In the foreword to Yehoshua November’s collection of poems, God’s Optimism, Liz Rosenberg recounts that when she asked him, in an introductory poetry class, why he wrote poetry, he replied, “I want to restore the sanctity to language.” If the effulgent praise on the book jacket hadn’t buttered me up enough, that one remembered remark opened my reader’s heart. A guy who wants to restore the sanctity to language is my kind of guy. The odds seemed good that these would be my kind of poems.
“It’s amazing the gifts we are given,” the book begins. This is the first line of November’s “We Go To Work For Unsettled Sums,” and reading it, I think: modah ani l’fanecha, Melech chai v’kayam! (I am grateful before You, living and enduring God!) But even with my gratitude practices, I recognize myself in the yearning-for-something-more that permeates these lines. That is part of what I love about this collection: from the start, November doesn’t hold himself above the rest of us. There’s no hint of holier-than-thou in these lines.
These poems come out of the loneliness of forgetting that (as the Slonimer Rebbe teaches) we’re already in devekut, in a state of unity with God. We may be part of God – and God a part of us – but we imagine ourselves to be isolated individuals: that’s the tragedy of modernity, and these poems are steeped in that sorrow, even as they offer glimmers of a way out.
November lifts the veil cloaking ordinary moments, revealing the holiness underneath. In one poem he writes about a moment in a university professor’s office when, the professor’s back turned, “I concentrated all my energy on whispering Hashem’s name, / all irony faded / and angels were swimming from your lamp.” I remember being an undergraduate struggling to lift up my Jewishness in the face of professors who spoke the language of Lacan and Derrida. I’m charmed by the image of the earnest student whose faith in things unseen brings angels into being and turns the light of philosophy into the insight of holy understanding.
Some of these poems make me choke up with tears I can’t entirely explain. Like “Baal Teshuvas at the Mikvah,” which offers a scene I’m unlikely to ever witness in the flesh: young bearded men slipping out of their black-and-white garb to immerse in cleansing waters, ruing the tattoos that reveal the old lives they can never entirely escape. The Hasidic masters taught that one who has sinned and then returned to God is more beloved than one who has never sinned. This poem knows that, although that infinite mercy is subtext here, never text.
“The motion of the lives around us / has been like a great bus / slowly turning onto a crowded street,” November writes in “After Our Wedding.” The world spins around each of us, but even when we’re not looking, holiness is unfolding everywhere. The divine presence may be hiding, but in every moment lurks the possibility of uplifting some spark into a deeper connection.
Several of these poems draw explicitly on texts from the Torah. In one poem November explores the love story of Yaakov and Rachel, then shows us the moment when he himself almost leaned in to kiss his wife for the first time but was unable to roll away the stone in front of that source of water. In another he alludes to the akedah (the binding of Isaac):
God, You have made it clear that this is a religion of tests,
but in the books of mysticism
You have also whispered that all the while
You hide just behind the wall,
waiting for us to pass.
In the technical sense, Avraham’s tests were biblical in scope. Ours tend to be more intimate: the suffering of a loved one, (God forbid) the loss of a child. In November’s world, what makes a place holy are human tears, which means the whole world is holy. What’s more, love and suffering are our universals, intimately connecting us across boundaries of space and time.
It isn’t easy for a religious man to live in a secular world where images of nearly-naked women are blazoned on advertising surfaces wherever the eye may drift. November acknowledges that obliquely in a poem about divorce, called “Billboards.” But the poem is about much more than advertising. He asks, “But how, to begin with, / do two people never related by blood / unpack everything they have separately collected / into shared rooms?” Genuine connection is so implausible as to seem impossible, especially when so many worldly forces militate against it. And yet. And yet.
Some of these poems are surprisingly funny—like “Climbing,” which shows the narrator engaged in morning prayers in a small basement shul. He sees a workman who climbs a ladder and enters the ceiling—and in so doing becomes a metaphor for all of us “trying desperately to ascend.”
Or “A Jewish Poet,” which notes, that “[i]t is hard to be a Jewish poet… every day you have to ask yourself why you’re writing / when there is already the one great book.” (Tell me about it.) But in the humor (as in November’s sorrow) there is a certain poignancy and longing. These poems put in words the yearning that I hear in wordless niggunim. I know one niggun that asks why a soul enters the world, and then answers “to know God.” Surely that is the answer these poems provide.
More articles by
More articles in
ZEEK is presented by The Jewish Daily Forward | Maintained by SimonAbramson.com


