Christine Jackman posted an article on
At My Soiree
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Feb 3, 2012, 5:00 pm
One of journalism's criminal failures is well known: last year's infamous phone-hacking scandal of Rupert Murdoch's News of the World that caused its ultimate demise.
A more recent scandal is from Canada. In October 2011, Sun News, a cable "news" channel, staged a Canadian citizenship affirmation c... Comment - Like
Christine Jackman posted an article on
At My Soiree
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Jan 30, 2012, 2:41 pm
If  terroir is expressed in wine, coffee, and tea, why not in blueberries - and potatoes and kumquats for that matter.
Argentinian blueberries have, I am certain, a distinctive and charming terroir - an ever-so- slight lavender flavour. I hesitate to admit to buying Argentinian blueberries in winte... Comment - Like
Christine Jackman posted an article on
At My Soiree
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Jan 24, 2012, 1:30 pm
After reading an excellent post, at ART and ARCHITECTURE, mainly, about Oscar Wilde's involvement in France's notorious Dreyfus Affair, I decided to re-post this entry from August  2009. I have long been intrigued by our relationship with artists and by our expectations about them as moral (or ot... Comment - Like
Christine Jackman posted an article on
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Jan 21, 2012, 7:08 pm
Over the last twenty years, I have become a real northerner.
When I first moved north from Vancouver, I watched the weather channel every day with growing trepidation as October morning temperatures slid into the minus range. When it hit minus 4, I really bundled up for the eight-minute walk to work... Comment - Like
Christine Jackman posted an article on
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Jan 15, 2012, 2:15 pm
Sometimes, what begins as a joke ends up as a good workout in Photoshop and begets another image into the bargain.
So, without further ado:
I never did get the above image quite right; it's a work in progress, but I am pleased with the "test" image created in trying to work things out.
Peppers Al F... Comment - Like
Christine Jackman posted an article on
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Jan 10, 2012, 8:15 pm
Sometimes the simplest ideas are the most applicable to daily life. Three of the most useful to me come by way of my husband, the airline industry, and Buddhism. Each functions literally, and each one works metaphorically for many situations in this life.
The first is from my husband. Pick your spee... Comment - Like
Christine Jackman posted an article on
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Jan 3, 2012, 5:55 pm
January 1, 2012 was my first day of retirement. Even though it was a right and well-timed decision, I had wondered just exactly what I would feel on that first morning, the point from which everything could or would change.
I am happy to say that I had no panic, no ringing reverberations that I had ... Comment - Like
Christine Jackman posted an article on
At My Soiree
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Dec 21, 2011, 6:22 pm
Baby, It's Cold Outside
It's difficult to choose a favourite version, but this one is gorgeous.
I'm hoping to be back with many new posts in the New Year.
I hope you all have a wonderful holiday season. Comment - Like
Christine Jackman posted an article on
At My Soiree
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Oct 23, 2011, 3:06 pm
In our busy lives, it is too easy to forget to include time for creative play. Fortunately, the opportunities sometimes find us, and the results surprise and rejuvenate.
I had the pleasure of participating in a photography workshop put on by photographer Matthew Wheeler in September, titled Breaking... Comment - Like
Christine Jackman posted an article on
At My Soiree
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Oct 16, 2011, 8:38 pm
I have been absent since July, but haven't given up on At My Soiree. Many things contributed  to my temporary hiatus. I have returned to the classroom after a long absence - sabbatical and two sick leaves for hip replacement and am finding it a struggle. My husband and I have both announced our ret... Comment - Like
Christine Jackman posted an article on
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Jul 14, 2011, 2:01 pm
I am "lobstered out" for the time being at least, having been in New Brunswick on vacation and (over)indulging - lobster rolls, salad, cracked right out of the shell - in one of the Maritimes' most delicious staples. Not the cheapest dining alternative, but entirely worth it.
It wasn't always so.
