Arts for ACT (Abuse Counseling and Treatment)

Jarmolski's Palm Trees in the Sun

I love it when people combine something fun with good works!  I saw an ad for an exhibit at the Arts for ACT Gallery (http://www.artsforactgallery.com/) in Fort Myers that looked interesting and decided to take a bit of a detour on the way home from spending Christmas at my sister's house outside of Boca Raton.  I'm so glad I did--what an interesting place!   The gallery has been in business for 14 years and is a non-profit co-op owned by The Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Center.  Among other services, the Center provides emergency protective shelter to victims of domestic violence and their children, a 24-hour crisis hotline and a rape crisis center.  There are 75 member artists who contribute a portion of the proceeds from the sale of their work at the gallery to the Center so you can feel good about your purchases there! 

Jarmolinski's Adam and Eve

 The gallery has several different rooms and the work is, as advertised, "evocative and eclectic."   The artist whose work drew me into the gallery was Christine Jarmolinksi.  I love her use of bright colors and her Palm Trees in the Sun was my favorite piece (enough already with the Tommy Bahama look!)  She opened her own gallery just down the street from Arts for ACT, which I also visited, and to say that her style is evolving is an understatement.  Some of her work is a clear take-off on Andy Warhol, especially his Marilyn and soup series.  Others are more abstract in nature, while still others are in a figurative style.  I liked her current work the most of the various genres. 

Denison's Jack-in-the-Box

Friedus' Midnight Sky

While winding my way through the gallery, I came upon some interesting multi-media works created by Pat Custer Denison and Lisa Friedus.  The Jack-in-the-Box is three dimensional and reminded me of the work of Peter Blais, a Nova Scotia artist whose work is incredibly clever. Each summer I enjoy going to his gallery to see what he's come up with during the long winter months!  (You can find Peter's work at http://www.paintedsaltbox.com/.)  

Jones' Bluesmen

Perhaps the most surprising works that I saw were painted by local Naples artist Lennie Jones.  My friends Wendi and Lee have some fabulous art in their apartment in New York that they purchased in New Orleans (where they go for JazzFest every year) and his stuff would fit right in there.  (Sadly, it would just look like I was trying to be cool if we put a piece up in our home.) 

The gallery also has some vintage clothing (the Sarah Leone '50s purses were my favorite), jewelry and a few other odds and ends.  All price points can be found, so the next time you're in the Fort Myers area, check it out!  Buying a piece of art work or bracelet at the gallery is truly a win-win proposition--who could ask for anything more????

Music, Maestro!

'Twas the week before Christmas and the Isles Yacht Club held its monthly lecture series (quite bravely, I think, given how busy the holidays are).  This month's speaker was T. Francis Wada, the conductor of our local symphony, the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra.  I am a convert to the CSO after the performance of Carmina Burana that I attended in November and was curious to hear what he had to say.

Francis (as he likes to be called) started his presentation by talking a bit about the physical act of conducting.  He talked about how personal batons are to conductors, just as a set of golf clubs or a fishing rod might be to the people in the audience.   It's all about the balance of the baton and the feel of it in the conductor's hand.  Francis refers to the baton as his "instrument," and calls it an "extension of his heart and his brain."   He explained that conductors use different batons based on the music that is being performed, with heavier batons being used for more powerful music.  He shared his collection of batons with the group, showing us a baton that was made for Leonard Bernstein, which was quite different looking, with a bulbous shape at the end.   A bit surprisingly, we learned that a baton can cost up to $3000!     We also learned that the famous conductor Seiji Ozawa, who led the Boston Symphony Orchestra for many years (including some performances at Tanglewood that Jay and I were lucky enough to attend), does not conduct with a baton, using only his hands to lead his musicians. 

Francis gave a brief overview of the history of conducting, which began in the 1600s.  At that time, the role of the conductor was limited to stomping a staff on the floor to keep the beat.  He shared a strange story of death by conducting with the group.  In 1687, the conductor Jean-Baptiste Lully was so focused on keeping the rhythm that when he struck his toe hard with his staff, he refused to stop.  The toe developed an abscess, which later turned gangrenous. Lully refused to have his toe amputated and the gangrene spread, killing him two months later.

