Boy, were we wrong. It only took 6 days to show us what a train wreck 2021 could be. The attack on our Capitol was a historical low point for American democracy.
Covid-19 continues to rage, and nurses are dropping out of the profession because they are burned out. It doesn’t help that most of the patients that they are seeing are ones who chose not to take the most important step to protect themselves from contracting the disease-getting the free vaccine. People with other health issues are having to wait because Covid patients are using up all the resources…
I am so glad I own this book. I bought it ten years ago, and just got around to reading it.
I was already familiar with the work of Billy Collins, Robert Frost, and William Carlos Williams, and knew the names of several more of the poets laureate, but most of them were new to me.
The book is arranged starting with W.S. Merwin, who held the office in 2010 when the book was published, and working backward to Joseph Auslander, the original consultant in poetry to the Library of Congress (which the position was called until 1986). Each poet’s…
Pieter Bruegel the Elder (1525–1569) is considered the greatest Flemish painter of the 16 thcentury. He is especially known for his landscapes and his depictions of peasant life. Some of his work also included religious themes.
Last week I read an article by Alice Hendon about making foam stamps. I have long been a fan of Nathalie Kalbach, who designs rubber and foam stamps, and who posts her wonderful creations on her website. So when I read Alice’s article, she made the process seem so simple, I thought maybe I could do it. I knew I had an inkpad somewhere, but I couldn’t find it, so I visited Amazon and ordered this adorable set of inexpensive inkpads. …
When I was a music education student at Glassboro State College (now known as Rowan University), I took a vocal repertoire class on art songs and discovered German lieder. All the women in our class fell in love with Robert Schumann’s song cycle Frauenliebe und Leben:
Click for links to the lyrics and translations of all the songs in Frauenliebe und Leben. You can follow along as you listen. I’m sure you’ll agree that these songs are incredibly romantic! Several students in the class worked Schumann’s songs into their senior recitals. (I’m sorry to say I no longer have…
When I was a high school student, research papers were my downfall. For weeks I’d diligently scour the reference shelves at the library and take copious notes by hand on index cards (these were the days before photocopiers), and long before I ever exhausted my sources, I’d realize I only had a day or two left to actually write the paper-and no idea how to distill all my notes into a cohesive narrative.
Research is one of the trickiest activities for fiction writers. It’s necessary, because if your details are inaccurate, it will tick off your readers-in-the-know, and give them…
Speak the truth.
That’s easier said than done.
It’s hard to speak truth if you don’t want to argue, don’t wish to offend, don’t care to defend yourself.
It’s also hard to speak truth if you don’t know what the truth actually is.
Sometimes, when you dig, you find out what you thought was true actually isn’t.
We make assumptions based on our own experiences.
But not everyone has the same experiences I do.
When we make generalizations based on our own experiences, we are not speaking for everyone; we can only speak for ourselves.
That reminds me of the…
ARHuelsenbeck
Former elementary general music teacher. Wife, and mother of five. Blogging about the arts and the creative process at https://ARHtisticLicense.com.
