tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88164773135988757422024-02-18T17:54:04.855-08:00PresidentressJen Presidentresshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16448215985432237883noreply@blogger.comBlogger135125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8816477313598875742.post-53983331277597408172022-02-11T08:45:00.002-08:002022-02-11T08:45:48.271-08:00Harding's Love Letters, 21st-Century Style<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj5NhCAhIHWfxD5eaeTTTnEXolkTljx9CPIEHDDS3uWVtqAGhrw5_4unJ4eIssAm1IUTm84owuXrG4XGdWLFXoKzJrKPEhNrsrhnSbAKK_JWmiq_S4PpVNgxPjq1p85Ueg578IN2xqYU57N3NCBk7FChMMk5l-0vKM6geA9XSgd3uZ9hMdbAc8PDvSShw=s3072" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="3072" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj5NhCAhIHWfxD5eaeTTTnEXolkTljx9CPIEHDDS3uWVtqAGhrw5_4unJ4eIssAm1IUTm84owuXrG4XGdWLFXoKzJrKPEhNrsrhnSbAKK_JWmiq_S4PpVNgxPjq1p85Ueg578IN2xqYU57N3NCBk7FChMMk5l-0vKM6geA9XSgd3uZ9hMdbAc8PDvSShw=s320" width="320" /></a></div><br />Valentine's Day is just around the corner, which means you surely have one thing on your mind: Warren G. Harding. <p></p><p>A couple years ago, I created some <a href="http://www.presidentress.com/2018/02/presidential-valentines-harding-style.html" target="_blank">printable valentines based on Harding's love poems</a>. This year I decided to kick it up a notch by having some artificial intelligence software expand on Harding's ode. </p><p>Below is the text that I entered of Harding's poem. (Caution: It's steamy!)</p><p class="p1" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">I love your poise</p><p class="p1" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Of perfect thighs</p><p class="p1" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">When they hold me</p><p class="p1" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">in paradise …</p><p class="p1" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">I love the rose</p><p class="p1" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Your garden grows</p><p class="p1" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Love seashell pink</p><p class="p1" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">That over it glows</p><p class="p1" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">I love to suck</p><p class="p1" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Your breath away</p><p class="p1" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">I love to cling —</p><p class="p1" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">There long to stay …</p><p class="p1" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">I love you garb’d</p><p class="p1" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">But naked more</p><p class="p1" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Love your beauty</p><p class="p1" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">To thus adore …</p><p class="p1" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">I love you when</p><p class="p1" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">You open eyes</p><p class="p1" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">And mouth and arms</p><p class="p1" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">And cradling thighs …</p><p class="p2" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">***</p><p class="p1" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Here is what the AI spit out. I removed some redundancies and cleaned up the stanzas a bit, but this is what Harding would produce today if he were a robot:</p><p class="p2" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">I love the half grin</p><p class="p2" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;">On your serene face</p><p class="p2" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;">Your eyes the sweet blue</p><p class="p2" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;">Of a boy …</p><p class="p2" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">I love the roses</p><p class="p2" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;">Bumping upon your hips …</p><p class="p2" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;">I love your blonde hair</p><p class="p2" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;">Draped in cloud</p><p class="p2" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">I love your dewy hair</p><p class="p2" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;">And all your surfaces</p><p class="p2" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;">I love your wrinkles and hairs</p><p class="p2" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;">That together give you an enchanting illusion</p><p class="p2" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;">Of grace …</p><p class="p2" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><br /></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;">I love to wake</p><p class="p1" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Sapphiring in the sun</p><p class="p2" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;">And clouds</p><p class="p2" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;">I love you in your nighties …</p><p class="p2" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">I love the way you start to falter</p><p class="p2" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;">With your smile</p><p class="p2" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;">And your touch …</p><p class="p2" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">I love your memories</p><p class="p2" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;">Of everything I’ve ever done, said, or loved</p><p class="p2" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;">And how you’ll never let them leave you</p><p class="p2" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;">And how I’ll never forget them,</p><p class="p2" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;">Or forget you.</p><p class="p2" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><br /></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;">And I will hold this in.</p><p class="p2" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;">With the crescendo</p><p class="p2" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;">Of your breathing</p><p class="p2" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;">And smiling eyes</p><p class="p2" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;">I love to want to be</p><p class="p2" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;">With you</p><p class="p2" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;">Now and forever</p><p class="p2" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><br /></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;">***</p><p class="p2" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><br /></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;">The AI isn't quite as risque as Harding himself, but it got surprisingly touching at the end. </p><p class="p2" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><br /></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;">If you're struggling to find the perfect words to convey your love, just give the object of your affection Harding's original poem or the 21st-century remake. That should do the trick. </p>Jen Presidentresshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16448215985432237883noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8816477313598875742.post-11782556264683102902021-01-27T10:42:00.003-08:002021-01-27T10:42:26.787-08:00Brrrrrnie Sanders<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6MNF5G4kjkZnLs-iqUldevSO7-5BV2AI5dagUUmCIMOtAXwTdHQq_I2qkgtrMyHH-3R-Iagxxg4HIEbRFYRtT8y4NBmsFhsu2JiuzTIc5MzfLujj61-ryWg7Ct5KcWuQx5AD2WXyU_bg8/s640/You_Doodle_2021-01-27T18_24_01Z.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="480" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6MNF5G4kjkZnLs-iqUldevSO7-5BV2AI5dagUUmCIMOtAXwTdHQq_I2qkgtrMyHH-3R-Iagxxg4HIEbRFYRtT8y4NBmsFhsu2JiuzTIc5MzfLujj61-ryWg7Ct5KcWuQx5AD2WXyU_bg8/w150-h200/You_Doodle_2021-01-27T18_24_01Z.JPG" width="150" /></a></div>Like most people, I loved all the Bernie memes. Approximately 97 people sent me photos of crocheted Bernie dolls, and since I've made dolls like that before (<a href="http://www.presidentress.com/2016/12/warren-g-harding-doll.html" target="_blank">Warren G. Harding</a> and <a href="http://www.presidentress.com/2017/12/alexander-hamilton-amigurumi.html" target="_blank">Alexander Hamilton</a>), I knew that I <i>could</i> make a Bernie doll. I also knew that I didn't really want to. They take a lot of time, and I would have needed to go out to buy wire, and I just wasn't feeling it.<p></p><p>But when CraftyIsCool, one of my favorite designers (in fact, the one who created the Hamilton pattern and whose instructions I based Harding off of), <a href="https://www.craftyiscool.com/product-page/bernie-sanders-with-mittens-shelf-sitter-pattern" target="_blank">released a pattern</a> that didn't require wire, I was suddenly all over it. I downloaded the pattern and hopped on Amazon to order <a href="https://amzn.to/2YljUKw" target="_blank">doll glasses</a> and a <a href="https://amzn.to/3iVkecu" target="_blank">chair</a>!</p><p>Two days later, he was done! He is currently watching me write this, and it's hard to tell whether or not he approves. <br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE0l0lLkC-gCxT3BI5a03PzG8zn-SeURnPPPQxQC5PwxRLl-2HVOqoimL7m2bwfiDxKhuz0r8K17xoFDWwGiT_laxy-TumoctfoujZpDCUNBKmCjlXhFw-Ngl25VNJROUDi6NqeydYxqhu/s640/You_Doodle_2021-01-27T18_24_36Z.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="480" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE0l0lLkC-gCxT3BI5a03PzG8zn-SeURnPPPQxQC5PwxRLl-2HVOqoimL7m2bwfiDxKhuz0r8K17xoFDWwGiT_laxy-TumoctfoujZpDCUNBKmCjlXhFw-Ngl25VNJROUDi6NqeydYxqhu/w150-h200/You_Doodle_2021-01-27T18_24_36Z.JPG" width="150" /></a></div><p></p>Jen Presidentresshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16448215985432237883noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8816477313598875742.post-31504881610936074322020-03-10T11:22:00.000-07:002020-03-10T11:22:35.692-07:00When Warren G. Harding Pitched Against the CubsToday we're going to talk about everyone's favorite president, Warren G. Harding, but before we get to him I need to provide some background involving W. P. Kinsella. You might be familiar with Kinsella as the author of <i><a href="https://amzn.to/2TU0J7V" target="_blank">Shoeless Joe</a></i>, the book upon which the movie <i><a href="https://amzn.to/2U7vre3" target="_blank">Field of Dreams</a></i> was based. You might also be familiar with him if you read my post predicting that <a href="http://www.presidentress.com/2016/10/the-cubs-trump-and-armageddon.html" target="_blank">if the Chicago Cubs won the World Series, Donald Trump would win the presidency</a>.<br />
<br />
<i>Shoeless Joe</i> is great, but another of Kinsella's books, <i><a href="https://amzn.to/2wNXXsN" target="_blank">The Iowa Baseball Confederacy</a></i>, is even better. Like most of Kinsella's works, the book is heavy on baseball, Iowa, and magical realism. The premise is basically that the 1908 Chicago Cubs played a multi-week, 2,500-plus-inning exhibition game against an amateur team from Big Inning, Iowa, but the protagonist of the story is the only one who knows the game occurred and is obsessed with proving it. He winds up going back in time to observe and participate in the game himself. Besides Cubs legends like Tinker, Evers, Chance, and Mordecai "Three Finger" Brown, the game also features such players as a giant mystical Native American, the statue of an angel from a nearby cemetery, and even Teddy Roosevelt, who stops by but strikes out.<br />
<br />
With that in mind, a couple years ago I was perusing some president-and-baseball trivia when I came across a vague statement about how Warren G. Harding once invited a Major League Baseball team to play in his hometown. I forwarded that bit of information to my dad, also a Kinsella fan, with the comment, "Haha! I bet the Chicago Cubs played an exhibition game in Marion, Ohio!"<br />
<br />
Then I dug into it a bit and learned <i>that is exactly what happened</i>.<br />
<br />
Harding wasn't actually the one who invited the team--the idea was the brainchild of an advertising executive named Albert Lasker, who also happened to be both a consultant to Harding's presidential campaign and the majority owner of the Chicago Cubs. His plan was to hold an exhibition game in Marion between two Major League teams. However, it seems the idea proved too political for the other Major League clubs, so the Cubs wound up playing against Marion's semi-pro team, the Kerrigan Tailors. The game would bring publicity to Harding's campaign and would help reinforce the idea that Harding was a down-home guy who loved America's pastime just as much as the average Joe.<br />
<br />
The game, held in Marion's Lincoln Park on September 3, 1920, was understandably packed. The 700 grandstand seats easily sold out, and another 5,000 watched from the sidelines.<br />
<br />
Harding himself pitched to open the game, "striking out" Cubs right fielder Max Flack. According to <a href="http://www.hardinghome.org/with-indians-cubs-world-series-matchup-set-hardings-love-of-baseball-remembered/" target="_blank">an article</a> from the Harding Home Presidential Site:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The first pitch was called a strike by "a charitable umpire." The next pitch ended up "about four feet outside the plate and within a foot of the ground" with the final pitch carrying out of Flack's reach.</blockquote>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/31aa5a876c965650a5109122b18249a18ba576c4/c=0-27-300-253/local/-/media/2016/10/24/OHGroup/Marion/636129249980680070-Warren-Pitching-300x279.jpeg?width=540&height=405&fit=crop" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="405" data-original-width="540" height="150" src="https://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/31aa5a876c965650a5109122b18249a18ba576c4/c=0-27-300-253/local/-/media/2016/10/24/OHGroup/Marion/636129249980680070-Warren-Pitching-300x279.jpeg?width=540&height=405&fit=crop" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Warren G. Harding, showing excellent form. <br />--From archives of the Harding Home Presidential Site</td></tr>
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After that, Harding was replaced by pitcher Speed Martin, who the Cubs had loaned to the semipro team for the day. (Marion's other pitcher, Sweatbread Bailey, had also been provided by the Cubs, although it appears that the rest of the Marion lineup consisted of the team's regular players.) Of note is that the Cubs starting pitcher that day was none other than Grover Cleveland Alexander, who was smack-dab in the middle of a Hall of Fame career.<br />