Tales from the Towpath is a story of Manchester waterways and their ecological fate. It spans the Victorian city to an uncertain future 50 years from now. Three characters circle one another across time.
Danny, a bargeman, transports raw cotton for 19th century mills. Decades later, as an eminent Manchester businessman Daniel Adamson, he orchestrated the building of the Bridgewater Canal. As his next incarnation, in 2014, Dan is a prospector, looking for the next big thing in energy solution. Adamson appears 50 years from now, as a successful marine biologist with big ideas and questionable ethics.
Tib Aberforth is spirited. Seemingly as irrepressible as water, and as imperfect as a Greek goddess. Once an indentured slave, then a zero-hour contract worker turned hydro-activist, her strange biology is advantageous to her, if troublesome to others. She takes the weight of the world on her shoulders, and is determined to do her bit for human and marine-kind, whatever the cost.
A Canal Shark lurks in the water beneath bridges and round the brick bends of the city canals…but is it really so sinister? Its origin is surrounded by myth. Since the first sighting at the end of the 19th century, the original Canal Shark has been joined by more. In present day Manchester, the Canal Sharks flourish, and begin to negotiate their way in a human world.
Geocaching, augmented reality, micro-elements and a live performance fused to tell the story.
The geocaches explored the past of the story, the zap codes the future, and the performance linked the two by revealing the decision made that informed this future…
The microprojection and origami boat presented the flux and connection of the characters in the canals, waterways and landmark buildings that formed the environment of the story.
Tales from the Towpath | Manchester Literature Festival 2014
Tales from the Towpath premiered at the 2014 Manchester Literature Festival: the storytrail was available to the public from 6 October, culminating with the performance on 17 October. Two workshops in immersive writing were held, on 12 and 18 October, and the micro-print publication was distributed around the city from 6 October. Micro-projections appeared around the landmarks of Manchester’s waterways. Free guided tours of the storytrail were offered nearly every day during the two-week festival season. The content from all of the story elements is now accessible via the online version


The oldest Hebrew Bible in the world could sell at auction for $50 million
Sometime later this month, an over a thousand-year-old Hebrew Bible that has been called “one of the most important and singular texts in human history” will be displayed publicly for the first time before being auctioned off.
The earliest and most complete Hebrew Bible is thought to be the 9th or 10th century Codex Sassoon.
After its debut at Sotheby’s London from February 22nd to the 28th, the exhibition will travel to Israel and the United States. In May, it will be auctioned off in New York, with an estimated price range of $30 million to $50 million.
“this is the most important document to come to auction ever,” Sharon Mintz, Sotheby’s senior Judaica specialist in books and manuscripts, told CNN on Wednesday.
Mintz predicted that this “astonishing record” would attract a lot of interested buyers. And, “this is the most significant document that I have ever had the pleasure of examining, researching, and holding,” she emphasised.
Each of the three Abrahamic religions—Judaism, Christianity, and Islam—has its roots in the Hebrew Bible.
Sotheby’s announced in a press release on Wednesday that a codex bearing the name of the eminent Judaica collector David Sassoon (1880-1942) has been known to scholars for some time but has been largely hidden from the public eye.
Mintz called it a “lavish production that only the most wealthy could have afforded” due to its 792 parchment (animal skin) pages and 26.5-pound weight.
According to Mintz, the current owner acquired the codex in 1989 and is “delighted to be able to share it with the world.”
One of a kind
The earliest known copy of the Hebrew Bible, also known as a codex or manuscript book. Prior to its composition, the Bible was only available in fragmentary scroll form, which became known as the Dead Sea Scrolls. Sotheby’s noted that there were no verses, chapters, or punctuation marks in these.
The auction house also noted that ancient Jews increasingly relied on oral tradition passed down through generations in order to interpret and preserve the Bible’s teachings.
It is one of only two complete copies of the Hebrew Bible from the 10th century, along with the Aleppo Codex, which has been kept at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem since 1958.
The museum claims that “no more than 295 of the original 487 leaves [pages] survived” after the 1947 fire at the community’s synagogue, which severely damaged the Aleppo Codex. Sotheby’s claims that the Sassoon codex “is thus the earliest, most complete copy of the Hebrew Bible extant,” despite the fact that it is missing 12 complete pages.
According to Sotheby’s global head of books and manuscripts Richard Austin, “Codex Sassoon has long held a revered and fabled place in the pantheon of surviving historic manuscripts and is undeniably one of the most important and singular texts in human history,” which was included in the press release.
Annotations and inscriptions dating back centuries
The codex is historically significant not only for the printed material, but also for the hand-written annotations and inscriptions added over the years, which hint at the codex’s epic journey.
Khalaf ben Abraham sold property in the early 11th century, possibly in Israel or Syria, to a man named Isaac ben Ezekiel al-Attar, who then passed it on to his two sons, according to a record.
During the 13th century, the site was transformed into the Makisin Synagogue, which is the next place to be mentioned in the annotations (present-day Markada in northeastern Syria).
Sotheby’s speculates that the inscription “consecrated to the Lord God of Israel to the synagogue of Makisin” dates from after it was rebound.
After Makisin was destroyed, a local named Salama bin Abi al-Fakhr was entrusted with the codex and promised to return it to the synagogue if it were ever rebuilt.
However, the synagogue was never reconstructed, and the codex continued its journey until it was purchased by Sassoon in 1929.


