Millions of people all over the world suffer from Asthma, and if you’ve ever met one who suffers from it then you’re familiar with the pssst psst sound of the inhalers that make a relatively normal day to day life possible for them. World Asthma Day is dedicated to raising awareness about this pernicious disease and seeks to bring awareness and advanced asthma care to sufferers throughout the world.
World Asthma Day was initially established in 1998 by the Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA). While almost all of us are familiar with the sound and visual of an inhaler for Asthma being used, not all of us are aware of the actual nature, cause, and that there are multiple types of asthma out there. The truth of the matter is asthma isn’t entirely understood, what is known is that there are multiple factors at play in the complex chemistry that creates an asthma sufferer. These include genetic interactions and elements in the environment that can change both the severity and how likely it is to respond to treatment.
The known aggravators of asthma are many and include everything from allergens, air pollution, and other chemicals that can appear in the environment that irritate the lungs. In high enough concentrations these factors can cause serious asthma attacks in sufferers and aggravate cases that are otherwise mild.
Asthma is incredibly prevalent in those areas that suffer from low air quality as a result, and those areas also tend to be those that house low-income and minority communities. As such these already disadvantaged individuals are the highest sufferers of this pernicious disease. An added factor is psychological stress, and again this element is particularly high in those living on the edge of poverty, increasing its occurrence there further.
Start out by…. Not cleaning quite so thoroughly. Does this seem counter-intuitive to you? It sure did to us, until we learned that hyper-hygienic environments have significantly higher occurrences than farms and those houses that have pets. So you can start by making sure that your kids spend more time playing in the dirt, and not sanitizing your world to within an inch of its life.
thanks for the 'sassy lady' funnies, Joan
Word of the Day
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| Definition: | (noun) An overwhelming, advancing force that crushes or seems to crush everything in its path. | ||
| Synonyms: | steamroller | ||
| Usage: | It touched the ground just as it struck among them and mowed through them, a veritable juggernaut of destruction. | ||
Idiom of the Day
History
The Battle of Alcatraz Begins (1946)
The Battle of Alcatraz followed an escape attempt from Alcatraz Island's federal penitentiary by six inmates who got stuck inside a cellhouse after failing to secure a key to the prison yard. Trapped, the inmates took the guards prisoner and took control of the cellhouse. The US Marines were called in, and two guards and three inmates died in the ensuing confrontation. Two inmates were later executed for their role in the incident.
Yongle Emperor (1360)
Born Zhu Di, the Yongle Emperor was the favorite son of the founder of China's Ming dynasty. He spent his youth developing a military career but was passed over for the throne. He rebelled and seized the throne from his nephew in 1402. As emperor, he greatly extended China's scope and influence. He moved the capital to Beijing, built the Forbidden City, and sponsored the compilation of an immense encyclopedia of Chinese culture and history.
Flores de Mayo
Flores de Mayo ("May flowers") festivals take place throughout the Philippines during the month of May. Children create offerings of flowers and bring them to their churches in the afternoon. Parades make their way through towns and villages, with girls wearing traditional costumes followed by their relatives and friends singing Hail Marys. The festival ends on May 31 with fiestas everywhere. In big cities like Manila, Flores de Mayo is one of the largest festivals of the year, featuring May Queens and fancy dress balls.
Scientists Solve Mystery Behind Antarctica's Blood Falls
Exploring the frozen beauty of Antarctica—a.k.a. the White Continent—often involves sights of, well, white. But at Taylor Glacier, a 34-mile-long polar glacier, you'll find startling sights of red—a blood-like deposit of iron-rich, salty water flowing into West Lake Bonney.
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1670 - The Hudson Bay Company was founded by England's King Charles II.
1885 - The magazine "Good Housekeeping" was first published.
1887 - Hannibal W. Goodwin applied for a patent on celluloid photographic film. This is the film from which movies are shown.
1902 - "A Trip to the Moon," the first science fiction film was released. It was created by magician George Melies.
1965 - The "Early Bird" satellite was used to transmit television pictures across the Atlantic.
1969 - The ocean liner Queen Elizabeth 2 (QE2) made its maiden voyage
1970 - Student anti-war protesters at Ohio's Kent State University burn down the campus ROTC building. The National Guard took control of the campus.
1974 - The filming of "Jaws" began in Martha's Vineyard, MA.
1994 - Nelson Mandela claimed victory after South Africa's first democratic elections.
2002 - It was reported that Phyllis Diller had retired from touring.
DAILY SQU-EEK
If You Were Born Today, May 2
READERS INFO
1.
May 6 & 7, 2017 9AM – 6PM Saturday 9AM – 5PM Sunday
This is one of the largest festivals of its kind celebrating all things sheep, from hoof to handwoven.
further information: Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival
2.
