Put the following 4 ingredients into a food processor:
1/2 cup cold butter, cut into chunks
1 cup unbleached white flour
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1/4 tsp salt

Blend by pulsing initially in order to create the crumb stage.  Then blend continuously until the dough forms a soft ball.  This shouldnt take long.

Press the ball into the bottom of an 8x8 inch prepared baking pan and bake in an oven preheated to 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until lightly browned.  Allow to cool for 5 minutes.

Into the same food processor (no need to wash bowl) combine the following 5 ingredients.2 eggs (large)
3 Tbs flour
1 cup granulated sugar
juice from 1 whole lemon
grated lemon rind (1 Tbs?)

Pour liquid over prebaked pastry.  Return to oven for 25 minutes.  Cool.  Sprinkle with powdered sugar.  Cut into small squares.  Yield: 25 squares

Waiting for the Weekend author Witold Rybczynski references philosopher Josef Pieper four times in this informative book about how people have spent their free/leisure time over the centuries.  I was pleased to learn that Americans dont necessarily have the most vacation/festival/holy days at all.  But the reason for mentioning this here is to tie the details into our bookclub discussion on Leisure:  The Basis of Culture. 

In the sense that leisure is a retreat from the abstract and universal to the local and particular, it becomes the basis of culture.  It provides a different structure, defines time, makes a statements, in short, it undergirds society. (pg233)  That type of language is what makes me identify myself with Pooh when it comes to comprehending the basic tenets of Pieper's defense of leisure.

I think I understand most of life (nevermind leisure) simply because I've been given spiritual eyes and ears.  My mind has been renewed.  Yes, that's my testimony.

But back to Rybcznski and Pieper.  Aside from Witold mentioning Josef's book on festivity and linking him to the Aristotelian idea that leisure is necessary for happiness, I was more delighted to read about Professor Pieper's Sundays.

What made Sundays different for him?

As a child after church he distinctly remembers the pleasurable feelings of satisfaction after meeting a serious obligation. (pg 75)  He remembers different clothes, special meals, afternoon drives, and the Ed Sullivan Show.

Knowing and making Sundays (worship) special are key to leisure, and therefore key to the health of a culture.

Think about it.

Asher Durand's fine tribute to artist Thomas Cole and poet William Cullen Bryant keeps coming to mind even weeks after I viewed the original at the Met and was scolded for using a flash inside the museum.

So, without beleaguring you with stream of consciousness thoughts, here's my synopsis a la Goethe...

One ought every day, at least, to

hear a little song:
Blessed - Songs for the Beatitudes
by Judy Rogers

read a good poem:
Go forth under the open sky, and list
To Naure's teachings, while from all around--
Earth and her waters, and the depths of air--
Comes a still voice:--
from Thanatopsis

see a fine picture:
Kindred Spirits
Private Collection, Walton Family Foundation

and if possible,

speak a few reasonable words:
I suggest that we let them have it (bland hyperbole), and avoid their (corporate media) persuasive strategies in favor of the plainness, clarity, beauty, and even elegance in the worship, song and speech we share, and that we also remember the power of silence in a culture of noise.  A "still small voice" still speaks beneath the whirlwind.
Marilyn Chandler McEntyre

Now I'm ready to face the day.

Keep It Simple & Straight-forward.  That's the type of solution that will untangle the complicated mess we're addressing in healthcare these days.  I'm not looking forward to Mr Obama's speech tonight because I dont want a government-run solution in the first place.  So, here's what I propose.

Two small changes that could have big consequences

 1) allow individuals (not just employers) to expense their healthcare premiums.  This levels the playing field and returns ownership of the insurance policy to the beneficiary;  plus in the case of a job change, the policy stays with the worker.

  2) insist that reimbursement for care be made payable to both the patient AND the provider (MD, Lab, Hospital).  Assignment of benefits may have streamlined payment, but it also nullified oversight.

In short order, these two changes could help to re-establish accountablity within the doctor-patient relationship, the key ingredient.  There would be fewer parties butting their noses into medical-care decision-making.  And you know as well as I do that when I have to open my own pocketbook in order to pay for something that I am more careful about how those dollars are spent.  

It's time to return these decisions to the parties directly involved.  Clearly, the current system is crumbling.  I am willing to accept responsiblity for my own health, not only with my lifestyle, but also with my money.

Here's a link to my previous post on healthcare.  Here's a link to what the President of the Fulton County (GA) Medical Society was saying in 1950.

How do you propose to upright the system?

I love broccoli!  Hot or cold, steamed or raw, I serve this nutritious food several times a week. Just 1 1/2 cups (steamed) takes care of the 3 servings of veggies I need each day.  That's my favorite way to eat it:  plainly steamed.  At the table I sometimes top it with fresh lemon juice.   

For the family cookbook, I'm posting this cold salad recipe.  Quantities will follow. 

Broccoli flowerettes
Red Onion, diced
Raisins
Sunflower Seeds, salted
Dressing (mayo, white vinegar, sugar)

It's easy to leave out the bacon bits that so many cooks call for in this recipe.  And it saves on calories.

What veggies did you eat over the *holiday* weekend?

Added later:  Discovered this online article touting the positive effects of broccoli.  Read and eat!

Self Portrait    - 1660                                                           Rembrandt van Rijn
Oil on Canvas 31 5/8 x 26 1/2 in                                          Metropolitan Museum of Art, NYC

90 (ninety!) times this Dutch painter created his likeness, either brushing with oils, drawing with pencil/charcoal, or etching with cutter, over the course of his 63-yr lifetime.  Thirty-three are pictured in Kenneth Clark's book.  I am amazed.

