2009

Word Worth Volume IX, 2009, Issues are available by clicking on the name of the month below. Adobe Reader is needed to access them. A free copy is available here>
Editorials	Arts	Columns
Review of Sex and Power—M H Perry	January	Bad—Malka Davis
Rita Banerji's book, Sex and Power, Penguin Books ISBN 978-0-14-306471-8, explores the history of the relationship between sex and power in 5000 years of India's history. Drawing on philosophies from both the East and the West, Banerji analyzes the background of socio-political history which has led to a present day seismic gender imbalance in India that may seriously impact its stability and its future. Banerji’s book is an appeal to India and the world to address and redress a very severe problem.	The Art of Woodcraft by Howard Miller	“I just wanted to let you know that if you need to say anything to Mom, you’d better say it in the next day or so. She’s not going to last much longer.” This is the gist of what I remember my sister, Karen, telling me over the phone. She was calling from the States; I was living overseas again, having returned to Jerusalem a few months before to remarry and reassemble what was left of my shoddy life. Yeah, okay, I told her. She gave me the number of our mother’s room at the hospice center. I don’t recall how long it took me to dial ...
Eradicating the Subtle Racism—Anna Seymour	February	The Stars We Danced With—Christian Belz
President Obama has said that both his campaign and his presidency are about unifying and unification. In order to accomplish this, we have to stop seeing people as either “black” or “white”—or red or yellow, for that matter. While it is just and proper for African Americans to celebrate Barack Obama as the first black president, before long, those distinctions have to be diminished.		Three years after working side by side at the same firm, an invisible switch was magically thrown, and suddenly Shiloh and I were drawn to each other. Abruptly - and to my delight - working late took on a whole new meaning. Through the dinner hour, we would wait for the staff to dribble out one by one, until we found ourselves alone in the office. We cranked up our CDs, listening to the likes of ...
The Line—Christopher Wittman	March	To Possess Is to be Possessed—Linda Cross
When real writers write, they write because that is all they want to do, it's all they know how to do. Absolutely content with destroying a piece that others cry “SAVE,” simply because it lacked that precious element of truth, otherwise known as a connection to humanity. This essential connection to humanity comes when a logical path of emotions is set down, in a world rich with the five senses, and eventually leads to a good solid point.	The Art of Woodcraft by Howard Miller	After college I worked as a stewardess for a major airline. The playing field for dress code was leveled to a common ground—navy blue uniforms with white blouses—our standard wearing apparel. Traveling for a living enabled me to visit cities across the United States. The world of shopping became a major study. I loved New York, especially Fifth Avenue, the main street for clothing establishments. Madison Avenue had not yet reached the pinnacle of shopping with European...
Getting Serious about Curriculum—Marien Helz	April	Cavalry—Bruce Berger
School curriculum is something that everyone has an opinion about. There seem to be more band wagon ideas about what should be taught in a school than there are words in an unabridged dictionary. One day, an “expert” will talk about how children can’t achieve in school unless each pupil’s unique learning style is taught. Then there is the “back to basics” bandwagon, never mind that no two people can agree on what the basics are. Closely linked to ...		I had just reached the end of the waterfront at a piece of geology called La Calavera when my attention was caught by a previously unnoticed detail on the side of the hill. The day had been cloudy and some last rays were breaking beneath the cover, falling on what looked like the beginning of a trail. I pulled onto a dirt track and got out to investigate. The path led away from the shore, into a hidden fold and up. I was in my street shoes and dark ...
Let Susan Boyle Alone—Marien Helz	May	The Photographer—Barbara DuBois
That TV audiences expected Susan Boyle to do poorly in her singing because of her looks says too much about TV audiences. As soon as the mistake was realized, and she became an over-night sensation, the people-as-cookie-cutter-experts convinced her to have something of a make-over. If they want Britney Spears, they should go for Spears. Boyle looked just fine on Britain’s Got Talent. The notion that anyone who doesn’t ...		The sun was just right for pictures as we arrived at the south rim of Canyon de Chelly. The spring wind that had already made the horizon disappear was letting up just for us. Since it was only March, there weren’t crowds at the Visitor Center to hold us up. The ruins that we had come to see lie in two adjoining canyons. In summer, arrangements can be made to tour the canyons with a Navajo guide in a four-wheel drive vehicle; otherwise the ruins ...
Asleep in the Cockpit—Marien Helz	June	...English Pubs—James Francis Cahillane
In the investigation of the crash of Colgan Air Flight 3407, much was made of the failure of the crew, leading the bereaved families to try to come to the defense of loved ones so tragically lost. The pilots’ failures, however, lay far more at the airline’s feet. Clearly, any competent investigation has to look at crew error. In this case, however, the errors of the crew, Pilot Marvin D. Renslow and Co-Pilot Rebecca L. Shaw, are more attributable to errors in airline policy and procedure.	Photography by Nick and Britta Monaco	Mid-winter blahs have their uses. Light the fire, dust off that Homer's Odyssey you always intended to read, pull up a chair, good reading light and a wooly throw: let Spring come in its own good time. Alternatively, there's the cellar to clear of stuff moved in years ago. Or, you could tackle that geometric puzzle a masochistic friend presented to you last Christmas. All cracking good ideas that suddenly pale when compared with, "going down the pub."
