Author: Sheila Yates

Did I ever imagine seventy-five years ago, I would be writing a blog. Of course not! Blogs at that time were nada; they were journals, letters, memoirs, etc. And along came the good and the bad of social media. I want to thank you for reading my blog, my blog that is taking a chance on social media. A special thank you to Betty Barnecut, Matt Karl, Sue Berman and Caroline Meade.

One niche of my long life was the trepidations, challenges and joys of lecturing at various ASID Conferences, Universities and Cruise Ships It allowed me to research a wide range of design subjects and their unsuppressed and unsurpassed achievements. I loved that research time!  Please meet a few quixotic stars acting on their own stage!

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 TALES & TIDBITS OF…..                                                                                                                They loved center stage convinced that it was solely their domain. Join me for a few of their enticing stories and their magnetic star power as we revisit tidbits of their yesterdays.

Amazingly, they are not all movie stars. Nope! The “they” include designers, architects—the who’s, who created legends in their time—the trailblazers!

                                                                       

I’d like you to imagine the lobby of the Dorchester Hotel in London after a World War II air raid.  A beautiful woman in her late fifties with a magnolia complexion, black eyes and a neat, well-proportioned figure meets her ex-husband. She was about to sail to America.  In an effort to enlist his attention and sympathy she said, “Oh Willie, I”m so afraid my ship will be torpedoed.”

Willie, who was afflicted with a severe stammer, but true to his form, said,  “I have only one piece of advice to offer you.  Keep your mouth open and sw-sw-swallow and you will drown the s-s-sooner.”  The former Mrs. William Somerset Maugham began to cry. Her name was Syrie Bernardo Maugham!

In 1926, it was time for Syrie to move to center stage with the visually stimulating all-white rooms she created by exquisitely mixing different combinations of white and adding a multitude of shade and texture variations.  The rooms were said to be impressive, gutsy and intelligent.  Decorative arts historian, Stephen Calloway said, “Syrie’s all-white room is beyond doubt one of the two or three most famous and influential schemes of decoration of the century…it has been imitated for over fifty years.”                                                                   It was not the first of its kind, (the totally white decor), but the publicity it received was cause for celebration; particularly for Syrie.  The mirrored screen with its reflecting images was described by one visitor as being somewhat “hazardous”.  It seems the glue holding the thin strips of mirror in place melted when the room became too warm.  Pieces of glass would fall off without warning! This was still at the height of the all-white craze where the Parisienne collections showed white beachwear, white daytime and evening wear.                              Humorists had a field day with comments such as one regarding a fashion photo, “the movie star Jean Harlow appears to be constructed of equal parts of snow, marble and marshmallow, no human there; or regarding a trip to Calcutta with (Elsie de Wolfe-Lady Mendle.) “Syrie has gone to paint the Black Hole of Calcutta white!”

One admiring guest at her lavish parties was William Sommerset Maugham who was not interested in the decor but definitely interested in Syrie. At that time, he was one of London’s best-known playwrights who had four plays running simultaneously in the West End. Maugham had recently been rejected by an actress and he was said to be deeply hurt and humiliated.  Syrie, who was pretty, popular and socially acceptable restored an inordinate amount of confidence in him.

They began an affair that was compatible until….

Humility was not in his DNA.  His career spanned the years from l893 to l959, architecture that can be seen throughout the world, much of it restored to its former glory. It is characterized with soaring roof lines and unexpected light sources using natural materials, wood, stone and reflecting pools.

Frank Lloyd Wright was convinced he always knew a client’s mind better than the client did. Edgar Tofel, a former apprentice of Wright and a New York city architect, said, “he was so far ahead in terms of design that it took years before we got the building materials to catch up with him. No doubt why many of his roofs leaked.”   

One client hosting a dinner party was angry because the roof was leaking over his dining room chair during a dinner party. He picked up the telephone and complained directly to Mr. Wright.

Mr. Wright with his imperious dignity told the client “move your chair.”

The world was his personal landscape. It never occurred to him to be affronted by critics or critiques. “He,” alone was a creator who always looked to the future!

Happily for us…we can still enter many of his wondrous doors.

When they left the sunlit streets and slipped into darkened theaters, celluloid wizards showed them the promise and excitement of glamour, memorable moments and splendid images. The early visionary movies, the set directors, the stars, the producers offered the public spellbinding theater fantasy. The future incandescent Gloria Swanson was a fifteen year old film extra who soon saw her name across marquee electric lights.

Her salary from Paramount in 1925 was $7,000 a week, or $98,000 in 2022 dollars. By the time she starred in Sunset Boulevard she had made more than 40 feature films, with costars ranging from Rudolph Valentino to Laurence Olivier. “I was the first Hollywood actress to produce and star in a picture in Europe, and I married a titled Frenchman” along with five other men.”  She continued,  “The public wanted us to live like kings and queens.  So we did——and why not? We were making more money that we ever dreamed existed and there was no reason to believe it would ever stop.”  (There was no income tax!)

At one of her parties there were three hundred guests who each received a favor of either a solid gold compact or a solid gold cigarette case. A liveried footman stood behind each guest’s chair.

Gloria was also an amateur sculptor, slowing in a London gallery. She and her team developed a carbide-steel-alloy cutting tool and developed the first plastic buttons for clothing.

She was a fifteen year old film extra whose dreams came true!

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Sy’s Salient Points:

Syrie, Frank and Gloria had a heightened awareness and a sense of discipline that allowed them to  continue transforming their originality, verve and substance.

 

 

 

 

• Lectures and articles from SYRIE, AN ARTICULATED ARCHITECT & HOORAY FOR HOLLYWOOD—-Sheila Yates
• Wayne Lawson quotes, ghostwriter for “Swanson on  Swanson” published 1980
• Pictures: Gloria—https://wfpp.columbia.edu/pioneer/ccp-gloria-swanson/
• Frank—Pinterest
• Syrie—Richard B. Fisher Biography/Duckworth Publishing

Happy May Day Darling Blaire

 

                                                       Example: Woodstock was part of the zeitgeist of the 1960s!

According to the (zeitgeist/characteristics/happenings) of our specific time—2023—academic benchmarks of AI artificial intelligence systems will bolster deep learning. Yikes!

