#william knecht

[helgaolgaroemer]

October,25,2019.ChesapeakeBay by OLGA ROEMER a/k/a/ HELGA ROEMER

[mybeautifulchristianjourney]

Today in Christian History

Today is Thursday, December 1st, the 335th day of 2022. There are 30 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History:

1589: Edmund Spenser’s poem The Fairie Queen is “entered,” a prepublication step necessary in England's days of government censorship. The author holds Christian beliefs.

1637: Nicholas Ferrar, founder of a Protestant retreat at Little Gidding, makes a solemn confession of faith, preparatory to receiving absolution and Communion for the last time.

1755: Death of English composer Maurice Greene, who wrote many works for the church, including the anthems “Lord, Let Me Know My End,” and “Oh Clap Your Hands.” A student of Jeremiah Clark, he in turn taught William Boyce and held several prominent musical positions.

1817: Death of Justin Heinrich Knecht at Biberach, Germany. He had been one of the great church organists of his time.

1857: John Paton is licensed to preach the gospel. As a tract distributor in Glasgow Scotland, he will go door to door winning souls. Eventually he becomes a missionary in the New Hebrides islands.

1959: The people’s court in Prague sentences six knights of the Order of St. Lazarus to terms of five to nine years in prison as part of an ongoing repression of religious orders by the Communist government of Czechoslovakia.

1996: Death of Elmon Makwale Sekgobela, a pioneer worker in the opening of the Nazarene mission among the Tswana people in the Western Transvaal of South Africa, where he had experienced serious opposition.

1999: Cuban Communists declare that henceforth citizens will be allowed to celebrate Christmas as an official holiday.

[monkeyjaw]

The Year in Books and Graphic Novels 2022 and an analysis of 20 years of books and comics

January

1.      Temple Alley Summer – Kashiwaba Sachiko, illustrated by Miho Satake, translated by Avery Fischer Udagawa

2.      Dreams From My Father – Barack Obama, audiobook read by the author

3.      X-Men Grand Design Vol. 1 – Ed Piskor

4.      Vera Kelly Is Not a Mystery – Rosalie Knecht

5.      All Thirteen: The Incredible Cave Rescue of the Thai Boys' Soccer Team – Christina Soontornvat, illustrations by Karen Minot

