desired <span style="letter-spacing: -2.85pt;"> </span>to<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>minimize<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>danger<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>and<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>maximize<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0666667px;"> </span>their<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>physical<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>well-being. We<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>can<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>plan<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>to<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>eliminate<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;">
</span>danger,<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>but<span style="letter-spacing: 3pt;"> </span>we<span style="letter-spacing: 3pt;"> </span>need<span style="letter-spacing: -2.85pt;"> </span>your genes to keep us vital. History will be sprung on us<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>but<span style="letter-spacing: 0.35pt;"> </span>we<span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;"> </span>must<span style="letter-spacing: 0.35pt;"> </span>also<span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;"> </span>plan.”</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 105%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 37.0pt; margin-right: 24.7pt; margin-top: 4.4pt; margin: 4.4pt 24.7pt 0in 37pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">Thorpe got up from his seat with resolve. “Any plan<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>that<span style="letter-spacing: 0.75pt;"> </span>includes<span style="letter-spacing: 0.75pt;"> </span>the<span style="letter-spacing: 0.75pt;"> </span>manufacture<span style="letter-spacing: 0.75pt;"> </span>of<span style="letter-spacing: 0.75pt;"> </span>people<span style="letter-spacing: 0.75pt;"> </span>is<span style="letter-spacing: 0.75pt;"> </span>not<span style="letter-spacing: 0.75pt;"> </span>for<span style="letter-spacing: 0.75pt;"> </span>me.”</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 105%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 37.0pt; margin-right: 24.7pt; margin-top: 4.5pt; margin: 4.5pt 24.7pt 0in 37pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">“Take your materials,” said Madge. “You might change<span style="letter-spacing: -2.85pt;"> </span>your mind. Consider overcrowding in a
world without<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>S.O.R., a movement and a name for diseases we must<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>contain”</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 105%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 37.0pt; margin-right: 24.7pt; margin-top: 4.4pt; margin: 4.4pt 24.7pt 0in 37pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">“Nate,<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>I<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>can’t<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>in<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>good<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>conscience<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>oblige.<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0666667px;"> </span>Planned<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>diversity<span style="letter-spacing: 0.35pt;"> </span>isn’t<span style="letter-spacing: 0.35pt;"> </span>my<span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;"> </span>idea<span style="letter-spacing: 0.35pt;"> </span>of<span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;"> </span>nature.”</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 105%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 37.0pt; margin-right: 24.85pt; margin-top: 4.5pt; margin: 4.5pt 24.85pt 0in 37pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">“Can you in good conscience leave? How far will nostalgia take you? People have been
privately cloned for a<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>long<span style="letter-spacing: 0.35pt;"> </span>time.”</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 105%; margin-right: 24.65pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">“Another<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>reason<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>life<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>expectancy<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>diminishes.<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>It’s<span style="letter-spacing: 3pt;"> </span>not<span style="letter-spacing: -2.85pt;"> </span>just disease,” Michael Thorpe shot back.
Softly, the door<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>thudded behind him. Though cushioned by the powdery<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>carpet,
it resounded in the silent room. Nate surveyed faces,<span style="letter-spacing: 0.45pt;"> </span>waiting<span style="letter-spacing: 0.45pt;"> </span>for<span style="letter-spacing: 0.45pt;"> </span>other<span style="letter-spacing: 0.5pt;"> </span>dissenters.</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 105%; margin-right: 24.95pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">“May I show you what enables us to proceed with Paradise<span style="letter-spacing: 0.35pt;"> </span>Garden?”</span><o:p></o:p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj06AlwIiu8QMNmoWgABgEBbh2exVJCyHkXY1j_8zxpmlKMc6nLS2aljqWByA5-gpVmv5f_5S36vkHCxtmQJzchFvai2oFUIa4tRoyRITXf7yxS75_D49JI7e1GVGz8IlAu0rtRby2RJogpLMWk609DsRW4-1xsO_9pvmZCfbhKKEIqyKuInIw1rcaFJQ/s800/FileCScan%20-%20Copy.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="582" data-original-width="800" height="233" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj06AlwIiu8QMNmoWgABgEBbh2exVJCyHkXY1j_8zxpmlKMc6nLS2aljqWByA5-gpVmv5f_5S36vkHCxtmQJzchFvai2oFUIa4tRoyRITXf7yxS75_D49JI7e1GVGz8IlAu0rtRby2RJogpLMWk609DsRW4-1xsO_9pvmZCfbhKKEIqyKuInIw1rcaFJQ/s320/FileCScan%20-%20Copy.jpg" width="320" /></a></div></div><div class="WordSection21" style="color: #1c1e21; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; white-space: pre-wrap;"><p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 105%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 37.0pt; margin-right: 149.7pt; margin-top: 5.0pt; margin: 5pt 149.7pt 0in 37pt;"><!--[endif]--><span style="color: #000009;">Madge<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>was<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>already<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>killing<span style="letter-spacing: -2.85pt;">
</span>the<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>lights,<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>activating<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>the<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>wall<span style="letter-spacing: -2.85pt;"> </span>panel.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 105%; margin-right: 149.75pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">“It may look like a vintage<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>filing<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>cabinet<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>on<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>wheels,<span style="letter-spacing: 3pt;"> </span><span>but it's a</span><span style="letter-spacing: 3pt;"> </span>supercomputer<span style="letter-spacing: 3pt;"> </span>capable of retaining the genetic information of the human race and<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>the
requirements of your corporation. Not just projections<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>of how many
individuals will<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>be needed for your work, but<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>the qualities of those
individuals and the number of people<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>essential<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>to<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>consume<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>your<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>products.”</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 105%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 37.0pt; margin-right: 24.7pt; margin-top: 4.3pt; margin: 4.3pt 24.7pt 0in 37pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">“That means,” said Hagley, “that we will not have to<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>respond<span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;"> </span>to<span style="letter-spacing: 0.45pt;"> </span>unexpected<span style="letter-spacing: 0.45pt;"> </span>change?”</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 105%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 37.0pt; margin-right: 24.7pt; margin-top: 4.5pt; margin: 4.5pt 24.7pt 0in 37pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">“Yes. And profit will be predictable. Ultimately, the<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>economic process<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>will<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>become<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>self-sustaining<span style="letter-spacing: 3pt;"> </span>and<span style="letter-spacing: 3pt;"> </span>you<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>will<span style="letter-spacing: 0.25pt;"> </span>be<span style="letter-spacing: 0.25pt;"> </span>free<span style="letter-spacing: 0.25pt;"> </span>to<span style="letter-spacing: 0.25pt;"> </span>use<span style="letter-spacing: 0.25pt;"> </span>your<span style="letter-spacing: 0.25pt;"> </span>organizations<span style="letter-spacing: 0.25pt;"> </span>for<span style="letter-spacing: 0.25pt;"> </span>higher<span style="letter-spacing: 0.3pt;"> </span>pursuits.”</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 133%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 50.5pt; margin-right: 51.05pt; margin-top: 4.45pt; margin: 4.45pt 51.05pt 0in 50.5pt; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="color: #000009;">“Where do the psychos come in?” asked Hagley.<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>“Psychologicians,”<span style="letter-spacing: 0.45pt;"> </span>said<span style="letter-spacing: 0.45pt;"> </span>Madge<span style="letter-spacing: 0.5pt;"> </span>clearly.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 105%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 37.0pt; margin-right: 24.65pt; margin-top: .1pt; margin: 0.1pt 24.65pt 0in 37pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">“A computer cannot save civilization,” said Nate, “but<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>it gives us hope of survival. It will
contain the best of our<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>thought and a means to continuance. It’s monitored by<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>specialists<span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;"> </span>we<span style="letter-spacing: 0.45pt;"> </span>call<span style="letter-spacing: 0.45pt;"> </span>Psychologicians.”</span><o:p></o:p></p><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem;"><div class="WordSection21" style="color: #1c1e21; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem;"><br /></span></div>“Do you have another agenda?” asked a thin blonde</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem;">man. “Businesses want prosperity forever.</span>
</div><div class="WordSection22" style="color: #1c1e21; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; white-space: pre-wrap;"><p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 105%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 37.0pt; margin-right: 24.75pt; margin-top: 5.0pt; margin: 5pt 24.75pt 0in 37pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">You’re offering<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>it and then saying there’s something beyond that, a new<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>faith
in a database? We ask that you leave our religion<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>alone<span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;"> </span>or<span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;"> </span>count<span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;"> </span>the<span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;"> </span>Mormons<span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;"> </span>out.”</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 105%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 37.0pt; margin-right: 24.65pt; margin-top: 4.4pt; margin: 4.4pt 24.65pt 0in 37pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">Hagley<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>laughed.<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>There<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>was<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>nervousness<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>in<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>it.<span style="letter-spacing: 3pt;"> </span>The<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>other CEOs hung on his words. “Faith in decline? Natural process? You can go outside and see nature in its<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>death<span style="letter-spacing: 0.35pt;"> </span>throes."</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 105%; margin-right: 24.7pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">“Jack,”<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>said<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>Nate<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>in<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>a<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>comforting<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>voice,<span style="letter-spacing: 3pt;"> </span>“history<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>repeats itself<span style="letter-spacing: 2.6pt;"> </span>but<span style="letter-spacing: 2.6pt;"> </span>never<span style="letter-spacing: 2.6pt;"> </span>in<span style="letter-spacing: 2.65pt;"> </span>the<span style="letter-spacing: 2.6pt;"> </span>same<span style="letter-spacing: 2.6pt;"> </span>form.<span style="letter-spacing: 2.6pt;"> </span>Our<span style="letter-spacing: 2.6pt;"> </span>society will be based on economic stability, but it will be enlightened. Excellence achieved through
perseverance; levels of<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>quality to strive for, and rewards at each level. Materialism<span style="letter-spacing: 0.5pt;"> </span>will<span style="letter-spacing: 0.55pt;"> </span>not<span style="letter-spacing: 0.5pt;"> </span>be<span style="letter-spacing: 0.55pt;"> </span>the<span style="letter-spacing: 0.5pt;"> </span>only<span style="letter-spacing: 0.55pt;"> </span>arena<span style="letter-spacing: 0.55pt;"> </span>for<span style="letter-spacing: 0.5pt;"> </span>excellence.”</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 105%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 37.0pt; margin-right: 24.7pt; margin-top: 4.4pt; margin: 4.4pt 24.7pt 0in 37pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;"><i><span style="color: #000009; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 105%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Dancing around it</span></i><span style="color: #000009; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 105%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">, Madge thought. <i>We have them right<span style="letter-spacing: -2.85pt;"> </span>where<span style="letter-spacing: 0.35pt;"> </span>we<span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;"> </span>can<span style="letter-spacing: 0.35pt;"> </span>sell<span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;"> </span>it.</i></span><i><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 105%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 105%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 37.0pt; margin-right: 24.65pt; margin-top: 4.7pt; margin: 4.7pt 24.65pt 0in 37pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">“The Psychologicians are a special class of advisors to<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>the<span style="letter-spacing: 1.55pt;"> </span>United Business<span style="letter-spacing: 1.6pt;"> </span>Estates.<span style="letter-spacing: 1.55pt;"> </span>They’ll<span style="letter-spacing: 1.55pt;">
</span>combine<span style="letter-spacing: 1.6pt;"> </span>the<span style="letter-spacing: 1.55pt;"> </span>thinking of our best philosophers, priests and ministers, psychologists, psychiatrists, ethicists, social workers, and economists.<span style="letter-spacing: 2.5pt;"> </span>From<span style="letter-spacing: 2.55pt;"> </span>the<span style="letter-spacing: 2.55pt;"> </span>mix<span style="letter-spacing: 2.55pt;"> </span>of<span style="letter-spacing: 2.55pt;"> </span>these<span style="letter-spacing: 2.55pt;">
</span>very<span style="letter-spacing: 2.55pt;"> </span>different<span style="letter-spacing: 2.55pt;"> </span>disciplines<span style="letter-spacing: -2.9pt;"> </span>will come an overview of penetrating depth and wisdom.<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>These<span style="letter-spacing: 1.85pt;"> </span>special<span style="letter-spacing: 1.9pt;"> </span>advisors will<span style="letter-spacing: 1.9pt;"> </span>work<span style="letter-spacing: 1.85pt;"> </span>with<span style="letter-spacing: 1.9pt;"> </span>you<span style="letter-spacing: 1.9pt;"> </span>to<span style="letter-spacing: 1.9pt;"> </span>determine<span style="letter-spacing: -2.9pt;"> </span>the<span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;"> </span>practical<span style="letter-spacing: 0.45pt;"> </span>direction<span style="letter-spacing: 0.45pt;">
</span>of<span style="letter-spacing: 0.45pt;"> </span>our<span style="letter-spacing: 0.45pt;"> </span>world.”</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 105%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 37.0pt; margin-right: 24.7pt; margin-top: 4.4pt; margin: 4.4pt 24.7pt 0in 37pt; text-indent: 18.6pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">Hagley’s face resembled Thorpe’s before he
walked<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>out. “Are you the first of these great leaders? The program<span style="letter-spacing: 0.3pt;"> </span>I<span style="letter-spacing: 0.3pt;"> </span>can<span style="letter-spacing: 0.3pt;"> </span>buy.<span style="letter-spacing: 0.35pt;"> </span>The<span style="letter-spacing: 0.3pt;"> </span>rest<span style="letter-spacing: 0.3pt;"> </span>I<span style="letter-spacing: 0.3pt;"> </span>don’t<span style="letter-spacing: 0.35pt;"> </span>understand</span></p></div><div class="WordSection23" style="color: #1c1e21; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; white-space: pre-wrap;"><p align="left" class="MsoBodyText" style="margin: 0.45pt 0in 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 105%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 37.0pt; margin-right: 24.65pt; margin-top: 5.0pt; margin: 5pt 24.65pt 0in 37pt;"><i><span style="color: #000009;">Stick<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>to<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>the<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>text,<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>Nate</span></i><span style="color: #000009;">,<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>Madge<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>silently willed.<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>Nate<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>paused<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>and<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>looked<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>out<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>to<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>see<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>the<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>eyes<span style="letter-spacing: 3pt;"> </span>following<span style="letter-spacing: 4px;"> </span>his<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>words. They were slow and <span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem;">clear. “We’re not an apoc</span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem;">alyptic</span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem;">cult.</span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem;">The</span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem;">Psychologicians</span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem;">oversee</span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem;">the</span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem;">database. </span></span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem;">They’re</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem;">a</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem;">specially trained</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem;">class</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 3pt;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem;">of</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 3pt;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem;">people</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 3pt;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem;">who </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 3pt;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem;">clarify</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: -2.85pt;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem;">the</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 2pt;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem;">objectives</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 2.05pt;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem;">of</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 2pt;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem;">the</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 2.05pt;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem;">UBE.</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 2.05pt;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem;">As</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 2pt;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem;">the</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 2.05pt;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem;">needs</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 2pt;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem;">and</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 2.05pt;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem;">desires</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 2.05pt;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem;">of </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: -2.9pt;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem;">the estates change, they alter existing programs. A world</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem;">with minimum of conflict cannot be achieved without a</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem;">governing ideology.”</span></p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 105%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 37.0pt; margin-right: 24.65pt; margin-top: 5.0pt; margin: 5pt 24.65pt 0in 37pt;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 105%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 37.0pt; margin-right: 24.65pt; margin-top: 4.35pt; margin: 4.35pt 24.65pt 0in 37pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">“What<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>about<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>the<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>separation<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>of<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>Church<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>and<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>State?”<span style="letter-spacing: -2.85pt;"> </span>asked the Hispanic man standing. “Are
you just going to<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>write<span style="letter-spacing: 0.35pt;"> </span>that<span style="letter-spacing: 0.35pt;"> </span>off?”</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 105%; margin-right: 24.95pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">The blonde man also stood. “In our Church, we recognize<span style="letter-spacing: 0.45pt;"> </span>faith<span style="letter-spacing: 0.5pt;"> </span>as<span style="letter-spacing: 0.5pt;"> the</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.5pt;"> </span>positive<span style="letter-spacing: 0.5pt;"> </span>force<span style="letter-spacing: 0.5pt;"> </span>in<span style="letter-spacing: 0.5pt;"> </span>business.”</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 105%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 37.0pt; margin-right: 24.9pt; margin-top: 4.5pt; margin: 4.5pt 24.9pt 0in 37pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">“Nate, you’re asking us to take a lot on your word,”<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>said<span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;"> </span>Hagerty<span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;"> </span>with<span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;"> </span>an<span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;"> </span>edge.</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 105%; margin-right: 24.7pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">“Our<span style="letter-spacing: 2.7pt;"> </span>database<span style="letter-spacing: 2.7pt;"> </span>can<span style="letter-spacing: 2.7pt;"> </span>preserve<span style="letter-spacing: 2.75pt;"> </span>the<span style="letter-spacing: 2.7pt;"> </span>best<span style="letter-spacing: 2.7pt;"> </span>of<span style="letter-spacing: 2.75pt;"> </span>us:<span style="letter-spacing: 2.7pt;"> </span>our<span style="letter-spacing: 2.7pt;"> </span>sci<span style="letter-spacing: -2.85pt;"> </span>ence and art, our philosophy and
history, the basis of the<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>world’s religious and secular enlightenments. Our new world<span style="letter-spacing: 0.55pt;"> </span>will<span style="letter-spacing: 0.6pt;"> </span>be<span style="letter-spacing: 0.55pt;"> </span>based<span style="letter-spacing: 0.6pt;"> </span>on<span style="letter-spacing: 0.55pt;"> </span>the<span style="letter-spacing: 0.6pt;"> </span>old,<span style="letter-spacing: 0.6pt;"> </span>that’s<span style="letter-spacing: 0.55pt;"> </span>all<span style="letter-spacing: 0.6pt;"> </span>I<span style="letter-spacing: 0.55pt;"> </span>guarantee.”</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 105%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 37.0pt; margin-right: 24.65pt; margin-top: 4.45pt; margin: 4.45pt 24.65pt 0in 37pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt;"><i><span style="color: #000009; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 105%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">How<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>thin<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>is<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>the<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>line<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>between megalomania<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>and<span style="letter-spacing: 3pt;"> </span>idealism</span></i><span style="color: #000009; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 105%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">, wondered Madge, <i>especially when dealing with a<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>visionary and his utopian experiment? </i>Yet she believed in<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>Nate
though he was probably influenced by the Empowerment Group. He aroused that kind of trust, even in the<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>powerful men in the Empire Room. Unconsciously they<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>had<span style="letter-spacing: 0.45pt;"> </span>formed<span style="letter-spacing: 0.45pt;"> </span>a<span style="letter-spacing: 0.45pt;"> </span>standing semi-circle.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 105%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 50.5pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 4.6pt; margin: 4.6pt 0in 0in 50.5pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #000009; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">It<span style="letter-spacing: 1pt;"> </span>was<span style="letter-spacing: 1pt;"> </span>a<span style="letter-spacing: 1pt;"> </span>crucial moment.<span style="letter-spacing: 1pt;"> </span><i>Nate,<span style="letter-spacing: 1pt;"> </span>know<span style="letter-spacing: 1pt;"> </span>when<span style="letter-spacing: 1.33333px;"> it;s time to </span></i></span><i style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem;"><span style="color: #000009; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">back<span style="letter-spacing: 0.65pt;"> </span>off,<span style="letter-spacing: 0.7pt;"> </span></span></i><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt;">she<span style="letter-spacing: 0.7pt;"> </span>willed<span style="letter-spacing: 0.65pt;"> </span>silently.</span></p></div><div class="WordSection24" style="color: #1c1e21; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; white-space: pre-wrap;"><p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 105%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 37.0pt; margin-right: 24.85pt; margin-top: 5.25pt; margin: 5.25pt 24.85pt 0in 37pt; text-indent: 16.1pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">“I want to know how you plan to subdue the surface,”<span style="letter-spacing: -2.85pt;"> </span>interrupted<span style="letter-spacing: 0.45pt;"> </span>the<span style="letter-spacing: 0.5pt;"> </span>Asian<span style="letter-spacing: 0.45pt;"> </span>man.<span style="letter-spacing: 0.5pt;"> </span>“I<span style="letter-spacing: 0.45pt;"> </span>don’t<span style="letter-spacing: 0.5pt;"> </span>intend<span style="letter-spacing: 0.45pt;"> </span>to </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 0in;">sacrifice</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 0.8pt; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 0in;">my</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 0.85pt; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 0in;">whole</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 0.8pt; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 0in;">defensive</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 0.85pt; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 0in;">force.”</span></p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="margin-left: 50.5pt; text-indent: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 105%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 37.0pt; margin-right: 24.7pt; margin-top: 5.25pt; margin: 5.25pt 24.7pt 0in 37pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">“Unfortunately,” said Nate, “that’s a risk we’ll all bear,<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>until the S.O.R. campaign gains
us public support. Our<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>defense teams will cooperate so no one organization is<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>overburdened.”</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 105%; margin-right: 24.65pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">“I’m<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>not<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>interested,”<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>said<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>the<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>Mormon.<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0666667px;"> </span>“We<span style="letter-spacing: 3pt;"> </span>are<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>against the religious homogeneity you describe. It would<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>dilute<span style="letter-spacing: 0.35pt;"> </span>our<span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;"> </span>moral<span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;"> </span>base.”</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 105%; margin-right: 24.65pt; text-indent: 19.95pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">“Our<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>database<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>will<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>preserve the<span style="letter-spacing: 4px;"> </span>ethical basis<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>of<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>all<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>beliefs,<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>your<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>Prophet,<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>Christ,<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;">
</span>Buddha<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>and<span style="letter-spacing: -2.85pt;"> </span>Mohammad.<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>We<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>will<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>preserve the<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>ethics,<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>patriarchs,<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>practices,<span style="letter-spacing: 0.65pt;"> </span>and<span style="letter-spacing: 0.7pt;"> </span>belief<span style="letter-spacing: 0.65pt;"> </span>systems<span style="letter-spacing: 0.7pt;"> </span>of<span style="letter-spacing: 0.7pt;"> </span>all<span style="letter-spacing: 0.65pt;"> </span>major<span style="letter-spacing: 0.7pt;"> </span>religions.”</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 105%; margin-right: 24.7pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">The Mormon was unconvinced. “I want a ban on psychology—workshops<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>in<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>diversity<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>training,<span style="letter-spacing: 3pt;">
</span>self-knowledge through therapy, and other such programs. Besides<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>being<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>ineffective,<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>I<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>believe<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>they’ve<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;">
</span>contributed<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>to<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>our<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>current<span style="letter-spacing: 0.35pt;"> </span>disintegration.”</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 105%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 37.0pt; margin-right: 24.65pt; margin-top: 4.4pt; margin: 4.4pt 24.65pt 0in 37pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">“Enlightenment through service is a creed we can all<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>adhere to,” answered Nate. “Excellence and
high performance will be character traits of all Superior employees.<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>Think<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>about<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>employees<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>with<span style="letter-spacing: 3pt;"> </span>the<span style="letter-spacing: 3pt;"> </span>best<span style="letter-spacing: 3pt;"> </span>traits<span style="letter-spacing: 3pt;"> </span>of<span style="letter-spacing: 3pt;"> </span>your<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>most valued people. Please consider that each estate can<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>choose not just the kind of worker desired, but religion<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>and<span style="letter-spacing: 1.9pt;"> </span>political ideology.<span style="letter-spacing: 1.95pt;"> </span>Only<span style="letter-spacing: 1.95pt;"> </span>agreement<span style="letter-spacing: 1.95pt;"> </span>has<span style="letter-spacing: 1.95pt;"> </span>toler</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 0in;">ance</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 0.85pt; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 0in;">for</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 0.85pt; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 0in;">the</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 0.85pt; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 0in;">governing</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 0.9pt; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 0in;">body</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 0.85pt; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 0in;">of</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 0.85pt; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 0in;">Psychologicians.”</span></p></div><div class="WordSection25" style="color: #1c1e21; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; white-space: pre-wrap;"><p class="MsoBodyText" style="margin-top: 5pt; text-indent: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 105%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 37.0pt; margin-right: 24.7pt; margin-top: 5.25pt; margin: 5.25pt 24.7pt 0in 37pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">“I’m<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>not<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>getting your<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>values,”<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>the<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>Mormon<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>began<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>angrily.</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 105%; margin-right: 24.95pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">Nater was pragmatic, “Love,<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>children,<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>knowledge,<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>respect<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>for<span style="letter-spacing: 3pt;"> </span>authority;<span style="letter-spacing: 3pt;"> </span>a<span style="letter-spacing: -2.85pt;"> </span>life of enlightened action with the best values of tradition.”</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 105%; margin-right: 24.95pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">“And this miracle will be accomplished by your data-<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>base?”</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 105%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 37.0pt; margin-right: 24.75pt; margin-top: 4.5pt; margin: 4.5pt 24.75pt 0in 37pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">“In the U.B.E, we marry secular materialism with the<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>emotionally<span style="letter-spacing: 0.5pt;"> </span>galvanizing<span style="letter-spacing: 0.5pt;"> </span>effect<span style="letter-spacing: 0.5pt;"> </span>of<span style="letter-spacing: 0.5pt;"> </span>religion.”</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 105%; margin-right: 24.65pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">“There<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>are<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>many<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>kinds<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>of<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>pollutants,”<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>said<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>the<span style="letter-spacing: -2.85pt;"> </span>Mormon, leaving<span style="letter-spacing: 0.45pt;"> </span>the<span style="letter-spacing: 0.45pt;"> </span>Empire<span style="letter-spacing: 0.45pt;"> </span>Room.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 105%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 37.0pt; margin-right: 24.65pt; margin-top: 4.5pt; margin: 4.5pt 24.65pt 0in 37pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">“You are currently fighting to keep your companies<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>alive, let alone your product lines,” said
Nate, surveying<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>the room. “Customers die, potential ones are not born,<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>and<span style="letter-spacing: 0.45pt;"> </span>so<span style="letter-spacing: 0.45pt;"> </span>ends<span style="letter-spacing: 0.45pt;"> </span>the<span style="letter-spacing: 0.45pt;"> </span>means<span style="letter-spacing: 0.45pt;"> </span>of<span style="letter-spacing: 0.45pt;"> </span>consumption.”</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 105%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 37.0pt; margin-right: 24.7pt; margin-top: 4.4pt; margin: 4.4pt 24.7pt 0in 37pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">“We know the problem!” said Hagerty, irritated. “I’m<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>not<span style="letter-spacing: 2.05pt;"> </span>breathing<span style="letter-spacing: 2.05pt;"> </span>the<span style="letter-spacing: 2.05pt;"> </span>air<span style="letter-spacing: 2.05pt;"> </span>or<span style="letter-spacing: 2.1pt;"> </span>walking<span style="letter-spacing: 2.05pt;"> </span>the<span style="letter-spacing: 2.05pt;"> </span>streets.<span style="letter-spacing: 2.05pt;"> </span>Count me<span style="letter-spacing: -2.85pt;"> </span>in.”</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 105%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 37.0pt; margin-right: 24.7pt; margin-top: 4.5pt; margin: 4.5pt 24.7pt 0in 37pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">“Good,” said Nate. “I ask all of you to think carefully.<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>Can you contribute to a vision beyond your immediate<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>needs?<span style="letter-spacing: 1.85pt;"> </span>If<span style="letter-spacing: 1.85pt;"> </span>not,<span style="letter-spacing: 1.85pt;"> </span>the<span style="letter-spacing: 1.85pt;"> </span>U.B.E.<span style="letter-spacing: 1.85pt;"> </span>will<span style="letter-spacing: 1.85pt;"> </span>soon<span style="letter-spacing: 1.85pt;"> </span>repeat the<span style="letter-spacing: 1.85pt;"> </span>errors<span style="letter-spacing: 1.85pt;"> </span>of<span style="letter-spacing: -2.9pt;"> t</span>he<span style="letter-spacing: 0.35pt;"> </span>surface.”</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 105%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 37.0pt; margin-right: 24.65pt; margin-top: 4.4pt; margin: 4.4pt 24.65pt 0in 37pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">“In our world,” Madge clarified, joining Nate at the<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>lectern, “demand does not exceed need.