A comprehensive analysis of roadless areas within six ecoregions of the Pacific Northwest
CBI staff worked on a comprehensive analysis of inventoried roadless areas within six ecoregions of the Pacific Northwest encompassing the range of the northern spotted owl (Strix occidentalis caurina) east and west of the Cascade Mountains in Washington, Oregon, and northern California revealed that roadless areas contributed to:
- overall levels of federal lands in protection;
- key watersheds essential for salmon survival;
- locations of threatened and endangered species;
- late-seral (mature/old growth) forests;
- elevation representation;
- physical habitat representation; and
- plant community representation.
This document is a synthesis of the literature on roadless importance, drawing primarily on the published studies presented in the bibliography and available from the World Wildlife Fund and the Conservation Biology Institute. The authors of this document have spent nearly a decade compiling databases and conducting satellite imagery and computer mapping assessments that document the importance of roadless areas and the extent of forest fragmentation across the nation. This document provides a scientific foundation in support of lasting protections for roadless areas.


His most famous work is the “Dictionary of the Khazars (Hazarski rečnik)” published in 1984.
Let's take a sneak peek in one of his most important works:
Dictionary of the Khazars is the first novel of Milorad and with this novel he got an international success. It is a lexicon-format novel that follows the story of the semi-fictional tribe known as the Khazars. In the novel, the Great Khan of the Khazars has a dream that is nearly impossible to interpret. He calls for representatives of the three great religions of the world: Christian, Jewish, and Muslim, to shed light on it. He asks them to explain dream promising that the entire Khazar tribe will convert to the religion which provides the most convincing explanation. He provide three dictionaries from them and this trilogy presents three different versions of the story.
Some of his works available in English:
• Landscape Painted with Tea (1988)
• The Inner Side of the Wind (1991)
• The Third Argument (1995)
• For Ever and a Day (1997)
• Writing Box (1999)
• The Glass Snail (2003)
• The Tale that Killed Emily Knorr (2005)
• Second Body (2007)


On March 28, 2017, the County of Los Angeles commemorated the life and work of American hero Cesar E. Chavez with an annual holiday.
As we enjoy this momentous occasion, the County of Los Angeles encourages all employees to participate in volunteering efforts as well as events being held throughout their communities commemorating the legacy of Cesar E. Chavez.
Let us remember que “Si, se puede,” no matter the challenges. Through commitment, dedication, and work we will indeed bring about change.
LA County employees can help in two ways:
2. Volunteer for any non-profit organization of your choice.
Want to learn more about Cesar Chavez and his impact on the California Labor Movement and Civil Rights? Read more on the County Public Library’s site.


The White Monastery is a Coptic Orthodox monastery located in the desert of Upper Egypt, about 8 miles south of the city of Sohag. It was founded in the 4th century by Saint Shenouda the Archimandrite and was named after its white limestone walls.
The monastery was once a thriving center of learning and monasticism, with a library that housed over 4,000 manuscripts, and a school that attracted students from all over Egypt. Today, the monastery remains an important pilgrimage site for Coptic Christians, and its ancient church and buildings have been restored.
One of the most notable features of the White Monastery is its unique architectural style, which combines elements of Coptic, Byzantine, and Roman styles. The monastery's church, built in the 6th century, is particularly noteworthy for its elaborate decoration, which includes colorful murals and intricate stone carvings.
The White Monastery is a testament to the rich cultural heritage of Egypt and the enduring legacy of the Coptic Orthodox Church. Visitors to the monastery can experience the peace and tranquility of the desert, as well as the beauty and grandeur of one of Egypt's most important religious sites.
Here are some things to do when visiting the White Monastery:
- Explore the ancient church: The White Monastery's church is a stunning example of Coptic architecture, with intricate carvings and colorful murals. Take some time to admire the beauty and detail of this historic building.
- Visit the library: Although the White Monastery's library no longer contains its original collection of manuscripts, it still houses a small selection of books and artifacts. Ask one of the monks to show you around and learn about the monastery's history.
- Attend a service: If you visit the White Monastery during a religious festival or on a Sunday, you may have the opportunity to attend a Coptic Orthodox service. This can be a fascinating and moving experience, even if you don't speak the language.
- Wander the grounds: The monastery's buildings and walls are made of white limestone, creating a striking contrast against the desert landscape. Take some time to wander the grounds and appreciate the natural beauty of the area.
- Meet the monks: The White Monastery is still an active religious community, and you may have the chance to meet some of the monks who live and work there. They can offer insights into the monastery's history and daily life, and may be willing to answer questions about their faith.
- Shop for souvenirs: The White Monastery has a small gift shop where you can buy souvenirs, including books, icons, and handmade crafts made by the monks. Purchasing these items can help support the monastery's ongoing preservation and restoration efforts.