With the appearance of Mozart on the music scene, the art of conducting began.  No longer did music maintain a staight rhythym; it was now lively and powerful, with different timing being used in different parts of a composition.   Francis explained that the conductor's right arm is now used for maintaining the pattern of the music (i.e., to keep time), with up and down motions used for two beats, triangular motions used for three beats and so on.  The left hand is used as the "expression hand," inviting the different instrumental sections into the music.  (As an aside, Francis seems to be the most gracious of conductors.  He talked about "welcoming" the musicians into the piece and showed us the difference in feeling created by a jab directed at the musicians in question and a soft wave of the hand.) 

Francis invited questions from the audience and a couple of interesting queries were raised.  One person asked about how a conductor stays hydrated during a performance.  This is definitely an issue with hot lights and dark clothing.   (I have to admit to never having thought about the fact that intermissions are as much for the conductor as for the musicians.)  Francis told us that during the November performance of Carmina Burana, he actually lost five pounds!   Another person asked what happens if the conductor is sick the day of a performance.  Not surprisingly, the show must go on, and conductors are expected to be present unless they are on their death beds.   (The same goes for the musicians, something else that I hadn't given any thought to despite the fact that Scott is going to be a professional musician!)    If a conductor is literally unable to lead, the concert master steps into the role.  This question led to a discussion of the role of the concert master in general, which includes writing a script for the strings for each piece of music so that the bows are all moving in the same direction at the same time.  Who knew???? 

All in all, it was quite an enlightening and enjoyable break from the chaos of the holiday season.  I feel fortunate to live in a community that values the arts and in which people like Francis are so accessible and eager to share their stories.   It really does make me feel connected and makes me want to get involved.   I'm looking forward to attending future performances of the CSO (even though there's never enough trumpet in orchestral performances for my taste--the inevitable consequence of the trumpet being Scott's instrument).   Next up:  The Power and the Passion II, with performances of music by Mahler, Brahms and Tchaikovsky.  Watch this space for my review!

Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand

I will admit up front that non-fiction is not my thing.   There's nothing I like more than a good read and, while I haven't sampled the genre generously, I've found most non-fiction books that I've picked up to be a bit dry.  It's hard to ignore the press around Laura Hillenbrand's Unbroken, however, so I decided to give it a try.  In fact, I actually broke down and ordered a copy of the book from Amazon, only to find it in the library the next day.  (Sort of like a couple who adopt a child and then miraculously get pregnant, admittedly on a different level!)

Unbroken tells the story of Louie Zamperini, a WWII bombadier whose plane crashed in the Pacific Ocean during a rescue mission in May of 1943.  He was adrift on a life raft for 47 days before being captured by the Japanese, who held him as a POW for the duration of the War.  After a bit of a slow start, Hillenbrand tells Zamperini's story in a compelling manner.  At times, I didn't want to put the book down, anxious to find out what happened next.  What I found most interesting about Hillenbrand's writing, though, was her attention to detail.  There are 50 pages of footnotes at the end of the book, citations to articles, letters, scrap books and phone conversations that were part of her research for the book, which took her seven years to write.  These details really make the book come alive.  By way of example, when Louie was adrift on the life raft, Hillenbrand tells us not only what provisions were available to him, but what provisions should have been on the raft (such as desalinization equipment and a radio transmitter) and provisions that would become "standard" for life rafts in 1944 (including a tarpaulin, a mast and sail, fishing tackle and, interestingly, religious pamphlets). 

Like any good non-fiction book, I found Unbroken to be educational.  While Zamperini's story is amazing, he is only one of thousands of men who were held as POWs by the Japanese.  I realized as I read the book that whenever I think about WWII, I think about Hitler, the Nazis and concentration camps.  So to read about the way that the Japanese treated the POWs--as well as the "slaves" that they captured--was enlightening.  Hillenbrand "explains" this treatment by telling readers about the Japanese mentality, for whom "a loss of honor could merit suicide".   Most Japanese soldiers would rather die than be taken hostage--a loss of honor--and some Japanese soldiers who were captured gave false names, believing that their families would rather think them dead than captured.   To these men, Allied soldiers who "let" themselves be captured were beyond contempt, and deserved the beatings and starvation that were wrought upon them.    