6.      X-Men Grand Design Volume 2: Second Genesis – Ed Piskor

7.      Year of the Rabbit – Tian Veasna

February

1.      Deadly Class Volume 1: 1987 Reagan Youth – Chris Remender, Wes Craig

2.      The Eye of the World – Robert Jordan

3.      Pattern Master – Octavia E. Butler

4.      X-Men Grand Design Volume 3: X-Tinction – Ed Piskor

5.      The Confidence Men: How Two Prisoners of War Engineered the Most Remarkable Escape in History – Margalit Fox

6.      Deadly Class Volume 2: 1988 Kids of the Black Hole – Rick Remender, Wes Craig

March

1.      Once and Future Volume 1: The King is Undead – Kieron Gillen, Dan Mora

2.      Once and Future Volume 2: Old English – Kieron Gillen, Dan Mora

3.      Dragon Hoops – Gene Luen Yang

4.      Ringworld – Larry Niven

5.      Once and Future Volume 3: A Parliament of Magpies – Kieron Gillen, Dan Mora

6.      Princess Jellyfish Volume 8 – Akiko Higashimura

7.      Princess Jellyfish Volume 9 – Akiko Higashimura

8.      The Sheepfarmer’s Daughter – Elizabeth Moon

April

1.      Planetes Volume 1 – Makoto Yurimura

2.      The Library of the Unwritten – A.J. Hackwith

3.      Doom Patrol Volume 1: Crawling From the Wreckage – Grant Morrison, Richard Case

4.      ODY-C Volume 1: Off To Far Ithacaa – Matt Fraction, Christian Ward

5.      Conan of Cimmeria – Robert E Howard, Sprague de Camp, Lin Carter

6.      Doom Patrol Volume 2: The Painting That Ate Paris – Grant Morrison, Richard Case, John Nyberg

7.      Doom Patrol Volume 3: Down Paradise Way – Grant Morrison, Richard Case

May

1.      Doom Patrol Volume 4: Musclebound – Grant Morrison, Richard Case, Kelley Jones, Mark McKenna, John Nyberg

2.      Eragon – Christopher Paolini

3.      The Promised Neverland Vol 1 – Kaiu Shirai, Posaku Demizu

4.      Deadly Class Volume 3: 1988 Snake Pit – Rick Remender, Wes Craig

5.      Once and Future Volume 4: Monarchies in the U.K. – Kieron Gillen, Dan Mora

6.      The Dark is Rising – Susan Cooper

7.      The Forest – Thomas Ott

8.      The Left Hand of Darkness – Ursula K LeGuin

June

1.      Deadly Class Volume 4: 1988 Die For Me – Rick Remender, Wes Craig

2.      Arthurian Legends – Wace and Layamon

3.      Dune – Frank Herbert

4.      The Left Hand of Darkness – Ursula K LeGuin

5.      The Lost Years of Merlin – T.A. Barron

July

1.      The Secret To Super-Human Strength – Alison Bechdel

2.      The Promised Neverland Volume 2 – Kaiu Shirai, Posaku Demizu

3.      The New World – Ales Kot, Tradd Moore

4.      Super Sentai Himitsu Sentai Gorenger – Shotaro Ishinomori

5.      Spider-Gwen Volume 0: Most Wanted? – Jason Latour, Robbi Rodriguez

6.      The Deed of Paksenarrion: Divided Allegiance – Elizabeth Moon

7.      Ultimate Miles Morales Spider-Man Volume 1 – Brian Michael Bendis, Sara Pichelli, Chris Samnee

8.      Giant Days Volume 1 – John Allison, Lisa Treimann

9.      Giant Days Volume 2 – John Allison, Lisa Treimann, Max Sarin

August

1.      Lockwood & Co. Volume 1: The Screaming Staircase – Jonathan Stroud

2.      Ultimate Miles Morales Spider-Man Volume 2 – Brian Michael Bendis, David Marquez, et al

3.      Ultimate Miles Morales Spider-Man Volume 3 – Brian Michael Bendis, David Marquez, et al

4.      The Wheel of Time Book 2: The Great Hunt – Robert Jordan

5.      Howl’s Moving Castle – Diana Wynne Jones

6.      A Study in Scarlet – Arthur Conan Doyle

7.      French Medieval Romances from the Lais of Marie of France – Translated by Eugene Mason

September

1.      Pyongyang – Guy Delisle

2.      Destiny: A Chronicle of Deaths Foretold – Alisa Kwitney, Kent Williams, et al

3.      The Dead of Paksenarrion: Oath of Gold – Elizabeth Moon

4.      Brave Chef Brianna – Sam Sykes, Selina Espiritu

5.      Fledgling – Octavia E. Butler

6.      At Death’s Door – Jill Thompson

October

1.      We – Yevgeny Zamyatin, read by Toby Jones

2.      The Witch Boy – Molly Knox Ostertag

3.      20th Century Boys Vol. 7: The Truth  – Naoki Urasawa

4.      20th Century Boys Vol. 8: – Naoki Urasawa

5.      Isaac the Pirate Vol. 1: To Exotic Lands – Christophe Blaine

6.      Dungeon Zenith: Volume 4: Outside the Ramparts – Joann Sfar, Lewis Trondheim, Boulet

7.      The Wheel of Time Book 3: The Dragon Reborn – Robert Jordan

8.      20th Century Boys Volume 9: Rabbit Nabokov – Naoki Urasawa

9.      The Haunting of Hill House – Shirley Jackson

10.  Isaac the Pirate Volume 2: The Capital – Christophe Blaine

11.  20th Century Boys Volume 10: The Faceless Boy - Naoki Urasawa

November

1.      Gotham Central Book 1: In the Line of Duty – Ed Brubaker, Greg Rucka

2.      Komi Can’t Communicate Vol. 1 – Tomohito Oda

3.      The Promised Neverland Volume 3 – Kaiu Shirai, Posuka Demizu

4.      Sleepless Volume 1 – Sarah Vaughn, Leila Del Duch

5.      R.U.R. – Karel Capek, translated by David Wyllie

6.      20th Century Boys Volume 11: List of Ingredients – Naoki Urasawa

7.      20th Century Boys Volume 12: Friend’s Face – Naoki Urasawa

8.      20th Century Boys Volume 13: Beginning of the End – Naoki Urasawa

9.      20th Century Boys Volume 14: The Boy and the Dream – Naoki Urasawa

10.  The Sandman Volume 1: Preludes and Nocturnes – Neil Gaiman, Mike Dringenberg, Sam Ketih, Malcolm Jones III

11.  Dodger – Terry Pratchett

12.  The Promised Neverland Volume 4 – Kaiu Shirai, Posuka Demizu

13.  20th Century Boys Volume 15: Expo Hurray – Naoki Urasawa

14.  20th Century Boys Volume 16: Beyond the Looking Glass – Naoki Urasawa

15.  20th Century Boys Volume 17: Cross-Counter – Naoki Urasawa

16.  20th Century Boys Volume 18: Everybody’s Song – Naoki Urasawa

17.  20th Century Boys Volume 19: The Man Who Came Back – Naoki Urasawa

18.  20th Century Boys Volume 20: Humanity in the Balance – Naoki Urasawa

19.  Thursday Next book 2: Lost in a Good Book – Jasper Fforde

20.  20th Century Boys Volume 21: Arrival of the Space Aliens – Naoki Urasawa

21.  20th Century Boys Volume 22: The Beginning of Justice

22.  The Promised Neverland Volume 5 – Kaiu Shira, Posuka Demizu

December

1.      Thrawn Ascension: Book 1: Chaos Rising – Timothy Zahn

2.      Crucial Conversations: Tools for talking when stakes are high - Kerry Patterson,

 Joseph Grenny, Ron McMillan, Al Switzler

3.      Sandman Volume 2: The Doll’s House – Neil Gaiman, Mike Dringenberg, Malcolm Jones III

4.      My Favorite Thing Is Monsters – Emil Ferris

5.      Please Don’t Step On My JNCO Jeans – Noah Van Sciver

6.      The Sandman Volume 3: Dream Country – Neil Gaiman, Kelley Jones, Malcolm Jones III, Charles Vess

7.      Winterfair Gifts – Lois McMaster Bujold

8.      Sandman Book 4: Season of Mists – Neil Gaiman, Matt Wagner, George Pratt, Dick Giordano, Kelley Jones, P. Craig Russell

9.      Sandman Book 5: A Game of You – Neil Gaiman, Sean McManus, Bryan Talbot, Colleen Doran

 105 books and graphic novels in 2022! 34 novels (and 1 novella) and 70/71 graphic novels. I read one book twice for a book club. That’s 13 more than I read last year.

Now for totals from 2002 to 2022.

Totals:

2002 20

2003 86 – 7.16/month

2004 9

2005 84 – 7/month

2006 79 – 6.58/month

2007 58 – 4.83/month

2008 49 – 4.083/month

2009 51 – 4.25

2010 72 - 6

2011 60 - 5

2012 80 – 6.66

2013 50 – 4.16

2014 144 - 12

2015 92 – 7.66

2016 151 – 12.58

2017 138 – 11.5

2018 116 – 9.66

2019 96 - 8

2020 102 – 8.5

2021 92 – 7.66

2022 105 – 8.75

 Including the years that I have incomplete data for (2002 and 2004 I only have 3 months of data), I read 1734 books and graphic novels from 2002 to 2022, 86.7 per year. If we leave off 2002, and 2004, I read 85.25 per year and an average of 7.89 books per month. I’ll post the graphic novels and regular books break down shortly. 

[hbhughes]

William R. Pickering, Jr.

William R. Pickering Jr., 85, of Woodside Drive, Dallas, died Friday, Nov. 11, 2022, in Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center, Plains Twp.

Born in Kingston, he was the son of the late William R. and Catherine Knecht Pickering Sr. He graduated from Forty Fort High School and served in the U.S. Navy.

Bill resided in Dallas for the past 20 years. He was self-employed, owning a Tastykake franchise. He was a member of Alderson United Methodist Church. He was an avid hunter and fisherman and enjoyed carving decoy ducks. He was also past president of the Cherry Run Rod & Gun Club. For 20 years, he volunteered at the Department of Veterans Affairs Wilkes-Barre Medical Center in Plains Twp.

Preceding him in death was his wife of 58 years, Margaret Davis Pickering, in 2021.

Surviving are his children, William D. Pickering and his wife, Lori, Hunlock Creek; daughter, Lynda Nicholson and her husband, Robert, Palm Bay, Fla.; grandchildren, Mariel Zink; Carissa Lengler and her husband, Matthew; and Sammie, Kaya and Art Pickering; and great-grandchild, Russel Lengler.

A funeral will be held at 11 a.m. Tuesday from Hugh B. Hughes & Son Inc. Funeral Home, 1044 Wyoming Ave., Forty Fort, with the Rev. David Walker officiating. Interment with military honors will be in Chapel Lawn Memorial Park, Dallas. Friends may call from 10 a.m. to service time Tuesday.

Memorial contributions, if desired, can be made to St. Jude or the Kidney foundation.

[eeriequiet]

自分自身を御せない者は、いつまでも奴隷のままだ。

Wer sich nicht selbst befiehlt, bleibt immer Knecht.

J・W・V・ゲーテ『穏和なるクセーニェン』

Zahme Xenien

⸺ ようこそ実力至上主義の教室へ 2nd Season, Episode 11 サブタイトル

Wer mit dem Leben spielt,

Kommt nie zurecht;

Wer sich nicht selbst befiehlt,

Bleibt immer Knecht.

⸺ Zahme Xenien und Invektiven, Goethes Sprüche in Reimen, Insel-Verlag, 1908, p. 160

Who plays with life,

Never gets along;

Who does not command himself,

Always remain a servant.

(上記のGoogle翻訳)

DOUBTFUL AND SPURIOUS FRAGMENTS 35:

No man is free who is not master of himself.

⸺ William Abbott Oldfather, Epictetus, the Discourses as reported by Arrian, the Manual, and Fragments, Harvard University Press, 1928, volume II

CXIV.

No man is free who is not master of himself.

⸺ Epictetus, George Long, The Discourses of Epictetus With the Encheiridion and Fragments, 1877, p. 428

なんで「御『せ』ない」？ 原作準拠？

日本語訳がなんか変だなと思うことがちょくちょく。

[maximumphilosopheranchor]

Lorraine certainly became a powerful figure at the French court following his return from Trent and was regarded by Protestants everywhere as one of their principal foes. He was also the senior member of the house of Guise following the assassination of the second duke. This gave him a personal reason for hating Admiral Coligny, whom the Guises continued to regard as the instigator of the duke’s assassination. Lorraine was also the uncle of Mary, Queen of Scots, who had a claim to the English throne. For all these reasons, he was a particular bête noire of the Protestants and of the English. He was thus singled out for particular attention by English diplomats in France.

R. J. Knecht, Catherine de’ Medici

[doubleattitude]

JUMP Dance Convention, Dallas, TX: RESULTS

High Scores by Age:

JUMPstart Solo

1st: Mikaela Florez-’Stop Go’

2nd: Mackenzie Glover-’Suddenly’

3rd: Audrina Mossembekker-’Fields of Gold’

4th: Arianna Claxton-’Ride’

5th: Avery Redus-’Lost Boy’

6th: Zephira Duran-’Little Weaver Bird’

7th: Nora Davis-’Broadway Banana’

8th: Symone Armijo-’Rotten To the Core’

Mini Solo

1st: Braylynn Grizzaffi-’Path5′

2nd: Sophia Gil-’Film Credits’

2nd: Anna Holley-’Reminisce’

3rd: Landry Silas-’Cheek to Cheek’

3rd: Allie Plott-’The Path’

4th: Lexus Natalie-’Alternate World’

4th: Winter Eberts-’Dreamlike’

5th: Harper Ducale-’Change Is Everything’

5th: Ashley Otano-’Dark Matter’

5th: Kinsley Oykhman-’Life Could Be A Dream’

5th: Carolina Sterkel-’Thoroughfare’

5th: Kalista Greer-’Yesterday’

6th: Zoey Claxton-’Moonlight Sonata’

6th: Noah Johnson-’Scanner’

6th: Channing Embry-’Whatever Lola Wants’

7th: Denise Torres-’Drag Shift’

7th: Presley Nava-’Pure Imagination’

8th: Cora Woodhouse-’Pulling On A Thread’

9th: Avery LeSaicherre-’Hide and Seek’

9th: Patience Hughes-’Weird People’

10th: Dennis Paul Haggerty-’Beautiful Dream’

Junior Solo

1st: Laci Stoico-’Mibiso’

2nd: Graham Johnson-’New Shoes’

3rd: Lilly Allen-’Femme Fatale’

3rd: Ciana Ciulla-’Nana’

4th: Zoe McDonald-’U Can’t Touch This’

5th: Kortlynn Rosenbaugh-’Concentration’

5th: Colby Rich-’I Lie’

5th: Jazlyn Quintero-’The Deep End’

5th: Lincoln Blakely-’What I Came To Do’

6th: Kanon Greer-’To The Sky’

7th: Caroline McGowan-’Everything Evaporates’

