tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36004637829636642002024-02-19T15:49:08.243-08:00Thinking Out LoudPersonal musings, often with joy, as my 70's turn out to be rich and interesting.Irene Grummanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11885692112411530420noreply@blogger.comBlogger125125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3600463782963664200.post-26431327363589268122016-10-02T09:12:00.004-07:002018-01-26T13:54:56.453-08:00Prayers for Our Times. January 26, 2018Heaven<br />
<br />
haven<br />
<br />
leaven<br />
<br />
Let heaven be the leaven,<br />
<br />
the yeast that permeates the bread and urges the dough to rise.<br />
<br />
<br />
Then let Spirit permeate all beings,<br />
<br />
people and plants,<br />
<br />
amethyst geodes and ice cream,<br />
<br />
whirling atoms in their electron dances.<br />
<br />
Havens<br />
<br />
My whirling Self which yet breathes spirit.<br />
<br />
When I turn inward, there is "the still center of the turning world"<br />
<br />
When I contemplate an icon made by human hands<br />
<br />
When I cherish a small white flower in straggling grass<br />
<br />
When I study a face, hoping to draw from memory<br />
<br />
A sacred grove<br />
<br />
A man-made cave with vaulted roof and carven pillars<br />
<br />
An accidental sight of running water beyond a rock,<br />
<br />
and roots writhing from soil.<br />
<br />
So many havens.<br />
<br />
May heaven haven teach the raging hearts that seek domination<br />
<br />
May their tears unite us in our predicament.Irene Grummanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11885692112411530420noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3600463782963664200.post-83986122344560460942016-10-02T09:12:00.002-07:002016-10-02T09:12:44.565-07:00Umpire<i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">American Umpire </span></i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">is not about baseball. It's about the role of the United States as an umpire, intervenor, dispute settler in global politics. Elizabeth Cobbs and James Shelby, in the documentary based on her book, point out that in <i>The Federalist Papers, </i>Hamilton, Madison and Adams used "umpire" to describe the relationship of the Federal government to the governments of the states. As an umpire enforces the rules of a game, the Federal government would judge whether or not states were out of line in their relationships with each other and with the constitution. Otherwise, the states were to conduct their own business in their own ways.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">In foreign affairs, for 150 years American government followed George Washington's "Great Rule", of neutrality, non-intervention, and volunteer armies called into being only in major crises.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">After the atomic bomb was dropped, after the Second World War devastated much of the world, the United Nations could not prevent Soviet Russia from taking over Eastern Europe. Truman believed it necessary for the United States, the strongest country left, to take some responsibility for the rebuilding of Europe and Japan, and the defense of democracies. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">For 70 years, the United States has acted as an umpire who intervenes, sometimes taking sides, sometimes negotiating to bring about peace between combatants. The book and documentary <span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">urge assessment of this role, especially when the U.S. <span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">pays the bill.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Cobbs and Shelby ask if we have to carry this load for the next 70 years, spending 4% of our Gross National Product on defense, sending our troops overseas. They ask if we can let go of trying to control the outcomes of international conflicts. </span>Irene Grummanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11885692112411530420noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3600463782963664200.post-70551289709724721002016-10-02T09:09:00.002-07:002016-10-02T09:09:35.939-07:00<br />"The Boleyn King," by Laura Andersen<br />Minuette, the main character and narrator, interested me right away with her intelligence, humor and hope. In this alternate history, Anne Boleyn's son William lives to become king. Friends in childhood, Elizabeth and Minuette, William and Dominic, trust each other, which affects politics and history as the story builds. I look forward to the next book in the trilogy.<br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/5000962-irene-grumman">View all my reviews</a><br />Irene Grummanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11885692112411530420noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3600463782963664200.post-6405414559268828982016-04-15T08:31:00.003-07:002016-04-15T08:34:39.618-07:00BAD ADVICE ON GENDER ROLEA friend's Facebook thread on love, friendship, romance and cultural expectations provoked a vivid memory: I told a trainee psychiatrist that I was supporting myself and my abusive boy friend. Did he tell me to get out of an abusive situation? No. The mental health provider told me I was castrating my boyfriend by working. If I stopped working, the boyfriend would have to "be a man" and get a job. In those days, the cusp of the 50's and 60's, psychiatrists were credited with enormous authority and arcane knowledge. I actually quit a job with a career path! No, the boyfriend did not suddenly become a responsible, reliable "man." He did not get a job. He blamed me, threatened and hit me. I got a part-time job to scrape the rent together, still trying to not castrate this poor victim of female role deviance. It took me two years to give up on the project and leave.<br />
<br />
It was that vital to be in a relationship, any kind of relationship, with a man.<br />
<br />
See Amatonormativity Harms Us All, on EverydayFeminism.comIrene Grummanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11885692112411530420noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3600463782963664200.post-11173130214840487672016-01-21T11:00:00.000-08:002016-01-21T11:10:28.593-08:00Courage to Market My ArtMarketing my art calls for confidence that there are folks out there who would enjoy the way I express myself, and would buy watercolor paintings and cards from me.
