Loose Leaf Notes

1. It’s fitting and ironic that a sign in Ford’s Theatre where Abraham Lincoln was shot says: Guns are prohibited here.

2. After seeing the production of A Christmas Carol at Ford’s Theatre while in D.C. this weekend, I remembered THIS poem I wrote in 2002, just before the U.S. invaded Iraq, which begins:  I want President Bush to have a dream/ like the one that Ebenezer Scrooge had / I want him to be visited by the ghosts of Iraqi children / who cry out, “But mankind was your business” / I want all the Tiny Tims of the world/ to get their 401k money back / from the white collar criminals who stole it / I want them to not go to war for oil/ good ratings, or weapon sale quotas / because this white collar mafia is in power – You can listen to me read the poem on The Monitor radio program HERE and read the entire poem HERE.

3. A little history about Ford’s Theater from the play program:  In 1861, theatre manager John T. Ford leased out the abandoned First Baptist Church to create Ford’s Theatre.  Over the next few years the venue became a popular stage for theatrical and musical productions. On April 14, 1865, Abraham Lincoln visited Ford’s theatre for a performance of Our American Cousin.  At this performance he was shot by Confederate sympathizer John Wilkes Booth and died the next morning at a boarding house across the street. Ford’s Theatre remained dark for more than 100 years, officially reopening in 1968 as a national historic site and working theatre.

4. How would you like wallpaper like THIS? The ultimate girl’s pink room? Maybe not because the bugs are real. They’re plentiful in Malaysia, Thailand and Papua New Guinea, says the artist statement by Jennifer Angus.  The pink wash comes from cochineal insects that live on cacti in Mexico. – More HERE on the Renwick exhibit on WONDER.

5. I wonder why tea always tastes better when I make it at home but beer tastes better in a restaurant?

6. I also want Donald Trump to have a dream.

7. Between a visit to the late 1800’s built Renwick Gallery, seeing A Christmas Carol and touring The Tudor Place (Martha Washington’s granddaughter’s home), we were immersed in Victorian times. While I love a Dickens era Christmas, I couldn’t help but wonder when the 1950s would be a popular Christmastime recreation with old black-and-white TV sets with rabbit ears on top, pointed star wall clocks, big flower wallpaper or paneling on the walls and bubble lighted Christmas trees covered in gobs of tinsel.

8. The child’s bedroom in the Tudor house reminded me of a scene from Twas the Night Before Christmas.

9. It wasn’t our first time seeing a play at Ford’s Theatre.  In 1999 we saw A Couple of Blaguards, which starred Malachy McCourt, the brother of Angela’s Ashes author Frank McCourt, and another actor playing Frank.  Malachy also wrote a book titled A Monk Swimming, of which the title was based on his mishearing of the Hail Mary prayer and the line that says “amongst women.”

10. I also misheard a line in the Hail Mary when I was a girl, and if Malachy and I had our way, the Hail Mary would read: Hail Mary full of grapes (grace) / The Lord is we thee / Blessed art thou / a monk swimming (amongst women).

11. Meanwhile, my Asheville Potter Son is in China.  This week he posted this on Facebook: We went to a place today where tiny fish eat the dead skin off of your feet. Seriously. For less than 3 dollars you can have this done. It’s one of the weirdest feelings I’ve ever experienced. At first I almost couldn’t handle it. It’s like a combination of being tickled and having pins and needles…but my feet are the softest these been in years.  – Check out his travelogue blog on China HERE.

12. Another recent status update from a friend on Facebook: One of the most confusing experiences I’ve ever had happened just now, when, completely alone in a silent house, a bug decided to pluck a single string on a guitar hanging on my wall.

13.  The growing and selling of Christmas trees is a big industry in Floyd. I call the photo below that I took at Floyd Christmas Parade “Product Placement.”

_________Thirteen Thursday