There’s a symbiotic relationship between the amount of goods produced<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>and<span style="letter-spacing: 2.55pt;"> </span>people.<span style="letter-spacing: 2.55pt;">
</span>Each<span style="letter-spacing: 2.55pt;"> </span>receives<span style="letter-spacing: 2.55pt;"> </span>according<span style="letter-spacing: 2.55pt;"> </span>to<span style="letter-spacing: 2.55pt;"> </span>use<span style="letter-spacing: 2.55pt;"> </span>and<span style="letter-spacing: 2.55pt;"> </span>ability. Each</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 0in;"> is positioned in life at the best level to make use </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 0in;">of</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 0.05pt; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 0in;">them. And they can pass </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 0in;">advantages on to any offspring</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 0.05pt; text-indent: 0in;"> t</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 0in;">hey</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 0.4pt; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 0in;">merit</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 0.4pt; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 0in;">within</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 0.45pt; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 0in;">the</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 0.4pt; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 0in;">system.”</span></p></div><div class="WordSection26" style="color: #1c1e21; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; white-space: pre-wrap;"><p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 105%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 37.0pt; margin-right: 24.65pt; margin-top: 5.0pt; margin: 5pt 24.65pt 0in 37pt; text-indent: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 105%; margin-right: 24.75pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">“Can you assure us it is the best option for the future?”<span style="letter-spacing: -2.85pt;"> </span>asked<span style="letter-spacing: 0.466667px;"> </span>the<span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;"> </span>Asian<span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;"> </span>man.</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 105%; margin-right: 24.7pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">“That depends on our ability to monitor the database.<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>Each corporation will exist on its own
estate and operate<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>within its sphere of influence. The psychologicians work<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>with<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>you.<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>Our<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>collective<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>needs<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>will<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>produce the<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>most<span style="letter-spacing: -2.85pt;"> </span>stable, prosperous<span style="letter-spacing: 0.45pt;"> </span>society<span style="letter-spacing: 0.45pt;"> </span>possible.”</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 105%; margin-right: 24.65pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">“Won’t<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>superior<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>human<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>beings<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>make<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>my<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>business obsolete?”<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>asked<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>another man<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>Madge<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>recognized<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>asa<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>CEO<span style="letter-spacing: 0.45pt;"> </span>from<span style="letter-spacing: 0.45pt;"> </span>a<span style="letter-spacing: 0.45pt;"> </span>pharmaceutical<span style="letter-spacing: 0.45pt;"> </span>giant.</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 105%; margin-right: 24.7pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">“No,” said Nate. “Our Superior employees, like our<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>Averages, will recognize a higher order,
but they’ll still be<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>human.<span style="letter-spacing: 0.35pt;"> </span>They’ll<span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;"> </span>purchase<span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;"> </span>cosmetics.”</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 105%; margin-right: 24.65pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">“What<span style="letter-spacing: 1.9pt;"> </span>about<span style="letter-spacing: 1.9pt;"> </span>hair<span style="letter-spacing: 1.95pt;"> </span>restorer?<span style="letter-spacing: 1.75pt;"> </span>Will<span style="letter-spacing: 1.9pt;"> </span>any<span style="letter-spacing: 1.95pt;"> </span>be<span style="letter-spacing: 1.9pt;"> </span>bald?”<span style="letter-spacing: 1.9pt;"> </span>asked<span style="letter-spacing: -3.8px;"> </span>the<span style="letter-spacing: 0.65pt;"> </span>same<span style="letter-spacing: 0.65pt;"> </span>man,<span style="letter-spacing: 0.65pt;"> </span>to<span style="letter-spacing: 0.65pt;"> </span>a<span style="letter-spacing: 0.65pt;"> </span>laughter<span style="letter-spacing: 0.65pt;"> </span>Madge<span style="letter-spacing: 0.65pt;"> </span>found<span style="letter-spacing: 0.65pt;"> </span>very<span style="letter-spacing: 0.65pt;"> </span>welcome.</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 105%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 37.0pt; margin-right: 24.65pt; margin-top: 4.5pt; margin: 4.5pt 24.65pt 0in 37pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">“Without<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>a<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>doubt<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>pattern<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>baldness will<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>make<span style="letter-spacing: 3pt;"> </span>it<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>through<span style="letter-spacing: 0.5pt;"> </span>some<span style="letter-spacing: 0.55pt;"> </span>gene<span style="letter-spacing: 0.55pt;"> </span>combinations,”<span style="letter-spacing: 0.5pt;"> </span>said<span style="letter-spacing: 0.55pt;"> </span>Nate.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 105%; margin-right: 24.65pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">Your employees,” Madge added, “will be people of<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>both<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>Superior<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>and<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>Average<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>abilities;<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>workers<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>and con<span style="letter-spacing: -2.85pt;"> -- </span>sumers of future products. Their betterment and your profits go hand-in-hand. Let us leave you with a final<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>image.”</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 105%; margin-right: 24.7pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">Nate<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>turned<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>out<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>the<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>lights<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>and<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>projected an<span style="letter-spacing: 3pt;"> </span>archi<span style="letter-spacing: -2.85pt;"> </span>tect’s rendering<span style="letter-spacing: 1.35pt;"> </span>of<span style="letter-spacing: 1.35pt;"> </span>life<span style="letter-spacing: 1.4pt;"> </span>on<span style="letter-spacing: 1.35pt;"> </span>an<span style="letter-spacing: 1.35pt;"> </span>estate.<span style="letter-spacing: 1.4pt;"> </span>The<span style="letter-spacing: 1.35pt;"> </span>camera<span style="letter-spacing: 1.35pt;"> </span>panned </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 0in;">bright sun-filled corridors with glass floors and chrome</span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; letter-spacing: 0.05pt; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><span style="color: #000009; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-indent: 0in;">ceilings. On glass balconies, attractive</span></p></div><div class="WordSection27" style="color: #1c1e21; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; white-space: pre-wrap;"><p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 105%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 37.0pt; margin-right: 24.7pt; margin-top: 5.0pt; margin: 5pt 24.7pt 0in 37pt; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="color: #000009;">employees in colored tunics walked back and forth with easy athleticism.<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>“Total
psychological adjustment complements perfectly formed<span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;"> </span>bodies.<span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;"> </span>Ideals<span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;"> </span>match.”</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 105%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 37.0pt; margin-right: 24.7pt; margin-top: 4.4pt; margin: 4.4pt 24.7pt 0in 37pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">“They’re inhuman,” objected a voice Madge thought<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>she recognized. “Are they capable of
letting loose, acting<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>outrageous,<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>making<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>trouble?<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>It’s<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>our<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>nature<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>to<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>rebel<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>against<span style="letter-spacing: 0.35pt;"> </span>constraints.”</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 105%; margin-right: 24.85pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">“If there was such a need, they would be capable,”<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>answered<span style="letter-spacing: 0.466667px;"> </span>Nate.</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 105%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 37.0pt; margin-right: 24.7pt; margin-top: 4.5pt; margin: 4.5pt 24.7pt 0in 37pt; text-indent: 19.5pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">“We’re<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>talking<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>about<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>a<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>natural process,<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>rebellion,<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>right?<span style="letter-spacing: 0.45pt;"> </span>A<span style="letter-spacing: 0.45pt;"> </span>way<span style="letter-spacing: 0.45pt;"> </span>to<span style="letter-spacing: 0.45pt;"> </span>differentiate<span style="letter-spacing: 0.45pt;"> </span>the<span style="letter-spacing: 0.5pt;"> </span>self?”</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 105%; margin-right: 24.65pt; text-indent: 20.05pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">“In<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>adolescence,<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>yes,”<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>said<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>Nate,<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>“but<span style="letter-spacing: 3pt;"> </span>don’t<span style="letter-spacing: 3pt;"> </span>you<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>think we’ve suffered enough from that freedom? It’s cre<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>ative, but consider the part unfettered individualism has<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>played in<span style="letter-spacing: 2.5pt;"> </span>the<span style="letter-spacing: 2.5pt;"> </span>demise<span style="letter-spacing: 2.5pt;"> </span>of<span style="letter-spacing: 2.5pt;"> </span>our<span style="letter-spacing: 2.5pt;"> </span>surface.<span style="letter-spacing: 2.3pt;"> </span>We<span style="letter-spacing: 2.5pt;"> </span>fanned<span style="letter-spacing: 2.5pt;"> </span>it<span style="letter-spacing: 2.5pt;"> </span>for <span style="letter-spacing: -2.9pt;"> </span>sales but<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>forgot<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>the<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>downside,<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>the<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>frustrated<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>nihilism that’s<span style="letter-spacing: 0.35pt;"> </span>brought<span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;"> </span>down<span style="letter-spacing: 0.4pt;"> </span>our<span style="letter-spacing: 0.35pt;"> </span>cities.”</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 105%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 37.0pt; margin-right: 24.65pt; margin-top: 4.4pt; margin: 4.4pt 24.65pt 0in 37pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">“Eros-thanatos, the human drive for sex and death. I can’t<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>see how you can breed that out of the
genes,” said the<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>same<span style="letter-spacing: 1.7pt;"> </span>voice, emanating<span style="letter-spacing: 1.7pt;"> </span>from<span style="letter-spacing: 1.75pt;"> </span>a<span style="letter-spacing: 1.75pt;"> </span>shadowy<span style="letter-spacing: 1.7pt;"> </span>figure <span style="letter-spacing: 1.75pt;">
</span>visible in the slightly open doorway. Madge turned the lights on<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>Michael<span style="letter-spacing: 0.35pt;"> </span>Thorpe.</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 105%; margin-right: 24.75pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">“It<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>is<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>natural<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0666667px;"> </span>selection,”<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>challenged<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>Nate.<span style="letter-spacing: 3pt;"> </span>“Destruc<span style="letter-spacing: -2.85pt;"> </span>tive levels<span style="letter-spacing: 1.3pt;"> </span>of<span style="letter-spacing: 1.3pt;"> </span>the<span style="letter-spacing: 1.3pt;"> </span>drive<span style="letter-spacing: 1.3pt;"> </span>will<span style="letter-spacing: 1.3pt;"> </span>be<span style="letter-spacing: 1.3pt;"> </span>bred<span style="letter-spacing: 1.3pt;"> </span>out,<span style="letter-spacing: 1.3pt;"> </span>but<span style="letter-spacing: 1.25pt;"> </span>we<span style="letter-spacing: 1.3pt;"> </span>can’t<span style="letter-spacing: 1.3pt;"> </span>go<span style="letter-spacing: -2.85pt;"> </span><span> on</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.35pt;"> </span>without<span style="letter-spacing: 0.35pt;"> </span>it<span style="letter-spacing: 0.35pt;"> </span>entirely.”</span></p></div><div class="WordSection28" style="color: #1c1e21; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; white-space: pre-wrap;"><p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 105%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 37.0pt; margin-right: 24.7pt; margin-top: 5.0pt; margin: 5pt 24.7pt 0in 37pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">“He’s right,” said the Hispanic man. “What’s creativity<span style="letter-spacing: -2.85pt;"> </span>but the instinct to destroy in order to
start over? We are<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>starting<span style="letter-spacing: 0.55pt;"> </span>over<span style="letter-spacing: 0.6pt;"> </span>but<span style="letter-spacing: 0.55pt;"> </span>this<span style="letter-spacing: 0.6pt;"> </span>time<span style="letter-spacing: 0.55pt;"> </span>we<span style="letter-spacing: 0.6pt;"> </span>won’t<span style="letter-spacing: 0.55pt;"> </span>destroy<span style="letter-spacing: 0.6pt;"> </span>ourselves.”</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 105%; margin-right: 24.65pt;"><span style="color: #000009;">“To that inspiring idea,” said Nate. “May I conclude<span style="letter-spacing: 0.05pt;"> </span>that I look forward to seeing you all in
Paradise Gardens.”</span><o:p></o:p></p></div><span style="color: #1c1e21; font-family: "Adobe Garamond Pro", serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 105%; white-space: pre-wrap;">
</span>Paradise Gardens, New Edition published by Pelekinesis. Cover collage by Cathy Saksa Mydlowski<!--[if mso & !supportInlineShapes & supportFields]><span
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</v:shape><span style='mso-element:field-end'></span></span><![endif]--></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white;"><span>Interior illustration by Susan I. Weinstein. </span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVutptErwB8GrDtxqaLHX2yLPn_duaqLRsfzvdoKhByKWPJrWD6U5tzbzpjTnUBaKQqN2VANeQjGyuy5T1do9OdPTI-BBJeTidkUBsYZXcdrS0GJICzq8qKWBV4nn9RKtjGAg8iT_5lTF2cBgSzMLfyKyukTE2x1IlWBkk8vu3dyJFt0elB1aotIpSlA/s960/Paradise%20G%20cover.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="671" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVutptErwB8GrDtxqaLHX2yLPn_duaqLRsfzvdoKhByKWPJrWD6U5tzbzpjTnUBaKQqN2VANeQjGyuy5T1do9OdPTI-BBJeTidkUBsYZXcdrS0GJICzq8qKWBV4nn9RKtjGAg8iT_5lTF2cBgSzMLfyKyukTE2x1IlWBkk8vu3dyJFt0elB1aotIpSlA/s320/Paradise%20G%20cover.jpg" width="224" /></a></div><br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem;">PARADISE NOW?? Paradise Gardens Addendum</span></span><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div dir="auto" style="background-color: white; text-align: start;"><div class="x1iorvi4 x1pi30zi x1l90r2v x1swvt13" data-ad-comet-preview="message" data-ad-preview="message" id="jsc_c_mg" style="padding: 4px 16px 16px;"><div class="x78zum5 xdt5ytf xz62fqu x16ldp7u" style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; margin-bottom: -5px; margin-top: -5px;"><div class="xu06os2 x1ok221b" style="margin-bottom: 5px; margin-top: 5px;"><span class="x193iq5w xeuugli x13faqbe x1vvkbs x1xmvt09 x1lliihq x1s928wv xhkezso x1gmr53x x1cpjm7i x1fgarty x1943h6x xudqn12 x3x7a5m x6prxxf xvq8zen xo1l8bm xzsf02u x1yc453h" color="var(--primary-text)" dir="auto" style="display: block; line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="color: #1c1e21; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">Paradise Gardens is a political dystopia, begun in the 1980s finished in a final New Edition in 2017 (Pelekinesis). I was working a clerical job on a Wall Street paper, when I had visions of downtown NYC in 2250 and the purged new world of 3001. The story opens at the desk of Janet McCarthy, claims adjustor at Rudimental Life Company, part of the United Business Estates (U.B.E.) Left behind are the Unconnected, people outside corporate protection. </div></div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="color: #1c1e21; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">Capitalism has devolved into the corporate feudalism of the U.B.E., where employees are conceived as Superior or Average to fit the needs of business. In 2250, after the Federal government has dissolved amid ecological breakdown, a real estate visionary, with a PR maven, sell corporate business on “Eden underground,” Paradise Gardens. </div></div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><div dir="auto" style="color: #1c1e21; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; white-space: pre-wrap;">Though I wrote the book, because I couldn’t get the characters and scenes out of my mind (even dreamed sequences), I thought it was therapeutic-- a cautionary tale. I had no idea any of it would come to pass. I prayed it was a fixation of my underemployed imagination. Yet here we are, almost in 2023, dealing with the described killer flus which decimate the population. As society breaks down in PG, the federal government is garrisoned under the capital against the social chaos. Now all of this may sound Matrix-like, another ho-hum Netflix dystopia but these fragments have the reality of the world we know.</div><div dir="auto" style="color: #1c1e21; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></div><div dir="auto" style="color: #1c1e21; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></div><div dir="auto"><div dir="auto"><span><span style="color: #1c1e21; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></div></div></div></span></div></div></div></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">PARADISE GARDENS NEW EDITION</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig3vPeGrAhROyG1MWLARMRO1pbgMumm7deOua8MrfdMxNVIVDY_AQDSFPE4HIoeBBHfhBwF7pYRW58iu3XOS6fz9GOoHv09-AbNvXK2cGqa9frIZI1W2vLzRp0Fqrb7bR_mv5vQfb1DPUZ/s1600/susan_weinstein-paradise_gardens-front_cover+%25281%2529+-+Copy.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="651" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig3vPeGrAhROyG1MWLARMRO1pbgMumm7deOua8MrfdMxNVIVDY_AQDSFPE4HIoeBBHfhBwF7pYRW58iu3XOS6fz9GOoHv09-AbNvXK2cGqa9frIZI1W2vLzRp0Fqrb7bR_mv5vQfb1DPUZ/s320/susan_weinstein-paradise_gardens-front_cover+%25281%2529+-+Copy.jpg" width="203" /></a></div><br /><span face=""helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span><span face=""helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; font-size: 14px;"><span face="system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Ubuntu, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif" style="background-color: #f5f8fa; color: #14171a; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Clever, funny, serious, and prescient, this novel takes us on a heartbreaking journey. Lovers of Huxley's and Atwood's dystopias are in for a satisfying treat."--Sonia Taitz, award-winning author of The Watchmaker's Daughter.</span></span><br /><span face=""helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span><span face=""helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; font-size: 14px;">HOBOKEN on fire<br /></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4jp6elptM9nv-0nKGIHrxIefqZ_osiEv7AFNu0hRDQmamxp_3MSWsu_QksutIF3SvyQyNe0aPOqdMKEwDxFfRPJIwaYAlz1j4mt4G6zy7m-9VUDoebpq76cpUkkQwxcnOBme4dvAQfcoYymT-pMUMtI7Bqft_UAaGMW7JPOmtosLzw9LHWrD2WLzumw/s1993/6.%20Earth%202250%20-%20Hoboken%20on%20Fire.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1320" data-original-width="1993" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4jp6elptM9nv-0nKGIHrxIefqZ_osiEv7AFNu0hRDQmamxp_3MSWsu_QksutIF3SvyQyNe0aPOqdMKEwDxFfRPJIwaYAlz1j4mt4G6zy7m-9VUDoebpq76cpUkkQwxcnOBme4dvAQfcoYymT-pMUMtI7Bqft_UAaGMW7JPOmtosLzw9LHWrD2WLzumw/s320/6.%20Earth%202250%20-%20Hoboken%20on%20Fire.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />Here is audible link with a description. </span><br /><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span><a href="https://www.audible.com/pd/Paradise-Gardens-Audiobook/B0835TZ9GM?asin=B0835TZ9GM&fbclid=IwAR1eBxehrMSyr-9KXBEVP5vnisJsPTfY4Guyu9Jql2eBX0vFdyDjGg6GASQ"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">https://www.audible.com/pd/Paradise-Gardens-Audiobook/B0835TZ9GM?asin=B0835TZ9GM&fbclid=IwAR1eBxehrMSyr-9KXBEVP5vnisJsPTfY4Guyu9Jql2eBX0vFdyDjGg6GASQ</span></a><br /><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">ABOUT Paradise Gardens</span><br /><div style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">about Paradise Gardens. This is the second of my books, finally published in a completely edited and illustrated version by Pelekinesis Press. It was inspired by the Reagan years and grew to become a dystopian look at late capitalism in an environmentally devastated Earth. In 2250's the last corporations flee underground to Paradise Gardens. The transition to a feudal corporate futureworld is complete. The novel takes place in 2250s and 3<span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline;">011s underground. I thought this Orwellian but not a few people have said it's closer to Huxley, except it's our world..</span></span><br /><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-size: 14px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 6px;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">This book was read in clubs, Dixon Place and Darinka in the 1980s and in the Pelekinesis version 2017. It was run as a serial in an unedited online version in 2014. I have been grateful to Pelekinesis for toiling with me to get this book in the best form possible and to have me illustrate this world. If you want to read, the New Edition is the best experience. The audiobook is perhaps more entertaining but no art. Thanks for your interest. Some illustrations on FB. </span></div></div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">BLURB from Dixon Place 2017<span style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; font-size: 14px;"> UNIMAGINABLE WORLDS in Lounge, 7:30 to 8:30. Free admission.</span></span><br /><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; font-size: 14px;">Imagine the unimaginable. You are living in an authoritarian business paradise but don't know it. Or you know real life is nothing like what is presented to people. You are part of the resistance but need your cover. Yet you are in love. That is the situation between Janet McCarthy, claims adjustor at Rudimental Life Co,, and Michael Thorpe, proprietor of a Gr</span><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-size: 14px;">eenwich Village store specializing in ethnic artifacts. When is romance key to human survival? For answers to this dilemma, in the tradition of Philip K. Dick's paranoid fiction, come visit Paradise Gardens.</span></span><br /><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span><br /><div style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">“From the infinitely imaginative mind of Susan Weinstein, PARADISE GARDENS spins a fabulous web. Clever, funny, serious, and prescient, this novel takes us on a breathtaking journey. Lovers of Aldous Huxley’s and Margaret Atwood’s dystopias are in for a satisfying treat.”</span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 6px;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">—Sonia Taitz, award-winning author of The Watchmaker’s Daughter and Great With Child.</span></div><div><span style="color: #1c1e21; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal;"><span style="color: #111111; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">"One of the most disturbing yet oddly funny science fiction/dystopian sagas I've ever read. When corporations have wrung every drop out of nature and mankind has no other option but to build entire communities underground, how do you spin it to make it seem like a dream destination? You call it <i>PARADISE GARDENS</i> of course and you sell it like everything else. When we have no natural water, no natural food, and even the wind and the sunlight has been poisoned you will still have hucksters selling whatever is left for top of the line prices. A thought provoking story well conceived and brilliantly executed."<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal;"><span style="color: #111111; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal;"><span style="color: #111111; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">--Patrick King, author of the Shane Cullaine detective series</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">See Book Guys author interview</div><br /><br /></div></div>Susan I. Weinsteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08327145154416720160noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3686096258659236837.post-20619159811398382492022-11-13T16:11:00.002-05:002022-11-13T16:13:28.964-05:00New classics: 99 MILES FROM L.A. (P. David Ebersole), BOUNDLESS AS THE SKY (Dawn Raffel), ROCKED IN TIME: Confessions of a Radical Theater Artist (Charles Degelman)<p>Classics have an impact on new books, whether intentional or not, and it is fun to read surprising twists on older literary forms. The James A. Cain classic crime novel, <b><i>The Postman Always Rings Twice</i></b>, is certainly an ancestor of P. David Ebersole's inventive and darkly hilarious crime novel, <b>99 MILES FROM L.A.</b> (Pelekinesis).</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN8m1dRctMIYC_7ZysF8ytHtQj21yok1PtllprLGF-SO7nwAo_E2O51fRkeFT5H0acLe0QpiFvTv8TVf8cVnVPMF7FRfJBaeSEW-G7Hvgi-4dhsTc72n5A3Lq-Jj141OTvVg-cUn31nCFocbHJjnIubMG9TCYceVsv3RmaJt-tW493qpey5K5_q0PuLw/s1574/B09TXTYKCF_e6be39d0_cover.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1574" data-original-width="1000" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN8m1dRctMIYC_7ZysF8ytHtQj21yok1PtllprLGF-SO7nwAo_E2O51fRkeFT5H0acLe0QpiFvTv8TVf8cVnVPMF7FRfJBaeSEW-G7Hvgi-4dhsTc72n5A3Lq-Jj141OTvVg-cUn31nCFocbHJjnIubMG9TCYceVsv3RmaJt-tW493qpey5K5_q0PuLw/s320/B09TXTYKCF_e6be39d0_cover.jpeg" width="203" /></a></div><br /><p>The action of this book takes place in L.A. and Palm Springs. The title's an allusion to the role of Palm Springs in the heyday of big studios and stars under contract. Contract players were required to go no further than 100 miles away from L.A. (theoretically they might be needed on a set) so they fled to Palm Springs to avoid studio scrutiny. A destination for anonymity and forbidden love, bungalows and "love nests" flourished along with a population to serve them. Impoverished Mexicans crossed the porous border to work and return with cash and goods. That historic comes alive in this hard-boiled crime story. </p><p>Elegantly written,<b> 99 MILES FROM L.A</b>.'s erotic energy is emotionally real and a send-up of romantic cliches, which the narrators ironically acknowledge, especially the "hero," a sweet crooner of Johnny Mathis. Unlike <b><i>Postman</i></b>, the eroticism is bisexual and begins at a bar, not a diner. Both novels feature a plot against a rich husband by a miserable wife, but Ebersole's characters are contradictory. The trophy wife is "too clever by half,"the romantic crooner a disillusioned music professor, the quietly charismatic Mexican bartender speaks no English. And the family business isn't a restaurant but the drug trade.</p><p>The group's plan is complicated by motives conscious-unconscious; behavior tender-inhuman, obtuse-obvious, silly-horrifying. The story told by a trio of unreliable narrators, has a Rashomon effect adding to the stakes. What happens is shocking, unexpected and entirely right. I can't wait for the movie.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqmP9hMV4Xofxg4T1Gz7zFn-jLjXRlaYrsUtFezk3J7NRHgJbygwinVV9g8MGZHAbEj4Kx_n4PkeSwAaki_TA9MlL5TXSnqOmXmM-GG4TMx2lqqrTw-S179VSpWil0wzR3zV8sJPmaUvrjcVnH0aVh2M7gibXLidJbZBFTBsDm1iQhUqbMpe-IMo3cMw/s607/025a011ffd7f40a4caf6c3774cfcd59165c47e3f.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="607" data-original-width="428" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqmP9hMV4Xofxg4T1Gz7zFn-jLjXRlaYrsUtFezk3J7NRHgJbygwinVV9g8MGZHAbEj4Kx_n4PkeSwAaki_TA9MlL5TXSnqOmXmM-GG4TMx2lqqrTw-S179VSpWil0wzR3zV8sJPmaUvrjcVnH0aVh2M7gibXLidJbZBFTBsDm1iQhUqbMpe-IMo3cMw/s320/025a011ffd7f40a4caf6c3774cfcd59165c47e3f.jpg" width="226" /></a></div>Dawn Raffel's <b>BOUNDLESS SKY</b> (Sagging Miniscus Press) opens with a quote from Italo Calvino's <i><b>Invisible Cities</b>--"If I tell you that the city toward which my journey tends is discontinuous in space and time, now scattered, now more condensed, you must not believe the search for it can stop."</i><div><i><br /></i></div><div>Calvino's stories, like Raffel's, are imaginary worlds we inhabit. The first part of her short story collection <b>BOUNDLESS SKY </b>"<i>The City Toward Which My Journey Tends" </i>is made of "fables and tales. some of them true." Photographs further illustrate imaginary worlds of our past and present, from fan dancer, Sally Rand to the famous Cube at Astor Place in NYC. Below is a familiar place we may recognize from the back of our minds. </div><div><br /></div><div><span> <span> <span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> <i> </i></span><i>The All-New Sanitary City</i></span></span><br /></div><div><span><span><br /></span></span></div><div><span><span>Sneezing is illegal in the Sanitary City. Also unlawful are sniffling, drooling, sweating, and sighing. Kissing! Verboten. All of the walls in the sanitary city are stainless, wiped in the hour. Sheets on the beds are made of paper, all the mattresses de feathered. Many people come to the sanitary city for refuge from bodily fluid. Menustration has been ended, Even insemination is mechanical. There is no fear in the sanitary city, no sorrow, no want, no unintended consequence. Nothing may swim from one life to another. Nothing may float from the breath to the ear.</span></span></div><div><br /></div><div>I enjoyed my visit to the boundless sky.....</div><div><span> </span></div><div><br /><span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvi6Y5ELbly9vseDgiqov4khUTbLC3jUafKvr7cIE9akVo0P9D5i_WOe-v5z1NzDT86MSY9WLtqLAgxJ42aDABh940C1nfCVtLRI8hx2nx_xm2y3Ti3xQSHPhWU6R0tZGQWsr5xDLwbRLld9H5mKi8OdugjPaho0wIkOnGqSgbqOvHzOD_4xomIIH47g/s595/9781941861882_p0_v2_s600x595.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="595" data-original-width="371" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvi6Y5ELbly9vseDgiqov4khUTbLC3jUafKvr7cIE9akVo0P9D5i_WOe-v5z1NzDT86MSY9WLtqLAgxJ42aDABh940C1nfCVtLRI8hx2nx_xm2y3Ti3xQSHPhWU6R0tZGQWsr5xDLwbRLld9H5mKi8OdugjPaho0wIkOnGqSgbqOvHzOD_4xomIIH47g/s320/9781941861882_p0_v2_s600x595.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><br /></span><b>ROCKED IN TIME:<i> Confessions of a Radical Theater Artist</i> </b>by Charles Degelman (Harvard Square Editions) is the third volume of a trilogy that began with<b> Gates of Eden,</b> and <b>A Bowl Full of Nails. </b>This <i><b>Resistance Trilogy</b></i> is set in the political and social movements of the 1960s and 70s in the United States. Fiction based on fact, this novel recreates the era from a variety of viewpoints of race, sex and class. The basis of the struggle, what was accomplished at what cost, and what it was like to be on the cultural ramparts of historical struggle are explored.</div><div><br /></div><div>Compared with France's short-lived June Rebellion of 1832, popularly immortalized as <b><i>Les Miz (</i></b>from Victor Hugo's <i><b>Les Miserables)</b></i>, resistance movements in the U.S. from 1960s-70s are rarely studied beyond a paragraph in U.S. history textbooks. The era is dismissed in pop culture memes or in narratives narrowed by current politics by subjects in Ken Burns' epic presentation. But this period of radical political and social change altered the course of a nation. Over <b>15 million people</b> participated in the only mass political movement in the U.S. that succeeded in ending an unpopular war. Every age, race and religion participated, and it was supported by broad participation by civic, political and military groups, such as The Vietnam Veterans Against the War. </div><div><br /></div><div>Fuelled by the escalation of the war and the growing power of the "military industrial complex" that profited from the war, as well as the inspiration of Martin Luther King's vision of the spiritual nature of freedom and "the storm of hope" to end racism and oppression. The huge national concensus, visible from President Johnson's window, was a major factor in ending the war. My favorite book in the trilogy,<b> ROCKED IN TIME</b>:<b style="font-style: italic;"> Confessions of a radical theater artist </b><span>is great fun</span><b style="font-style: italic;">. </b>It's the story of a cultural foot soldier, pre-internet, using his art to entertain, communicate the state of the nation, and rally the people. </div><div><br /></div><div><i><b>Les Miz </b></i> is loved for the fight of Law and the political power it serves, and human dignity. The hero of <b>ROCKED IN TIME</b> is similarly inspired by the powerful political plays of German playwright <b>Bertolt Brecht</b>, a kind of guiding light in his work with The San Francisco Mime Troupe, a '60s guerilla theater dedicated to toppling the war machine with pratfalls, punch lines and comic rebellion. He first encounters the legendary group in a Berkeley park. Wildly entertaining Comedia del Arte poked fun at the war and "Whiteface" vaudeville at racism. </div><div><br /></div><div>Our hero's apprenticeship in <b>ROCKED IN TIME</b> began with the founding director's grueling physical work-outs, which included classical mime and dance training for split-second timing. The author's talents as a musician, designer and performer were put to use in works that were performed in parks and universities, in street forums, concerts, formal auditoriums and political demonstrations. Venues could feature arrest and/or injury, so protecting personnel and equipment was a reason to be fast and nimble. </div><div><br /></div><div>Mummers marches enlightened audiences, as did controverial "gutter" hand puppets, which dramatized the Black Panthers' bids for housing and education. This serious theater troupe, exposed truths about society and of course had their own failings. There was a corp group, the director Vinnie and the beautiful compelling Olivia and newbies who became corp cadre, like the hero and the lovely dancer-actress Nikki. The politics of the troupe are fascinating, a communal command with a leader. A leading lady forced to deny her strength. While celebrating the 60s search for life's deeper purpose in authentic experience, the author shows that the nascent woman's movement had yet to break through.</div><div><br /></div><div> Alternative lifestyle experiments in the 60s-'70s led to breakthroughs in media, science, art, architecture, as well as "sex, drugs and rock and roll." Unfortunately, the excesses of the era are better known than the triumphs. Think of freewheeling hit-and-run theater with something serious to say, free stores with clothes, tools, furniture, food and sometimes housing provided by the antimaterialistic Diggers Commune. Think of a nation, linking arms in Marches in cities across the country. The Mime Troupe, an ancestor of Mabou Mines, has yet to be matched for its serious inspiration, effectivenes and pure fun. Read ROCKED IN TIME for vicarious FUN. </div><div><br /></div><div>S.W, </div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div> </div><div><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p></div>Susan I. Weinsteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08327145154416720160noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3686096258659236837.post-65445550666270203422022-10-03T11:27:00.065-04:002023-03-22T12:48:38.916-04:00INTERVIEW Shrink-Wrap radio with authors Greg Mahr MD and Chris L. Drake Ph.D on THE WISDOM OF DREAMS: Science, Synchronicity and the Language of the Soul (Routledge)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><blockquote class="yiv7478326176" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: start;" type="cite"><div class="yiv7478326176"><div class="yiv7478326176"><div class="yiv7478326176"><span class="yiv7478326176" style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><br class="yiv7478326176" />Here are the links to the podcast of Shrink-Wrap Radio's, David Van Nuys Interview with Greg Mahr and Chris L.Drake<br class="yiv7478326176" /></span></div></div></div></blockquote><p><a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/Cp_G5OLuPew/?igshid=MDJmNzVkMjY=" style="background-color: white; color: blue; cursor: pointer; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: start;" target="_blank">https://www.instagram.com/p/Cp_G5OLuPew/?igshid=MDJmNzVkMjY=</a></p><p><a class="yiv7478326176" fg_scanned="1" href="https://shrinkrapradio.com/838-greg-mahr-and-chris-drake-on-the-wisdom-of-dreams-science-synchronicity-and-the-language-of-the-soul/" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="background-color: white; color: blue; cursor: pointer; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: start;" target="_blank">https://shrinkrapradio.com/838-greg-mahr-and-chris-drake-on-the-wisdom-of-dreams-science-synchronicity-and-the-language-of-the-soul/</a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhqsz9hKKlzyvfSVpfmpZVdp_GBHJaAFrn7wZZpGldrDTeE1rCJSLo9GmDtf0MlIvPH-oLL0TKNW_9xtXO5P9Op5Qq9Z1Q3_Y7jvo9b7-gLRmIoHnVG5PRbVTNG-sWybrtU3o9-99zXxpf8AZ7riFs2qzBUipYn8FONT4ngWNyeJyN2Hwb5-ul2kU2YNg" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1291" data-original-width="975" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhqsz9hKKlzyvfSVpfmpZVdp_GBHJaAFrn7wZZpGldrDTeE1rCJSLo9GmDtf0MlIvPH-oLL0TKNW_9xtXO5P9Op5Qq9Z1Q3_Y7jvo9b7-gLRmIoHnVG5PRbVTNG-sWybrtU3o9-99zXxpf8AZ7riFs2qzBUipYn8FONT4ngWNyeJyN2Hwb5-ul2kU2YNg=w301-h400" width="301" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></b><span style="background: white; color: #464646; font-family: Poppins;">The Bhavachakra or Wheel of Life. </span>Y<span style="background: white; color: #464646; font-family: Poppins;"><span style="text-align: start;">ama is the monstrous being
holding the wheel in his hooves. Lord of the Hell
Realms, he represents death and impermanence.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b>Dreaming in Tibetan culture</b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b></b>Bon is the original, pre-Buddhist faith of the Tibetan people, and Dzogchen
Yoga is the highest form of Bon teachings. For centuries, Bon evolved and
blended with a form of Buddhism called Vajrayana. Both Tibetan Buddhism
and Bon coexist in the Himalayan region and in the Tibetan diaspora, and both acknowledge the important role of Dalai Lama as a religious and political leader. </p><p class="MsoNormal">Dreaming is greatly valued in Tibetan culture, as is what we would call
the unconscious ( Rinpoche, 1998 ). The cultivation of lucid dreaming is
an important part of Tibetan religious practice. In Tibet, the goal of lucid
dreaming is not transformation or renunciation but recognizing the way
things are, pure awareness without ego issues like seeking or fear.
