Never Ever Ever Give Up!

"The person who says something is impossible should not interrupt those who are doing it."

1.  Charles Dickens lived for a time in a workhouse as a child.  Later he glued labels on shoe polish bottles in a factory.  He went on to author 34 books including classics like Oliver Twist and A Christmas Carol.

2.  Hank Williams was born with spina bifida.  As a child he sold peanuts and held other small jobs to pay the bills.  In adulthood, he had numerous hit records and had a record six encores at the Country Music Hall of Fame.

3.  J.K. Rowling was divorced and living on social assistance in a mouse-infested apartment in Edinburgh, Scotland when she started writing.  Now she has sold 350 million copies of the Harry Potter series in 55 languages.  She is the 13th richest person in Great Britain.

4.  Lucille Ball's father died of typhoid fever when she was only four years old.  Her mother remarried and she spent much of her time living with her grandmother.  At a New York City drama school, her coaches told her that she "had no future at all as a performer" and so she dropped out.  She went on to star in many movies and had three hugely successful TV shows, "I Love Lucy", "The Lucy Show" and "Here's Lucy".

5.  Nelson Mandela was jailed for 27 years, largely for his political beliefs.  Upon his release, he pledged to end Apartheid and was elected President of South Africa.



Image courtesy http://1.bp.blogspot.com.

Don't Judge a Blog by its Title

It seems that the posts that receive the most hits in A Line from Linda are not necessarily the ones I spend the most time researching or the ones that I expect to attract the most attention:  they are the ones that have the catchiest titles.  Sometimes I choose a basic title for my blog; however, there is no mystery and therefore readers just pass it by.  However, sometimes I come up with a title that piques the readers' interest, just to draw them in.  Here is a list of my top three blogs to prove my point.

Daily
1.  One, Two, Three Cheers Tommy!
2.  Venus Fly Trap Eats Cat!
3.  Kennedy's Limousine and Lincoln's Chair

Weekly
1.  One, Two, Three Cheers Tommy!
2.  Venus Fly Trap Eats Cat!
3.  Six Dots, An Awl & A Piece of Paper

Monthly
1.  Mario Meets Luigi
2.  One, Two, Three Cheers Tommy!
3.  Venus Fly Trap Eats Cat!

All Time
1.  Thanksgiving Around a Ping Pong Table
2.  Mario Meets Luigi
3.  One, Two, Three Cheers Tommy! 

The other factor that might have come into play here is that the blogs that have received the most hits are often personal blogs.  Many of the titles above are about my son, Thomas.  Whatever the case, I appreciate everyone's interest.  Thank you for being devoted followers!



Image courtesy http://thenickyblog.com.

A New York Minute in a Savannah Storm

     "So here was my humble little cookbook settin' out on a table.  It sold for $16.95.  We sold about twenty-five copies in the first month.  We had 4,975 left to go.
    
     One day a violent rain came up just out of the blue, and a woman from New York just happened to be walking down the street with her boyfriend.  When she got to my place it started lightening and thundering.  The woman stepped into my restaurant to get out of the rain.  She had never heard of me, the restaurant had not been recommended to her.
    
     Ever heard of a word called synchronicity?...well, God was making sure that Paula had a whole lot of synchronicity working that day."*

     When Paula Deen moved to Savannah, Georgia in the 1980's, she had one set of divorce papers, two teenage sons and $200 in her pocketbook.  For a short time, she worked as a bank teller.  However, after being robbed at gunpoint, she developped agoraphobia and was house-bound for a few years.  She found therapy in her kitchen, cooking recipes her Grandma taught her to make twenty years before.  By 1989, she started making sandwiches for downtown businessmen which her two sons would deliver, enabling her to stay at home.  Her catering business, "The Bag Lady", flourished.

     Within two years, Paula outgrew her kitchen and was hired at the Best Western where she opened a small eatery called "The Lady", treating her guests to her homestyle hospitality and Southern cuisine.  By 1996, she opened a bigger restaurant called "The Lady and Sons" in downtown Savannah, with her sons as fellow cooks.  Her chicken pot pies, barbecue sandwiches and "Grandmomma's Fried Chicken" became the talk of the town.   

