Dear Santa,
I have been a very good girl. All I wish for Christmas is shoes, just a few please. What about those brown ostrich leather pumps from LOUIS VUITTON or the beige pumps with the metal clip from MIU MIU? And please don't forget the PRADA sling pumps, they would look so beautiful with my new silk dress for the new year's eve party.
Yours Cinderella

Video: Thalia de Jong
Sound Design: Yme de Jong
Model: Léa Delion

We almost missed the bus this morning due to a manicure meltdown. Phoebe & Samara had done one another's nails yesterday, and as one might expect with child-applied polish, they needed some touch up work, which we did not have time for this morning! With the promise of an afternoon manicure, we got her settled down and off to school, not crying. And now, she's fallen asleep during her afternoon manicure! Maybe it'll get to set before she wakes up! But this Daddy-mani is bound to last longer than the Samara-mani did. :)

It started snowing in Berlin today which is the perfect moment to introduce you to our latest masterpiece. Chewbacca finest!

Video: Thalia de Jong
Model: Lea Delion

fake fur boots CHANEL

6. KATHERINE PARR

BORN: 1512
MARRIED: 12 JULY 1543
WIDOWED: 28 JANUARY 1547
DIED: 5 SEPTEMBER 1548

TO BE USEFUL IN ALL I DO
Katherine Parr was the eldest daughter of Sir Thomas Parr and his wife Maud Green, both of whom were at the court of Henry VIII in hisearlyreign.Maudwasalady-in-waitingtoQueenCatherineofAragonandnamedherdaughter,bornin1512,afterher. So,Henry VIII’s last wife was named after his first.
Thomas Parr died in November 1517, leaving his three children, William, Katherine and Anne in the care of their mother. Maud managed the children’s education and the family estates and must have left an impression on her daughter of the greater role an independent woman could have in society. The education that Maud arranged for the children was similar to that of other noble figures of the time and at least in the case of Katherine, it ignited a life-long passion for learning. She was fluent in French, Latin and Italian and began learning Spanish when she was Queen.
Katherine Parr was the most-married English queen, as she had four husbands. Her first marriage was to Edward Borough when she was 17 years old. Edward died only a few years later, probably in early 1533. It was during this marriage that Katherine’s mother Maud died.
Katherine’s second marriage was to John Neville, whom she married in the summer of 1534 when he was 41 and she was 22. Latimer had two children from his previous marriages so Katherine also became a stepmother for the first time Katherine’s ailing husband died in March 1543, leaving her a widow for the second time, now at the age of 31.
It was around this time that Katherine was noticed by not only the King, but also Thomas Seymour, brother of the late Queen Jane Seymour. Katherine expressed her desire to marry Thomas Seymour after Latimer’s death, but the King’s request for her hand was one that Katherine felt it was her duty to accept.
Katherine and Henry VIII were married on July 12th in a small ceremony attended by about 20 people.
Katherine was interested in the reformed faith, making her enemies with the conservatives of Henry’s court. It was her influence with the King and the Henry’s failing health that led to a plot against her in 1546 by the conservative fraction. Katherine and her ladies were known to have had banned books which was grounds for arrest and execution on charges of heresy. The warrant was accidentally dropped and someone loyal to the Queen saw it and then quickly told her about it. After learning of the arrest warrant, Katherine was said to be very ill, either as a ruse to stall or from a genuine panic attack. Henry went to see her and chastised her for her outspokenness about the reformed religion and his feeling that she was forgetting her place by instructing him on such matters. Katherine’s response in her defense was that she was only arguing with him on these issues so she could be instructed by him, and to take his mind off other troubles. Playing to Henry’s ego no doubt helped and Katherine was forgiven.
Katherine was close with all three of her stepchildren as Henry’s wife and was personally involved in the educational program of the younger two, Elizabeth and Edward. It is thought that her actions as regent, together with her strength of character and noted dignity, and later religious convictions, greatly influenced her stepdaughter Elizabeth (the future Queen Elizabeth I).
She was also a patron of the arts and music. Katherine’s own learning and academic achievements, as alluded to previously, were impressive, and in 1545, her book “Prayers or Meditations” became the first work published by an English Queen under her own name. Another book, “The Lamentation of a Sinner”, was published after Henry VIII’s death.
Henry VIII died in January 1547 and Katherine had probably expected to play some role in the regency for the new nine-year-old king, Edward VI, but this was not to be. Only a few months after Henry’s death, Katherine secretly married Thomas Seymour, but the quickness and secret nature of the union caused a scandal. Katherine was still able to take guardianship of Princess Elizabeth and Seymour purchased the wardship of the king’s cousin, Lady Jane Grey.
Afterthreepreviousmarriagesandattheageof37,Katherinewaspregnantforthefirsttimeand onAugust30thshegavebirthtoa daughter named Mary. Katherine soon fell ill with puerperal fever, which was to claim her life in the morning hours of September 5th. Katherine was buried, with Lady Jane Grey as the chief mourner, in the chapel at Sudeley Castle, where the tomb can still be visited today.

