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
Elsie de Wolfe's The House in Good Taste
I once saw a little serving-maid wearing a calico gown, black crosses on a white ground, and I was so enchanted with the cool crispness of it that I had a glazed wall paper made in the same design. I have used it in bedrooms, and in bathrooms, always with admirable effect. One can imagine a girl making a Pierrot and Pierrette room for herself, given whitewashed walls, white woodwork, and white painted furniture. more »
Alabama Machiavelli, Review of Stealth Reconstruction: An Untold Story of Racial Politics in Recent Southern History
Machiavelli was a high-level bureaucrat in the Florentine Republic, not an elected official in a democracy, but he did write about how to get and keep political power. His basic advice was to appear to do one thing while obscuring the fact that you are really doing something else. more »
Lifelong Pursuits: The Rickrack Chronicles
Sewing is an avocation that gives a surprising amount of sensate pleasure. The aroma of a fabric store or department, a combination of sizing and fibers, is like the scent of spring — it makes a stitcher happy, gives her energy, and opens her wallet. more »
Vatican's Guide to Understanding Basic CDF Procedures concerning Sexual Abuse Allegations
During the preliminary stage and until the case is concluded, the bishop may impose precautionary measures to safeguard the community, including the victims. Indeed, the local bishop always retains power to protect children by restricting the activities of any priest in his diocese. more »