If you are seriously (and I mean really seriously) collecting Frank Godwin books (and I don’t know of anyone who is, other than me), you are going to want to look for (among other things) the deluxe editions that exist of a few of his books. Most of his books probably appeared in versions of varying quality, but here I am really talking about a series that appears to have been called “The Winston Treasure Shelf.” But that designation won’t help much, because it is almost never seen in connection with the description of such books. I have seen it on the dust-jacket flap of one or two books, and I have seen a couple of passing references on the internet, so in this post I am actually generalizing from very incomplete information.
The Godwin books that appeared in this series were apparently The Swiss Family Robinson, King Arthur and His Knights, and Treasure Island. I this post, I am going to focus on Treasure Island, which is probably the most famous of the books written by Robert Louis Stevenson. Now there are quite a few different versions of Treasure Island as illustrated by Godwin, as you can see if you search eBay.
I suspect that these did not all include “all” of the corresponding Godwin illustrations. Some were a part of sets of books. At one time, many years ago, I thought that such sets were really cool, but now I consider them to be more a salvaging and repackaging, in inferior form, of books that had appeared earlier in much nicer versions. Here are a few eBay listings that show basically what I am talking about:
- The Children’s Classics (reddish-brown cloth, with little “torches” on spines). J.G. Ferguson and Associates were involved. The listing mentions Godwin in connection with four of the titles.
- The Children’s Classics (reddish-brown cloth, with little “American eagles” on spines). Encyclopedia Americana was involved. The listing mentions Godwin in connection with four of the titles.
- The Children’s Classics (multi-colored cloth, with little various images on spines). The listing shows two Godwin illustrations, one from Treasure Island and one from King Arthur and His Knights.
I do not know whether those are complete sets, and I cannot vouch for all of the dates stated. I know of a few other (similar) sets which probably have Godwin illustrations. In all cases above, I have no reason to believe that “all” of the corresponding Godwin illustrations (as found in early printings) are present.
Anyway, the following version is typical of the “early” versions—overall, a pretty nice book:
The cover-illustration used there is not really a super-typical Godwin illustration, and it is not altogether clear what it is depicting. The original painting does exist, and it is (or was) in an art museum in the east, if I recall correctly. Images of the original painting exist on the internet. They do not have the book title on them. (However, an image of the painting was used as the frontispiece of another Winston book I am about to describe, and that, too, does not include the wording).
The “what does it depict” question arises in part from the fact that, on the left, one cannot discern where the terrain (or ocean) stops and the sky starts. Also, though there is terrain and foliage on the right, one really has to use one’s imagination regarding the ground upon which the men are walking.
In the Winston book described below, the caption for the illustration is:
We made a curious figure, had anyone been there to see us
I’m not sure whether the illustration accurately portrays that segment of the text, but, oh, well. (Actually, I assume that the painting was not originally intended to illustrated that scene.) Some of this is easily contrasted with N.C. Wyeth’s treatment of almost the same passage of the book. First, the front cover of the Wyeth book (first edition, 1911), and then the illustration. I made these scans from an example in my collection:
Wyeth’s illustration shown immediately above is captioned as follows:
For all the world, I was led like a dancing bear
The Godwin caption and the Wyeth caption both come from the same paragraph. Although, as mentioned, Godwin’s painting does not seem to capture the scene too well, the same can be said of Wyeth’s painting, since the artist illustrated only two of the people in what was actually something of a procession.
Anyway, that all leads us to a discussion of the deluxe edition of the Godwin book. A picture of that is shown below. The very attractive filigree that surrounds the image and title was also used on other books in the series. There was also a similarly complex design that Winston used, and I think I have a couple of examples of that in my collection (probably not on Treasure Island). Sorry to be so vague, but if I tracked down every little thing, I would never finish this post.
The illustration is a cropped version of an illustration that also appears facing page 102 of the book. It is a nice illustration, and more representative of Godwin than is the other Godwin cover-illustration. Notice these features. First, clothing-folds quite typical of others found in illustrations by Godwin:
Next, a stooped figure, another often-seen aspect of Godwin’s art:
Additionally, the handling of this “back” is similar to that of certain clothing which I recently drew attention to, found in one of the Plumb advertisements:
As a reminder, here is an extract from the Plumb advertisement:
I don’t know whether I would say that the deluxe version of Godwin’s Treasure Island is “scarce.” It turns up from time to time. I have at least three copies, including one in a dust jacket. There may (or may not) be variations among the three copies, but that type of thing, although interesting to me, is probably far beyond the interest levels of most Godwin fans.
Books from the deluxe series are very seldom seen in dust jackets. Remember, I am not talking about the “ordinary” Winston books illustrated by Godwin, which are OFTEN seen in dust jackets. No, I am talking about the ones in the dark-green covers, with the elaborate filigree, and title and illustrator name in gilt on the front, and with smallish cover label.
I am also not talking about The Book of Courage, which (although it is normally seen with a fancy cover) I do not consider to have been issued in a deluxe version. The Book of Courage is often seen in the DJ, and indeed at this moment there are (based on my very quick count) 5 copies on eBay with dust jackets, possibly including more than one first edition. Additionally, there are perhaps 29 other copies, of various printings, without dust jackets.
February 23, 2018