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The Cubs wound up beating the Tailors 3-1. That score isn't as lopsided as one would expect, even with professional players pitching for both teams. I'm sure the Cubs weren't trying their hardest.<br />
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The game did not take weeks or a couple thousand innings; just nine innings played over the course of an afternoon. There were no statues making diving catches in the outfield. But it has to have been the only game in history in which one team's starting pitcher was a future president and the other's was named after a former president, and that's saying something.Jen Presidentresshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16448215985432237883noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8816477313598875742.post-19621820695819482222019-08-02T05:38:00.002-07:002019-08-02T05:38:12.622-07:00Warren G. Harding's Death Cookies<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH4gNPOY2-7XGm24b_jO5TU499_MtLRHSmaT2b70JHf0O0JEenmCZab3UBms9DyMQWi1Q2wpWvIorVgkhyOxMhY9BKgT8dlS3D5P9GvZVqvOvUpORqddHMy8Jh1WRMoVyMjHeUs-PI2Nni/s1600/Harding+cookies.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH4gNPOY2-7XGm24b_jO5TU499_MtLRHSmaT2b70JHf0O0JEenmCZab3UBms9DyMQWi1Q2wpWvIorVgkhyOxMhY9BKgT8dlS3D5P9GvZVqvOvUpORqddHMy8Jh1WRMoVyMjHeUs-PI2Nni/s200/Harding+cookies.HEIC" width="150" /></a></div>
As everyone knows, today is the anniversary of Warren G. Harding's death. I hadn't planned on doing anything special to commemorate the occasion, other than to wear my <a href="https://www.redbubble.com/people/presidentress/works/33039519-warren-g-harding-before-it-was-coolidge?p=classic-tee&rbs=c3c2bf38-c6c7-4d6f-b9c0-0568316a22f0&ref=similar_products">"Warren G. Harding: He was president before it was Coolidge" shirt</a>, of course. But then about two weeks ago, I discovered the existence of a <a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/710041270/warren-g-harding-cookie-cutter?ref=shop_home_active_8&pro=1&frs=1">Harding cookie cutter</a>, and that changed my plans.<br />
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You might think a Warren G. Harding cookie cutter is a very odd thing to create, and you would be absolutely correct. The cookie cutter is the latest undertaking from J.D. and Kate Industries, the geniuses behind the website and book <i><a href="http://www.presidentress.com/2018/01/book-review-hottest-heads-of-state.html">Hottest Heads of State</a></i>, and creators of candles you never knew you needed, like the <a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/696692952/war-of-1812-scented-candle">War-of-1812-scented one</a>.<br />
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Their new etsy shop, <a href="https://www.etsy.com/shop/PoisonCookieShop?ref=l2-shop-info-avatar&listing_id=721879713">Poison Cookie</a>, takes that quirkiness into the kitchen. When I checked the other day, Harding was the only political/presidential cookie cutter available, but they now have some other options, including <a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/725263451/elizabeth-warren-cookie-cutter?ref=shop_home_active_6&pro=1&frs=1">Elizabeth Warren</a> and <a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/725262829/pete-buttigieg-cookie-cutter?ref=shop_home_active_5&pro=1&frs=1">Pete Buttigieg</a>. They also have <a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/725264371/calvin-coolidge-cookie-cutter?ref=shop_home_active_4&frs=1">Calvin Coolidge</a>, who I have to say is a perfect choice for a cookie cutter due to his scant facial features.<br />
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Needless to say, I got one of the Harding cutters and whipped up a batch of commemorative death cookies. When you work with 3D cookie cutters, you can't use just any sugar cookie recipe--you need to use one that won't spread. Poison Cookie provides a recipe, which I used with some minor modifications. (Two tsp of vanilla and 1 tsp of lemon extract seemed like a lot, so I went with 1 tsp of vanilla and 1 tsp of almond. I also didn't mix it nearly as much as they said to. My dough came together quickly into a lovely Play-Doh like consistency, and I didn't think more mixing would improve it.)<br />
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It's also important to roll the dough out to exactly 1/4" to ensure that the cookie cutter will cut through completely at the edges, but won't go through all the way in the detailed areas. I'm terrible at judging dough thickness on my own, which is why I have a <a href="https://amzn.to/2SWt8JI">rolling pin that measures the right thickness for me</a>.<br />
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I mixed up the dough, rolled it out, and found the cookie cutter worked beautifully---no sticking! Once the cookies were on my cookie sheets, I put them in the fridge for ten minutes since cold dough is also less likely to expand. Then I threw the Warrens in the oven for about 15 minutes.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBc6t5z4KDJCVDLRi3plH0QV2H_CdGLQ9s5f_lyJ9T-I5jBDnoh2n5klHGOy7vmmMpRxHogZN-Eq-PyznL5b7xLeMz86iAbrJaZzP6l2Qy4c52WtdkNKS-pAGcX3vgciMNQORyyabPyUF6/s1600/Harding+dough.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBc6t5z4KDJCVDLRi3plH0QV2H_CdGLQ9s5f_lyJ9T-I5jBDnoh2n5klHGOy7vmmMpRxHogZN-Eq-PyznL5b7xLeMz86iAbrJaZzP6l2Qy4c52WtdkNKS-pAGcX3vgciMNQORyyabPyUF6/s320/Harding+dough.HEIC" width="240" /></a></div>
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I was quite pleased with the results, but I also thought the eyebrows could use a pop of color, so I planned on brushing some black food coloring on them. Then I discovered that I have every color of food coloring except black. I momentarily considered green eyebrows, then decided I'd rather just eat the cookies.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgklPh61MSuvHPnilB8iViGvY_Pt72AYYOFCO-pPqdcvtOAjKa7VNszULeno7dz2NCdOCK0_mFjWp6rVRtB5EOE08vkSw1d90mwNyom-SRDKxECkTKVh_8sGbDU08EONqYtvKWQc6R_fT5G/s1600/Harding+cutter+1.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgklPh61MSuvHPnilB8iViGvY_Pt72AYYOFCO-pPqdcvtOAjKa7VNszULeno7dz2NCdOCK0_mFjWp6rVRtB5EOE08vkSw1d90mwNyom-SRDKxECkTKVh_8sGbDU08EONqYtvKWQc6R_fT5G/s200/Harding+cutter+1.HEIC" width="150" /></a></div>
To be honest, I wasn't expecting these to taste great. Fun cookies are usually more about the aesthetics than the flavor. Therefore, I was pleasantly surprised to find that these cookies actually taste really, really good! I bet they'd be great with lemon, too. (A Rutherford B. Hayes cookie cutter would make for a perfect lemon cookie. Just saying.)<br />
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The other nice thing about the Warren G. Harding cookies is that they could pass for Robert Mueller cookies if you ever need them to.<br />
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In short: I'm sorry you died, Warren G. Harding, but you make for a tasty memorial cookie.<br />
<br />Jen Presidentresshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16448215985432237883noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8816477313598875742.post-2792975516299474852018-08-14T14:47:00.002-07:002018-08-14T14:48:44.371-07:00A Dead President Makes Answer to the President's Daughter (Book Review)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I have discovered an amazing piece of 1920s fanfiction.<br />
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I can't remember how I stumbled upon the existence of this book, <a href="https://amzn.to/2vJggw2"><i>A Dead President Makes Answer to the President's Daughter</i>,</a> but when I did, I knew I had to have it. I couldn't find much information about it, but the idea that it involved a deceased Warren G. Harding discussing his alleged mistress's book was too good to pass up.<br />
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Unfortunately, it's not still in print. The book, written by Anton Shrewsbury Jenks, was published in 1928 by the Golden Hind Press, and is not readily available. Thankfully I was able to find one (in decent shape, no less) for a reasonable price on <a href="https://amzn.to/2vJggw2">Amazon</a>.<br />
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Some quick backstory in case you're not familiar: Warren G. Harding had at least two well-known affairs. One of them was with a woman named Nan Britton, who, after Harding's death, wrote a book called <i><a href="http://www.presidentress.com/2015/08/book-review-presidents-daughter.html">The President's Daughter</a> </i>to reveal the truth about his having fathered her child, and also as a means of supporting that child, as Harding had not left an inheritance for them.<br />
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Britton's book, published in 1927, understandably caused quite a stir. The book was considered so shocking and lascivious that Britton had to self-publish it, and authorities attempted to ban its sale. So naturally, it became an instant hit.<br />
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That brings us to this gem, published just months later: <i>A Dead President Makes Answer to the President's Daughter.</i><br />
<i><br /></i> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjRw6FT2OhbdLdmS76FV_vezbxf2na-EhDjINyEfqEFkNXcRPCyq9ksQCimD1L6XUTc_jDI5GCvhFVG9IOzNSdu_WMCkEp-6PghXqzcmDRVM6K6-U2Qe1HN44kOlpvbR9a5cL582CH_isO/s1600/Jenks+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjRw6FT2OhbdLdmS76FV_vezbxf2na-EhDjINyEfqEFkNXcRPCyq9ksQCimD1L6XUTc_jDI5GCvhFVG9IOzNSdu_WMCkEp-6PghXqzcmDRVM6K6-U2Qe1HN44kOlpvbR9a5cL582CH_isO/s200/Jenks+3.jpg" width="200" /></a>I was surprised by how small this book is: 94 pages, but the story doesn't really begin until page 15, the type and margins are large, and there are a lot of blank pages. I read the whole thing in well under half an hour. But that's okay because I realized I was holding an early-20th-century equivalent of McSweeney's-style satire. And it is phenomenal.<br />
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The premise is that the author (Jenks) is visiting relatives with his wife and children, but he decides to return home alone for the night. When he gets home, he plans on having a drink but finds the frigidaire has broken down and isn't producing ice, so he decides to go to bed instead. That's when his wife's book, <i>The President's Daughter, </i>catches his eye and he decides to read it.<br />
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He becomes enthralled with the book, but after a few hours he also feels physically uneasy, as though something is in the room with him. That's when he realizes the ghost of Warren G. Harding is sitting in his bedroom.<br />
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The two men get into a lengthy conversation about the book and the question of Harding's alleged child. Harding seems despondent at not knowing what to think, and he reveals that it was St. Peter himself who alerted him that he had a child. It turns out that there are two levels of heaven, and the higher one is reserved for those who had offspring. If Harding is able to become convinced that the child is his, he will be able to move to that higher heavenly level.<br />
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Now, at this point I was confused because the whole premise of Britton's book is that Harding <i>did </i>know about the child. So how did this ghost first hear about it from St. Peter?<br />
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I turned the page to find that Jenks wondered the same thing, and that's what he asked Harding: Didn't you know? Harding's response is basically that he let Nan believe that he believed her, but he wasn't really sure what to think. Jenks asks if he believes Nan was with another man, and although Harding is offended that Jenks would question Nan's honor, at the same time, he can't rule out the possibility.<br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"I worried constantly about her. Whenever we met I kept warning her. I wanted her to exercise the greatest care as to where she went, dined, and slept. God knows I wanted her all to myself. But how could I honestly believe that she was all mine when I saw her so rarely and the world seemed to want her so much?"<br />
With these words the dead man's head sank into his arms. He was weeping softly and bitterly.</blockquote>
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Ultimately, Harding cannot know for sure whether the child is his, and he also decides the upper level of heaven is probably too pious anyway and he's better off staying where he is. Then he disappears.<br />
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Shocked by what had just happened, and also overwhelmed by the sudden odor of decay, Jenks rushes back to his relatives' house. He arrives in time for breakfast and regales them with the story of meeting Warren G. Harding's ghost. His wife, less than pleased with the whole thing, doesn't believe he had a supernatural encounter. When they get home, she realizes the broken refrigerator is leaking ammonia, the source of both the smell and the hallucination. The book ends thusly:<br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"But the conversation!" I lamented. "Surely you don't think it utterly valueless?"<br />
She shrugged her pretty shoulders.<br />
"It depends on what people will pay for that sort of thing. You should be able to sell a million copies of that conversation at a dollar and a half a copy."<br />
And the rest is history, as they say. </blockquote>
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Frankly, the whole thing is brilliant. The quick turnaround to take advantage of a hot topic, some "charming" 1920s misogyny, subtle references to Harding's lack of culture, several tongue-in-cheek references to the importance of "a Senator from Ohio," the trolling at the end... It was truly glorious.<br />
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So who was this Anton Shrewsbury Jenks? I have no idea. I suspected it was a pseudonym because it just <i>sounds</i> like a pseudonym, and when I looked him up I discovered my suspicions were correct. In the book, Jenks refers to himself as a journalist, but there seem to be no records of anyone with that name, other than this one book. <a href="http://www.isfdb.org/wiki/index.php/Bio:Anton_Shrewsbury_Jenks">There is speculation</a> that Jenks might really be <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Roth">Samuel Roth</a>, publisher of erotica, political exposés, pornography, and more. Roth appears to have thrived on running afoul of the law and was imprisoned at least five times for distributing obscene literature. He even found himself a potential witness in the Alger Hiss trial.<br />