There is a tiny sense of optimism hovering around my brain. Am I capable of understanding AI and its many ramifications? I picture my brain busily computing, inserting, plus a whole lot of deleting as I digest the ideas that all these really, really smart people want me to fall for.

And I also really, really want to. So therefore, I have high hopes that if you are reading this you’ll join me and help me to understand.

One such avenue to travel on is the use of bots, short for robots. To me, a bot is a representative of an entity— it is not tangible or human. It is computer generated. Give it instructions and it does what it is told to do, a soldier following orders simulating human activity.

A BORG IS A HALF HUMAN & HALF BOT (for all you STAR TREKKIES)

“Software bots are simple or complex programs designed to do specific actions. They are designed to perform repetitive tasks and reduce human effort. (A chatbot example is Siri).”                                                                                                             

CROWD OF BOTS WAITING FOR ORDERS FROM A HUMAN BRAIN

Now for the latest biggie! A company titled Open AI created the ChatGPT-4 engine in March 2023 with its updated ability to write humanlike text and code. There are a multitude of other programs in this AI engine, but right now we are about to explore and compare its writing talents.

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The following selection includes text of paragraphs and slide pictures taken from my Power Point lecture on SURREALISM. This is an exceptionally challenging topic for even the most experienced design historian to explore during a lecture.  The pictures, in this case, help provide imagery and color to the story.  Let’s take a look at a piece of my presentation material and we will then compare using AI (ChatGPT-4)  presenting the same information.

 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                Surrealism was fueled by the lions share of some wonderfully outlandish artists. Please meet two of the early Surrealists: Apollinaire was the forefather of Surrealism and a poet, playwrite, novelist, short story writer. His life was cut short from WWI wounds and he died shortly before the Armistice in 1918 at age 38.

A key figure of Surrealism was the French writer André Breton, who published the first Surrealist Manifesto in 1924. Breton was interested in exploring the potential of the subconscious mind to create new forms of artistic expression. He believed that the irrational and the unconscious held the key to unlocking the mysteries of the human psyche.

In WWI, Breton worked in psychiatric hospitals with soldiers. He focused on the work of Sigmund Freud to help alleviate the traumatic episodes experienced from that war. His doctrine pushed artists to bypass reason and rationality. The heart and soul of this group was to get attention using concepts of their unconscious dreams and thoughts, plus utter nonsense.

Andre Breton, last row final figure. Salvadore Dali, second figure, 1st row.

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The above photos and writing are from a small window of my 45 to 50 minute lecture. In order to present Surrealism, I used multiple resources such as living at the University library, haunting used and new bookstore and collecting mini libraries of books that I still treasure today. I loved research and I am still impatient to know more. Too bad,  [winks] you will miss all my clever anecdotal stories.  

Following,  we have a computer bot writing an opening lecture for our subject.Let’s see what a computer bot can do.        Here is AI writing on the same topic – please notice how it automatically grabbed some of the same colorful characters.  

My question to AI chatGPT-4: “Explain early proponents of Surrealism” It’s reply:

Surrealism was an artistic and literary movement that emerged in the early 1920s, and its early proponents were a group of artists and writers who were interested in exploring the realm of the unconscious mind, dreams, and the irrational. These individuals sought to create a new form of art that would challenge traditional ways of thinking and break free from the constraints of rationality and logic.

One of the key figures of Surrealism was the French writer André Breton, who published the first Surrealist Manifesto in 1924. Breton was interested in exploring the potential of the subconscious mind to create new forms of artistic expression, and he believed that the irrational and the unconscious held the key to unlocking the mysteries of the human psyche.

Other early proponents of Surrealism included Salvador Dalí, Max Ernst, René Magritte, and Joan Miró, all of whom were artists who embraced the movement’s emphasis on the power of the subconscious mind to create art that was imaginative, dreamlike, and often strange and unsettling.

Together, these early Surrealists sought to create a new kind of art that would challenge conventional modes of thought and expression, and explore the full range of human experience, from the mundane to the fantastical. They believed that by tapping into the power of the subconscious mind, they could create a new kind of art that was both deeply personal and universal in its appeal, and that would help to shape the artistic and cultural landscape of the 20th century.

The above explanation from the bot is spot-on and would truly have saved many months of research years ago. It does not cover the original inspiration for Surrealism, Apollinaire, but I do think it is a viable research tool covering pertinent info—————as long as you do not claim it verbatim as your own writing! That would be plagiarism/cheating!  Not worth it!  Go with your own human brain, spotlight and use your computer brain and remember,

It’s the Zeitgeist of the times!

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Sy’s Salient Points:

Chatbot GPT-4 from the company Open AI is easy to use and I felt I was communicating with a live person.

I sent a comment/compliment to the company—”Excellent coverage. ” The machine spontaneously  answered,

“Thank you.”

I felt like we were buddies working together, My Machine & Me.

“How great is that!”

 

  Happy Easter Darling Blaire!

School days, school days,

Dear old Golden Rule days

‘Reading and ‘riting and ‘rithmetic

Taught to the tune of the hick’ry stick…*

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I recently spent a couple of hours with KING TUT and all that tantalizing gold that he took to his  Sleeping World. He also took a lot of hieroglyphic reading material, not forgetting some of his chariots, jewels, clothing, weapons, games, furniture, food, wine and cosmetics. That’s what you call a death-defying and brave moving journey! Thank you National Geographic for putting us together.

P.S. The exhibition was swell but as I was leaving, Tut whispered to me that although he was fuming about the forced entries into his private sleeping world along with the nerve of scooping up his personal possessions, statuary, gorgeous masks and schlepping them around the universe, he has forgiven Lord Carnarvon because his afterlife has brought him acclaim and attention. He’s so happy!

George Herbert, 5th Earl of Carnarvon

I apologized for the schlepping and gave a hot minute’s thought to studying hieroglyphs so we could write to each other, but in my ever involving octogenarian world, I discovered I might do better to step it up and study a current, new universe. Its vocabulary seems a bit grandiose and elaborate to me, but, why not? So back to school for me!

Call it what you will—redrawing reality, science fictional or out-of-the-box, the Phygital World is a happening! It sounds weird and challenging, so now what? Stick with the old or attempt the new or both? In reality, a few new terms have never stopped any of my Senior friends. They are always ahead of the curve. Hold onto your hats—here we go.

