Dame Julian's Profile

In the last years of his life, William and Catherine Blake lived in a home with two rooms. The big front room was where they had the dining table and the cots and the stove and the place where Blake kept his mineral collection. In the back was the small empty room where Blake saw his visions.

I do not cook with salt -- kidney problems. I do need a teaspoon of salt for each bread machine loaf, to ensure that the bread doesn't rise too fast. Otherwise, I do without it.

I'm wary of the panda. I bashed my mouth more than once on that sort of swing in childhood.

As I have kidney problems, I have to avoid potassium. No tomatoes, no pumpkins. I really miss spaghetti sauce.

Keep it simple, For the meat-eaters, make a huge shepherd's pie, perhaps with a sprig of holly put on the top at the last moment. For the vegetarians, use a huge crock pot to make a savory, curried stew, with peanuts or soy as a protein base.

Not so much worried about the noise as about the lack of privacy. Where is there a space for a child to work alone? There are no separate rooms, no alcoves, not even a cubbyhole. This design makes it possible for anyone to interrupt any student anywhere. But creativity, poetry, and the reflection necessary for a deep character are all solitary activities. There are more shining surfaces here than in the Panopticon, but I fear it would have the same effect.

Free ways to welcome Fall:
Pick up the buckeyes (or pine cones, or hawthorn berries, or even yellow number 2 pencils) that you find on the street. Display them in a glass bowl or mayonnaise jar.
Make a nature print with fallen leaves.
Even if it's still hot, wear Autumn leaf colors. Or accent your wardrobe with a bold yellow scarf or an Indian paisley. Hairbands or head scarves!

In addition to mixing eras, in echo with my comrade above, I'd urge you to become more ambitious. My (then) six-year-old niece _loved_ "The Seven Samarai." Yes, it had subtitles, but it also had good guys versus bad guys, and the good guys (mostly) won.

I'm afraid wanting diversity in older movies is a lost cause. No studio would make a movie without hope of revenue from the Southern markets. I made the movie "Hellzapoppin'" a part of my Labor Day viewing. (A school-aged child might love this: think it of the grandfather of "Airplane.") One reel is given over to some of the best Black music and dancing of the era. It was the practice to only put Black talent in one reel of the movie, a segment which could be "lost" when the film went on the Southern circuit.

It's not the fat -- it's the salt. I have high blood pressure and various other complaints. I loved Ramen until I ate one and saw my blood pressure number soar.