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Thanks to recent DNA evidence, <a href="http://www.presidentress.com/2015/08/the-presidents-daughter-is-presidents.html">we know that Warren G. Harding was, indeed, the father of Nan Britton's child</a>. If that means he has now made it to the higher level of heaven, I hope it's not too boring for him.Jen Presidentresshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16448215985432237883noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8816477313598875742.post-56449836805094420092018-08-03T15:15:00.001-07:002018-08-03T15:28:43.165-07:00Harding: Before it was Cool<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO71as0F5sIMdGcgcPCammlsL_I4l9GqPQ7oS8L3ebMbn-U0onSuETY10eXWgXZ-4lbT-y_Q1S7Aftmkg4OnU6tpSxtXndmkrzKS1Box6AxOLpqllEApWF4DsyZE-UvZJrl_Z46kUFbvBJ/s1600/Harding+shirt+white.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="354" data-original-width="410" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO71as0F5sIMdGcgcPCammlsL_I4l9GqPQ7oS8L3ebMbn-U0onSuETY10eXWgXZ-4lbT-y_Q1S7Aftmkg4OnU6tpSxtXndmkrzKS1Box6AxOLpqllEApWF4DsyZE-UvZJrl_Z46kUFbvBJ/s320/Harding+shirt+white.png" width="320" /></a>Did you know that yesterday was the anniversary of Warren G. Harding's untimely demise? And did you know that today is the anniversary of Calvin Coolidge taking the oath of office to fill Harding's place?<br />
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Celebrate the occasion with my brand-new shirt (inspired by <a href="https://twitter.com/potus_geeks">@potus_geeks</a>). Warren G. Harding: He was president before it was Coolidge.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwb6f27Wy1I6GMy3DC8J4YncoK_dGp4wXkgbnzp9KiXawcY7pn69iL1x46LRt8MqpVC4_6A0qa3bdWSSmdaLtBW_y8dD-KBHDVrPtojRuwfke4JQtdgEZXNOQhxrICRzXZYonzIHMIKFYa/s1600/Harding+shirt+gray.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="498" data-original-width="330" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwb6f27Wy1I6GMy3DC8J4YncoK_dGp4wXkgbnzp9KiXawcY7pn69iL1x46LRt8MqpVC4_6A0qa3bdWSSmdaLtBW_y8dD-KBHDVrPtojRuwfke4JQtdgEZXNOQhxrICRzXZYonzIHMIKFYa/s200/Harding+shirt+gray.png" width="132" /></a>The design is available in both <a href="https://www.redbubble.com/people/presidentress/works/33039519-warren-g-harding-before-it-was-coolidge">black</a> and <a href="https://www.redbubble.com/people/presidentress/works/33039293-warren-g-harding-before-it-was-coolidge">white</a> type, and shirts are available in unisex and women's cuts, depending on your preference. The design is also available on items other than shirts, such as mugs, stickers, and miniskirts. (Warren would have appreciated that last one.)<br />
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Items are available at Redbubble, and you can use <a href="https://www.talkable.com/x/U6lE50">this link</a> to save $10 on a $30 purchase. (First-time customers only.)<br />
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While you're shopping, be sure to look for the Raise a Glass to Freedom shirts (available in <a href="https://www.redbubble.com/people/presidentress/works/32156859-raise-a-glass-to-freedom">regular</a> or <a href="https://www.redbubble.com/people/presidentress/works/32156670-raise-a-glass-to-freedom">rainbow</a> colors) and create a whole Presidentress-approved wardrobe.<br />
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<br />Jen Presidentresshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16448215985432237883noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8816477313598875742.post-83420893298870124382018-06-09T14:56:00.001-07:002018-06-09T14:56:48.373-07:00Raise a Glass to Some New Shirts<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmisuRuzdRMru3la_NtpF8YyhA7HDSjDqBCTA5MCPCVNMF0oI1VHN2Qr4ytDEtk95Yr_GIBeD6-LbSYjbn2lqcb_Gbu36aTRKtq7dD4EJzKyRb-oUBPvzdy5JmuVNb1k8SMCszfXqAU5Ik/s1600/Raise+both.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmisuRuzdRMru3la_NtpF8YyhA7HDSjDqBCTA5MCPCVNMF0oI1VHN2Qr4ytDEtk95Yr_GIBeD6-LbSYjbn2lqcb_Gbu36aTRKtq7dD4EJzKyRb-oUBPvzdy5JmuVNb1k8SMCszfXqAU5Ik/s320/Raise+both.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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More than a year ago, my friend Becky (who you'll remember from various escapades) and I decided we needed a Fourth of July t-shirt with the Statue of Liberty raising a glass to freedom. I didn't get on it in time for last Independence Day, but I did for this one. Barely.<br />
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Now you, too, can order your very own Raise a Glass to Freedom shirt (or tons of other items) from Redbubble.<br />
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I created two designs because I couldn't decide which I liked more: a "classic" and a "rainbow." You can purchase <a href="https://www.redbubble.com/people/presidentress/works/32156859-raise-a-glass-to-freedom">the classic design here</a>, and <a href="https://www.redbubble.com/people/presidentress/works/32156670-raise-a-glass-to-freedom">the rainbow design here</a>.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyhqO-6a0DI0CXSizbYCRf5EHfwSOpQGi0Dp4x0_EK_DQnelE4m80T47-OfRBeQ5XAqIOF98QK7WnWCTjSkAaW3GaSN645gMwotFMzp3K8JfrWw27QkxBUk8cs5ZdzIbQVS77dj9peAB_r/s1600/Raise+shirts.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyhqO-6a0DI0CXSizbYCRf5EHfwSOpQGi0Dp4x0_EK_DQnelE4m80T47-OfRBeQ5XAqIOF98QK7WnWCTjSkAaW3GaSN645gMwotFMzp3K8JfrWw27QkxBUk8cs5ZdzIbQVS77dj9peAB_r/s320/Raise+shirts.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Shirts start at just a smidge over $19, and you can choose from various cuts and colors. There are plenty of other cool things, too, like mugs, phone cases, and vinyl stickers.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIXVvfABnIytxR60gfA90GhaKuMs1k3Q64XNlEuKM43wuysXWMLU11qUeHzHaqAh6skhm1KcRVAyQ9kwgFMfYhKo-BRFgmOW_qeb_cafHaIWy7GzQpELv7DwEP1qbOR6iNDGpmSdAFRvW0/s1600/Raise+purple.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1289" data-original-width="1222" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIXVvfABnIytxR60gfA90GhaKuMs1k3Q64XNlEuKM43wuysXWMLU11qUeHzHaqAh6skhm1KcRVAyQ9kwgFMfYhKo-BRFgmOW_qeb_cafHaIWy7GzQpELv7DwEP1qbOR6iNDGpmSdAFRvW0/s200/Raise+purple.jpg" width="189" /></a></div>
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The rainbow design would also be great for Pride Month, and if you hurry, you can have something delivered before the end of June! (If I were a better planner, I would have had all this ready weeks ago.)<br />
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So join the growing ranks of Raise-a-Glass shirt owners. Tomorrow there'll be more of us, and that's something they can never take away.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtNqY5TNtRpqvBGVYm7XZbU4Eq-vdoV3FWn8oYLztSdaSopVKGmQ2W1qa5zxZYXklBpEEmhrfTchy1hxBsnWbny-OEj7pEtJ3pKsT4FvXSzimbbYGQTqEEcijE6izJzrHgyUYBm27Z_B50/s1600/Raise+sticker.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="971" data-original-width="969" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtNqY5TNtRpqvBGVYm7XZbU4Eq-vdoV3FWn8oYLztSdaSopVKGmQ2W1qa5zxZYXklBpEEmhrfTchy1hxBsnWbny-OEj7pEtJ3pKsT4FvXSzimbbYGQTqEEcijE6izJzrHgyUYBm27Z_B50/s200/Raise+sticker.jpg" width="199" /></a></div>
<br />Jen Presidentresshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16448215985432237883noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8816477313598875742.post-81992687590444700982018-06-01T06:19:00.000-07:002018-06-01T06:19:13.986-07:00Presidentress Turns 3!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgGLTM5KtOsT18RFmKWyF8ICj2iYe56uJe3xEUo5PmBDB8GAP0zB89kGHNKQFOikwfzUv0iCu3ehFJtmtGZ3ZQQtYXbSdaa1QxmV4zcZQlNhpdCz4onGRiEhiW7d9-BAUQtd33z2rCp5wd/s1600/crochet+hamilton+1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgGLTM5KtOsT18RFmKWyF8ICj2iYe56uJe3xEUo5PmBDB8GAP0zB89kGHNKQFOikwfzUv0iCu3ehFJtmtGZ3ZQQtYXbSdaa1QxmV4zcZQlNhpdCz4onGRiEhiW7d9-BAUQtd33z2rCp5wd/s320/crochet+hamilton+1.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
Can you believe this blog is three years old already? They grow up so fast.<br />
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Each year I like doing a quick recap of my most popular posts of the year. Unfortunately, Google's analytics don't actually show me the most popular posts of the past 12 months, so instead I'll just go with my most popular posts of all time and assume they correspond accordingly.<br />
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#5 this year is...well...it's my post on <a href="http://www.presidentress.com/2017/02/presidential-penis-nicknames.html">Presidential Penis Nicknames</a>. Appropriately, it was the idea for that post that inspired the blog's creation in the first place. Anyway, you're welcome.<br />
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#4 is <a href="http://www.presidentress.com/2016/10/the-cubs-trump-and-armageddon.html">Cubs, Trump, and Armageddon</a>. I understood why this one was popular last year, but I'm a little surprised it's maintained its popularity. I guess the good news is that the world did not actually end. Yet.<br />
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#3 finds us taking a look at <a href="http://www.presidentress.com/2016/06/thomas-jeffersons-killer-sheep.html">Thomas Jefferson's Killer Sheep</a>. This one was on the list last year, too, and I still don't understand what makes it so popular. Although I suppose wool is a pretty hot topic.<br />
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This year's runner-up is my crocheted <a href="http://www.presidentress.com/2017/12/alexander-hamilton-amigurumi.html">Alexander Hamilton Doll</a>. I <i>am</i> really proud of that, so I'm happy to see it up there.<br />
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And returning to the #1 spot this year is my post about <a href="http://www.presidentress.com/2016/06/diy-presidential-t-shirts.html">DIY Presidential T-Shirts</a>...not so much for Herbert Hoover, but for the Disney possibilities. Whatever. I'd like to think at least <i>some</i> people have made president shirts using the technique.<br />
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Thanks for joining me for another year!<br />
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<br />Jen Presidentresshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16448215985432237883noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8816477313598875742.post-76533088410074880582018-04-19T06:45:00.000-07:002018-11-06T07:02:43.680-08:00Herbert Hoover's Mystery Cow<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2Thnkj0j81INk3q49GSswI62L4uuJBvPwa59IXzT5iASS1KdKmnMlUopEAFSgpcfAnSjEZwJ-981PKREKosKayMXwuKxIJxW2_6NY92VTkH-zIOzFAVyl3IKutQ8vMW4ivLcUY8dXRA7L/s1600/Hoover+Cow.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1393" data-original-width="1361" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2Thnkj0j81INk3q49GSswI62L4uuJBvPwa59IXzT5iASS1KdKmnMlUopEAFSgpcfAnSjEZwJ-981PKREKosKayMXwuKxIJxW2_6NY92VTkH-zIOzFAVyl3IKutQ8vMW4ivLcUY8dXRA7L/s320/Hoover+Cow.JPG" width="312" /></a></div>
A lot of people know the story contained in W. P. Kinsella's book <i><a href="https://amzn.to/2vo5rBG">Shoeless Joe</a>, </i>either because they've read the book or have seen the movie based on it: <i><a href="https://amzn.to/2HKiQGL">Field of Dreams</a></i>. A less-known but possibly even better book of Kinsella's is <i><a href="https://amzn.to/2J8MmWf">The Iowa Baseball Confederacy</a></i>, about a man who devotes his life to proving (despite a lack of evidence or anyone else's recollection) that the Chicago Cubs played a bizarre exhibition game against a local Iowa team in 1908. I can relate to that guy, because I know of the existence of another Iowan thing that no one else remembers: a cow.<br />
<i><br /></i> The Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum just opened a new temporary exhibit about farming. One of the features is a fake cow that visitors can milk. Because my 6-year-old is a wee bit obsessed with cows right now (and because he also loves Iowa and Herbert Hoover), I'm definitely going to try to make it there.<br />
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But learning about this new exhibit also reminded me of another Hoover-cow experience, the one that has turned into a bit of a mystery.<br />
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Many, many years ago, just after graduating from high school, I set out with my mom on a long, meandering road trip from Ohio to California. Along the way we stopped at numerous roadside attractions and lots of museums, including presidential and presidential-ish sites.<br />
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After stops in Norwalk, Ohio; Terre Haute, Indiana (Eugene V. Debs' home); Michigan City, Indiana (no idea what we did there); Chicago (lots of things); and Galena, Illinois (Ulysses S. Grant's home); we finally headed into Iowa, where attractions like the <i>Field of Dreams</i> movie site awaited us. But our first stop was in West Branch for the Hoover Museum.<br />
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We went through the museum and then went outside to walk around the buildings that are part of the Herbert Hoover National Historic Site. I honestly don't remember much about the museum or the buildings, but what I remember very clearly is the cow.<br />
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There was a cow. It was along a path and behind a wooden fence. I don't recall there being any other animals, and I also don't recall there being any other people. It was kind of eerie. The cow was just hanging out, so I went over to it. It mooed at me and let me pet its nose. I'm pretty sure that was the first time I'd ever touched a cow (and, come to think of it, possibly the last).<br />
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There was definitely a cow.<br />
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We finished with the grounds, we went on to do lots of other things in Iowa and along the old Route 66, and I got to California and life went on.<br />
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I've been back to the Hoover site a few times now. When I first took my family, I recounted to my kids how I'd met a cow and hoped it was still there, but alas it wasn't.<br />
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So the other day when the Hoover Museum tweeted a picture of the fake cow, I asked them about the real cow that used to live there...but they have no recollection of its existence.<br />