The book also made me think a bit about the Geneva Convention and what a leap of faith it is to expect enemy soldiers to abide by it.  In Unbroken, certain aspects of the Convention were adhered to by the Japanese, such as Allied officers not being forced to work.  The downside, though, of not having a job was that they often were given even more meager rations than a "working" POW (and when a ration consists of a bit of seaweed, every bit counts).    Under the War Crimes Acts of 1948 and 1952, POWs were awarded $1 for each day of imprisonment that they could prove that they weren't given the amount and quality of food mandated by the Geneva Convention and $1.50 per day that they could prove they had been subjected to inhumane treatment.  I'm curious how this "proof" was established, but in any event am certain that this payment in no way compensates for the treatment these men suffered.

One last historical note of interest is the shift in US policy towards the Japanese starting in 1948.  Hillenbrand notes that while there was a worldwide outcry after the war to punish the Japanese who had mistreated POWs , "new political realities" emerged.  With the Cold War beginning, the US needed Japan as an ally, and the war crimes "issue" was a sticking point in the alliance.  Taking a longer term view, the US backed off, declaring an amnesty for, among others, 17 men awaiting trial for Class A war crimes (the designation reserved for those who had led the war).  All war crime trials were ended shortly thereafter, and the sentences already meted out to convicted war criminals were subsequently reduced.  

Unbroken is a story of one man's journey through hell and back. It truly is, as the book says, a story of "survival, resilience and redemption."   Especially during this holiday season, it makes me think of our troops abroad.  One can only hope that their spirits will ultimately be as unbroken as that of Louie Zamperini's.

Ghost Writing for the United Way

Over the past couple of years, I've gotten involved with the cause of adult literacy.  I was fortunate enough to find a great organization in NJ, Literacy Volunteers of Union County, that needed not only tutors but people who were willing to take on a leadership role.  I joined the Board and promptly took on the "positions" of head of the PR/Communications Committee and tutor liaison.  I also started writing a monthly two page newsletter for the tutors that told stories about people's tutoring experiences and provided resources and ideas.  It was both fun and gratifying, so finding something to fill the void when we moved to Florida was going to be a challenge. 

While in Chester last summer, I reached out to Leslie Isley, head of the Adult Learning Center in Port Charlotte.  Our conversation started off in a funny manner.  I explained that I was interested in finding out more about adult literacy programs in Charlotte County and she immediately asked me what my goals were.  I realized that she thought I was a potential student calling for information!  I quickly backed up and explained my move to Punta Gorda, what I had been doing in NJ and that I was interested in finding out if there was a fit for me here.  We agreed to get together when I arrived in October.

There's lots to tell about the differences between LV-UC and the Adult Learning Center, but of course there are lots of commonalities as well--the first being that there are never enough volunteers!  After spending some time talking, Leslie and I decided that I would write a quarterly newsletter for the Center and a student success story to be published in the Charlotte Sun, a local newspaper.  She explained that the local United Way had asked each of its grantees, including the Center, to put something together to showcase the work they are doing.   Leslie and I met with the student whose story they wanted to feature and I started putting the article together.   A few days later Leslie told me that a success story was featured in the paper that day if I wanted to look at a sample.  I did, and learned that the article would appear under the byline of the head of the local United Way.  Hmm.  I was still happy to work on the article but I have to admit that it became a little less exciting once I realized that my name would not be in lights.  (I know--there's definitely something wrong with that, but I think it is human nature.)  Anyway, the article appeared in yesterday's paper and, though it's a bit long, I thought I'd share it here (without the bit of United Way wrap around it).   I really am proud of all the adults who work hard to overcome language or learning barriers to make better lives for themselves and am thankful for all of the advantages that I've been given.  One of the nice things about "retirement" is being able to give back, and I'm looking forward to having the opportunity to work on behalf of adult learners in Charlotte County in 2011. 