Of those who have seen my work, some have purchased it. I'm seeking practical ways to make my images available to more people. Friends have urged me to use Etsy. I'm looking into that. Choosing the focus of my possible shop page, then thinking up a name for it that interests buyers, even deciding on a username, will influence the initial attractiveness of such a shop.
Daymond John, an investor familiar from The Shark Tank, gave some advice on a recent talk show where he was plugging his book, The Power of Broke.
When starting a business:
START SMALL.
Take affordable steps.
HAVE A MENTOR.
Learn from local business owners.
LEARN FROM WHAT DOESN'T WORK.
The business may change from your ideas now. BE OPEN.
<br />
<a name='more'></a>Moving from away from viewing my art as a hobby does not mean I lose the joy of doing very personal art and surprising myself as I explore media and subjects.
It does mean that I tend the garden of my shop page to start with. Technical computer work often triggers frustration. I remember from using eBay years ago how much time went into writing descriptions and entering information on the site.
I'm seeking mutual support with artists to realize our intentions to be rewarded for our creative labor, with the means of survival.
Irene Grummanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11885692112411530420noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3600463782963664200.post-23138280159716453102014-08-12T22:41:00.001-07:002014-08-12T22:41:40.749-07:00Today at Art GuildEclectic new music. Snacks arranged elegantly on a tablecloth. Bard Hall bustling with families and students and lively conversations. The monthly Art Guild meeting at First Unitarian Universalist Church of San Diego was giving two young artists their very first show, and their friends and relatives gave them a joyous reception. The young men spoke about their work and fielded questions and comments confidently and happily. The support and pride given by their community touched me.
During the second hour of the gathering, we saw and discussed works by the members of the Art Guild. I learn from seeing and hearing about the many different styles and approaches to art. I appreciate the critique, encouragement and suggestions on my own work. I'll post some images, if I can figure out how to upload them from iPhoto.
Irene Grummanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11885692112411530420noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3600463782963664200.post-10618710382190224772013-10-02T13:37:00.000-07:002013-10-02T13:37:21.566-07:00South African Jewish Writings"You must have been an elegant woman," commented the stranger at the bus stop. "I used to dress women, advise them on clothing." I do take trouble to match and complement colors, so I appreciated the compliment. I wear hats to avoid skin cancer in glaring San Diego, but I always did like hats. The speaker had an easy, casual, tasteful style herself. This was Tessa Schlesinger, a free lance writer and blogger who has ebooks and paperbacks on Amazon.com. She suggested I look her up on Google, which led to reading an article and buying her publication of articles by her father, on being a Jewish journalist in Hitler's Germany, and then South Africa. Among other publications, Mr. Schlesinger wrote for JTA, Jewish Telegraph Agency, whose website I consult at least once a week now.