DIRECTOR: MARCUS GAAB
FASHION: SARAH COBB
MAKE UP: DEANNA MELLUSO
HAIR: JOHN RUGGIERO
PRODUCTION: JAMES JOLLY (AFG MANAGEMENT)
MODEL: MARTHE (SUPREME MODELS)


TEXT: LARA E. EAKINS

VIDEO EDITING: THALIA DE JONG
TEXT: LARA E. EAKINS
SOUND: "If Love Now Reigned as it Hath Been" by King Henry VIII


shirt PETER JENSEN  
skirt EMMA COOK 
neckpiece & earrings ERICKSON BEAMON

I have this Christmas project that's been brewing in the back of my mind for months. It's one gift I can give to everyone on my list, and I can update and give it year after year - a family calendar! I will still buy presents for all kiddos and other special recipients, but I think a family calendar, pre-populated with birthdays/etc, would make a darn fine gift for the many others whom I love. I've only today just started tinkering, and already I'm hoping it'll become a beloved family tradition. I'll be soliciting photos, and maybe little yearly re-cap blurbs, and hm... what else? :) I love this kinda stuff!

We spent most of yesterday at Papa & Grandma Lynn's for the traditional not-on-Thanksgiving Thanksgiving. Every time we go, JR & I both leave feeling like we should really do that more often. JR tends to forget that he is enjoying the relationship that he has with his Dad since becoming a Dad himself, so he still resists going, but always enjoys it. And for me it's Granny, I always feel like I should should visit more with her and let her spend some more time w/my kids. She's a frail old lady, who knows how many more holidays we have with her. She says goodbye at each as if it were the last, but I always leave thinking I'll see her again at the next Thanksgiving, Christmas, or Easter. I know I'll be wrong at some point, probably in the not too far distant future. She's 84, or that's what she said yesterday anyway, I'll have to check my records on that one. She still mourns the loss of her husband and daughter. I speculated aloud about her life w/Jason, and JR said he treats her well, but I bet he doesn't. He's an ignorant loud-mouthed nincompoop. I wonder who cooks? Who cleans?



A blog Mom shared recently has planted a seed in me: if you want more or less of something, anything, in your life, measure it. Now this is a concept my process-improvement-brain can get right on board with! My sense of looming change has not settled with my relocation, which probably means I have more work to do. :)