Sleep Again—Marien Helz	July	Mentors—Linda Cross
We’ve turned into a society that foolishly ignores the crucial importance of sleep. Corporations and businesses drive their personnel to work hours that leave no time for sleep, let alone the relaxing balm of leisure. Sleep deprivation is recognized as both a torture and mind control device, yet it is treated as though it can be endlessly and mindlessly toyed with. Lee’s description of her monitoring of Jackson revealed a person in pain. He had music and lights on and a computer on the bed watching a show and insisted that this was how he....	Woodcraft by Howard Miller	“Why don't you get a computer, Linda?” Her southern accent echoed in the crowded warehouse. The huge, high-ceilinged hanger teemed with people looking at technical equipment piled high around the vast space...the largest wholesale shopping establishment in Southern California. “Why do I need a computer? I'm technically illiterate.” I looked at the rows of Apple hardware. Computers, stereos, and video games were stacked along the crowded aisles. “Well, you might write on it.”
Baseball—Marien Helz	August	Bad Things Good?—Cathy Crenshaw Doheny
It is high! It is far! …It Is Gahn!!! exclaims John Sterling in the perfect intonation of baseball announcers over the decades. True, it would be better if he had said Gone instead of Gahn, but his announcing is so classic that people listen to the Yankees broadcast just to hear him call the game. There is nothing, other than a mother’s hand made apple pie, that rings in the hearts and minds of America’s countrymen and women so much as baseball to carry us to the folksy core....	Alastair Reid's Translations of Poetry by Juan Carvajal	Bad things happen to good people, and good things happen to bad people. How is this just in a world that masquerades as just? Many would say that the justice lies in the aftermath of good and bad things. Good people learn from the bad things, making them good things. Bad people never fully appreciate the good things, taking them for granted, making them eventual bad things. This line of reasoning speaks to the goodness and badness of the people, not the things which happen to them.
Farming—Marien Helz	September	Escape to the Manzanita Dawn—Ross M. Hall
When I see messy farms with ill-treated animals, I cringe. When I see beautiful farms with clean cows in lovely green meadows, I think of my father’s family and of Wisconsin... When my father was ten years old, his parents bought a farm in the country. That was where they were to spend their summers... In high school and college, my father worked for a neighbor—Mr. Kroehler. The work was physically demanding, but he loved it. Memories of the farm remained for a lifetime.		Family members sensitive to appearances have informed me that pale purples and lavender color tones do not look good on me. Something to do with my skin coloring. I should wear white, blue or pink shirts. This morning on the Manzanita beach before the sun was up, the haze covering the ocean horizon to the west and making ghost images on the hills and houses along the shore crowded the environment with abundant pale purples and lavenders.
Moving—Anna Seymour	October	Pet Peeves in Publishing—Graceann Macleod
When we moved into the house that we will soon be moving out of, there was a family across the street with five children. The eldest was just beginning college, and the next three were in high school, while the youngest was not yet in school. Although we were not close to the neighbors, they were real neighbors—people you’d share news with, help out with snow-blowing driveways. We’d see them on a daily basis and notice...	Photography by Bonnie Fields	This is my number one peeve, because it is so easy to avoid, and so glaring. I know that the small presses, which offer the obscure titles that would be impossible to get otherwise, cannot afford proofreaders. Even big names have that problem now, but I'm currently reading a set of novels that were published in the mid-1990s by a very big publisher, and there are typos in there that would get a fourth grader a "D" on her theme about "What I Did Last Summer."
Letting Go—Gary Earl Ross	November	Literary Treasures—Graceann Macleod
Often I am asked how one becomes a writer, sometimes by aspiring scribes too impatient for fame to consider the substance of my reply. Hard work is not an appealing answer nowadays because the internet, print-on-demand technology, writing workshops, and open mike nights mean anyone can be a writer. Right? Since sometimes I describe writing as an obsession, the following 12-point checklist is loosely modeled on criteria used in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.	*A Family Matter* by Philip K. Edwards	I am addicted to bookmarks. Almost every time I venture into a shop that sells them, I walk out with at least one. This means I have an embarrassingly large number of them, even though I go on regular “culls” in a vain effort to keep things from getting out of hand. Trendy bookmarks that remind me of favorite movie stars and television shows; marks that remind me of my favorite quotes about books. Magnetic marks, clips, tassels, marks I had when I was ten and ones I got on my last vacation.
The Season To Be...—Anna Seymour	December	Weddings vs. Marriages—Graceann Macleod
The religions of the world have major holidays in December: Hanukkah, Muharram, Christmas, Kwanzaa. This probably stemmed from the need for connection with the Cosmos during the month of the Winter Solstice, the dark month, when Nature becomes threatening. Perhaps because the natural world withdraws its love of human kind, our religions preach love for one another more now.... Yet religion has had a hard time practicing what it preaches.	Storm by Linda Ettinger	I have a guilty pleasure. Actually, I have several, but this is the one I’m willing to admit to at the moment. I love watching a certain television program wherein spoiled, ill-behaved women do their best to ruin their wedding days for everyone but themselves. ... My husband and I watch together, and as the credits roll, ... We wonder how these unpleasant people will manage to stay united through the airdate of the program, much less through the realities of marriage.