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I have an excellent memory, but I started to wonder if maybe I'd seen the cow at a different presidential museum. We had gone to two others on the trip: Lyndon Johnson's and, I'm assuming, Eisenhower's. I say "assuming" because until a few months ago, I would have told you we'd gone to Truman's, <a href="http://www.presidentress.com/2017/08/a-trip-with-truman.html">but as I recently learned</a>, we had not. The only other presidential museum along our route would have been Ike's. So it's possible the cow was there, and it's possible my memory isn't as good as I thought it was. But somewhere, there was a cow.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3ZirrhHqC9kObS8YhtcqWV0vo7-XHGTrAW8d7gDhmkRyPoPZNwgmAw3FgYXXT4plpj5c5XKmIhiobz8q-hLJAMhNKbLDtv67_XzP4tXQb7Kf2AdBXiOqtu211pS7yxR3UHlNcuOL-Sfvo/s1600/Milk+carton.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="712" data-original-width="571" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3ZirrhHqC9kObS8YhtcqWV0vo7-XHGTrAW8d7gDhmkRyPoPZNwgmAw3FgYXXT4plpj5c5XKmIhiobz8q-hLJAMhNKbLDtv67_XzP4tXQb7Kf2AdBXiOqtu211pS7yxR3UHlNcuOL-Sfvo/s320/Milk+carton.JPG" width="256" /></a></div>
I eliminated the possibility of the LBJ museum because that was toward the end of our trip, and the cow was definitely earlier. The Eisenhower museum does appear to have a house on its grounds, and feasibly that's the one I remember seeing behind the cow. Could it have been an Eisenhower cow and not a Hoover cow? I asked the Ike Museum on social media, but they also don't remember a cow.<br />
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So now I don't know where the hell the cow was, but <i>I know it existed</i>, and I'm still pretty convinced it was at the Hoover Museum, but I'm leaving Ike open as a possibility.<br />
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If anyone else visited the Hoover or Eisenhower Museums in the mid-1990s and remembers there being a cow, please let me know. Or if you happen to work at the Hoover Library and Museum, Hoover National Historic Site, or Eisenhower Library and Museum and want to look into this more closely, I'd really appreciate it. Because it's driving me crazy.<br />
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<br />Jen Presidentresshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16448215985432237883noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8816477313598875742.post-76573548174646640492018-04-04T05:08:00.000-07:002018-04-11T10:59:28.976-07:00Win an Autographed Copy of "Hottest Heads of State"!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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***Update! This contest is now closed. The winner is Brittany S.!***<br />
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A while back, I brought you <a href="http://www.presidentress.com/2018/01/book-review-hottest-heads-of-state.html">a review of the hottest new book of the year: <i>Hottest Heads of State</i></a>. If you're not familiar with it, the book is essentially a teen-heartthrob-magazine of U. S. Presidents, but with actual information and a lot of humor. (It should be noted, though, that while it mimics a teen magazine, the book is intended for adults, not actual kids. One might think this designation would be obvious, but I was in Washington, D.C., shortly after the book was released and found it shelved in the children's section of a fairly major institution. I'm looking at you, National Museum of American History.)<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis7RaGR6_CI58kZTXxan3f0WbfWcPzNhIOLDXZAvaNj2WFlrPh_JDU8Gd5LGE148soalSqrTZH3pGPnwo751FYBOcYBBPXrOqDlyx5-vLREeWulY7dnz1B6tLqLUSMDEf2TOEG0-cTTWU9/s1600/Screen+Shot+2018-04-03+at+9.11.48+AM.png" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="615" height="311" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis7RaGR6_CI58kZTXxan3f0WbfWcPzNhIOLDXZAvaNj2WFlrPh_JDU8Gd5LGE148soalSqrTZH3pGPnwo751FYBOcYBBPXrOqDlyx5-vLREeWulY7dnz1B6tLqLUSMDEf2TOEG0-cTTWU9/s320/Screen+Shot+2018-04-03+at+9.11.48+AM.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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If you like American history and you like laughing, <i>Hottest Heads of State</i> is the book for you! The review linked up above goes into more detail, so read it if you need more convincing. (And if you're too lazy to read the review, that <i>might</i> indicate you're also too lazy to read the book, but I'm not judging.)<br />
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I'm pleased to announce that I have a copy of <i>Hottest Heads of State</i> to give away to one lucky winner---and it's autographed by the authors, J.D. and Kate Dobson!<br />
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There are several ways to enter, as outlined below. If you don't want to take your chances on winning a book for free, you can pay money for one <a href="https://amzn.to/2JgzNcy">right now on Amazon</a>. Again, not judging.<br />
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<a class="rcptr" data-raflid="83ba276b3" data-template="" data-theme="classic" href="http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/83ba276b3/" id="rcwidget_ti0e5omz" rel="nofollow">a Rafflecopter giveaway</a>
<script src="https://widget-prime.rafflecopter.com/launch.js"></script>
<br />
The Fine Print/Terms and Conditions<br />
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1. This contest is open to humans age 18 or older who have a U.S. mailing address.<br />
2. Members of my household and my immediate family are ineligible.<br />
3. My cousin Christina is also ineligible because I already gave her a copy and she's not going to get another one out of me.<br />
4. The contest runs from 12 a.m. Eastern April 4, 2018, to 12 a.m. Eastern April 11, 2018.<br />
5. A winner will be chosen at random within 72 hours of the end of the contest and will be contacted based on information provided when entering. If the winner does not respond within 7 days, a new winner will be chosen.<br />
6. The book will be mailed via USPS within a week of my receiving the winner's address. The book will probably be sent media class---it depends on how much postage is. Maybe the winner will luck out and I'll send it Priority.<br />
7. I'm not responsible for the prize once it leaves my possession.<br />
8. This contest is void where prohibited by law. No purchase necessary. Always wear sunscreen.<br />
9. This autographed copy of <i>Hottest Heads of State</i> was provided to me by the authors for the purpose of this giveaway. I have not received compensation to run this giveaway or for my review.<br />
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<br />Jen Presidentresshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16448215985432237883noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8816477313598875742.post-50251561203882695212018-04-03T09:14:00.001-07:002018-04-03T10:35:17.216-07:00Cooking with the Presidents: Chicken PuddingWhen I saw that Mount Vernon had posted a Facebook video for something called "Chicken Pudding," my first thought was, "Ewww." But I gave the video a chance, and it quickly became apparent that chicken pudding isn't too much different from, say, a chicken pot pie or something along those lines.<br />
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Here, you can see for yourself. (I also give the recipe below if you don't want to watch the video.)</div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen="true" allowtransparency="true" frameborder="0" height="476" scrolling="no" src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FHistoricMountVernon%2Fvideos%2F10155509298708822%2F&show_text=0&width=476" style="border: none; overflow: hidden;" width="476"></iframe><br />
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The main difference between this and the pot pie I've made in the past (besides the lack of crust or vegetables) is the addition of eggs...which is also what makes it a pudding, I suppose. I'm always in favor of extra protein, though, so I decided to make this for Presidents Day.<br />
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The video tells you pretty much all you need to know, except for the amount of broth. In the comments to the video, Mount Vernon specified about 1/2 cup. I decided to add a little dried thyme to the mixture, also, because it seemed like it needed something. And instead of roasting my own chicken on a spit, I picked up a rotisserie chicken at Ye Olde Jewel Osco, and I shredded it instead of cubing it.<br />
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Here's the recipe I wound up using:<br />
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<h4>
Chicken Pudding</h4>
1 cooked chicken, shredded or cubed<br />
1/2 c butter<br />
1/2 c flour<br />
1/2 c broth<br />
2 c milk<br />
4 eggs<br />
salt, pepper, thyme to taste<br />
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Preheat your oven to 350<br />
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In a bowl, mix together the eggs and milk, and set aside.<br />
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Melt the butter in a large pan, then whisk in the flour. Cook for a couple minutes until it darkens a bit.<br />
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Whisk in the broth and incorporate it well.<br />
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Slowly add the milk/egg mixture and whisk well to combine. Add seasoning.<br />
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Remove from heat, add the chicken, then transfer to a pie plate. Bake at 350 for about 45 minutes.<br />
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***<br />
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While I was making this, my daughter came into the kitchen to ask what smelled so good. I told her I was making a chicken pie because somehow that sounds more appealing than chicken pudding. She said she couldn't wait for dinner. I was glad she was enthusiastic because <a href="http://www.presidentress.com/2017/11/cooking-with-presidents-mount-vernon.html">my last attempt at a Mount Vernon recipe</a> hadn't gone too well.<br />
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The pudding emerged from the oven looking and smelling pretty appealing. I let it cool for about 20 minutes before cutting into it, since that's what I usually do with casseroles and whatnot to keep them from running. I'm not sure that was entirely necessary with this, though. It wound up being firm and not runny at all, probably thanks to all those eggs.<br />
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I wasn't sure whether I was supposed to scoop out the servings or slice them like a pie. I wound up doing a scoop-slice hybrid.<br />
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I served the pudding with biscuits and honey-glazed carrots. In retrospect I would have gone with a lighter, less sweet vegetable because the pudding was pretty dense, and the biscuits and honey just made everything heavier. It also looked kind of monochrome. Not to go all Iron Chef, but it needed something acidic.<br />
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That said, the pudding actually tasted pretty good, and my kids seemed to enjoy it a lot. In fact, they liked it so much that halfway through the meal I decided to tell them it was really called Chicken Pudding...and then they suddenly stopped eating. After moaning for a couple minutes about how gross that was, they resumed eating again, and they ate the leftovers the next night without complaint. (Surprisingly, the leftovers actually tasted a little better than the fresh-baked pudding/pie.)<br />
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This isn't a fancy dish, but it's a hearty one, and it's worth checking out if you want to make something George Washington might have eaten. (And trust me, there are a lot of things he would have eaten that sound---and probably taste---a lot less appealing than "chicken pudding.")Jen Presidentresshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16448215985432237883noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8816477313598875742.post-54033839058214209202018-02-26T06:23:00.000-08:002018-02-26T09:43:49.397-08:00Presidentress Does BaltimoreI recently brought you the story of <a href="http://www.presidentress.com/2018/02/presidentress-does-dc.html">my fun-filled trip to Washington, D.C.</a>, and today I bring you Part II of that trip: Baltimore!<br />
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The Baltimore portion of my trip wasn't <i>quite</i> as presidential, but I managed to squeeze in some presidential history---and a lot of other history, too.<br />
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The morning after our jam-packed day in D.C., Becky and I were able to sleep in just a bit before the full day we had planned.<br />
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First stop was Green Mount Cemetery, where John Wilkes Booth is buried. His particular grave is unmarked, but it's somewhere in the Booth family plot. I didn't spend much time there because I didn't really feel like paying respects or trying to commune with him or anything.<br />
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Then we stopped by the grave of someone it would have been fun to commune with: the inventor of the Ouija Board. We had planned on taking a mini Ouija Board <a href="http://www.presidentress.com/2017/10/first-ladies-seance-in-box.html">(make your own!)</a> with us to try to conjure him, but it was waaaaaay too cold for stuff like that, so we just got some photos and left.<br />
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Our next stop was Edgar Allan Poe's grave(s). That's right: It turns out he has two! He was (and still is) buried in a now-decommissioned churchyard in downtown Baltimore. Originally he was buried toward the back in an unmarked grave. At one point someone decided to erect a headstone, but the stone was destroyed in a freak train accident, because somehow that seems fitting. Finally, in the mid-1870s, a monument was created for him. It was too large for the small plot in back, so Poe's body was exhumed and moved to the front corner of the yard. Later, they placed another headstone marking his original burial site, although supposedly (despite a few attempts) that one has never made it to quite the right spot. But apparently it's close enough.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1uu4QDTk2XJWPsS_k00zXczTkKXbBYq17XiXSmihxYwbT_SgTIAbSUtLgLlYEGeKZ2CgtjYHsEm5gls-xwfjzdsypa6u99hZOgdSp9iSumspICi1Dt6AeEZ_lC_16dnKkZ8CZcPzzLfP_/s1600/Poe+Grave+1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1uu4QDTk2XJWPsS_k00zXczTkKXbBYq17XiXSmihxYwbT_SgTIAbSUtLgLlYEGeKZ2CgtjYHsEm5gls-xwfjzdsypa6u99hZOgdSp9iSumspICi1Dt6AeEZ_lC_16dnKkZ8CZcPzzLfP_/s320/Poe+Grave+1.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Poe's current resting place</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU7ZADMOl898Hn1fYskSP-zEc-a62lcjMZ9f3t1JAT5AwDIBUGMY3evK3dVf80DvZkRyX9BlQBLBpEgYxkJVAw3mhOozzsJ3fNIbv2mtfMn8e1GmInZewYWhwi6peSw05pAjE9J_hPaSsZ/s1600/Poe+Grave+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU7ZADMOl898Hn1fYskSP-zEc-a62lcjMZ9f3t1JAT5AwDIBUGMY3evK3dVf80DvZkRyX9BlQBLBpEgYxkJVAw3mhOozzsJ3fNIbv2mtfMn8e1GmInZewYWhwi6peSw05pAjE9J_hPaSsZ/s320/Poe+Grave+2.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Poe's original-ish resting place</td></tr>