A Bunch Of Details:

The phygital world is a marketing term that wants us to keep connecting/spending our money if we are not physically in a store. It’s a method of revamping online shopping by blending physical and digital. And the phygital people are counting on transforming the way we shop and do business. A hybrid shopping environment, Whew!

From Google, wisdom in the language teaching world suggests introducing 5-10 new words per day with a chance you might still remember them all by the time you go to sleep.

P.S. Please let me know if you remember phygital when you go to bed if this is first time you are hearing it.

For us to enter this phygital world, we have to identify,  ta da——AR, VR, AI. There are a lot more ta da’s, but for now, please meet:

AR – defines Augmented Reality.

Augmented Reality (AR) opens a live view often by using the camera on a smartphone. The way I shop for shoes is to go to a shoe store where I can try on as many shoes as I need to find the right fit and style before I purchase—known as “try before you buy”. I am physically in the store, wearing, feeling and looking at the shoes on my feet. Wait, but now:

“You can now virtually try on digital versions of shoes before you buy them on Amazon.” The Amazon online retailer has announced the launch of its “Virtual Try-On for Shoes” feature, an augmented reality shopping tool.

As the name suggests, shoppers can tap the “virtual try-on” button on a footwear product and then aim their smartphone camera at their feet. A pair of virtual shoes then appears on their screen. AR users are now in contact with the real world and “Amazon is using augmented reality to let you try on shoes virtually before buying. While you cannot feel how the shoe fits, you have a view of how the shoes look on your feet and customers can change the shoes’ color options to see what it would look like.”  Will they see my painted toenails?

 Augmented Reality

VR – defines Virtual Reality.

VR users move in a completely fictional world, while AR users are in contact with the real world. OK! I want to get this right:               

“The computer-generated simulation of a three-dimensional image or environment that can be interacted with in a seemingly real or physical way…”. Meaning that this is “a computer-generated environment that, to the person experiencing it, closely resembles reality”.  A hugely popular aspect is playing computer games, often with special equipment. Maybe the next time I’m asked to take the driver’s test, I may never step into a car at all? After which, a voice from between my ears proclaims, “You Passed!” Who said that?  Oh well, yea me! ***.                                                                                    Virtual Reality

Virtual Reality has the capacity to inspire us to communicate and work using technology of the future. It has both entertainment and serious uses. Virtual reality and its cousin augmented reality could substantively change the way we interface with our digital technologies. Do I want that?  I don’t know!  I’m continually struggling with THIS reality!

AI – defines Artificial Intelligence.

We’ve all been exposed to it originally through film, believe it or not beginning with Frankenstein and the Tin Man in The Wizard of Oz. (a functioning entity without a physical heart).

                                                          Artificial Intelligence  – “The Wizard of Oz”,  Vanity Fair                                                            In the 1950’s Alan Turing spearheaded a way to have future machines demonstrate intelligence. “AI” Computers quickly advanced to the famous 1997 Chess Match with the IBM Deep Blue Computer beating world chess champion, Garry Kasparov.  Today, there seems to be no stopping this profound and fascinating AI future. 

For now, my future in AR, VR, and AI is still at that early stages of understanding the concepts – let alone how it might help me find my way to my doctor’s office, order a prescription through a virtual kiosk, or have a spiritual moment with my newly acquired – virtually augmented senior body!

The last thing Tut said to me: “Forget hieroglyphics, you have the opportunity to move forward—— Keep learning Old Lady, break new ground in that head of yours and embrace change!”

OK? [weakly]

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SY’s Salient Points

 P.S. I did not remember phygital when going to bed the first time I heard it! I also did not remember it after reading it a lot more. Hmmm.

I am definitely part of the digital world, but willing to become a freshman. Life is about making space, opening doors. My door is in the slightly open stage. I hope you will help push it. 

 

 

Citations:

*Wikipedia School Days Will D. Cobb and Gus Edwards song. A 1907 popular song.

**By Euronews  Updated: 10/06/2022

***Oxford Languages

****Harvard University “The History of Artificial Intelligence” Science in the New.

 

Happy Birthday and St. Urho’s Day Everett!

Happy St. Patrick’s Day My Darling Blaire!

 

During my freshman college year I had the opportunity to discover a word that epitomized my very being.

A freshman English class assignment was to write an essay about the ONE word that described an unfavorable aspect of my character.

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Nope, I felt very rational, actually overjoyed:

Finally an assignment to suit me. I could write a thesis and add a couple of daydreams.

1. Exchange my feeble math skills to rise to the top of math mountain and become a genius mathematician.
2. Exchange my body shape that resembled a railroad tie for Brigette Bardot’s body. (I know—totally unrealistic.)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    Nope,

 there was an especially fine word that embodied me, only me! And, I still have a copy of my deeply introspective essay: CHARACTER TRIBULATIONS! Subtitled:

                                                                               “THE GODS DID IT!”

A kaleidoscope of black and white shapes streaked through the sky as the lightning challenged the incantations of the kettle drum announcing the annual assembly of the GODS. “THE WORD GODS!”*

Noah, the eminent head CEO smiled as he said to Peter the COO (chief operating officer), ” Bestow the honor! Congratulations to Sheila who personifies this year’s word,                                                                                                                                            PROCRASTINATE!

It will no longer sit huddled & alone. Yep, it was mine, all mine.                      

The WORD GODS better known as Noah Webster and Peter Roget saved this word for me—listen to how it rings, zings, sings, PRO-CRAS-TI-NA-TION!  When it is used as a verb, it offers unlimited choices, and they are all super—dawdle, delay, hesitate, loiter, pigeonhole, slacken, stall, tarry and my personal favorite, dilly-dally.

Wow! When you put them next to run-of-the-mill verbs such as will, was, be, — —not good — —procrastinate is just a really great word!

Think of that tiresome quote, “Procrastination is the thief of time”.  Please do not be misled. It is not a thief when it comes to writing. I’m actually saving trees and lessening hyperbole. And ponder this, if certain couples had practiced procrastination instead of the next word in my pocket dictionary, procreation, would not the world be better without the likes of VLAD III, Hitler, Stalin, John Wilkes Booth, AND the future tyrannical despot, Vladimir Putin? How about our beautiful planet Earth? Why didn’t we muddle through history without atomic bombs, guns, nerve gas, to name a few inventions that could have been delayed forever by procrastination?