... Comment - Like
Christine Jackman posted an article on
At My Soiree
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Jun 23, 2011, 1:56 pm
It must be exceedingly difficult to write a book on the genocides perpetrated by Hitler and Stalin, genocides in which the Holocaust has a part, but genocides which are different and independent from it. The historian- writer must honour the Holocaust, but must include or exclude its importance as t... Comment - Like
Christine Jackman posted an article on
At My Soiree
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Jun 19, 2011, 4:01 am
Of the many lasting gifts my parents have given to me, my love of reading and literature is the most satisfying, intellectually stimulating, and even lucrative, as it led to my profession. My parents raised a reader long before it was a popular campaign with big name advocates.
My Dad was the major ... Comment - Like
Christine Jackman posted an article on
At My Soiree
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Jun 14, 2011, 2:18 pm
Perhaps because my favourite hockey team has not been in the NHL Stanley Cup final since 1994, I was not paying attention to the level of illogical hatred that passes for sports rivalry, especially at this the very top level.
I have been surprised and chagrined by the vitriol in the press from spor... Comment - Like
Christine Jackman posted an article on
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Jun 1, 2011, 10:56 pm
One of the few literary arguments my husband and I have is about the poems of Gerard Manley Hopkins. I love Hopkins' "sprung rhythm" and the powerful language that recalls Anglo-Saxon poetry. My husband jokes that teaching Hopkins (which I do often) should be grounds for dismissal, such is his disli... Comment - Like
Christine Jackman posted an article on
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May 24, 2011, 4:03 pm
Joint replacement patients, even those under 65, have surgery because they cannot sit, stand, lie down, walk, bend, sleep, work, and do everyday activities without extreme, sharp, often grinding, usually unrelenting pain.
As the disease worsens, pain killers work only in the amount suitable for a l... Comment - Like
Christine Jackman posted an article on
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Apr 30, 2011, 5:52 pm
Every spring, the branches of certain shrubs and bushes turn a vibrant purple during the time just before new shoots appear. Sometimes whole hillsides of trees present a blanket of deep, vegetative purple.
That display is Persephone returning from Hades, the Lord (and place) of the Underworld,Â... Comment - Like
Christine Jackman posted an article on
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Mar 31, 2011, 3:14 pm
Our scientific understanding of sound frequencies, musical instruments, and analog and digital technologies for conveying sound waves does not ever fully explain a Mozart piano concerto, nor does our understanding of music theory.
Neuroscience does not explain the piano concerto, and it does ... Comment - Like
Christine Jackman posted an article on
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Feb 20, 2011, 4:10 pm
Researchers at American University, Cornell University, and the University of Chicago recently conducted a study in which childhood obesity is linked to working mothers.
According to the study, a child's weight increases by about one pound for each 5.3 months the mother works. Researchers aren't... Comment - Like
Christine Jackman posted an article on
At My Soiree
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Feb 15, 2011, 12:43 pm
Millions of blogs exist that add nothing to the greater human conversation - no knowledge, nothing interesting, nothing helpful. Most often, one does not have to read very much of a post in order to know that the blogger is completely self-involved and self- indulgent - a "me" blogger.
Lately, I ... Comment - Like
Christine Jackman posted an article on
At My Soiree
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Jan 22, 2011, 4:45 pm
Home never looks so good as it does when we've been away for awhile. Add surgery into the mix, and that's true after only three days.
I am happy to report that I came home last Thursday after hip replacement surgery on Monday morning - no moss growing on me; hospitals won't allow that, for sure.
Th... Comment - Like
Christine Jackman posted an article on
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Jan 15, 2011, 1:40 pm
Nearly one year ago - eleven months and seven days, to be exact - I had total hip replacement surgery. On Monday, I am having the other hip replaced.