Dzogchen seeks an “ordinary” awareness during wakefulness and while
being asleep. “Ordinary” awareness is a metaconscious awareness of consciousness itself. Dzogchen cultivates an “empty mind” through becoming
aware of our impermanence, developing “egolessness” and escaping from
the self-imposed prison of suffering that thoughts of past and future so often
bring. True awareness is light-hearted.
According to Dzogchen monks, as we become.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16px;">Excerpt from </span><b style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16px;">THE WISDOM OF DREAMS: <i>Science, Synchronicity and the Language of the Soul</i> by Greg Mahr and Christopher L. Drake (</b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16px;">Routledge hardcover available) For more information on the book and authors, https://thewisdomofdreamsbook.com</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">*******************************************************</span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">The rat in a maze<i>. </i></span></b><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> Let us consider the dream about a rat
rehearsing and sorting the day residue of his lab experiences in a dream</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">.
Research in rodents has shown that specific cells in the brain called “memory
place cells” fire in a pattern that mirrors a rat’s search behavior in a maze.
The exact pattern of behavior is then replayed during non-REM sleep, but at a
rate that is ten times faster than occurred during the actual maze running
while awake. Similarly, the same pattern of brain cell firing is seen during REM,
but the pattern is replayed in real time.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_-YMkQRtlCN8ycQLkDDwWYLqxNkqJjGba6ysnCw08qEdh0iIpmwx8wfQYFHr4xfW7YUFQ-_GXKOVNh1BCRXqsy8q_vplqKoevaXW1oS84viLo6VRfZq317V9obreQ7G1F1V9oM2x9clhMCnuryYC6GXJnvAuCBuNTlTRqtmA1FTBzS_8M6CSq2kB8YQ/s1080/thumbnail%20(5).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="737" data-original-width="1080" height="218" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_-YMkQRtlCN8ycQLkDDwWYLqxNkqJjGba6ysnCw08qEdh0iIpmwx8wfQYFHr4xfW7YUFQ-_GXKOVNh1BCRXqsy8q_vplqKoevaXW1oS84viLo6VRfZq317V9obreQ7G1F1V9oM2x9clhMCnuryYC6GXJnvAuCBuNTlTRqtmA1FTBzS_8M6CSq2kB8YQ/s320/thumbnail%20(5).jpg" width="320" /></a></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Figure 19.3 Detail from Hieronymus Bosch’s “Garden of
Earthly Delights.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Asleep in a cage, what might that difference mean?
Recent research has suggested that non-REM sleep is involved in memory
consolidation. In contrast, REM sleep connects memory with emotion and decides
which memories to save and discard. Perhaps the rat quickly replays his maze
runs in non-REM sleep, then plays them out more slowly to decide which ones are
important and “feel” right while dreaming. The rat’s dream may also involve
integrating previously unrelated memories and emotions that form novel
associations and, as human dreams do, an expression through connection to
archetypal imagery, that of the wise old man rat friend. Through REM dreaming,
we learn and make creative new associations. In this way, dreaming may provide
a path out of the maze, a key to the cage of human experience we sometimes find
ourselves in during wakefulness.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Excerpt from <b>THE WISDOM OF DREAMS: <i>Science,
Synchronicity and the Language of the Soul</i> by Greg Mahr and
Christopher L. Drake (</b>Routledge hardcover available) For more
information on the book and authors, https://thewisdomofdreamsbook.com<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">*****************************************</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><br /></span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><br /></span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Mother, I had a dream last night. </span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Stars
of the sky appeared,A meteorite of Anu fell next to me. </span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">I tried to lift it but it was too mighty for
me, I tried to turn it over, but I could not budge it . . . </span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Men clustered about
it, And kissed its feet as if it were a little baby. I loved it and was drawn to it, like one is
drawn to a woman.</span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span></b><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><b> Epic of Gilgamesh<span style="font-size: 10pt;"> (</span></b></span></i><i>Mesopotamian epic poem written about 4,000 years ago,one of the </i><i>first ever recorded.)</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 107%;">Gilgamesh’s Dream. </span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 107%;">The
stone that Gilgamesh dreams of, that the townspeople revere, is reminiscent of
the Black Stone in the Kaaba, one of Islam’s most sacred sites. This stone is a
meteorite as well and, according to the Islamic faith, was given to Abraham by
the angel Gabriel. Gilgamesh, touchingly, shares his dream with his mother.
This powerful man wants reassurance and comfort. He, like all of us, wants his
dream to be interpreted and understood. She, symbolically, is the great goddess
mother who understands all dreams; she is Ishtar, Isis, Eve, Lilith, Mary and
the Black Madonna. Gilgamesh yearns for relationship with this part of himself
that he does not yet know. The heavens sent a gift in the form of a shooting
star; it represents new life. The townspeople understand this, and worship the
object as a baby. This heaven-sent thing is beyond the power of even
all-powerful Gilgamesh. He cannot lift it or even roll it over. Gilgamesh is
drawn to this star-like object as one is drawn to someone one loves. He shares
the dream with his mother, a positive embodiment of the feminine. The feminine
is not gender, it is symbol. <span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjCV16mR1PF8bc4-tbmtc-t-_fz6x23FwYW5DwtKe78V7z30DMwW15woiOFDGUA5p-ZjOFO1GBA5TdZ3qJNdCrpnfjM_gv4lhz1bT5bLI7FJq8Nw2zzPKSiCOocBE777mXus2MgkxHSR9-7s-7D6qGxtgF73N3xjvCFuEWi5N0eVm9KFCLdGjDmmirJ9Q" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="711" data-original-width="975" height="233" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjCV16mR1PF8bc4-tbmtc-t-_fz6x23FwYW5DwtKe78V7z30DMwW15woiOFDGUA5p-ZjOFO1GBA5TdZ3qJNdCrpnfjM_gv4lhz1bT5bLI7FJq8Nw2zzPKSiCOocBE777mXus2MgkxHSR9-7s-7D6qGxtgF73N3xjvCFuEWi5N0eVm9KFCLdGjDmmirJ9Q" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Figure 27-1, A medieval image of the Black Stone </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Excerpt from <b>THE
WISDOM OF DREAMS: <i>Science, Synchronicity
and the Language of the Soul</i> by Greg Mahr and Christopher L. Drake <o:p></o:p></b></span></p></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Book is published by Routledge and is available now in hardcover.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">For more information on the book and authors, </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">https://thewisdomofdreamsbook.com</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">*********</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Towers and high places: Excerpt from <b>THE WISDOM OF DREAMS</b>: <i>Science, Synchronicity and the Language of the Soul</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtu_dh9ZRk2VAGj_Aq00Nd0LtXu1ox756xvzwhI0scjZ-k8OXZhln-OQ2APGRcOp0m6Ldhx_V7TyuBEUCFyiODhmzk4cYMWGykAmmTBaKbXNpw8tvBHP_BTTTrdm05iF7DMNuJ1_g_e6v0-89aosVBlhIsaMAAV4KULd_8zHdzqj_YsUVY-aIqndSNIA/s1080/Wtowerthumbn%20(3).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="878" data-original-width="1080" height="260" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtu_dh9ZRk2VAGj_Aq00Nd0LtXu1ox756xvzwhI0scjZ-k8OXZhln-OQ2APGRcOp0m6Ldhx_V7TyuBEUCFyiODhmzk4cYMWGykAmmTBaKbXNpw8tvBHP_BTTTrdm05iF7DMNuJ1_g_e6v0-89aosVBlhIsaMAAV4KULd_8zHdzqj_YsUVY-aIqndSNIA/s320/Wtowerthumbn%20(3).jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><p class="MsoNormal">Figure 25.2 “The Tower of Babel” by Peter Brueghel the
Younger.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Towers are man-made structures that rise heavenward. Freud saw towers as phallic symbols. Jung would have agreed
but saw the image as representing our inner drive toward life and growth. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Towers can represent spiritual development and ascent, or misguided hubris, as
in the story of the "Tower of Babel." </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">From towers and mountaintops, one can see
the world from afar; one is closer to God and can see the world through God’s
eyes. Moses returned from the top of Mt. Sinai with a new vision of humanity,
organized by rules of law and justice. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">https://thewisdomofdreamsbook.com</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgTu1Epk6b-3jCh1ITe6IMWJFg5Ew4m-2uecBRrHY4E8_ChLq8q_SqPIyD1fNwNs3i8nNhJp2nkjKwFPaRBCYFk4qny67bRATVpGOm2mRENTUTSTljwfa3quVvhYsWfA4cVP4ri1nJwCECAjOFI-LNI1fHWbTruKT3enEZ74k9oPiaZskJHILBhLvWgvQ" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="613" data-original-width="421" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgTu1Epk6b-3jCh1ITe6IMWJFg5Ew4m-2uecBRrHY4E8_ChLq8q_SqPIyD1fNwNs3i8nNhJp2nkjKwFPaRBCYFk4qny67bRATVpGOm2mRENTUTSTljwfa3quVvhYsWfA4cVP4ri1nJwCECAjOFI-LNI1fHWbTruKT3enEZ74k9oPiaZskJHILBhLvWgvQ" width="165" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">An initiate between Demeter and Persephone, from the Temple at Eleu. The Eleusinian mysteries as a model of a guided trip. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Descending into Mother Earth to restore life, initiates were bound to secrecy about the ritual under penalty of death, and the full details of the ceremonies remain unknown. Plato said, “the ultimate design of the Mysteries was to lead us back to the principles from which we were descended.” They were practiced without interruption for 2,000 years </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Guided trips have been an aspect of religious ceremonies in many cultures. Historically the most important of these were the Eleusinian Mysteries. Famous initiates include Socrates, Plato, Caesar, Hadrian and Marcus Aurelius. They walked the 19 kilometers from Athens to Eleusis called the Sacred Way. For much of early Greek history, the Sacred Way was the only true road in central Greece. In the course of a seven-day ritual, initiates enacted the story of Demeter and Persephone and drank “kykeon,” a barley-based drink </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Rituals hearken to a time when God visited us in our dreams, sacred places existed and we experienced the world with awe and reverence. The neurosis of modern man, according to the German theologian Hans Kung, is his inability to experience God. Perhaps, the resurgent popularity of psychedelic use in therapy relates to their ability when used correctly, to re-experience the world with wonder and awe. The sacred mountains, caves and springs where God spoke to us are gone, but we still yearn for them. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">From: THE WISDOM OF DREAMS: Science, Synchronicity and the Language of the Soul by Greg Mahr M.D. and Christopher L. Drake Ph.D. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https: //thewisdomofdreamsbook.com">https: //thewisdomofdreamsbook.com</a><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div></div><p></p><div class="CQmeg" style="background-color: white; border: none; display: flex; font-family: Favorit, "Helvetica Neue", HelveticaNeue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 540px;"><div class="Pr7R3" style="border: none; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 0; margin: 0px 0px 4px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 540px;"><a class="eqBap" href="https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=http%3A%2F%2Fbarnesandnoble.com&t=NTUyNjZhYjJjYTU0YWE2N2Q2ZGJjOWY4MjM4OWIwNjRiYmE2Yzk1NyxIbzBjbDA4aw%3D%3D&ts=1673123590" rel="noopener" style="background-color: rgba(var(--black),0.07); 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margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1195" data-original-width="1348" height="284" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4lz-S_AOpflvXMhYpcfpQYFex8hA6rbISWc_t73lb6Iy4Zt9sa3h6gQtho73OQbYguta919yp-Ypd9FW2-bNrF-7Tkg62y-DO7gkFeofOawaiwZRoJ3SGnYoJdnfXrVDaPX8N8PGePsq_qUREIdpwJY7hqWZdLPOFG7oSF_UdJjq5rGL-ANDizM77OA/s320/Ouroboros-benzene-wiki-Haltopub.png" width="320" /></a></div><p style="border: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 0.75em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: inherit;">From </span><span style="border: none; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 700; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">THE WISDOM OF DREAMS</span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: inherit;">: </span><em style="border: none; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Science, Synchronicity and the Language of the Soul </em><span style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: inherit;">by Greg Mahr M.D.& Chris Drake Ph.D. (Routledge) The ouroboros and the chemical structure of the benzene ring. Dream solutions often have archetypal elements. Kekulé did not dream of a carbon ring; he dreamt of a snake devouring its own tail. That image is an ancient symbol of life and rebirth, known as the ouroboros, first seen in ancient Egyptian art, then Greek art and eventually in alchemy and Gnosticism. Mr. Hyde is a brilliant depiction of our Shadow, the dark side of ourselves that Jung explicate</span></p><p style="border: none; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 0.75em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">*******************************************************</span></p><p style="border: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 0.75em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: inherit;">The mysterious journey of a red balloon through an inner space. An open door awaits. Paul Klee, RED BALLOON, 1922</span></p><p style="border: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 0.75em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p style="border: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 0.75em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWzIGwEUHBW0TdST8nvxZCgAOMJSRTsOOexUW7jlYVDx94cmWEPNiPDEf91CVHfzeEGrt-wIODREvy04lPR4HSkAVkBvSqJ7sZb_riWwFWMeDpxRGyQCN43SbUGZrcahCERKHRF6NOjrOuPWZ9axj9Ak0BqjOsCVbdUdo0ujbr-rG7CXjzA-38jq0CJg/s1220/Kleeimage%20(1).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1220" data-original-width="1170" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWzIGwEUHBW0TdST8nvxZCgAOMJSRTsOOexUW7jlYVDx94cmWEPNiPDEf91CVHfzeEGrt-wIODREvy04lPR4HSkAVkBvSqJ7sZb_riWwFWMeDpxRGyQCN43SbUGZrcahCERKHRF6NOjrOuPWZ9axj9Ak0BqjOsCVbdUdo0ujbr-rG7CXjzA-38jq0CJg/s320/Kleeimage%20(1).jpg" width="307" /></a></div><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: inherit;"><br /></span><p></p><p style="border: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 0.75em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: inherit;">“In this outstanding synthesis of dream science and depth psychology the authors’ expertise and love of the topic shine throughout. The book reminds the reader of the importance of dreams in human history and in everyday life and is an excellent introduction to dream work for therapists and the general public." – Bud Harris, PhD, Jungian Analyst, author of </span><i style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: inherit;">Sacred Selfishness</i><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: inherit;">, </span><i style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: inherit;">Into the Heart of the Feminine</i></p><p style="border: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 0.75em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">MODERN DREAM SCIENCE AND HISTORIC INTERPRETATION OF DREAMS are synthesized in THE WISDOM OF </span></b><b style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">DREAMS: <i>Science, Synchronicity and the Language of the Soul</i></span></b></p><p style="border: none; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 0.75em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> Sleep and dreaming are not separate processes, though scientists have limited the study of dreams to pure physiology. Yet in THE WISDOM OF DREAMS: Science, Synchronicity and the Language of the Soul (Routledge), authors Greg Mahr MD, psychiatrist, and Christopher L. Drake Ph.D, psychologist and sleep researcher, have achieved a remarkable synthesis of Dream Science and Depth Psychology. Their varied backgrounds have allowed them to achieve a unique integration of the interpretative and physiological models of dreaming.
The authors use modern sleep science, as well as Freudian and Jungian traditions to explore the meaning and purpose of dreams, especially Jung’s broadly based investigations of dreams through cultural images and practices. Islamic, Jewish and early Christian traditions have recognized the importance of dreams and dream interpretation. Lucid dreaming is prominent in Tibetan traditions, including the Tibetan Book of the Dead; as well as in shamanic traditions. In our time, modern science has finally recognized the importance of lucid dreaming, and lucid dreaming strategies are being explored as treatments for nightmares in PTSD.
THE WISDOM OF DREAMS also explains how the REM sleep process, which integrates memory and emotion, may have enabled primitive man to become the dominant species on earth. Other topics include end-of-life dreams, prophetic dreams, and cross-cultural dream analysis, as well as a new model for dream interpretation based on current neurophysiology, symbol formation and narrative structures. Dreams become comprehensible when they are examined in terms of narrative structure, plot, setting and characters.
Interestingly, though much of the world outside the U.S. appreciates the cultural, clinical and personal significance of dreams, our prejudice is toward "scientism" and pharmacological treatment. Therapists may write off dreams as meaningless stories or as "symptoms," rather than as messages from the unconscious. The objective of WISDOM is to both expand the "tool box" of professionals and provide new consciousness to all seekers. An awakening to a deeper purpose of life and more enlightened practice may result.
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Greg Mahr MD is Division Head of Consultation Liaison Psychiatry at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit. He teaches at Michigan State University Medical School and Wayne State University Medical School, where he has won awards as Teacher of the Year and Mentor of the year. Dr. Mahr has published multiple academic articles, as well as fiction in Flash Fiction and Intima, where his work was a contest winner. His poetry has appeared in multiple literary and medical journals, including Third Wednesday, Intima, Pulse, Peninsula Poets (where he was a contest winner), Psychological Perspectives, Academic Psychiatry and CHEST.
Christopher L. Drake, PhD, FAASM is a board-certified sleep specialist and internationally recognized expert in sleep and circadian rhythm disorders. He is Professor of Medicine at the Michigan State College of Human Medicine and serves as the Director of Sleep Research for Henry Ford Health where he oversees NIH and Industry clinical trials in insomnia, narcolepsy, idiopathic hypersomnia, sleep apnea, and depression. He is the Insomnia Section Editor for Principles and Practice of Sleep Medicine and serves as Associate Editor for SLEEP, Sleep Advances, and Behavioral Sleep Medicine. He has authored over 200 peer reviewed publications in the field.