There is one small problem when one embodies the word in its entirety. If I am its sole authority will I receive proper homage, or will I procrastinate myself into oblivion? Hmmm.

Another glitch, I confess to one lapse in regard to my word. I have never dawdled nor dilly-dallied when offered a plate, box, or bar of chocolate and I absolutely never race to attack a laundry pile if a new book appears.  But unfortunately, my most mega procrastination, and I am shamefaced to admit and deeply embarrassed, is my car.  It is always in need of a visit to the car wash. I am just not as fussy as I should be for this noble four-wheeled vehicle. It should be bathed a lot more. A whole lot more!  Poor Old Dear and I love my car. How can this be?

Mindless procrastination is also not to be emulated. It would not do for me to tarry when paying my bills as that kind of stalling will lead to fines, empty pockets, possibly the hoosegow!

There were times in my life when I had a love-hate relationship with my word, thinking procrastination was my middle name–lately though it appears to be my first, middle, maiden and last name.

Not wanting to be totally histrionic but wanting to be completely honest,  procrastination and I are inextricably intertwined—sort of like love and marriage, two to tango, salt and pepper. Two symbiotic words: Sheila and Procrastination. And kudos to Noah and Peter (Mr. dictionary and Mr. thesaurus) for bestowing it upon me.

Success! Feeling wonderfully untroubled.

It’s mine. All mine!

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SY’S Salient Points:

Shortly, transformation will be in my future. I look forward to completing all tasks in a flash!

 

 

HOPEFULLY!                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        *Noah Webster (1758 – 1843), was a lexicographer and a language reformer. He is often called the Father of American Scholarship and Education.

**Peter Roget: (born January 18, 1779, London, England—died September 12, 1869, West Malvern, Worcestershire), English physician and philologist remembered for his Thesaurus of English Words and Phrases (1852), a comprehensive classification of synonyms or verbal equivalents that is still popular in modern editions.

Blog Comments from past articles, “TODDERING INTO 2023”:                                                                                   DEAL: “No caged animal for me. A Bald Eagle perhaps-top of the food chain and free to roam!”             BSS:    “You have the right idea. Yes, I also wouldn’t mind being a panda. We’re kind of like the panda.  We look good when wearing black and white.  For the most part we are peaceful except if we think our babies are being attacked.  The panda is ferocious at that time.  Also, I wouldn’t mind grazing all day on chocolate and ice cream.”

  Happy Valentine’s Day, Darling Blaire

 

I look forward to any of your comments by replying to my email. – SY

Is Briskly Tottering a presage of my sometimes imperfect gait? You betcha!

One aspect of my octogenarianism is accepting the perfectly imperfect. Oh dear!                                                                             Because at times, my uneven walk is not exactly a graceful glide.                                                                                                                     It borders on a stunning zigzag. Gee Whiz!

  Bringing to mind an alternative solution written many years ago by a favorite author and creative prime mover.                                                                                                                Fleur Cowles

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 I found it intriguing when author, editor, and artist Fleur Cowles* asked over 100 world-famous personalities,  “If you could be reincarnated as an animal, what would it have to be, and why?”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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CELEBRATE THE SEASON!

 

A Hopeful Season for family and good-will.

A Gentle Season to put our lives into perspective.

A Kind Season to make us stop, thank and think.

A Wishful Season to hope for renewal.                                                                                                                                             Let’s celebrate!

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This moment seems right to happily return to a Christmas memory in our home. Join me as we embrace a bit of nature and a lot of sparkle.

The first eight years of our married life were spent traveling to the Midwest to spend holidays with my family. We did no decorating. Sooo, when the first opportunity arrived to decorate our home….nirvana!

Not Decorating did not stop us from collecting a small arsenal of the holly, the ivy, ornaments, garlands, etc. In other words or whatever, the truth is—we collected everything.

A tree was essential. A mammoth one sounded good to me. Sooo, off we went to a Tree Farm with our small daughters and friends visiting from Australia, lots of rope and a saw. It was glorious!

What was not glorious: No perfect tree! I could visit a design showroom, some of them the size of a baseball field and within a short time find a blue-ribbon range of fabrics for a client, but, where, oh where, was that perfect tree?

Our adored Aussie friends viewed my husband with awe and wanted to bestow a “personal-best” blue-ribbon for spousal patience. By the end of the afternoon, they wanted to cut down a tree… any tree or plant me, and drive off into the sunset— without me!

Fortunately, my happy Cheshire cat grin offered a reprieve and they took me home with them to decorate that first Christmas holiday stationing our perfect tree in front of the entry balcony. Everyone took turns placing ornaments. Garlands hanging from the ceiling outlined the tree, added a finishing touch. Good thing I had prepared dinner that morning; decking out that tree required stamina.

All were up to it, including our visitors, who were Professors Emeriti of Sports of Antiquity. Max was a member of the Olympic Committee and beautiful Reet ran the Greek Marathon in Greece. (Max and Reet nominated us to be Danforth Associates leading to new insights and opportunities.).*

It was time. We were ready! The magical moment arrived as we held our breaths in anticipation. Would our stockpile of wampum dazzle us?                                                                                                                                                                                                                          Lights, camera, action! Raise the curtain! 

Even our resilient Aussies forgave me.

But the tree was only the start! We had parties to give, delectables to entice.. Our creative juices were flowing.

The dining room needed to make a statement and over the years different themes took center stage. Some memorable ones were when mirror runners held prancing feathered peacocks. Another year, a gilt and dark green table runner sported a village scene all made of candles. As the flames moved down the wicks, different levels of light flickered and gleamed.                                                                                                                                                                                                         When we bought this house, it was empty for over six months. The yard was filled with chest-high weeds. The house had no premonition that Joshua was arriving at his Jericho. Walls came tumbling down, seventeen avocado trees were tired. We said good-bye to them and said hello to our gifted landscape architect and his lighting design that accented the pergola, the tree by the koi pond, the wicker swing. And then:

No guilt! Later we abandoned the tree farms and purchased an artificial tree. We liked it so much we bought two for our open areas and one still skitters out each year at our Retirement Realm. With minimal space limitations, our well-traveled, long-lasting tree and favorite memorabilia deliver warm splashes of color and nostalgia.