Another United Way Success Story  

Earlier this year at the Adult Learning Center, you might have come across Ginette Frederic, a volunteer ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) tutor, working with a student to improve her English skills.  The willingness of any volunteer tutor to help people learn to read, write and speak better English is always commendable and noteworthy.  In this case, however, the story is particularly notable because Ginette herself was an ESOL student at the Center.

A native of Haiti, Ginette has lived in Port Charlotte for 20 years.  Her journey to make a better life for herself and her family started in Venezuela in the early 1980s.  Ginette grew up speaking Creole and French so her first challenge upon her arrival in Venezuela was to learn enough Spanish to find employment.  She taught herself by watching TV and listening to and talking with those around her. With time, she was able to find work—sometimes as a maid, sometimes as a factory worker.  Ginette still hoped for more, though, and America, the land of opportunity, beckoned to her.  She uprooted her family and once again moved to a country whose language she did not speak, ending up outside of Boston.  Ginette was able to take a few English classes, but she primarily taught herself to speak and read a new language for a second time. The wintry weather did not agree with Ginette and her family, so in 1990 they relocated to sunny Port Charlotte. 

Once Ginette arrived in Florida she took a class at what is now the Charlotte Technical Center and obtained her Florida Certified Nurse Aide license.  Over the years, Ginette has worked as a CNA and a phlebotomist in nursing homes and hospitals around Charlotte County.  Last summer, she was laid off from her job.  Ginette heard about the ESOL program at the Adult Learning Center  (the Center) from a friend and took this opportunity to make an investment in herself and her future.  She was interested in improving her vocabulary and grammar, and started taking classes at the Center in August.  She entered the program at an intermediate level and within six weeks had leap-frogged two levels to an advanced class.  Teacher Lynne Kinnier says that Ginette’s passion to achieve was evident from the start.  Ginette attended twice the number of classes and completed at least twice the amount of recomended homework each week.  In effect, working on her English skills became her job and her hard work has paid off.  In October, Ginette “graduated” from the ESOL program to the Adult Basic Education (ABE) program and is now working towards obtaining her GED.  

When Ginette transitioned from the ESOL program to the ABE program, Lynne asked her if she would be willing to tutor beginning ESOL students who need some extra help.  Ginette readily agreed, and started meeting with a couple of students, working with them outside of the classroom on their reading and pronunciation and teaching them how to look up that they didn’t understand words in the dictionary.  Ginette embraced this opportunity to help others while continuing to learn herself.  Ginette recently found employment but will continue with her own classes at the Center while working full time. Ginette hopes to become a social worker one day and says that she doesn’t think that she’s too old to attain her goal.  With an attitude and work ethic like hers, I don’t think so either. 

The speed at which Ginette has progressed through the ESOL classes at the Center may be unique but the hard work and determination that she has exhibited is not.  All of the students taking classes at the Center are doing so in an effort to better their lives and they are accomplishing this goal, sometimes in large ways, sometimes in small ways.  The Charlotte Local Education Foundation (CLEF) provides funding to the Center, making it possible for students like Ginette to contribute to and be productive members of our great country. Without the financial support that CLEF receives from the United Way of Charlotte County and its other sponsors, the educational gains of these students would not be possible.   We applaud Ginette and all of the Center’s students for making an investment in themselves and their futures.

Think Global, Eat Local, Part II

Eva showing Johnny's Seed Catalogue

I mentioned in my last post that Jay and I have become members of Worden Farm, a local farm.  We go each week and select our allocation of vegetables, some of which are old favorites and some of which require us to stretch our culinary horizons a bit.  Last Sunday, we went to a class at the farm called, "What Do I Do With All These Veggies?" that was taught by Eva Worden, one of the owners of the farm, and Cindi Florit, a member.    

