What is on your mind

[Jet]

Philip Seymour Hoffman is on my mind and, like many of you, I am saddened by his passing. I have spent the last few nights with Philip Seymour Hoffman and his work on film. But if I could have a few more hours with him, it would be to spend an evening with him on Broadway watching his interpretation and portrayal of Willy Loman in Arthur's Miller's Pulitzer Prize winning play, Death of A Salesman written in 1949.

Willy Loman is one of the greatest roles handed to an actor who is capable of intense character studies. Philip Seymour Hoffman is one of those actors and I envy anyone who had the rare privilege of seeing his performances within a theater's length of him. Lee J. Cobb is known for launching the role on film, but Philip Seymour Hoffman undoubtedly finishes one of Arthur Miller's greatest works on stage. I can't imagine anybody stepping into this role or equaling Hoffman's metamorphosis as the worn-down Loman; it is the perfect role for this actor who handled intense characterizations seamlessly.

For me, Arthur Miller is one of the greatest dramatists of his time and in the ranks of Eugene O'Neill and Tennessee Williams. These writers were brilliant in their intense studies of personal and social issues. Most memorably, The Ice Man Cometh, O'Neill, Williams' Glass Menagerie or Michael Gazzo's Hatful of Rain, from 1957, which exposed drug addiction.

My favorite work of Miller is the film All My Sons featuring Burt Lancaster and Edward G. Robinson. I have also read The Crucible as a script and as Miller's genius to expose McCarthy-ism as a witch hunt of the early 1950s. Although set in the 17th century, Miller's uses this vehicle to lambast the McCarthy hearings on anti-American activities and Communism in the early 1950s. Brilliant allegories.

Sidebar: this is not a political post, but my own take of Miller's work as a dramatist only.

Miller was incredible in his challenges of his own characters to examine themselves. Willy Loman is that kind of character in Death of A Salesman as as a weary, bitter, hard-ridden, working class salesman who examines and re-examines his life. Although produced on film with Lee J. Cobb and Dustin Hoffman, this role is really written for the stage. I can only imagine that the the mix of Miller and Hoffman together must have been an incredible experience. I would have given anything to see Philip Seymour Hoffman close up as an actor—just that far away from me—with Miller.

My thoughts, today, are on the accounts of Hoffman's death and my own private time viewing of his works on film from the last 15 years. If I could have experienced Hoffman on stage—it would have completed his repertoire for me and given me yet, another new dimension of this incredible actor on stage. I'll miss him.

My gippy tum

[SirLucian]

Greer SC

[Bèsame*]

delivering the Super Bowl bet

[storyofmylife]

my pup

[Ginger]

Dad trying to rip out his drainage tube in the night
Mom sleeping in a chair
Who will get my mail while I'm gone
I hope that pastor gets back to me
I hope mom isn't mad I got in touch with him
I hope I sleep tonight
I hope my flight leaves on time
I hope the shuttle works out
I hope D catches that wild dog

[~baby~doll~]

i woke up this morning on the couch and wondered why i was there. i could no remember where i was my Sweetheart told me. i have been trying to regain my footing all day. i hate this never knowing when i will lose a moment or a minute or more. my health is on my mind

[LoyalWolfsBlade]

Work is on my mind.

Well really more like the lack of responsibility others seem to have. I work with the medically fragile developmentally disabled in a home setting. Which means they depend on us for everything 24 hours a day and I mean everything. I love my job and how good I am at it even if it is a stressful job. My two girls help with that (smile). However this last weekend really pissed me off. Not that I had to work 36 hours straight but the reason behind it. I had to because so many people agency wide not just my house called in that they weren't even able to relieve us after 24 hours. Okay I understand car troubles I do but damn it the busses were running and the ones that got to work got there by bus. Well my fir brought me but I would have taken the bus if I had too. I tell you there is something wrong with peoples work ethics hell ethics period when workers at Wendy's can show up to work ( thank you btw) but caregivers responsible for the very lives of someone else can't!!!

[Butterbean]

The frittata for dinner tonight was fantastic. I think I want seconds but I'm trying to resist the urge.

[storyofmylife]

my very loved dad

[JustLovelyJenn]

What is on my mind is that this week is going to be either excruciatingly slow... or entirely too fast... only one week left!!!!

