Art and Museums
The Eye of the Needle: "Both needful and pleasant, and commendable in any woman"
The seventeenth century saw periodic and often raucous pamphlet wars over the status, roles and education of women. Many girls attended school but the curriculum they followed prioritized the attainment of socially acceptable skills and moral worth over intellectual achievement. more »
A Possible Poet-Ruler, The Schiava Turca; The Poet's Pen or the Painter's Brush
Parmigianino painted the Schiava Turca in the early to mid-1530s. The sitter wears an extravagant, almost theatrical costume comprised of a ball-shaped headdress, voluminous sleeves, and a striped garment with a plunging neckline. She holds an ostrich-feather fan in her left hand. In the early eighteenth century, when the portrait was in the collection of the Uffizi Gallery, the style of the woman’s costume inspired a cataloguer to invent the title 'Turkish Slave' by which she has since been known. more »
A Slightly Malicious Poetry Puzzle Perhaps Intended to Confuse and Mystify
Joan L. Cannon writes: Most people read poetry (if they read it at all) for the pleasure of it. I get very irritable when the author makes that impossible on purpose — very much like the 'modern' artists and composers who seem not to care a whit if their production is pure fraud. Of course, they get a way with it a lot because no one can figure out how to prove it's bogus. more »
A Perfect Weekend Diversion: New Sites From the Scout Report Including A Brief History of the Hashtag and Cyberbullying
Next time a child visits: The Sci Show, an entertaining series of quirky YouTube videos, tackles topics ranging from "How Do Polarized Sunglasses Work" to "Strong Interaction: The Four Fundamental Forces of Physics", "Today’s Mass Extinction," "World's First See-Through Animal," "The Truth About Gingers" and "The Science of Lying." Then, move onto "6 Ways Social Media Will Change in 2014", cyberbullying or "What Digitization Will Do for the Future of Museums?" more »