That includes being open to new and old challenges, thankful pride in my family, my husband who opened new doors, admiration for the challenges met by my parents and affection for dear and dearest friends.

For me, the focus of holiday happenings is tucking memories away and finding a bridge to put my life into perspective, enjoy traditions and stop to think thankfully for the many, many warm and wonderful years of life.

 But don’t forget when  a bit of glitz and glitter catch the light there’s a glow in the air offering festive lightheartedness.

From my family to yours, “Celebrate The Season”!

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SY’S SALIENT POINTS:

As Tiny Tim said, “God bless us everyone!”

Thank you and Happy Holidays to Betty, Mat, Sue and Caroline!

*Danforth Associates: The Danforth Foundation sponsored regional conferences which addressed topics related to Associates’ roles as faculty, teachers and citizens and to increase the effectiveness of faculty through strengthening inter-institutional and interdisciplinary relations among faculty at colleges and universities.

Wishing You A Season of  Holiday Cheer and Happiness My Darling Blaire

SHE
loved life, living long and well on her own terms, beginning each day with calisthenics. A vegetarian diet allowed her to maintain the slim figure of her youth.  She was famed for wearing white gloves, but she was the one and only to have peepholes cut into them. WHY?
Why not? Because she could show off her fingers bedecked with sparkling gems!

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She pointed the way to a new profession when commissioned to decorate a private club for the richest, most influential and significant women in New York City.                                    Her name was Elsie de Wolfe* and decorating’s future was all her’s …for a bit!             

Elsie virtually created the profession of interior decorating in 1896 by replacing heavy Victorian and dark Jacobean furniture with

Louis XV and Louis XVI furnishings…same room before & after Elsie’s redo. **                                                                       

She was a forty-six year old actress known more for the stylish Parisienne gowns she wore onstage rather than her performance ability. She considered herself “plain” after a childhood fall when she broke a tooth. Running to her father for sympathy, he shook his head in disgust and announced that she had spoiled her one good feature.                                                                   It became Elsie’s life quest to beautify the world.

Friends were captivated with her creativity when they saw the shared bachelorette apartment of Elsie and her mate, Bessie Marbury during their Sunday afternoon gatherings. (It was generally labeled a lesbian liaison).                                                       Elsie attracted the best of the best clients in 1905 when commissioned to decorate a private club for the richest and most important women in New York City. The acclaimed Colony Club!

                          The Colony Club showing the show-stopping Trellis Room*   

Another client, industrialist Henry Clay Frick gave Elsie carte blanche to purchase antique furnishings and art for his new Renaissance palace on 5th Avenue, (she made a million dollar commission on it).

She was on the verge of beautifying the world!                 

And proud as a peacock!

For a few years, Elsie was able to claim the decorating profession as her own, loving every minute. In fact early in the 20th century when Syrie Maugham, a new hopeful English decorating star, visited New York, Syrie met Elsie and told her she wanted to enter the decorating field.                                                                                                      Answering in her high pitched voice with an air of abrupt dismissal, Elsie said, “Syrie, my dear, you’re too late, much too late. The decorating field is already overcrowded.”        (Obviously, Syrie who would become equally famous, disregarded that advice.)

Both Bessie and Elsie defined new careers for women. Bessie established herself as an important literary and theatrical talent agent eventually entering the world of theatrical production.

Bessie Marbury

The outstanding highlight in Elsie’s decorating career was the Villa Trianon in Versailles, France that she bought in 1903 with Bessie and Anne Morgan. Many in France were ready to embrace Arte Nouveau and Art Moderne, “out with the old, in with the new,” and Elsie over the early years was able to purchase whole salons and original, priceless antique French furniture, i. e. boiserie paneling, Parque de Versailles floors, mirrored screens, etc. This was a forty-five year project of a historical ruin that resulted in not only a second home for them, but also became a salon for the rich and famous of that time.         

Elsie may have been known for standing on her head during parties, dying her hair blue and more,  but in the thick of WWI, Elsie unflinchingly worked as a Red Cross nurse in the pioneering Ambrine Mission for Burn Victims. Ambrine, a wax-like hot substance was poured over burns to act as artificial skin during healing. She worked longer hours than other nurses, traveled to the U.S. to raise funds and, no small feat, was awarded the Croix de Guerre and the French Legion of Honor!

Celebrated for her black and white ensembles, Cole Porter wrote a clever tribute song song describing Elsie,  “That Black and White Baby of Mine.” (Lyrics included the line, “All she thinks black and white…”.

An Aside:                                                                                                                                              A  leading interpreter of Porter’s songs, the sophisticated cabaret jazz pianist and singer Bobby Short,  was a New York institution holding court at the Carlyle Hotel,                                                                                                                                                                                      At the time of my lecture, my husband was a member of ASCAP and actually called Mr. Short for a copy of his  famous recording “Black and White Baby of Mine”. I was  astonished when he sent his recording.  It added the right “note” to my lecture.)

What a surprise to move to our Retirement Realm and meet residents, Reggie and Nancy Short!  Reggie, Bobby Short’s nephew. I take such pleasure learning fascinating stories about times spent with Bobby and stories of Reggie and Nancy Short’s successful lives.

Back to Elsie who consistently took her dreams to new horizons. Her ideas had substance, humor, grace and ingenuity and she did beautify the world!!!                                           

Elsie started the trend of wearing Indian jewelry.

There is so much more to her story…maybe more later!

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Sy’s Salient Points:

Bringing the outdoors in, Elsie used indoor fountains for her own homes and for her clients.

Elsie featured mirrors in her interiors and at each end of her gardens to make spaces appear larger.

During WWII, Elsie escaped from the Nazi’s and settled in Hollywood for a few years and reinvented herself with famed Hollywood cognoscente.

Elsie inspired me to design a room using lattice in a  St. Louis apartment. My client wanted it to look like a garden. After looking at colors, she picked periwinkle. The window wall was painted that color and covered with white lattice accenting the white window frames. She maintains she will never change it. A happy outcome for me.