Yeon Deung Hoe 2017
Apr 28 - May 7, 2017
Jogye-sa Temple
55 Ujeongguk-ro
Seoul, South Korea
Taking place across Seoul, the Lotus Lantern Festival is an annual celebration of Buddha’s birth. Preceding the festival, over 100,000 brightly colored lanterns are hung around the streets of Seoul symbolizing offerings of light and compassion. After the lighting of the giant Jangeumdang, the lantern representative of Buddha, the festivities begin! Over 100 experience booths are set up for activities such as teaching visitors to make their own rosaries or lanterns, or dances by host monks in bright robes. The festivities culminate in the Daedong Celebration, a night of singing and dancing amidst a shower of pink lotus petals.
further information: Yeon Deung Hoe (Lotus Lantern Festival) (연등회) | Official Korea Tourism Organization
3.
Kentucky Derby Festival 2017
Apr 13 - May 15, 2017
Louisville, KY
The Kentucky Derby in Louisville is one of the most beloved sporting events in the United States. The Derby itself is an annual high-stakes horse race that takes place at the majestic Churchill Downs as the beginning of the Triple Crown horse racing series. It features only the most talented, qualifying thoroughbred horse and jockey teams from around the world, who compete for a chance at winning a share of the Derby’s $2 million purse. The Derby has also gained the nickname of The Run for the Roses, because a luxurious blanket of over 500 red roses is bestowed upon the winner. Owing to the extravagant atmosphere of the race, the Derby has developed its own unique fashion style over the years. The elaborate hats and outfits worn by attendees are just as highly-anticipated as the race itself. The actual race lasts just over 2 minutes, but the city of Louisville hosts a variety of events around the race that make up the Kentucky Derby Festival. One of the festival’s fieriest attractions is Thunder Over Louisville, which is among the largest annual fireworks displays in America. Other beloved traditions include the Great Balloon Race and the Great Steamboat Race. At the balloon race, dozens of competitive hot air balloon pilots compete in two races across the skies in a spectacular display of skill and bravery. Down on the water, the quirky and quaint steamboat race consists of two dueling steamboats representing Louisville and the city of Cincinnati, Ohio, completing several tasks throughout the day and during the race, ranging from music performances to a handline toss. While the boats chug along to the finish line, revelers can hitch a ride and enjoy a party on board featuring delicious food and bourbon tastings. Revelers that want to do a bit of racing themselves can participate in the annual Kentucky Derby Festival Marathon & miniMarathon. Both the Marathon and miniMarathon, which is 13.1 miles instead of 26.2 miles, are qualifying events for the Boston Marathon. There marathon organizers also host the Kentucky Derby Festival miniFun Run, which is a non-competitive 1-mile race specially for kids. Whatever your fancy, there are several opportunities for fun and entertainment at the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival.
further information: Kentucky Derby Festival
The Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque in Muscat is the main mosque in the Sultanate of Oman. Completed in 2001, it has a total capacity of 20,000 worshipers, including over 6,500 in the main prayer hall.
THERE'S A VENOMOUS SNAKE IN THIS PHOTO
Even when you know where it is it's still hard to see
knit - MOTHER'S DAY
knit
knit
thanks, Linda
knit
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Ailigas pattern by Christa Becker
The planning of this shawl ended a long inspirationless phase in my life and spawned the (so far) five-part “Fell shawls” series. Instructions for all shawls will b...
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Preview by Yahoo
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knit
crochet
crochet
thanks, Rosa
crochet
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crochet
crochet - MOTHER'S DAY
thanks, Lisa
RECIPE
thanks, Ida
CROCKPOT RECIPE
SWEETS ... crockpot
thanks, Helen
thebetterbaker
TRIPLE CHOCOLATE CROCKPOT PUDDING CAKE
1 box (18 ozs.) Chocolate cake mix
1 pkg (4 serving size) (sugar free) instant chocolate pudding and pie filling mix
1 c. sour cream
1 c. heath toffee bits,optional
1 c. chocolate chips
1 c. water
3/4 c. canola oil or vegetable oil
Spray slow cooker with nonstick cooking spray. Combine cake mix, dry pudding mix, sour cream, toffee, chocolate chips, water and oil in mixing bowl. Stir well to combine. Batter will be slightly lumpy. Pour into slow cooker. Cover and cook on high for 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Middle will be a little gooey and pudding-like. Serve warm with ice cream.