The class started with how to identify the vegetables (which isn't as straightforward as it sounds).  Since we live locally, we are able to go to the farm to select our weekly vegetables and we get the benefit of labels saying what it what and pick accordingly.  Members who don't live locally go to a central site each Wednesday and pick up a box of freshly picked veggies.  For those members, there truly can be some mystery ingredients to work with!  One tip was to have a copy of Johnny's Seed Catalogue on hand.  (You can order one at no cost by calling 877-Johnnys.)  The catalogue has handy pictures of various fruits and vegetables that will help you know what you're dealing with.

Once you know what you have, their strongest recommendation was to prep the veggies so that they will be ready when you are.  Most everything should be washed and stored in the frig in a container or a dish towel.  This is apparently important to maintaining an appropriate humidity level for the veggies.  (Unlike veggies purchased at the grocery store, they shouldn't wilt with some water.)  They encouraged the members to freeze what they aren't going to use in the next few days, either in raw form or as a soup or sauce.  We learned that some veggies do better if they are blanched before being frozen.

Then we were on to the "cooking" portion of the class.  Eva and Cindi shared several favorite recipes with us, with liberal samplings.  They showed us how easy it is to incorporate veggies into your daily meals.  For instance, there was a "tatsoi" egg bake.  (What is tatsoi, you might ask.  We still don't know for sure because they didn't have any on Sunday so they used swiss chard instead.  It's all about using what you have on hand!)   This was basically a brunch item--eggs, milk, cheese and whatever veggies are in your frig.  Simple and tasty.  The eggplant parm and ratatouille were my personal favorites of the day.  The most surprising (and weird) tasting was a smoothie that had bananas, apples, water, ice and--you guessed it--kale.  It actually tasted pretty good but the green color was a bit offputting.  Cindi said her kids love the veggie smoothies but I'm a bit skeptical.

Both Cindi and Eva encouraged the participants in the workshop not to be slaves to recipes when working with their veggies.  Throw caution to the wind and throw some dandelion greens in your salad or (as we did last night) make slaw using daikon.  For people who need a little assistance, the Worden Farm website (www.wordenfarm.org) has recipes under the "Crops/Recipes" tab organized by vegetable.  Here's to a happy, healthy and vegetable-filled 2011!

Think Global, Eat Local, Part I

Jay is one of the most industrious people I know.  The week after we moved to Florida, he had his real estate license, poised to sell homes to our friends who decide to follow us south.  (This week, that seems like a bit of a bait and switch--the temperature is supposed to get down to 29 tonight!)  Our good friends Jacques and Jill thought that setting up a southern foothold sounded like a good idea and came down to Sarasota in July to look for a condo.

Just to digress a moment, Jacques and Jay have done some competitive cooking on New Years Eve over the last few years.  I call Jacques my "Iron Chef" and Jay my "Top Chef" (which Jay takes some offense at since Iron Chef is a higher accolade.  If you saw the things that routinely come out of Jacques' kitchen, though, you would be astonished.)   Obviously, then, it was important that Jacques and Jill, with their trusty real estate agent in tow, check out some of the local dining establishments before making the move to make sure they were up to their culinary standards.  In the course of their travels, they talked to some restauranteurs about where they got their produce and Worden Farm in Punta Gorda was the answer.  Our curiosity was piqued.

Jay learned that you could become a member of the Farm, which we did.  Starting in early December, our membership entitles us to go to the Farm once a week and choose fresh produce that they picked for their members that morning.  We are entitled to 200 "servings" over the course of the season.  A serving might be anything from two avocados to a bunch of French breakfast radishes to a head of kale.  I've been the last two weeks and it is a lot of fun.  There are bins labeled with the names of the vegetables, some of which I've never heard of before and many of which I've never cooked with.  I'm sure that I'm much less adventuresome than Jay would be in his selections but in the last two weeks we've made a couple of new dishes with our produce.  The first week I got some bok choy and we made a delicious stir fry with shrimp.  I also picked up some kale and made a kale, white bean and sausage soup that's one of our favorites (and was first introduced into our repertoire on one of our New Year's Eve culinary adventures with Jacques and Jill.)  This week I was excited to find okra and Jay made a great gumbo with shrimp and andouille sausage.  I also picked up a papaya and some star fruit, which is surprisingly good with our morning yogurt.  And I was thrilled to find that sunflowers were among this week's selection.  Being the Kansas girl that I am, sunflowers are one of my favorites (sunflowers are the state flower of Kansas, in case you didn't know!) 