7th: Makaia Roux-’Everything I Wanted’

7th: Kenlie Winsett-’Patterns of The Tides’

7th: Carolyne Knutson-’Peace’

7th: Campbell Thurow-’You Can’t Touch This’

8th: Jade Bontron-’A Night In Paris’

8th: Jocelyn Nguyen-’I’m Not Myself’

8th: Ava Mogote-’Somewhere Over The Rainbow’

8th: London Campayno-’Valis’

9th: McKenna Markham-’Shrine Tooth’

9th: Nyah Jackson-’Slow Meadows’

9th: Stella Eberts-’Valley’

10th: Addison Haggerty-’Ghost In The Wind’

10th: Scarlett Petty-’Stars’

10th: Kylie Carter-’The LOOK’

Teen Solo

1st: Garris Munoz-’Enlightenment’

1st: Avery Lau-’Fear of the Unknown and The Blazing Sun’

1st: Hudson Pletcher-’Forged Imitation’

2nd: Sarah Kate Kurzius-’Charmed’

2nd: Ava Miller-’Tarnished’

3rd: Carmen Beiner-’Dyonisis’

3rd: Braylon Browner-’Run From Me’

3rd: Sabine Nehls-’Shout’

4th: Beth Anne McGowan-’Heart Is As Black At Night’

4th: Ella Williams-’The Garden’

5th: Macie Krause-’Menace’

5th: Dasha Vishnyakova-’Partita’

5th: Caroline Belknap-’Sonata De Le Muerte’

5th: Kali Knewitz-’Wake Up Your Eardrums’

6th: Kathryn Martinez-’Another Brick In The Wall’

6th: Gianna Garwacki-’Epiphany’

6th: Sophie Bishop-’La Mamma Morta’

6th: Isabel Reese-’Spectral Density’

7th: Ella Hendricks-’Ella and Ella’

7th: Faith Stoner-’Solids’

8th: Brielle McCoy-’My Brightest Diamond’

8th: Trinity Kelly-’Sorrow’

9th: Sofia Ramirez-’Long Train Running’

9th: Peyton Koepke-’On The Horizon’

9th: Natalya Toirac-’See how they run’

9th: Jillian Sims-’Shadow Journal’

10th: Dru Neal-’Bringing Back A Past’

10th: Caitlyn Herrin-’Hour After Hour’

10th: Macy Orvis-’Look At Me’

10th: Mia Miller-’Only The Voices’

Senior Solo

1st: Jackson Roloff-Hafenbreadl-’FOUR’

2nd: Ruby Castro-’For You’

2nd: Paige Mcmanaman-’Vienna’

3rd: Jordan Apodaca-’Standing Over The Horizon’

4th: Chloe Lopina-’In Love In Vein’

4th: Lainey Myers-’You Are The Reason’

5th: Raegan Davidson-’After That’

5th: Raegan Stafford-’With All My Love’

6th: Peyton Winsett-’Distortion’

6th: Emily Fluker-’I Will Follow’

6th: Clara Gough-’Snow Queen’

6th: Haley Beck-’Upside’

7th: Karsyn Kelly-’Don’t Make Me Over’

7th: Gracie Lee-’Love of My Life’

7th: Cahntal Le-’Tear Jerker’

7th: Jonah Tran-’Unburdened and Becoming’

8th: Elise Knecht-’Corps’

8th: Emma Sucato-’Memories’

8th: Haley Bogdon-’The Mourning’

8th: Kylie Sicillan-’Time & I’

9th: Emmalyn Mackaron-’San TOI’

10th: Ella Berner-’Grief Point’

Mini Duo/Trio

1st: HYPE Dance Studio-’American Boy’

2nd: HYPE Dance Studio-’G.I.R.L’

3rd: Centre for Dance-’Faith’

Junior Duo/Trio

1st: Artistry In Motion Performing Arts Center-’Cringe’

2nd: Dance Company of Wylie-’Machine’

Teen Duo/Trio

1st: Next Step Dance-’Georgia’

2nd: The Pointe Performing Arts Center-’Listen’

3rd: South Tulsa Dance Co-’Strangers In The Night’

Senior Duo/Trio

1st: Prodigy Dance and Performing Arts Centre-’Tea For Two’

2nd: Texas Academy of Dance-’Do The Sacred Mass’

JUMPstart Group

1st: Next Step Dance-’Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy’

2nd: Next Step Dance-’Boy From New York City’

3rd: Next Step Dance-’Milly Rock’

Mini Group

1st: Prodigy Dance and Performing Arts Centre-’We Love to Bebop’

2nd: Prodigy Dance and Performing Arts Centre-’Strings’

3rd: Prodigy Dance and Performing Arts Centre-’Ain’t Your Mama’

Junior Group

1st: Kim Massay Dance Productions-’Dance With You’

1st: The Pointe Performing Arts Center-’Send In The Clowns’

2nd: Kim Massay Dance Productions-’Image Deconstructed’

3rd: Prodigy Dance and Performing Arts Centre-’Letters To’

3rd: Prodigy Dance and Performing Arts Centre-’Threads That Bind’

Teen Group

1st: Next Step Dance-’Maria Bonita’

2nd: Next Step Dance-’A Women Left Lonely’

2nd: Kim Massay Dance Productions-’Herd of Defense’

3rd: Prodigy Dance and Performing Arts Centre-’Wish We Could Turn Back Time’

Senior Group

1st: Prodigy Dance and Performing Arts Centre-’Embraceable You’

2nd: Prodigy Dance and Performing Arts Centre-’A Human, A Light’

3rd: Kim Massay Dance Productions-’Can You Hear That?’

Mini Line

1st: Next Step Dance-’The Chain’

2nd: Next Step Dance-’Spring’

2nd: Next Step Dance-’Sweet Dreams’

2nd: Prodigy Dance and Performing Arts Centre-’We’ve Got a Ways to Go’

3rd: Prodigy Dance and Performing Arts Centre-’The Ladies of the Wild West’

Junior Line

1st: Next Step Dance-’Mi Mujer’

2nd: Next Step Dance-’Opening’

2nd: Prodigy Dance and Performing Arts Centre-‘Salute’

3rd: Next Step Dance-’Vogue’

3rd: The Pointe Performing Arts Center-’We Are The Ones’

Teen Line

1st: Next Step Dance-’Tarantella’

2nd: Prodigy Dance and Performing Arts Centre-’Dead Hearts’

3rd: Prodigy Dance and Performing Arts Centre-’Where Is My Body’

Senior Line

1st: Prodigy Dance and Performing Arts Centre-’Devour’

2nd: Prodigy Dance and Performing Arts Centre-’Invocation of Lust’

JUMPstart Extended Line

1st: Next Step Dance-’Ridin Dirty’

2nd: Next Step Dance-’Hey Diddle Diddle’

3rd: Next Step Dance-’Rock Star’

Mini Extended Line

1st: Next Step Dance-’Runaway Baby’

2nd: Prodigy Dance and Performing Arts Centre-’Footloose’

Junior Extended Line

1st: Next Step Dance-’Bridge Over Troubled Water’

2nd: Prodigy Dance and Performing Arts Centre-’Flatline’

3rd: Prodigy Dance and Performing Arts Centre-’Don’t Stop’

Teen Extended Line

1st: Prodigy Dance and Performing Arts Centre-’American Pie’

1st: Next Step Dance-’Snowing’

2nd: Prodigy Dance and Performing Arts Centre-’Overture In A’

3rd: Next Step Dance-’Technologic’

3rd: Kim Massay Dance Productions-’You Know Me’

Senior Extended Line

1st: Prodigy Dance and Performing Arts Centre-’Hotel California’

2nd: Prodigy Dance and Performing Arts Centre-’Sexy Crazy’

Mini Production

1st: Next Step Dance-’42nd Street’

2nd: Next Step Dance-’Game On’

Junior Production

1st: Next Step Dance-’Let It Cook’

2nd: Next Step Dance-’Everlasting Love’

3rd: The Pointe Performing Arts Center-’Wanna Rock’

Teen Production

1st: Prodigy Dance and Performing Arts Centre-’Goodnight’

2nd: Next Step Dance-’All That Jazz’

3rd: The Pointe Performing Arts Center-’RELAX’

Senior Production

1st: Prodigy Dance and Performing Arts Centre-’CRUNK’

High Scores by Performance Division:

JUMPstart Tap

Next Step Dance-’Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy’

JUMPstart Hip-Hop

Next Step Dance-’Milly Rock’

JUMPstart Jazz

Next Step Dance-’Boy From New York City’

JUMPstart Lyrical

Prodigy Dance and Performing Arts Centre-’Gypsy’

Mini Jazz

Next Step Dance-’Knock On Wood’

Mini Tap

Prodigy Dance and Performing Arts Centre-’We Love to Bebop’