ADULT COLORING
CRAFTS - MOTHER'S DAY
CHILDREN'S CORNER ... crafts
thanks, Clare
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CLEVER
QUOTE
EYE OPENER
Dangerous Elegance
A History of High-Heeled Shoes
randomhistory
The high-heeled shoe, or a shoe whose heel is higher than the toe, is a matter of contentious and heated discussion. Shoes in general have typically served as markers of gender, class, race, and ethnicity--and both the foot and the shoe have been imbued with powerful phallic and fertility symbols as evidenced in the contemporary practice of tying shoes to a newlywed couple’s car. No other shoe, however, has gestured toward leisure, sexuality, and sophistication as much as the high-heeled shoe. Fraught with contradiction, heels paradoxically inhibit movement in order to increase it, at least in appearance. Standing in heels, a woman presents herself already half-walking while at the same time reducing the length of her step, fostering the illusion of speed while suggesting the promise of an imminent fall. The higher and more unstable the heel, the more clearly these contradictions are expressed (Kunzle 2004). Doctors and scholars alike have argued about the physical and cultural effect, both positive and negative, that heels have had not only on women, but on society as a whole.
Precursors to the High-Heeled Shoe
Most of the lower class in ancient Egypt walked barefoot, but figures on murals dating from 3500 B.C. depict an early version of shoes worn mostly by the higher classes. These were leather pieces held together with lacing that was often arranged to look like the symbol of “Ankh,” which represents life. But there are also some depictions of both upper-class males and females wearing heels, probably for ceremonial purposes. Egyptian butchers also wore heels, to help them walk above the blood of dead beasts. In ancient Greece and Rome, platform sandals called kothorni, later known as buskinsin the Renaissance, were shoes with high wood or cork soles that were popular particularly among actors who would wear shoes of different heights to indicated varying social status or importance of characters. In ancient Rome, sex trade was not illegal and female prostitutes were readily identified by their high heels (Wilson 2005).
The Venetians made the chopine into a status symbol revealing wealth and social standing for women, and tourists to Venice often remarked humorously on the outrageously high chopines. One visitor noted that they were “invented by husbands who hoped the cumbersome movement [that] entailed would make illicit liaisons difficult” (McDowell 1989). Already we can see issues of domination and submission being associated with shoes much like the lotus shoes of China. Indeed, Chinese concubines and Turkish odalisques wore high shoes, prompting scholars to speculate if heels were used not only for aesthetic reasons but also to prevent women from escaping the harem (Kunzle 2004).
Shoes were beginning to be made in two pieces during the 1500s, with a flexible upper attached to a heavier, stiffer sole (Swann 1984). This new two-part shoe led to the heel as an actual part of the shoe rather than just an attachable overshoe. Heels grew in popularity during the 1500s to keep riders, both male and female, from slipping from the stirrups. The “rider’s heel” was initially 1 to 1-½ inches high and resembled the modern riding boot and cowboy boot. The simple riding heel soon gave way to more stylized heels that were higher and thinner in the mid 1500s after Catherine de Medici made them more fashionable than functional.. The introduction of the high heel and the concomitant difficulty of making mirror image lasts (a foot mold used to make shoes) led shoemakers to create “straight shoes” or shoes that could fit either the left or right foot (Mitchell 1997). Right and left shoes would eventually return in the early1800s when high heels were abandoned (Swann 1984).
Formal Invention of High Heels as Fashion
The formal invention of high heels as fashion is typically attributed to the rather short-statured Catherine de Medici (1519-1589). At the age of 14, Catherine de Medici was engaged to the powerful Duke of Orleans, later the King of France. She was small (not quite five feet) relative to the Duke and hardly considered a beauty. She felt insecure in the arranged marriage knowing she would be the Queen of the French Court and in competition with the Duke’s favorite (and significantly taller) mistress, Diane de Poitiers. Looking for a way to dazzle the French nation and compensate for her perceived lack of aesthetic appeal, she donned heels two inches high that gave her a more towering physique and an alluring sway when she walked. Her heels were a wild success and soon high heels were associated with privilege. Mary Tudor, or “Bloody Mary,” another monarch seeking to appear larger than life, wore heels as high possible (McDowell 1989). By 1580, fashionable heels were popular for both sexes, and a person who had authority or wealth was often referred to as “well-heeled.”
French Revolution and the Revolt against High Heels
In 1791, the “Louis” high heels disappeared with the revolution, and Napoleon banished high heels in an attempt to show equality. Despite the Napoleonic Code against high heels, in 1793 Marie Antoinette went to the scaffold to be executed wearing two-inch heels. The heel lowered greatly in the 1790s until it was reduced to the merest wedge or replaced by a spring heel, which was a single layer of leather inserted just above the sole at the back of the shoe. These flimsy shoes were often worn with ribbons to cross and tie around the ankle, reminiscent of the classical Roman sandal. The demise of the heel made it easier for shoes to be made for left and right feet, making them more comfortable. From this period to the 1930s, there were four major types of heels used on Western woman’s shoes: the knock-on, stacked, spring, and the re-emergence of the Louis (Rexford 2000).