It's a period of perennial interest to me. As a teenager I had a dear friend who searched Europe after World War II for 200 relatives, and found none. No records. In my extended family by marriage, hurt silence prevails on the loss of relatives during those killing times. I have always known people with numbers tattooed on their forearms.
In my native New York City I often worked for and with Jewish people of every range of education and economic status. Now at First Unitarian Universalist Church of San Diego, I strive for justice and spiritual development among folks of Jewish, Christian, and Buddhist background. Some of us are theists, many agnostic, humanist, Earth Centered and yet more varied and unique. We find something in a spiritual community that reflects our real lives in a pluralistic, ever rediscovering society. We seek to go beyond tolerance to compassionate living in the belief that everyone and everything is connected.
Well, I hadn't given much thought to Jews in South Africa until now. So I just read a long review in Goodreads of "The Lion Seeker," by Kenneth Bonert. Inspired by his interest in his own family's roots, the novel follows a Jewish family from Lithuania to South Africa between two world wars, through the changes wrought in the second generation. Based on the way Bonert expresses himself in the interview, I'm expecting a well written story.
Irene Grummanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11885692112411530420noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3600463782963664200.post-10097672844537262462012-08-10T20:20:00.001-07:002013-10-02T14:00:22.494-07:00Shall I Get Rid of Some of My Books?Now heaven help me, I looked in my bookcase for something I might move out of my house, and didn't I start READING the cursed addictive things! A booklet called "Naming: poems by 8 women," published in Oregon in 1976, fell open at "I HAVE ALWAYS WANTED TO MARRY AN ARTIST," by Carol Erdman. The writer daydreams of living in creative clutter, "oozing rainbows through the honeymud between our toes." I have to keep that, I haven't read all the poems yet. I might want to read them again.
Then I wondered if I really need books acquired when I was researching background for writing a short story or child's book about my mother's childhood in Muinish, in Galway Bay. I pulled out "Our Like Will Not Be There Again," a collection of essays on interviews of older people in the West of Ireland, by Lawrence Millman. That opened at "Listenin' Was a Great Thing Once," about a man who had forgotten his father's stories, until he was stuck for weeks in a hospital. He remembered story after story as he told them to sick and fretful patients, who forgot for a while to feel pain. Well, I have to read more of the essays now, don't I?
Only this week I pulled out a slender hardback by May Sarton, "Joanna and Ulysses," published in 1963, and isn't it speaking straight to my heart on the same subject as "Artists' Journey," by Julia Cameron, which a group of us have been studying for months? "Somewhere deep down inside her there was a being who was not the dutiful daughter she had forced herself to become. She felt she had earned a commitment to this being, the painter, because although she had no illusion about the value of what she did, painting could, she felt, become a way of finding out what she really thought about things, where she was now, at thirty."
Of course, she did have an illusion. She supposed her paintings were not good.