     It was at The Lady and Sons that fate intervened.  Paula decided to publish a cookbook with her guests' favourite recipes in it in 1997.  Since she was so accustomed to doing things for herself, she self-published the cookbook, using a printing company in the neighbourhood.  She laid out copies in the restaurant dining room and the cookbook started to sell, albeit at a snail's pace.  One Savannah day, a thunderstorm came to town bringing with it a New York editor named Pamela Cannon.  She liked Mrs. Deen's cooking so much that she phoned about a week later to ask for a few copies of her cookbook. The chef obliged sending her the cookbook by mail.  Paula was promptly offered a $5000 dollar advance book deal, but being a keen businesswoman, she countered with a $7500 figure to which the editor agreed.  Random House published the book and the rest is history.

     Today Paula Deen has published several cookbooks, a magazine and a memoir.  In 2003, the southern cooking queen starred on a cable network cooking show and has since had other cooking shows.  And it all started with a New York publisher dining in a Savannah restaurant during a thunderstorm.

* It Ain't All About the Cookin', Paula Deen, 2007.


Photo courtesy http://upload.wikimedia.org.

Thomas Kinkade

Thomas Kinkade, America's most collected artist, has painted over 1000 paintings.  Raised in poverty in Placerville, California, his parents divorced when he was only 4 years old.  Although they were poor in the pocketbook, there was never a lack of love in his household.  His mother, the first collector of his art, used to frame his pieces and decorate the house with them. 

Thomas Kinkade has fond memories of reading the Saturday Evening Post each weekend and admiring the cover artwork of Norman Rockwell, his first hero.  He loved to paint landscapes in the style of the Luminists from the late 19th century like Frederic Church.  The Luminists apparently were known for three traits:  their "soft edges, warm palette and overall sense of light". In fact, Thomas' paintings are infused with light, gaining him the nickname "Painter of Light". 

After graduating from university in his home state, Thomas Kinkade and fellow artist James Gurney hopped on a boxcar and headed for New York City.  En route, they sketched.  Upon arriving in the Big Apple, the two artists presented their sketches to Norman Rockwell's publisher and he published them as "The Artist's Guide to Sketching" in 1982.  Thomas then worked on a movie set.

In 1985, Thomas sold his first oil painting and has never looked back.  Although he has painted many different subjects, his favourite images are gates and bridges.  He identifies with Walt Disney, saying that he "really likes to make people happy" and has partnered with Disney on some projects.  Today his paintings sell for 6-digit figures and his artwork has been transformed into posters, magazines covers, greeting cards, collector plates, figurines, gifts, calendars and more. 

Married with four daughters, Thomas is not only a devoted husband and father, but a devout Christian, evident in his artwork.  "A Light in the Storm" which is based on the Bible verse John 8:12.   He has given a lot back in his charity work, raising tens of thousands of dollars for worthy causes.  In 1990 he was named "Humanitarian of the Year" by his hometown's Chamber of Commerce. 

Although it's been thirty years since Thomas hopped the boxcar in California, he has never forgotten his roots.  The drawings that once hung on his mother's wall in Placerville are now shared by thousands, if not millions, of people.  Thank you, Thomas, for sharing your light with the world.



Painting courtesy www.artofthesouth.com.

Cats are the Cleanest Creatures!

Have you ever watched a cat clean herself?  It is a perfect ritual.  The other day Midnight found a sunny spot on our bed and curled up there.  After a couple of moments of settling in, the ritual began.  She started by licking her forepaws, slowly and carefully, not missing an inch of her fur.  If she found a difficult spot, she used her teeth to get at the intruder.  Then she cleaned her hind paws.  She made her way over her chest and tummy, slowly and deliberately.  Several areas were cleaned more than once.  In the meantime I wondered how she was going to reach her head, but she was a step ahead of me.  Several times she licked her right paw, reached it over her head and ears and rubbed.  Then she did the same with her left paw.  Brilliant!  It took several minutes before she was completely finished her "bath".  How did she learn to bathe herself?  Did she watch her mother in the first few months of life?  I understood that her mother disappeared shortly after giving birth and that her aunt "adopted" her and her siblings.  Was the process an innate ritual that all kittens do?  I was impressed, nonetheless.  Cats are the cleanest creatures! 



Photo courtesy www.digitaldesktopwallpaper.com.

Carry Nation's Hatchetations

Carry A. Nation was a six foot tall, 175 pound woman who carried a hatchet around with her, shattering saloon windows, breaking beer bottles and smashing liquor kegs all in the name of the temperance movement:  her violent protests became known as "hatchetations". 

