Category Archives: Memoir

Science scribe speaks 10-10-16

Around Town, Memoir, , ,
roach-and-krulwich
Mary Roach and Robert Krulwich. Photo by Stephanie Black 

New York  Times science writer Mary Roach talks  talked with Radio Lab’s Robert Krulwich tonight at Princeton University’s Friend Center 101 at 7 p.m.

Because I grew up with the smell of formaldehyde, I’ve long admired her for her best seller “Stiff,”  which dissects the truth about human cadavers. She’s on tour now for Grunt: the curious science of humans at war. 

Bon mots captured on my Twitter feed:

She positions herself as the ‘bottom feeder’ of science writers.

“Since I don’t have a science background I write (simply) for a roomful of me.”

To get her material, she said she does ‘random groping’ at start of her research and yes the word was deliberate.

“I don’t look for anything specific but I know when I find it’

Use vulgar words sparingly for best effect when you do use them, as in ‘A maggot breathes through it’s  – ss’

 

Grinding ideas to powder?

Healthcare, Memoir, women, , , , ,

 

catalyst_-_mill_stones

“There are few sectors as resistant to change as government and health care,” says Susannah Fox, CTO of the Department of Health and Human Services. Her interview with Laura Landro is in the Wall Street Journal today. “We count on their stability. But I have seen those two millstones grind a great idea down to powder. I’ve also seen initiatives flourish and grow, nurtured on the strong platform that this agency provides.” 

Here is the interview.

My take: In this election season, the image of government-as-inexorably-slow-millstone actually offers a modicum of comfort.

Disclosure: She is my daughter.

Above: Millstones from Evans Pharmaceutical Laboratories, Fleet Street, Liverpool. Used for grinding drugs from c.1846-1948. Catalyst Science Discovery Centre.

Photo by Mike Peel (www.mikepeel.net)., CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=42180642

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Deep gladness

Memoir,

“Those who have had a serious illness know that illness is the biggest gift we could ever have. It pushes you back into your soul, where you must find your deep gladness, and it is your deep gladness that will bring you back to life.” Frederick Buechner.

From a meditation on my 70th birthday  I am now 76.

Networking: stories well told

Around Town, Memoir, , , , , , , , , , ,
house_tour_2016-2-768x994The Hightstown-East Windsor Historical Society will host its biennial House Tour, “A Step Back in Time” on Sunday, October 23, 2016 from 1-5 p.m.  This year’s tour includes 7 historic houses dating back to the 1800s.
A good example of a networking chain: I learned about this tour when doing the research for my talk “Button Pioneers of New Jersey.” Among the most prominent pioneers, nationally, were Hightstown residents Lillian Smith Albert and Alphaeus ‘Dewy’ Albert. Through Charles “Cappy” Stulz (I knew somebody from his insurance firm through my work for U.S. 1 with the Princeton Regional Chamber)  I was able to consult with Robert W. Craig, historian for New Jersey. We had delightful phone and email chats. A history prodigy himself, Craig — as a youth — had worked with Albert as an elderly man and had important insights. Craig, not missing a beat, introduced me by email to Shirley Olsen, publicist for the tour.
According to her press release, “all  of the houses have been preserved, refurbished, or renovated, and represent a variety of styles representative of New Jersey history. Antique cars will be at each house as well as floral arrangements made by The Rocky Brook Garden Club.”
“Pre-sale tickets are now available for $20 at Perennial Home, 119 W. ely_house_flags-150x150Ward St. Hightstown,  or Weichert Realtors,  East Windsor, 417 Route 130, East Windsor, N.J. The day of tour, tickets will be $25 sold at the Society headquarters (the Ely house, shown at right) 164 North Main Street, Hightstown.  For more information check the society website  or call 609-448-8388.”
Is it likely that I would I have stopped, on a rainy Monday morning, to post this house tour in Hightstown? Nope.  But as good networkers know, it’s vital to return the favor when you can. And now I’m sort of intrigued. What’s inside THIS house?h-1-img_4424-1-300x168
 Or this one?
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Or this one?  h-3-image1-1-225x300

Never underestimate the power of networking or of stories well told.

Shoemaker’s child? 9/10 at 2 p.m.

Around Town, Dance and the other arts, Memoir, ,

 

2016-9-10-button-fox-photo

On Saturday, September 10, at  2 p.m. at the New Jersey State Button Society Show and Sale, I will give an illustrated talk “Button Pioneers of New Jersey,” looking at how devoted button collectors operated in the 2oth century, aiming to inspire collectors in the 21st century.