My precious, precious books! How I neglect you for years, yet cling with strength to the great good in you when I meet you again.Irene Grummanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11885692112411530420noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3600463782963664200.post-52389103801096525622012-05-21T19:24:00.001-07:002013-10-02T14:00:58.955-07:00ShoreWoman-who-runs-with-terns scurried back and forth in tandem with the bird, chasing and retreating as wavelets rushed up and then ebbed. Today I got my feet wet, and sandy, and I smelled the sea air and was surrounded by the rumble of wave after wave. Surfers fell off their boards but kept after the choppy, hard driving waves. A whole family turned out to watch a toddler encounter the ocean. She squeaked, surprised by the water, safe between mom and dad. I contested territory with an opportunistic seagull. Iridescent bits of mussel shell found a way into my hand. I'm Irene, and I'm alive.Irene Grummanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11885692112411530420noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3600463782963664200.post-51996253284616881272012-05-20T18:27:00.001-07:002013-10-02T14:01:42.350-07:00UnexpectedSince I posted in the Facebook page for UU's (Unitarian Universalists) of San Diego, celebrating the Liver Walk and my rising health, I've been contacted from within my congregation by folks with a loved one just starting treatment. Posting on the American Liver Foundation's Facebook page also resulted in a couple of contacts. I'm glad to offer moral support. Apparently in the last couple of years lots more pages relating to HepC have been formed. I need to learn how to post links to good information!Irene Grummanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11885692112411530420noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3600463782963664200.post-52170248065439410192012-05-20T18:21:00.001-07:002013-10-02T14:02:36.290-07:00THREE YEARS VIRUS FREEMy life is so different now! On May 12th I walked twice as far as the first year in the American Liver Foundation's Liver Walk in the San Diego Zoo, 3K. (Monkeys interested, meerkats suspicious, big cats bored.) Then I walked another 1K around the park and the neighborhood. Art classes, volunteer work, study groups - I have the nerve to complain that I get tired sometimes! At my age, 70, it's great to be getting stronger and more active.Irene Grummanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11885692112411530420noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3600463782963664200.post-42248373409711128862012-05-07T20:25:00.000-07:002013-10-02T14:03:37.231-07:00ProgressSix months ago I ventured to volunteer, 3hours a week, at Uptown Faith Community Services Center, which helps homeless people and folks with low incomes. Uncertain whether I had the stamina to keep a commitment, I was encouraged to try because I had managed a few months of occasional help in the religious education program at my church, First Unitarian Universalist of San Diego.
Soon I learned that my church was one of the sponsors of the this social justice work. I became liaison between the church and the Uptown board. Of course, one can't just go to the board meeting once a month. So once a month there is also a subcommittee meeting that targets the needs of the direct service center. Occasional meetings to report to the congregation. Plus a great deal of thinking, planning, suggesting, writing, emailing, trying to raise funds, raise consciousness, gather more volunteers, obtain donations in kind, seeing that these donations reach the center.
It turned out that I had been missing having a consistent purpose and goal in my life. I have a passion for direct help, and informing people. I can do it. Now I do have the stamina. Terrific people have become my colleagues and friends.
During the same period, some concepts from art class have sunk in. I can continue to learn and improve. I love the process.
I'd say I've made some progress.Irene Grummanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11885692112411530420noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3600463782963664200.post-55323442042444886962011-12-09T16:46:00.001-08:002013-10-02T14:05:13.606-07:00HolidaysIn October I reached the age of 70. My son and daughter-in-law threw a party for me at their home. People said nice things, and I cried. Let the love in.
Thanksgiving brought my sister to be my first guest in this apartment. Slight snag: the borrowed aerobed filled all the living room floor space, so I had to deflate and fold it every morning. We had a lovely dinner at a friend's home, and visited several museums. Yes! San Diego has art museums.
Building toward Christmas has been frazzling and fun. I just started volunteering at an organization that helps the homeless. Art class continues to challenge and fascinate me. Women's support group anchors and connects me.
Over my shoulder I can see the full moon shining through mist in a pale purplish sky.