On some weeks, the Farm has "you pick" extras that you can go into the field and collect that don't count towards your allocation.  I haven't tried this yet but am looking forward to checking it out.  The property has a barn with a kitchen where you can "chat and chop" after you've picked up your veggies (more about this in my next post about the class we took there).    They always have a couple of soups going in the barn as well that you can sample (and buy, but that seems kind of crazy with all the veggies you are already bringing home!) and sometimes there are other products for sale as well.  Last week there was goat cheese by the ounce as well as home made soaps. 

I am excited about having our own local farm here in Punta Gorda to help us expand our culinary horizons.  Maybe those old Kansas roots are pushing through my psyche after all these years.  As the saying goes, "There's no place like home!" 

The Man in the Moon

Observatory at Edison College

On the second Friday night of each month, the observatory at the Edison College campus in Punta Gorda opens its doors to visitors who want to view the sky through their 16" telescope.   Last night was a beautiful clear evening so Jay and I decided to go check it out with our friend Paul.  We arrived at a little more than an hour after sunset and found a small group (probably 15 people or so) gathered on the main floor of the observatory.  A gentleman whom I assume is a professor there was giving an overview of the universe before we headed to the telescopes.  In addition to the big telescope, they had three telescopes set up outside on the terrace.  We went back and forth between the venues, viewing primarily the moon and Jupiter. 

Looking at the moon was cool.  You could see craters within craters.  The professor explained that because there is no gravity on the moon, anything that touches the moon's surface (even a speck of dust) will create a crater.  No wonder it looks like Swiss cheese!  Viewing Jupiter (which is often mistaken for the North Star because it is so bright--that would be a navigational disaster!) was a bit less exciting.  You could see a couple of its moons and sort of make out one of its bands, but it didn't knock my socks off.

The most interesting part of the evening was listening to Jay and Paul talk about astronomy and looking at the sky with Jay's iPad (using the Star Walk app, which was quite cool).  The guy who was helping out on the terrace had a laser pointer that he was using to help the spectators visualize the constellations.  Using Star Walk, you didn't have to rely on your imagination--the designer has already drawn them in.  (I know--it is sort of like being spoon fed, but why not take advantage of emerging technologies?)  Paul impressed me by remembering the mnenomic for the planets "Man Very Early Made Jars Stand Up Nearly Perpendicular" (Mars, Venus, Earth, Mercury, Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune and Pluto, which I understand recently lost its status as a planet.)   I took an astronomy class at U-Mass when I was in college (thinking it would be a gut class--wrong once again!) and remember pretty much nothing other than being cold on the nights we went star gazing and having a mild crush on Nick, the professor.   

In general, the evening confirmed that astronomy is not my thing.  Jay and I went to an observatory when we were on our honeymoon in Maui and my reaction was more or less the same.  Last night, like the night in Maui, I was more focused on when we were going to have dinner than contemplating the universe.  Still, it's a fun thing to have access to and yet another interesting thing to do in Punta Gorda.  As always, the sky's the limit! 

Tattoos and the Constitution

John Ditullio before and after his makeover

OK, here's an issue that our Founding Fathers definitely did not consider when drafting the Constitution--the relationship between a defendant's tattoos and his or her right to a fair trial.   In a recent case in my new home state of Florida, the defendant (pictured here) won the right to have the State pay $125 a day for a cosmetologist to cover up his tattoos each day before trial.  Defense counsel argued that the tattoos would be distracting or prejudicial to the jurors, and hinder the defendant's ability to obtain a judgment based on the facts, saying, "There's no doubt in my mind--without the makeup being used, there's no way a jury could look at John and judge him fairly... It's too frightening when you see him with the tattoos." 

