Rereading Orwell's 1984

Observing events of late, I find myself troubled by how much of it seems reminiscent of previous rises to power of the Socialists and Communists of the 20th century. These were leftist Totalitarian regimes with their progressive leaders promising "change". And change they delivered - witness the 100 million graves dug in order to make a better world by Hitler, Lenin, Stalin, Mao, Jong II, Castro and others.

Myself, I am a staunch anti-communist. Watching the Democrats select a Socialist/Communist as their Presidential candidate is almost as disturbing as watching a Republican President allow the nationalization of an industry.

I located a used copy of Orwell's masterpiece dystopia. It was as awful a tale as I remembered. I just hope it remains in the fantasy rather than non-fiction category at Amazon.




"...he seemed to have lost the power of expressing himself..."

"It was always the women, and above all the young ones, who were the most bigoted adherents of the Party, the swallowers of slogans, the amateur spies and nosers-out of unorthodoxy."

"...a mass of imbecile enthusiasms - one of those completely unquestioning, devoted drudges...

"Nearly all children nowadays were horrible...ungovernable little savages...It was almost normal for people over thirty to be afraid of their own children."

"The enemy of the moment always represents absolute evil."

"Who controls the past controls the future, who controls the present controls the past."

"We're destroying words - scores of them, hundreds of them, every day."

"Don't you see that the whole aim of New Speak is to narrow the range of thought?"

"...a feeling that you had been cheated of something that you had a right to."

"Nearly everyone was ugly."

"The Party claimed, of course, to have liberated the proles from bondage. So long as they continued to work and breed, their other activities were without importance."

"Truisms are true...laws do not change. Stones are hard, water is wet."

"The older generation had been mostly wiped out in the great purges..."

"If you're happy inside yourself, why should you get excited about Big Brother and the Three Year Plans and the Two Minutes Hate and all the rest of their bloody rot?"

"It's all Inner Party stuff. There's nothing those swine don't have, nothing."

"The Hate continued exactly as before, except that the target had been changed."

"It is precisely in the Inner Party that war hysteria and hatred of the enemy is the strongest."

"The two aims of the Party are to conquer the whole surface of the earth and to extinguish once and for all the possibility of independent thought."

"The aim of the High is to remain where they are. The aim of the Middle is to change places with the High. The aim of the Low, when they have an aim...is to abolish all distinctions and create a society in which all men shall be equal."

"The new aristocracy was made up for the most part of bureaucrats, scientists, technicians, trade union organizers, publicity experts, sociologists, teachers, journalists and professional politicians."

"In general, the greater the understanding the greater the delusion: the more intelligent, the more insane. One clear illustration of this is the fact that war hysteria increases in intensity as ones rises in the social scales."

"Power is not a means, it is an end. One does not establish a dictatorship in order to safeguard a revolution; one makes the revolution in order to establish the dictatorship."

"Power is the power over human beings. Power is in inflicting pain and humiliation."

"There will be no art, no literature, no science."

"The more the Party is powerful, the less it will be tolerant, the weaker the opposition, the tighter the despotism."

"The thing that is in Room 101 is the worst thing in the world. The worst thing in the world varies from individual to individual."

"For everyone, there is something unendurable."

-George Orwell

Southern Lady Celebration Savannah

I just returned from my 2nd Southern Lady Celebration. This year was a gathering of over 750 women to celebrate the heritage of being a Southern lady in Savannah. I met my daughter, Jessica, and her friend, Melissa, in Atlanta and we drove to the GA coast. Here are some highlights of our trip...

Flying Biscuit Cafe
My trip actually began with an overnight in Atlanta and a long overdue catch up with my friend, Phyllis English. Phyllis introduced me to the man who would become my husband many years ago. We will always be fond of her. If you are looking for a great Atlanta colorist, she's your girl.

The next morning, Jessica and I went on the search for a great Southern breakfast. We were not disappointed with the Flying Biscuit. The biscuits were high, the bacon was crisp and there serve apple butter.