Things could be worse.Irene Grummanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11885692112411530420noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3600463782963664200.post-25498022989223509662011-10-03T16:19:00.000-07:002011-10-03T16:22:15.592-07:00Being Young and Not SensibleYesterday I relived an event when I was seventeen, when I felt humiliated, furious, and very, very stubborn. I believed with all my heart that my life depended on breaking conventions, on not doing what was expected of me, on finding my own way despite difficulties. While I recognize some of those feelings as close to a child's tantrum, I respect their power. Strong, absolute emotion did help me stumble on my own path, however clumsily.<br />
<br />
So, when I picked up a copy of Spin Magazine while waiting for a haircut, I didn't reject completely the destructive posturing of some of the interviewees. For one thing, they are not in the world to please me. There was an article I could identify with, about hip-hop and rap in Tunisia, which is credited, along with communication facilitated by Facebook, with focussing dissatisfaction with the regime and helping topple it. The singers themselves had no idea what would happen, but found themselves revolutionary icons. They were defiant and true enough to themselves to risk saying what young people were feeling. Another Tunisian rapper said he is all about the music and not politics. He already had hostages to fate, a family to support.<br />
<br />
My Dad once protested that I could only learn by running my head into a brick wall. Hmm. I do have some neck injuries.Irene Grummanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11885692112411530420noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3600463782963664200.post-20000872983184246902011-09-30T14:10:00.000-07:002011-09-30T14:10:09.091-07:00Book Review: The Summer Without MenBOOK REVIEW: THE SUMMER WITHOUT MEN, BY SIRI HUSTVEDT, PICADOR PAPERBACK, NEW YORK, NY 2011<br />
<br />
“I need a pause,” announces Mia’s husband of 30 years, then leaves. The writer lets the reader look over Mia’s shoulder. She reacts in a briefly catastrophic way, then takes a summer to think and heal. Her mother lives in a retirement home, where Mia visits and grows closer to a quirky set of old women. At the same time, Mia interacts with twelve-year-old girls taking her creative writing class. Both groups revive memories, themes of identity, thoughtful exploration of what it has meant to Mia to be a woman. <br />
<br />
Hustvedt’s writing by turns evokes laughter, sadness, perspective, ironic recognition, and haunting love. She can certainly turn a phrase! At 182 pages, this is a quick read that I look forward to savoring again.Irene Grummanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11885692112411530420noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3600463782963664200.post-92018685710026698902011-09-30T13:06:00.000-07:002011-09-30T13:06:30.851-07:00Book Review: The Latte RebellionBOOK REVIEW<br />
<br />
THE LATTE REBELLION, BY SARAH JAMILA STEVENSON, FLUX, LLEWELLYN WORDLDWIDE LTD., WOODBURY, MINNESOTA, 2011<br />
<br />
TYPE: YOUNG ADULT<br />
<br />
High School Senior Asha gets tired of racial slurs and being excluded from ethnic clubs at school because she doesn’t fit neatly into one category. After all, lots of students at her school have heritage from more than one continent. In fact, they’re just plain brown, like most people on earth.<br />
<br />
The Latte Rebellion starts as a gesture of defiance and a money making scheme. Asha and her friend Carey hope many kids will buy a T-shirt that proudly proclaims the value of being “Latte,” mixing coffee and milk to produce something delicious.<br />
<br />
Their idea sparks a movement that spreads nation-wide, and immediately goes far out of their control. Asha is surprised to find herself a spokesperson, involved with college activists, and almost expelled from school when action and reaction get too hot for the high school administration.<br />
<br />
College admission worries, themes of loyalty, betrayal, confusion, forming one’s own values, and, of course, cute guys, make this story appealing to older teens.Irene Grummanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11885692112411530420noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3600463782963664200.post-11646361198593698132011-05-06T14:31:00.000-07:002011-05-06T14:31:02.307-07:00International Day of CompassionInternational Day of Compassion in Honor of Dr. Patch Adams -- what a great idea! <a href="http://www.bloggersunite.org/event/international-day-of-compassion-in-honor-of-dr-patch-adams"><img src="http://www.bloggersunite.org/image/resource/badge/c315d68417f24c3c14bbf1102b53f413.jpg"></a>Irene Grummanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11885692112411530420noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3600463782963664200.post-46140567870257925782011-02-28T14:04:00.000-08:002013-10-02T14:06:52.298-07:00Mandela's WayMANDELA’S WAY<br />