It is really not my intention to use this blog as a space for any sort of political commentary but come on.   I am the first person to admit that I am not a big civil libertarian.  (Yes, I was once excused from jury duty because I told the judge I wasn't a firm believer in the presumption of innocence--the judge wanted to disbar me then and there.)  And I have to say that I agree with defense counsel's concerns in this case.  I don't understand the concept of tattoos, even one as benign as a little rose on the small of a back.  So to be on a jury looking at a defendant with a big swastika on his neck would probably influence me.  And I also understand this issue as an extension of a defendant changing his or her appearance in other ways for a trial.  It's long established that it would be prejudicial to require a defendant to wear a prison jumpsuit during trial and I have no problem with that.   To be consistent, a defendant should have the right to use makeup to cover up tattoos during his or her trial.  But so far as I know, the State isn't required to pay for the defendant's clothing for the trial so why should the State be required to pay for a cosmetologist???  

As an aside, I just finished reading Michael Connelly's The Reversal and the issue of covering up a defendant's tattoos actually came up there.  (So kudos to Connelly for staying on top of the latest legal issues.)  In the book, the defendant was being retried after a reversal of an earlier guilty verdict.  He had spent 20+ years in jail and got the tattoos while there.  Defense counsel made an argument about tattoos being a part of prison life--prisoners get them to try and intimidate others or show their gang affiliation--sort of a survival technique.  Because the defendant had gotten the tattoos while he had been unlawfully imprisoned, he should have the right to cover them up during the retrial. Perhaps this is an argument that defense counsel made in the Ditullio case as well.  The article in the NY Times notes that Ditullio got the tattoos after his arrest on murder charges and that the first trial ended in a mistrial.  The article does not, however, go into the arguments that defense counsel made in detail so I don't know if the timing of the defendant being tattooed was a factor in the court's decision.

I would love to be back in Larry Tribe's Constitutional Law class and hear students discuss tattoos and the Constitution (no doubt it would be a lively debate!)  No matter where you come out on this issue, it makes you realize that the law is always evolving to address the world that we live in today, which is a great thing. 

Boating Safety 101

Our new sailboat

One of the great things about the yacht club that we've joined is that there are groups for everything that you might be interested in doing, whether boating related or otherwise.  You can play bridge or poker, go on a bike or kayak ride, "stitch and bitch", raise funds for the community or, of course, learn about being on the water.  I've joined the"Admirals' Club", which is a group of women who get together to learn boating skills.  (I will have to ask why it's called the Admirals' Club since admiral is the rank of the highest naval officers and I certainly don't qualify for that!)

So far I've been to two sessions and have come away both times with more than a healthy respect for the hazards that await on the water.  The session last week was on "What To Do If You Have to Take Over".  (You mean I might actually have to be an active participant in this process????)   The discussion was focused more on learning what you need to know than on actually learning anything substantive.  This makes sense because everyone's boat is different.  The list of things to know includes how to start the engines, how to find your location using the GPS or charts and how to use the VHF radio to call for help.  (Seems pretty basic but I have to admit that I wouldn't be able to do these things at this point.) 

Then there are the even more frightening things to learn how to do.  The first thing on the list was knowing how to rescue a person from the water (man overboard).  OK, I've been there, done that and have the t-shirt (without the benefit of a motor, I might add), but I still get a huge lump in my throat when the topic comes up.  Definitely something to keep practicing (and hopefully Jay has learned to wear a PDF when he goes on deck!)  Another important item to know about  is giving emergency first aid.  That might have been helpful the times when (i) Jay broke some ribs, (ii) I fell into the cockpit and couldn't get up--yes, the paramedics had to come and get me off with a backboard but all's well that ends well-- or (iii) Jay nearly amputated his toe when the hatch with the windlass fell on it. 

Everyone at these sessions has harrowing stories to tell about their experiences on the water.  I am always amazed at how many similar experiences we've had in the relatively short time that we've been boaters.  (The price of being overachievers, I guess!)   I came away from the session last week with the realization that I have to take this seriously and be a real partner in the boat.  It's way too easy to just sit back and let Jay do all the work, and I can't fall into that habit.  Now if the tide would just rise enough for us to get off our dock, it's time to go for a sail!