*Excerpts from ASID Conference, Baltimore, Maryland, “Don’t Forget Elsie, Syrie, Ruby, Frances and…” Sheila Yates

**My first exposure to Elsie was a lecture presented by the gifted raconteur, Hutton Wilkinson, now President of the Elsie de Wolfe Foundation.

***Bessie Morgan was a pioneering entrepreneur who took theatre into mass production, advertising and popular culture. Among her many clients: Oscar Wilde and George Bernard Shaw. Wikipedia

Happy Birthday My Darling Blaire and Thanksgiving

Yep! I was part of the Planet of the Aged, but I was not intimidated. In truth, the Planet of the Aged has an atmospheric resilience swirling, twirling and wingdinging around it. Join me and some of my pals as we keep trying to be/stay galvanized!

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Every THING in my apartment seems to have a design story, some crossed oceans, others came from down the road. A favorite thingamabob is my ikebana tray that for me has double duties. One purpose— hiding two low wall switches and the other— becoming a Lilliputian floor bookcase housing a collection of favorite design books.

 

Explanation:                                                                                                                                                                                       Talented resident floral arrangers create welcoming displays at our Reception Desk Entrance and my good friend Dorothy Roll’s gorgeous Ikebana floral arrangements, (the centuries-old Japanese art of arranging flowers) offer stunning greetings. When I saw a lovely antique object it reminded me I had no flower arranging skills, but I did need another bookcase. The heavily carved exterior is the perfect accent for design books, plus I balanced two books to conceal two low light switches. How great is that?

I love pushing boundaries by adapting a vintage Ikebana tray into a new, attractive, useful design element.

 It’s time for the Sweet-tooth Sleuth to conduct a new World’s Shortest Mini Survey. She is seeking advice on how to add harmony and wellness to Senior lives.

Please meet some of my friends as they share pastimes, pleasures and interactive experiences. Question:

As a sage senior adding a focus of wellness to life, what helps makes your life more interesting, diverse and healthy? Examples might be: exercise, gardening, art endeavors, games, committees, studies, reading, designing, moving, church, etc.

 

 

OG:  “Before moving here, my friends and I had similar backgrounds, now I share many new experiences with new friends who then become best friends. Yes, I miss doing the things I did when younger, but I try to keep moving and stay busy. Living in this retirement community I now, enjoy lectures, love the fitness classes and the indoor pool and my new friendships.”

DAC:  “After moving to CA in 2017, I began taking ukulele lessons and learning music theory with a private instructor.  When COVID reared its ugly head, face-to-face music lessons were no longer an option so we began Zoom lessons.  We quickly concluded that ukulele lessons via Zoom were not feasible due to latency. My instructor then suggested I try my hand at making electronic music. Fast forward to 2022…  I am currently working on song number 120.  To date, I have released 7 songs which have been heard on 6 of 7 of the world’s continents, (the exception being Antarctica).  I enjoy composing, mixing & mastering the music, and then I enjoy seeing the statistics on where in the world my music is being played.”

LEM: “In my aged years, I decided to try many new activities.  I had always admired the elegance and grace dancers show on the dance floor and hoped I could match their style.  So, at 85, I paid for private lessons and within a year I progressed from basic box steps to waltzing, tango, and rumba!  I never saw my body glide like the professionals, but those lessons freed my mind and maybe (if my imagination serves me) I might look something like that magical swan gliding along a moonlit pond! Now I prefer to dance solo.”

JCSB: “As a person of deep faith, I feel surrounded by the Blessings of God and my Church.                                        I live in my home and I am not lonely. My husband and I rescued feral kitties and invariably ended up adopting them. The kitties in my life have been wonderful and continue to be loving & comforting. I support the arts and devote time to my community art center.”

MOT: “Meeting incredible people in my later years brought immense joy to my life yet again!  I was fortunate to meet a young fellow who channeled my love of the sea into something which inspired my soul, rekindled my inner-child, and brought me back to one of my greatest passions, sailing.  After significant struggle with those guardians of senior living, we began our journey back to the water and started up a model boat yacht club.  With salt in my veins and a windy tickle in my whiskers, I gleefully sped my scooter to the local pond and reveled in 2 hours of sheer delight as we tacked and gibed our yachts to victorious memories.  Be not afraid of the storms ahead, revel that you learn to command your life vessel!”

JBLB: “Many things gave energy to my steps along the road to Life’s satisfaction. i.e. History, Poetry and Current  Events discussion groups took my interest, but the pinnacle turned out to be my garden and my 6 year stint on the monthly Feature Magazine staff.                                                                                                                            I grew a Jack-in-the Box  tomato plant that yielded 268 tomatoes! For two months I traipsed up stairs and down, through our residence halls, shoe box in hand dropping off Big Beef tomatoes.  Indeed, I was the Tomato Queen that year.  The years on the magazine fed my creative side. I wrote Bios and nostalgic (humorous?) pieces and I relished friendships made and the camaraderie of the staff as we  discussed and chose articles for publication. Stretching muscle and mind added to my life’s satisfaction in a completely new atmosphere.”

Now you know what my senior friends know, oh-so-well, agedness means business and fine-tuning it requires the right juju and energy. The Sweet-tooth Sleuth and I want to….

 thank my peers for their galvanized strategies and solutions!

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Sy’s Salient Points:

Diverse explorations keep members of the Planet of the Aged, not only galvanized, but also sane. My friends are forever-evolving as they open channels, roads and travel in creative ways!

 

 

 

 

 

            Happy Indigenous Holiday And Halloween Blaire

Crikey! We were in the heart of London and popping off to a Flea Market. We planned to keep a stiff upper lip, a tight hand on our billfolds and not forget. Flea markets are not for sissies!

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“Open your eyes!

Now?       It’s the middle of the night?         Why?

A quest, an adventure, a rare opportunity awaits!   Really?

Let’s Go Shopping!

Nooo, It’s murky and black out, the middle of the night,

reminds me of being a cat burglar and we’ll be in Sherlock Holmes neighborhood. Scary.

“I’ll protect you. I’m taking a torch!”

A few Whats, Whys and Wheres.

We were spending three weeks in England because my husband had been recognized as a talented music educator and conductor, and was invited to guest conduct and adjudicate the Royal British Army Bands and the Royal Air Force Bands.