Mini Contemporary

Prodigy Dance and Performing Arts Centre-’Strings’

Mini Ballroom

Prodigy Dance and Performing Arts Centre-’Ain’t Your Mama’

Mini Ballet

Next Step Dance-’Spring’

Mini Lyrical

Prodigy Dance and Performing Arts Centre-’We’ve Got a Ways to Go’

Next Step Dance-’Sweet Dreams’

Mini Hip-Hop

Next Step Dance-’Game On’

Junior Jazz

Kim Massay Dance Productions-’Dance With You’

Junior Lyrical

The Pointe Performing Arts Center-’Send In The Clowns’

Junior Ballet

Prodigy Dance and Performing Arts Centre-‘Salute’

Next Step Dance-’Opening’

Junior Contemporary

Next Step Dance-’Mi Mujer’

Junior Tap

Prodigy Dance and Performing Arts Centre-’Letters To’

Junior Specialty

Prodigy Dance and Performing Arts Centre-’Marquises’

Junior Hip-Hop

Next Step Dance-’Let It Cook’

Junior Ballroom

Prodigy Dance and Performing Arts Centre-’Don’t Stop’

Teen Contemporary

Prodigy Dance and Performing Arts Centre-’Goodnight’

Teen Specialty

Prodigy Dance and Performing Arts Centre-’Dead Hearts’

Teen Jazz

Next Step Dance-’Technologic’

Kim Massay Dance Productions-’You Know Me’

Teen Lyrical

Next Step Dance-’Snowing’

Teen Tap

Prodigy Dance and Performing Arts Centre-’American Pie’

Teen Hip-Hop

Next Step Dance-’#FreeBritney’

Kim Massay Dance Productions-’Roses’

Teen Ballet

Prodigy Dance and Performing Arts Centre-’Overture In A’

Teen Ballroom

Prodigy Dance and Performing Arts Centre-’Distortion’

Teen Musical Theatre

Next Step Dance-’All That Jazz’

Senior Contemporary

Prodigy Dance and Performing Arts Centre-’Hotel California’

Senior Specialty

Prodigy Dance and Performing Arts Centre-’Evermore’

Senior Tap

Prodigy Dance and Performing Arts Centre-’Embraceable You’

Senior Lyrical

High Attitude Dance Academy-’Because You Loved Me’

Senior Ballet

Prodigy Dance and Performing Arts Centre-’Completely Gone’

Senior Jazz

Eminence Dance Complex-’Cold Hearted Snake’

Senior Ballroom

Prodigy Dance and Performing Arts Centre-’Sexy Crazy’

Senior Hip-Hop

Prodigy Dance and Performing Arts Centre-’CRUNK’

Best of JUMP:

JUMPstart

Next Step Dance-’Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy’

Prodigy Dance and Performing Arts Centre-’Gypsy’

Mini

The Pointe Performing Arts Center-’Where The Light Gets In’

Next Step Dance-’42nd Street’

Prodigy Dance and Performing Arts Centre-’We Love to Bebop’

Junior

Next Step Dance-’Mi Mujer’

Kim Massay Dance Productions-’Dance With You’

Prodigy Dance and Performing Arts Centre-’Threads That Bind’

The Pointe Performing Arts Center-’Send In The Clowns’

Teen

Kim Massay Dance Productions-’You Know Me’

Prodigy Dance and Performing Arts Centre-’American Pie’

The Pointe Performing Arts Center-’A Destination’

Next Step Dance-’Snowing’

Senior

Kim Massay Dance Productions-’Can You Hear That?’

Next Step Dance-’Half the Man’

Prodigy Dance and Performing Arts Centre-’Hotel California’

Best In Studio:

Next Step Dance-’Snowing’

Kim Massay Dance Productions-’Can You Hear That?’

The Pointe Performing Arts Center-’A Destination’

Prodigy Dance and Performing Arts Centre-’Hotel California’

[thediverismylove]

every book i read in 2019

full list under the cut! faves are bolded and books read for school are starred

Hunger by Roxane Gay (4/5 stars)

Girls of Paper and Fire by Natasha Ngan (4/5 stars)

Who Is Vera Kelly? by Rosalie Knecht (4/5 stars)

History of Wolves by Emily Fridlund (3.5/5 stars)

Becoming by Michelle Obama (5/5 stars)

Girl Made of Stars by Ashley Herring Blake (5/5 stars)

The Wicked King by Holly Black (3.5/5 stars)

Sawkill Girls by Claire Legrand (5/5 stars)

The Gilded Wolves by Roshani Chokshi (5/5 stars)

What Girls Are Made Of by Elana K. Arnold (4.5/5 stars)

I Gave Birth To All The Ghosts Here by Lyd Havens (5/5 stars)

Tyler Johnson Was Here by Jay Coles (4/5 stars)

Our Year of Maybe by Rachel Lynn Solomon (4/5 stars)

Shrill by Lindy West (5/5 stars)

Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi (3.5/5 stars)

The Perfect Nanny by Leila Slimani (4/5 stars)

Ivy Aberdeen’s Letter to the World by Ashley Herring Blake (5/5 stars)

Like Water by Rebecca Podos (4/5 stars)

The Disasters by MK England (3/5 stars)

On The Come Up by Angie Thomas (5/5 stars)

The Falconer by Dana Czapnik (4/5 stars)

The Opposite of Loneliness by Marina Keegan (4/5 stars)

The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo (5/5 stars)

The Dreamers by Karen Thompson Walker (4.5/5 stars)

The Fever King by Victoria Lee (3/5 stars)

*Symposium by Plato (4/5 stars)

The Past and Other Things That Should Stay Buried by Shaun David Hutchinson (4.5/5 stars)

Educated by Tara Westover (4.5/5 stars)

My Sister, The Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite (4/5 stars)

Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel (3.5/5 stars)

Meddling Kids by Edgar Cantero (3/5 stars)

Beloved by Toni Morrison (4/5 stars)

The Truth About Keeping Secrets by Savannah Brown (5/5 stars)

Sink by Desiree Dallagiacomo (5/5 stars)

When The Sky Fell On Splendor by Emily Henry (3/5 stars)

They Can’t Kill Us Until They Kill Us by Hanif Abdurraqib (4/5 stars)

Damsel by Elana K. Arnold (5/5 stars)

*The Aeneid by Virgil (2/5 stars)

Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid (4.5/5 stars)

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier (4/5 stars)

A Queer Little History of Art by Alex Pilcher (3.5/5 stars)

King of Scars by Leigh Bardugo (4.5/5 stars)

If Beale Street Could Talk by James Baldwin (3.5/5 stars)

The Care and Feeding of Ravenously Hungry Girls by Anissa Gray (4/5 stars)

The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender (2.5/5 stars)

Smoke Gets In Your Eyes by Caitlin Doughty (4/5 stars)

Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott (4/5 stars)

*The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri (3.5/5 stars)

A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman (4.5/5 stars)

The Gypsy Moth Summer by Julia Fierro (3/5 stars)

We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson (4/5 stars)

My Best Friend’s Exorcism by Grady Hendrix (5/5 stars)

Beartown by Fredrik Backman (4/5 stars)

Her Royal Highness by Rachel Hawkins (5/5 stars)

You Must Not Miss by Katrina Leno (4.5/5 stars)

Mermaid in Chelsea Creek by Michelle Tea (2/5 stars)

My Lovely Wife by Samantha Downing (4.5/5 stars)

The Devouring Gray by Christine Lynn Herman (3/5 stars)

Night Sky with Exit Wounds by Ocean Vuong (4.5/5 stars)

Hot Dog Girl by Jennifer Dugan (5/5 stars)

There There by Tommy Orange (4/5 stars)

The French Girl by Lexie Elliott (3/5 stars)

I Wish You All the Best by Mason Deaver (4/5 stars)

Dead Girls by Alice Bolin (3.5/5 stars)

The Mighty Heart of Sunny St. James by Ashley Herring Blake (5/5 stars)

Foolish Hearts by Emma Mills (5/5 stars)

Eileen by Ottessa Moshfegh (1/5 stars)

Dress Codes for Small Towns by Courtney Stevens (3.5/5 stars)

With The Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo (3/5 stars)

Good Omens by Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett (3/5 stars)

The Gloaming by Kirsty Logan (3/5 stars)

This Darkness Mine by Mindy McGinnis (4.5/5 stars)

The Weight of the Stars by K. Ancrum (4/5 stars)

These Witches Don’t Burn by Isabel Sterling (2.5/5 stars)

Normal People by Sally Rooney (3.5/5 stars)

The Death of Mrs. Westaway by Ruth Ware (5/5 stars)

The Wife Between Us by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen (3.75/5 stars)