Anna Griffin
Anna was an elegant woman who gave a great motivational talk.

Success Secrets

• Fill a void.
  
• Build a brand.
  
• Do what it takes to succeed.
  

Principles

• Value your time - no one else will.
  
• Take care of yourself.
  
• Be present to all opportunities.
  
• Take risks - instead of not growing.
  
• "And" - "or" is not an option.
  
• Be unstoppable - get excited.
  

"Being Southern is a state of mind. It's truly wanting to know how someone is when you ask them." -Anna Griffin

Barbara Bradley Baekgarrd - Vera Bradley
Barbara spoke to the audience about the forming of Vera Bradly with her friend and partner, Patricia Miller. She told amusing stories, one of which included her daughter-in-law keeping the coming baby's name a secret to prevent a handbag from being named after her. In our gift bag, we received a Pinwheel Pink umbrella. the Pinwheel Pink line donates 10% to breast cancer charities.

Sandra Lee
The Semi-Homemade star was the keynote speaker. First, we met her in the elevator on the way to the gala. She is rail thin and very outgoing. There was a cake decorating demo that became a very funny skit much to the dismay of the event producers! What was a girl to do - cocktail time! Sandra announced her new magazine, Sandra Lee Semi Homemade (Feb) and a new Food Network show, Money Saving Meals, based on her new cookbook. Sandra Lee fans should look out for a girls weekend featuring their hero in October 2009 in Atlanta.

"...smart women partnering to do business smarter." - Sandra Lee

Nancy Grace
"When you find yourself in a race you didn't sign up for, you run the race you are in." -Nancy Grace

The Tea Room
If you find yourself in Savannah around lunchtime, you will want to make a beeline for this tearoom. The food is fabulous and the decor is arts and crafts, rather than florals run amok.

Southern Lady Celebration 2009
Southern Lady will return to Savannah, GA for its 7th event Oct 9-11, 2009. Check with www.southernladymagazine.com for early registration until November 1, 2008. Requires a $100 deposit that is non-refundable.

Instant Glamour with Red Hot Shoes

From ivillage...by Aarti Sanan

It's hot, it's hot...in fact, it's red hot! Add a splash of color to your office suit and winter coat with sexy, bright red shoes. It's the most va-va-voom Hollywood trend this season, and it works perfectly with everything from the little black dress to pencil skirts and even minidresses. Bright red shoes go best with basic black, but you can have fun pairing them with khaki, white, charcoal or bold prints. Just stay away from obvious color clashes like purple. Remember, if it doesn't look good to you, it might look even worse than you think. And please avoid the matching red bag. That would be overkill.

Peep toes, pumps, round toes, accessorized with little bows, satin finish, a little bling with rhinestones for the holidays ‑- there's a red shoe out there for every outfit and every occasion. It's the new style statement, the new red lipstick. So get yourself a pair of racy red pumps today ‑- or maybe you want the slingbacks, or the kitten heels. And then there are the sexy red boots...

Go, Sarah, Go!

Happiness Experiment

Excerpt from Good Housekeeping...

My twinge of nostalgia for those premarital days was triggered by the arrival in my mailbox of a book called Happiness for Two: 75 Secrets for Finding More Joy Together. The sender was an editor friend who thought I'd make good use of it. The author was Alexandra Stoddard, an interior designer and author of dozens of books on "the art of living well." A self-proclaimed pioneer of the happiness movement, Stoddard spreads the word — literally — at "Happiness Weekends," where she lectures on how to find joy, bliss, and, for a little change of pace, color coordination.

A quick glance at the book's table of contents revealed three of her main themes:

1. Improve yourself. (Hence "secrets" like "Read some quality literature.")
2. Be considerate. (E.g., "Mess up, clean up" and "Sincerely say you're sorry.")
3. Do things à deux. ("Explore together your invisible wealth," "Read together"...and, just to drive home the point, "When you are together, be together.")

I'd read only three pages, and I was altogether ready to scorn Stoddard's neo-Victorian idea of a harmonious marriage. Any adult in need of reminders like "Don't correct each other in public" would be better off with a marriage counselor.