5. Kathryn Howard

BORN: c. 1521 
MARRIED: 28 JULY 1540 
EXECUTED: 13 FEBRUARY 1542

NO OTHER WILL THAN THIS
Kathryn Howard was the daughter of Lord Edmund Howard, a younger brother of Thomas Howard, Duke of Norfolk. She was also first cousin to Anne Boleyn, Henry’s ill-fated second Queen. She was brought up in the household of the Dowager Duchess of Norfolk. Kathryn came to court at about the age of 19 as a lady in waiting to Anne of Cleves and there is no doubt that the spirited young girl caught Henry’s attentions. Kathryn’s uncle probably encouraged the girl to respond to the King’s attentions and saw it as a way to increase his own influence over the monarch. The Duke of Norfolk also took advantage of the debacle of the Anne of Cleves marriage as a chance to discredit his enemy, Thomas Cromwell. In fact, Cromwell was executed shortly after the marriage was nullified. Sixteen days after he was free of Anne, Henry took his fifth wife, Kathryn Howard, on July 28, 1540. Henry was 49 and his bride was no older than 19.
For all that can be said against this match, Kathryn did manage to lift the King’s spirits. The vivacious young girl brought back some of Henry’s zest for life. The King lavished gifts on his young wife and called her his “rose without a thorn” and the “very jewel of womanhood”. Kathryn, however, may well have found her marital relations unappealing. Henry weighed around 21 stone (about 140 kilograms or 300 pounds) at the time, and had a foul-smelling, festering ulcer on his thigh that had to be drained daily. Less than a year into Kathryn’s marriage, the rumors of her infidelity began. In a way, one couldn’t blame her for seeking the company of handsome young men closer to her own age. But to do so, even if only in courtly flirtations, was dangerous for a Queen, especially one who came from a powerful family with many enemies. Kathryn didn’t help matters much by appointing one of her admirers as her personal secretary.
By November 1541, there was enough evidence against the Queen that Archbishop Cranmer informed the King of Kathryn’s misconduct. At first Henry did not believe the accusations, but he agreed to allow further investigations into the matter. Enough evidence was gathered that the Queen had been promiscuous before her marriage and may have had liaisons after becoming Henry’s wife. She was beheaded with one stroke on February 13, 1542, and her body was buried in an unmarked grave in the nearby chapel of St Peter ad Vincula, where the body of her cousin, Anne Boleyn, also lay. Henry did not attend.

DIRECTOR: MARCUS GAAB
FASHION: SARAH COBB
MAKE UP: DEANNA MELLUSO
HAIR: JOHN RUGGIERO
PRODUCTION: JAMES JOLLY (AFG MANAGEMENT)
MODEL: MARTHE (SUPREME MODELS)


TEXT: LARA E. EAKINS

VIDEO EDITING: THALIA DE JONG
TEXT: LARA E. EAKINS
SOUND: "If Love Now Reigned as it Hath Been" by King Henry VIII

leather dress GEMMA SLACK

From D magazine (La Repubblica), 20th November 2010

4. Anne of Cleves 

BORN: 22 SEPTEMBER 1515 
MARRIED: 6 JANUARY 1540 
DIVORCED: JULY 1540 
DIED: 16 JULY 1557


GOD SEND ME TO KEEP
Henry VIII remained single for over two years after Jane Seymour’s death, possibly giving some credence to the thought that he genuinely mourned for her.
However, it does seem that someone, possibly Thomas Cromwell, began making inquiries shortly after Jane’s death about a possible foreign bride for Henry. Henry’s first marriage had been a foreign alliance of sorts, although it is almost certain that the two were truly in love for some time. His next two brides were love matches and Henry could have had little or no monetary or political gain from them. But the events of the split from Rome left England isolated, and probably vulnerable.
It was these circumstances that led Henry and his ministers to look at the possibility of a bride to secure an alliance.
Henry did also want to be sure he was getting a desirable bride, so he had agents in foreign courts report to him on the appearance and other qualities of various candidates. He also sent painters to bring him images of these women. The most famous of the Tudor court painters, Hans Holbein, was sent to the court of the Duke of Cleves, who had two sisters: Amelia and Anne. Henry required the artist to be as accurate as possible, not to flatter the sisters. The two versions of Holbein’s portrait are in the Louvre in Paris and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. At the time in 1539, Cleves was seen as an important potential ally in the event France and the Holy Roman Empire (who had somewhat made a truce in their long history of conflict) decided to move against the countries who had thrown off the Papal authority. England then sought alliances with countries who had been supporting the reformation of the church. Several of the Duchys and principalities along the Rhine were Lutheran.
The paintings of the sisters of the Duke of Cleves were sent to Henry who decided to have a contract drawn up for his marriage to Anne. Henry was impatient to see his future bride. He went to meet her at Rochester and was promptly disappointed. Henry urged Cromwell to find a legal way to avoid the marriage but, by this point, doing so was impossible without endangering the vital alliance with the Germans.
The marriage took place on January 6, 1540. Anne was ill-suited for life at the English court. Her upbringing in Cleves had concentrated on domestic skills and not the music and literature so popular at Henry’s court. And, most famously, Henry did not find his new bride the least bit attractive and is said to have called her a “Flanders Mare”. The couple’s first night as husband and wife was not a happy one. Henry confided to Cromwell that he had not consummated the marriage, saying, “I liked her before not well, but now I like her much worse”. In addition to his personal feelings for wanting to end the marriage, there were now political ones as well. Tension between the Duke of Cleves and the Empire was increasing towards war and Henry had no desire to become involved. Last but not least, at some point, Henry had become attracted to young Kathryn Howard.
Anne was probably smart enough to know that she would only be making trouble for herself if she raised any obstacles to Henry’s attempts to annul the marriage. She testified that the match had not been consummated and that her previous engagement to the son of the Duke of Lorraine had not been properly broken.
After the marriage had been dissolved, Anne accepted the honorary title as the “King’s Sister”. She was given property, including Hever Castle, formerly the home of Anne Boleyn. Anne lived away from court quietly in the countryside until 1557, thus outliving all of Henry VIII wives. She is buried in a somewhat hard to find tomb in Westminster Abbey.
God send me to keep