Born in Kentucky and raised in Missouri, Carry A. Nation was the daughter of a mentally ill mother and a father who struggled with financial difficulties.  As an adult, she married an alcoholic named Dr. Gloyd, turning her against alcohol.  Within a few years, she divorced her imbibing spouse.  She joined a temperance movement, one of many which had started in the 1830's, whose members frowned on drinking liquor.  By the 1830's, the overconsumption of alcohol had become a growing concern in America.  According to author W.J. Rorabaugh in his book The Alcoholic Republic, annual alcohol consumption totalled 5 gallons which was 3 times the rate of the 1980's.

By the late 1800's the temperance movement was thriving.  The teetotalers, also suffragettes, were gaining political clout.  However, the movement's progress was not fast enough for Carry.  She decided to take matters into her own hands; she would make America dry, one town at a time.

Living in Kansas by this time, Carry chose the town of Kiowa as her first target.  She located one of the town's saloons, pelting its windows with rocks and smashing its beer kegs with hammers.  After destroying two more drinking establishments in town, the area was hit by a tornado which she saw as divine providence.  Around 1900, her second husband, Mr. Nation, jokingly suggested that she use a hatchet for her attacks instead and her response was:  "That is the most sensible thing you have said since I married you."

She struck fear in the hearts of many people including prize fighter John L. Sullivan, who reportedly hid when she burst into his New York City saloon.  Between 1900 and 1910, the hatchet-wielding woman was arrested 30 times for her saloon invasions; she was also assaulted many times in these bars.  Faced with numerous legal fees, Mrs. Nation went on a lecture tour throughout the United States, Canada and United Kingdom, earning enough money to pay off her debts. 

Although Carry A. Nation died in 1911, her cause continued.  On January 16, 1919, the 18th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution became law, prohibiting Americans from consuming liquor.


Photo courtesy www.findingdulcinea.com.

The Boston Molassacre

Everyone's heard of the Boston Tea Party, but who's heard of the Boston Molassacre?  The Boston Globe headline of January 15, 1919 screamed:  "Huge Molasses Tank Explodes in North End; 11 Dead, 50 Hurt!" 

On the water front in an Italian immigrant community in Beantown sat the Purity Distilling Factory.  Inside sat a 90 by 50 foot cast iron tank filled to capacity with molasses which was slated for rum production.  Boston's temperature rose by 40 degrees Fahrenheit within a day or two and the molasses fermented.  As workers broke for lunch that day on Commercial Avenue, the tank made a roaring noise as it exploded, sending 2.3 million gallons of sticky syrup through the cobbestone streets. 

People ran from the 8 to 15 foot wave that travelled at 35 miles per hour and exerted 2 tons of pressure, hurling trucks into the harbor, flattening buildings,crushing freight cars and lifting a train from its tracks.  "Horses died like many flies on sticky fly-paper," according to author Stephen Puleo.  People tried to outrun the sticky "tsunami" but to no avail.  The wave reached Atlantic Avenue, breaking the girders of the Boston Elevated Railwlay structure, turning it into a mass of twisted metal. 

One hundred and sixteen cadets from the USS Nantucket were the first rescuers on the scene followed by the Boston Police, the Red Cross and the Army.  Try as they might, it was next to impossible to pull the trapped victims from the sticky goo.  Three hundred worked 24/7 for two weeks to clean the molasses from Boston's cobblestone streets, using saltwater as regular water would just run off the sweet coating.  Dozens of cellars had to be pumped clean of molasses and the Boston Harbor remained brown until the following summer. 

After an official investigation it was determined that fermentation of the molasses, a rapid rise in air temperature and a fatigue crack in the cylinder caused the explosion.  While the U.S. Industrial Alcohol Company wanted to blame anarchists for the Boston Molasses Flood (it was the height of the post WWI Red Scare) , the court ruled that it was the company's fault, forcing them to pay $600,000 ($6.6 million in today's dollars) to the victims and their families.  Early estimates of casualities and fatalities had been low:  in the end, 21 people perished and 150 were injured due to the accident. 

Bostonians claim that the sweet syrupy smell could still be detected on a hot summer's day decades after the disaster.  Today tourists can take a ride on the amphibious vehicle "Molly Molasses".  Bus drivers, sharing a bit of culture with their riders, sometimes call the event "The Boston Molassacre".

Read Stephen Puleo's book Dark Tide:  The Great Boston Molasses Flood of 1919, copyright 2004.

Source:  http://enwikipedia.org.