That said, some of the suggestions weren't as easy to scoff at. So I read on, and after cutting out the trite, irrelevant, and useless, I whittled down her list of 75 to 10:

1. Write each other's New Year's resolutions. This intrigued me. It was a bit early for resolutions, but we could certainly make a wish list of what we would each like the other to accomplish. If written, prods weren't nags.
2. Begin each encounter with a smile. So quaint, but there was hard research that smiling does improve outlook.
3. It feels good to look good. An opportunity to get Steve to wear nice clothes for a change, and not his ragged favorites.
4. Write love notes. As mentioned, we used to send beautiful, hilarious e-mails to each other. I wanted to revive our epistolary connection.
5. Give the gift of eye contact. We both had the bad habit of staring at the TV or computer screen when we talked.
6. Grumpiness is contagious. Being more mindful of mood could ward off secondhand blues.
7. Try not to interrupt. Stoddard meant bothering a partner during his alone time, but interruptions in conversation were also a problem for us (me).
8. Generous compliments lighten the heart. He was fairly reticent with the flattery. I wouldn't mind more of it.
9. Control your tone. Sometimes, I could be as obnoxious as a 16-year-old prom princess. For his part, Steve could be a tad condescending.
10. Celebrate more. We lavished gifts and parties on our daughters, but Steve and I downplayed our own birthdays and accomplishments. Making a big deal of little things could add excitement to our lives.

To view the article in its entirety, visit Good Housekeeping.

In Rememberance

Go Palin Go!

I'm a bitch, I'm a lover
I'm a child, I'm a mother
I'm a sinner, I'm a saint
I do not feel ashamed
I'm your health, I'm your dream
I'm nothing in between
You know you wouldn't want it any other way

- Meredith Brooks, Bitch

Watermelon II

I previously blogged about the health benefits of eating watermelon at the beginning of the summer. It appears we have even more reason to enjoy a slice - it "has a Viagra - like effect on the body's..."

When Doug reads this blog he will think I am making this up. When he reads this report from Science News, he is going to think I've been tricking him into getting busy with all the watermelon I've been feeding him. Of course, I have only been thinking of his heart.

Lycopene in red melons is higher than than that found in tomatoes or red grapefruit. Apparently, lycopene relaxes blood vessels. So does Viagra. For a real good dose, you have to eat the rind since that's the part of the melon with the highest concentration of this nutrient. Don't worry, they are working on a new breed so we don't have to eat the nasty stuff. OHI is validated - they sometimes only juice the rind and give that to you.

It is known that the body is better at absorbing lycopene in tomatoes when it is consume with oily vegetables such as spinach or avocado. Dr Patil thinks watermelon in a salad is a hard sell. He may be right, a blog search nets only one such salad in the first few Google pages. However, watermelon is finding its way into gourmet restaurants. I located a Watermelon, Avocado and Arugula salad, which I would prefer to the spinach. There's Watermelon, Avocado and Tequila soup, not exactly a Margarita but what the heck. The one I liked best was a salad with Seared Tuna, Watermelon, Avocado and Grapefruit. Another recipe called for shrimp and shallots with the watermelon and avocado, watercress too.


It is my humble opinion that people seem to put together things in recipes that work best for the body. The French bistros have made salads of grapefruit and avocado for a long time and Mexicans have their guacamole. In the name of better health (and more nookie), I made the following salad...

Watermelon And Avocado Salad

1/8th watermelon or 1-2 cups, cut in chunks
1/2 ripe avocado, cut in chunks, s & p to taste
1 green onion, sliced-green parts only
4-6 leaves, basil, mint or combo of both, chopped
2 oz goat cheese, or substitute with feta, crumbled
Pistachios or sunflower seeds, chopped

Mix all ingredients. Serve with your favorite balsamic or red wine vinegar and oil dressing.

For a dressing, I pureed some watermelon with lemon juice and poured that over the salad with a sprinkle of almond oil.