They’re back! Eeek Mice #4
I was watching Judge (Madam, you’re an idiot) Judy on TV when out of the corner of my eye a brown furry-looking thing the size of my shoe scurried under the sofa I was lying on.
Eeek!
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I was watching Judge (Madam, you’re an idiot) Judy on TV when out of the corner of my eye a brown furry-looking thing the size of my shoe scurried under the sofa I was lying on.
Eeek!
In Math of Publishing Meets the E-Book ( New York Times , Feb. 28, 2010) reporter Motoko Rich considers mainly publishers’ profits in her article about the current debate about the pricing of e-books versus printed ones. She does point out, however, that authors, earning 15% on a book that sells for $26, would come away with almost $3.90 after paying back any advances on royalties.
New Cambridge Observer is a publication of the Harris Communications Group of Cambridge, MA. We also publish Harriscomblog and Ithaca Diaries blog.
I’m still voting for voting for Martha Coakley but am dismayed at the attack ads her campaign has unleashed on her Republican opponent for the Massachusetts Senatorial Seat– Republican State Senator Scott Brown.
Unfortunately, the ads fail to emphasize the important things Coakley stands for: health reform, civil rights, regulating greed, and finding intelligent ways to fight terrorism. They disseminate untruths about her opponent who, on Monday’s hourlong televised debate, said that he supports abortion (albeit not late term) and emergency contraception for rape victims (albeit not if it goes against health provider’s personal beliefs) and, despite earlier statements, that he believes that global warming is not only natural, but also manmade.
Worse yet, the ads give Brown a perfect opportunity to appear reasonable, dignified and unflappable–Senatorial, if you will, compared with the ham-handedness evident in ads Coakley apparently approved.
A Brown win could end possibilities for health reform in the current Congressional session and beyond.
I’m very concerned that the ads will backfire– and, given my own strong reaction against them I believe they will. (I don’t want to contribute money that could be used to fund them).
I just hope that Massachusetts citizens will look beyond the ads to Coakley’s strong record of accomplishment amd her belief in a government based on human and civil rights –hold their noses–and give her their votes.
–Anita M. Harris
New Cambridge Observer is a publication of the Harris Communications Group of Cambridge, MA. We also publish HarrisComBlog and Ithaca Diaries blog.
Metal, materials and process bond the largely abstract landscapes of Timothy Kadish (New Paintings) and Jessie Morgan (Night Tides) in this month’s intriguing show at the Clark Gallery, 145 Lincoln Rd, in Lincoln, MA.
Both sets of works provoke the viewer to ask–“What is this made of? And how did the artist do that?”
Morgan’s elegant abstract, monochromatic work appears, at first, to be photographic or film-based but the explanatory materials attest that it is acryllic painted on aluminum or plexiglass–with wide brushstrokes seeming to form landscapes-sky, ice, water, snow, trees exhibiting a shiny, reflecting (and reflective?) quality. A few of the works use vibrant blues and greens.
Kadish’s colorful paintings– primitivistic, childlike and seemingly whimsical, are full of suprises–geometric shapes, animal figures, thick goopy coils of oil paint, metallic oraments painted, glued, stapled, pressed or otherwise attached to the canvas…which isn’t necessarily canvas.
Neophotosynth – 2009, for example, is an 80 x 60 oil including all of the above, as well as gouache, silver and gold leaf on silver-colored lead on copper that completely covers a frame .
The longer I stood in front of each painting, the more I found in it and the more I enjoyed it.
Both artists involved me in a process of discovery that allowed me to absorb, one step or stroke at a time, how their concepts and motions brought their work into being.
The exhibit is worth seeing. It will be up through January 30.
—Anita M. Harris
New Cambridge Observer is a publication of the Harris Communications Group of Cambridge, MA. We also publish HarrisComBlog and Ithaca Diaries Blog.
In her large-format photos of women in chadors, and, sometimes veils, Moroccan- born Lalla Essaydi presents a beautiful and provocative challenge to perceptions about Muslim women going back centuries.
The limited palette photographs in henna, black, and gray on white, depict individual or groups of women in chadors and, sometimes, veils, in poses or situations modeled after paintings by great European masters, reproductions of which accompany most of the photos.
But instead of emulating the rich color and sexual innuendo of the paintings, Essaydi changes gestures, replaces men with women, and covers much of the surface area with arabic writing–illegible even to those who know the language.
As described on the DeCordova Web site, These women inhabit a place that is literally and entirely circumscribed by text, written directly on their bodies, apparel, and their surroundings by the artist herself.