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</i></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>https://thewisdomofdreamsbook.com/</b></span><b style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: inherit; white-space: pre-wrap;">
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<p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p></div>Susan I. Weinsteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08327145154416720160noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3686096258659236837.post-33200950410899052542022-09-23T16:41:00.010-04:002022-10-02T10:11:26.589-04:00Life pinned to a specific even luminous window---Katrinka Moore's DIMINUENDO, Carla Sarett's SHE HAS VISIONS, Marc Zegan's LYON STREET<p>Poetry is to me the most difficult of literary forms.I love the narrative form. Poems, like a thread meander through the pages. Life is pinned to a specific even luminous window of time and place--in a poem. </p><p>Katrinka Moore's <b><i>Diminuendo</i></b> (Pelekinesis), Carla Sarett's <b><i>She Has Visions</i></b> (Main Street Rag), Marc Zegan's<b><i> Lyon Street </i></b>(Bamboo Dart Press) could not otherwise be grouped together, though all are narrative poems. Moore's work happens in a forest, with an unnamed protagonist who may be human or a sprite. Sarett gives voice to a love of perfection, a marriage so suited that its untimely end and the shock of grief relives the beauty. Mark Zegan's book looks at an eternal passage of youth in a city for all time.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhXBJdF1AbWR9hXvXrvu7-J5vjsPovdj7LAiDpQ5wR-9YM635S3D7WbZCU2e8HUpu-gk-LqckPMN1glQzskuPAfjYMRdfD8H4guva8jr_4AVnHsJVK70PGUutr0g7H2xDFQ_KmRpUVKN9AH-ooiO4830oS6IzYLQC8B3SOeSlVr7-0jtq7Du_j9kmY5w/s1151/katrinka_moore-diminuendo-front_cover+copy.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1151" data-original-width="750" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhXBJdF1AbWR9hXvXrvu7-J5vjsPovdj7LAiDpQ5wR-9YM635S3D7WbZCU2e8HUpu-gk-LqckPMN1glQzskuPAfjYMRdfD8H4guva8jr_4AVnHsJVK70PGUutr0g7H2xDFQ_KmRpUVKN9AH-ooiO4830oS6IzYLQC8B3SOeSlVr7-0jtq7Du_j9kmY5w/s320/katrinka_moore-diminuendo-front_cover+copy.jpg" width="209" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td></tr></tbody></table><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlmIEUV0h4J9BHrcyTD4TkMXWI5RqaPWxfjIFeI7K9g8gvQmIOUpEGdkJjfMoICbYrXFwlWWCrAn5IFk7wAphaArs0-DkdjeckHs4MGsZ20m-wmWyro37-LTWg_OL75JSraH0RTkNYls_em58d6RHBvCOAmLECWAUHbfjBcNdmLTdtOVWW65McSok1MQ/s307/CvrSheHasVisions_bookstore-200x307.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="307" data-original-width="200" height="307" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlmIEUV0h4J9BHrcyTD4TkMXWI5RqaPWxfjIFeI7K9g8gvQmIOUpEGdkJjfMoICbYrXFwlWWCrAn5IFk7wAphaArs0-DkdjeckHs4MGsZ20m-wmWyro37-LTWg_OL75JSraH0RTkNYls_em58d6RHBvCOAmLECWAUHbfjBcNdmLTdtOVWW65McSok1MQ/s1600/CvrSheHasVisions_bookstore-200x307.jpg" width="200" /></a></p><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuSbUHPrER-3FSllWVksM-XQ6N48odRYTpiiVoLq47wEyY3OYxCuXmTKAqRlF_hqm_gwdUV3zm8xxJBLCdvoVc_a0U77JjbuYncQqTw8ceWl_OSjQo_-jWhhBuQXMeK2qYNgQuO_ammv18kcBbSY_RBoQdKrJ113DbxO0Uq55ZPsCe261O030qh2zjJg/s1360/Lydon718gJiWDr0L.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1360" data-original-width="1360" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuSbUHPrER-3FSllWVksM-XQ6N48odRYTpiiVoLq47wEyY3OYxCuXmTKAqRlF_hqm_gwdUV3zm8xxJBLCdvoVc_a0U77JjbuYncQqTw8ceWl_OSjQo_-jWhhBuQXMeK2qYNgQuO_ammv18kcBbSY_RBoQdKrJ113DbxO0Uq55ZPsCe261O030qh2zjJg/w320-h320/Lydon718gJiWDr0L.jpg" width="320" /></a></p><p><br /></p><p><b>DIMINUENDO </b></p><p><b>Sensei (</b>first appeared in<b> </b><i style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Otoliths)</i><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 12px;">.</span></p><p class="yiv3088081259MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: "New serif"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0in 1in; padding: 0px;">Finally the milkweeds split </p><p class="yiv3088081259MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: "New serif"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0in 1in; padding: 0px;">and silk-winged seeds slow-</p><p class="yiv3088081259MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: "New serif"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0in 1in; padding: 0px;">stream breeze-borne</p><p class="yiv3088081259MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: "New serif"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0in 1in; padding: 0px;"> </p><p class="yiv3088081259MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: "New serif"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0in 1in; padding: 0px;">A few come to ground burrow</p><p class="yiv3088081259MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: "New serif"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0in 1in; padding: 0px;">doze until spring</p><p class="yiv3088081259MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: "New serif"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0in 1in; padding: 0px;"> </p><p class="yiv3088081259MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: "New serif"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0in 1in; padding: 0px;"><i>Who can remain still</i></p><p class="yiv3088081259MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: "New serif"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0in 1in; padding: 0px;"><i>until the moment of action</i></p><p class="yiv3088081259MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: "New serif"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0in 1in; padding: 0px;"> </p><p class="yiv3088081259MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: "New serif"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0in 1in; padding: 0px;">Hesitation an idea</p><p class="yiv3088081259MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: "New serif"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0in 1in; padding: 0px;">in shadow patience</p><p class="yiv3088081259MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: "New serif"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0in 1in; padding: 0px;">of a tree a boulder</p><p class="yiv3088081259MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: "New serif"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0in 1in; padding: 0px;"> </p><p class="yiv3088081259MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: "New serif"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0in 1in; padding: 0px;">Light in its own time</p><p class="yiv3088081259MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: "New serif"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0in 1in; padding: 0px;">falls and fills fills</p><p class="yiv3088081259MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: "New serif"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0in 1in; padding: 0px;">and trembles at the edges</p><p class="yiv3088081259MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: "New serif"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0in 1in; padding: 0px;"> </p><p class="yiv3088081259MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: "New serif"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0in 1in; padding: 0px;">How did Sensei teach</p><p class="yiv3088081259MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: "New serif"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0in 1in; padding: 0px;">us novices to dance</p><p class="yiv3088081259MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: "New serif"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0in 1in; padding: 0px;">I think she said <i>wait</i></p><p><b>SHE HAS VISIONS</b></p><p><b>Cactus Rose</b> </p><p>You knew the rock collector in me</p><p> How I prized
Black glass
From volcanoes</p><p>Shimmering pyrite</p><p>And mica schist </p><p><br /></p><p>In The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence </p><p>That lonely blossom
Against all the wildness Made me cry </p><p>Every single time
We sat together </p><p>Every single time </p><p><br /></p><p>My brother’s name </p><p>Every single time </p><p>Over and over </p><p>Like the cactus rose </p><p>We saw together </p><p>When I was known</p><p><br /></p><p><b>LYON STREET</b></p><p><b>North Beach</b></p><div style="text-align: left;">tonight, I’m a mourner<br />for when the keystone korner<br />was on vallejo<br />where I heard art blakey play<br />and denny zeitlin say<br />“I’m gonna do a little number<br />with charlie hayden on the bass”<br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">tonight, I turn and remember<br />the spaghetti factory, one december<br />flamenco dancers stompin’ in the back<br />ruffled dresses, black heels goin’ clack<br />against the faded floor<br />memory a paramour<br />fadin’ in the mist</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />of the one I kissed<br />at the savoy tivoli<br />now, only reverie<br />lost in the grant street bustle<br />a schlock shop hustle<br />across from the post card store<br />selling remembrances of evermore</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />in the land where jack-o-lopes play<br />giant bunnies hop away<br />edgerton’s bullets stop, they say</div><div style="text-align: left;">as I try to grapple
with what was that’s actual <br />and what’s at best</div><div style="text-align: left;">blue smoke curlin’ </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">at the old Trieste. </div><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><p></p><div><br /></div>Susan I. Weinsteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08327145154416720160noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3686096258659236837.post-8676222024979895072022-08-08T17:41:00.008-04:002022-09-12T09:43:45.090-04:00 A RIVER'S GIFTS: The Mighty Elwha River Reborn. Congrats Patricia Newman! NEW Essay on gratitude to the environment and education<p style="text-align: left;"></p><h1 style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="303" data-original-width="257" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVfdlvkPRrJtV7-aH3tBhviEsjM50Pk6NxTjhyHI4N0Pxsk_jBkT4jNm6tmw9H_0g6DWGHAud4uiF9c_ReL-Xm0PD26XA4_pdRH_gJVWncx6pBs-VFeKAWnB1B7YkNaRJx9a4N_U0Z0MWTogFEDlkWt0EIwuDHapYyjibzr22QjcYHi1dDOTlOCynGhg/w339-h400/ARivercover.png" width="339" /></h1><p class="MsoNormal"><v:shapetype coordsize="21600,21600" filled="f" id="_x0000_t75" o:preferrelative="t" o:spt="75" path="m@4@5l@4@11@9@11@9@5xe" stroked="f">
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<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 106%;"><i><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: medium;"> <o:p></o:p></span></i></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: medium;"><i>A River’s Gifts: The Mighty Elwha River Reborn</i> by Patricia Newman, shows how a river, dammed for a century, was restored by a determined community.</span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: medium;">NEW ESSAY by Patricia Newman on gratitude to the environment and children's science education. </span></b><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">: </span><a class="yiv1134827379" href="https://scicomm.plos.org/2022/09/12/what-does-gratitude-have-to-do-with-the-environment/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" shape="rect" style="background-color: white; color: blue; cursor: pointer; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;" target="_blank">https://scicomm.plos.org/2022/09/12/what-does-gratitude-have-to-do-with-the-environment/</a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">A River's Gifts: The Mighty Elwha River Reborn.</b><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"> By Patricia Newman. Illus. by Natasha Donovan Sept. 2022. 48p. Lerner/Millbrook, $31.99 (9781541598706). Gr. 3–6. 639.90979</span></p><p class="yiv3383672311MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">The Elwha River flows north through the Pacific Northwest of the U.S. and is the traditional lifeblood of the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe, "the Strong People.” In the 1790s, Sibert Honor Book author Newman (<i>Sea Otter Heroes</i>, 2017) explains, colonists came, cleared the wild plants from the riverbank, and cut down the trees to make homes. Worst of all, in 1910, a dam was built on the river to create electricity—electricity not provided to the Strong People—that flooded their land and killed the salmon and other wildlife. Newman then describes unexpected change as the Strong People fought to have dams on the Elwha removed, a fight they ultimately won, and the careful process of working to safely restore the river ecosystem to its prior health. Effectively using a compelling story to illustrate the concept of rewilding, this informative, striking presentation is powerful in its hopeful story that integrates history, environmental appreciation, and explanations of the interdependence of species in a landscape and the politics necessary to save them. With inset fact boxes on the Strong People’s creation myth and related themes, and with all set on a backdrop of Donovan’s beautiful pen, ink, and computer-generated images of the river, its people, and its wildlife, Newman could have another award winner on her hands. — Henrietta Verma</p><p class="yiv3383672311MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"> <span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Patricia
Newman, activist and Sibert Medal Honoree, writes inspiring nonfiction books
for children that show how actions for environmental justice can ripple around
the world.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Free-flowing rivers nourish
our environment and more than 1700 dams have been removed in the U.S., since
1912.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">In </span><b style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">A River’s Gifts</b><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">: </span><b style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"><i>The
Mighty Elwha River Reborn</i></b><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> (Sept. 6, Lerner Publishing), for the first
time, she tells the story of how this free-flowing river was restored.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 106%;"> The book explains how the original ecosystem
of the river, which fed salmon, plants, trees, elk and The Strong People, was
destroyed in the 1800s by frontiersmen, who brought the miracle of electricity
through the new dam. It also shows how human relationships with the river
evolved over time. As the dam became obsolete, a desire to restore the river
eventually brought together the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe (The Strong People),
local townspeople, environmentalists and even Pres. George Bush.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 106%;"> A
River’s Gifts</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 106%;">: <b><i>The Mighty Elwha River Reborn</i></b>,
a 2022 Junior Library Guild Selection, is illustrated by Natasha Donovan, a
native Métis, who lives in northern Washington, like the Klallam Tribe. There
is a feeling of "home" about her visuals, which vividly show the work
behind the restoration. Scientists study how the original river flowed,
geologists learn how to refurbish the riverbed, engineers figured out how best
to dismantle the dam, and biologists identified the original plants, trees and,
of course, the salmon, which all hoped would return with the river. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 106%;"> A River's Gifts</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 106%;">:
<b><i>The
Mighty Elwha River Reborn</i></b>, is a wonderful conservation story that
children can enjoy with hands-on learning, such as classroom "stream"
tables and identifying river basins near them. This book, a new classic, joins
Newman's previous award-winning books; <b>Planet
Ocean (</b>Orbis Picture Award Recommend, The Best Children’s Books of 2021), <b>Sea</b> <b>Otter Heroes </b>(Robert F. Sibert Honor, ALA Notable, Green Earth Book
Award); <b>Eavesdropping on Elephants</b>
(NSTA/CBC Outstanding Science Trade Book), <b>Zoo
Scientists to the Rescue </b>(Eureka! Gold Award, Banks Street Center
Children's Books of the Year);<b> Plastic,
Ahoy</b>! (Green Earth Book Award, AAAS/Subaru Science Books and Film Prize,
finalist)<b>; </b>and<b> Neema's Reason to Smile </b>(Parents' Choice Recommended).<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 106%;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgBr1sjNCbaspWwsSzpjanvh5FElwBJCkyA8UtpYvEvETD08mKSwF6eUKJNSyx2p14sAMKdG5VgG8i_wBJuoLoJn2ybmbLaKCCHw5qtuVwyJhj9e5mFpBWwRzg8nJrmi6OjQq_aQzo9dBlw9-QP1sf1hWQDGlep4ZwuDHX6dO2zbVznP2hy1O32-k1OUQ" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="599" height="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgBr1sjNCbaspWwsSzpjanvh5FElwBJCkyA8UtpYvEvETD08mKSwF6eUKJNSyx2p14sAMKdG5VgG8i_wBJuoLoJn2ybmbLaKCCHw5qtuVwyJhj9e5mFpBWwRzg8nJrmi6OjQq_aQzo9dBlw9-QP1sf1hWQDGlep4ZwuDHX6dO2zbVznP2hy1O32-k1OUQ" width="320" /></a></div><br /><b style="background-color: white; font-family: "Times New Roman";">Book trailer: </b><a fg_scanned="1" href="https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fyoutu.be%2FwEAseYWS18Y&data=05%7C01%7C%7Cbbad34fdb057432d053708da4feee268%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637910184690283763%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=TBN5BD9Os0b6XfpIF8heb8ULK3JDut%2FsfkPtbRVX%2Bfc%3D&reserved=0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" style="background-color: white; color: blue; cursor: pointer; font-family: "Times New Roman";" target="_blank"><span style="color: #0563c1;"><b><u>https://youtu.be/wEAseYWS18Y</u></b></span></a><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/patricia-newman/a-rivers-gifts/">https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/patricia-newman/a-rivers-gifts/</a><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b>A River's Gifts. . A desecration. A rebirth</b>.</p><p class="MsoNormal">Writing in stirring verse, Newman explains that in what is now Washington state, the Elwha River flowed north to the sea, nourishing the salmon that came each year to lay eggs. There were enough salmon to feed the birds, the animals, and the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe, the Strong People, for thousands of years. But when Europeans arrived in the 1790s, they cut down ancient trees to build houses near the river and wrote laws declaring that Strong People couldn't fish or own land. In 1890, dams for generating electricity were built, effectively destroying the river and keeping the salmon from returning. In 1940, Olympic National Park expanded its boundaries to include the dams, and the Strong People worked together to restore the lost river and its habitat. The removal of two dams—the Glines Canyon Dam and Elwha Dam—took years of perseverance and cooperation among the Strong People, the National Park Service, and scientists. It was 2011 when the dams were finally removed; several years later, the rushing river called the salmon home again. Donovan's illustrations, rendered in pencil and ink and digitally, are dynamic, with thick black outlines that pop off the page. Sidebars elaborate on elements introduced in the main text. Beautifully illustrated and informative, this story conveys the fragility of our environment and the need to protect it. An illuminating glimpse at the Elwha River and its gifts."—starred, Kirkus Reviews</p><p class="MsoNormal">Here are some links to buy. <span face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 13.3333px;"> </span><a fg_scanned="1" href="https://lernerbooks.com/shop/show/21801%20and%20Bookshop.org" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" shape="rect" style="background-color: white; color: blue; cursor: pointer; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;" target="_blank">https://lernerbooks.com/shop/show/21801</a> and<span face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 13.3333px;"> </span><a fg_scanned="1" href="https://bookshop.org/books/a-river-s-gifts-the-mighty-elwha-river-reborn/9781541598706" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" shape="rect" style="background-color: white; color: blue; cursor: pointer; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;" target="_blank">https://bookshop.org/books/a-river-s-gifts-the-mighty-elwha-river-reborn/9781541598706</a><span face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 13.3333px;">.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal">CONGRATS!! A RIVER'S GIFTS: The Mighty Elwha Reborn. Published today! Patricia Newman, author & Natasha Donovan, illustrator. Here how the salmon feeds the river: 1-adults swim from ocean to their river to spawn 2-Birds and predators follow, 3-after adult salmon spawn and die, they fertilize the soil to feed plankton, trees, algae. Plants feed grazers elk, deer and insects., 4-newly hatched salmon feed on insects, 5-when salmon are old enough they journey to sea to gather nutrients and cycle begins again.</p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhnGFXzfoNwPEqrhmdGoN46IJAUQSDbov4SWd7yt22Xf6PDSA_eXB4QeIAckqEZV1BzJwMe81z3F1fBgTbVeyb3KgVEQ3kgXmZpbhIrp_eGznY80F1_2FroyBf3_6URSEgKMOQkzSTpIuSE3a7ut_6I29sftuL82WD17j5K4m0Fsq2Rx8wWH7HMI9WIZQ" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="524" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhnGFXzfoNwPEqrhmdGoN46IJAUQSDbov4SWd7yt22Xf6PDSA_eXB4QeIAckqEZV1BzJwMe81z3F1fBgTbVeyb3KgVEQ3kgXmZpbhIrp_eGznY80F1_2FroyBf3_6URSEgKMOQkzSTpIuSE3a7ut_6I29sftuL82WD17j5K4m0Fsq2Rx8wWH7HMI9WIZQ" width="197" /></a></div><br />https://www.patriciamnewman.com/books/for more information.<p></p><p></p></div>Susan I. Weinsteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08327145154416720160noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3686096258659236837.post-61175647407067859082022-07-27T15:29:00.092-04:002022-08-08T16:39:43.670-04:00What's a human life Worth? Alice Feiring, TO FALL IN LOVE, DRINK THIS. Rowan Hooper, HOW TO SAVE THE WORLD FOR JUST A TRILLION. Edward Einhorn, IPHIGENIA IN AULIS<div class="separator"><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;">Like many pivotal times in human history, say global plagues and wars, when civilizations rise and fall, when there is a question whether humanity will survive, human life is somehow cheapened. Between the rise of gun culture in the U.S. and society's tragic acquiescence, and the sudden devaluation of women's lives, I found myself wondering, "what's a human life worth in these times? I found a memoir, a "how-to," and a an ancient play translated into a very moving graphic novel. For what it's worth, read on.</div></div><div class="separator"><div class="separator" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbA7vtBnTLOabSuVT4gNr6bVTsKbKxeIYV0Fqfl5h3xvUftz_PPpj6fbL7Q8k49XoJofY3-SdG5HIaySrLIAHyGnU3NiXeDqYrAwbcgSjhAqu5A2dptNNaRIEN8i6WY8J1PK2JkAnmyZuSKr61QXpcUMyMmH3ENabMm4nbszO4YJYsUhjHr7yLoXATIg/s2475/world9781615198283.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /></a><br /></div></div><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6s0OMEjDdXgfQzY7tzvoQDMS-1vfRpEYei9WowEfQ2oiQbJbVo0naQEolui2n25hXGTrTskjMKl1ydqyTZr_EkDxq9h0snBCyD-vPY_H9D5RG_twPdvjQpeVBvwFuWzpWmMmXNKUoj0aNlx_ZVwdhoXPLc8EO_5B3dljdrVfnsp1y1qGHCEJnK4etWA/s499/Wine41YL57z6jnL._SX329_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="331" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6s0OMEjDdXgfQzY7tzvoQDMS-1vfRpEYei9WowEfQ2oiQbJbVo0naQEolui2n25hXGTrTskjMKl1ydqyTZr_EkDxq9h0snBCyD-vPY_H9D5RG_twPdvjQpeVBvwFuWzpWmMmXNKUoj0aNlx_ZVwdhoXPLc8EO_5B3dljdrVfnsp1y1qGHCEJnK4etWA/s320/Wine41YL57z6jnL._SX329_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg" width="212" /></a><span style="font-size: medium;"><span><span><span style="text-align: left;"> </span><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">I was certainly in the mood for Alice Feiring's coming of age story punctuated by very singular organic wines, <b>To Fall in Love, Drink This: </b><i><b>A wine writer's memoir</b> </i>(Scribner)<b>.</b> A memoir about learning to drink seemed a gimmick for a wine writer, except this connoisseur's education is like a painter learning his palette. </span></span></span><span><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">Her narrative searches for meaning in light-dark encounters with family, lovers, writing and publishers. She finds sharp, unexpected, blissful, even </span></span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">incongruous flavors in vineyards with wine-makers dedicated to making natural wines without additives. (Natural </span><span style="font-family: times; text-align: left;">wine making has been a maverick mission, considering the wine industry's long-time endorsement of additives.) </span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span><span style="font-family: times; text-align: left;">Feiring's wine-makers; traditionalist women, men alone, couples, mostly make wine for the love of it, hoping for money like this wine writer. </span></span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">Some vineyards have ancient family roots, others import them. Fun to ramble with Feiring to Chile, France, Vermont, Italy, Spain, the Czech Republic, Georgia (the Country), </span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: medium; text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">Interspersed with work excursions is a personal life. There's her origins in Brooklyn, before she escaped to her ramshackle 670sq ft apartment. Feiring's family was a house divided, her father a swinging 1960s libertine, her mother a religious zealot. But when her father finally left, her mother never got over the loss. Yet Feiring was raised to be a traditional woman with marriage her destiny. This was derailed by her sensitive "nose" (inherited from a devout grandfather) which gave her subtleties in smell and taste others missed. She didn't have the heart for her mother’s Manischewitz or her dad’s gin but natural pure </span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">wines. And she choose to write about what she loved. But her girlhood began full of failure, the taste of yearning and the subtlety of surprise. Despite growing up with bad Burgundy, she later found her desire as an adult with a Jura wine, Benedicte et Stephanie Tissot Singular</span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large; text-align: left;">, </span><b style="font-size: large; text-align: left;"><i>"This wine seemed like a charming innocent who went off to the Sorbonne, smoked fiendishly, danced with frenzy, and yet could perform a flawless pirouette, and so clever, getting rid of bat guano or rewiring a house is just in a day's work."</i> </b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;">From a harrowing girlhood trip to the east Village, to rescuing her mother in Long Beach during Superstorm Sandy, Feiring's personal adventures are full of courage and a desire for love. Unsurprisingly, the men she loved well are linked with appropriate wines. And the choice is sometimes pathos. On her beloved brother's last night on earth, she brings him a sublimely flavorful wine, aged on the "skin" of a grape. Mitsvane grape<b>. Marina Mitsvane, Kartli, Georgia</b>. </span></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">During New York City's Covid lockdown, Alice Feiring found solace in flavor over buzz. Often she swills and spits out wine, because it is the weight, nuances, unexpected spice she desires. </span></span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">And, she says, only natural wines are worth her liver.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: times;"> Did her mother ever come to understand her “daughter who drinks?” Unsure. But her life was worth experiencing for its poignancy and pleasure. </span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span> <span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span></span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span><span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span>*****</span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2475" data-original-width="1650" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbA7vtBnTLOabSuVT4gNr6bVTsKbKxeIYV0Fqfl5h3xvUftz_PPpj6fbL7Q8k49XoJofY3-SdG5HIaySrLIAHyGnU3NiXeDqYrAwbcgSjhAqu5A2dptNNaRIEN8i6WY8J1PK2JkAnmyZuSKr61QXpcUMyMmH3ENabMm4nbszO4YJYsUhjHr7yLoXATIg/s320/world9781615198283.jpg" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; text-align: center;" width="213" /></span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: right;"></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">"Shows the world's most intractable problems might not actually be intractable. A fascinating, thought-provoking work."</span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">Elizabth Kolbert, Pulitzer prize-winning author of <i><b>The Sixth Extinction</b></i></span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: right;"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Think we need to give up the climate fight? That it's useless, because the apocalypse is already upon us? Think again says Rowan Hooper, sr. editor at <i>New Scientist</i>, who's published In <i>The Wall Street Journal, </i>WIRED and <i>The Economist</i>. </span><span style="font-size: medium;"> In <b>How to Save the World for Just a Trillion Dollars </b>(published by THE EXPERIMENT), he shows a Trillion is not so much, considering sums spent in our national budgets and the sums billionaires burn, throwing their weightlessmess into outer space.<i> Read these words</i>--<b>There are problems we can fix for this sum. </b></span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span>Hooper's shopping cart is well researched as he describes the relative costs and benefits of his choices. There are ten megaprojects that might save the world or advance humankind. <i>Know</i>--</span></span><b style="font-family: times;">We already have the science and the money.</b><span style="font-family: times;"> Some b</span><span style="font-family: times;">ig ticket items to consider; curing all disease, s</span><span style="font-family: times;">aving life on Earth, settling off planet, redesigning our planet, finding aliens, turning the world Vegan. Play </span><span style="font-family: times;">the trillionaire with Hooper. Consider his take on priorities and "bargains" under a trillion. <i>Gems below, I liked. Also of interest why geological engineering is a nonstarter, yet seeding clouds with salt water..."</i></span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white;"><b style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><br /></b></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white;"><b style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">"The argument for spending the trillion on universal education and cash transfers is irresistable but if we don't put the 1 trillion to tackling climate change, starting right now, the future for the world's poorest people, will be far worse than the present..."</b></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white;"><div dir="ltr"><b><br /></b></div></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><b>"Half a trillion dollars spent on ecosystem renewal won't save us from climate change. But if we got it right, simply letting forests grow is a powerful method for capturing carbon and increasing biodiversity and giving us time to get the rest of our society decarbonized..."</b></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><b>Why developing the moon makes more sense than Mars. Why 19 billion to the African Space Agency to establish the Terran Alliance for the Moon is a useful idea for NASA.</b></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">I found this book incredibly hopeful.<b> Something can be done NOW.</b> People have studied this, we can afford it, and a plan can be made. I am grateful to this author that he put it together. <i><b> H</b></i></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: times;"><i><b>umans are the only primates stupid enough to destroy their own environment.</b></i></span><span style="font-family: times;"><i> </i></span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white;"><i style="font-family: times;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">If we evolve more quickly, we might yet pull this out.</span></b></i></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">This book should be on the reading lists of schools, corporate handbooks, <b>Congress.</b> Voters might receive invitations to read. Saving the Earth means overcoming our lack of political and social will. <b><i>The future is here, big-brained primates? We can do it! </i></b></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> <span> </span><span> </span> *****</span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEio6DXo4Z3FqgbPh3yCCgUV2x4uDHnkgiIVFVrlFMkUcklH_nNiB2mm_IdQ7O7N-Le3kEtOZwr3vBD3JC2JX-hCKz1xk6ykdQe4RB709qEWiAygGpC_9ftBfJxZX3MEqfvH-qxkaKMHPvuHw-I3pUqpxWAfTlP77dkE2p5RXclpfNo3Mu5OXcYLLthMkQ" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1357" data-original-width="904" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEio6DXo4Z3FqgbPh3yCCgUV2x4uDHnkgiIVFVrlFMkUcklH_nNiB2mm_IdQ7O7N-Le3kEtOZwr3vBD3JC2JX-hCKz1xk6ykdQe4RB709qEWiAygGpC_9ftBfJxZX3MEqfvH-qxkaKMHPvuHw-I3pUqpxWAfTlP77dkE2p5RXclpfNo3Mu5OXcYLLthMkQ" width="160" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-family: times;">Edward Einhorn is a playwright, director, translator, librettist, novelist. He is also the Artistic Director of Untitled Theater Company, whose productions are uniquely engaged with ideas. Whether they come from science, philosophy or the classics, this is moving theater. Works can be </span></span></span><span style="font-family: times; text-align: left;">original, provocative, meaningful, even obtuse yet entertaining. </span><span style="font-family: times; text-align: justify;"> </span></span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white;"><div dir="ltr"><span><span style="font-family: times;"><div dir="ltr" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: times; text-align: justify;"><br /></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: times;">Einhorn t</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">ranslated Euripides' text and his interpretation resonates in 2022, when not only the rights of women but their value as human beings has been challenged by a patriarchal political movement. </span>At issue in the play </span></span></span><b style="font-family: times; text-align: justify;">IPhigenia in Aulli</b><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"> is the sacrifice of a girl, <b>Iphigenia,</b> to benefit a male war machine. The leader, <b>Agamennon</b>, is her father. This is an explosive primal story told in a beautifully rendered graphic novel. </span></span></span><span><span style="font-family: times;">This version of the classic, </span></span><span style="font-family: times;">makes her acquiescence plausible in the context. The fact she gives her life for her father, not Helen, is a patriarchal tragedy. Achilles is a surprise here, willing to refute the “right” of her dad. </span></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></span></span></div><span>Einhorn explains: "This play script/graphic novel hybrid version of<b> Iphigenia in Aulis</b>, which I translated and adapted, has art by Eisner-Award winner <b>Eric Shanower. </b> It was just published by Image Comics. I think of it as sort of a play on paper, another way of making theater while not in the theater. </span><span>We will be putting out an audio version of it in the Fall."</span></span></span></div><div dir="ltr"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span><span><span style="font-family: times;"><div dir="ltr"><span>Below are samples. Quick plot points. </span><b>Agamennon </b><span>and </span><b>Menelaus</b><span> are brothers. </span><b>Helen, Menelaus's wife, </b><span>was so beautiful many men wanted her. Her father made them all pledge that after she chose her husband (</span><b>Menelaus),</b><span> they would fight any man who interferred with his right to his wife. When </span><b>Helen</b><span> ran off to Troy with </span><b>Paris</b><span>, an army was assembled to bring her back. Led by <b>Agamennon</b>, it's waiting in the first picture for his sacrifice to set sail.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><br /></span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; text-align: justify;"><span><span style="font-family: times;">In Einhorn's introduction to <b>IPhigenia in Aullis</b>, he explains how this book came about.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span>"I have always envisioned this project as a play on paper. When I </span>was young and didn’t have the opportunity to go to the theater too often, I would often just read scripts. Sometimes, to envision them, I would take toy figures and act them out. But mostly, I would have to imagine what the play would be, if I saw it."</div><div dir="ltr" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: justify;"><span><br /></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: justify;"><span>In a used bookstore I found a copy of Eugene </span><span>Ionesco’s <b>The Bald Soprano</b> in a “typographical interpretation” </span><span>by Robert Massin, using Nicolas Bataille’s Paris production as an </span><span>inspiration. It was a revelation. The book used black and white </span><span>images of the actors from the show, a variety of typefaces, and </span><span>some brilliant graphic design to portray not only the words of the </span><span>script but also Ionesco’s chaotic, playful style. I felt like the book </span><span>was a show in itself, in many ways equal to seeing a high quality </span><span>performance."</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: justify;"><span>I wanted to try a similar experiment. When Eric </span><span>told me he was interested in combining his <b>Age of Bronze </b>graphic </span><span>images with a new translation of the play, I jumped at it. My </span><span>translation was produced at La MaMa, in New York, which gave me </span><span>a chance to develop it. </span><span>Interpretive moments abound throughout the book. Eric drew </span><span>the original illustrations for <b>Age of Bronze</b> and suggested the ones he </span><span>thought would be most appropriate for this book. I helped arrange </span><span>those illustrations (and a few he didn’t suggest), in order to express </span><span>what I felt was the thrust of the emotion in the moment. In many </span><span>ways, making those decisions felt similar to directing the play. </span><span>I hope, when reading it, the words come to life, thanks to Eric’s </span><span>work. There is no substitute for live theater, but this play on </span><span>paper is, I think, its own experience, very different than reading an </span><span>unadorned script."</span></div></span></span></div></span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHhBxg8atsVgJIHGpXZu58tri1lXTCyZCIusJGAbpjQ1TqABviymDjxbkR2_o29IwonI3ysqqlOhjjACtduFv-N3AXY8euVNek80oIXo5nUFORvBhpXWv1HZHpo1IhGdUrKxb707TQqi4HvwZx8a-5_VRSXPLilHixZFiXD8G1lO_lofFP1ZDOVA9lvQ/s3600/Iphigenia%20in%20Aulis_pp30-31%20(2).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2700" data-original-width="3600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHhBxg8atsVgJIHGpXZu58tri1lXTCyZCIusJGAbpjQ1TqABviymDjxbkR2_o29IwonI3ysqqlOhjjACtduFv-N3AXY8euVNek80oIXo5nUFORvBhpXWv1HZHpo1IhGdUrKxb707TQqi4HvwZx8a-5_VRSXPLilHixZFiXD8G1lO_lofFP1ZDOVA9lvQ/w400-h300/Iphigenia%20in%20Aulis_pp30-31%20(2).jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSVifrMEflLoQXePuAPH-j-wwcKgHXmFXpkyx4EklwFwPAQlsrRGg6nL-4J1rXlm6g4UZ9rnm_JglgDQ8dD_9s65fEWn5OW-3aNaA1soV6Jwdtjovi5mJMVOJe0mMBogtt_gxLv2uuz8JFliPnsQuOiP3Y5-XqnQQf1OB5qyto3ZOGvtBUlLLMVhBx6A/s3180/Iphigenia%20in%20Aulis_pp34-35.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2340" data-original-width="3180" height="470" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSVifrMEflLoQXePuAPH-j-wwcKgHXmFXpkyx4EklwFwPAQlsrRGg6nL-4J1rXlm6g4UZ9rnm_JglgDQ8dD_9s65fEWn5OW-3aNaA1soV6Jwdtjovi5mJMVOJe0mMBogtt_gxLv2uuz8JFliPnsQuOiP3Y5-XqnQQf1OB5qyto3ZOGvtBUlLLMVhBx6A/w640-h470/Iphigenia%20in%20Aulis_pp34-35.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikziZgymIhG_tdxnuYLxjVT0u2cuqut6SdjmRgHsu8OUqCRkltsiHNTP2xDhoRZP19L8Wz0x5SE4JPVf2V1s01VkqzqgbwxPj2B5N1srvdQtwrVM7E7sXaqfJDgX06jNvqD2C8ncJLBEFBK5XwFKHEvztWAktaGW_owyZxNCudRkG5t42TgNWKvnW_zQ/s2700/Iphigenia%20in%20Aulis_p60.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2700" data-original-width="1800" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikziZgymIhG_tdxnuYLxjVT0u2cuqut6SdjmRgHsu8OUqCRkltsiHNTP2xDhoRZP19L8Wz0x5SE4JPVf2V1s01VkqzqgbwxPj2B5N1srvdQtwrVM7E7sXaqfJDgX06jNvqD2C8ncJLBEFBK5XwFKHEvztWAktaGW_owyZxNCudRkG5t42TgNWKvnW_zQ/w426-h640/Iphigenia%20in%20Aulis_p60.jpg" width="426" /></a></span></div><br /><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: start;"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: start;"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: start;"><br /></div></div>Susan I. Weinsteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08327145154416720160noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3686096258659236837.post-5728313436503198322022-06-29T11:23:00.003-04:002022-06-29T13:00:43.932-04:00 Women's Rights-imagine being legally nonexistent; no rights to your children, money, or physical person. Legal precedent before 1839<div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img alt="" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEixjspUOuQr1MtcT270sffVW7pKzGu-xOLL-Q03yhd79YmYgQfuAw_kj9ywQUZbvl4mL7VDddoXweK2EktzM2ZFunW70Lo2-VFAoXnLxCxaEG4w9628sdT2XMbhlBo_-AjMpQQevvGINbtFzmXqjN1G4vfCqH16xQxkykKFhhJrbx_x-nCcsUYMccR8Lw" width="160" /><span style="text-align: left;"> <br /></span><span style="text-align: left;"> </span><span style="text-align: left;"><br /> <br /><br /></span></div></div><div>For some perspective on women's rights in the U.S., which were derived from English law--changed in Britain in 1839. Black men in the U.S. had the right to vote in 1870. White women in 1920 and black women not until the voting right act of 1965. Women's rights had little precedent in English law until Caroline Norton set a new precedent in 1839 (during Victoria's reign) with a mother's legal right to have access to her children. Before that time, Caroline, like all women, was a legal nonentity. Husbands and fathers represented them. (Spinsters, who could inherit if no male relatives, had more status then married women)</div><div><br /></div><div>Nonentity means no legal precedent existed for women's rights in England. If a man beat his wife or broke her arm (like Caroline's husband), the matter was not considered a crime. Unless a woman was killed, domestic violence was private. Some men thought it helped woman's behavior to be "knocked around." Wages or inherited money-property were paid to a woman's male guardian. Whether a woman earned money with her pen, like Caroline, or worked in a factory or ran a shop, she was not entitled to receive her funds. Men, as masters of women, were expected to pay their bills, though if they were impecunious, the debtors could sue. </div><div><br /></div><div>To change the law (after her husband's perfidy) Caroline campaigned with her writing, publishing against injustice. Grandaughter to the famous playwright, Sheridan, her family was rich in literary tradition, not money. She liked making a living with her pen, marrying a man supposedly in line to inherit but without money. One of three sisters considered "beauties," Caroline was renowned for her outrageous wit and sense of fun. When her husband asked her to use her contacts to get him a job, she became a celebrity for her salons. Powerful men were regulars and her writing was in huge demand; poetry, novels and articles for women's magazines (some illustrated by Turner). The Prime Minister, among others, enjoyed her company and, like other men, considered her an intellectual equal. Being a sophisticated flirt was not illegal and good for business. </div><div><br /></div><div>After she lost this high position, due to her husband, she was supposed to publicly disappear. She could not even write under her own name. As the situation continued, deprived of her living and her children, Caroline refused to fade away and fought the rules of her society. She suffered its censure and Justice, not just for herself, became a priority. She wrote for the voiceless, the plight of working children in factories and mines, deprived of education, breaks from work, and often limbs. With a sympathetic lawyer, she pressed for changes in existing laws and set precedents that came to be reflected in the colonies. Women in the colonies received money for work and received inheritance. When Martha Washington married George, she brought plantation land and hundreds of slaves. (Why Washington could not free them until after her death, is another story.)</div><div><br /></div><div>Below is the publisher's summary of this book. Though not "new," it seems timely. Precedents for women's rights, the right to decide to bear a child or not is among the oldest, was just dismissed by the Supreme Court. At issue is the control of women's lives. (Even in Jefferson's writings, he knew his wife's frequent pregnancies took a toil on her health, and regretted it, when she sickened and died at 33.) Caroline asked in a time when men's and women's "spheres" were considered separate but different, why injustice when both are equal? What do men and society have to fear? </div><div><br /></div><div>S.W.</div><div><br /></div><div>Summary</div><div><br /></div><div>Award-winning historian Antonia Fraser brilliantly portrays a courageous and compassionate woman who refused to be curbed by the personal and political constraints of her time.</div><div><br /></div><div>Caroline Norton dazzled nineteenth-century society with her vivacity, her intelligence, her poetry, and in her role as an artist's muse. After her marriage in 1828 to the MP George Norton, she continued to attract friends and admirers to her salon in Westminster, which included the young Disraeli. Most prominent among her admirers was the widowed Prime Minister, Lord Melbourne.</div><div><br /></div><div>Racked with jealousy, George Norton took the Prime Minister to court, suing him for damages on account of his 'Criminal Conversation' (adultery) with Caroline. A dramatic trial followed. Despite the unexpected and sensational result—acquittal—Norton was still able to legally deny Caroline access to her three children, all under seven. He also claimed her income as an author for himself, since the copyrights of a married woman belonged to her husband.</div><div><br /></div><div>Yet Caroline refused to despair. Beset by the personal cruelties perpetrated by her husband and a society whose rules were set against her, she chose to fight, not surrender. She channeled her energies in an area of much-needed reform: the rights of a married woman and specifically those of a mother. Over the next few years she campaigned tirelessly, achieving her first landmark victory with the Infant Custody Act of 1839. Provisions which are now taken for granted, such as the right of a mother to have access to her own children, owe much to Caroline, who was determined to secure justice for women at all levels of society from the privileged to the working poor and destitute.</div>Susan I. Weinsteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08327145154416720160noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3686096258659236837.post-82631775168522950782022-03-21T17:35:00.013-04:002022-03-23T14:26:27.626-04:00Mid-Century Memoir- "What happened in 1969, when young people tried to remake the world?" Answer PART 2: Activism<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="180" data-original-width="279" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjQ3JG7FjBpaqzr2gJug9RjzJS_4FwLi2Ns2yJmJELOaBIpBoD95JJ9yCr39A-Boo-wgA2IORWEh4hNiMzdJ7ZLZwXfe2UP7rgCowQ8ml8NNEOwnJYUJWJJe27NOsCnKIY1dgxevQqY8SIcdvNEBSlEZBEzM14wtDVR3rvhDEpe868LmXnKPbn9dKwj6A" width="279" /></div><br /> <p></p><p><i><span style="font-family: "Times","serif";">ACTIVISM Part 2<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p><span style="font-family: Times, serif;"><i>This is a personal essay through the imperfect filter of memory. I began this series, when a friend asked what the year was like, how was activism organized. Here's the second part of my answer.</i></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Times, "serif"; font-size: medium;">It was late
August 1969, when I arrived at Syracuse University, then a hard-partying
campus. I remember rescuing a naive roomate through a window, after she unknowingly drank quaaludes at a raging frat party. But the war was to intrude on such campus fun and games.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: "Times","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;">That fall we
freshman went about our business often oblivious to teach-ins on
campus. They were also held in public schools sponsored by local business. Unlike rallies, the purpose was educational. Speakers, usually teachers, gave slide shows explaining the history of Vietnam and the French involvement, current
politics and rationales for U.S. involvement. Financial and human costs were
updated. (Our body counts kept rising, despite the napalm, we made
and dropped) At the end of a teach-in, there was a Q&A, but it was less for shared feelings than information. Hand-outs with reading
lists were available. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: "Times","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;">The lottery,
instituted in December 1969, brought new urgency to the politics of war.