Judith Matloff - The War is in the Mountains
Join veteran war correspondent Judith Matloff as she travels to remote mountain communities across the globe, from Afghanistan to Colombia and from Chechnya to Kashmir, to investigate why so many conflicts occur at great heights.
About 'The War is in the Mountains':
In her groundbreaking new book 'The War is in the Mountains', veteran war correspondent Judith Matloff shares her exploration of remote communities across the globe and describes why she believes so many wars begin high in the mountains. Reflecting on her time spent in Chechnya, Columbia, Nepal, Mexico and Albania - Matloff gives a courageous account of warn-torn communities and discusses the links between geography and conflict.
Reviews for The War is in the Mountains
"Judith Matloff has delivered a vital, deeply revealing book of political travelogue and intrepid correspondence. She is the ideal witness - learned, dogged, skeptical, but always listening out for new and credible voices. This is classical international journalism of the highest order." - Steve Coll, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Ghost Wars
"A fascinating, informative and compassionate tour of some of the world's more scenic and rarefied trouble spots....Matloff is a skilled and courageous journalist adept at sketching the realities." - Times Literary Supplement.
"The most spectacular heights on earth hold mysteries, not least why conflict so often shadows their vistas. Judith Matloff – a brave, engaging, keenly observant guide – rides shuddering buses, boards decrepit helicopters, and hikes through mud and checkpoints in pursuit of answers and solution. Matloff reveals the rich, surprising, and perplexing life of places too often diminished by the flat imagery of war." Sheri Fink, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author of Five Days at Memorial and War Hospital
About the event:
We are delighted Judith Matloff will be travelling from New York to join us at the Kendal Mountain Literature Festival to share captivating stories from her travels across conflict zones.
More Events at Kendal Mountain Festival…
Please check back soon for updates.


This weekend we read the children’s story “Mindful Millie” by Louise Tribble. I have followed Louise on Twitter for quite some time now so when she asked for people to give her new book a review I jumped at the chance and I don’t need an excuse for another elephant story. Louise isn’t just a children’s writer but also a mental health advocate. Her blog covers everything including mental health, writing and pregnancy. She is keen on helping others which is obvious from her beautiful story books.
At the moment Ellie is still far too young to fully understand mindfulness or even what is going on in the stories we read to her however her understanding of emotions from pictures and the expressions we use is far greater than I thought a 2 year old’s understanding could be.
Mindful Millie is a great book to introduce mindfulness and being mindful of others. Working in a primary school setting I appreciate how important teaching mindfulness is to a generation of children who are spending most of their time behind a screen. (I’m not saying that screen time is all bad, Ellie has more than her fair share of TV/Tablet time during the day.) The story is fairly short but suits it’s purpose perfectly. The illustrations are colourful and fills the page which kept Ellie’s interest more than other books. I love that there are chances for the reader to feel fully involved in the story through questions and gathering objects.
Overall the book is well presented and visually appealing to young children. I loved reading it and Ellie loved looking at the pictures too.
You can purchase Mindful Millie by visiting the authors website.
2 thoughts on “Mindful Millie – Review (Gifted)”
What a beautiful book! This sounds lovely, I might have to get one for Charlie’s next birthday.
LikeLiked by 1 person