A Ladder to the Sky by John Boyne (5/5 stars)

In A Dark, Dark Wood by Ruth Ware (3.75/5 stars)

My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry by Fredrik Backman (3/5 stars)

The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware (3/5 stars)

Women & Power by Mary Beard (4/5 stars)

The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden (4/5 stars)

The Last Time I Lied by Riley Sager (4/5 stars)

Near to the Wild Heart by Clarice Lispector (4/5 stars)

Fantasyland: How America Went Haywire: A 500-Year History by Kurt Andersen (3/5 stars)

Wilder Girls by Rory Power (4.5/5 stars)

Murder, Magic, and What We Wore by Kelly Jones (2/5 stars)

The Kingdom by Jess Rothenberg (4.5/5 stars)

The Grief Keeper by Alexandra Villasante (5/5 stars)

Lock Every Door by Riley Sager (5/5 stars)

I Like to Watch by Emily Nussbaum (5/5 stars)

Gingerbread by Helen Oyeyemi (2/5 stars)

A Heart in a Body in the World by Deb Caletti (5/5 stars)

In the Neighborhood of True by Susan Kaplan Carlton (3/5 stars)

The Way You Make Me Feel by Maurene Goo (3/5 stars)

Tell Me How You Really Feel by Aminah Mae Safi (4/5 stars)

The Turn of the Key by Ruth Ware (5/5 stars)

Trick Mirror: Reflections on Self-Delusion by Jia Tolentino (5/5 stars)

Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup by John Carreyrou (4/5 stars)

Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up with Me by Mariko Tamaki & Rosemary Valero-O’Connell (4/5 stars)

The Whale: A Love Story by Mark Beauregard (3/5 stars)

Not the Girls You’re Looking For by Aminah Mae Safi (3/5 stars)

Very Nice by Marcy Dermansky (2/5 stars)

Red, White, and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston (5/5 stars)

The Devil Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger (2.5/5 stars)

How (Not) to Ask a Boy to Prom by SJ Goslee (4/5 stars)

We Sold our Souls by Grady Hendrix (3/5 stars)

The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren (4.5/5 stars)

Natalie Tan’s Book of Luck and Fortune by Roselle Lim (4/5 stars)

*Othello by William Shakespeare (4.5/5 stars)

*Lysistrata by Aristophanes (3.5/5 stars)

How It Feels to Float by Helena Fox (4/5 stars)

The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris (2/5 stars)

The New Me by Halle Butler (4/5 stars)

*Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe (2/5 stars)

Midnight at the Electric by Jodi Lynn Anderson (4/5 stars)

Sula by Toni Morrison (3.5/5 stars)

*Emma by Jane Austen (4/5 stars)

Sleepwalking by Meg Wolitzer (4.5/5 stars)

Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo (4/5 stars)

Carrie by Stephen King (4.5/5 stars)

*Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë (4/5 stars)

Catch and Kill by Ronan Farrow (5/5 stars)

Trust Exercise by Susan Choi (4/5 stars)

*The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde (4/5 stars)

*The Seagull by Anton Chekhov (4/5 stars)

Call Down The Hawk by Maggie Stiefvater (5/5 stars)

In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado (5/5 stars)

*Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf (3.5/5 stars)

Well Met by Jen DeLuca (2.5/5 stars)

Soft Science by Franny Choi (4/5 stars)

Conversations With Friends by Sally Rooney (5/5 stars)

To Night Owl From Dogfish by Holly Goldberg Sloan and Meg Wolitzer (3/5 stars)

*Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys (3/5 stars)

The Bookish Life of Nina Hill by Abbi Waxman (4/5 stars)

On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong (5/5 stars)

*Small Island by Andrea Levy (3.5/5 stars)

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott (4/5 stars)

One Day in December by Josie Silver (1.5/5 stars)

The Collected Schizophrenias by Esmé Weijun Wang (5/5 stars)

Final Girls by Riley Sager (3/5 stars)

Milkman by Anna Burns (5/5 stars)

Wayward Son by Rainbow Rowell (4/5 stars)

Famous In A Small Town by Emma Mills (4/5 stars)

Blud by Rachel McKibbens (4/5 stars)

[aautiemiller-rockcenter]

NUVO Dallas - NUbie, Mini, & Junior Solo Results

Mini Solos:

1. Noah Johnson (Prodigy Dance), Lilly Allen (Kim Massay Dance Productions) DJP

2. Katelyn Clifton (Ambition Dance Productions), Ainsley Epton (Beyond Belief Dance Company) DJP

3. Braylynn Grizzaffi (Kim Massay Dance Productions), Stella Thompson (Next Step Dance)

4. Emerson Ventura (Dance Industry), Harper Pledge (Shuffles & Ballet II)

5. Caroline McGowan (Next Step Dance)

6. Olivia Thomas (Applause Studios)

7. Reese Perry (Dance Industry)

8. Channing Embry (Next Step Dance), Sloane Henry (The Pointe Performing Arts Center)

9. London Campayno (Prodigy Dance)

10. Miisa Peltola (Next Step Dance), Eva Claughton (Dance Industry)

Junior Solos:

1. Lauren Rahimizadeh (Dance Industry) DJP

2. Lainey Harris (Dance Industry) DJP

3. Abby Knecht (Next Step Dance), Hudson Pletcher (Prodigy Dance), Rachael Mezger (Groundworks7) DJP

4. Nicole Larson (Collective Dance Artistry) DJP

5. Peyton Koepke (The Pointe Performing Arts Center), Graham Johnson (Prodigy Dance), Ava Mogote (Next Step Dance), Ally Curnel (Next Step Dance) DJP

6. Brooklyn Simpson (Williams Center Rhythm Factory)

7. Leigha Sanderson (Beyond Belief Dance Company)

8. Finley Aldridge (The Pointe Performing Arts Center), Taytum Goline (Prodigy Dance)

9. Beatrice Anguiano (Groundworks7), Lauren Crooks (Kim Massay Dance Productions), Bailey Albuquerque (Downtown Dance)

10. Trinity Cunningham (Next Step Dance), Ariana Thompson (Next Step Dance), Faith Stoner (The Pointe Performing Arts Center), Ava Hightower (Groundworks7), Jocelyn Nguyen (Prodigy Dance)

NUbie Solos:

1. Anna Holley (The Pointe Performing Arts Center)

2. Ava Leigh Mackaron (Next Step Dance)

3. Pierson Aldridge (The Pointe Performing Arts Center)

4. Natalie Long (Groundworks7)

5. Ellison Burbank (Next Step Dance)

6. Madeline Zuniga (RPAC)

7. Ainsley Scott (MECKKA Dance Project)

[phroyd]

WASHINGTON — Matthew G. Whitaker, the acting attorney general, served on the advisory board of a Florida company that a federal judge shut down last year and fined nearly $26 million after the government accused it of scamming customers.

The company, World Patent Marketing, “bilked thousands of consumers out of millions of dollars” by promising inventors lucrative patent agreements, according to a complaint filed in Florida by the Federal Trade Commission.

Court documents show that when frustrated consumers tried to get their money back, Scott J. Cooper, the company’s president and founder, used Mr. Whitaker to threaten them as a former federal prosecutor. Mr. Cooper’s company paid Mr. Whitaker nearly $10,000 before it closed.

Mr. Whitaker’s role in the company would complicate his confirmation prospects should President Trump nominate him as attorney general.

It is not clear if Mr. Trump was aware of Mr. Whitaker’s involvement with the patent marketing company before naming him as a replacement for Jeff Sessions, who was ousted by Mr. Trump on Wednesday.

A Justice Department spokeswoman declined to comment on Mr. Whitaker’s ties to the patent company, which were first reported by The Miami New Times.

Before his ascension to the office of the nation’s top law enforcement official, Mr. Whitaker, 49, was Mr. Sessions’s chief of staff. A conservative Republican from Iowa, he was seen within the Justice Department as a White House loyalist who publicly expressed doubts about the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, who is investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election and whether Mr. Trump or any of his associates conspired in the effort.

Mr. Whitaker’s appointment has prompted concerns that he might shut down or stymie the special counsel’s investigation.

In August 2017, Mr. Whitaker highlighted on Twitter a Philly.com opinion article with the headline “Note to Trump’s Lawyer: Do Not Cooperate With Mueller Lynch Mob.” In his tweet, Mr. Whitaker wrote that it was “worth a read.”

Mr. Whitaker also wrote an opinion article that same day for CNN’s website with the headline “Mueller’s Investigation of Trump Is Going Too Far.” He said the investigation needed to be limited. Mr. Whitaker, a former college football player, joined the Justice Department in October 2017 after Mr. Trump watched him as a CNN analyst and approved of his television appearances.