Network news was pro-war, as were audiences at first. But as time went on,
doubts arose and many people wanted to make up their own
minds. Teach-ins were in demand. Before the lottery, the war was inequitably fought by those not
attending college. Some, motivated by patriotism, deferred college acceptance. Others
of draft age, who were "not college material" (and lacked funds to
find a doctor to certify flat feet) had little choice. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: "Times","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;">Now everyone was
eligible. A low lottery number meant you had to serve and without connections, go to 'Nam. If in college, service
awaited your graduation. Any academic lapse or failure, a delay in graduation,
meant induction. Families prayed for high numbers. Draft cards were
burnt (an illegal act) followed by disappearances. Canada became a haven for
draft resistors. Others disappeared into a nebulous "underground." Those who had eschewed college for a business,
like our class' star auto mechanic, served, unless the business was
designated "essential." I also met guys with low numbers, who took
LSD to appear crazy or faked being gay. They were put through tough
interrogations, though the worst was rumored for conscientious objectors.
Toward the later days of the war, those close to legally blind passed
physicals. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: "Times","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;">In 1969,
individual cities in the Northeast organized Marches, culminating in a large
national one in Washington. My experience was grass roots in upstate New
York. The Vietnam Veterans Against the War were active in the antiwar
movement, as were clergy and student groups. Door-to-door organizing was taken
on by students. Novices worked with more experienced activists. Teachers also participated, supported by their universities. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: "Times","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;">That this
occurred is still a wonder to me. I remember shock, as the
university voted to close down for antiwar work. At a huge meeting
of schools and departments; deans, chairmen and faculty stood up, one by one,
and stated that their areas had voted to close for the antiwar effort. Students
were to receive current class standing for the year. I had an A average
after only a couple months and was free to stay in the dorms (pre-paid) and
take part or go home. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span>I think my parents didn't quite understand or
believe I had an A average for the year, though there would be no classes. It
was kind of unbelievable to me that I would have full college credit for a year
of antiwar work. They listened to me, as though I were speaking a foreign
language. They never asked for details but
encouraged my idea to transfer to another school</span><span style="font-family: "Times","serif";">.</span></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Times","serif";"> </span><span>I did my antiwar work days and painted nights in the deserted basement of the art building. </span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: "Times","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;">As I recall,
upstate universities and colleges, Cornell, Binghamton, Ithaca, coordinated with Syracuse in this effort. We learned to role-play.
understand maps of neighborhoods and work in small mixed groups of men and
women. There were expectations and rules. No one was to approach a residence
alone. And the group always waited. We had copies of the Declaration of
Independence. Circled were lines declaring it was a citizen's duty to protest
an unjust war. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: "Times","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;">We knocked on
doors, explained the purpose of the March in Syracuse (to end the war), </span><span style="font-family: Times, "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;">the
groups participating, local sponsors, and invited everyone to take part. If interested, we gave a map which showed where their block was to meet the March. We also
talked about the later March on Washington, that this one was a first step. My
group was part of the effort to organize local marches in individual cities.
All would culminate in the big March in front of The White House. There had
been previous marches in Washington, such as in 1967, but in 1969 the stakes were
higher. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: "Times","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;">I remember the
slanted porch of a ramshackle wooden house painted slate blue. Set far back
from the street, settled into a narrow diagonal shape, I couldn't imagine
people lived there. When I knocked on the door, a middle-aged woman in a
neat but faded housedress opened. "What do you want?" she asked annoyed. I started
talking about Vietnam and </span><span style="font-family: "Times","serif"; font-size: 14pt;">showed her the Declaration. "</span><span style="font-family: "Times","serif"; font-size: medium;">Get the hell off my
porch," she shouted and slammed the door. I quickly jumped down from
that porch. My group was in sight. "Wait," she said, reopening the
door. "Come in a minute." </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Times, "serif"; font-size: medium;">She looked at my group. "I'll wait," said the
team leader, "We will meet you at the next place," he said to
the others. who left. He looked curtly at me, as I followed the woman inside a</span><span style="font-family: Times, "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;"> long low room. Smaller rooms were toward the back, where she said the
"old man" slept. Like the woman, the house was tidy but little
looked new. She took me to the front windows overlooking the porch and two
framed photos of young men. I looked politely. "This is my brother
and this my son. My husband died in Korea. But his father's here. We're an army
family. We stay together." I smiled, figured mine was a lost cause. But
when I reached the door, she had her hand out for our giveaway map.
"They're all dead now," she said. "Except for the old man."</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: "Times","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;">Then came the day
of our March. All neighborhoods joined the March to City Hall, as were other
neighborhoods in other cities. Each city had a statement with mention of
the Washington March. There were military groups in uniform, including the
Vietnam Veterans Against the War. Clergy of different denominations linked arms. I saw chamber of commerce and business people, teachers. The
University had student and faculty groups. "Bring our boys
home!" banners were carried by families with loved ones overseas.
Among the stream of people, we had walkie-talkies, water, snacks, extra
supplies for the first-aid groups. We also had marching orders; wheelchairs in
the middle and sides, check old people and kids.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Times","serif";">Among the
wheelchairs in the center, I saw the woman in a fresher dress, pushing an old
man wearing a military jacket. I was supposed to gather slips of paper from
people in my neighborhood but I had lost track a while ago. Some came to the
start point to </span><span style="font-family: "Times","serif";">march
together. Others just showed up. Then we were together, walking. I remember the
heavy thud of feet, an occasional hymn, antiwar song, a spiritual. This was
a determined serious crowd, not a rowdy angry mob, yet I was claustrophobic.</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: "Times","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;">Someone panicked
in the crowd, stopped moving in my sector. I had to get through, make sure no
one was trampled, offer an arm and water, get them to a side. With the
walkie-talkies we got through to medics, who used megaphones to clear paths.
These regular Americans weren't drunk or drug addled. Yet I remember seeing a
stampede, quickly headed off by an organizer. I am sure there were
others.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: "Times","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;">After a final
prayer by clergy, veteran and student groups thanked all who participated and local sponsors. The March ended with a rally in support of those
fighting. There were fervent wishes for the war to finally end. Exhausted but
feeling I had done something, I signed out. It was yet evening on
the quiet campus. I slipped into my basement studio to forget the world in
paint. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: "Times","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;">As the war
continued, in the face of growing opposition and infernal body counts, the Antiwar Movement expanded from student, clergy and veteran groups to
outspoken politicians and coalitions of peace groups. There was a unified national
strategy with both teach-ins and financial appeals to aid the anti-war effort. These culminated in the March on the Capital in November 1969. This was the largest antiwar
protest in U.S. history with an estimated 500,000 people. In Syracuse, my
activist group helped participants onto buses. We worked to make it safe,
peaceful, orderly. Did I board the bus? Not exactly.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: "Times","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;">Though I had wanted to escape before, peace and my job were foremost in my mind in the middle of the crowd. A quiet person, I have never liked crowded places. Yet I had prevented injury and done a job I
believed in.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> Was it </span>time for me to leave
The Moratorium March to others? Being a full-time activist was not a life
I wanted. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> It seemed trivial, but I wanted </span>to complete my portfolio and try to transfer to an excellent art school with low tuition. (I had been rejected initially for a B/C average.) </span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: "Times","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;">On May 4th 1970,
students were shot in Kent State at a peace demonstration. Around the
country, camped out in student unions, students watched the loop of the event over and over. A sweet-looking girl put a flower in a guardsman's
rifle. The sound of rifles. Unarmed students fell dead in a nonviolent
protest. After Kent State, there were mass rallies around the
country, petitions to raise money for the defense of those in custody.
"They Shoot Students Don't They" marathon dances were held
(after <i>They Shoot Horses Don't They, </i>the Jane Fonda Depression era movie). Student leaders, working with faculty, coordinated efforts to find
sponsors. My roommate, a young woman from a prominent St. Louis family, danced nights on end raising the most money. She had incredible
stamina and dedication, until her angry father arrived and dragged her to his car. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: "Times","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;">Her family had
little objection when the "Stumpies," a forest
fraternity, chained her half-naked in a locked trunk and threw it into a
fountain. Only by chance did campus police fish it out. When she
sobered up, indignant that she "could have
suffocated!", her feelings were smothered in parental pride that she had been selected. (The "prank was part
of a competition to choose a mascot). That was all in “fun”. The movement to defend
the Kent State students arrested and prosecute the officers (which had spread nationwide) was a "disgrace." </span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: "Times","serif"; font-size: medium;">I was accepted to transfer into Temple Univ.'s art school. Ironically, my activist A's were
considered a great achievement. (I believe they were unaware of the college shut-downs
in New York State.) They also liked my 6-foot Payday Candy Bar painted with
obsessive pop detail. Before dorms closed, I decided to visit an old boyfriend in Providence, who was part
of a group with an incendiary approach to political change. I was afraid of his maps. My cowardice was the practical kind learned in
high school. Safety first, trouble can find you anyway. </span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: "Times","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;">Fall 1970,
I was so behind in my drawing skills, the instructor offered private crits
until my work was up to class standard. The goal was to be able to draw
whatever you could see. (If given an
assignment of a 20-hour rendering, it was obvious if you only spent
10.) Toward the end of the semester. I could put drawings
in weekly "hangings” critiques. I also was able to process my activist work. </span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">For me, commitment to a political goal meant being
useful, a cog in some wheel for the greater good. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: 14pt;">On network news, I had seen the
thousands of people, young and old, Veterans, Jaycees, and Lion's Clubs; families, teachers, priests, ministers, rabbis. Black and White people, marching as separate individuals or parts
of groups. (Writing this, I wonder where were the Hispanics and Asians? Did I not notice, or did they blend-into other groups?) All I know is that we were Americans together to end the war, as a peaceful
community. An LBJ biography said that when he looked out his window at all the
demonstrators, he knew it was time to go. Was that the March of 1969 or
1967? My recollection was 1969, the rarely-aired Moratorium March. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">2022, "We the
People" seemed to have lost touch with the yearning for peace that once remade America. The horrors of the Ukrainian war may have refreshed our minds. In 1969, though sidelined by corporate objectives and elected officials, the big March, signalled crucial change. In 2022, our handlers cannot manage the crisis of environmental change. W</span><span style="font-size: 18px;">e are called by planetary crisis of epic proportions. </span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Future shock is now, Facts broaden our nation to the entire human race. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">The peace movement showed unity came with a common purpose. And it took discipline not to fragment into groups. </span><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;"> </span><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">Social media makes this harder, encouraging people to take sides, identify with a racial or social group, vent their frustrations. Yet l</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">istening to those with differing ideology and working to find understanding, common ground, is still essential--to</span><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;"> create agency for an ongoing movement. </span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Peace groups included Panthers and SDS. "Identity politics" work against mass societal change. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: 14pt;">The "Woodstock" generation was the
first in U.S. history to publicly seek the end of an unpopular war. It succeeded in influencing the outcome, because it became a broad mainstream movement. The Vietnam War, when it is studied in schools, rarely focuses on what the Antiwar movement actually accomplished.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">We have always had propaganda to nullify political or social movements but in 2022 such controls have a multiplicity of objectives. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Marginalizing environmental change seems to protect the profits margins of corporate business. Managing "hopelessness and eco-fear" are less expensive than changing their product or means of production to halt environmental crisis. </span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Covid narratives in media focus on the isolated
individual and their country's reaction to the virus. Few focus on the </span><i style="font-size: 14pt;">National Geographic s</i><span style="font-size: 14pt;">tory about the link
between the depreciation of environments and the emergence of Covid and other viruses. All over the world, the
usual hosts of these viruses, small mammals (who don't get sick from it)
disappeared with their environments. That they jumped to human hosts is a fact, not some debatable possibility. How are world leaders restoring those environments and animals? Why for convenience and profits, are some choosing extinction? (Other primates don't destroy their habitats).</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 14pt;">But there are positive actions also occurring, little perceived by the obsessive churning "breaking" news of the 24/7 news cycle. A teenage boy invented an app for plastics and has cleaned the North Sea. Defunct dams have been removed in every state and at least 1800 free-flowing rivers having been restored. Whole ecosystems including fish, have returned. Every city in the nation has removed one or more defunct dams. Coral reefs are being built. </span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Young people growing up with serious environmental threat, are learning they can connect with others and make changes. What are our corporate overlords doing? Musk, Bezos, Zuckerberg seem invested in vehicles to flee Earth. Branson is also joining the space race. Gates is one of the few focussed on Earth's ecology and the survival of people. (I am all for space exploration, not the spectacle of an Exodus of rich people abandoning Mothership Earth).</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;">As we celebrate the fight against Britain for Independence, the
first generation in U.S. history to halt an unpopular war should also be discussed. History is in books, free in libraries that are still funded. I have worked publicizing political books for many university presses. There are two you might want to reference in terms of the
Vietnam War and propaganda, information unknown today or forgotten. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>M.I.A.: Mythmaking in America</b> by
Bruce Franklin (Rutgers University Press). Excerpted in <i>The</i> <i>Atlantic Monthly </i>in the 1980s (and accepted as fact) shows the origins of the M.I.A. myth as a negotiating tool for the Nixon administration
in the Paris Peace Accords, They took place ten years after the war was over and no soldiers were left. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span><b>The</b> <b>Spitting Image:
Myth, Memory and the Legacy of Vietnam </b>by<b> </b>Jerry Lembcke, Sociology Professor at Holy Cross College and former member of Vietnam Veterans Against the War, analyzed the widely believed
narrative that American soldiers were “spat upon” and insulted by anti-war
protestors upon returning home. After extensive documented research, </span><span style="font-family: "Times","serif";">Lembcke found not one case of any soldier being
spat upon. Antiwar activism-the peace movement was widespread and included </span><span>the participation of the Vietnam Veterans
Against the War. The enemy was never our brave soldiers but the hidden </span><span>“military industrial complex” well depicted in “Dr.
Strangelove.” Yet Hollywood movies like "Coming Home" sold that narrative. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span>Hollywood characterizations of the antiwar movement rarely stray from deranged "hippies" obsessed with drugs and sex. Most films ignore the sane young men, who did not feel it was patriotic to die for geopolitical
advantage. Also ignored in depictions of easy 60s "chicks," is the fact young women faced death from illegal
abortion. Planned Parenthood gave many women, for the first time, </span><span>access to gynecological care and counselling about sexuality. </span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span>So many narratives of young women "getting into trouble" (their fault obviously) and no reference to a clean clinic they might go to--without shame. There is a reason Margaret Sanger, born in 1950s, became a birth control activist, sex educator, writer and nurse. Google her. </span></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><span>Today, any man can choose
a vasectomy, even a reversible one. Why then the cultural desire to deny women's choice? The woman's movement was about the value of female lives as human beings. </span><span>The worth of those lives was not equal in 1969 and still disparaged in 2022.</span></span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span>In 1969, grass-roots education, </span><span>door-door work were essential. S</span><span>o</span><span>liciting donations was important, but the more impersonal, the less useful. In 2022 a "</span><span>the World First, save the planet movement" might focus on deliberate thoughtful actions occurring around the world. Anyone </span></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><span>can do something useful. For instance, during the early days of the Trump administration, sc</span><span>ores of media people worked quickly to save
scientific information on public sites, particularly NASA, that were being erased. P</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">eople with skills were asked by government employees (many losing their jobs) to</span></span><span style="font-size: large;"> help preserve science.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Imagine where our diplomacy would be today, if all the career diplomats, forced to leave, after spending lifetimes working with other countries, had been able to store their knowledge for what has come.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;">S.W.</span></p>
<p><br /></p>Susan I. Weinsteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08327145154416720160noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3686096258659236837.post-43598362809326517792022-03-13T17:47:00.014-04:002022-05-10T10:09:44.104-04:00Mid-Century Memoir--"What it was like in 1969, when abortion was illegal and sex a girl's "fault"?" Answer PART 1 Normal (Part 2 Activism to come)<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><i></i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjG2pGwuCiF6pbz89s0JNsyE-CpwkqF1RphpmLN5jOIQliXA2dOtUdazyroZGJqpkJQyTraxZodxgSf0qOdPSmjdRC9UwoEKxIAmeGHa4eYAkm-J4BTh23M7EE3NAF29bGC-h9_aRdu9mkCUYyuF_Xp6gKrIAObW33XHOdUJq-sjCYR1UKMEqDuQhcTHA=s640" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="463" data-original-width="640" height="232" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjG2pGwuCiF6pbz89s0JNsyE-CpwkqF1RphpmLN5jOIQliXA2dOtUdazyroZGJqpkJQyTraxZodxgSf0qOdPSmjdRC9UwoEKxIAmeGHa4eYAkm-J4BTh23M7EE3NAF29bGC-h9_aRdu9mkCUYyuF_Xp6gKrIAObW33XHOdUJq-sjCYR1UKMEqDuQhcTHA=s320" width="320" /></a></i></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center;"><i><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times",serif; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Borough Hall </span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><i><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times",serif; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Mid-Century Memoir. "What was it like in 1969 when young people
tried to remake the world?" Answers-PART 1 "Normal". PART 2 "Activism" next week. This is a personal essay through the imperfect filter of memory.</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><i><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times",serif; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">"What was it like
in 1969, when young people tried to remake the world?</span></i><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times",serif; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">" I was recently asked this and found it difficult to
summarize that time, when "normal" became something else. 2022 is also an era of intense social upheaval. How the "normal" of 1969 spurred serious generational
change is useful to understand, especially with conservative groups lobbying to turn back the cultural "clock." </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><b><i><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times",serif; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Life </span></i></b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times",serif; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><b><i>Magazine </i></b>featured Haight-Ashbury's hippie
mecca, yet racist conservative George Wallace was elected in my high school's
mock elections for the 1968 race against Richard Nixon. "Times were
achanging" somewhere else than my Philly borough, twenty minutes away
from downtown. How did an integrated school, roughly half Black, half
White, have such an outcome? Race was less important than our economic profile,
and certainly our religious affiliation. We were Irish and Italian
Catholics, WASP and African American Protestants, with a handful of Jewish
families trying to blend-in. Hispanic and Asian Americans were nonexistent, residents of a "Downtown" many kids had never visited. Some boasted,
'Why travel, when we have everything here?' </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times",serif; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Borough was
originally defined as a fortified town. </span><span style="font-family: Times, serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Ours had
well-paid factory workers, professionals, executives, and
entrepreneurs. There were big and small businesses in both the Black and White
sections of town. </span><span style="font-family: Times, serif; font-size: 18px;">Homeowners were proud they could live here, instead of Philly's poor neighborhoods. </span><span style="font-family: Times, serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">There were attached homes and unattached single-family
homes, a few with 60's modern custom designs. Founded in the post-war economic
booms of 1950s and go-go 60s, there was a sense of "arrival" with
respect for upward mobility. </span><span style="font-family: Times, serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Both sections took pride in their fashionable swim
clubs, restricted to members though guests of any race or creed were
welcomed. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times",serif; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In a carful of White
kids, I remembering gawking at the town's only airplane, kept in the backyard
of a Black dermatologist. His son, an admired athlete and A student, was
definitely "college material." For his parents higher education was a
given, different from anti-higher ed parents, who often had "made it"
through a good company job or family business. I remember a friend, who
was pressured by his family to turn down a scholarship from a major
Catholic university for a factory job with his father's group. (When it didn't
work out, he took to drink.)</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times",serif; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Where college was
valued, grades were non-negotiable. In my house "I guess you're not
college material" had the ring of primal failure. Though
neither of my parents were college grads, we were to "buckle down"
at school and not be shirkers. </span><span style="font-family: Times, serif; font-size: 18px;">Life was about doing your duty, like our </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times",serif; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">GI dads, whose benefits enabled them to become
homeowners, start businesses, get an education. Kids in "The Donna Reed Show"<b><i> </i></b>might
groan, but there was no compromise about gratitude for food, respect for
elders, cheerful chores, AND diligent homework. I just
knew Lucy would help Little Ricky if (like me) he brought home
study-resistant D's in math. She might have found a tutor! </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times",serif; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">But as I recall, learning to "apply yourself" was the
point of education.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times",serif; font-size: 18pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times",serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">We were</span><span style="font-family: Times, serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"> tested in
kindergarten and if you were IQ smart, your parents were told you could learn
anything. Not performing meant some personal flaw. Even so, it was commonly assumed a kid was "book smart" or not. Only
a few "eggheads" qualified for college or just had rich parents. The
rest of us were supposedly better off not thinking we were smarter (or better)
than others. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times",serif; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Poverty, especially if
your parents grew up in the Depression, was an underlying fear. Pride in
not going "Downtown," because they had "made it" to this
great place, was part of our isolation. Unmentioned were unsavory "elements"
in the city. Special consideration was given the few single moms, who raised their kids, went to church, and maintained their houses. (A Thanksgiving turkey might appear anonymously on a
front step, courtesy of some Church group or stray do-gooder. ) </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times",serif; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">So how did Wallace get
the votes in this middle class high school with about equal numbers of Black and White
students? There was our widespread ignorance of the candidates and the belief
that a "mock" election didn't count, So why
not Wallace? He was "cooler" than Nixon. I heard students
excuse Wallace's racism, because he was a Southerner. "Come on. Who
took the Klan seriously? A club of grown men wearing white sheets! After all,
the South did lose the Civil War." </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times",serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Collective common sense
also agreed that enlistment, especially if you came from a large family, was a
great career opportunity. Serving the nation and earning a paycheck was a
viable path to adulthood. "Nam" talk, full of adventure and tests of bravery, was oiled by enlistment bonuses. Body bags on the news were unmentioned. Naturally,
since girls didn't serve, we kept our opinions to ourselves. I was
okay with that, until the war on the home front came sharply into focus. </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times",serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">My boyfriend,
"Pineapple Head"(so called because he was raised in Hawaii) and I
became unwitting targets of a security operation</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">. Recently
arrived in our borough to live with his aunt after his mother died, he was
exotic, handsome, and free. He had been schooled out of doors on a dormant
volcano! This rare boy, who read books and thought deeply about life, was
my kind of guy. One day after school, we went to his aunt's house to hang
out with his cousin and his girlfriend, who drank a lot of beer. She
stood on the coffee table in a platinum Supreme's wig, belting out "Baby
Love" with Ross' perfect moves. I was entranced but we didn't stay long.
As we reached the sidewalk, we were suddenly halted. A man in a beige
raincoat jumped from a parked car, snapped our photo and quickly drove
away. "What was that?" we laughed. "Are we famous?"</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times",serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times",serif; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Weeks later, stuck in a
chair across from the Principal, I found out. A stern man at best of
times, now he was apoplectic, mirrored in the polished desk that separated
us. Sputtering with rage, he yelled that I was a ringleader (not just a part) of
the Tristate Drug Ring. (<i>What</i>, I wondered?) "I expect you to
give me the names of all involved!" I told the
truth (maybe it would make me free?) "I never heard of such a
thing." "You're lying," he said, moving (was he going
to grab me?). I stood. "This is a school of beer drinkers." (this was true, with the exception of Richard, our sole
hippie). </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times",serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Judgment towered
over me, fierce and nasty, "You will tell me who they are!" I
put my hand on the doorknob. </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times",serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">"You
were seen!" He moved to his desk drawer and hurled a photo of Pineapple
and me, across the shiny desk. "Some guy took our photograph?
Anyway, it was after school." (As though non-truancy counted in this
alternative universe.) The principal now spat each word: "You will
not graduate if you do not cooperate." I opened the door, now more angry
than scared. "Tristate drug ring doesn't exist." He stood furious,
his face flushed red. "So don't graduate me</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times",serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">." </span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times",serif; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Outside, I briefly
collapsed against a wall. Safely turning the corner, I wondered what adult
could I tell about this? My mother would certainly ridicule my "overactive
imagination" (her take on all truths inconvenient). Weeks later a bald
circle appeared on the top of my head, expanding until a comb-over was futile.