What I wrote then is still true. I am elated to start the process that will allow me to move more freely; aprehensive about any procedure involving n... Comment - Like
Christine Jackman posted an article on
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Dec 12, 2010, 2:26 pm
I will be taking a break from posting for awhile - at best there may be a sporadic post or two. My work committments have changed, and I am much busier; I have just lost a good friend after a brief but intense illness; Christmas is upon us; and I am scheduled for a second hip replacement surgery (ot... Comment - Like
Christine Jackman posted an article on
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Nov 27, 2010, 2:00 pm
Years ago, when McDonald's was still a recent addition to the world of dining out, the Golden Arches signs always include the tally of how many burgers the company had sold - "over three billion sold," or five billion, six, or seven. I don't remember at what point they stopped counting.
And for a... Comment - Like
Christine Jackman posted an article on
At My Soiree
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Nov 13, 2010, 12:46 am
It wasn't a Monday, It was my husband's fault. It was a chain of events. No time to eat. It was a manic Friday.
I should know the signs by now. It starts with a simple, inocuous task, It mushrooms; the day is chaotic.
Last week, my husband went on a short business trip for a meeting - held in a casi... Comment - Like
Christine Jackman posted an article on
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Nov 8, 2010, 12:09 am
Clear-cut housing and one spot of colour: It is better philosophically and visually as an abstract. Comment - Like
Christine Jackman posted an article on
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Nov 6, 2010, 4:35 am
 Procrastination wastes time, costs money, produces guilt, and delays or negates benefits. So why do we do it?
It turns out that there is no definitive answer. James Surowiecki writes about procrastination in his article "Later" in The New Yorker (Nov 5/10) and includes some interesting theories fr... Comment - Like
Christine Jackman posted an article on
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Nov 4, 2010, 1:23 pm
My blogging friend Cher states a commonplace in response to my post about aging idols - all men become sexier as they age, she claims, including and especially Leonard Cohen. And while I might quibble about Cohen, - I have been an avid fan for 40 years, but think he seems a bit more old than sexy i... Comment - Like
Christine Jackman posted an article on
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Nov 1, 2010, 7:11 pm
John Lennon would have been 70 years old on Oct 9, 2010. Many expressed their surprise at this fact; they knew the date of his birth, but somehow couldn't readily accept that he would now be a senior.
I was surprised by people's surprise. For those of us who watched the Beatles' first appearance... Comment - Like
Christine Jackman posted an article on
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Oct 26, 2010, 3:34 pm
At times, I wonder just how different I am from other people in North America! According to the real estate shows, everyone wants a huge bathroom, and couples want to be able to use the bathroom together. These seeming facts reflect neither my desire nor my experience.
My first question for those w... Comment - Like
Christine Jackman posted an article on
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Oct 22, 2010, 2:01 pm
Actually sheared, cropped, lassoed, unsharpened, and a few other things! Comment - Like
Christine Jackman posted an article on
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Oct 20, 2010, 12:31 pm
Today is Sprirt Day, a day when many are wearing purple in solidarity with the LGBT community, to remember the recent suicides of several young people, to stand against bullying, to lobby for peace among people, generally.
Although they are not the first, and unfortunately will probably not be t... Comment - Like
Christine Jackman posted an article on
At My Soiree
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Oct 19, 2010, 11:14 pm
Over a year ago, on Canada Day, I took a photo of a colourful mannequin on display at the park:
Lovely as she was, she has been altered in the service of learning. I'm not sure which alteration I like best:
This one:
or this one:
What does everyone else like? Comment - Like
Christine Jackman posted an article on
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Oct 18, 2010, 1:54 pm
My Photoshop projects are quite random - months of diligently working through the book from start to finish wasn't very productive; I was bored and kept seeing things ahead that looked like more fun than what was in the current chapter.
So, when a fellow blogger offhandedly said to make something fo... Comment - Like
Christine Jackman posted an article on
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Oct 17, 2010, 6:43 pm
Yesterday, these functions in the Layers Palette were somewhat of a mystery, so I tried them out. (This after only just being able to put some layers together that stay together!)