World Patent Marketing was founded in 2014 and had the hallmarks of a legitimate business. It used a splashy website and other marketing materials to “create the impression that they have successfully helped other inventors,” the trade commission said in its complaint.

In reality, the commission said, the Miami Beach company failed to make good on almost every promise it made to consumers, and strung them along for months or years after taking their money.

When prospective customers left their contact information on the company website, an employee would call them back and follow a script: The company was an “invention powerhouse” with an “incredible advisory board,” including Mr. Whitaker, a “former United States attorney who was appointed by President George Bush.” Mr. Whitaker had served as the top prosecutor for the Southern District of Iowa, a position he held until 2009.

In joining the board, Mr. Whitaker was quoted in a news release issued by the company as saying that he was honored to be a part of World Patent Marketing because it was a “trusted partner to many inventors.”

In another news release, Mr. Whitaker was quoted as saying that “as a former U.S. attorney, I would only align myself with a first-class organization.”

“World Patent Marketing,” the release continued, “goes beyond making statements about doing business ‘ethically’ and translates those words into action.”

In footage uploaded to Vimeo, a video platform, in 2015, Mr. Whitaker can be seen reviewing an invention meant to reduce razor-blade cuts. Mr. Cooper also posted a picture of himself on social media with a smiling Mr. Whitaker at the company offices in Miami.

The trade commission complaint said that consumers were told they had to spend about $3,000 for a “Global Invention Royalty Analysis” to begin the process of examining an invention with the goal of getting a patent. After making the payment, the company’s clients were then pitched various packages ranging from approximately $8,000 to about $65,000.

After the company took the money, it typically began ignoring customers, who became frustrated that they were left in the dark. Mr. Cooper would often berate or threaten them when they asked questions or wanted their money back.

“Defendants and their lawyers have threatened consumers with lawsuits and even criminal charges and imprisonment for making any kind of complaint,” the trade commission’s complaint said.

In at least two instances, Mr. Cooper used Mr. Whitaker’s former position as a federal prosecutor to rebuff customers.

Mr. Whitaker, using his Iowa law firm’s email, told a man who had complained to Mr. Cooper that he was a former federal prosecutor and served on the company’s board.

“Your emails and message from today seem to be an apparent attempt at possible blackmail or extortion,” Mr. Whitaker wrote in August 2015. “You also mentioned filing a complaint with the Better Business Bureau and to smear World Patent Marketing’s reputation online. I am assuming you understand that there could be serious civil and criminal consequences for you.”

When another frustrated customer, Rich O’Neill of Montana, emailed around the same time and wanted his $1,300 returned, Mr. Cooper fired back a threatening email.

“You’re telling me that if I don’t refund your $1,300, you will blackmail me into filing complaints with regulators? And you just put it in writing,” Mr. Cooper wrote. “You are aware that we have a former U.S. attorney on our board.”

Mr. Cooper returned the money to Mr. O’Neill, who said in an interview on Thursday that he believed the email referencing Mr. Whitaker was meant to intimidate him.

The complaint also accused the company of using thuggish tactics, according to court documents. In an email to customers, the company referenced a blog post that described how one person wanted to speak with Mr. Cooper about his invention idea. The post said that the person was intercepted by the company’s “intimidating security team, all ex-Israeli special ops and trained in Krav Maga, one of the most deadly of the martial arts.”

The post added, “The World Patent Marketing Security Team are the kind of guys who are trained to knock out first and ask questions later.”

Another customer, Brenda Wilcox, 49, a Trump supporter who lives in Broward County, Fla., said in an interview on Thursday that World Patent Marketing scammed $11,000 from her. She said the company had agreed to market, license and develop a bracelet she invented that would warn drivers if they left a baby in the back seat of their car.

Another customer, William Knecht of Texas, lost about $35,000 on a patent package, according to the complaint. “The entire time I worked with W.P.M. I feel like the company cut corners, did the bare minimum to get by, and were just slimy enough to keep me happy and not complaining,” Mr. Knecht said in a 2017 statement as part of the trade commission’s case.

Another customer, Christopher Seaver, a Florida doctor who spent more than $300,000 hoping to make money on an invention, said that Mr. Cooper asked him to be on the advisory board to do consulting work on medical patents.

“I have not made any money from my involvement with W.P.M.,” Dr. Seaver said in the complaint. “This has caused financial hardship for me because I paid life savings to W.P.M.” He added, “I’ve gotten nothing in return.”

This past March, the federal judge, Darrin P. Gayles, banned Mr. Cooper and World Patent Marketing from the invention promotion industry.

Mr. Cooper was also ordered to pay the trade commission nearly $1 million, according to court documents. His lawyers did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Thursday.

Phroyd

[helgaolgaroemer]

black berries by Olga Roemer Photography by OLGA ROEMER a/k/a/ HELGA ROEMER

[sea-changed]

The Second Half of 2018 in Books

First half of the year here; the whole list plus Top 5s of 2018 posted to Dreamwidth here.

54. Black Powder War, Naomi Novik 55. Who Is Very Kelly?, Rosalie Knecht 56. See What Can Be Done: Essays, Criticism, and Commentary, Lorrie Moore 57. The Sparsholt Affair, Alan Hollinghurst 58. The Signature of All Things, Elizabeth Gilbert 59. The World Only Spins Forward: The Ascent of Angels in America, Isaac Butler and Dan Kois 60. Quatrefoil, James Barr 61. Think of England, K.J. Charles 62. Olivia, Dorothy Strachey 63. The Invention of Love, Tom Stoppard 64. The Raven Boys, Maggie Stiefvater 65. The Dream Thieves, Maggie Stiefvater 66. Blue Lily, Lily Blue, Maggie Stiefvater 67. Weapons of the Weak: Everyday Forms of Peasant Resistance, James C. Scott 68. Incognita, William Congreve 69. Oroonoko, Aphra Behn 70. Arcadia, Tom Stoppard [reread] 71. Provoked, Joanna Chambers 72. Assassination Vacation, Sarah Vowell 73. Cahokia: Ancient America’s Great City on the Mississippi, Timothy R. Pauketat 74. The Raven King, Maggie Stiefvater 75. Unfit to Print, K.J. Charles 76. The Work of Writing: Literature and Social Change in Britain 1700-1830, Clifford Siskin 77. Biography of a Tenement House in New York City: An Architectural History of 97 Orchard Street, Andrew S. Dolkart 78. Beguiled, Joanna Chambers 79. Creating Colonial Williamsburg: The Restoration of Virginia’s Eighteenth-Century Capital, Anders Greenspan 80. Band Sinister, K.J. Charles 81. Anarchist’s Guide to Historic House Museums, Franklin D. Vagnone and Deborah E. Ryan 82. Death by Silver, Melissa Scott and Amy Griswold 83. Her Body and Other Parties, Carmen Maria Machado 84. Affinity, Sarah Waters 85. R E D, Chase Berggrun 86. Clouds of Witness, Dorothy L. Sayers 87. Death at the Dionysus Club, Melissa Scott and Amy Griswold 88. Confessions of the Fox, Jordy Rosenburg 89. Golden Hill, Francis Spufford [reread] 90. The Mermaid and Mrs. Hancock, Imogen Hermes Gowar

[officialgesco]

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[hbhughes]

William R. Pickering, Jr.

William R. Pickering, Jr., 85, of Woodside Drive, Dallas, died on November 11, 2022 at Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center, Wilkes-Barre.

Born in Kingston he was the son of the late William R. and Catherine Knecht Pickering, Sr. He graduated from Forty Fort High School and served in the US Navy.

Bill had resided in Dallas for the past 20 years. He was self-employed owning a Tasky Cake franchise. He was a member of Alderson United Methodist Church. He was an avid hunter, fisherman and enjoyed carving decoy ducks. He was also past president of the Cherry Run Rod & Gun Club. For 20 years he volunteered at the VA Medical Center in Wilkes-Barre.

Preceding him in death is his wife of 58 years, Margaret Davis Pickering, 2021.

Surviving are his children, William D. Pickering and his wife, Lori, Hunlock Creek, daughter, Lynda Nicholson and her husband, Robert, Palm Bay, Florida, grandchildren, Mariel Zink, Carissa Lengler and her husband, (Matthew), Sammie, Kaya and Art Pickering; great grandchild, Russel Lengler.

Funeral on Tuesday at 11 A.M. from the Hugh B. Hughes & Son, Inc., Funeral Home, 1044 Wyoming Avenue, Forty Fort, with Rev. David Walker, officiating. The interment with Military Honor’s will be at Chapel Lawn Memorial Park, Dallas. Friends may call on Tuesday from 10 A.M. until service time.

Memorial contributions, if desired, can be made to St. Jude or the Kidney foundation.

For more information or to send the family an online condolence visit hughbhughes.com.