She took me to a doctor. But when he suggested I might be losing hair from
stress, Mom laughed. "What does she have to be stressed about? These are
the best years of her life!" 1969 marked a real generation gap, visible on
my scalp. </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times",serif; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">A bald spot was nothing
compared to Pineapple's consequences. He was in the hallway, having forgotten a
hall pass (which didn't exist in Hawaii), when the principal appeared out of
nowhere and bodily threw him against a wall. Reflexively, Pineapple hit him back
and was instantly expelled. With no parents to advocate for him at a new
school, he was forced to drop out. Unable to find work and unwilling to be a
burden, eventually he disappeared, Years later I saw him on Sansom street, far
less handsome and with fewer teeth. He recognized me too, less with love than
irony. He had become a speed freak on the street, a "head case,"
he said, lucky to be alive. Now finally clean and a counselor, he offered
street kids food packages and a card with a safe address to "crash."</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times",serif; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I made it to graduation
with no interference from The Tristate Drug Ring. Decades later, I learned
that identifying "student troublemakers" in high school, before they
went to college and became demonstrators, was a security directive. Had Cointelpro
(Counter Intelligence Program 1956-71) visited my high school for
suspicious students? Was I fingered by the home ec teacher? Pineapple had
certainly stood out but I had not -- though records may exist. (I read such operations reached Elementary Schools before it was defunded.) </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times",serif; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">That June, I was one of
ten people headed to college out of my class of about 100. Graduation
opened with an original poem by our Student Council President, a popular Black
girl. Her reading received much applause, as did the announcement of her full
scholarship to an elite university for international studies. The WASP
valedictorian, a pretty, shy girl, was our most academically gifted student.
With 800s in college boards, she had multiple offers of 4-year scholarships. Unfortunately,
her parents forced her to decline. Education would
make her unfit to be a good wife--according to her mother. Ambition
shelved, the girl graduated to housework under her mother's guidance. </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times",serif; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">We thought this extreme
(scholarship money was forfeited) but the ultimate career path for girls
was still to become a wife. Home Economics was a required course, no matter how
much we might want to learn drafting or woodshop. Girls also had a serious
dress code, skirts were measured and slacks forbidden. We saw a dating film in
Health, where a girl's duty was "not to give in." Smart girls did not
get in compromising situations. Our job was to save the noble (less mature?)
male sex from themselves and date with the altar in mind. Girls were blamed for
pregnancy, though occasionally boys were pressured to "do the right
thing." </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times",serif; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The lives of schoolgirls
were routinely ruined, not only by becoming pregnant but the moral judgments of adults. Unable to choose a legal abortion in PA in
1969, meant unless she had a "shotgun" wedding or a family that
would pretend it had a new "little sister," she had to give the
baby up. Expected to slink away in shame and disgrace before they "showed," was just punishment. Pregnant girls had to leave school and rarely returned. The religious called it "God's will", though many of us girls thought it unfair. Recently, I read a man's online post that more unwanted
white children empowered the race (not to mention adoption agencies). I learned
girls were somehow responsible and expendable.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times",serif; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">But were boys really the
enemy? They often alluded knowingly to <i>Playboy </i>as<i> </i>favorite
bathroom reading. I became curious enough to discover my father's hidden
stack. In "Party Notes," a section about wild times in Hefner's
Mansion, I read an especially instructive story about a Quaalude party.
"Wasn't it fun" how girls, honored to be asked to the party, took
what was offered? Turned into "living dolls." They provided some
entertainment! So while I was holding up the nation's morals by kneeling for my
skirt to be measured, men were drugging girls comatose? </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times",serif; font-size: 18pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times",serif; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In June 1969, feminism
was as foreign to me as the new so-called "Sexual Revolution." In fact, a girl
who got drunk and "pulled a train" was marked as a whore for life.
(Psychological reasons weren't part of our Puritan ethics.) At my regular lunch
table was an intelligent, funny girl, who laughed easily, until one
wet fall evening her mom was killed in a car accident. When her father quickly
remarried, she was ignored for his new wife and kids. Grief-stricken, my friend
passed out in drunken oblivion at some post game event. A line of boys formed
to take advantage (as I learned from one who declined the opportunity and threw
up). Ostracized at school, condemned at home, she eventually dropped out to
become a cocktail waitress; then moved away.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times",serif; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I remember sad school
lunches in social Siberia, listening to her feelings of worthlessness and
humiliation. Former friends, especially boys, mocked her relentlessly.
Church offered no balm for her "shame." It is all still
familiar. Even in 2022, where male porn is ubiquitous, female sexuality still
evokes "slut shaming." Erotica, which briefly in the sixties
celebrated the female experience, is all but invisible. The double standard
appears unimpeachable, yet for the recent spectacle of women prosecuting men in
power for sexual abuse. Neo-Puritan witch hunts or long-deserved
justice? </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times",serif; font-size: medium; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">When I read about the
trials of a generation of Playboy era men, from Harvey Weinstein (2021 indictment) to Bill Cosby, I wondered if they were confused about
changes in cultural rules. "Mad Men" had it right.
"No means yes!" Power was an aphrodisiac. Women were a perk of
authority. Now, suddenly, women were expecting redress? I
wanted to see the legal prosecution as a step forward, but...why was Hefner
lauded at the time of his funeral (2017), as a great cultural thinker-- while his
disciples would soon be indicted? </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times",serif; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The sexual divide was extreme in my 1969. In 2022, there's social dissonance as conservative powers (male and female) work to subjugate women. What is the fear of equality? How are men 'desexed,' when women share prerogatives once associated only with male freedom? When boys risked lives in illegal drag racing, looked for
disturbed girls to pull trains with, got crazy drunk and beat each other up,
the solution was--sports. This safe outlet for "normal male
energy" was also made the focus of high school life. (Girls basketball was
a joke except for those of us who played when we could get a space .) Girls
were supposed to cheer or bake goodies -- though some worthies volunteered as
candy-stripers in hospitals, or actually found after school jobs. </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times",serif; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Rebellion through
clothes was an option. I had babysitting money and took the subway surface car "Downtown," finding freedom in Mary
Quant striped mini dresses. Unknown in our demure land of pastel sweator sets,
these dresses of electric lime green, purple and orange earned me respect. A little notoriety went with dangling earrings. Everyone knew they were worn by whores, my "weirdness" made that impossible. You could remake yourself with clothes. Twiggy had. My friend and I
used wax paper and ironed our hair straight.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times",serif; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Another challenge to
social limits, interracial dating, also happened in my 1969, though not condoned
by any communities. A girl from a financially struggling White family regularly
snuck out to see her more affluent Black boyfriend. When discovered, his
parents quickly transferred him to a private high school, though her folks
looked the other way. Trading up by marriage was considered using one's assets
("Mad Men" got this right.) When marriage is a career, it's the
obvious path. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times",serif; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In our borough, founded on WW2's optimism and industrial
build-up, there was no end in sight for a boom economy. Anyone willing to do an
honest day's work had a financial future. Of course this excluded women,
whose unpaid home-bound work was meant to benefit their families. But typing was a required course, it opened a business career to women with a fast and accurate wpm. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times",serif; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In June of 1969, for the college bound
minority, graduation was a series of fast announcements of academic awards
and scholarships. The main celebration was for the savvy kids graduating
Vo-Tech. Vocational-Technical students apprenticed with local businesses.
One young woman, halfway to her beauty license, had a chair waiting at a beauty
salon. Another had a bookkeeping position in a real estate firm. Our most
successful male grad was a talented auto mechanic, who had flunked a grade.
(Quick to learn the new car electronics, he eventually serviced the
tri-state area with his own shop.) </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times",serif; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Unmentioned were the disappeared, those
repeating the grade or the pregnant, like the Home Ec teacher's daughter </span><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">and my friend</span><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Times",serif; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> from drag-racing double dates. Though we
had desperately solicited money to go to New York to get her an abortion, it
wasn't enough. The girl with an amazing photographic memory practiced denial.
She hid college acceptances, wearing ever larger sweatshirts. That was just the "way of the world."</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times",serif; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Our graduation audience clapped respectfully for enlistees, even
those who had flunked enough years to be drafted. A motivation beyond the
"opportunity" was the expectations of fathers. Many, like mine, were
World War II veterans. One White father was a career merchant marine, whose son
would be attending a Naval Academy. A Black father had served in the Air
Force and his son enlisted to become a pilot. It was yet a time of
optimism. We would win this war. "Give Peace a Chance" was
still an unknown chant. I might have been the only one watching the body count.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times",serif; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I began truth-seeking.
What was the attraction between war and profit, greed and death?
Machiavelli's <i>The Prince</i> had some answers. I looked for
others. Time was critical, as my study hall pals toyed with
destiny. These "hoody" guys, who ignored school, had motorcycle dreams, "Going
cross-country," finding an America beyond our town, was a hunger. I had
not heard of Kerouac but the open road stirred imaginations. We had adventures,
gunning the engines of our minds. And, despite their bragging about the
enlistment officer's cash offers, few had yet signed up for 'Nam". There was hope. I
invited them to my upcoming debate against a despised "bleeding heart
liberal." My argument, "Why war was good for society,"
used <i>The Prince,</i> and<i> 1984</i>, advantages such as population control,
winning the proxy war; ways the war industry primed private business at government
expense, etc.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times",serif; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">My opponent used
humanitarian arguments, eliciting derision, especially when she talked about
napalm destruction. I glimpsed victory, when I saw my pals' shocked faces at
the irrefutable logic of deaths for progress. A tense moment, while the
points were added up, before I was declared the victor. But after the stunned
audience filed out, angry teachers, our debate sponsors, closed in. I was
expelled from the team and the results nullified. When I objected that I had
won on points, the head sponsor cried out, "You were insincere!" But
that was untrue. They had mixed up the means with my ends. The means did
justify my ends, a very <i>1969</i> moment. </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times",serif; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">My reward was the pals who decided not to enlist. 1973, living in San Francisco, I was surprised
by a late night call from one who put his college acceptance on hold to serve
his country. He told me how our fellow student, a kind gentle person--the
son of the Air Force officer--had died in a helicopter crash. My caller, now
discharged, was studying animal psychology, how attachment happened in ducks.
He wanted nothing to do with the human race. He kept asking, "How
did you know the truth about the war?" He never heard me say,
"I didn't. I just read a lot."</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times",serif; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I had been saving for a
car I never bought. After graduation, I left home for a Jersey Shore
version of Haight Ashbury, and a shared studio apartment that became a
"crash pad." Young people, stoned, homeless or just lonely, came
through our</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times",serif; font-size: 18pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times",serif; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">ground floor window to sleep. I worked as a chambermaid at a
hotel and at a "Head" shop, body painting and selling homemade
candles. Later, when all, but my original roomate and I, left for
Woodstock, we were elated to be alone. Some staggered back, others
hitchhiked to California or followed the concert trail. At least one, who
explored psychedelics, mentally never came back. THC use then,, and vaping even stronger THC now, had no cautionary labels about becoming psychotic, a "head case." The
price of experimentation was steep in 1969. </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times",serif; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Unmoored, the fragility
of existence came down on me. As fall approached, I realized I didn't have to continue as a chambermaid. I had a place at Syracuse's art
school. I finished a painting comission of a giant psychedelic goldfish
on the wall of the hotel's cocktail lounge. I also reconciled with my parents, who rang my bell at 10 AM on a Sunday morning, Thinking the meeting was at 10 pm, I opened the door in a robe, a glass of wine in my
hand. </span><span style="font-family: Times, serif; font-size: 18px;">My parents suggested we convene at a nearby diner. </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times",serif; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Not a flicker of
an eyelash or a raised brow showed they noticed the bodies visible behind me,
sleeping on the floor. </span><span style="font-family: Times, serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">They went unmentioned later, as we discussed school. I
was eager to move forward, to learn something. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">
***<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>Susan I. Weinsteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08327145154416720160noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3686096258659236837.post-65594488928241469072022-02-20T14:59:00.009-05:002022-03-07T10:53:29.457-05:00LINCOLN HIGHWAY and THE GRAPES OF WRATH, road trips to American Dreams- 1939's Great Depression, all is lost but the road ahead, 1954's post-war boom straight ahead<p> </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhzSPlmBmPavMoKtEGSsySPXJ4rcbs7suqxEM-dIE83R1QQS7b5eiAyeWDbDKxknK-MxMM-rBN64kgb86UNNrfFz8E27ozlbKRpcikC_EXLZC7ZIZY1Jl72X4KK89lyD5jvBYHyV4Gswn5hPRg5FtnJRvkAvPpMt3Q1BLsJsAeYUg37GPq4TZZVs8C9rw=s326" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="326" data-original-width="220" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhzSPlmBmPavMoKtEGSsySPXJ4rcbs7suqxEM-dIE83R1QQS7b5eiAyeWDbDKxknK-MxMM-rBN64kgb86UNNrfFz8E27ozlbKRpcikC_EXLZC7ZIZY1Jl72X4KK89lyD5jvBYHyV4Gswn5hPRg5FtnJRvkAvPpMt3Q1BLsJsAeYUg37GPq4TZZVs8C9rw=s320" width="216" /></a></div><p></p><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">I recently learned that <i><b>The Grapes of Wrath</b></i>, John Steinbeck's 1939 classic, is now a banned book. It is more than ironic that a book celebrating American grit in the inhumanly gruelling time of the Great Depression is banned in 2022, a time of unprecedented national hardship. In <i><b>Grapes</b></i>, The Joads, a family of tenant farmers, flee their Oklahoma home amid drought, poverty and bank foreclosures that make survival untenable. There is no hope in the Dust Bowl and, like thousands of others, they've seen handbills advertising jobs in California. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">The story begins as Tom Joad, paroled from prison, where he was incarcerated for a homicide in self-defense, is hitch-hiking home. He meets a preacher, who he remembers from childhood, and they travel together. Tom finds the farm home deserted and goes to his uncle's, where the family is staying after the banks evicted all the farmers. Tom's family is loading what possessions remain into a Sedan-truck, when he arrives. The farm repossessed, they have no option but to seek work in California. Although leaving Oklahoma would violate his parole, Tom decides to risk it. He and the preacher, Casey, join the family road trip. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Is<b style="font-style: italic;"> The Grapes of Wrath</b> banned for it's vision of hard-working Americans abandoned by business, government, religion and the law? In that desperate time, the survival of the family was questionable. Steinbeck was probably branded a Communist for his pro-union stance opposed to legally sanctioned union busting. (Is it a coincidence in 2022 that politicians who believe government should serve the needs of people, as well as business are often labelled "socialist?")</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">I recently read <i><b>Lincoln Highway</b></i> by Amor Towles and found some insightful parallels to <i><b>The Grapes of Wrath. </b></i>As the novel opens Emmett Watson, like Tom Joad, is newly paroled from prison for an accidental homicide, though his prison is a juvenile reformatory. The kindly warden who drives Everett home, like Joad's preacher, says he had bad "luck," but that he is a good man with his whole life ahead of him. But, like Joad, Emmett is young at 18 to be the head of the family, guardian of his 8-year old brother Billy. Both Tom Joad and Emmett Watson had fathers who were "broken by the land." </span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhyQYxGZXYVySQApzor-Brp4GGABpjo1yaHdlN00yY8eGG7beySYaBe5qGMh0pgR_B1fnyT3kr4AXOVR4-Ky5uiHVuXD9_gdaou_uDiwUNVWYi3VPzIFos2Ow99gPmEI1nRUvoPMOlkg-P9J0X9hArMkDHmFX-YEBmfMT7jR2rbBkkIjeS8yp_CXjZMyw=s325" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="325" data-original-width="325" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhyQYxGZXYVySQApzor-Brp4GGABpjo1yaHdlN00yY8eGG7beySYaBe5qGMh0pgR_B1fnyT3kr4AXOVR4-Ky5uiHVuXD9_gdaou_uDiwUNVWYi3VPzIFos2Ow99gPmEI1nRUvoPMOlkg-P9J0X9hArMkDHmFX-YEBmfMT7jR2rbBkkIjeS8yp_CXjZMyw=s320" width="320" /></a></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span>A big difference is that Emmett's journey begins in 1954, not the Great Depression and Nebraska is a fertile place. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> Emmett's dad was not an experienced dirt farmer but an educated man from an old Boston family with money. As Emmett sees his father's books and stacks of unpaid bills, he mulls over who he was. He knows he turned his back on the East from some quest to get back to the Earth and became a "piss poor farmer." A man broken in spirit, not just financially. Besides his failure with the farm, he lost his wife, the boys' mother, who disappeared for parts unknown. When Emmett meets the banker, who seems to have already taken over the property, the man says his father left nothing and suggests it's better for Emmett to move on. The 1954 Studebaker bought with his own money from carpentry work, is his alone. He refuses to concede his car and grudgingly, the man lets it go.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Though the farm has been repossessed, Emmett doesn't actually have to leave Nebraska. And the banker may have had his reasons, he later learns, for making him think otherwise. Then he finds money hidden in the car hidden by his dad. There's a housing boom in the West,with the money, Emmett can go to Texas and build houses. Until he's settled, he figures his brother could continue to stay with Sally, the banker's daughter and his friend, until he's settled. He can take the Lincoln Highway across to Texas. But Billy won't stay behind and wants to go to California, where he's traced their mother's possible whereabouts. Emmett's okay with California, which also has a housing boom. He can take the Lincoln Highway to route 66 (the Joad's road). </span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">The next morning ready to go, they see two inmates from the reformatory, Duchess and Wooley, who escaped in the Warden's trunk. Everett, like Joad, worries his parole could be endangered if he's involved with them. He agrees to drop them at the bus station. But Duchess, theatrical and completely unpredictable is a grifter and Wooley, "differently abled" scion of a blueblood New York family, have another plan.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Like the Joads, Emmett and Billy's road proves a highly circuitous path to a new start. The inheritors of the Joad Family trip have an eccentric "family" of individuals in their Studebaker. All are as desperate as Everett for their own reasons. Driven to his limits, trying to stay on course, the ten-day trip takes him from Nebraska, to New York's Adirondacks, to New York City sites--a hidden hobo settlement, a bawdy house, the Empire State Building and Time Square's culture of theatrical down and outers.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Emmett's hard luck beginning, unlike the Joads, has more fluid less fateful consequences. Good and bad occur in equal measure, one often becoming the other. It's partly the post war optimism founded on the industrial prowess that won WW2. The motley group on Emmett's road trip are related in American individualism, a kind of sel</span><span>f-invention that was a post-war credo.</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> With sly humor and sympathy, Towles makes you care about the stakes in unexpected turns of situations.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Steinbeck's viewpoint of American resettlement wasn't just pessimistic but based on facts. There was a huge Hooverville of unemployed homeless in New York's Central Park, and such encampments currently exist with the the wreckage of lives during the pandemic. Everyone in Emmett's car has an individual plan for fulfillment, even Sally, who joins to get off at San Francisco. Bred to be a housewife and sick of constant cleaning and cooking, she wants a paying job in her future. They want to get on, not just exist.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">What may seem an odd parallel in these stories is the link between Rose of Sharon, the naive pregnant teenager in <b style="font-style: italic;">Grapes </b><span>and Billy Watkins. A</span>n adult by the end of the novel, she provides hope for mankind's continuance, when she offers her breast milk to a starving stranger (after her mother agrees. That is enough to get the book banned). <b style="font-style: italic;">Lincoln Highway</b> provides redemption through the precocious Billy. <b style="font-style: italic;"> </b>He finds postcards their mother sent,hidden by their father, which point the way to a possible (though maybe not probable) reconciliation. Unlike Emmett, Billy is a believer in the magic of life, the value of serendipity and the meaning of heroes and their journeys. Throughout the book, when bad things happen, like a theft from a fallen preacher, Billy's faith continues. Unlike the preacher in<i><b> Grapes</b></i> who loses his faith, Billy's preacher has lost his moral compass.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #202122;">On the Joads' journey, there is the fateful deaths of members of the family. There are confrontations with a business model which guarantees starvation for migrants fortunate enough to find work. There are</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #202122;"> big corporate farmers in collusion with police and state law enforcement authorities. In <b><i>Lincoln Highwa</i></b>y authorities seem fair and even understanding. The only public agency that offers relief from exploitation for the Joads is the New Deal agency, which offered decent conditions and protection from police harrassment, if not work or food.</span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #202122; margin: 0.5em 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">In 2021, when <i><b>Lincoln Highway</b></i> was published, it delivered an enjoyable, even heart-warming fable of a more promising time. In 1954, America's "can-do" culture offered promise to innovative people with skills and ideas. Fortunes were made, the standard of living rose. In the 60s, it looked like there was no ceiling to human advancement--business, sciences, arts. Now in 2022, we are aware of human limitations. As creatures on a degraded planet, we suffer from lack of a universal will to reclaim our habitat and risk human survival. In our country, economic inequality seems institutionalized in our corporate business estates. We certainly need inspiration in these times.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #202122; margin: 0.5em 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Is <i><b>Grapes</b></i> banned, because there's too much similarity to a world ahead, if the country and the world doesn't change course? Too much reality for kids in a pandemic, trying to escape with mind-candy on phones? No one wants young people to suffer. Yet this book is both a cautionary tale and a story with an inspiring sense of hope in the human will to survive, The grit of the Joad family is tremendous. I also believe <i><b>Lincoln Highway</b></i> highlights the perils of self delusion of an era, where puruing money and comfort were all. The sense of young Billy was a touching avowal of the existence of goodness and purpose. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #202122; margin: 0.5em 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">I think these books should be taught together. And no book should be banned. Religious values and the dignity of man are at the core of <b><i>Grapes of Wrath. </i></b> Similarly, I see Jung or Joseph Campbell in <b><i>Lincoln Highwa</i></b>y. These two viewpoints are not incompatible. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #202122; margin: 0.5em 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">S.W.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #202122; font-size: 14px; margin: 0.5em 0px;"><br /></p>Susan I. Weinsteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08327145154416720160noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3686096258659236837.post-85009126460206877812022-02-07T10:57:00.003-05:002022-03-29T14:52:57.160-04:00MY INTERVIEW W/CARLA SARETT ON A CLOSET FEMINIST, her romantic comedy for thinking women <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-RsXr1LP6d7WeT7YSLCjZwNMpj8KzKAkFYZM41AF-O-J_oMkb6H-3vjrK_fiGujq3vegfzad5gyc5CLAhzMnEdNufERWhyDqHMHloUWnNalBf96Z87Doo6fR9UJO2ygHBT6y8u_ZxfjiS/s1600/Carla17157665.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><div style="font-family: merriweather, georgia, "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: times;">3/29</span></div><div style="font-family: merriweather, georgia, "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-family: merriweather, georgia, "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: times;">I did this interview with Carla Sarett, novelist, short story writer and poet. </span><a href="https://youtu.be/bAxQKhTz98c" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" style="color: blue; cursor: pointer; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/bAxQKhTz98c</a></div><div style="color: black; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: merriweather, georgia, "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14px;"><span> </span>at SMOL small press fair. if you have interest.</div><div style="font-family: merriweather, georgia, "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: merriweather, georgia, "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: merriweather, georgia, "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: times;">3/4/22</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">A Closet Feminist (Unsolicited Press, 2/7/22) is an old fashioned new romance set in pre-Covid New York, Philadelphia and L.A., as a young woman finds herself. I like Emma Roberts for the role of Bella, a smart, funny self critical young woman overly aware of being too skinny, demanding, lazy and just weird to attract a man that she might want. She becomes a graduate student almost by default. It's the "almost" that's at issue, since Bella is a woman who doesn't yet know her own strengths. On the far side of twenty, she only knows she needs to be on a path.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><span>As the story opens, Bella's got a job she barely does and considers herself without ambition, a person who would rather watch movies all day than work. Her tolerant boss also knows she's not living up to her potential. So Bella decides to leave her incredibly handsome writer boyfriend, Jeremy, with his apartment of no chairs and a marginal job like her own for a graduate program in linguistics. </span>As she says "you may not be able to go back home, but you can go back to school."</span></div><div style="font-family: merriweather, georgia, "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: 700;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: black; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: merriweather, georgia, "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 700; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEitV6PFijdoIKe7UuH69yuNAP9MA0gfcUXV2w_QweqeDqGX_2HjCv5QxvsBMKhHxIXo-ar5NJBTTlsRvwjwB26Io0xQju2m5mZmt5apdCxLOBWpTPSVAEyZK39WpMcdle2fDuRCc1xsalJ-et10JbcBKZ-3og50kG52GXg68Bam4zWBaTBIAAhqq7EMOg=s396" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="396" data-original-width="255" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEitV6PFijdoIKe7UuH69yuNAP9MA0gfcUXV2w_QweqeDqGX_2HjCv5QxvsBMKhHxIXo-ar5NJBTTlsRvwjwB26Io0xQju2m5mZmt5apdCxLOBWpTPSVAEyZK39WpMcdle2fDuRCc1xsalJ-et10JbcBKZ-3og50kG52GXg68Bam4zWBaTBIAAhqq7EMOg=s320" width="206" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: merriweather, georgia, "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 700; text-align: center;"><br /></div><span style="font-family: times;">In Jeremy's inarticulate way of paying less attention to what Bella says than what she does, he gets the real picure. She may not be breaking up with him but she's leaving New York for Philly. He approves that she's taking a stab at a future. Bella could be a teacher. It's something she could do and, of course they will see each other? The question mark is there between them.</span></span></div><div><span style="color: black; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: black; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit;"><span style="font-family: times;">What awaits Bella is a zany graduate department dept; from her pal Jessica, who considers herself a gay Asian cliche, to the brilliant radical-chic Professor Natasha, who happens to have a Hollywood producer brother. There's Professor Francois, Bella's charming department head, who seems to read her in disconcerting ways. Then enters </span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: times; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit;">the wild card of opportunity. While helping Jeremy's career, Bella </span><span style="color: black; font-family: times; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit;">discovers some unexpected talents and a purpose all her own. </span></div><div><span style="color: black; font-family: times; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: black; font-family: times; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit;">This is a very enjoyable, extremely fast read. From the opening pages, you are entertained and wondering about the twists and turns of Bella's fate. As her consciousness deepens and by sheer force of character she becomes herself. </span></div><div><span style="color: black; font-family: times; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: black; font-family: times; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit;">S.W.</span></div><div style="font-family: merriweather, georgia, "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: 700;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-family: merriweather, georgia, "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: 700;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-family: merriweather, georgia, "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: 700;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-family: merriweather, georgia, "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: 700;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-family: merriweather, georgia, "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: 700;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-family: merriweather, georgia, "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: 700;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-family: merriweather, georgia, "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: 700;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-family: merriweather, georgia, "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: 700;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-family: merriweather, georgia, "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: 700;">A female artist fights for success in a world dominated by men and expectations of conventional sexuality in THE LOOKING GLASS, novella by Carla Sarret. </span></div><div style="font-family: merriweather, georgia, "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14px;"><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: black; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", HelveticaNeue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 15px 0px; outline: none 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Claire Charles, a member of 1930s New York high society, has been trained in painting in preparation for marriage, but shocks everyone by pursuing art as a career and her own inclinations. In Paris, fifteen years later, she collides with Leah, a mysterious artist who has been secretly painting for her husband. When Kay Charles, Claire’s 16-year year old niece, reluctantly models for a portrait, the lives of the three women become intertwined. Claire’s voice alternates with James, a handsome art dealer, and Kay, who claims a special legacy. From Manhattan to Paris, galleries to artist colonies, from the 1930s to the 1970s. THE LOOKING GLASS is a story about women, art, and memory.</p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: black; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", HelveticaNeue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 15px 0px; outline: none 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", Times, serif;">I found this story particularly moving for what's rarely shown; how women artists have lived and worked in two worlds, the public one under the male gaze and the private one where freedom from the male gaze and power structure is essential for creativity and love that's meaningful. </span></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: black; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", HelveticaNeue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 15px 0px 0px; outline: none 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="https://www.propertiuspress.com/our-bookstore/The-Looking-Glass-by-Carla-Sarett-p395402005" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; background-image: linear-gradient(rgba(68, 68, 68, 0) 50%, rgba(68, 68, 68, 0.25) 0px); background-position: 0px 1.15em; background-repeat: repeat-x; background-size: 1em 2px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: black; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0.15em; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">https://www.propertiuspress.com/our-bookstore/The-Looking-Glass-by-Carla-Sarett-p395402005</a><br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none 0px;" /><br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none 0px;" />Propertius Press, October 8, 2021</p></div><div style="font-family: merriweather, georgia, "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14px;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-family: merriweather, georgia, "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14px;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-family: merriweather, georgia, "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9fHhuSFgUZ0WhI1ixkv8mWxH5r2MtAgdAVwLL5dc52RvA93ii8aMLcdGRvRee14qW2lC46WOg0TOZV6XK2cp7wPV__ss9ZuM0xhTP28sn8MJSjbBeciFaYOfnNQCo6wxs3qYIBjgFPqlT/s1000/IMG_0894.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="724" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9fHhuSFgUZ0WhI1ixkv8mWxH5r2MtAgdAVwLL5dc52RvA93ii8aMLcdGRvRee14qW2lC46WOg0TOZV6XK2cp7wPV__ss9ZuM0xhTP28sn8MJSjbBeciFaYOfnNQCo6wxs3qYIBjgFPqlT/s320/IMG_0894.jpg" width="232" /></a></div></div><div style="font-family: merriweather, georgia, "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: merriweather, georgia, "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14px;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-family: merriweather, georgia, "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14px;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: merriweather, georgia, times new roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">Great blog interview w/Carla Sarret: </span></span></span><span style="text-align: center;">http://theleavingyears.blogspot.com/2017/06/interview-with-carla-sarett.html</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Contemporary short stories often present, in present tense, a slice of prosaic life with a psychological insight that's not unpredictable. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Carla Sarett's stories astonish you with the extraordinary in contexts you thought familiar. Readers, like complacent aristocrats in a story in Roald Dahl's classic collection <i>KISS KISS</i>, tour a manicured garden suddenly halted by</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> Pan's primal savagery, Sarett's world, like Dahl's is both genteel and primal, Both expose the fantastic behind the prosaic, poking holes in hypocrisy with cool wit. Sarett surprises with a tender feeling for human suffering, though she skewers human idiocy .</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> For instance, in "Kindred Spirits" from her A<i>rt Collection </i>stories, a young artist looking for inspiration in the Catskill Mountains, finds a painting in a Curio Shop that uncannily transforms her work and life, though fame has a peculiar price. In "For Better or Worse" from <i>Crazy Lovebirds</i>, a woman makes herself "perfect" with technology,convinces her partner to match her--with devastating results. In Chopin for Igor from <i>Spooky and Kooky Tales</i>, a "cat person"chosen by her feline little realizes the true nature of her adored pet. In "String Theory Valentine"from <i>Strange Courtships,</i> a high school couple's romance dissolves as they go off into the world, but through a strange quirk of a parallel universe, are forever linked. In" Stand-By", when a man's on-line date stands him up, his notion of himself enters another world of values. Both these stories and the enigmatic "Mandolina" are in <i>Strange Courtships. <b>This story is below.</b></i></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">So, who is Carla Sarett? </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Carla Sarett began writing stories in 2010, </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">after c</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">areers in academia, film, TV and market research. She has published short stories in over twenty magazines, literary and humor, as </span>well as in anthologies. Recently, she<span style="color: #181818;"> finished two novels, </span><span style="background-color: white;"><i>Closet Feminist </i>and <i>The Captain's House.</i></span></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; text-indent: 0in;"> The first is a comedy about a brainy, clothes-obsessed 20-something who chases after her dream guy, only to find her dream career instead. </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; text-indent: 0in;"><i>The Captain's House </i>is a literary mystery in which a historical re-enactor discovers the secret of Philadelphia's Underground Railroad. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; text-indent: 0in;">Whether Carla Sarett is writing comedy or mystery, investigating metaphysics, theoretical science, history or art, her subject is the human dilemma. Outrageous, subtle, funny or tragic, Sarett's stories are completely original. Her </span><span style="color: #181818; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">books are in the Kindle store</span><span style="color: #181818; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Audio Clips: </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; text-indent: 0in;">"The Library Girl" </span><a href="https://clyp.it/klnngcmt" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; text-indent: 0in;" target="_blank">https://clyp.it/klnngcmt</a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">"Finding Your Church" </span><a href="http://www.birkensnake.com/birkensnake7voicegallery.php" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">http://www.birkensnake.com/birkensnak</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: medium;">e7voicegallery.php</span></a></div>
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<a href="file:///C:/Users/Susan/Downloads/Mandolinata.docx#ref_TOC"><span style="color: blue; mso-no-proof: no;">Mandolinata</span></a></div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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For me, there’s no film like
Vertigo. What scene can top the one in which Jimmy Stewart rejects
one suit after another, yearning for the perfectly tailored gray suit, the one
that his beloved Madeline wore? It’s the scene in which the saleswoman
knowingly says, "The gentleman certainly knows what he wants."
