Doris O'Brien is a retired college Speech teacher and banker. She has published two books of humor (Up or Down With Women's Liberation and Humor Me a Little) and for many years contributed light verse to the Pepper 'n Salt column of the Wall Street Journal. She is an avid writer of letters to the editors.
Doris celebrated her 50th wedding anniversary in the same year she welcomed her first grandchild. She now lives in Pasadena with a great view of the San Gabriel mountains — and the annual Tournament of Roses Parade.
She can be reached by e-mail: witsendob at (@) gmail.com
Have You Been to Kykuit? Nelson Rockefeller’s Picasso Tapestries Commissioned for the Family Estate On View in San Antonio
Commissioned by Rockefeller between 1958 and 1975, the tapestries were woven entirely by hand by Madame J. de la Baume Dürrbach at her studio in southern France. Enormous in scale — some as large as 9 ft. x 12 ft. — these woven works of art took between three and six months to complete. more »
Indigo: A Technology Has the Potential to Transform the Jeans Dyeing industry From a Polluting Industry Into a Green One
Commercial synthesis of indigo dye replaced the plant source around 1900. Today, the jean industry uses about 40,000 tons of indigo a year. But there is a dark side. Industrial synthesis of indigo from petroleum is a "dirty" chemical process. Chemical production of indigo into an effective dye requires a chemical that becomes toxic to fish and some other aquatic life. And when sent to waste water treatment plants, it severely corrodes the piping. more »
When You’ve Seen One, You’ve Seen the Mall
Doris O'Brien writes: I never dreamed I'd be spending my retirement in a mall. Don’t get me wrong. I haven'’t become a shopaholic willing to squander my 401K distribution in the pursuit of materialism. To be more precise, I live above a mall, in a sixth floor, two-bedroom aerie with a panoramic view of Southern California’s San Gabriel mountains. more »
New Mexico's Nurse Hotline Lauded as a Model For Other States
New Mexico is the only state with a 24/7 registered nurse call center that is free to all residents, whether insured or not. In operation since 2006, it has kept tens of thousands of New Mexicans out of emergency rooms and saved the state more than $68 million in health care expenses. In April, the CDC will recommend New Mexico's advice line as a national model that other states adopt during an Atlanta emergency preparedness summit. more »