DIRECTOR: MARCUS GAAB
FASHION: SARAH COBB
MAKE UP: DEANNA MELLUSO
HAIR: JOHN RUGGIERO
PRODUCTION: JAMES JOLLY (AFG MANAGEMENT)
MODEL: TATIANA (IMG MODELS)


TEXT: LARA E. EAKINS

VIDEO EDITING: THALIA DE JONG
TEXT: LARA E. EAKINS
SOUND: "If Love Now Reigned as it Hath Been" by King Henry VIII

ears COCO DE MER 
suit & knit SONIA RYKIEL 
shoes GAP

What’s the meaning of Body Art/Actions/Happening? What do performances and tattoos, Marina Abramović and Franko B, pain and sexuality taboo have in common?
On the occasion of the Franko B I Still Love exhibition, a special meeting with contemporary art critic Lea Vergine—pioneer of Body Art during the ‘70s—and theorist Francesca Alfano Miglietti is set up to debate with the public on ‘the body’.
Two of the most authoritative voices will explain the relationship between art and body in our society that every day sees true mutations through love practices, fights, rituals, incisions, penetrations and actions.

I met with  FCPS Early Childhood Special Education Preschool Program's Local Screening Committee on Tuesday 11/16 and, as expected, Christopher was recommended for an initial evaluation to determine if he has a disability and requires special education. He is scheduled for three assessments, all on Friday 07 January 2011: 1) "Sociocultural" which is developmental history, family background, adaptive behavior, medical status, and educational history; 2) "Audiological" which is a complete assessment of hearing; and 3) the "Developmental"/Preschool looks at the areas of adaptive, cognitive, physical, communication, and social/emotional.



At this early stage, the process is more about determining his eligibility for county services. I'm sure later the process will shift to focus on identifying those services from which he will derive the most benefit, but in the meantime, I am wondering if we should start him in speech therapy right away through our medical coverage. I can't imagine how that would not be a good thing, but will probably check w/his designated social worker to a) make sure it won't impact his eligibility for county services, and b) to see if I can start services now with the same providers who the county might use anyway, so his therapy would continue uninterrupted.



I have a lot to learn about advocating for my "special needs" child, even if it is just in the short term. I sincerely hope that our Little Mister Christopher is in fact experiencing a temporary delay, and that therapy and treatment will get him fully up to speed quickly. While I am ready/willing/able to advocate for him, however much and for however long it takes, I do hope that his special needs will not need advocating throughout his entire schooling.

Photographs by Pasquale Formisano

Been tinkering with Shutterfly & Swingvine trying to get my photos uploaded, and have been reminded why I opted for Picasa in the first place. So, I set myself up another Google/Picasa account, and will not be using those other sites. Should all be seamless to you: my links to the left should work.

L’ultima cosa che fa prima di dormire ? Do un bacio a mio marito .

Il suo rapporto con le droghe , o l’alcol ? Sono sposato , ne faccio

uso come diversivo .

Cosa le piace di più nel corpo di una donna ? Il sedere .

Cosa mangia a pranzo la domenica ? Piatti estremamente variabili .

Cosa la tiene sveglia la notte ? Mio marito , sempre lui .

Beauty : mai senza .... I tatuaggi .

Quanto conta il sesso nella vita ? Molto , ma dipende anche da dove

sei . E da quanto costa .

Fa sport ? Si , sport acquatici , quando capita .

Si reincarna in donna , la prima cosa che vorrebbe sperimentare ?

Gli uomini .

ى mai andato da uno psicanalista ? S … .

Cosa c’è sempre nel suo frigo ? il pollo . Per i cani .