We were first headed to Twickenham West London, home of the revered historic music training school at Kneller Hall, built in 1709 and reputedly designed by Sir Christopher Wren. Each and every army musician throughout the realm,

including  the triangle player trains at this vast and stately edifice.

We were to be the guests of Colonel Frank Renton, head of all the Army Bands in the United Kingdom, his wife Rosemary and Sadie with whom I fell in love. Curls cascaded down long, soft ears and her velvet brown eyes offered eternal loyalty. Each night, she retired to the middle of our bed, covers up to her dog chin and head upon a pillow. Rosemary told us if a dinner guest briefly left the table, Sadie occupied their chair and followed the conversation turning her head to listen to each guest. (Only in England with the British and their dogs. Sadie graciously gave up the bed when we retired.)

London Flea Markets abound and Bermondsey Antique Market ranked way in the clouds. Open on Fridays, dealers arrived as early as 4:00 A.M. carrying torches—a.k.a.—flashlights!

A bus from the Renton’s location was not feasible and the tube did not run early. Rosemary suggested we use Carol and Charles’ driver. (During the time of our visit the Metropolitan Opera Star Carol Vaness was married to Charles Renton. When she sang at Covent Garden they stayed at the Renton’s and “Alan’s Car Hire” transported them to the city for performances.)

 Fresh-faced, rosy cheeked Alan arrived in his crisply pressed uniform with peaked cap driving a Mercedes limo. (At flea markets, the guidebook said, “The richer you look, the higher price you’ll pay. Dress simply.” Don’t arrive in a limo. (The guidebook didn’t say that.)

People craned to see who arrived. Alan leaped out opening doors,, tipping his cap, admonishing me with, “Mind, your step, M’um.” Out stepped two ordinary tourists with a Royal army torch!

The travel guide book also said,                                                                                                                                                “Tell the seller you only have limited cash on hand, look into your wallet and show your limited amount.”            Awww, easy-peasy. “Do not offer large bills and ask for change.”   I had no large bills.                                                    “Dress down.” A no-brainer with grungy walking shoes that looked like paddle-boats and a rain coat lined with fake fur. They should just give me the stuff.

   Ta,Da!

Opened by Prince Albert in 1855,

“Bermondsey Market is one of the few markets in London where the majority of items are genuine antiques. It has a sea of relics similar to the loot of Fagan’s street gang. It’s half car boot sale, half chic Parisian flea market.”*

When Alan and my husband left to park I scooted into the crowd. It was overwhelming to be in that shadowy light and I sensibly decided to just look around and not purchase.

Nearby, my discerning eye glimpsed a stunning etched ivory and luminous silver carving knife and fork nested in a silk lining. In no time at all, I owned “A Fish Carving Set.”                                                                                                  Never had I ever cooked, carved or presented a whole fish for our dinner table——a truly sensible purchase.

I did not have to go far when again the most charming beveled wooden mirror in a red lacquered Chinoisserie frame spoke to me. I was convinced it would fit in my husband’s suitcase. Somehow, his statement before we left escaped me, “We are not buying another suitcase.” When he knew how hard I had to work with that seller to get that mirror, I thought he’d be happy to fit it in his suitcase. She actually followed me when she changed her mind to sell it to me!

Oh boy, there was a small crowd around a stall where buyers were peering though their eye loupes at trays of tempting jewelry and ME with two daughters who loved baubles. (Well, one did.)  Two stunning rings popped into my tote bag. Always thoughtful,  I put them in my suitcase.

It was an adventure to watch astute buyers bargain, fun to walk around among the relics and of course watch the other buyers and sellers, a morning in technicolor. As I retraced my steps to find my husband, there they were….

                                                                                       Antique Curtain Rings!

Uniquely carved antique brass rings with small rose sculptures

                                                                                        BUT WAIT,

she was holding them for another buyer. Awww, she instructed me to come back in an hour. I perfected advancing and retreating trying to covertly see if they were still there. Probably sick of my presence, she sold all twenty-four to me! (It felt like I had just won the War of the Roses.)

My funds had dwindled and I was content. Only, for a half-second though because a seller was unwrapping tiles that had been removed that morning from a Victorian fireplace. Oh dear! She agreed to hold the tiles until I found my husband assuring her he would be able to meet her price. His princely sum had also dwindled. We changed more money. We were two pounds short, showed her our empty wallets and probably sick of my hound-dog downcast look, they were ours.

As she started rewrapping a loud voice behind us, said, “I’ll take those, M’umm.” And there was Alan, shiny uniform and all, making us look way too affluent.                                                                                                                    She gave us an expression of mock horror breaking into a great laugh, as she graciously said, “You got me, Yanks”

Did we accidentally Fleece a Seller at Bermondsey? The one that opened in 1855? Hmmm.

P.S. Guess whose suitcase held the tiles?

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Sy’s Salient Points:

Always travel with a good-hearted companion who has a really large suitcase.

Our brief buying outing was a a bit of an escapade, but as always we enjoyed the beauty of new landscapes, the music made us believe the world was a special place and our new friends who opened their doors made our journey a magical milestone.

 

 

 

*Bermondsey Market – Wikipedia                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             Happy Birthday to your Mommy and Aunt DNY, Blaire.

THE SWEET—TOOTH SLEUTH recently sent out this World’s Shortest Opinion Poll!

 

Please answer either one or both questions:

1.  Should blogs play a role in the Senior Population?

2.  Do blogs have worth & are they understood by the Senior Population?

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     (Opinion Poll opinions at the end of  blog.)

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Zilch, Zero, Zippo

My Blog & Me

Why write a blog?  Please realize that the lion’s share of my blog knowledge translates to Zilch, Zero, Zippo! My early research essentially discovered a huge number focus on fashion, cooking, lifestyles, travel, etc. I love words and writing and trust me, at this time of my sort of sedentary life, I have the time to begin a lifestyle blog. So I did and do as a late-blooming blogger and a certified member of the ebbing tide group, I hope to have a more thorough understanding of social media in my senior world. This is about deciphering blogs and ebbing and whatever. My sources often develop from the internet, same place where social media resides. Stick with me, maybe we shall figure the whatever!