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The Ouiji Board also would have been super handy at Poe's grave, but it was still freezing so we took a pass.<br />
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Then we headed over to the Babe Ruth Birthplace and Museum. It's a small museum, but it's chock-full of The Babe. It didn't take us long to go through it---probably about half an hour---but it was worth doing.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Babe's kimono from his time in Japan</td></tr>
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Then it was on to another, even tinier museum: The Edgar Allan Poe House. This museum is literally three rooms. Three very, very, small rooms, connected by very, very tiny, narrow staircases. Obviously it doesn't take long to get through that museum either, but it had a really cool feel to it. It was sort of eerie, in Poe-like fashion.<br />
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After that, we headed to Lexington Market, a huge and bustling and kind of crazy indoor market that has been operating since 1872. We went there because I wanted to try a crab cake, I figured Baltimore would be the best place for it, and I trusted Becky to take me to an iconic place to try one. We decided to split one, in part because they're huge and in part because I wasn't sure I'd like it (I sort of hate seafood). Verdict: It was really good, and I'd have one again!<br />
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Then we made one more Poe stop: a statue of him sitting and looking pensive. Becky insisted it was okay if I sat on his lap, so I did. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending) it appears as though we're engaged in some steamy behavior.<br />
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Before Becky took the photo, she asked if I wanted her to remove a piece of large red trash from the base of the statue. Upon closer examination, we discovered it was one of those painted rocks people hide. I brought it back home and left it at a local historical marker about Eugene V. Debs.<br />
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But back to Baltimore. Later that afternoon, Becky, her husband, kids, and I went to a local bar/tasting room that has a play area for kids. (It's a lot easier to drink when the kids have something to do!) The play area has shelves with free books on them, and while we were browsing Becky revealed to me there's a place called <a href="http://bookthing.org/">Book Thing</a> that's like a used bookstore except <i>everything is free</i>. I repeat: <i>ALL THE BOOKS ARE FREE</i>.<br />
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I insisted that Becky take me there immediately.<br />
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Turns out the place was right across the street from where we were. I perused the American History section for a while until I realized there was an entirely separate section devoted to presidents. I wound up leaving with four books (three presidential, one kid's book about the Gilded Age), and I would have taken more if I'd had more time and more room in my suitcase.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiOkbF0RC-qgH89q_XsHsHudX1oFQKsz93tc8_c-J4VJh6c93R0P71Mc0Nk8G2VJmKYEh929SfZO5z_8BTAnghNl8Ut4Ex2IlxsKU7bxsLUIRr0piKLHPBer8eA3JwuooQlv3d_Tg_rJNc/s1600/Book+Thing.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiOkbF0RC-qgH89q_XsHsHudX1oFQKsz93tc8_c-J4VJh6c93R0P71Mc0Nk8G2VJmKYEh929SfZO5z_8BTAnghNl8Ut4Ex2IlxsKU7bxsLUIRr0piKLHPBer8eA3JwuooQlv3d_Tg_rJNc/s320/Book+Thing.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A portion of the U.S. History section</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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The next day was a lot more laid-back, but we still managed to work in some history. We started the day with a screening of <i>The Sound of Music</i> at a beautifully restored 1920s theater. I couldn't stop staring at the lobby---it was gorgeous!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE-gQJn0Sx_PrVOL-N9xsxkFZs46mmY-4LpEGLk9Q67CDr73svSB5fX6azrAVjLZM6MTb3m-4YabsF9lMtuZm67cNxSXzYdhyPtefaIArPAXrktV-tgMy9r-svgD21joTFqmC9eTJWpPzF/s1600/Senator+Lobby.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE-gQJn0Sx_PrVOL-N9xsxkFZs46mmY-4LpEGLk9Q67CDr73svSB5fX6azrAVjLZM6MTb3m-4YabsF9lMtuZm67cNxSXzYdhyPtefaIArPAXrktV-tgMy9r-svgD21joTFqmC9eTJWpPzF/s400/Senator+Lobby.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>
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Then that evening we went to a place called the Owl Bar in what used to be the Belvedere Hotel. The bar was a hotspot during Prohibition, and the blinking owls above the bar would signal to people whether or not the booze was flowing.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsMI68SXXK424aOKtWemJbi6Yr_L1hAHEDBX3KClHk3g6oltfoN_pZWxIE2VpqGis3TVcwqmku9hCqc47P16R7UJNMBzHPzbEtQEmL9IyBuGfAqAooE73yGKmsnpMh4fs62w94GCgHYbDq/s1600/Owl+Bar.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1379" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsMI68SXXK424aOKtWemJbi6Yr_L1hAHEDBX3KClHk3g6oltfoN_pZWxIE2VpqGis3TVcwqmku9hCqc47P16R7UJNMBzHPzbEtQEmL9IyBuGfAqAooE73yGKmsnpMh4fs62w94GCgHYbDq/s320/Owl+Bar.jpg" width="275" /></a></div>
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Lore has it that once Prohibition ended, H.L. Mencken had Baltimore's first (legal) beer at the Owl Bar. Also, F. Scott Fitzgerald was supposedly kicked out of it, though I imagine several establishments share that honor.<br />
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The ambiance is awesome, as is the food and <i>especially </i>the drinks.<br />
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On the way into the bar, there's a corridor plastered with photos of famous people who had stayed at the hotel. Included are pretty much all 20th-century presidents through Kennedy. (Or maybe LBJ---I got tipsy and can't remember.)<br />
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What I remember <i>very clearly</i> is that the photo right next to the Owl Bar sign is none other than Warren G. Harding, who very well might have sipped some hooch under the gaze of the blinking owls.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh__2Rn35_D7BWAowFntkkHLqM8UCOCeUGqXWWIbG2XYqt7PqFdPhC30KwGiVHsV77-H3VWTGzeumWzwNO7J-pOiEaji7LlrL_H8riO9LYueutfirEo_GqnBjYJCX31tE8gsEZZgy1FAfx/s1600/Harding+Owl.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh__2Rn35_D7BWAowFntkkHLqM8UCOCeUGqXWWIbG2XYqt7PqFdPhC30KwGiVHsV77-H3VWTGzeumWzwNO7J-pOiEaji7LlrL_H8riO9LYueutfirEo_GqnBjYJCX31tE8gsEZZgy1FAfx/s320/Harding+Owl.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Becky has been telling me for years how cool Baltimore is, and now I can confirm that she wasn't just making stuff up to get me there. I will <i>definitely</i> be going back, only next time I'm taking a large empty suitcase to fill with books.Jen Presidentresshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16448215985432237883noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8816477313598875742.post-35886267496514178322018-02-16T05:32:00.001-08:002018-02-16T05:32:18.432-08:00More Fun Presidents Day Ideas!A couple years ago, I wrote a post with actual FUN ideas for Presidents Day. Since then, I've made a lot more craft projects that could be fun for you and/or your kids. (When I say "fun," I mean "actually interesting," not just gluing a penny onto a picture of a log cabin and calling it a "fun activity.")<br />
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So here are some things to keep you occupied and entertained:<br />
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<b>Give Andrew Jackson a Tattoo</b><br />
It's more fun than a regular coloring page. <a href="http://www.presidentress.com/2016/08/give-andrew-jackson-tattoo.html">More information about Andrew Jackson's tattoos here</a>.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYxxoC5Y9xT3CcekIZnUyqYU2GeNn0YPnbp2TT20OWa9uUf40WIy73F7nljZtcv-VozfvHzMEXZrCkblTZCQZ_k8Nf588ygki7kaQbN5wMptEDbs_6ENgUlGFO2uiNxLoVOEXcTiB8JCec/s1600/Tattoo+Jackson.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1237" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYxxoC5Y9xT3CcekIZnUyqYU2GeNn0YPnbp2TT20OWa9uUf40WIy73F7nljZtcv-VozfvHzMEXZrCkblTZCQZ_k8Nf588ygki7kaQbN5wMptEDbs_6ENgUlGFO2uiNxLoVOEXcTiB8JCec/s320/Tattoo+Jackson.jpg" width="247" /></a></div>
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<b>Color Chester A. Arthur's Pants</b><br />
Also more fun than a regular coloring page. <a href="http://www.presidentress.com/2015/10/chester-arthur-coloring-page.html">More information about Chester Arthur's pants here.</a><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH6pDv1XaCCPWnxMdXTYypee0Ql207upn6CbqDOecK99c751SRW_WkAAoMj-svV-sgSewnsnUwJDh33fInVzUF8fGQ7c5esTamYI2d1MGAcSsTt2gX-7Q67_DB40PgNpl1QW8hBqVqRQOB/s1600/Arthur+pants.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1364" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH6pDv1XaCCPWnxMdXTYypee0Ql207upn6CbqDOecK99c751SRW_WkAAoMj-svV-sgSewnsnUwJDh33fInVzUF8fGQ7c5esTamYI2d1MGAcSsTt2gX-7Q67_DB40PgNpl1QW8hBqVqRQOB/s320/Arthur+pants.jpg" width="272" /></a></div>
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<b>Make a Presidential T-Shirt</b><br />
You only need a few items and a bit of patience to make one of these cool-looking shirts. And you don't even have to limit yourself to Herbert Hoover! <a href="http://www.presidentress.com/2016/06/diy-presidential-t-shirts.html">Find full instructions here.</a><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ0RtOM5fQVK9TlhzLuSMU12bZlhzsCZzKZ8qfT8ssdHeCxedVFHx-GYMIEWmfswPHgWV6ltDMcn1bB6DkGF_27J98bsfdqZiWbMuldxHLHFTeuh00NM1tQOtoOHUoFZ6QKB4_gKDufSNH/s1600/Hoover+shirts.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ0RtOM5fQVK9TlhzLuSMU12bZlhzsCZzKZ8qfT8ssdHeCxedVFHx-GYMIEWmfswPHgWV6ltDMcn1bB6DkGF_27J98bsfdqZiWbMuldxHLHFTeuh00NM1tQOtoOHUoFZ6QKB4_gKDufSNH/s320/Hoover+shirts.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<b>Crochet Something</b><br />
It might help to already know how to crochet, but if you do, you can make some of <a href="http://www.presidentress.com/2016/09/ida-mckinleys-slippers.html">Ida McKinley's Slippers</a> or a <a href="http://www.presidentress.com/2017/12/alexander-hamilton-amigurumi.html">doll that looks like a president (or Founding Father)</a>.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaXBAJ2cfHOwCLodKF4Z0kAUnVs9VQDcaXVvQj3RN8pkXsEiemBMd2KjBYzpkXDYA6VUSwNEfwVnuxgsa2zcAK9HyeaxZlPn1DiMg1SfAA-TrhpIOGOtak_HgtbH00B39BHbMR0fR_RWnC/s1600/McKinley+slipper+blue.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="421" data-original-width="617" height="218" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaXBAJ2cfHOwCLodKF4Z0kAUnVs9VQDcaXVvQj3RN8pkXsEiemBMd2KjBYzpkXDYA6VUSwNEfwVnuxgsa2zcAK9HyeaxZlPn1DiMg1SfAA-TrhpIOGOtak_HgtbH00B39BHbMR0fR_RWnC/s320/McKinley+slipper+blue.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4Nr8xYYpUEJaOT0uKNzj3_J7GtewetrY3IYcSVdq0yuydmKtqHpGB7l4IuDXL8MQEEs4XCTzEn5YiVtke1CchfOuEWSVt9IfkfPAApqZgCTTc0YGtHLjdWTKU8hmXifeMlT1jUoZp4ttk/s1600/harding+doll2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4Nr8xYYpUEJaOT0uKNzj3_J7GtewetrY3IYcSVdq0yuydmKtqHpGB7l4IuDXL8MQEEs4XCTzEn5YiVtke1CchfOuEWSVt9IfkfPAApqZgCTTc0YGtHLjdWTKU8hmXifeMlT1jUoZp4ttk/s320/harding+doll2.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgGLTM5KtOsT18RFmKWyF8ICj2iYe56uJe3xEUo5PmBDB8GAP0zB89kGHNKQFOikwfzUv0iCu3ehFJtmtGZ3ZQQtYXbSdaa1QxmV4zcZQlNhpdCz4onGRiEhiW7d9-BAUQtd33z2rCp5wd/s1600/crochet+hamilton+1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgGLTM5KtOsT18RFmKWyF8ICj2iYe56uJe3xEUo5PmBDB8GAP0zB89kGHNKQFOikwfzUv0iCu3ehFJtmtGZ3ZQQtYXbSdaa1QxmV4zcZQlNhpdCz4onGRiEhiW7d9-BAUQtd33z2rCp5wd/s320/crochet+hamilton+1.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<b>Make a Woodrow Wilson Articulated Doll</b><br />
If crocheting isn't your thing, you can still <a href="http://www.presidentress.com/2016/01/diy-woodrow-wilson-puppet.html">make a presidential doll</a>---in two dimensions. (It's a lot faster and easier than crocheting one, too.)<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1sFvBcd3KQNGLyIFzjj0T-zbhzm282gWPnrb_32EW3sy1xZhgSc2S6iXgvuPJscYT1oXqBafLYY9c3JKSAJG_hAM_KNw3n29olFjNWsvvtYZcj09Oxoftwziw3NGwDalVqkMPsAiTjrzR/s1600/IMG_0957.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1192" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1sFvBcd3KQNGLyIFzjj0T-zbhzm282gWPnrb_32EW3sy1xZhgSc2S6iXgvuPJscYT1oXqBafLYY9c3JKSAJG_hAM_KNw3n29olFjNWsvvtYZcj09Oxoftwziw3NGwDalVqkMPsAiTjrzR/s320/IMG_0957.JPG" width="238" /></a></div>
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<b>Make Some Easy Andy Warhol-esque Presidential Artwork</b><br />
This is a perennial favorite in my house. I found the idea on <a href="http://www.toddlerapproved.com/2011/02/presidents-day-andy-warhol-style.html">this site</a> a few years back, and my kids (and I) love it. You just print out four identical coloring pages of the president of your choice, go to town with crayons or watercolors, then arrange them on some construction paper.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdCZ6mPbBG2MAxnlHI4JJHIq9CNeA-g2wUP9zxi5FVeoUkt-zngPOngcT7E6bJs2sXj9vgN1InW7-YnY0U-5fQBJP8M8EpviFucBt0IpgDst1FXIHeCzXCmcetbGWLfgDYm9_cwtzVNEtV/s1600/IMG_0942.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdCZ6mPbBG2MAxnlHI4JJHIq9CNeA-g2wUP9zxi5FVeoUkt-zngPOngcT7E6bJs2sXj9vgN1InW7-YnY0U-5fQBJP8M8EpviFucBt0IpgDst1FXIHeCzXCmcetbGWLfgDYm9_cwtzVNEtV/s320/IMG_0942.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkNN8KeRd2fpKsEn7_-VKz9WOEBCRjJ3Wk5fRpIWvmDeFWaKcY7uTHhhEJ2E-eMhLCK5PvNpcNgT6FI32lNrXBVTx0xRDZV8cJ34OMe5hcJ60qKJ0MPXB0eQMJqkCauYLAaZyEY3u_n4bk/s1600/Harding+Warhol.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkNN8KeRd2fpKsEn7_-VKz9WOEBCRjJ3Wk5fRpIWvmDeFWaKcY7uTHhhEJ2E-eMhLCK5PvNpcNgT6FI32lNrXBVTx0xRDZV8cJ34OMe5hcJ60qKJ0MPXB0eQMJqkCauYLAaZyEY3u_n4bk/s320/Harding+Warhol.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWupquv0OREL2ou1KPr6YMG-DexuC7YvVnR_41jbfe4M9ZQ1e6ZFLeo2LqY3c_-56Yw7FBeQMwp8QHZ-IzKNC1Bo1Yz_CXpbGdQgHzMdILzDGW9jo_EXE-Uh971Fiar9WU0TMeNbc4_qpQ/s1600/Lincoln+Warhol.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWupquv0OREL2ou1KPr6YMG-DexuC7YvVnR_41jbfe4M9ZQ1e6ZFLeo2LqY3c_-56Yw7FBeQMwp8QHZ-IzKNC1Bo1Yz_CXpbGdQgHzMdILzDGW9jo_EXE-Uh971Fiar9WU0TMeNbc4_qpQ/s320/Lincoln+Warhol.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<b>Do Some Refrigerator Poetry</b><br />