The background "before shot" is a crop of a picture of flowers I took earlier in the summer:
The before of the next laye... Comment - Like
Christine Jackman posted an article on
At My Soiree
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Oct 17, 2010, 6:18 pm
I didn't make huge changes to the photo: I used the impressionist brush with a long curl/ light colour to lighten areas of the sky; the wire has a sort of corona from a brush from special effects - scattered crystals (I think); some of the foliage is greener than in the original - another pass ... Comment - Like
Christine Jackman posted an article on
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Oct 16, 2010, 3:23 pm
I have been concentrating on working with Photoshop and have decided to do something new each day, when possible. For too long, I have been poking around here and there in the program, but at that rate it would take several lifetimes to learn much of anything. With each new command or pull-down men... Comment - Like
Christine Jackman posted an article on
At My Soiree
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Oct 2, 2010, 1:37 pm
Mellow days for contemplation.
Vibrant light and colour.
Autumn and beauty are complementary. Comment - Like
Christine Jackman posted an article on
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Oct 1, 2010, 12:45 pm
Jack Kerouac, in On the Road, has characters Dean Moriarty and Carlo Marx do an experiment in which they try to tell each other their full and complete thoughts: "We're trying to communicate with absolute honesty and absolute completeness everything on our minds."
The experiment does not work:
The... Comment - Like
Christine Jackman posted an article on
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Sep 30, 2010, 12:47 am
The cat came back from death's door, and it took longer than the very next day. Our cat Boots is only just now starting to seem like her old self after nearly dying from acute renal failure. The vet does not know how or why she got sick (that would take even more money to find out!). Perhaps she got... Comment - Like
Christine Jackman posted an article on
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Sep 22, 2010, 4:09 pm
Try as one might, it's not possible to make a whoopie pie fancy. Present them, if you must, on tiered plates; photograph them at centre stage; enhance the elegant black-white contrast. But a whoopie pie is still a whoopie pie and cannot be ea... Comment - Like
Christine Jackman posted an article on
At My Soiree
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Sep 20, 2010, 5:39 am
I've never been comfortable with even the smallest of thefts, the kind that others assure me is meaningless because "everyone does it." When one of our party would steal an ashtray from a restaurant, I would feel bad because it was wrong and fearful because it would be embarassing, and possibly ... Comment - Like
Christine Jackman posted an article on
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Sep 16, 2010, 3:25 pm
Unfortunately, playing the piano is not like riding a bicycle. We do, indeed, forget. The fruits of all those years of practice, music festivals, and Royal Conservatory exams have not stuck with me.Â
Memories of going blank in the finals of a festival have stuck with me, and I still get a flutter ... Comment - Like
Christine Jackman posted an article on
At My Soiree
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Sep 8, 2010, 1:51 pm
We intuitively know the power of images- one picture is worth a thousand words. Poets know the power of images - they create visual impressions with language. Advertisers know the power of images - they invoke desire for products through pictures.
Food images can actually make us salivate. Inter... Comment - Like
Christine Jackman posted an article on
At My Soiree
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Sep 6, 2010, 6:14 pm
Penguins and rap stars, nuns and Greek housewives dance -  in the rain, on the street, on stage, and in fitness classes. Dancing is older than Homer and as current as Dancing with the Stars.
Whether it's ballet or breakdancing, we humans love to soar, jump, tap, and move to the beat. And we dance ... Comment - Like
Christine Jackman posted an article on
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Aug 30, 2010, 1:58 pm
I get tired, angry, disappointed, and frustrated whenever I hear the tired old saw that a university education is a waste.
It goes like this: Forget science and the liberal arts (especially the liberal arts/humanities). Focus on practical, rather than intellectual, skills, forget knowledge, and... Comment - Like
Christine Jackman posted an article on
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Aug 25, 2010, 2:01 pm
Turns out that you are weird; me too. As a society, we are Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic - WEIRD.
This is important beyond being a simple descriptive acronym because the vast majority of psychology experiments - the ones aimed at finding the universal truth about human beh... Comment - Like
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