Anne Bradstreet, To My Dear and Loving Husband, A Discussion
February 21, 2008
"To My Dear and Loving Husband" was written by America’s first female poet, the Puritan, Anne Bradstreet. In fact, Anne Bradstreet is one of only a handful of female American poets during the first 200 years of America’s history. After Bradstreet, one can list only Phillis Wheatley, the 18th century black female poet, Emma Lazarus, the 19th century poet whose famous words appear on the Statue of Liberty, and the 19th century Emily Dickinson, America’s most famous female poet.
"To My Dear and Loving Husband" has several standard poetic features. One is the two line rhyme scheme. Another is the anaphora, the repetition of a phrase, in the first three lines. And a third is the popular iambic pentameter.
Iambic pentameter is characterized by an unrhymed line with five feet or accents. Each foot contains an unaccented syllable and an accented syllable, as in "da Dah, da Dah, da Dah, da Dah, da Dah."
The subject of Anne Bradstreet’s love poem is her professed love for her husband. She praises him and asks the heavens to reward him for his love. The poem is a touching display of love and affection and extraordinarily uncommon for the Puritan era of the Massachusetts Bay Colony in which Anne Bradstreet lived.
Making Your Own Bird Feeder
February 20, 2008
There is estimated to be over 100 billion individual wild birds on earth, and each one needs to eat certain amounts of food on a daily basis in order to survive. That’s where we come in! Birdfeeders are fun to make and are essential in order for birds to live. Bird houses can be made out of practically anything and are usually hung in different locations around your yard for birds to enjoy. Purchasing a bird feeder is another option, however this can be expensive and both methods serve practically the same purpose.
The following is a fun and easy way for children (or adults) to make a bird feeder:
What You Will Need:
? An empty milk or juice carton (any size will do)
? String (must be strong)
? Scissors
? Stapler
? Hole punch
? 2 small sticks or wooden rods
? Bird seed
? Markers, paint or anything which can be used to decorate the carton. Ensure the paint is water based not to hurt your feathered friends and try not to use anything that can be potentially dangerous to swallow.
Directions:
Top Ten Tips To A Terrific Valentine?s Day - For Men in Relationships
February 19, 2008
Okay guys, so this is a great opportunity to get back in the good books, or if you are already there, to get some extra points. Women love to be courted, wooed, treated like princesses. And most of them like this to occur on Valentine’s Day (as well as other days, but that’s a Tip List for another time!). Beware, unless you have been told to ignore Valentine’s Day (and only if you have in the past and it has worked), do NOT, under any circumstances, neglect to celebrate this occasion of love and romance. Her friends will all be asking her the next day what you did, and if she has to tell them "nothing", it cannot be good for you! Read these tips for some help:
1. Don’t forget about Valentine’s Day! There are lots of reminders everywhere. Notice the hearts and advertisements.
2. Leave her a note or card before you leave for work and tell her that you will be thinking about her.
17 Tips For Getting Balloons to Last Longer in Hot Weather
February 19, 2008
In warm weather, latex balloons will typically only last outside for a day. As you know, sun, wind and heat will biodegrade the latex. With that said, however, there are tricks you can do to raise your odds of getting them to last more than a day outside.
1) Use only high quality balloons like Qualatex. I’ve also heard that some people have used Bellatex and Tilly balloons with some success. Quality makes a huge difference.
2) Avoid using latex balloons whenever possible. After a few days outside, we have seen them completely disintegrate when touched.
3) Qualatex’ Polyurethane Duo balloons are designed for outdoor use. They will last longer and look better for extended outdoor use than any latex or foil balloon. They are a bit more pricey but can really take away the headache of shrinking and disintegrating balloons. For larger Duo balloons like 18″, it may be cost effective to rent them. The Duo balloons can also be used to leverage small latex balloons. Underinflate your smaller latex balloons and use the lift power of the big balloon to raise them.
Photography Has No Gender
February 18, 2008
Women photographers are fortunate. Unlike other titles, photographer has no gender. Women photographers don’t have to force stilted language like "flight attendant" instead of "stewardess," or "letter carrier" instead of "mailman." "Photographer" doesn’t have the historical male/female titles such as "author" and "authoress," or "actor" vs. "actress." Women photographers may not even have to battle the associated gender that "doctors" or "nurses" do. Did you know that bank tellers always were men up until WWII because it was thought that women couldn’t handle money?
So when you visualize a photographer, is it a man or woman? It probably depends on your most recent contact with one. But when you look at a photograph, can you tell whether it was taken by a man or a woman? Probably not. So, at least on one side of the lens, it doesn’t make a difference that the photographer is a woman.