I created a <a href="http://www.presidentress.com/2016/07/donald-trump-refrigerator-poetry.html">free, printable Donald Trump Refrigerator Poetry Set</a>. So...you know...you could do that.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxgDAf-pa4VwGIYtZhRHMljuXxqO47LsJj3ajCUE4kpMXzKYUqoV7nxVEl_6gvsONnxLPNrSaLGQ9iHKLNPW-kwuCRiW2CIH-m5Tl9cVJgC2AaQ8-WFIcwGcXt_0fKbLzneV-lz_LEvA3Z/s1600/trump+phrases.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1433" data-original-width="1600" height="286" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxgDAf-pa4VwGIYtZhRHMljuXxqO47LsJj3ajCUE4kpMXzKYUqoV7nxVEl_6gvsONnxLPNrSaLGQ9iHKLNPW-kwuCRiW2CIH-m5Tl9cVJgC2AaQ8-WFIcwGcXt_0fKbLzneV-lz_LEvA3Z/s320/trump+phrases.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<b>Make Some Racing Presidents</b><br />
The <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/kidspost/racing-presidents-add-a-fifth-runner-you-can-make-paper-dolls-of-all-of-them/2013/03/21/dd4cfd56-8a63-11e2-98d9-3012c1cd8d1e_story.html?utm_term=.b84d570e4eb8">Washington Post created templates</a> you can print out and put on toilet paper tubes so you can have your own version of the Washington Nationals' Racing Presidents. My friend Sunny's kids put hexbugs inside theirs to make them "race" for real.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmlkxGMUHyLft6ern8uwhWiHHupjLSQdYTszWyu9oAMPP2x2wLT2rJiYM0qyDdgrnxpuxH4RvyHR_C_G5FdrWSGFySkL-0kZVhL9sXldqSFI7wrA875D0wuraNUJzEKIS32NaXPivJIft1/s1600/IMG_0983.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmlkxGMUHyLft6ern8uwhWiHHupjLSQdYTszWyu9oAMPP2x2wLT2rJiYM0qyDdgrnxpuxH4RvyHR_C_G5FdrWSGFySkL-0kZVhL9sXldqSFI7wrA875D0wuraNUJzEKIS32NaXPivJIft1/s320/IMG_0983.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<b>Make Some Patriotic Jello</b><br />
This is far easier than it would appear. <a href="http://www.presidentress.com/2017/06/patriotic-jello.html">Find full instructions here.</a><br />
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I have lots of other presidential recipes, which you can find by clicking the "Cooking with the Presidents" tag/label at the bottom of this post. You could have a whole meal! (Primarily consisting of desserts.) You can also find other crafts by clicking on the "crafts" label.<br />
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If you make any of these things, please let me know! Have a safe and happy Presidents Day!<br />
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<br />Jen Presidentresshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16448215985432237883noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8816477313598875742.post-36907593111249914412018-02-15T06:40:00.000-08:002018-02-15T06:40:29.044-08:00The Complete Sean Spicer Fan Fiction<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Now that my Sean Spicer FanFic (<i>Among the Bushes: Things are About to Get Spicey</i>) is complete, I figured I'd put the links in one place to make it easier to read (and reread, and reread, and reread).<br />
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Just so you know, this is the most phenomenal fanfic in history. It's tremendous. It's leafy.<br />
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Enjoy.<br />
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<b><a href="http://www.presidentress.com/2017/08/sean-spicer-fan-fiction-chapter-1.html">Chapter 1 </a></b><br />
Caroline suspects there's something unusual about her gardener. But what could it be?<br />
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<b><a href="http://www.presidentress.com/2017/08/sean-spicer-fan-fiction-chapter-2.html">Chapter 2</a> </b><br />
Now that Caroline knows the truth, will she be able to seduce this alluring gardener?<br />
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<a href="http://www.presidentress.com/2017/10/sean-spicer-fan-fiction-chapter-3.html"><b>Chapter 3</b> </a><br />
They go on a date! Things are going well until the dessert cart comes around...<br />
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<b><a href="http://www.presidentress.com/2018/01/sean-spicer-fan-fiction-chapter-4.html">Chapter 4</a></b><br />
The finale: Are they meant to be?Jen Presidentresshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16448215985432237883noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8816477313598875742.post-71390868107537303612018-02-08T06:18:00.001-08:002018-02-08T06:18:40.940-08:00Presidential Valentines, Harding-StyleMany of our presidents have been amorous-type fellows, possibly none more than Warren G. Harding. Actually, if we're going strictly on numbers there are likely some who exceed him, but none who were able to put their love into quite the poetic...beauty...Harding was.<br />
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I figure there are a lot of people out there searching for the perfect Valentine for their sweetheart (or if you're like Harding, <i>sweethearts</i>), so why not get a little help from the man himself?<br />
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I've taken a poem Harding wrote to his paramour <a href="http://www.presidentress.com/2015/06/book-review-harding-affair.html">Carrie Phillips</a> and have made Valentines out of the various verses. Feel free to print off the one you find most appropriate and give it to your flame. Throw in some chocolate, too, because even Harding knew that a Valentine printed off the internet wasn't gonna cut it.<br />
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<br />Jen Presidentresshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16448215985432237883noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8816477313598875742.post-56573586371796425262018-02-06T07:45:00.001-08:002018-02-06T13:16:44.929-08:00Presidentress Does D.C.I just got back from a brief but extremely fun weekend with my best friend in Baltimore and Washington, D.C. You might remember Becky from our whirlwind <a href="http://www.presidentress.com/2016/04/nyc-history-tour-part-1.html">Hamilton-and-more tour</a> of New York City, and our good time at the <a href="http://www.presidentress.com/2017/01/millard-fillmore-presidential-librarybar.html">Millard Fillmore Presidential Library</a>.<br />
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Anyway, Becky lives in Baltimore and has been bugging me to visit for years. Finally the stars aligned, and I'm really glad they did.<br />
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My first full day there was spent in Washington, D.C. Did we see the usual tourist attractions? The White House? Lincoln Memorial? Washington Monument?<br />
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No, of course not. In part, that's because I've been to most of the usual places already (though it's been a couple decades), but mostly it's because my tastes run a little different.<br />
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My day in D.C. happened to be Groundhog Day, which is one of my (and Becky's) favorite holidays. (I wrote before about a <a href="http://www.presidentress.com/2016/02/groundhogs-and-presidents.html">presidential-type groundhog celebration</a>.) I'd learned there would be a Groundhog Day event in Dupont Circle, so we made sure to get up well before the crack of dawn to get there in time.<br />
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When we arrived, we saw the taxidermied Potomac Phil looking a little angry, surrounded by a couple people in top hats with signs saying things like "Make Groundhog Day Great Again." A guy in a top hat approached us and asked if we were staying for the prediction. When we said we were, he asked if we wanted to borrow top hats to wear. The catch: We'd have to stand up on the steps by the groundhog. Yes, please!<br />
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As it turns out, we wound up standing <i>right next</i> to Potomac Phil during the prognostication, which was captured by a couple D.C. TV stations. (<a href="http://wjla.com/news/local/potomac-phil-predicts-6-more-weeks-of-winter">Video here</a>. I'm the freak with the amazing purse and the groundhog puppet.)<br />
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Still on a high from our brush with fame, we headed over to the Federal Court of Claims to find the Seward Plaque. If you've read Sarah Vowell's <i><a href="http://amzn.to/2nNYcvS">Assassination Vacation</a></i>, you might remember her talking about the plaque, and her story pretty funny. The plaque itself, though, isn't actually humorous at all. Rather, it marks a violent piece of U.S. history, which you can learn about in the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/presidentress/videos/2006499946289592/">Facebook Live video I made</a> while there.<br />
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(About ten seconds into the video, a guy in a long black coat started approaching the plaque. I could only see him out of the corner of my eye, but he totally distracted me. Was he, too, a tourist intent on seeing the Seward Plaque? Was he federal law enforcement there to ask me WTF I was doing? I'm still not sure, but I didn't get arrested so I suppose it doesn't matter.)<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKGezwuko7zf21yCX9eTDO9krPDIg0P7eW2VcOsGNbIZzvvCZ8M_F_Rhy0chyphenhyphenCodI1WAZiGTyi1UEgv7yNvZofAeMGGgqKUf6TzbfEv3XSSwrnMKkV0UoD_kvyBpun0LNb-g5vXS2iX_22/s1600/fords+theater.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKGezwuko7zf21yCX9eTDO9krPDIg0P7eW2VcOsGNbIZzvvCZ8M_F_Rhy0chyphenhyphenCodI1WAZiGTyi1UEgv7yNvZofAeMGGgqKUf6TzbfEv3XSSwrnMKkV0UoD_kvyBpun0LNb-g5vXS2iX_22/s320/fords+theater.JPG" width="240" /></a>We then went to Ford's Theater. We could take a tour of the theater right away, or we could wait a while and do the theater and the museum. I would have liked to see the museum, but we opted for the theater-only tour since we had a packed day.<br />
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We walked around the theater for a few minutes, and then a ranger gave a brief talk about the night of the assassination. I didn't really learn anything new from the talk, but the one thing I <i>did</i> learn from the tour is that Lincoln's box was to the right of the stage (as you're looking at it). For some reason, I had always envisioned it to the left, and this reality completely threw me off.<br />
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Next on our list was lunch at Wok and Roll, a Chinese restaurant now occupying the boarding house where the Lincoln assassins conspired. On the way, we picked up my old friend Jarrod, who works at the Capitol One Arena, which is practically across the street from the restaurant/evil boarding house.<br />
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I tried hard to imagine John Wilkes Booth, Lewis Powell, and George Atzerodt hanging around, plotting against the government, but it was hard to get the sushi bar out of my mind.<br />
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After lunch, we said goodbye to Jarrod and walked a few blocks to the site of James Garfield's assassination. He was killed at a train station at the corner of 6th and Constitution Ave. NW, where the National Gallery of Art now sits. I don't know exactly <i>where</i> in that general area it happened because there's no plaque marking the event.<br />
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A few days before I left on my trip, the James Garfield National Historic Site tweeted about their desire to see a plaque marking the spot, so I thought I'd help out by demonstrating the crucial need for one.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Is this where Garfield was assassinated?</td></tr>
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We then walked a few more blocks to the National Museum of American History, which is probably as close as I can get to heaven on earth. So many things!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizjbDp0Hc6YR7MGI-MvS5Z3nYhCkh84aXT5NjPdnNAhKuhyklKXR3dvGb8q3BIe_6FD7WfqeK06uo0yybe4BUlTL_YUJ8f03S7X6ggI-7m4-cWNtt2B94l6lq9vvgjijh7yPPYtXZWBNp9/s1600/whh+quilt.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizjbDp0Hc6YR7MGI-MvS5Z3nYhCkh84aXT5NjPdnNAhKuhyklKXR3dvGb8q3BIe_6FD7WfqeK06uo0yybe4BUlTL_YUJ8f03S7X6ggI-7m4-cWNtt2B94l6lq9vvgjijh7yPPYtXZWBNp9/s320/whh+quilt.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A quilt made of William Henry Harrisons</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhywB6FxpEZ5CgGSZKad182Jqg5iEJH5JsAB9166VWiiODdhU_9a2UGb9MnYxdBDk4ejL2AUibLLAhMQbWLLLYfHbcQUigplcaEd6QFqoQClzSOioI0d8nM8o-xPkSACCzZSh4u6QSiX-rq/s1600/lincoln+hat.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhywB6FxpEZ5CgGSZKad182Jqg5iEJH5JsAB9166VWiiODdhU_9a2UGb9MnYxdBDk4ejL2AUibLLAhMQbWLLLYfHbcQUigplcaEd6QFqoQClzSOioI0d8nM8o-xPkSACCzZSh4u6QSiX-rq/s320/lincoln+hat.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lincoln's death-hat</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHeo8h1M4TI5TjLs92eKSD9MD9V27L0-jnTxN-HMOZEK3OnBxWqkj94q2lzaASzsuBapYGX4YpSpkJCS1nst0p-mmYkml8VvAsudjvHrdYqzDqrAjaoLbYU3FQ4qnl3kJasDYLUSw3GT4i/s1600/housewives+for+nixon.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHeo8h1M4TI5TjLs92eKSD9MD9V27L0-jnTxN-HMOZEK3OnBxWqkj94q2lzaASzsuBapYGX4YpSpkJCS1nst0p-mmYkml8VvAsudjvHrdYqzDqrAjaoLbYU3FQ4qnl3kJasDYLUSw3GT4i/s320/housewives+for+nixon.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzmIbLjQV4KNielV1lR-ZTbnGqRyWyiuKgw-hGm2boSudo7wUI9HSc7oQxNuV_B33vJV-OSbxx5F1pmNaoYh0zTRtBCYapeo9i3brgG7DY7_m7_2ltHz2f5Sm3thudSLLxLZ6TiVMF82HG/s1600/harding+pajamas.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzmIbLjQV4KNielV1lR-ZTbnGqRyWyiuKgw-hGm2boSudo7wUI9HSc7oQxNuV_B33vJV-OSbxx5F1pmNaoYh0zTRtBCYapeo9i3brgG7DY7_m7_2ltHz2f5Sm3thudSLLxLZ6TiVMF82HG/s320/harding+pajamas.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Warren G. Harding's pajamas</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Harding devil-charm-things?</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQC0TVC8ka5tP1ZlKoeONZX_6bByaamQFR-PAvLB2b-gWfuRgMhDMNh7DhJJsOZcbFCoTZOb1YUaWssK1iCy7rkM_k27ln12RQ4t5DhOZzvUQLY9wFA8mWVRGXyZIXQCYokPY4RuamNxTH/s1600/clay+jackson.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQC0TVC8ka5tP1ZlKoeONZX_6bByaamQFR-PAvLB2b-gWfuRgMhDMNh7DhJJsOZcbFCoTZOb1YUaWssK1iCy7rkM_k27ln12RQ4t5DhOZzvUQLY9wFA8mWVRGXyZIXQCYokPY4RuamNxTH/s320/clay+jackson.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Terrifying cartoon of Henry Clay<br />
sewing Andrew Jackson's mouth shut</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixvvsYq1nktwZSY4E0b1KCi5DppZ7c4rVTQpmYZZNO6KhmGizF8VJeHCJyk40AJ_wjR8uQZFLWw84Elwebwv9ckmwXPs7tIvRtyzHzowcRrPoVtjz8FiYHrZcKJ-LAu9GjmN9cSLu-BTu5/s1600/carrot+man.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixvvsYq1nktwZSY4E0b1KCi5DppZ7c4rVTQpmYZZNO6KhmGizF8VJeHCJyk40AJ_wjR8uQZFLWw84Elwebwv9ckmwXPs7tIvRtyzHzowcRrPoVtjz8FiYHrZcKJ-LAu9GjmN9cSLu-BTu5/s320/carrot+man.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Carrot-Man</td></tr>
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By the time we were done with the museum, we were extremely tired and our feet hurt. It was also bitterly cold outside. But we had more to do!<br />
<br />