I looked up descriptive synonyms of ebbing and found moribund, doomed, giving up the ghost, etc. Ohhhhh dear, that is not the ebbing in my mindset. I was thinking of gently and gracefully swinging to the sweet rhythm of a waning—a mellowing cadence—a caring/sharing cadence with added color and pizazz. That’s where I want my blog to perch.

I next tried blog synonym: online journal, diary, record. Needless to say, I was looking for a ray of light such as pleasing, stylish, creative, a bit cheering, maybe somewhat ditsy. 

So far what I have learned is that blogging is like making soup—throw thoughts and words into a pot and pray it will be palatable.*

WORD SOUP!

To digress: A little about my ebbing! We know from time immemorial that tides have flourished at coming and going. Since a large proportion of me has passed many a tide, think “octogenarian”. So I have also kept coming and going, but realistically now my gears are shifting toward the going. Nothing dramatic, just part of the autumn-ebbing of life.                                                                                                                                                     My hope for blogging, (forget the ebbing part for now) is to be a writer who is transparent and uplifting, but stays rooted in the real world. (Are those realistic goals for an octo???) …Fervently hoping so!

My strengths come from what I love most in life—my family. They are my success.

I also find energy from my enduring friendships, (the positives of Retirement Realm Living), forms of design, design history, reading and research. These all add to the language of my blog. I know also that laughter from the sublime to the silly can speak volumes.

When I started my blog over a year ago, it was partially to not only write a lifestyle story, but to explore social media cartoons, photos and the absurd. It seemed to tie into a form of article writing that had formerly pleased and challenged me for some years. I wrote for a design magazine and some regional newspapers. I loved interviewing outstanding design personalities and organizing photo shoots of creative interiors with first-rate photographers. Now, there is no professional photographer for my blog, but there is that wide range of media’s heady and inventive elements and my i-phone camera is now my professional photographer for pictures. Google Safari/Chrome are my search engines. So now, the $64,000 question—am I writing an article or a blog?

Once again, I looked up the difference between an article and a blog. Generally, a blog contains less words and expresses views, pictures or stories. An article has the same objective along with an editor, a set format and calendar and possibly an artist/photographer.

Yet another conundrum!!! Passing a friend in the hallway, she mentioned, “I read your newsletter.” Could it be that I’m not writing a blog or an article, it’s a newsletter! Good Grief! Now I need to sort out newsletter???                                                                                                                      Newsletter: a monthly issuing, a journal, a throwaway, etc. (The throwaway part sounds so disheartening).

I wonder if Gertrude Stein would blog if she and her set were transposed to 2022. Of course she would …..“a blog is a blog is a blog.”**So far the best I can come up with is that my blog is a sort of/kind of/maybe a “mini”type newsletter article that’s a blog.                                           Shoot, that’s my blog in a nutshell!

 I want to thank you for reading this nonsense because now you know that I still know Zilch about A Blog!!! (Also, Zero & Zippo)

Although,                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         if you have an appetite for a tasty, flavorful, healthy thirst-quencher composed with Zing, Zest & Zippity-doo-dah,                                                       may I please tempt you to try the flavor of my

WORD SOUP!!!

Comments From The Experts Regarding World’s Shortest Blog Opinion Poll:                                                                                                                        SHN:  I see no reason blogs shouldn’t play a role in the senior population especially if each blog is clear, true and offers understanding. A blog has worth to me if it has qualities/characteristics that relate to my senior topics of interest. If someone is unfamiliar to blogs, do Blog Apps or Blog Platforms exist?

MKS: Yes, I think blogs have a place in the Senior Population. Aging gracefully is a very important issue for seniors. If I’m looking for inspiration in writing a memoir, I want a blog that will give me some ideas on how to go about it. I think blogs should be fairly short and easy to follow, focusing on one idea at a time.  I also like the “Accidental  Icon’s” blog, which is somewhat philosophical on the subject, as well as a fashion display…..I appreciate her flair.

MMC:  Any effort to build a senior community is valid. As more become comfortable with electronics, then personal communication is an avenue of comfort and humor in their day. Blogs can play a role here. Personal memories, shared times, are a link. I have not pursued blogs. I read Louise Penny’s newsletter and your blog. They are date sensitive. If you start one the next one is always due, like a newsletter. Sometimes I think  blogs are a new name for newsletters when worth is a function of good content and good writing.

PFJ:  Your questionnaire regarding Blogging presented an interesting bit of homework. I felt I needed a description….Where to go? Amazon of course! If I had to go to Amazon to find out just exactly what a blog is, (Blogging entails skill, i. e. writing, editing and designing,) they are not understood—at least by me! However, keep in mind that I am at the high end of “Senior.” Probably those in their 70’s blog to a greater degree. Nonetheless, yes. they do have worth simply by their interaction with others.

LAED:  1. and Yes, blogs can be condensed and a readily available source of information and entertainment for select parts of society-including.                                  seniors.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          2. Blogs have worth in the sense that “work or research “ has already been accomplished by the author and the recipient just has to be                               amenable to the ideas of information contained within. I think they most certainly are understood by our intelligent senior population                         as long as the author stays on track and retains continuity of the subject throughout the blog.

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SY’S SALIENT POINTS

When I asked a few brilliant friends to answer my opinion poll, their answers were/are worthy of a full scholarship to Harvard. So much so, I did take the liberty of using key sentences to reduce their dissertations. Now you know one of my important reasons to live in a  Retirement Realm—THANK YOU, my accomplished & savvy friends!

As for my blog: it is published with an Einstein—like editor, Betty Barnecut, a Steve Jobs—like web designer, Matt Karl, who takes the banners I make and the words I write to format the blog and two artistic virtuosos, Sue Berman who drew my dazzling Intrepid Lady cartoon and my new captivating Sweet-tooth Sleuth Lady cartoon, Caroline Meade. All are the quintessence my blog.

* From Potluck, The Wise Scarecrow by Sheila Yates                                                                                                                                                    **britannica.com Gertrude Stein poem                                                                                                                                                                                                         Random House Encyclopedia: Gertrude Stein 1874-1946 US author & critic. She abandoned the study of medicine to devote her life to                         literature in Paris (1903) and established a famous salon entertaining, consulting and a confidante of great artists & writers.

Happy back to school, Blaire!