[RockOn]

Correcting a ContextSwitchDeadlock error in my software ... this app is very processor intensive and probably only need to turn off the Managed Debug Assistant (MDA)and tune my SQL code ... Hope it is only a case of the MDA yelling fire and in reality, there is not one ... Otherwise, gear up for some ugly code!

Hope all of you are having a swell morning!

That last 'difficult' couple of weeks.

So damn grateful for the love and support of the chosen few.

[Butterbean]

That deadline tomorrow night. I've grown tired of deadlines. When I complete this portion of my grad school in about 10 months, I need to take a big hiatus and go back to work for awhile.

[C0LLETTE]

A comprehensive new study has found that an estimated one in 14 women around is sexually assaulted by someone other than her partner – with real numbers likely higher, given that many victims fail to report the crimes out of shame or fear.

The research, published in the medical journal The Lancet, found that 7.2 per cent of women 15 years of age and older report being sexually assaulted by someone other than an intimate partner at least once in their lives. In Canada and the United States, that number jumps to 13 per cent. And nearly all countries – including Canada – aren’t doing enough to compile data on sexual violence by different predators.

Sexual-assault rates are highest in countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo (21 per cent), Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe (17.4 per cent) and in the Australasian countries of New Zealand and Australia (16.4 per cent), says study co-author Naeemah Abrahams with the South African Medical Research Council in Cape Town. Countries such as Turkey (4.5 per cent) and India and Bangladesh (3.3 per cent) had the lowest incidence.

“Sexual violence is a common experience for women worldwide,” concludes Prof. Abrahams, who pored over studies conducted in 56 countries over a period of 13 years, with assistance from colleagues from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, as well as the World Health Organization. “In some regions, it’s endemic.”

The research highlights the need for countries to start aggressively implementing their own population-based data on the levels of sexual violence by different predators. Hard data is desperately needed, Prof. Abrahams says, so health-care professionals can get a better grasp on the magnitude of the problem to put in place improved prevention interventions, as well as more comprehensive services to treat victims of sexual assault.

Sandra Diaz, vice-president of communications at the Canadian Women’s Foundation, echoed Prof. Abrahams’ plea for governments to get more aggressive on compiling data on domestic and sexual violence in Canada.

“We do not have our own population-based data and it’s something we desperately need,” Ms. Diaz says. “The last seminal study on domestic violence in Canada was in 1993. The government simply is not investing in this kind of research. It’s a huge challenge to make it a priority.”

A 2013 study by the Canadian Women’s Foundation found that 67 per cent of Canadians know a woman who has been physically or sexually abused. “This research doesn’t replace incidence data, but it does give us a sense of the magnitude of the epidemic in Canada,” says Ms. Diaz, who adds that less than 10 per cent of sexual assaults in Canada are reported. “They don’t report because of the victim-blaming culture, and out of shame and fear.”

Also last year, Ms. Diaz says, the foundation did a public-opinion poll on Canadians’ attitudes toward sexual and domestic violence and found that 19 per cent of Canadians believe a woman encouraged or provoked sexual assault when she was drunk, while 11 per cent believe she encouraged or provoked sexual assault by wearing a short skirt.

[Kenna]

On my mind...one of my favorite memories of a trip to the beach on Valentine's weekend, sitting in my fuzzy pjs on the cold sand dune to get pictures of my first beach sunrise...and all the fun moments of exploring and discovering beautiful things. Laughter and shared wonder. I loved that trip and cherished quiet beauty of a secluded beach sunrise.

[Bèsame*]

[JustLovelyJenn]

I so don't want to go to sleep tonight... and its just very silly... you see... everything thats coming up hit me today... all the very wonderful and exciting things that are happening in just... 4 more sleeps... and, well... I am just... going to sleep in the wrong damn bed... so I don't want to do it.

[LoyalWolfsBlade]

What else her visit....the first time she looks into my eyes....our first kiss...
and of course what I am going to wear but solved the I have to work 10 hours before I get that first glance....keep it simple right hence wear my work clothes and bring the first meeting breakfast clothes to work with you.....

[JustLovelyJenn]

Originally Posted by ~KnightsBlade~

What else her visit....the first time she looks into my eyes....our first kiss...
and of course what I am going to wear but solved the I have to work 10 hours before I get that first glance....keep it simple right hence wear my work clothes and bring the first meeting breakfast clothes to work with you.....

Giggles...... that's just cute!!!!!