[rcvandenboogaard]

Er zijn ook slimme Amerikanen

Met afgrijzen zijn we dezer dagen getuige hoe een vulgaire, domme Moskou-knecht die nooit een boek leest, de bijl zet in het Westers bondgenootschap - daarbij, naar te vrezen valt, de vrijheid en vrede in Europa op het spel zettend. Om mijzelf enigszins af te leiden van dit gruwelijk schouwspel, heb ik een biografie gelezen van een slimme Amerikaanse diplomaat die - helaas vergeefs - tijdens het interbellum 1918-1939 pleitte voor een meer actieve rol van de Verenigde Staten in Europa, daar anders een hernieuwde grote Europese oorlog onvermijdelijk zou zijn. Daarin kreeg hij - wederom helaas - gelijk: als de XXste eeuw iets duidelijk heeft gemaakt, is het het onvermogen van de Europese staten om zonder de beschermende paraplu van de VS duurzaam en vredig samen te werken. Met een Amerikaanse president die nu niet alleen die paraplu weghaalt, maar ook nog eens binnen Europa tegenstellingen aanwakkert en heult met de dreigende anti-democratie in het Oosten, gaan we nog wat beleven - ik ben daarvan overtuigd. 

De diplomaat in kwestie heet William C. Bullitt (1891-1967), die de eerste Amerikaanse ambassadeur in de Sovjet-Unie was, van 1933 tot 1936. De verhalen over die periode zijn verreweg de smakelijkste in de aardige biografie die de Amerikaanse historicus Alexander Etkind wijdt aan Bullitt, Roads not taken. In de riante adelijke villa in het centrum van Moskou die Spaso House genoemd wordt - en die nog altijd de residentie is van de Amerikaanse ambassadeur in Moskou - blijkt zich menig pikant feest te hebben afgespeeld. Aan de eerste generatie Amerikaanse diplomaten in Moskou die Bullitt om zich verzamelde - waaronder latere beroemdheden als George Kennan en Charles Bohlen - was enig gevoel voor grandeur niet vreemd. En gevoel voor seks ook niet - er waren tal van romantische betrekkingen met de lokale bevolking van beiderlei kunne. Het schijnt dat Michail Boelgakov, die in Spaso House regelmatig te gast was, sommige feesten en ook de persoon van Bullitt heeft verwerkt in zijn De meester en Margarita. Ook de jonge, volstrekt niet preutse danseressen van het Bolshoi-theater waren regelmatig op de ambassade te vinden - dat zij hun bevindingen, seksueel en anderszins, doorbriefden naar de geheime dienst kon Bullitt en de zijnen kennelijk niet zo heel veel schelen.

De benoeming van Bullitt in 1932 betekende diens terugkeer in de diplomatieke dienst, die deze journalist en schrijver, en telg van een welvarend geslacht uit Philadelphia, in 1919 demonstratief had verlaten uit onvrede met de politiek van Woodrow Wilson en Versailles-vredesverdrag dat, naar Bullitt terecht veronderstelde, de basis legde voor een nieuwe Europese oorlog. Van een mede door de Amerikanen gegarandeerde, eerlijke vrede en een nieuw begin was weinig terecht gekomen. Het Amerikaanse Congres zorgde er voor dat de VS zelfs geen lid werden van de Volkenbond. Bullitt nam dat alles Wilson persoonlijk kwalijk. 

Zijn eigen diplomatieke inbreng was trouwens ook terzijde geschoven. Dat is een van de merkwaardigste verhalen in dit boek. Bullitt had, naar het schijnt, in 1919 met Lenin in eigen persoon een akkoord gesloten waarbij de Bosjewiki beloofden hun gebiedsaanspraken tot een deel van Europees Rusland rondom Moskou te beperken. Gebieden die op dat moment in handen waren van de Witten, of buitenlandse interventiemachten, zouden dat tot nader order blijven. Gebieden als de Oeral, de Baltische landen of zelfs heel Siberië werden dan onafhankelijke staten. Enig ongeloof aan de mate waarin Lenin in de zijnen zich zouden hebben gehouden aan deze afspraken, lijkt hier wel op zijn plaats. Maar zoals biograaf Etkind terecht opmerkt: de geschiedenis zou anders zijn verlopen wanneer dit akkoord door Wilson zou zijn overgenomen. En vreselijker dan de Russische geschiedenis daarna in werkelijkheid is verlopen, lijkt nauwelijks denkbaar.

Bullitt was kind aan huis in het Kremlin in de eerste jaren na 1917. Hij was, net als andere Amerikanen, sterk gefascineerd door de Russische revolutie, om niet te zeggen dat hij deze sterk bewonderde. Net als zijn vriend John Reed, de in 1920 overleden en aan de Kremlin-muur begraven schrijver van de bestseller Ten days that shook the world, had hij de neiging in de Russische revolutie een onderneming te zien die geestverwant was aan het beeld dat progressieve Amerikanen in die tijd van hun eigen land hadden - iets met een fris begin, geen genade voor heilige huisjes, een massacultuur, een alternatief voor het oude Europa.

Deze gedachte koesterde Bullitt nog steeds enigszins toen hij, nadat hij min of meer bevriend was met president Franklin D. Roosevelt, in 1932 terugkeerde in de diplomatieke dienst. De tussenliggende jaren had hij onder andere besteed aan het schrijven van een roman, It’s not done uit 1925, en een buitengewoon ongelukkig huwelijk met de weduwe van John Reed, de feministe Louise Bryant (trouw nooit met de weduwe van een vriend). Ook legde hij contact met Sigmund Freud, met wie hij zelfs een overigens pas in 1966 verschenen psycho-analytisch boek over Woodrow Wilson schreef.

In 1932 al was de sfeer in Moskou voor een intelligent man als Bullitt bepaald verstikkend. En dat werd na de moord op Kirov in 1934 nog erger. Angst regeerde onder Stalin. De gasten op al die leuke feestjes op de ambassade leefden met de wetenschap dat ze elk moment konden worden gearresteerd, om vervolgens te worden gemarteld, tot het kamp veroordeeld of geëxecuteerd. In de meeste gevallen is dat ook gebeurd. Van de Russen met wie Bullitt in Moskou contact had, hebben maar weinigen de jaren dertig overleefd. Wel Boelgakov, merkwaardigerwijze. Bullitt werd ruw gewekt uit zijn dromen over Rusland als een progressieve factor in de wereld. Net als zijn collega-diplomaten leerden ze de Sovjet-Unie van Stalin zien als een wrede autocratie, die de vergelijking met Hitler-Duitsland alleszins kon doorstaan. De visie beviel Roosevelt maar weinig: hij hield liever vast aan het Stalinistische Rusland als een van de voorbeelden voor zijn New Deal. 

In 1936 werd Bullitt overgeplaatst naar Parijs, waar hij  vriendschap sloot met premier Léon Blum en Jean Monnet, de latere grondlegger van het Verenigd Europa. Het schijnt dat Roosevelt in die tijd zijn belangstelling voor de uitvoerige diplomatiek-strategische inzichten die Bullitt hem per brief deed toekomen, al ruimschoots was verloren. In 1938 was Bullitt een van de voornaamste organisatoren van de geslaagde, veel geld kostende bevrijding van Freud uit Nazi-Wenen. In 1940 weigerde hij als Amerikaanse ambassadeur de Franse regering van Pétain te volgen naar Vichy - hij bleef tot 1941 in de Amerikaanse ambassade (destijds aan het Place de la Concorde). Zijn hoop op een belangrijke regeringspost in de VS werd niet bewaarheid. Hij nam toen dienst in de vrije Franse troepen, aan de kant van De Gaulle dus, en had enige tijd de dubbele nationaliteit. 

Bullitts daadwerkelijke invloed is, al met al, gering geweest. Toch lees je de biografie met plezier. Nooit geweten bijvoorbeeld, dat de communistenjager senator Joe McCarthy het in de jaren vijftig met name ook voorzien had op veronderstelde ‘homoseksuele netwerken’ binnen het Amerikaanse overheidsapparaat - iets waarbij Bullitts Moskouse jaren soms ter sprake kamen. Bullitts gedachte aan een VS die in Europa actief een constructieve en pacificerende rol speelden, werd - zonder dat Bullitt daarbij een rol van betekenis speelde - na 1945 werkelijkheid, met de Marshall-hulp, de Navo, de Amerikaanse steun aan de Europese eenwording. Dat heeft ons, Europeanen, of meer in het bijzonder West-Europeanen, bijna driekwart eeuw vrede, stabiliteit en voortdurend groeiende welvaart opgeleverd.