The irony is perfect—we know that Madeline was a fake, her death was faked, but
the man has no clue.<o:p></o:p></div>
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But he’s right about that
suit, isn’t he? That suit has style. I’ve learned a bit about style
from Lucia Forrest—she is now well-known in museum circles. In college,
Lucia seemed the pinnacle (at least to me) of old money, high spirits and a
certain kind of Southern decadence. She used a cigarette holder, she wore
dark red lipstick, she even quoted Baudelaire.</div>
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Like many friends, we lost
touch after college and then found one another though Facebook. And after
a hiatus of many years, we got together at the Algonquin Bar, in midtown
Manhattan—at around three in the afternoon, it’s empty. She was instantly
recognizable, despite her shapeless plaid dress which seemed straight off the
farm. With her blond hair primly tied back, Lucia’s new style seemed to
be country woman in town for the day.</div>
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As it happened, Lucia Forrest
did live on a farm a few hours from the city. “I don’t understand how I’ve
ended up single, all alone with just the horses to keep me company. I
thought I’d make a perfect wife,” Lucia said, sighing. The horses and the farm seemed
about right, but the wife part was jarring. At school, Lucia had been
linked with a tallish woman from Maine. “You two walked hand in hand,
like lovers,” I reminded her.</div>
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“That was to attract the
boys,” Lucia laughed. “I heard all the boys liked lesbians.” She said “the
boys” the way Southern girls do. It seemed a misguided
strategy. But, maybe lots of girls did wild things to persuade an
ordinary fellow that they would make a good housewife. You never know.</div>
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"Perhaps men aren’t so
eager to marry a woman who wants to have sex with other women," I
suggested in my married voice. "Perhaps they only want to have sex with
such a woman, but not marry her. Because sex and marriage are different, sex
and love are different." Lucia nodded, as if my
statement were a novel and original insight. This fit in with Lucia's
idea of me as a brilliant Jewess from her past, although Jews were hardly
scarce in New York.</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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Just then, a pretty woman
entered the bar. She seemed to be in her thirties or older, dressed hippie
style, with gold hoop earrings, a gauzy Indian-tunic and long flowing
hair. She approached and asked politely if we wanted our cards
read. Her voice was educated-- she might have been an actress before
ending up in these sad straits. I imagined her as a little girl, unaware
of a future in which she roamed bars seeking tips for card-readings. I sensed that Lucia was in the
mood for frivolous entertainment. “Sure, let's do it, it's on me, Lucia."</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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“I need you to focus on a
problem in your life,” the Tarot woman said, with a touching gravity.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Having none, I thought about a
business contract, which I felt confident about winning. I have learned to wish
for things that I know will come true.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The woman spread the cards for
Lucia. I have no knowledge of the cards, but they looked invitingly bright and
bold. “You are going to start a new business-- perhaps, something with
computers.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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I had assumed that Lucia, like
me, viewed the cards as a childish game, but she gazed at the Tarot woman with
intensity. Perhaps Lucia was becoming a New Age woman.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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The bright cards were laid out
again, this time on my behalf. I’m thinking of business, I said.
Her beautiful eyes met mine. She asked, “Have you met someone from a strange
place, maybe a foreign country?<o:p></o:p></div>
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“No, I’m sorry, I haven’t.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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“Pay attention, you will,” the
Tarot woman said, disappointed. “This is important.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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Taken aback by her sweetness,
I handed her a generous tip. "I'll
pay attention, I promise!" I waved to the pretty Tarot woman as we left.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Lucia and I next met at The
Arts Club in Gramercy Park—Lucia’s a member there. Perhaps in honor of
the club’s famed Gothic ornamentation, Lucia had resurrected some of her former
elegance and even had a new hairstyle. I myself had worn a wonderful grey
vintage jacket, asymmetric and stiff.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Lucia admired the hand-sewn
silk lining of my jacket. “This type of construction, it’s too
complicated and detailed for today’s factories. No one knows how to
create things like this anymore,” she said, with her enthusiasm for all things
old.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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After dinner, Lucia confided
about her new online relationship. The man's name was Henry Oliver --he
was a professor of American history at a small liberal arts college, somewhere
in New England. His expertise was the history of the Salem witch
trials. He had responded to Lucia's profile, which highlighted her
interests in American antiques, the landscape paintings of the Hudson River
School, horses, and, also, modern witchcraft. Lucia showed me his
picture-- a distinctive face, craggy and dark-eyed, handsome.<o:p></o:p></div>
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"Sounds promising, you
two have a lot in common. It’s a good start," I said.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I meant it. Lucia and
Henry were both scholarly types. It was comforting to imagine them
engaged in this almost nineteenth century correspondence. Besides, Lucia
might even admire Henry's academic writings. Those who toil in museums
must read the books that most of us do our best to avoid.<o:p></o:p></div>
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She smiled. “We’re
planning to meet this summer at Olana. That will be our first meeting.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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"Olana is amazing.
It’s like a fairy tale. It’s the perfect place," I agreed dreamily
since Frederick Church’s Olana is one of the most beautiful of the estates
along the Hudson River. Although, it occurred to me, driving to Olana was
a lot of work for one date. Why not go to a nice restaurant in New York,
instead? But I kept quiet--no one ever takes advice anyway.<o:p></o:p></div>
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In hindsight, I should have
spoken up. Poor Lucia had made the trek to Olana, and waited until the
gates closed. Henry’s e-mail arrived the next morning. He claimed to have
met a new woman, unexpectedly—he hoped Lucia would understand. <o:p></o:p></div>
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"Why do men think women
should understand? Why am I supposed to understand?" she said, tearfully. Henry is a moron, I
thought. He didn't even have the sense to trot out the usual tale of the
insane ex-wife swinging an ax or the suicidal ex-lover. All he could
invent was a new relationship, of all things."There's nothing to
understand. A lot of men are lunatics, this happens a lot. It's
happened to lots of my friends."</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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In fact, my other friends were
nothing like Lucia, although maybe they too chased men like the neurotic
handsome Henry. I wondered which of Lucia's many photos Henry had
seen—she had hundreds of pictures of her younger glamorous self. But with
men, who knows?<o:p></o:p></div>
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Soon after, Lucia's new online
identity was born. With considerable artistry, Lucia digitally
manipulated the famous Pre-Raphaelite painting by the artist Dante Gabriel
Rossetti – its actual title is La Mandolinata. Lucia was now Mandolinata,
an exquisite beauty with long wavy hair and soulful eyes.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Mandolinata described herself
as a “spirit girl”—a student of Wicca and the occult. She was intent upon
exploring her deeply spiritual voyage with a man who, like her, longed for
freedom, longed to explore his inner self. Mandolinata lived in a remote
part of upstate New York, not far from Olana, as it happened. I wondered how many hours had
been wasted on this silly invention, and to what end? </div>
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<br /></div>
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I asked, "What
kind of man would want a woman like Mandolinata? I mean, the name alone."</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Thousands,” was Lucia’s
answer. “They want to join her on her spiritual journey, they want to climb
mountains—she’s the girl of their dreams.” Lucia cracked up as she read
the e-mails: "Oh, spirit girl, I must meet you!"—that was the general
theme.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Of course, it was not
thousands that Lucia cared about. It was only one. And sure enough,
Henry Oliver took the bait. Lucia had judged her man
correctly. Mandolinata was the spirit girl of Henry Oliver's dreams, too.This was when I expected Lucia
to reveal all and teach Henry a good lesson. That's the romantic
storyline that I imagined. Henry would lament his shallowness. He
and Lucia would have their date. She would wear a beautifully tailored
suit. They would drink martinis, maybe at the Carlyle, jazz piano playing
softly in the background. They would laugh at their middle-aged follies.</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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But Lucia had a different plot
in mind. She started to write to Henry as Mandolinata. Their second
online correspondence was more intense than the first, but with a
twist. Lucia Forrest by this time knew exactly what would excite Henry’s
imagination. So the tale of Mandolinata was tinged with a sense of the
Gothic. Lucia read me some of it:<o:p></o:p></div>
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"I spent my early years on one
of the remote islands in the Gulf of Maine-- we were completely cut off from
the modern world. The island's beaches were solitary and rocky. I often
walked hours without seeing a soul. My father was a boat-maker, well-known for
his designs. My mother taught me how to play the mandolin, read me the
poetry of William Blake, and introduced me to the ancient ways of white
witchcraft. I remember her sweet voice. But then, for reasons that no
one understands, my father drowned my sweet-voiced mother at sea.
Terrified, I escaped from the island, helped by a kind fisherman and his
wife. I now live alone. I can only speak to you when I
meet you- please understand."</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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She paused. "I
think I got everything in there -- the mandolin, Blake, boat-making, even
witchcraft."<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Hmm," I said,
"Isn’t it a bit much? I mean, he's a clever man, he's got to know
this is a joke."<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Although come to think of it,
I had no evidence that Henry was clever. In fact, given his interests in
modern witchcraft and now, spirit girls, he probably was not. Lucia
shrugged, as if to agree with my thoughts.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Inevitably, Lucia/Mandolinata
probed Henry's romantic history-- was she Henry's first cyber-love? And
so, Henry described his "callous" deception of Lucia. Now that
Mandolinata had made Henry "a better man," he confessed he had
never intended to meet Lucia at Olana. At Mandolinata’s insistence, Henry
wrote Lucia a hand-written apology on lovely parchment paper.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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“Not bad, surprisingly
grammatical,” Lucia said, after she read the letter to me.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"So, he screwed up, so
what? If you told him the truth, you'd be even," I argued, frustrated with
this revenge theme. "A neurotic man is bound to screw up at some
point." But I guess I do not understand high style -- and I should have
remembered, no one ever takes advice.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The elaborate charade
continued. Now, the spirit girl and Henry arranged a meeting at the
Algonquin Bar, after which they would spend a magical evening in
Manhattan. This time, according to his e-mails, Henry arrived early
and waited hours. Naturally, Mandolinata did not show up – and she vanished. Tired of the time-consuming
game, Lucia had deleted Mandolinata's profile. Henry Oliver now bored Lucia,
although, interestingly, he had moved to New York. </div>
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<br /></div>
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Lucia rattled off her
accomplishments: Henry had been punished, he had apologized to Lucia, and he
had told the truth about what happened at Olana, or what Lucia imagined was the
truth. My own opinion of Olana differed, but I kept it to myself. Lucia joked about Henry’s
yearnings for his imaginary spirit girl. "You have to admit,
Mandolinata is far more interesting than Henry, especially after her vanishing
act."</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"I guess so, but
deception's not my style," I said.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Months later, I returned to
the Algonquin Bar to meet a client—my first visit since my encounter with Lucia
and the Tarot woman. I checked off what had happened. Yes, I won a
business contract, and to my amusement, my client was Pakistani. Lucia
Forrest's digital spirit girl might be considered a new venture --it certainly
had involved a computer. And, in a sense, I suppose it was fair to say that
Mandolinata came from a “strange place.” Perhaps, the Tarot cards had
been in touch with something, after all.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Just then, I noticed the
pretty Tarot woman sitting with a dark-eyed handsome man. Now, I did pay
attention. It was not a card
reading. Two glasses of white wine were on the table. The man gazed
at the Tarot woman, clasped her hand, and smiled. Today, she wore pearl
earrings and a tailored dove grey jacket. It was only a matter of seconds
before I recognized the man as Henry Oliver. I looked at the pretty Tarot
woman with her long wavy hair and her beautiful eyes. For all I know, her name
really could be Mandolinata.</div>
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Susan I. Weinsteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08327145154416720160noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3686096258659236837.post-17189932950985966032022-01-27T11:59:00.008-05:002022-01-27T13:04:33.148-05:00The 909 FILM (it's your zipcode and/or your life? ) And Best Microfiction of 2021 (Pelekinesis' award-winning anthology)<p> Bamboo Dart Press has done it again, confounded expectations of what they publish with <i><b>The 909</b>,</i> a film by Mark Givens and Joel Huschle. David Scott Ewers, a Bamboo publisher and author of <i>Ultimate Resort</i> described the slender book.</p><p>"Like a plastic mirror, <i><b>The 909</b> </i>reflects an image of California life that's both strangely attractive and not easy to look at. Unlike a plastic mirror, <i><b>The 909</b></i> allows an even uneasier image to blossom in the shadow of the first. It is that of a sack being nailed to a shoe, forever. Funny and disquieting."</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTWSZSv6b71mT3E0JgKdbQINviWZEgcHhORYkuov-OBYUe4n7UbKN5FvlXv4RyOhyE_OeKNfrMH85BRDHeezPuwYUKJmJqbngZ9IQQTFZ0ui46ACeU0g_B_dx4Lr4XIGdiPLE0OOA5qcxR/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="500" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTWSZSv6b71mT3E0JgKdbQINviWZEgcHhORYkuov-OBYUe4n7UbKN5FvlXv4RyOhyE_OeKNfrMH85BRDHeezPuwYUKJmJqbngZ9IQQTFZ0ui46ACeU0g_B_dx4Lr4XIGdiPLE0OOA5qcxR/" width="240" /></a></div><br />This is a film that needs to be made, now that reality is catching up. It's a road trip where all cars move in straight lines and destinations shift. Shopping malls were once old downtowns. Abandoned strip malls are ghost towns. Starbucks, Best Buy, Apple stores exist, though people are few. Is this terrain related to the changes in area codes? Why did L.A.'s 213 area code become 714 and then 909? And why are codes continuing to fragment, so some users are their own group? What is the synchonicity between area code changes, deserted places, and isolated individuals? Dissolving fixed places means meet-ups are harder to pin down, muses the protagonist, Joel. Even when a Starbucks is decided on, it's moved inside a Best Buy. Description of the film:<p></p><p><i><b>The 909</b> is a sci-fi script for a movie set in the near-future and taking the form of a reality documentary. The plot centers on a group of people who discuss the implications of "The Mesh", the technology that replaced the 'Net. Conspiracies, intrigue, and good old-fashioned camaraderie occupy these characters' thoughts as they try to retain a sense of individuality in an increasingly watchful society.</i></p><p>When did the Net become the Mesh? How do people resist when they lose touch? Was this system invented by a tech genius to avoid government control, or the reverse? In this meditative action script, the Director asks the first leading question. </p><p><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> <span> </span></span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span>DIRECTOR (VO)</p><p><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> <span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span></span>Do you see Randy anymore?</p><p><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> JOEL</span><br /></p><p><span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> <span> </span><span> </span>Distant Randy? No, I haven't seen him since, what...2004?</span><br /></span></p><p><span><span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> DIRECTOR</span><br /></span></span></p><p><span><span><span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> <span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span>What's he Been up to?</span><br /></span></span></span></p><p><span><span><span><span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> JOEL</span><br /></span></span></span></span></p><p><span><span><span><span><span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> <span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span>I don't know. He's not in the 909 anymore.</span><br /></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> ***************</span></p><p><span><span><span><span><span> It's 2022 already, and who knows where the time goes in this Covid zoom life with a brief interruption of normalcy, but just when we thought it was over and "safe to go into the shower..." I missed this Microfiction anthology and am glad to keep up with a form that's intense and vital. Every word counts in Microfiction.</span></span></span></span></span></p><p>The depth and variety in the <i>bestmicrofiction 2021</i> anthology is astonishing. <span style="background-color: white;">Pelekinesis (www.pelekinesis.com) publishes The Best Microfiction anthology series to provide recognition for outstanding literary stories of 400 words or fewer. The series is 3 years old and now as diverse and international as the editors had hoped. The guest editor, Amber Sparks' introduction is also a challenge.</span></p><p><i>"This is writing at its most daring, its most alive, and I feel lucky and honored to have been able to witness the future unfolding. All the writers I read were frankly fantastic, but the stories here often have that something extra, that ineffable quality that may be called inspiration, I suppose. I howled while reading some of these, so daring, and so new they felt. I hope they strike you that way too, and that you enjoy reading them as much as I did."</i></p><p><i><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span></i><i> </i> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjYA97qqtR-2iB50zL9ml5mz4u9MhAhTfecKGuloLiCBI4umXbT9wtoO97rVCG670ZQJOyAMS_YZ7KJj01MR4tM1H21WcOW7wmLs3SK-bhYfr2hhgnxNuvXLTsPTDkmIFuEHvnHYndjlZiVmFvc2XECrGiMG2xAIXsY9pj9OLY68-oaYxZt0tdRCAnNtw=s2104" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2104" data-original-width="1302" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjYA97qqtR-2iB50zL9ml5mz4u9MhAhTfecKGuloLiCBI4umXbT9wtoO97rVCG670ZQJOyAMS_YZ7KJj01MR4tM1H21WcOW7wmLs3SK-bhYfr2hhgnxNuvXLTsPTDkmIFuEHvnHYndjlZiVmFvc2XECrGiMG2xAIXsY9pj9OLY68-oaYxZt0tdRCAnNtw=s320" width="198" /></a></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Best Microfiction 2021</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Meg Pokrass, Gary Fincke, and Amber Sparks, editors</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">IPPY Award SealWINNER of the Bronze Medal for a book series in the 2021 Independent Publisher Book Awards</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">WINDOWS by RANJABALI CHAUDHURI is a favorite of mine from this collection.</p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><br /></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">I love shop windows. Their colours, jewels, and mannequins sing the dulcet promise of possibility. They let me be anyone. Superimposed upon the clothes on display, my reflection can be a soldier in a red and gold jacket, a doctor in a white coat with deep pockets or even a gentleman in a gray suit, a red silk scarf and a cream hat. They take my imagination to places I am not allowed to enter. I wish they were the only windows I had to clean.<br clear="none" /><br clear="none" />The pastries look delicious, but I cannot linger. The bungalow has ten windows, framed in painted glass. The <i>sahibs</i> and <i>memsahibs</i> inside do not like to keep them open for long. A servant follows me to keep my hands from straying inside. Everything native is banned within these four walls—the heat, the dust, the words, the people. I steal quick glances of this life made of pastries, pianos, and porcelain. These windows scream at me to work faster, to collect my wages and disappear. Wasps buzz over the white roses that grow on their sills.<br clear="none" /><br clear="none" />It is dark when I reach the club. A man browner than me, wearing the club’s black uniform, points me to the only place where a brown boy with a bucket is allowed. I smile and run. I have been waiting for these windows all day long. Music from inside floats in the air. The <i>sahibs</i> have parked their cars in three neat rows. I use the cloth that hides the contents of my bucket to cover my shirt. Paint spills from a tin I open. I pick a brush and look at the English words our leader has written down for me, at the bottom of my bucket. One word for each window.<br clear="none" /><br clear="none" /><i>Quit India</i><i><br clear="none" /></i><i>Jai Hind</i><br clear="none" /><br clear="none" /><b>Ranjabali Chaudhuri</b>’s (she / her) work has appeared in F<i>lashBack Fiction, The Timeworn Literary Journal, </i>and<i> The Horla Magazine</i> among others. She lives in London and is working on her first novel.</p><div><br /></div><div>July 10th, 2022 is the publication date for the new Best Microfiction Anthology 2022. Great cover. Interested to see writing this year.</div><div>SW</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj6GhlQLsH3Bk4pXZNnm7GT973Z2wzZD6ax51rdN3hOukTsKqv1lTR4U4-FIOgvg4xrTHbMD2KTprZgV91K73_XqUAnrygViQGdIiYhytrIF0TS8tO1PBlpwJX1YK-Hq8Q84dyUEqxLOu1_FydsX8hEKp9ko0l0BHpb7BBhXw7xobCI8X2cW-Bec8Lziw" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="661" data-original-width="400" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj6GhlQLsH3Bk4pXZNnm7GT973Z2wzZD6ax51rdN3hOukTsKqv1lTR4U4-FIOgvg4xrTHbMD2KTprZgV91K73_XqUAnrygViQGdIiYhytrIF0TS8tO1PBlpwJX1YK-Hq8Q84dyUEqxLOu1_FydsX8hEKp9ko0l0BHpb7BBhXw7xobCI8X2cW-Bec8Lziw" width="145" /></a></div><br /><br /></div></div></div></div></div>Susan I. Weinsteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08327145154416720160noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3686096258659236837.post-77979946913807940272022-01-07T15:53:00.006-05:002022-01-10T11:17:02.641-05:00EPIPHANY OF A MIDDLE-AGED PILGRIM BY PETER WORTSMAN and KONUNDRUM, When Kafka makes you laugh<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgVUp2ydSQC7xKlwhsqqTQqqmns7b125Pm6Zhciq1Qndl8Yts5R_99jqJln3oR-0UxITiXu8nkG4PnuAxsmBTO3L5foyltb8TMoGzq36OYLfB8YxJHbijlcO9xLlcjQf5WC7sf0o26SMY6AENTUVBIdKJifm4A-wEwl2MEJ-u4wTU6RI88meBO-Z7Kjwg=s500" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="328" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgVUp2ydSQC7xKlwhsqqTQqqmns7b125Pm6Zhciq1Qndl8Yts5R_99jqJln3oR-0UxITiXu8nkG4PnuAxsmBTO3L5foyltb8TMoGzq36OYLfB8YxJHbijlcO9xLlcjQf5WC7sf0o26SMY6AENTUVBIdKJifm4A-wEwl2MEJ-u4wTU6RI88meBO-Z7Kjwg=s320" width="210" /></a></div><br /><p></p><div style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="text-align: left;">Peter Wortsman is good company; a raconteur known for his short fiction, stage plays, and translations, such as KONUNDRUM, a translation of Kafka that made me laugh. In <b>EPIPHANY OF A MIDDLE-AGED PILGRIM: </b></span><i style="text-align: left;"><b>essays in lieu of a memoir (Pelekinesis)</b></i><span style="text-align: left;"><b>,</b> he relates</span><span style="text-align: left;"> </span><span style="text-align: left;">the trepidation of being middle aged, as well as the mysteries of a life half lived. In (</span><i style="text-align: left;">A forword)</i><span style="text-align: left;">, he ruminates:</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> "The only difference between then and now is an accumulation of doubt. But doubt need not necessarily be debilitating. I dedicate these musings to the defining punctuation mark of middle age: the semicolon, a veritable hallmark of uncertainty."</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Wortsman can make the prosaic terra incognito, such as <i>First Memory</i>, where a drawbridge and a child's fear of containing "pipi" merge. In <i>Rough Cuts</i>, there's humorous swagger about the removal of a skin cancer like "a kind of shoot-out at the O.K. Corral." He also creates strangely beautiful moments that are absurd. In <i>Spirit Tree,</i> a wild sapling in front of the family house in Queens, New York, that grows to a gigantic totem of his parents' native Vienna, evoking their idyllic strolls in Vienna, before fleeing the Nazis. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">My favorite piece may be about the recent lockdown in NYC. <i><b>Nostalgia for the Norm: Obervations in the vale and Vector of the Virus (An Afterword).</b> </i>Here is an excerpt.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> "The other day, for no apparent reason, an angry teenager walked up to me and butted me in the chest. It was not a friendly greeting.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span> "Is this the new norm?"</span><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span> "I have stomped the same circuit of streets and exhausted novelty on my limited nightly trajectories. Upon returning home I escape into my imaginings. Of late I have tried to envision our microscopic adversary, variously depicted on internet sites either as an abstract expressionist pattern of tinted stains, or in 3-D representations as cauliflower-like gobs, or else as spherical entities with extended knobs, miniscule invaders, streamlined and downsized since the advent of H.G. Wells' <i>War of the Worlds</i>, but invaders all the same.<br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span><span> "Despite all, I cannot help but be awestruck by the dogged determination of the virus, its resilience and stubborn resolve to proliferate."</span><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span><b><br /></b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span><b><span> POST SCRIPT</span><br /></b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span><b><span> This book was compiled in lockdown as a virtual SOS in a bottle in the time of the virus. May it be retrieved by receptive readers in the future, when social distancing will, hopefully, be a morbid memento mori, streets open for strolling, friends once again embraced, and masks worn only, of necessity, by surgeons in the ER, superheroes on screen, celebrants at costume balls, and hoodlums on a heist." </span><br /></b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> <span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span>New York, January 15, 2021</span><br /></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">***</div></div><div style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "bulmer mt w02" , "eb garamond" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 19.2px; text-align: left;">Kafka spoke for millions in their new unease; a century after his birth, he seems the last holy writer, and the supreme fabulist of modern man's cosmic predicament.</span><span style="color: blue; font-family: "bulmer mt w02" , "eb garamond" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 19.2px; text-align: left;"> --John Updike</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXQveCNLuzd338A06j_NfghWLiO-8MQh9te1L0Uk2HmUkPffCfgk50ApVd2O3dDFaU14aa8fYXwlMW8gbaEdESWSNK1xLhohNd2GQuimYJqtIWpkpxw057Jz0vfkXmpcyySpl1n6vlV0KL/s200/Konundrumcover-600x750.jpg" style="text-align: left;" width="160" /></div>Why a new translation of Kafka? Don't we already know The Castle, The Penal Colony, Metamorphosis, The Hunger Artist? Perhaps we know too much about Kafka?<br /><div><br />In KONUNDRUM: Selected Prose of Franz Kafka, translated from the German by Peter Wortsman, (Achipelago Books) I met a Kafka I had never known but long suspected. Wortsman has said Kafka laughed aloud, when reading his work, as did others. Not being a translator, I have imagined a direct line from Kafka's K to Philip K. Dick. I liked a production of The Hunger Artist, as a sporting event in Madison Square Garden. The laugh's not from the belly, but from the pained heart, especially ironic in our 21st century. </div><div><span class="TextRun SCX62325847" lang="EN-US" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #777777; font-family: "bulmer mt w02" , "eb garamond" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0px;" xml:lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div><div><span class="TextRun SCX62325847" lang="EN-US" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #777777; font-family: "bulmer mt w02" , "eb garamond" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0px;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCX62325847" style="box-sizing: border-box;">Besides classics; Metamophosis retranslated as "Transformed," The Penal Colony, The Hunger Artist; </span><span class="SpellingError SCX62325847" style="box-sizing: border-box;">Wortsman selected </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCX62325847" style="box-sizing: border-box;"> letters, journals, darkly comic parables, fairy tales, reflections, even aphorisms, This is the first volume in English to have Kafka's very humane personal letters and journal entrees alongside his major works, The result is that you get a unique sense of the writer's "voice," who Kafka is, with little separation between the man and the writer.</span></span></div><div><span class="TextRun SCX62325847" lang="EN-US" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #777777; font-family: "bulmer mt w02" , "eb garamond" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0px;" xml:lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div><div>Wortsman, who is both a fiction writer, and a translator, changed the way I think about Kafka. Along with ironic chuckles were surprised guffaws, as thoughts circle back to unexpected endings, like in "The Bridge." For me "Transformed" (Metamorphosis) was a dark fantasy that moved to real and hard truth about human relationships. Then there is the wit, just for fun. Who would think of poor Poseidon, saddled with accountancy of the seas? Here is an example from this volume.</div><br />THE BRIDGE by Franz Kafka<br /><br />I was stiff and cold. I was a bridge. I lay over an abyss. With the tips of my toes on this side, my fingertips dug in yonder, I clung to the crumbling clay. My coattails dangled at my sides. The icy trout brook thundered below. No tourist ever strayed to this forbidding precipice, the bridge was not yet inscribed on any map.So I lay and waited. I had to wait.Barring collapse, no bridge once built can ever stop being a bridge.<br /><br />Once toward evening--was it the first, was it the thousandth time, I don't know--my thoughts were always muddled, running in circles. One summer evening, the brook thundered darker than ever, I heard the sound of a man's footsteps! Advancing toward me, toward me. Stretch yourself out, bridge, mend your rift, you rafter without sail, hold up the one entrusted to you! The uncertainty of his step levels off out of earshot, but if he falters make yourself useful, and like a mountain goat hurl him safely across.<br /><br />He came, with the iron tip of his hiking pole he tested me out, then with it, raised my coattails and arranged them neatly on my torso. He jabbed the tip into my bushy head of hair, and probably peering wildly about, left it dug in. But then--I was just then dreaming of mountains and valleys--he leapt with both feet into the small of my back. I writhed in excruciating pain, altogether ignorant of the identity of who or what bestrode me. Who was it? A child? A dream? A highwayman? A suicide? A tempter? A wrecker? And I turned myself around to catch a glimpse. Bridge upends itself! I had not yet managed to turn over completely when I tumbled, I tumbled and already I was torn to shreds and pierced by pointed rocks that had always peered so peaceably from the bed of the rushing river.<br /><br /><br />I would suggest you, like I, might enjoy a new look at this darkly comic genius. Could we call him pre-cognitive of both the 20 and 21st centuries? In this translation, he's a man for any time.<br /><br />S.W.<br /><br />Susan I. Weinsteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08327145154416720160noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3686096258659236837.post-12418546105725184492021-12-23T16:11:00.014-05:002022-01-01T15:58:24.723-05:00Holiday Greeting! For the New Year--CANCELL THE APOCALYPSE! A Challenge to watch visionary documentaries<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjx1YJ6jCQ_5IbHjf-OHlbft8mHYfU-HZj3AIonHxuYwFNaaiIXEw0hHLgJjGjrUmJ4u7xFmQeUIayLgVd6MNCJ0Vw0bbM_1qumC7SBT2AgOEX-4IW46gm_T6KVVWokiHxoBecHmNmvNghPZRSR7fxhuZ1bQ6vHI-J2xT_W8CwyNOQK9TzHayGXlbusEQ=s1843" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1165" data-original-width="1843" height="202" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjx1YJ6jCQ_5IbHjf-OHlbft8mHYfU-HZj3AIonHxuYwFNaaiIXEw0hHLgJjGjrUmJ4u7xFmQeUIayLgVd6MNCJ0Vw0bbM_1qumC7SBT2AgOEX-4IW46gm_T6KVVWokiHxoBecHmNmvNghPZRSR7fxhuZ1bQ6vHI-J2xT_W8CwyNOQK9TzHayGXlbusEQ=s320" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p style="text-align: center;"></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: red; font-family: "Bookman Old Style","serif"; font-size: medium;">THIS VIEW HAS NEVER
LOOKED THE SAME.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "Bookman Old Style","serif"; font-size: medium;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This day has never come before.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #0d0d0d; font-family: "Bookman Old Style","serif"; font-size: medium; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 242;">Forget apocalyptic thinking.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #c00000; font-family: "Bookman Old Style","serif"; font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #c00000; font-family: "Bookman Old Style","serif"; font-size: medium;">ENJOY
YOUR HOLIDAY,<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #7030a0; font-family: "Bookman Old Style","serif"; font-size: medium;">Your
New Year's mystery.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #4f6228; font-family: "Bookman Old Style","serif"; font-size: medium; mso-themecolor: accent3; mso-themeshade: 128;">2022 has yet to take shape in our glorious world.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">***</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">A friend read this card and sent me this link to CANCELL THE APOCALYPSE 30 FILMS, alternative versions of how we might actually save the planet and ourselves.</span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #4f6228; font-family: "Bookman Old Style","serif"; mso-themecolor: accent3; mso-themeshade: 128;"><a href="https://www.filmsforaction.org/articles/cancel-the-apocalypse-documentaries-to-help-unlock-the-good-ending/ ">https://www.filmsforaction.org/articles/cancel-the-apocalypse-documentaries-to-help-unlock-the-good-ending/ </a><br /></span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large; text-align: left;">****</span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">With COVID I am no longer buying into the idea of some inevitable apocalypse. Years ago, I wrote <i>Paradise Gardens</i>, a corporate dystopia, where the "business estates" take over government and mankind's destiny. It is a dark cautionary tale.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">But humans are not the only force on this earth, About every hundred years, nature culls our herd with some plague. Earth is cleansed of human dominance, a cyclical happenstance like much of nature. Take the origins of human illness with this virus. I believe National Geo's article about covid viruses seeking other hosts, after the jungle- forest habitats of small animals vanished</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><span>No religious judgement, just the force of nature, though I hope that as vaccination grows, the lethal viruses will become less severe, perhaps a seasonal flu. </span><span>As a part of nature, humans might do well to look at other ways of living on this planet. Our billionaires (excluding Mr.Gates) seem fixated on escape to colonies elsewhere. Considering the thin atmosphere on Mars, might they build exclusive air rich compounds and go slumming on Earth? Instead, why don't the rest of us CANCELL THE APOCALYPSE?</span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><span><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><span>Let's begin with a festival of alternative futures in these documentaries, Make a movement, rebuild a nation, </span><span>a world. Our founding fathers knew underground movements can surface powerfully. Viva 2022.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">S.W. </span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">.</span><br /></div></div>Susan I. Weinsteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08327145154416720160noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3686096258659236837.post-75632971752668701412021-06-23T09:44:00.012-04:002021-06-23T10:45:15.825-04:00Cherches' TRACKS: Memoirs from a Life w/Music (Bamboo Dart Press) and Linda Balliro's BEING A SINGER: The Art, Craft, and Science (Chicago Review Press)<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi96wUSk4XKrisutjac7yJPTCCwOdCrWEkcnmIOPD6oWEGyZSzysE6TrMW-puomMFOG_xnhVkBUNX7aY9vqt4cWHCx3ve_QyiKN1-eHtsr9qvKbqFW0JWF6xjQOjYp3DynEP7oVP-VfyR4C/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="400" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi96wUSk4XKrisutjac7yJPTCCwOdCrWEkcnmIOPD6oWEGyZSzysE6TrMW-puomMFOG_xnhVkBUNX7aY9vqt4cWHCx3ve_QyiKN1-eHtsr9qvKbqFW0JWF6xjQOjYp3DynEP7oVP-VfyR4C/" width="240" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>Peter Cherches, <b>TRACKS: <i>Memoirs From a Life With Music</i>,</b> published by Bamboo Dart Press. I enjoy Peter's prose, from his early <b>Condensed Book t</b>o the more recent <b>Whistler's Mother's Son and Other Curiosities </b>(Pelekinesis). <i>Publishers Weekly</i> called him "one of the innovators of the short short story" before the term flash fiction. I also enjoyed his amusing and suprising performances at Cornelia Street Cafe with Lee Feldman, crooning standards of his own. Below is an excerpt from <b>TRACKS</b>.</p><p><b>Miles Davis, “Straight, No Chaser,” from
Milestones (1958) </b></p><p>One of the first jazz albums I bought as an adolescent, I think
when I was 12, was Milestones, by the Miles Davis Sextet. I
figured I’d kill two jazz birds with one stone: Miles Davis and
John Coltrane, neither of whom I’d ever heard, to my knowledge.