A week or two ago, I found myself in a place I had nearly forgotten existed: The local library. It was, in a world gone digital, a trip down memory lane.
As a little girl, I used to love weekly trips to the library with my mother. The anticipation of gathering up last week’s books in order to return them, and setting off to the library. Diving into the miraculous, cool quiet of a world of books, eager to see which gem would be discovered that day.
Fast forward a few years (okay, decades) and the love of reading remains. But I have to wonder if we’ve lost some soul to digital books. Please, don’t misunderstand me – I love my Kindle. Surprisingly much, for someone who used to think of herself as somewhat of a purist when it came to books and reading and therefore never expected to like e-books at all.
But to walk through a library, or a bookstore for that matter, and run your fingers along the multicoloured spines reclining on the shelves. To inhale the unique scent of old books and listen to the faint rustling of pages as they are leisurely turned by fellow browsers. And then, the ultimate thrill – the flutter of excitement at recognising a title you love (or know that you possibly could, if only the two of you could spend some time getting to know each other.)
There is a sensuality and warmth to books and libraries that we need to revel in. We’ve seen the value of Slow Living – Slow Food and Slow Cities. Maybe it’s time we indulge in some Slow Reading, too.
With Autumn comes the changing of leaves, shifts in weather patterns, and a cold/flu that never fails to seep within my household. Between sniffles, hot soup, and naps, I came across these two very interesting, poignant Ted Talks, and would like to share. Bundle up (or take that much-needed break), and take a gander.
1. Candy Chang’s Before I die I want to ___
A powerful Ted Talk on the importance of community and public space, and their beneficial elements within the human experience. I won’t spoil too much for those of you who will be watching for the first time, but would like to highlight two of my favorite passages from this piece:
On creating the blackboards:”Neglected space became a constructed one. And people made me laugh out loud, tear up, and they consoled me during my own tough times. It’s about knowing you’re not alone, it’s about understanding our neighbors in new and enlightening ways. It’s about making space for reflection and contemplation, and remembering what really matters most to us as we grow and change.”
“Make better places…lead better lives…How powerful our public spaces can be if we’re given the opportunity to have a voice and share more with one another.”
What would your blackboard message say?
2. Sue Austin: Deep Sea Diving…in a Wheelchair
This poignant speech explores Austin’s journey of self discovery and transformation in the face of limiting preconceptions of her quality of life in a wheelchair. By choosing to create her own narrative in the face of stigmatization, she finds joy, among other fulfillment. A few highlights include:
“I was seeing myself not from my perspective, but vividly and continuously from the perspective of other people’s responses to me.”
-“By creating our own stories we learn to take the texts of our lives as seriously as we do ‘official’ narratives”.–Davis 2009
“I now call the underwater wheelchair a ‘portal’, because it has literally pushed me through into a new way of being, into new dimensions, into a new level of consciousness.”
John R Leonetti’s Annabelle , the expansion on the opening of the 2013 hit The Conjuring , has all the ingredients of a bad horror movie: Boring characters, acting as stiff as the titular doll, a few jump scares, and loud music. However, something clicks in the second half and the film’s faults are nearly trumped by quietly horrifying tension that rivals the best scenes of its predecessor. And then the tension breaks and you may find yourself cowering behind your own sweating palms.
In Santa Monica, CA in 1970, newlyweds Mia (Annabelle Wallis) and John Gordon (Ward Horton) are expecting their first child. The white-teeth and porcelain-skin couple comes home after a morning at church and John presents his wife with a large, red-haired doll she’s been searching for forever. Even before anything paranormal occurs, one can’t help but fear the doll already. How could you not with its wide eyes and bizarre, red mouth? Meanwhile, the news of the Manson murders just broke and their neighbors’ daughter has been missing for two years, suspected of joining the hippie movement.
Later that night, in one of the film’s creepiest sequences, two crazed cult members murder the neighbors, seen through the Gordons’ window without a sound, and invade the expecting couple’s unlocked home. As John fights off one attacker, the other escapes to the room where the doll sits and the police later find the intruder with her own throat slit, holding the blood soaked doll. And so begins the barrage of moving doors, mysteriously functioning appliances, and extended close-ups of the doll’s unmoving face. Oh, and did I mention the suicidal cult member was also the neighbors’ daughter named Annabelle?
Despite Leonetti’s calculated and eerie shots (he served as the cinematographer for The Conjuring ), the problems with the film come down to its slow, inconsequential pace and the lead actor and actress’ performances, though both of these problems go hand in hand. Wallis and Horton don’t build on their fear despite having their baby’s life threatened a countless number of times. Sure, they show a barely adequate amount of fear in the moment, but it never carries over. Each haunting seems to surprise this couple that has as much personality as a failed 1950′s sitcom.
Wallis’ bumbling Mia has been physically assaulted, dragged by an invisible force, and she’s even experienced a mishap with a sewing machine, but one needs life to experience fear and there’s hardly any life to Mia. Each of her sentences ends with ellipses and her baby’s coos are louder than her own talking. Casual conversations feel like profound announcements without the profound announcement as she stumbles for words and talks like she’s holding a secret.
Sharper editing or acting-based direction on Leonetti’s part would have most likely fixed this problem. Even acting veteran Alfre Woodard, playing a tenant with a taste for the supernatural in the apartment building the Gordons relocate to, offers little more than the actual doll. Her consistently wide eyes show a little something, but she struggles to get her words out like Mia, giving scenes a similar feeling of trying to run underwater.
However, once the couple moves into this apartment complex, Annabelle really ratchets up the fear. Similar to The Conjuring’s director James Wan almost to a fault, Leonetti utilizes long shots and silence to bring the audience into the ambiguity of fearful moments. In perhaps the movie’s tensest sequence, Mia escapes to an elevator that won’t function after the film’s surprise villain confronts her. With one long shot, the scene goes on and on as she hopes the elevator will begin to rise while also knowing the malevolent force could attack at any moment. While James Wan presented his horrifying style with much more visual flair, Leonetti still uses these techniques successfully, most likely because they’re new to the modern horror scene and haven’t been over utilized. For now, they work enough to bring Annabelle significantly above most recent horror movies with the same weaknesses.
With a film like The Conjuring constantly hanging over its head, it’s hard to expect Annabelle to perform to its precursor’s standards and it certainly doesn’t. What made The Conjuring so effective was its tactful handling of cliché images, reminding us why creaking houses used to scare us. Annabelle attempts the same thing without as much success. However, its quiet tension, eternally creepy mascot, and the barely illuminated malevolent force (literally) behind said mascot provide enough terror to leave you wondering what happened to the girls from the beginning of The Conjuring.
Sunshine spilled in through the small spaces o f the blinds, finding its way over her body struggling to sleep. As her eyes twitch, fighting off the images beneath her lids, the sun’s invasions intensified whatever was happening in her subconscious mind. Instinctively, she lifted the knitted teal and orange throw above her head, in an attempt to shield away the torturous moment between her mind and mind’s eye. The vibrating sound of her cell phone alarms startled her, but only slightly as she pressed snoozed, eyes still closed. She wiped her eyes as to erase the dream’s journey. Finally, she forced open her eyes, perhaps too full to endure anymore. Routinely, she reached over to her handcrafted nightstand, which held her journal and favorite pen. She sat up, letting her wild locs fall freely, and did what she has been doing since the arrival of these images.
She wrote, tears forming, trapped in the corner of her eyes. She wiped them prematurely as she always did. Afraid the falling tears would bring the written words beneath them to life. She was oblivious, or perhaps in denial, to the fact that reality already occurred. That she has been a living result of a motherless child. Not that her mother was deceased or even absent, not physically at least.
She wrote away at this nagging dream, needing to put the pieces together, where she is running from danger into the arms of her mother. Towards her mother she runs. To safety she needed. To safety she thought.
To Be Continued….
I took a writing workshop class over the summer and while it was helpful hearing other people’s critique of and reading each others’ work, it was most difficult for me to write during the prompts. My mind would just shut down. Perhaps it was me thinking too much and/or comparing myself to the other writers in the workshop, all who are SOOOO brilliant. Any who, this was the first (and perhaps the only) piece that came freely to me during a writing prompt session. I said I’d come back to this and when I do, I will share its growth…