So why is it important to talk about women and photography? Because, according to a recent study conducted at the University of California at Irvine, women’s brains are different than men’s.
Creative And Inexpensive Gift Ideas
February 17, 2008
I have a friend who works at a loan company. She starts getting busy around August — because her offices are flooded with people taking out loans for their holiday shopping. And she stays busy well into the new year — because a huge percentage of those people default on their loans. Why do we feel compelled to go so deeply in DEBT buying gifts? It seems as though every year the bar is raised — we are expected to spend more and more.
And where does all this spending get us? I can’t tell you how many of my organizing clients have literally piles of old Christmas gifts buried in their closets — items for which they really have no use, but feel guilty about cleaning out. I’m pretty sure that the holidays are not supposed to be about debt, guilt, and clutter! But you can also take steps on the “giving” side to make the holiday less stressful — for both you and the recipient:
LIMIT THE NUMBER OF GIFTS PER PERSON
Its Not Your Fault!
February 16, 2008
Saying goodbye is easy for the traveler. I am a person who traveled so much that I had no roots except ‘within’ and I learned to be connected to ‘What IS’.
In the movie Good Will Hunting there are many great insights about the rat race and cycle of violence. I never was beaten but I had a horror show caused by the social system due to a schizophrenic mother. But I empathized with the Psychologist played by Robin Williams because I have always been there to counsel those in need or trouble. I had studied just like Will Hunting a lot of the books on philosophy and psychology. Before I was ten I dare say I had read more than the average Doctor of Psychology.
It was good to see both the main characters get on with their life and do the right thing. The ‘Right Thing’ is what I have been doing ever since I decided to fulfill my purpose. That meant I had to face the music and the rat race or bureaucracy again. You could say I am determined to be ‘historical’ like Gertrude Stein ? or die trying. But I don’t have a salon in Paris. I live in a group home for the flotsam of society called insane. I write my books in hopes that someone some day will decide to join me in a quest beyond fighting City Hall. Just like Gertrude’s unwillingness to see the politics that lead to war I am moved to see what really causes these behaviors.
Let Your Feelings Be Your Guide
February 15, 2008
The light of all eternity shines with me now / My feelings light up my life / How I find my way is determined by them / They illumine my path and show me who I am
When I was young, I felt so many things / Then came the day when I could not stand the pain / My world was chaos then, filled with sorrow and grief / So I closed up to protect that fragile Self within
Years would go by before I could open again / I was forced to by circumstances beyond my control / Life dealt me blows which I later recognized as my own / To awaken me to that sorrow deep within my Soul
I worked hard to find my way back to the Light / To that place within where I could feel once again / There my Heart shone forth with a brave face / And shed light on all that I had concealed
Now I see how I closed that tender-hearted Self / How I froze in the face of my destiny / Troubles swirled around as a constant source of grief / And I fell to sleep out of fear
Origami Instructions
February 14, 2008
Origami is a fantastic art form that guarantees hours of fun and enjoyment, not to mention a great way to challenge yourself and build your creativity. However many beginners come across trouble in 2 main areas:
1. Following the instructions (especially when the creations you wish to fold become more complex)
and
2. Finding enough information in the form of patterns and directions so that you don’t become bored!
I know this because I found the exact same problems! As a result I developed an Origami resource that would actually solve the ‘Origami Problems’ I know people want answered to make life easier for everyone who wants to enjoy this amazing art.
Here are a few samples of some secrets you might not know about origami and the process of it’s learning.
- Every line and every shading on an Origami diagram has a specific meaning (that most people don’t know) that assists in the understanding of the fold required for that diagram. Some of these include grey shades black shades, dotted lines straight lines, forward arrows reverse arrows and crossed arrows.
Make Origami
February 14, 2008
Origami is a wonderful and elegant art. It has been developed and embraced over the past 2,000 years by young and old alike. Who would have ever thought that you could fold paper in such a way to make creations like:
Tigers Dragons Cranes Swans Cubes Flowers (roses, orchids, tulips)
And there are so many more. I could not have possibly included all of the different patterns there are out there, but we included some of the most popular designs that would get you well on your way.
But, more important is the fact that we started at the bare bones basics and we ended up making some great creations. When you know the basics of any art form, the sky is truly the limit in your artistic ability.
Through the course of the book, I hope you found the information you were looking for, and there is still a little bit more to come. Following this is a glossary of origami terms so you always have a reference if you can’t remember some of the origami language that we have discussed in this book.