In commentary provided through cell-phone dial in (difficult to hear because Lincoln has limited cell service) Essadi explains that she wants to make clear that the work of male artists of centuries past has done a disservice to Muslim women by objectifying them as sexual objects, often in harems.
She points out that writing was a form reserved for men, and that one of the original painting is so extraordinarily beautiful that one can easily overlook the subject matter: a naked woman being sold as a slave.
She brings up the difference between private and public space–that painters would never have been allowed into women’s homes, which were considered private space–but thought nothing of bringing women into their studios and showing paintings of them in public spaces–which were ordinarily reserved for men.
Essadyi also provides a complex interpretation of “the veil”. On the one hand, its use is sometimes considered a way of subjugating women, of keeping them out of public life, of denying them equality, full citizenship. On the other hand, she says, she herself sometimes appreciates the veil and finds it freeing–because it protects her and her privacy from a potentially dangerous outside world.
Organized by Senior Curator Nick Capasso, Les Femmes du Maroc will travel to the Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, January 30, 2010 – June 6, 2010.
——-Anita M. Harris
New Cambridge Observer is a publication of the Harris Communications Group of Cambridge, MA. We also publish Harriscomblog and Ithaca Diaries blog.
Dear G….The mice are freaking me out. I think there are three more…ot at least 2. In the last 24 hours, a big one and a small one have come from under the stove and the refrigerator…and the sink….and the other day one came out from behind the sofa in the living room. I’m guessing they’re living around the pipes.
Dec. 18
Gus, someone left four sticky traps outside my door. I’m collecting advice on my blog… so far, it ranges from wearing a cat costume to sprinkling dried coyote urine around….Eeeew. Anita
Oh my! If you want to stay at our house for a couple of days, or work in my office until they get rid of the mice, you’re more than welcome. I’d be freaked out too. I hate having uninvited critters sharing my space.
Re: Eeeeek!
Edna, thanks–I appreciate it. The guy who owns the building said he can’t do anything because if he poisons them they will go into the walls and smell bad…I’m asking friends if I can borrow their cats….It’s kind of funny when I think about it…But not when they scoot around, here. Evidently, it’s a common problem. The super says HE has them, and so does the woman who works in our office…but they’re not bothered by them (or by killing them). A friend told me that her husband had to keep mouse traps under his desk at the New York Times… Another friend’s said he sees them at MGH…Eeeeek! I’ll let you know if I need a place to stay…. tho I think that the landlord or the building owner, should pay for a hotel.
Anita
Dec. 19 From Lisa: GaaROOOsome!! I didn’t see a single one at your b-day party! When I was at Simmons, the two things that worked were: 1. peanut butter to attract them; 2. steel wool pads to block their entry. The problem w/ having a cat is that you’ll then have dead mice all over the house. Don’t know which is worse. Well, yes, I guess I do.
Saturday Dec 19 At Haymarket, I told the cheese vendor that the mice won’t touch his low fat feata. He told me to forget the cheese. “Use pate,” he said. (Well, this IS Cambridge).
Sunday Dec. 20:
Last night, I was watching TV when a little dark brown one ventured from behind the sofa (again). I jumped; he jumped back. I got up and opened a box of sticky traps. Put them in big Trader Joe’s paper bags, which I laid out near the sofa and stove. This morning: nothing. Eeeeeek!
—-amh
Thursday, Dec. 24. Still nothing. I’m hoping that its being Christmas eve, not a creature will be stirring…not even…
Monday, Dec. 28
Last night, returned from weekend away. Nothing in gooey or “hotel” traps, despite non-fat cheese. Bought “bounce” per Judy’s suggestion– put sheets of this fabric softener under sofa, stove, fridge; smelled so bad I had to put it in a ziplock bag to store. Saw mouse scurry out of closet toward corner wall, so put one in there, too. This morning, nothing in traps; my eyes watering, sore throat due to Bounce smell–so forget that. Today I am calling the health department.
January 7, 2010
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Last night’s reading in Lincoln went well. People laughed. In the right places.
That’s Neil O’Hara, facilitator of The Write Stuff, my wonderful writers group, in the background. The reading was held held in the beautiful Lincoln, MA, public library, which along with the Lincoln Review, sponsors our group and the occasional public event.
Other readers included Susan Coppack, Mary Ann Hales, Ellen Morgan and Manson Solomon. Here’s a link to the Write Stuff Blog, http://lincolnwritestuff.blogspot.com/ which, in turn, links to this and other write stuffers’ blogs, courtesy of blogmeister Geoff Moore.
Mark S. Hoffman took the photo. Thanks, Mark!
New Cambridge Observer is a publication of the Harris Communications Group of Cambridge, MA. We also publish Harriscomblog and Ithaca Diaries blog.