October 2018 Summary:
- New Workflow to Save Emails In Cortex
- (estimated release 10/29/2018)
- Undo, Redo, and History in the Email Builder
- (release 10/5/2018)
New Workflow to Save Emails
Better saving capability on email builder screen, scheduling options moved to last step, and more logical actions and warnings on the summary screen. For details please see this article.
Undo, Redo, and History in the Email Builder
You will have the ability to rewind and fast-forward to any point in the session edit history. This feature is available now in the drag and drop email builder. For details please see this article.


By submitting an article to the journal Philotheos authors agree to comply with the following Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement.
Duties / Responsibilities of Authors
Originality and Plagiarism
All manuscripts must be the original work of authors and not evidence plagiarism. Plagiarism or self-plagiarism are prohibited and will lead to the rejection of publication material.
Authorship of the paper
Authorship of a manuscript should be limited to authors who have made significant contributions.
Multiple, redundant or concurrent publication
Authors must not submit the same manuscript to more than one journal concurrently.
Acknowledgement of sources
Authors must properly and accurately acknowledge the work of others.
Disclosure and conflicts of interest and financial support
Authors should disclose any financial or other substantive conflict of interest that might influence the results or interpretation of their manuscript and acknowledge individuals or organizations that have provided financial support for research.
Data access and retention
Authors may be asked to provide the raw data in connection with manuscripts for editorial review, and should be prepared to provide public access to such data if possible.
Participation in the review process
Authors are obliged to participate in the peer review process.
Duties / Responsibilities of Editors
Editors are responsible for deciding which of the manuscripts submitted to the journal should be reviewed and published. The decision will be based on the paper’s importance, originality and clarity, and the study’s validity and its relevance to the journal’s scope. Current legal requirements regarding libel, copyright infringement, and plagiarism should also be considered.
Editors should ensure the integrity of the publication review process. As such, editors should not reveal either the identity of authors of manuscripts to the reviewers, or the identity of reviewers to authors. Nevertheless, the editors should also ensure that reviewers are independent of the authors and are not affiliated with the same institution.
Editors must treat received manuscripts for review as confidential documents and must not disclose any information about submitted manuscripts to anyone other than the corresponding author, reviewers, other editorial advisers, and the publisher.
Disclosure and conflicts of interest
Editors and any editorial staff must not use materials disclosed in a submitted manuscript (published or unpublished) for their own research without the author’s written authorization.
In the event that a journal’s publisher or editors are made aware of any allegation of research misconduct the publisher and editors shall deal with allegations appropriately.
Responsibility of Reviewers
Reviewers should keep all information regarding papers confidential and treat them as privileged information.
Standards of objectivity
Reviews should be conducted objectively, with no personal criticism of the author.
Contribution to editorial decision
Reviewers should express their views clearly with supporting arguments.
Reviewers should complete their reviews according to the given Form within 60 days at the latest.
Disclosure and conflicts of interest
Reviewers should not review manuscripts in which they have conflicts of interest resulting from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships or connections with any of the authors, companies, or institutions connected to the papers.
Publishers and editors shall take reasonable steps to identify and prevent the publication of papers where research misconduct has occurred. In no case shall a journal or its editors encourage such misconduct, or knowingly allow such misconduct to take place.
Correction and retraction
If needed the editors and publishers should ask for the correction of the published paper. In cases of proven academic misconduct, the editors and the publisher should retract the paper and offer apology to the journal readership.