FIFTEEN LESSONS ON LIFE, LOVE, AND COURAGE<br />
BY RICHARD STENGEL<br />
CROWN PUBLISHERS, RANDOM HOUSE, NEW YORK 2009<br />
Pp 121-122<br />
<br />
(The brutal head of the prison in which Mandela spent so many years was being transferred.)<br />
<br />
“Badenhorst said to me something like, ‘I just want to wish you people good luck.’ He said this like a human being, and I was a bit taken aback by his moderate and even considerate tone. I must say, that was a bit of a surprise. I thanked him. I thought about this for a long time afterward. What it basically showed me is that these men were not inhuman, but their inhumanity had been put upon them. They behaved like beasts because they were rewarded for such behavior. They thought it would result in a promotion or advancement. That day, I realized that Badenhorst was not the man he seemed to be, but a better man than how he had behaved.”<br />
<br />
This epiphany goes to the heart of Mandela’s belief about what makes us human. He was a better man than how he had behaved. His motives were not as cruel as his actions. No one is born prejudiced or racist. No man, he suggests, is evil at heart. Evil is something instilled in or taught to men by circumstances, their environment, or their upbringing. It is not innate. Apartheid made men evil; evil did not create apartheid.<br />
<br />
While his colleagues saw their warders and jailers as monolithic, the embodiment of the heartless apartheid system, Mandela generally tried to find something decent and honorable in them. Ultimately, he came to see them as victims of the system as well as perpetrators of it.<br />
<br />
My Comment:<br />
<br />
These reflections show the attitudes which helped keep South Africa from plunging into national civil war on racial lines. Mandela convinced enough people that a new government had to care about all the people. This empowered Reconciliation, in which police apologized for their actions, and families at least learned what had happened to their relatives. Bishop Desmond Tutu’s role came out of his experience as a leader of a religion which teaches that confession, acknowledgment of responsibility with intent to reform, precedes forgiveness. In order to live with each other there was a psychological and spiritual necessity to grieve together. There had always been many, many people of all races who had struggled for justice, refusing to demonize each other. <br />
<br />
We have been reflecting on evil at my church. An important thought, attributed to Martin Luther King Jr., is that there is a little good in the worst of us, and a little evil in the best of us. This insight has emerged in many traditions through the centuries. Mandela’s biographer interprets the passage above as meaning a system, a guiding structure, can bring out very different aspects of an individual’s character and behavior. Therefore, changing the system tends to change people’s behavior. It leaves hanging the question of whether the organizers of a repressive system are evil. Perhaps for Mandela that is not the point. The point is to move forward with opportunities for people to live in dignity, negotiate with each other without violence for the goods, and the good, of the world.Irene Grummanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11885692112411530420noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3600463782963664200.post-84910660774911168772011-02-18T12:46:00.001-08:002011-02-18T12:46:46.875-08:00Fashion and FaithBOOK REVIEW 1<br />
<br />
VISIBLY MUSLIM:<br />
FASHION, POLITICS, FAITH<br />
<br />
EMMA TARLO<br />
BERG, OXFORD AND NEW YORK, 2010<br />
<br />
<br />
“Visibly Muslim,” was featured on NPR book notes in February 2011. I was attracted by the hope of increasing my understanding of, and communication with, Muslim women in San Diego and elsewhere in the United States. While anthropologist Tarlo concentrates on the UK, mostly London, the insights are transferable.<br />
<br />
“Muslim,” or “Islamic,” includes enormous variety of religious practice, ethnicity, culture and philosophy. I was deeply impressed by several young women who tell their stories of choosing clothing to express their identities as Muslim Americans or Muslim Europeans. They are thoughtful, playful, assertive women, active citizens of democracies. Several honor more than one culture and race as part of their origins, so that they are leaders in exploring how multiculturalism can enrich society. <br />
<br />
How they perceive themselves may be in tension with how others perceive them. A hijabi, a woman who covers her hair, has become a target of abuse and assault in Europe as being associated somehow with terrorism. Photos of a woman whose whole head and figure are covered by the caftan-like abaya constantly accompany media coverage of terrorism.<br />