We hopped in an Uber and headed over toward the East City Bookshop, where we were attending a book signing later that evening. First, though, we had dinner at a place called Mr. Henry's, which had a nice turn-of-the-century feel, with lots of Gibson-Girl-esque pictures and dark wood. We also did some of the <a href="http://amzn.to/2E5PODd">Presidential Mad Libs</a> I'd bought at the history museum.<br />
<br />
Then we walked over to the bookstore for the presentation and book signing by J.D. and Kate Dobson. (You can---nay, <i>should</i>---read my review of their book <a href="http://www.presidentress.com/2018/01/book-review-hottest-heads-of-state.html"><i>Hottest Heads of State </i>here</a>.) The presentation was hilarious, and J.D. and Kate are sweet, fun, amazing people. Plus, people in the audience got an "autographed" photo of a president if they asked a question during the Q&A portion, and Kate made sure I got Warren G.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_lVcXZHF_tA0fziC2MoJzmwZel57X196Bk3-dueqSsaHxBEfD82IfE86KpaKPYOi8jvlfUtHxwfBoJR2-0t7tZcJzCrGloO7CeaFsZI22XsOrKJoXhz12NNoBwmeXaUN_mko7OVLJg6hQ/s1600/harding+glossy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_lVcXZHF_tA0fziC2MoJzmwZel57X196Bk3-dueqSsaHxBEfD82IfE86KpaKPYOi8jvlfUtHxwfBoJR2-0t7tZcJzCrGloO7CeaFsZI22XsOrKJoXhz12NNoBwmeXaUN_mko7OVLJg6hQ/s320/harding+glossy.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"I am the true father of your children"</td></tr>
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Finally, it was back to Baltimore to get some sleep. Stay tuned for Part 2: Presidentress Does Baltimore.Jen Presidentresshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16448215985432237883noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8816477313598875742.post-14199135518504020282018-01-23T05:46:00.002-08:002018-01-23T05:46:35.943-08:00Book Review: Hottest Heads of State<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8WeayNcyOxqunUrzi_FW0AxeoikTfCr8wWiu6yHykd7nZeRZ9X6lT0PpPW20KVyorbucAoOQClS3R42M2h4d18yOxwnSkYowgd0NVoW0r6kG9SzcBsHc8XrsC14SuAiW86tHHwz0C47qA/s1600/HHOS1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="747" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8WeayNcyOxqunUrzi_FW0AxeoikTfCr8wWiu6yHykd7nZeRZ9X6lT0PpPW20KVyorbucAoOQClS3R42M2h4d18yOxwnSkYowgd0NVoW0r6kG9SzcBsHc8XrsC14SuAiW86tHHwz0C47qA/s200/HHOS1.jpg" width="155" /></a></div>
Remember when you were a preteen/teenager, and you'd pore over magazines full of heartthrobs, absorbing everything you could about their favorite songs or snack foods and then tearing out the photos and taping them all over your walls and ceiling?<br />
<br />
What if I told you there's a new fan magazine like that, only instead of a magazine, it's a book, and instead of focusing on Kirk Cameron or Jason Priestley, it features U.S. presidents? It's not just a dream anymore! If <i>Tiger Beat</i> and <i><a href="http://amzn.to/2DkJMgH">Barron's AP United States History, 3rd Edition</a></i> fell deeply in love, their baby would be <i><a href="http://amzn.to/2FB6vDn">Hottest Heads of State Volume One: The American Presidents</a></i>.<br />
<br />
You might already be familiar with Hottest Heads of State, especially if you read this blog because I've written about it a few times, particularly the posts on <a href="https://hottestheadsofstate.com/us-presidents/">The Presidents of the United States: In Order of Hotness</a> and <a href="https://hottestheadsofstate.com/young-us-presidents/">Presidents of the United States: When They Were Young and Hunky</a>. Now the folks who run that blog have expanded their vast media empire by giving us this book, a guide to winning the heart of your favorite president(s) and finding out which one(s) might already be in love with you! If only this book had existed years ago, back <a href="http://www.presidentress.com/2015/06/how-ronald-reagan-destroyed-my-first.html">when I had a childhood crush on George Washington/Ronald Reagan</a>.<br />
<br />
While I am constantly entertained by the things Hottest Heads of State churns out, I was concerned this book might not live up to the standards of their previous work, like <a href="https://hottestheadsofstate.com/2017/10/eyebrows/">The Presidents of the United States: In Order of Best Eyebrows</a>. I didn't have an actual <i>reason</i> for that concern; I'm just sort of a pessimist at times. But I needn't have worried. This book is funny. It's really funny. Even the acknowledgments are hilarious.<br />
<br />
The book goes through each president chronologically. Each one gets an introduction and a ranking of his looks, physique, and charisma, plus one other category that varies by president ("nickname," "spitting," "pants," "filial devotion"). There are explanations for why you'll love them or how good they are at keeping promises. There are also tips on how to win them over. (Franklin Pierce: "Be shy, sickly, and kind of a downer.")<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1VVUV5zR1m7-KVBYDMKDh8OWTxUwFm6awryuZwYgj5S1V85uClCgng74yj7UmVNQYIc4Y79TZ18A9uz-APjbdYVJc020K_Mk-J3XdBpPLGUQkZwTsNbQS7bfm6Df_oFaSnS02aVGdTrwL/s1600/HHOS2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="639" data-original-width="960" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1VVUV5zR1m7-KVBYDMKDh8OWTxUwFm6awryuZwYgj5S1V85uClCgng74yj7UmVNQYIc4Y79TZ18A9uz-APjbdYVJc020K_Mk-J3XdBpPLGUQkZwTsNbQS7bfm6Df_oFaSnS02aVGdTrwL/s320/HHOS2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
Scattered throughout the book are fun features like "Presidential Trend Report: Best Beard," "Are You Bill Clinton?" and "Which President Has a Secret Crush on You?" (I got Rutherford B. Hayes! Score!) There are also "Match the Mistress to her POTUS" games. That would be overwhelming to do all at once, so these games appear three times throughout the book, each covering a different timeframe: One for 1789-1960, one for 1961-1963, and one for 1963-2018.<br />
<br />
There are also features explaining things like the Gold Standard and the Iran-Contra Affair. You won't come away with an in-depth understanding of any of these issues (unless you already had one), but you'll probably know more than you did before. And don't worry: You will <i>not</i> get bored. ("Can you explain it in the form of a dumbed-down analogy?")<br />
<br />
At one point early on in the book, I snorted out loud about something I'd read. I thought I'd been quiet, but I guess not, because suddenly my children were demanding to know what was so funny. So I read to them:<br />
<br />
"Adams's pen name when writing a constant stream of strident op-eds to Boston newspapers was 'Humphrey Ploughjogger.' So try going into the bathroom, turning out the light, looking in the mirror, and saying 'Humphrey Ploughjogger' three times. Maybe John Adams will appear! Or maybe your spouse will say from the toilet, 'What the hell are you doing?'"<br />
<br />
My kids immediately went running to the bathroom to try to summon John Adams. (Spoiler alert: It didn't work. That we know of.)<br />
<br />
Anyway, a small sampling of other amusing bits:<br />
<br />
In describing Millard Fillmore's physique: "One account described Fillmore as having the 'chest of a woodsman.' We're not sure whether this means a heavily muscled chest or a chest full of axes. Either way, it's something we'd like to see."<br />
<br />
About Chester A. Arthur: "He's a gourmand. That means he likes fancy food, not that he is some kind of half-man, half-gourd. Although that would be pretty great, too, if you like decorative gourds."<br />
<br />
The section titled "Remember the Maine" explains how the Maine blew up ("So in that respect, it's similar to the Death Star"), causing Congress to declare war, "which is something Congress used to do when the U.S. went to war with another country."<br />
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The "Did You Know" portion of the FDR section tells us that "The F stands for Franklin," which the authors observe would be an excellent title for an FDR biography.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQjD5erhg1ol6cWgiJIuGlKEgWaU_ZDM7IWNhthpehfVlM9dYDf3uiTGme604aavvRULpYbItYkvRlYmjnvMjqx8sR5d-egtOyOoG-6NOK9hfX2k1Xwlv0c_C442kLENbfjK6skTfFIht9/s1600/JDKate.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="960" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQjD5erhg1ol6cWgiJIuGlKEgWaU_ZDM7IWNhthpehfVlM9dYDf3uiTGme604aavvRULpYbItYkvRlYmjnvMjqx8sR5d-egtOyOoG-6NOK9hfX2k1Xwlv0c_C442kLENbfjK6skTfFIht9/s320/JDKate.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The authors, hard at work</td></tr>
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Best of all, they point out that the letters in "Gerald Ford" can be rearranged to spell "frog ladder," which I'd like to think they learned from <a href="http://www.presidentress.com/2017/07/presidential-anagrams-mind-can-quash-joy.html">my post about presidential anagrams</a>. On second thought, maybe I should sue for intellectual property violations. I guess we'll call it even since they just gave me a name for my FDR biography.<br />
<br />
As to the real information contained in the book, like I said, there's quite a bit of it. It probably won't help you score a 5, or even a 3, on the APUSH test, but what does that matter when this book can help you land a powerful, successful man like James Garfield? And let's be honest: You've been out of high school for too long to be worrying about AP tests anyway.<br />
<br />
I consider myself a pretty serious presidential scholar (stop laughing), and even I was unfamiliar with some of the facts in the book. Among the things I googled:<br />
<br />
ulysses s grant dead parrots<br />
woodrow wilson hindu nun<br />
fdr arrested germany<br />
american eel<br />
<br />
I also had to check to see if anyone had taken the Twitter handle @cryogenicsleepr.<br />
<br />
I didn't really notice any factual errors, except maybe in the section "Special Investigation: Which Presidents are Also Sexy Vampires?" The book claims that, while sexy, Andrew Jackson is <i>not</i> a vampire. However, <a href="http://ploddingthroughthepresidents.blogspot.com/2017/03/andrew-jackson-real-life-horror-monster.html#more">this post</a> from another favorite blog of mine (Plodding Through the Presidents) makes a compelling argument for why he might be. Perhaps more research is needed.<br />
<br />
In summary: This is a legit book. It winds up achieving the perfect balance of amusing and educational---my favorite kind of balance! It's funny, it's smart, it has photos of Schuyler Colfax, and it will be an invaluable resource if you ever need to call the Mayor of Buffalo. What more could you need? Oh, right! There's also a Dwight D. Eisenhower mask.<br />
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<i><a href="http://amzn.to/2FB6vDn">Hottest Heads of State Volume One: The American Presidents</a></i> will be released on January 30. (That's <i>next week</i>!) You can pre-order your copy at <a href="http://amzn.to/2FB6vDn">Amazon</a> now, or you can go stalk your local bookstore or whatever.<br />
<br />
I received an advance copy of this book, but I was not compensated in any way for my review and all opinions are my own.Jen Presidentresshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16448215985432237883noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8816477313598875742.post-56714633263019785352018-01-11T05:22:00.002-08:002018-02-15T06:39:32.468-08:00Sean Spicer Fan Fiction: Chapter 4<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">(If you missed <a href="http://www.presidentress.com/2017/08/sean-spicer-fan-fiction-chapter-1.html">Chapter 1</a>, <a href="http://www.presidentress.com/2017/08/sean-spicer-fan-fiction-chapter-2.html">Chapter 2</a>, and <a href="http://www.presidentress.com/2017/10/sean-spicer-fan-fiction-chapter-3.html">Chapter 3</a>, make sure to read them first. Also, dislaimer: This is fiction.)</span><br />
<span class="s1"><br /></span>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha71MdURc0oKAOn3RlUMs2R-kZvBeAabLswxR9yH2CkHJ0VfnineGwSvpJ7NQUl8np64LBLhzlZmNal86-50SU2kde-tQoOaNbMkBHEPu9bbWy6DndjN4OMrWf3ZIcBUw7Cd6RW97F7uMJ/s1600/Spicey+4.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="635" data-original-width="737" height="275" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha71MdURc0oKAOn3RlUMs2R-kZvBeAabLswxR9yH2CkHJ0VfnineGwSvpJ7NQUl8np64LBLhzlZmNal86-50SU2kde-tQoOaNbMkBHEPu9bbWy6DndjN4OMrWf3ZIcBUw7Cd6RW97F7uMJ/s320/Spicey+4.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<span class="s1"><br /></span>
<br />
<h2 style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1">Among the Bushes</span></h2>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1">Things are About to Get Spicey</span></h3>
<span class="s1"><br /></span> <span class="s1"><b>Chapter 4</b></span><br />
<span class="s1"><br /></span> <span class="s1">Caroline stormed out of the restaurant and waved a $20 bill in front of the valet. "Get my car here in less than a minute and this is yours," she told him. The valet was able to retrieve her car before Sean Spicer had finished paying the bill, and Caroline sped off toward home. </span><br />
<span class="s1"><br /></span><span class="s1">First she was mad. Controlling men pissed her off, and if someone could be that controlling over dessert, what else was he capable of? In a way, she was relieved to have seen the real Sean Spicer so quickly.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span><br />
<br />
But at home that night, she started to feel dejected. Yes, she had dodged a bullet, but she couldn't stop thinking about running her fingers through his tufty hair that made him look so much like Ryan Gosling, if Ryan Gosling were clean-shaven, less attractive, less fit, and ten years older. She imagined dancing with him in a style far too risqué for <i>Dancing with the Stars</i>. She imagined him dressing as an Easter Bunny to hide eggs for their future children.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></div>
<div class="p1">