Self-portraiting seems like the most difficult artistic task.  I mean, not only can I not draw/paint/etch, but I'm not even sure I could write a worthy description/explanation of myself.  Author Kenneth Clark suggests that initially Rembrandt may have sketched so many self-portraits because he had no other model:  father at work (mill), mother at church, sister in the kitchen.

He is, with the possible exception of Van Gogh, the only artist who has made the self portrait a major means of artistic expression; and he is absolutely the only one who has turned self-portraiture into an autobiography.

Rembrandt should be well-known to all of us.  Do you remember your first introduction?

I think mine was in  middle school art class where the teacher went over his Night Watch in great detail, forever establishing a file folder in my RAM   Then this week Cindy of Ordo Amoris clicked on that icon by featuring Rembrandt in her curriculum this Fall.  Add my recent viewing of this particular self-portrait when I was at the Met last month, and you'll know why I headed to the library to pick up some books about this Dutchman.

But back to my topic of self-portraiture.   Here are links to three whom I admire:  Cecelia Beaux, DD#2, and my mother.

At the moment though, the best I can do in this area of artistic expression is to know myself, examining my features, personality, and character in light of the way God sees me.

I think that's a good start.

Whether it gets onto paper or not.

Coincidentally (?), a portion of this Bonhoeffer poem is highlighted in my morning devotional.....

Who am I?
This or the other? 
Am I one person today, and tomorrow another?
Am I both at once?  A hypocrite before others,
And before myself a contemptible woebegone weakling? 
Or is something within me still like a beaten army,
Fleeing in disorder from victory already achieved? 
Who am I?  They mock me,
these lonely questions of mine. 
Whoever I am, Thou knowest, O God, I am Thine.

Hillsdale College's Fall Semester begins at 8am today and this fine group of Georgians are taking the halls by storm (so to speak)   There are at least 16 from our state, but only 9 in the photo.  One is actually an alumna!  When I was there (yawn), there were only a couple of Georgians, and one of those was my brother (or sister).

Hopefully I'm not creating too much embarassment by posting this group picture.  I'm guessing they all have Facebook accounts any way.  I'll leave the tagging (or detagging) up to them.

I'd like to make a public thank-you to Lori and John Keim who hosted the most wonderful send-off dinner for the students and their parents a couple of weeks ago.  It was a delightful way to get to know one another in a homey atmosphere and without all the frenzy of Parents Weekend.

Last but not least, know that we're thinking of  and praying for all y'all today and every day throughout the coming semester.

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

Romans 12:2

Just wondering if you've personally known anyone who died in an airplane disaster?

Today I can think of two:  Congressman Larry McDonald who perished on September 1, 1983, when a Russian fighter pilot shot down this commerical airliner.  Here's a link to a short bio.

The second is a college classmate:  Dennis Connell who was aboard a flight that crashed near/around Chicago.  He was working for Regnery Publishing, but I need some help with the date and airline.  Scroll down on Regnery's about page to read about their company history.  Added later:  Jack saves the day with details: American Airlines 191.

70 years ago today Germany invaded Poland and W. H. Auden wrote about it.

Just pondering....

and remembering.

Familiarity may indeed be a breeder of contempt.  I mean, now that I've completed the third novel in Alexander McCall-Smith's Sunday Philosophy Club series, the more I learn about Isabel Dalhousie the less likely I'm inclined to think we could be bosom buddies.

Initially, I was very taken with Isabel's personality. Here's a link to my first mention of her.

I continue to appreciate her curiosity, the way she follows up  (link to review of second book) on things that pique her interest, sometimes disregarding her own vulnerabilities.  But in The Right Attitude to Rain, she ruminates over her love life (and others) ad nauseum even setting herself up for a out-of-wedlock pregnancy .  I'm disappointed that such a sophistocated character as Isabel would compromise her integrity that way - after all she is the editor of the Review of Applied Ethics.

On the positive side, I enjoyed meeting Mimi, her American cousin, empathizing with their instinctive bond;  double-dittoed Isabel's annoyance with people who park their cars in no-parking zones; and applauded the advice she gave her niece, Cat, about her new boyfriend, Patrick:  Beware of men who allow their mothers to run their lives.

The title continues to puzzle me.  Even though I can find at least one reference to *be careful of the rain*, I'm just not sure how it ties to the plot.

What do you think?

1807, Friedland                                                                                                              by Ernest Meissonier
Oil on Canvas, 53.5 x 95 1/2 in                                                                                              circa 1861 - 1875

Precisely because this genre of painting is not what one would expect from my FAF repertoire is the reason I'm highlighting Meissonier's Freidland today.  The detailed faces of both the people and the animals kept me gazing at this painting longer than I expected.  In this scene, Napoleon is saluting the cuirassiers of the 12th regiment who are charging into the field.

As I was dashing through the halls of the Met on my recent visit, trying to capture a glance at all the European paintings highlighted by the Director's Audio Guide, I unexpectedly happened upon this moment in history.   Not only did it stop me in my tracks because I felt like those horses were going to run over me, but also because I'd read about it in Ross King's fascinating book, The Judgment of Paris:  The Revolutionary Decade that Gave the World Impressionism. 

Painting historical scenes was apparently the real money-maker for years; and the painting of scenes from ordinary life was just not well-accepted.  The idea of art-for-arts-sake did not exist.  Furthermore, after enjoying the beautiful portraits at the Frick, where the founder enjoyed re-uniting portraits of couples, I was surprised to learn that even portrait painting had experienced a severe decline in esteem.

So, today I will read a little more about the Battle at Friedland, since this history major loves using art as a springboard for learning.  But I cherish the acceptance of genre painting, still-lifes, and portraits that I prefer when decorating my own home.

Added later:  Link to Spectator article by Paul Johnson.