<br />
A woman in jeans and tunic who winds a beautiful scarf around her head, leaving face and neck uncovered, may draw criticism from some Muslims who expect more covering, discomfort from some Westerners, or admiration from almost anyone.<br />
<br />
Women, and men, are making an effort to affirm religious identity while being part of a global youth culture. T-shirts with Islamic messages, and hoodies with Groener-like graphics, surprised me. It reminds me of my own quandary as a Catholic school girl, wanting to be modest AND sexy, while clinging to wearing my Miraculous Medal around my neck. <br />
<br />
It also surprised me to learn that in the UK, schools routinely adapt uniforms so that students from differing religions or cultures can meet their own dress standards, keeping the uniform’s colors. Schools consult with regional or national councils of religions and cultures to serve their local population. <br />
<br />
This well researched book with its lively interviews and informative footnotes lives up to its promise to educate on fashion, politics, and faith in a world which includes 1.5 billion people whose religion is Islam.<br />
<br />
Irene Grumman<br />
February 18, 2011Irene Grummanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11885692112411530420noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3600463782963664200.post-5917691675070700562011-01-29T17:04:00.000-08:002011-01-29T17:04:16.201-08:00Books I'm Reading/Recently ReadThe Bag Lady Papers/Penney<br />
The Future of Islam/Esposito<br />
Making a Literary Life/See<br />
Dufy/Hunter<br />
Dufy/Werner<br />
The History of Love/Krauss<br />
All I Want for Christmas is a Vampire<br />
Recovering/Sarton<br />
Blade Dancer/Viehl<br />
Becoming Naturally Therapeutic/Small<br />
Visibly Muslim/Tarlo<br />
The Hypochondriacs/Dillon<br />
Art: A Crash Course/Freeman<br />
Huntsman What Quarry/Millay<br />
Edvard Munch/Gossett<br />
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NPR provides me with some eclectic book recommendations. Some of these I read in depth; others I read the introduction, one or two chapters of interest, and skim the rest. When my sister the English professor recommends a book, I usually find it and read carefully. Some books I've owned for decades and continue to hold my attention.Irene Grummanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11885692112411530420noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3600463782963664200.post-66569799116453377852011-01-14T17:26:00.000-08:002011-01-14T17:26:08.480-08:00There's More Where That Came FromOn one street corner in one city in the USA on a Saturday morning in front of a supermarket, a group of caring, devoted, committed people were assaulted while conducting the most basic business of citizenship and daily life. We can't afford the loss of these folks.<br />
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Yet, it heartens me that those who were harmed, and those who responded to help them, represent the people of my country. Thousands and thousands of parents are raising ethical, intellectually curious, proactive, loving children. In our millions, we try to live kindly, devotedly in family and work lives. We most emphatically give a damn!<br />
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There's more goodness, more willingness, more love where these indispensable people came from.Irene Grummanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11885692112411530420noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3600463782963664200.post-30680969627897567762011-01-09T14:44:00.000-08:002011-01-09T15:30:00.163-08:00Shifting PerspectiveOne's greatest weakness can also be one's greatest strength. The reverse also holds true. Last night KPBS aired a program on attention deficit disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. What stayed with me was the emphasis on playing to one's strengths, often creativity and thinking outside the box, risk-taking, entrepeneurship. These strengths can be supported by finding ways to deal with impulsivity and distractability. They recommended a book by Katie Kelly, "You Mean I'm Not Lazy, Stupid, or Crazy?" I was surprised to see how many books appeared on Amazon for adults with ADD as well as for parents of children with ADD. I was also surprised at the strong assertion that Ritalin is not harmful over time - WHEN PROPERLY PRESCRIBED - with history from 1937 to the present. It was stated that ADD is a brain-based disorder related to a particular gene. By the end of the program, I thought they shouldn't call it a disorder, but simply a variation. Still, medication allows people to concentrate, and one has to have an identifiable medical condition to be prescribed medication.