Come si rilassa ? Con il valium .

Il senso più importante ? La vista .

Cosa non indosserebbe mai ? Preferisco non dire “mai” .

Se non facesse male , con cosa si consolerebbe ? Se mi fa bene , va

bene tutto .

FRANKO B , 50 anni , artista milanese . Fino al 28/11 al Pac di Milano c’è la

sua mostra “I Still Love” , curata da Francesca Alfano Miglietti . Vive a

Londra , dove si è affermato con progetti radicali . Le sue opere sono

anche alla Tate Modern , al Victoria and Albert Museum , al Modern Art

Museum di Tel Aviv . (on "D" di Repubblica)

Dear Dianne, I know that stability is at the very tip top of your list when it comes to employment criteria. And I know that Plan B is all set for if/when you when the lottery. I'm asking you to think somewhere in between those parameters. Let's say, hypothetically, you won, not the lottery, but an annuity equivalent to your current income and benefits, so the "stability" part of the equation is solved, then what would you do with your days? What would be more satisfying that just stability, but not as fabulous as winning the lottery?

I knew that returning to NoVA to work in DC would mean a significant change to my commute. I knew it would be more expensive and more time consuming. But dammit I can't take it! I spend $301.90/mo for my VRE/Metro ticket, which is actually cheaper than it would be for gas into and out of DC plus parking in DC, but it's still a lot of money. But what pains me even more is the time! I had a 20min commute in Hampton, and now I have a 1½hr commute - that's 3hrs/day - on top of an 8hr work day! So if I bust my ass and take no breaks, I still have to spend ELEVEN hours apart from my home and family - it blows!



I tried to warn Ken when I started that the commute to DC was most unappealing, and asked if I might be able to work from home (or our Fairfax office) a couple days a week, but was denied, because "presence" is such a key part of our support. Well "presence" is a key part of a happy home-life too, and I ain't gettin' enough!



Plus, when Ken hired me, he said he was BUSY and needed help, so that he would not be working so many late hours. But as it turns out, Ken still works those late hours, and I am, to some degree, expected to "make myself useful" in SEA05Z where we have funding, but where the clients are not routinely using our support. I struggled for too long to "make myself useful" at SUPSHIP Newport News, with limited success, and am not keen on having to solicit/generate my own work.



So, if things continue along this path, which I think they will, I am already mentally preparing myself to give this job one year, then I'm going to move on. I don't have a plan yet, and won't make the same mistake this time of announcing my intentions to my boss and clients before I do have another plan, but a plan is indeed brewing.

We are on the road to having Little Mister Christopher's language issues identified so we can get that boy talking! Our "case" goes before Fairfax County Early Childhood Special Education Preschool Program's Local Screening Committee on Tuesday 16 November. We are expecting he will be referred into the system for services.



My work friend, Michele, knew of a mutual contact whose child also exhibited developmental delays at about age three, so she put Dave & I in touch by email, we may meet for a bit on Tuesday if our work schedules permit. His son, also a Christopher, was diagnosed with Severe Apraxia, which of course I immediately Googled, and while I am not jumping to conclusions, many of the Apraxia indicators do seem to fit w/our Christopher's typical behavior. The Family Start Guide at Apraxia-Kids.org was a decent intro.



I told JR yesterday that his new job starts soon: he's about to become a full-time speech therapist. Whatever Christopher's particular language development diagnosis is, I feel certain he will be registered for at least speech therapy, and my initial research indicates that most parents have success with therapy at least three times per week. And of course the success of therapy depends on the willingness/ability of children and parents to practice at home. I hope therapy with a Speech Language Pathologist (SLP) includes teaching the parents, I'm thinking language therapy would be most effective done ALL THE TIME, we've got to turn language use into fun 24/7 language therapy.

Contrary to recent press articles, Franko B is not represented by Galleria Pack in any way, anywhere in the world.

I often waffle between wanting to share my blog and wanting to keep it private, so I think I've finally come to a "system" of sorts: facebook for the world, My Little Contribution for those who are more interested, and a new totally private blog for my 'Dear Diary' type stuff. So, I moved my most private posts to the other blog, and I'm opening this one back up, no invite required, so that My Little Contribution can be what I intended: my little contribution to the internets. :) I don't like that there are now months with no entries, but oh well, I needed those months to myself.