Everyone is invited! The show is amazing — a dozen dealers, thousands of buttons to admire and/or buy and there’s even a raffle. It costs just $2 and is at the Union Fire Company Banquet Hall in Titusville. 

It’s a case of the shoemaker’s child. You’d think I’d have posted on my own blog before now, but I am having too much fun putting together at talk with adorable pictures like the one below. gertrude-patterson-1953

 

 

 

Dirty Dancing’s Princeton Connection

Dance and the other arts, Memoir, Uncategorized, , , , , ,

 

Eleanor Bergman (photo: Urban Joker)

The author of Dirty Dancing, Eleanor Bergstein, lived in Princeton in 1986 when she wrote the movie (she was married to English professor and poet Michael Goldman). U.S. 1 Newspaper did a cover story on her. I remember her telling me what a tight time budget she had (less 2 months), how she wished she could have reshot some scenes, and that she based it on her adolescence doing what they called ‘dirty dancing’ (actually the mambo) at basement parties.

This article tells how they kept the cameras running during rehearsal breaks in case there  was usable film, how she prepared to write the movie by emceeing dance parties in her Princeton home, how she was pressured to take out the abortion scene, which was central to the plot.

Another Princeton connection was one of the dancers, Jennifer Stahl

What brought it up now?  An Urban Joker post on  35 things you probably didn’t know about the movie. And I fell in love with this movie all over again.

 

 

Starting out small

Memoir, , ,

I really like the advice in this week’s Richard K. Rein column in U.S. 1. 

Believe that what you are doing is important — to you if not to anyone else, no matter how trivial your current assignment might appear to be.

I also like knowing that — no matter how far Rein seems to veer from where he begins, he always ties it up at the end. This week’s ender is more subtle than usual.

 

Pokemon? Yes!

Memoir, Technology & Innovation
electabuzz
Find ‘Electabuzz’ at the corner of Nassau & Vandeventer!

It all started with a video from the United Methodist Church alerting me to the possibility that my faith community, Princeton United Methodist Church (PUMC), might be a Poke’stop in the new Poke’mon game.

What is this new mobile phone game? I quote my granddaughter in an article she wrote this summer: … gamers young and old have been glued to their phones, perpetually catching all of the Pokémon from the original game released in 1996. In this version, the user must download the application, developed by Nintendo in collaboration with Niantic, on their mobile device, and an augmented reality begins.

Sure enough, PUMC is a Poke’stop where gamers fuel up on the Poke’ balls used to trap characters. Two other Poke’stops are nearby. So, egged on by millennials — staffers and church members — we set up a lemonade and cookie stand in front of the church and

2016 august pokemon table
Lemonade and Poke’mon Balls at Princeton United Methodist Church

spread “lure” a virtual enticement that attracts Poke’mon characters and, therefore, Poke’mon players. The combo of the lemonade and the “lure” attracted at least 100 people in one hour. — some for the game, some for the refreshments, many just curious to see our beautiful stained glass windows or even just recharge their phones.

Now I am hooked on the game. Part of its appeal is, frankly, to combat ageism prejudice. “YOU, playing THAT!” is what I often hear. The game is invaluable as a conversation topic with grandchildren. But mostly it’s fun to acquire cute animal characters. On that first Sunday morning, my first catch was Electabuzz, and  my current count is 26 characters. Does anyone know where I can find a Wigglytuff?

 

wigglituff
Wigglytuff

 

 

Reverberations in speech and print

Around Town, Memoir, , , ,

In his U.S. 1 Newspaper column this week, Richard K. Rein reprises his chamber speech and referred to this blog’s report on his speech.

So if you missed the chamber event, this column gives you a taste of how he used silence.

Here’s how he ended the column, but you have to read the whole thing to ‘get it.’

The lessons of an oral presentation linger after the applause and post-presentation chit chat has ended. Hopefully a printed piece will reverberate for a few moments, as well:

 

If I’m lucky maybe even for four seconds.

 

Frances S. Meginnis, age 95

Memoir, , ,

frances bill

A beloved high school English teacher, Frances Shores Meginnis, died at the age of 95. She gave me some low grades in English composition, which let me know, appropriately, that I wasn’t as smart as I thought I was. As one student recalled, “You quickly realized she was asking you to be better than you were, and there were lots of challenges.”

Her obituary was featured in the Baltimore Sun (among the few remaining newspapers that honors the art of good obituaries).

There’s more to her story, regarding the Fox family. But for now, here is the account of her amazing life.