Deze periode, die ongeveer samen valt met mijn leven, lijkt nu tot een eind te komen. Pech voor een volgende generatie, die de kans loopt op crises en oorlogen, die zij zich als kinderen van een stabiele wereld vermoedelijk nauwelijks kunnen voorstellen. Roads not taken laat in ieder geval zien dat er gelukkig nog verstandiger en interessanter Amerikanen bestaan dan de oranjeharige sloper die nu het Witte Huis heeft betrokken. Of er na het wegvallen van de Amerikaanse beschermende hand ook een ander Europa bestaat dan dat welke de wereld in de XXste eeuw twee keer over de rand van de afgrond heeft geduwd, zullen we zien. 

Alexander Etkind: Roads not taken. An intellectual biography of William C. Bullitt. University of Pittsburgh Press, 2017. 

Afbeelding boven: Op 5 juni 1938 verwelkomt Bullitt (rechts) op een station in Parijs Sigmund Freud, wiens bevrijding uit de Weense Nazi-klauwen hij heeft georganiseerd, ook financieel. Links van Freud de eveneens bij deze onderneming betrokken Marie Bonaparte. Onder: Bullit als ambassadeur in Parijs in 1938. En Bullit met twee duel-pistolen die hebben toebehoord aan George Washington, die ze ze ten geschenke had gegeven aan de Markies Delafayette, een van de vroegste Franse medestanders van de Amerikaanse revolutie. Bullitt kreeg ze op zijn beurt in 1941 in Parijs ten geschenke van een onbekende, als dank voor zijn standvastigheid als ambassadeur in Parijs. 

[ulfwolf]

The Ego Battle -- Musing 179

It alone against the world, the ego —its illusory life 

It’s a grim scenario, this; grimmer still for being utterly real to the poor Ego, all the while struggling to keep up (and out of trouble), or keep down (and in trouble).

Ever thumping its own chest in defiance of all alien forces or scurrying for cover hopefully ahead of them, the Ego (in its heart of hearts) knows that it’s him (or her) against the rest of the planet: unfair odds to be sure, but what’s a poor Ego to do.

The Buddha Gotama was very specific. And all his spiritual offspring (the many different Buddhist strains that sprung up after his death some 2,500 years ago) that while disagreeing on many petty (in my view) details do agree. There is no such thing as Ego.

There are no sentient beings, only sentience.

Which, as the ultimate aside, naturally begs this question: how on earth did the One Ultimate Sentience (some named it Emptiness or Brahman or Tao or The One Mind) manage to fragment itself into a trillion trillion trillion trillion trillon trillion (et cetera) little bits, each called Ego and each with its own unique viewpoint?

And how is it that this fragmentation still seems to hold water?

I guess the answer to that question is that clear light at the end of the Samadhi Tunnel, to be reached one beautiful day by one and all.

Meanwhile, however, back to the Ego and its Illusion.

Concluding Herman Hesse’s “The Glass Bead Game” you will find “The Three Lives” written by the book’s main character Joseph Knecht (Magister Ludi). The last of these lives is “The Indian Life” which is as great a rendition of Maya (the illusion of Life) as I have ever read.

 While the Buddha spoke of Samsara, the Upanishads spoke of Maya. Same concept: the illusory life we’re all trying (and mostly failing) to come to grips with, starring: yes indeed: The Ego.

But one thing when it comes to Maya or Samsara: it is a zero-sum game.

On this Earth, for you to live someone or something else must die. This is obviously true of food but also of much else. Their bad luck, really, all those critters (and fish and fowl) that fall prey to our appetites daily to keep us strong. But, lucky for us (far too many maintain), the Bible specifically tells us to lord over all things non-human, so that’s all there for our taking (and digesting) then, isn’t it?

Indeed. It would seem that, according to Scripture, the Ego game is very much rigged in our favor.

Christianity, for one, views animals without much compassion and has held human beings as greatly superior to all other animals, and, has, in a word, held all lives non-human as food.

This being the amazing case, let me digress a little to illuminate this human-supremacy fallacy with the views of some celebrated Christians; after all, human beings were made in the image of God, and God chose human form for his (Jesus’s) earthly life and God has decreed that human beings shall lord it over all animals.

Yes, indeed.

First, let us turn Sain Augustine, who (for all his virtuous attributes) taught that animals existed entirely for the benefit of humanity. Why? Because:

·       Human beings are rational;

·       Rational beings are entitled to rule irrational beings;

·       Human beings can tame animals—animals can't tame human beings;

·       Animals are not rational;

·       Animals don't even know that they are alive.

So there. Though the strain in his somewhat simplistic (sleight-of-hand) logic echoes even today.

Another church father, Thomas Aquinas, was equally unconcerned with the welfare of animals, and taught the following:

·       Animals were created to be used by human beings;

·       Animals do not have the ability to reason, and are therefore inferior to human beings;

·       The status of animals is demonstrated by the fact that the punishment for killing someone else's animal is a punishment for despoiling that person's property, not for killing the animal.

(Excepting, of course, the Old Wild West, where they hung you for stealing a horse, while for killing some other cowboy in a brawl one might get a night in the smaller and a fine).

Thomas Aquinas taught that the universe was a hierarchy with God at the top. Each layer in this hierarchy existed solely to serve the layer(s) above it. Humanity came above the animals, so animals existed to serve humankind. Point proven.

Again, I’m not overly impressed by the water-tightness of this logic.

Aquinas also stressed the view that animals do not have immortal souls, whereas man, naturally, does.

In modern times, Karl Barth, some say the greatest theologian of the 20th century, towed the dogma line and taught that God's choice of human form for his (Jesus’s) incarnation showed that human beings are more important than non-human animals—a wild assumption, if you ask me, but I’m not a great theologian.

The Good Book itself weighs in on this, naturally.

As follows:

Genesis 1:26-28: Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So, God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

And Genesis 9:2-3: The fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth and upon every bird of the heavens, upon everything that creeps on the ground and all the fish of the sea. Into your hand they are delivered. Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. And as I gave you the green plants, I give you everything.

And who can argue with God.

This, in essence, is a cart blanche for humanity to do with the Earth as it sees fit and pleases—and it does. And it is good. God said so.

So there. The meat industry, for one, clearly and heavenly justified by the Holy Book and its many masters.

Ever seen the wide-open, wild eyes of a cow lead to slaughter in one of these meat factories? She knows she’s going to die. She knows.

I really don’t believe that this was God’s plan, no matter what the Bible says.

Now, William Blake, on the other hand—a more compassionate soul, if you ask me—has this to say about his fellow animals:

A Robin Red breast in a Cage

Puts all Heaven in a Rage

A Dove house filld with doves & Pigeons

Shudders Hell thro all its regions

A dog starvd at his Masters Gate

Predicts the ruin of the State

A Horse misusd upon the Road

Calls to Heaven for Human blood

Each outcry of the hunted Hare

A fibre from the Brain does tear

A Skylark wounded in the wing

A Cherubim does cease to sing

The Game Cock clipd & armd for fight

Does the Rising Sun affright

Every Wolfs & Lions howl

Raises from Hell a Human Soul

The wild deer wandring here & there

Keeps the Human Soul from Care

The Lamb misusd breeds Public strife

And yet forgives the Butchers Knife

The Bat that flits at close of Eve

Has left the Brain that wont Believe

The Owl that calls upon the Night

Speaks the Unbelievers fright

He who shall hurt the little Wren

Shall never be belovd by Men

He who the Ox to wrath has movd

Shall never be by Woman lovd

The wanton Boy that kills the Fly

Shall feel the Spiders enmity

He who torments the Chafers sprite

Weaves a Bower in endless Night

The Catterpiller on the Leaf

Repeats to thee thy Mothers grief

Kill not the Moth nor Butterfly

For the Last judgment draweth nigh

Let me state for the record that I come down firmly on the side of Blake; very, much so. His contemporaries, interestingly, completely ignored him while History, that 20/20 hindsight wonder, seems to hold Blake in much higher esteem, and for good reason.

::

But then (let’s get back to the Ego), but then, someone else’s survival—someone who is far bigger than you and far more powerful than you (be it man or animal)—suddenly hinges on you losing, on you taking one in the minus-column, and here comes scurry time.

Oh, please, please not me. I’m just an innocent little ego who wouldn’t hurt a fly (you lie, scurrying), while the survival needs of the greater than you don’t give a damn, arranging their napkin and cutlery just so.

I sometimes wonder if Karma is not this zero-sum game’s official scoreboard.

::

I have read more than one account of Buddhist (both Pali and Zen) meditators reaching the point in their practice where the Self dilutes into a virtual nothing and with it (naturally, since they’re one and the same) the Ego. And they all agree: there is no sense of relief more profound.

Stepping out of the zero-sum game.

Shedding that little beast.

Good riddance, Ego.

 ::

P.S. If you like what you’ve read here and would like to contribute to the creative motion, as it were, you can do so via PayPal: here.