6/4/2014 11:30:00 AM Library to
The Florence County Library System is teaming up with Flow Circus on Tuesday, June 10, to celebrate the library’s 10th anniversary. The program, Flow Circus, will bring Paul Miller to the library to highlight the joy and excitement of reading. This free event will feature a juggling and magic show in which Paul tells the story of how a trip to the circus inspired him to visit his library to learn more about juggling which led to balloons, magic, and the history of the circus.
Throughout the performance he models how learning through books can be fun and leads you to discover new interests. Just like the Florence County Library System, Paul Miller is committed to encouraging and supporting literacy and preparing creative and innovative programming for children. The Flow Circus program will be held in the Joseph T. Stukes Meeting Room at the Drs. Bruce and Lee Foundation Library at 3 p.m. on June 10 for ages 3-11. For more information about this and other children’s programs, contact the Greenberg Children’s Library at 292-7382 or visit www.florencelibrary.org.


Hip hop is one of those things that a lot of us know about, but we may not be completely sure about how the whole thing could work in our favor. There are so many things that you need to deal with that you want to know that you’re getting something that you can enjoy and have fun with. When was the last time that you really checked out everything that was available in that regard?
If you want to get into the hip hop scene, then it may be best for you to take a little time and invest so that you can buy hip hop beats. That means that you will have access to a whole library of beats that you can use in order to make sure that you get the most out of whatever you may be doing. By taking that time to really see what’s out there and to figure things out, you can actually get the most for the process that you’re getting into as well.
Check out the beats that are out there and see what you can find for your efforts. You can really get a lot out of it and, many times, you will start to discover that it’s going to make a difference for you and how you get everything taken care of. Take a look around and make sure that you’re learning about what may be next in this regard. You can find a lot of solutions that make sense for you and, when you are done with the process, you can make sure that you get the most for your efforts. That, in the end, is going to be incredibly beneficial for you and your hip hop needs as well.


Meeting of the GFWC Woman’s Club of Tarpon Springs Cypress Run Country Club May 17, 2017
Trish Gregory, President called the meeting to order at 11:33. She noted several upcoming events.
Bonnie Laforme gave the Devotional and led the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.
Trish Gregory made several introductions
Carole Weaver, Past Florida GFWC President, Past District Director, Past President Karen Morris, GFWC FL LEADS Committee, Past President Past District Directors: Barbara Wood, Trish Gregory Sherry Orr, District Arts and Crafts Chair Past Presidents: Dolores Wilson, Barbara Wood, Anne-Todd Eisner, Sherry Orr , Karen Morris, Trish Gregory Current Board Members: Teddy Stephen, 1st Vice President; Dee Isguzar, 2nd Vice President; Sherry Orr, Recording Secretary; , Sherri Patterson, Treasurer; Ann Milheiser, Director ; Mary Ann Cozzens, Director; Susan McCubbin, Parliamentarian 4 guests stood and were introduced. Gerry Rogers, former husband of President Christy Rogers who passed while in office. Gerry Rogers has donated $2000.00 each year in her memory, since her passing.
Sherry Orr presented the two new Standing Rules.
Carole Weaver shared several important dates and events in GFWC history.
Carole Weaver installed the Board for 2017-2018. Each was presented a piece of a puzzle. The new Board is: Trish Gregory, President ; Teddy Stephen, President Elect; Priscilla Kowasic, First Vice President. Dee Isguzar, Second Vice President; Sheila Hayter, Recording Secretary; Barbara Micheln, Corresponding Secretary; Sherri Patterson, Treasurer; MaryAnn Cozzens, Director; Sharon Walling, Director; Doris LaPointe, Director.
Guests enjoyed a delicious lunch.
Teddy Stephen introduced a special guest, Jennie June (Jane Cunningham Crowley). Jennie June shared her story of women in the 1800’s. And it is because of leaders like Jennie June, woman have contributed to every aspect of our American life. Thank you Trish Gregory for sharing her story.
Sherri Patterson, Treasurer, presented the Treasurer’s Report.
Several Announcements were made. Jane Lawson and Claralee Little were made honorary members. Trish Gregory read a lovely note from Jane Lawson.
Dolores Wilson shared information about the Shutterbug trip to John’s Pass.
Sherry Orr shared that lighting had been installed at our Heritage Museum display. Cari Rupkalvis invited members to visit the Free Library in Craig Park, which is a joint project between the Friends of the Library and the Woman’s Club. Dolores Wilson announced that 9,5 million stamps have been collected for the Holocaust project. Trish Gregory shared that our Club won three awards at the Spring Convention. They are a 3rd in Programs; a second in Home Life Programs; and a 1st in Woman’s History. Trish Gregory shared two thank you notes from Nancy Hinson and Ashley Rodriguez.
The meeting was adjourned by Trish Gregory.
The Collect was recited by the members.