High-Heeled Shoes Rise Again
In the 1860s, heels as fashion became popular again, and the invention of the sewing machine allowed greater variety in high heels. In Victorian art and literature, cartoons and allusions to tiny feet and the affliction of large feet (typical of the elderly spinster) were ubiquitous. Victorians thought that the high heel emphasized the instep arch, which was seen as symbolic of a curve of a woman. The high instep was also seen as preeminently aristocratic and European, while the “lowest type of foot,” that of the African American, had little or no instep. When high heels made their comeback, some wearers were comfortable in five- or even six-inch heels. As with corsets, high heels were claimed to be not only harmless, but beneficial to the health because, as advertisers stated, high heels helped alleviate backaches and stooping and made walking less tiring. But critics cited that high heels created a more sexually aggressive gait and compared the high heel to a “poisoned hook” to catch an unwary male. Some even associated the high heel with the cloven hoof of a devil or a witch. Cautionary tales from this time, such as many versions of Cinderella, concerned themselves with foot fetishism and warnings against fashionable foot compression (Kunzle 20004). Even with this criticism, America opened its first heel factory in 1888. However, America and other European countries still largely imitated French shoe fashion.
Twentieth-Century Heel Roller Coaster
While high heels enjoyed widespread popularity in the late nineteenth century, early twentieth-century women demanded more comfortable, flat-soled shoes-- that is until the roaring twenties when higher hemlines encouraged visible, elaborate, high, slender Louis heels. The Depression during the 1930s influenced Western shoe fashion as heels became lower and wider. Hollywood, however, gave the new heel an elegant look and stars’ shoes like Ginger Roger’s white and glittery heels began to challenge the influence of French shoe fashion in the West (Turim).. In the 1940s, luxury items were in short supply due to WWII and high heels tended to stay moderately high and thick.
The revival of Western high fashion in the post-war 1950s was led by French designer Christian Dior and his collaboration with shoe designer Roger Vivier. Together they developed a low-cut vamp (the portion of the shoe that covers the toe and instep) Louis shoe with a narrow heel called a stiletto, which is the Italian word for a small dagger with a slender, tapering blade (West 1993). First mentioned in London’s Daily Telegramon September 10, 1953, the exaggeratedly slender heel and narrowing of the toe equated sheer height with chic and strongly suggested phallic-erectile symbolism and sexual maturation. Stilettos were often banned from public buildings because they caused physical damage to the floors (West 1993).
Platform shoes became immensely popular in the 1970s, and perhaps no instance epitomizes the era like John Travolta’s Cuban-heeled platforms in the opening sequence of Saturday Night Fever in 1977. The 1970s in general were a tumultuous time of experimentation of drugs, sex and, of course, fashion. Cynicism abounded as various cultures and subcultures vied for public attention. Men as well as women would dress to shock, often wearing platform shoes reminiscent of the ancient kothorni and chopine with psychedelic swirls and colors.
In the post-modern context of the 1980s, the feminist rejection of fashion started to lose much of its grassroots support. The idea that fashion, specifically sexy shoes, were not simply oppressive but offered pleasure to women became more widely accepted (Gamman 1993). Critics, particularly feminists in the 1980s, argued that fashion can be an experiment with appearances, an experiment that challenges cultural meaning. This change of heart about high heels perhaps was provoked by counter-cultural street fashion of the early 1980s as well as by feminist debates about pleasure and female desire, which indirectly changed the way fashion was understood. Western women now claimed they were wearing high heels for themselves and that heels gave them not only height but also power and authority.
While lower heels were preferred during the late 60s and 70s, higher heels returned in the 1980s and early 1990s. Specifically, Manolo Blahnik’s high-heeled shoes were seen everywhere on the catwalks as new designers started to rethink high heels. As opulent television shows such as Dallas and Dynasty suggested, excess was the hallmark of the 1980s. While flat shoes were likely worn in the corporate culture, more sophisticated designer high heels were still sign of Yuppie success. While designers who helped create the very tall heels of the 1990s, such as Jimmy Choo and Emma Hope, rode into that decade on this profitable trend, by the late 1990s heels started to decline once again as the hippie revival emphasized comfort over fashion (West 1993).
Today’s Heel Revival
Women in the 21st century have more shoe choices than ever before. From athletic wear to the 2006 “heelless” high heel from Manolo Blahnik, women can choose to wear what they want, even hybrid shoes such as “heeled” tennis shoes and flip flops. What is certain is that heels have not disappeared. Noted for its unique classes, Crunch, a nationwide gym, even offers a 45-minute “Stiletto Strength” classes that strengthen women’s legs and calves. Perhaps influenced in part by successful TV and film hits as Sex in the City and The Devil Wears Prada, some women are even going under the knife to shorten their toes or inject padding into the balls of their feet to allow their feet to fit more comfortably into a pair of stilettos (Sherr). While these may be oddities of fashion, they gesture toward an exciting array of fashion choices women have today.
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