<br /><br />People spoke of "Soaring and Crashing." They described functioning superlatively well, then being unable to hold things together. One middle-aged man said he started three successful businesses and "ran each of them into the ground." On medication as an adult, his performance is more consistent.<br /><br />It was very sad to hear of people, "leaving a trail of lost jobs and broken relationships." The behavior described sounds similar to that of bipolar disorder, for which it is often misdiagnosed.<br /><br />Diagnosis involves a thorough investigation of one's life-time behavior, with the help of professionals who really know the subject. Self-assessment questionnaires are part of the process.<br /><br />A strong indicator: A person often starts a task, decides a different task is first required, and goes on to a chain of tasks he/she hadn't intended to do, usually ending up never getting to the initial task.<br /><br />Another indicator: Experiencing a life-time of scoldings: You could have done better. You're not trying. You failed because you just didn't pay attention. You spent too much time on (electronic games)(goofing off)(you name it). You're lazy, stupid, rebellious, ungrateful, crazy...<br /><br />BUT: The cure for resulting low self-esteem? SUCCESS! Which is really possible. It's even possible to live without the gnawing anxiety over whether you can ever do it again, over feeling like an imposter. That calls for daily attention to the things that help. And a sense of humor.Irene Grummanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11885692112411530420noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3600463782963664200.post-53517324402486406872010-06-02T21:48:00.000-07:002010-06-02T21:54:29.434-07:00Night in XanaduTonight I saw Mars and Regulus, and Saturn. The astronomers were out on the Prado, offering a peek at wonders beyond out horizons. It was a fitting end to an evening hearing of Shakespeare from Adrian Noble.Irene Grummanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11885692112411530420noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3600463782963664200.post-41661821999938244682010-02-11T14:38:00.000-08:002010-02-11T14:40:13.195-08:00Freedom on IceFreedom is the ability to make choices, with the power to follow them through.<br /><br /> Freedom does not overturn natural conditions or social obligations. All freedom is limited.<br /><br /> One day I fled my stuffy office to breathe the bracing air of a cold day at Bear Mountain. My almost daily walk to the top of the mountain had restored my health and vigor. On this day, however, the snow had frozen. A slick, thick layer of ice armored every hollow and hump of the land. The steepness of my usual path, shadowed by trees, repelled me.<br /> I was attracted instead to the brilliant white swells of polished land in the open, like sea waves suddenly frozen, latent with movement. Exhilarated, I made my way up and over the first swell, on my hands and knees part of the way. Alone in that bright land, I started up the second swell. Soon I was lying on my side, struggling for traction, sliding back as often as I gained an inch by pressure on the surface with my ice encrusted mittened hands.<br /> My boots had no cleats. I had no pitons, not that I knew how to use pitons or ice axes. All I had was my ecstatic desire to be and move in that sun drenched icescape.<br /> I thought about it, there on the ice. If I broke through the ice, or fell with any momentum on its hard surface, I might well be injured. I had no supplies, no water, and the sun would not be out long in midwinter. It would get a lot colder. I was out of sight of the highway. No one knew where I was. I risked injury, impairment of my ability to do my job, and a possible expensive rescue. <br /> I reached my car, muscles trembling, glad to go to a diner for a hot drink. Today it saddens me that this tiny adventure is probably the farthest my life will take me into a land of ice.<br /> About freedom: I am free to jump off a cliff, but I had better learn to hang glide first.<br /> <br /> Irene Grumman<br /> February 11, 2010Irene Grummanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11885692112411530420noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3600463782963664200.post-36518251725946098012010-02-03T23:08:00.000-08:002010-02-03T23:13:50.921-08:00HealthToday is Day One of the Healthy For Life 12-week online program for changing eating habits. My goals are health, and weight loss. <br /><br />Today I shared five minutes of belly dancing with some dear friends.<br /><br />Today I set in motion access to the gym at the YMCA. The stationary bicycle should help, since walking is harder for me with pain in the foot, knee and ankle. Have to let strains heal.<br /><br />Today is a beautiful day.Irene Grummanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11885692112411530420noreply@blogger.com0