I was unaware at the time of the more legendary status of the
group’s next album, Kind of Blue. I did know that Miles Davis was
possibly the most famous living jazz musician, and that Coltrane
had a reputation for playing really “weird.” Weird interested me.
I understood weird. I was a weird kid. </p><p>When I looked through the bin for Miles Davis albums, most
likely at Sam Goody’s, Milestones caught my eye. On the cover
was Miles in a green shirt, sleeves rolled up, holding his trumpet,
staring straight out at me. He looked like he meant business. On
the back cover I read that the album featured Coltrane on tenor
sax, as well as Cannonball Adderley, whom I knew from his radio
hit “Mercy, Mercy, Mercy,” on alto. I was unaware that it also
featured one of the greatest rhythm sections in jazz history. In
fact, I was most certainly unaware of the term “rhythm section.”
It looked like a good bet. I bit.
I really liked the album, but something confused me: Coltrane
didn’t sound weird at all. He sounded like a pretty normal
jazz saxophonist.</p><p>At the time I knew nothing of the phases of
Coltrane’s career. I would listen to the album over and over and
try to figure out what the uproar about Coltrane was all about. All right, maybe there was a little something I could latch on to,
maybe something in his tone, maybe something in the runs he
played (he was in the midst of what jazz critic Ira Gitler called
his “sheets of sound” period). But I wasn’t convinced there was
anything so revolutionary about Coltrane.
Over the next few years I got to know a lot more about
Coltrane, and how his playing kept changing over the decade
from 1957 until his death in 1967. </p><p>In 1970 I was visiting my
brother Bart at his bachelor pad and I started twisting the dial
on the FM tuner of his stereo system. I came across some really
intense jazz, a saxophonist seemingly blowing his brains out in
the best of ways (I’d soon learn that there were other saxophonists
who blew more brains further out). It turns out I had stumbled
upon the multi-day Coltrane festival on WKCR, the radio station
of Columbia University. That was my crash course in Coltrane,
and, as I became a devoted listener of WKCR, in all sorts of jazz,
but especially free jazz. </p><p>In 1971 I bought Coltrane’s Live in Seattle
double album, which was recorded in 1965 but had just been
posthumously released. That one was too much for me.
I ultimately made peace with Live in Seattle, but after all these
years I still can’t get into certain of Coltrane’s late albums, Om,
for instance, which may have been recorded under the influence
of LSD or may just sound like it was. When I first heard it, I
figured the guy had totally lost it. All these years later I’ve come
to understand that I just haven’t found it yet. And that I might
never. And that’s all right.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiey9BlHV7UHdJUpSOY15wc5Wc4n1G3HBOaFS8SyqTRgWv7mzHmXsp4qxLP9StWL4UdDir7EiqFW1PkaqrfQG97YfOiWGFm28g6iT4-JND-VgovIAAdUaCwOg3fNol8oFND9CFIn8O16vHu/s600/singer.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="480" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiey9BlHV7UHdJUpSOY15wc5Wc4n1G3HBOaFS8SyqTRgWv7mzHmXsp4qxLP9StWL4UdDir7EiqFW1PkaqrfQG97YfOiWGFm28g6iT4-JND-VgovIAAdUaCwOg3fNol8oFND9CFIn8O16vHu/s320/singer.jpg" /></a></div><br /><p>As a pre-teen girl, I was infatuated with movie musicals and spent afternoons with friends singing "I feel pretty" with the soundtrack. We imagined being Natalie Wood in <b><i>West Side Story</i></b> and Ann Margaret in<i><b> Bye Bye Birdy</b></i> in our basements. High school, I sang Joni Mitchell's "Places" in an audition for <i><b>Bye Bye Birdy</b></i>. By default I got "Rosie," because I was ethnic looking, especially in hoop earrings. The role, played in movie by Janet Leigh, included "Spanish Rose" , a song to Shriners in fez hats, sung while dancing on table tops. Luckily that was cut but I had to sing "One Boy" in a duet with Kim, the Ann-Margaret role. I had never sung alone in public and my only instruction was to sing alto to sound more adult. I tried to be worldly but at the height of the duet my voice cracked. Auditorium of people roared with laughter. Figured I could never be a singer, hadn't the equipment. </p><p>Apparently, I had it wrong. I read <b>BEING A SINGER: <i>The Art, Craft, and Science</i> </b>by Linda Balliro, with much interest. There are ways to connect the lower and higher registers and to easily move from one to the other. Even a developing voice might have managed it with training and an approach that made sense. Bailliro, a Berklee College of Music voice professor, was nominated for a Grammy as Music Educator of the Year. I can see why her training program, based on ten years of study with the legendary vocal coach Seth Riggs (coach to Michael Jackson, Barbra Steisand, Stevie Wonder) has benefited both professionals and amateurs. She has coached nationally touring musicians, young opera singers, local artists, children and teens. </p><p><span style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #030303; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; letter-spacing: 0.15pt;">In this singular
book, Balliro draws on vocal science, neuroscience and motor learning to show how
singing actually works. From cognition to anatomy--our amazing hearing system--and even instincts and emotions are synched to produce a human song. Here's a couple excerpts from the first chapter:</span></p><p><span style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #030303; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; letter-spacing: 0.15pt;">"Becoming a great singer isn't about your "gift." It isn't about being "good enough." Becoming a great singer means discovering how to align your thoughts, emotions, and behavior to tell the story of the musics and lyrics, no matter what you sing." </span></p><p><span style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #030303; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; letter-spacing: 0.15pt;">"Before you begin training, you need to prepare--just as you would prepare to run a marathon. Singing is more complex than most sports, so you'll need to prepare your voice, mind, and body"</span></p><p>"Singing creates a whirlwind of physical and emotional experiences for singers and listeners. While we luxuriate in a flurry of vibrationbs, airflow, memory, imagination, and sound, we tend to forget that singing is a motor skill, like riding a bicycle or using chopsticks. Learning a physical action, a motor skill, is called motor learning. Understanding the principles of motor learning can help you train your voice quickly and efficiently." </p><p> So the training begins in this clear specific program of exercise, self evaluation, science and inspiration. I could not imagine using a book to learn to sing. This book, yes. I am doing landscapes this summer. Art depends on training. With enough practice, it's instinctive, like riding a bike.</p><p>S.W.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Susan I. Weinsteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08327145154416720160noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3686096258659236837.post-8601278572482164182021-05-03T13:37:00.005-04:002021-05-05T13:16:04.636-04:00Women shed sociopolitical expectations and remake worlds in GIRL, WOMAN, OTHER by Barnardine Evaristo and ANNA AND THE AMERICAN PUZZLE by Jennifer Kasman<p><span style="font-size: medium;">Autonomy becomes urgent necessity in a volume of interlocking stories and a novel, Heroines must shed socio political expectations and their conditioning to remake their worlds. </span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4xZNBj87toGsYg10TnWq-lWtsS6ZQxqWpBkFn7TY4yfsDLjx1yXz7XHzx9SuvydDu4FWVDR9R-DGPj1kRiAnArDGP20boCzBNRQQeb24i4dJF7gvfvfSoOH4UqEI2pRytQOoX0QVi2R90/s406/9780802156983_p0_v4_s550x406.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="406" data-original-width="270" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4xZNBj87toGsYg10TnWq-lWtsS6ZQxqWpBkFn7TY4yfsDLjx1yXz7XHzx9SuvydDu4FWVDR9R-DGPj1kRiAnArDGP20boCzBNRQQeb24i4dJF7gvfvfSoOH4UqEI2pRytQOoX0QVi2R90/s320/9780802156983_p0_v4_s550x406.jpg" /></span></a></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /><span><br /></span></span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span><b>GIRL, WOMAN, OTHER</b> (Grove Atlantic) by Bernardine Evaristo, won the 2019 Booker Prize and I am glad I just got around to reading it. In our emergence from Covid, it seems more relevant than it might have in 2019. </span>These intertwined stories are like a musical ronde, each a different aspect of the subject, Black women finding autonomy, despite daily lives that demand conformity. Their voices, unexpected and enjoyable, come from present day Britain, though they extend to intergenerational immigrant experiences in Guam, the Caribbean, Nigeria. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span>Mothers, daughters, wives, fled wars and poverty, only to face new struggle and danger in public housing and menial jobs, no matter what education they brought. Their children, second generation, are caught in ambitions "to make it" and to remain true to a culture they never knew. Whether, straight, gay, </span><span>bisexual, trans or fluid; establishing identity, racial and sexual, is a challenge. </span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span>These incredibly resourceful women seek what's of value in their lives,though they have been traumatized, ostracized, wounded or simply trapped by circumstance. At stake is remaking their worlds so they or their children can have a home. In a </span><span>Britain of class and racial hierarchies, their lives come together, unravel, and intersect with poignancy and surprise. </span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span>The diversity of situations shows there's no monolith of Black experience. </span><span>A once antiestablishment theater director, now famous, faces the climax of her life at The National Theater. In a relationship with a beautiful American actess, she must also contend with her outrageous truth-seeking daughter. </span><span>When a young girl is traumatized in the rough housing project she calls home, she struggles to harness her academic abilty. A woman raised in a privileged White family is shocked, when she learns she is not her parents' child. An elderly woman farmer appreciates her granddaughter, a white trans man. </span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Evaristo has great humor and compassion for her women, as they become stuck or unstuck in their lives and move forward in time and insight . READ this wise book to be surprised. </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS2-9Z8Ypig1vGGwOtPOwlUx3zjUewO_BmPlNsr0PMtXv8S02S2hYgt85TCvQwnMqSAThxejaf4pHEf8Lrj42bW7-pzhRl3YSuE42cMkfe0mY0ZvigFvK6RJ5hkf8cnT9282OJkZu_WPgM/s595/9781736060025_p0_v1_s600x595.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="595" data-original-width="414" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS2-9Z8Ypig1vGGwOtPOwlUx3zjUewO_BmPlNsr0PMtXv8S02S2hYgt85TCvQwnMqSAThxejaf4pHEf8Lrj42bW7-pzhRl3YSuE42cMkfe0mY0ZvigFvK6RJ5hkf8cnT9282OJkZu_WPgM/s320/9781736060025_p0_v1_s600x595.jpg" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">ANNA & THE AMERICAN PUZZLE is a dystopia that has an uncanny urgency for the U,S. at this time. As the new Democratic president faces a congressional logjam of conservative Republicans, the future viability of our system has become a question. Kasman's novel is set in an America ruled by an autocracy of the religious far right. How might this play out for most Americans? Her novel, in the form of a young girl's diary, is a devastating look into this alternative world. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">It begins in 2024, when Anna is 14, becoming aware of the neo-Puritan propaganda, how it differs from the reality of her life and ways it's used to manage people, such as her mother. Slogans abound about "bootstrapping." Hard sustained work and faith in divine laws will be rewarded in this world and the next. And if a person or family is not succeeding, it is because they are lax. The truth in Anna's world is that only a small elite, whose families are part of the ruling class or traditionally serve them, has money. Since government manages information technology, media, higher education, good paying jobs, like higher education, are only available to those born into the religious-political elite.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Everyone else is poor, many without food security like Anna's family. Her exhausted mother, a widow with six children, struggles with multiple jobs and never meets the party's goals for her. Anna, the eldest, must do housework, care for siblings, manage school and scavenge meals and shoes.Then, like its her fault, her mother constantly exhorts her not to flaunt her looks. Ann's natural charisma, beauty and intelligence attracts unwanted attention and eventually she's expelled from school. When her mother seeks help from a local political leader, Anna is sent to a reform facility for girls "like her." </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Yet, Anna's looks and on camera talent, make her an asset for the government. Eventually, she enters the ranks of the privileged and becomes a media celebrity, a national icon. Though she appreciates how rare it is for someone with her background to reach such status, it comes with a price. She is forced to cede her private life to government management, including her choice of husband and child-rearing. When she learns her image is being used in torturous ways, Anna flees to the underground to fight for the real America.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">ANNA AND THE AMERICAN PUZZLE imagines the results of a far right coup on our way of life. It is a not unfamiliar scenario in the wake of the recent occupation of the White House. Worth the read to consider the fallout for regular people. This novel is both a cautionary tale for adults and a great read for YA audiences.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span>I don't often review self published books but this dystopia caught my imagination. </span>I do think this novel deserves to be republished, perhaps as a New Edition put out by a real publisher. Such publishers hire professionals to edit, copyedit, proofread and traffic copies to make sure changes have been made before having a book printed. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">The changes to ANNA were<b> </b>finally updated months after pub date. ANNA is available in paper, hardcover and ebook at Barnes and Noble, Walmart, books-a-million and the ubiquitous Amazon.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">S.W.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><p></p><p><br /></p>Susan I. Weinsteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08327145154416720160noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3686096258659236837.post-46746371947759096832021-02-27T15:40:00.003-05:002021-02-28T10:35:11.683-05:00Chapbooks that make you laugh at the dark. BAMBOO DART Press reinvents the Chapbook with PELEKINESIS. Review LIFE, Orange to Pear, The Loss Detector, Five Ghost Stories<p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="text-align: center;">What is a Chapbook? I always thought of it as poetry, printed on vellum with letterpress and largely undistributed beyond poetry community. According to Wikipedia:<i> <span style="font-family: times;"> "</span></i></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #4d5156;"><span style="font-family: times;"><i>A chapbook is a small publication of up to about 40 pages, sometimes bound with a saddle stitch. In early modern Europe a chapbook was a type of printed street literature."</i></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><a data-ved="2ahUKEwit7IapzIrvAhXuYt8KHblRBEoQFjAAegQIARAE" href="https://www.bamboodartpress.com/" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.bamboodartpress.com/&ved=2ahUKEwit7IapzIrvAhXuYt8KHblRBEoQFjAAegQIARAE&cshid=1614447182453249" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1); color: #1a0dab; text-decoration-line: none;"></a></span></p><h3 class="LC20lb DKV0Md" style="display: inline-block; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.3; margin: 0px 0px 3px; padding: 4px 0px 0px;"><div style="text-align: right;"><br /></div></h3><div><span style="font-size: 20px;">These prose chapbooks by BAMBOO DART PRESS may be a 2021 version of "street literature". Attractive to hold in your hand, around 45 pages, they offer a meaningful, even inspiring read. But can these books be long enough to deliver that experience? In these disconnected days of isolation, I enjoyed the humor and wonder in these books. </span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img alt="" data-original-height="200" data-original-width="321" height="199" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmESR5KSMjmzanGkFBYVMF2rr18F5G-F8mCBN5UJoUhUNedIJ0TBCS6jpEWuIlWRqeeL_D6Q43I7lAKs2e35Qetrn88tdopgFc7gHqI3NTBacbtUTPOdeyir17FVwzodqNKCiIkf8d3yV-/" style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;" width="320" /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9-fnTG5Wi-sLOLhGSyF7X3fyYy57Bip3c-0Xz2R1d3zVgCUSyx3Z7CrnIqZjk6aB-InG9xftgR14o_K4lZ70jgpWDEEOQc0F5FZT602BfrvDWaWFRzl2vlTr0Pj4ONBlUXdQof5flBS_j/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="190" data-original-width="851" height="71" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9-fnTG5Wi-sLOLhGSyF7X3fyYy57Bip3c-0Xz2R1d3zVgCUSyx3Z7CrnIqZjk6aB-InG9xftgR14o_K4lZ70jgpWDEEOQc0F5FZT602BfrvDWaWFRzl2vlTr0Pj4ONBlUXdQof5flBS_j/" width="320" /></a></div><div class="yuRUbf" style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.58;"><div class="B6fmyf" style="height: 0px; position: absolute; top: 0px; visibility: hidden; white-space: nowrap;"><div class="eFM0qc" style="display: inline-block; padding-bottom: 1px; padding-left: 2px; padding-top: 1px; visibility: visible;"></div><span style="color: #4d5156; font-size: 14px;">Books and Tapes and Art and a series of chapbooks, a collaboration between Pelekinesis and Shrimper Records and Tapes. </span></div></div><p></p><br /><p></p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div><b style="font-size: large;">John Brantingham</b><span style="font-size: large;"> is a poet, novelist, essayist and foremost in this book, a man who remembers being a kid and profound moments, like peeling an orange. He also shows what it's like to have a child and respect their framework to the ambiguous world you share. Why would the tooth fairy sneak into houses looking for body parts? Is Santa a weirdo? Yet the subject of this book is spiritual "home" divine sensations--the smell of that orange, the feel of it's skin; the redemptive taste of a pear. In 45 pages of insightful prose, you go through a man's life events and sensations. Here is confusion, pain and joy; all normal and sublime. </span></blockquote></blockquote><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO4YuGs1NQuY0obAAal9jhd94_WeYfUK1FX4P1WWf847x7wCPVMuYVnH1sU8mPfPZ-OR1iEeLReADER4Wt-Alh2L9Kcb8l-YIGIDSLK-DmWsvJ49gwxYnc79yjl3t_n2GfZdaL3kfP8zDi/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img data-original-height="400" data-original-width="400" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO4YuGs1NQuY0obAAal9jhd94_WeYfUK1FX4P1WWf847x7wCPVMuYVnH1sU8mPfPZ-OR1iEeLReADER4Wt-Alh2L9Kcb8l-YIGIDSLK-DmWsvJ49gwxYnc79yjl3t_n2GfZdaL3kfP8zDi/w320-h320/image.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Meg Pokrass' </span></b><span style="font-size: medium;">book is called a Novella-in-Flash. Her Flash Fiction is inspired but it's interesting to read longer work. Wither her weird, funny sensibility Pokrass tells the story of a family break-up and a young girl's coping as "the loss detector." Nikki's jokes are serious questions. In "Dad's Ears", she wonders if having small ears really means you can't be trusted? Then she and her brother Josh, who may be autistic or crazy or both, move with their mom from their East coast life to the Monterey Apts in California. As their mother morphs into a driven blonde real estate agent, and Josh is in and out of schools, Nikki begins to get a sense of what holds them together. </span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="row" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: "Open Sans", sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin-left: -15px; margin-right: -15px;"><div class="col-sm-8" style="box-sizing: border-box; float: left; min-height: 1px; padding-left: 15px; padding-right: 15px; position: relative; width: 780px;"><ul class="thumbnails" style="box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px -20px; overflow: auto; padding: 0px;"><li style="box-sizing: border-box; clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;">D</li></ul></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje_x0wdGZ9K0qX5vCMbaVpBk12Q5pUdnX5TguZQ45tuuqZpq8olqzwlShRh6B1BZ-bnLmVFbfchOksEF2NdWszksNXtPhqdEg8f9Yvav8moPsbjGARgq0dLTPv1au2k4aZn_pV0jDh_XLo/" style="font-weight: 700; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img data-original-height="400" data-original-width="400" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje_x0wdGZ9K0qX5vCMbaVpBk12Q5pUdnX5TguZQ45tuuqZpq8olqzwlShRh6B1BZ-bnLmVFbfchOksEF2NdWszksNXtPhqdEg8f9Yvav8moPsbjGARgq0dLTPv1au2k4aZn_pV0jDh_XLo/w320-h320/image.png" width="320" /></a></div><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large; text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Dennis Callaci is both a musician and a writer. His <b>Five Ghost Stories</b> are a wonder of meditative precision. Characters have an unsettling sense of "deja vu," human ghosts living in a foreign present. In isolation, they are less witnesses to their lives than to what "real" life once was. I found <i>The Cemetery of Calendar Days </i>to be the most chilling. Here's the opening: </span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;"><i style="font-size: large;">Be careful tonight. </i><span style="font-size: large;">My wife cupped my ears with her hands, a kiss on the way out the door. There had been seven in the last month in my line including two colleagues I was close to. Down the steps, "Be careful honey, I love you." I took her car tonight with three quarters of a tank, I didn't want to risk any stop this evening that I needn't make. An oldie flashes out with ignition from the stereo, </span><i style="font-size: large;">Too Real</i><span style="font-size: large;"> by Fontaines</span><i style="font-size: large;"> </i><span style="font-size: large;">D.C</span><i style="font-size: large;">. </i><span style="font-size: large;">The two of us worked hard to keep a sense of normalcy not only for our family, but the neighborhood as well...</span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I kept thinking of early Twilight Zone. <i> </i>But the "Model Home" is a kid's assembly project of Dracula's Castle, "Michael's" is a meat market, gag worthy smells and metaphysical revulsion. "Sundowner" was funny, in the way of Beckett's old men. Here's the first sentence.<b> I'm no longer who I was. I tried hard to remember who that had been for a good long while, couldn't quite reckon with it, but I know it's true. </b></span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img alt=""Five Ghost Stories" by Dennis Callaci" height="320" src="https://www.bamboodartpress.com/store/image/cache/catalog/book_covers/dennis_callaci-five_ghost_stories-400x400.jpg" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: "Open Sans", sans-serif; font-size: 12px; height: auto; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: middle;" title=""Five Ghost Stories" by Dennis Callaci" width="320" /></span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;"><br /></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">These stories were fascinating, because they addressed the feelings behind so many thoughts in this plague time. They made me laugh at the dark. A bargain at 7.99 ,</span> <span style="font-size: 20px;">For more info: www.bamboodartpress.com. </span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: 20px;">Bamboo Dart Press. "</span><span style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: times; font-size: large;">A collaborative marriage of </span><a href="http://www.pelekinesis.com/" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #007acc; font-family: times; font-size: large; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Pelekinesis</a><span style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: times; font-size: large;"> and </span><a href="http://www.shrimperrecords.com/" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #007acc; font-family: times; font-size: large; text-decoration-line: none;">Shrimper Records</a><span style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: times; font-size: large;"> whose aim is to allow writers and artists to godspeed works into the physical world without the hoops and machinery of manufacturing that slow the process of finished to physical work in the world of books and LPs that are the day jobs of the two parent companies."</span><span style="font-size: 20px;"> </span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;"><br /></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">S.W.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;"><b><br /></b></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;"><br /><span face=""Open Sans", sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 12px;"></span></p><div><br /></div><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;"><span face=""Open Sans", sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 12px;"><br /></span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;"><span face=""Open Sans", sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 12px;"><br /></span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;"><span face=""Open Sans", sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 12px;"><br /></span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;"><span face=""Open Sans", sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 12px;"><br /></span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;"><span face=""Open Sans", sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 12px;"><br /></span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px;"><span face=""Open Sans", sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 12px;"><br /></span></p></div>Susan I. Weinsteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08327145154416720160noreply@blogger.com0