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">To take her mind off Sean Spicer, Caroline made herself a cup of tea and sat down to watch a movie, but no matter how hard she tried to pay attention, she kept finding herself looking out the window at the elephant topiary, which was illuminated by the moon and her pool lights. It took someone with very special talent, or very deranged obsession, to make something like that, and he had made it for <i>her</i>. “Oh, Sean,” she whispered to herself.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">But then she thought about the cheesecake and got angry again. And then hungry. She realized she should have gotten a slice to go.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">When her movie was over, she went upstairs to bed, alone and lonely. She tried to cheer up by reminding herself that within a month she'd likely be dating the head of a Silicon Valley start-up or an attorney for the pharmaceutical industry. That was more her style anyway. She tried to imagine showing up at a dinner party and introducing her date as, “My gardener, Sean Spicer.” Ridiculous!</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">She laughed, then she started to cry.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">Caroline had just fallen into a restless sleep when she awoke to something striking her window. She heard a rustling outside, then a few seconds later something hit her window again.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">She got up and tied a robe around herself. She looked out the window and saw the silhouette of Herbert Hoover.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">She opened the window and yelled down, “Sean?”</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">“I'm sorry to wake you up, but I need to talk to you,” he called up.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">“So you decided to throw rocks? Are you crazy? This is a $500 window!”</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">“You don't have any rocks down here,” he said. “I’ve been throwing my American Flag pin! I'm glad you finally heard it because it was really difficult to keep looking for it in the dark.”</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">Caroline rolled her eyes.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">“Look, Sean, you seem like a decent guy, and you're clearly the sexiest White House Press Secretary since Ari Fleischer, but I just don't think things would work out between us.”</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">“Please, Caroline! Come down and give me a chance to explain!”</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">Despite being angry, sad, hungry, and tired, Caroline decided to hear him out. She closed the window and carefully walked down her winding staircase, then out to the garden.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">There in the moonlight, in the shadow of the elephant shrubbery, Sean Spicer took her hands.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">“I am so, so sorry,” he began. “I know it seems like I was trying to tell you what to eat, but that was never my intention.”</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">“It sure seemed like it!” Caroline spat at him, while at the same time tingling from the excitement of his touch.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">“I'd never tell you not to eat a certain dessert…except for Dippin’ Dots.” he laughed a little but then muttered something that sounded like, “tiny balls of frozen communist tears.”</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">“Anyway,” he continued, “The truth is that I'm trying to work through a lot of issues surrounding my time at the White House. You have no idea what it was like there: the yelling, the whining, the verbal abuse, the tiny, tiny hands reaching out for my neck...” He looked off into the distance and shuddered.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">Caroline softened a bit but was still cautious. “What does this have to do with cheesecake?”</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">“There are a lot of things that trigger me these days,” he said. “The scent of hair gel makes me see visions of Eric Trump. The smell of cheap whiskey makes me feel like Steve Bannon is <i>right there. </i>But the greatest trigger of all is the color orange.”</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">“What?”</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">“Orange. Orange things, like sweet potatoes and pumpkin cheesecake. Do you see?”</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">“I guess?” Caroline said. “Is that why my marigolds are gone?”</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">“Yes, exactly!” Sean sounded relieved. “And also they're just really ugly flowers.”</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">“But they keep the rabbits away.”</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">“You don't want to keep this bunny away, do you?” Sean gave Caroline’s hands a squeeze. She tried to keep her composure.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">“I appreciate what you're saying, but I can't go through life without orange things,” Caroline said. How could she live without her tangerine LaCroix? What would happen the next time the terror alert level was raised? What if she needed something from Home Depot?</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">“I don't expect you to,” he said. “I'm already in counseling for it and I've actually come really far. The other day I saw a woman wearing a pair of Ivanka’s shoes and I didn't put my fist through a wall! Please give me another chance.”</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">Caroline thought for a moment. On one hand, this guy was dealing with some pretty serious issues and it might be better to keep her distance. On the other hand, it felt like this relationship was meant to be, even if it might be a while before they could do romantic orange-tinged things like watching a sunset or cuddling in front of a fire.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">“Okay, Sean,” she said. “I'll give you another chance, but you have to promise to keep going to therapy.”</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">“I will,” he said. “As long as Obamacare stays in place so my insurance continues to cover it.”</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">That was good enough for Caroline.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">Sean Spicer pulled her closer and took her into his arms. His embrace was just like she had imagined: warm and pillowy. Caroline relaxed into him and sighed.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">“I'm glad you came back to explain this to me,” she said.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">“I'm glad you let me.” Sean kissed the top of her head.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">“Just think,” she said. “This all started because you were hiding in my bushes.”</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">“I wasn't hiding in your bushes,” he said.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">Caroline started to protest but Sean put his finger to her lips and held her tighter.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">“I wasn't hiding in your bushes,” he repeated. “I was hiding among them.”</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><i>Fin</i></span></div>
</div>
Jen Presidentresshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16448215985432237883noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8816477313598875742.post-3372587714081092622017-12-27T08:31:00.001-08:002017-12-27T08:32:03.923-08:00Crocheted Alexander Hamilton Doll<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<i>How do some yarn skeins, crochet hooks, couple of eyes</i><br />
<div>
<i>And some gold beads, worked up in a frenzy of bold speed</i></div>
<div>
<i>(Ignore needs of my family), from pattern slightly altered</i></div>
<div>
<i>Turn into a cool plush doll Founding Father?</i></div>
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<i><br /></i></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZe46S5IGEjSjfCdyEIFMup8eonLInXULc4oCtiepLXZ4ESwvFloCw6hvtTlPvLy3bQvZVeYLmblaGBD2F3E9KqGfMxMNAvfI2ar9X3CEPK0erckD9dfW7JEa8cuFp1DleiQRxatUt5Hu5/s1600/crochet+hamilton+1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZe46S5IGEjSjfCdyEIFMup8eonLInXULc4oCtiepLXZ4ESwvFloCw6hvtTlPvLy3bQvZVeYLmblaGBD2F3E9KqGfMxMNAvfI2ar9X3CEPK0erckD9dfW7JEa8cuFp1DleiQRxatUt5Hu5/s320/crochet+hamilton+1.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I present to you the gift I made my mom for Christmas this year: a crocheted Alexander Hamilton. (Technically a crocheted Lin-Manuel Miranda <i>as</i> Alexander Hamilton, but whatever. HamiLin?) </div>
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<br /></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIR-62mFLakOLd7tV_1D65dVuQ2IJeIENLzUJKOfmAU41bmPwZq6DeXc44gdsEHGSaRBpAgO9ULhoygSzw6SOVespHrUR5VPZchSrWBbJkqfhUqwxIToT64qo1BnDiv7UYhlG7udyLH6_K/s1600/crochet+hamilton3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1542" data-original-width="1078" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIR-62mFLakOLd7tV_1D65dVuQ2IJeIENLzUJKOfmAU41bmPwZq6DeXc44gdsEHGSaRBpAgO9ULhoygSzw6SOVespHrUR5VPZchSrWBbJkqfhUqwxIToT64qo1BnDiv7UYhlG7udyLH6_K/s320/crochet+hamilton3.JPG" width="223" /></a></div>
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I wish I could say I came up with this idea on my own, but I did not. I used a <a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/385168860/alexander-hamilton-musical-amigurumi?ga_search_query=hamilton&ref=shop_items_search_2">pattern from Allison Hoffman</a>, although I did make some small changes to it, like making his coat blue instead of beige. I also made some technical yarn-type changes, but I'll spare you the crochet minutiae here. (If you'd like a detailed explanation, you can visit my project <a href="https://www.ravelry.com/projects/HaloBall/alexander-hamilton-musical-amigurumi">on Ravelry</a>.)</div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIWgssxSrfEM3ecL58-2nv-gkzzK4QwaZK_maL39Zuhit-RsWHSXtCVwtuSe9lkbpTNEe1TZ2pHYot5nvjUg9hKDznSPv4zSg2g-ZBWudCxIcFFN-k9k2w2KmUB15k7jOAaBVZ0TmtRoWg/s1600/retro+throw.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIWgssxSrfEM3ecL58-2nv-gkzzK4QwaZK_maL39Zuhit-RsWHSXtCVwtuSe9lkbpTNEe1TZ2pHYot5nvjUg9hKDznSPv4zSg2g-ZBWudCxIcFFN-k9k2w2KmUB15k7jOAaBVZ0TmtRoWg/s200/retro+throw.JPG" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Retro Ornament Throw, <br />
which also got done </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
Anyway, I'd wanted to make this project all year, but I didn't start seriously thinking about it until October. At that point, however, I was working on another very involved crochet project (a retro ornament throw for my grandma) that I knew might not get done in time for Christmas, so I wasn't sure HamiLin would happen at all. As fate would have it, I ran out of yarn for the ornament throw and had to wait two weeks for the new yarn to arrive. In the meantime, I went ahead and started the doll, which only took a few days to make, working an hour or two here and there.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I saved the face for last because I was terrified of it. The face is what really makes or breaks one of these things, in my opinion, and I don't know anything about embroidery. (You might remember that last year I used Allison Hoffman's book <a href="http://amzn.to/2BMLjYV">AmiguruMe</a> to style my own <a href="http://www.presidentress.com/2016/12/warren-g-harding-doll.html">Warren G. Harding doll</a>, but his face wound up looking a bit more like the Shah of Iran than Harding himself. At least I nailed the "world leader" look.) </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4Nr8xYYpUEJaOT0uKNzj3_J7GtewetrY3IYcSVdq0yuydmKtqHpGB7l4IuDXL8MQEEs4XCTzEn5YiVtke1CchfOuEWSVt9IfkfPAApqZgCTTc0YGtHLjdWTKU8hmXifeMlT1jUoZp4ttk/s1600/harding+doll2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4Nr8xYYpUEJaOT0uKNzj3_J7GtewetrY3IYcSVdq0yuydmKtqHpGB7l4IuDXL8MQEEs4XCTzEn5YiVtke1CchfOuEWSVt9IfkfPAApqZgCTTc0YGtHLjdWTKU8hmXifeMlT1jUoZp4ttk/s320/harding+doll2.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Thankfully I discovered that Hoffman had created a YouTube video showing some face embroidery, so armed with that new knowledge (and a curved needle, which I hadn't even known existed), I tackled HamiLin's face.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
It took a few attempts, lots of sweating and swearing, and more time than any other part of the doll, but I think I finally got it right. (It's not easy to capture those intelligent eyes in a hunger-pang frame...)</div>
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<br /></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS6n4qkwQfKBdAWx2CXI_vKTfGkGNlnSJ7leOv4zBVZvJFeHOvoRrYbBZfmgVP70wAM3XuhYUMygOVlsCiUt-t_z7MntGen4-6Ue3mm1IeVYZUYOtM7SnuOib5l6omKXSCRSrNW_-tkDlF/s1600/crochet+hamilton+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1281" data-original-width="1198" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS6n4qkwQfKBdAWx2CXI_vKTfGkGNlnSJ7leOv4zBVZvJFeHOvoRrYbBZfmgVP70wAM3XuhYUMygOVlsCiUt-t_z7MntGen4-6Ue3mm1IeVYZUYOtM7SnuOib5l6omKXSCRSrNW_-tkDlF/s320/crochet+hamilton+2.JPG" width="299" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9PSawOauQQWCtBhzWyfs2QqJxXElMwsN_Bh-3Fvver6HjA3wdrhsWR9Sq436qMrhDkn6niLNk9fAeOw2J9wWN5wSvapcEq4XR8xEP7X0MpFiqTb5rzqcU0psHiXS6SmO5RcOACFS6X4CQ/s1600/crochet+hamilton+4.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1138" data-original-width="821" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9PSawOauQQWCtBhzWyfs2QqJxXElMwsN_Bh-3Fvver6HjA3wdrhsWR9Sq436qMrhDkn6niLNk9fAeOw2J9wWN5wSvapcEq4XR8xEP7X0MpFiqTb5rzqcU0psHiXS6SmO5RcOACFS6X4CQ/s320/crochet+hamilton+4.JPG" width="230" /></a></div>
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I wound up finishing HamiLin about two weeks before Christmas, and the suspense of not being able to give it until Christmas Day was <i>killing</i> me, but I made it. </div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-XTkfj5mREtgBjahEA7O-E2IHxitPsXes6cCQqeNm6S2Eq8BvVqgIoeJZAnyf0xqYhUaLjj7bHfPuvpa6QvIc5Tt2Vz2YnaUwF3qPPJWPsk2nITNfjPOME9wPCx5WKfu7d8LnB74gGbdr/s1600/hamilton+wine.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-XTkfj5mREtgBjahEA7O-E2IHxitPsXes6cCQqeNm6S2Eq8BvVqgIoeJZAnyf0xqYhUaLjj7bHfPuvpa6QvIc5Tt2Vz2YnaUwF3qPPJWPsk2nITNfjPOME9wPCx5WKfu7d8LnB74gGbdr/s320/hamilton+wine.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mom, with HamiLin and a bottle of Federalist wine</td></tr>
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<div>
Needless to say, he amazed and astonished.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Jen Presidentresshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16448215985432237883noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8816477313598875742.post-81746273746188288352017-12-19T11:26:00.001-08:002017-12-19T11:26:49.311-08:00Book Review: "Christmas" by Eleanor Roosevelt<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0af2Wrtm4pwYBycUwrDj5AP3-oZOOOxEiAtAM1Lmbbujq04O1diAQrCLAp3dm5Lr-wJdm4gv47KEKJkvg6Z74Fs_MT3OoEppWD7rqSV-nOwlAaxkgiySEmwlttk1jLE3rGPWfHqlOuKeD/s1600/eleanor+xmas.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0af2Wrtm4pwYBycUwrDj5AP3-oZOOOxEiAtAM1Lmbbujq04O1diAQrCLAp3dm5Lr-wJdm4gv47KEKJkvg6Z74Fs_MT3OoEppWD7rqSV-nOwlAaxkgiySEmwlttk1jLE3rGPWfHqlOuKeD/s320/eleanor+xmas.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
Since I'm too lazy to connect my phone to our wireless speaker, we typically get our Christmas music from a holiday music channel included with our cable lineup. Since it's a TV station and they need some kind of visual, there's a slideshow of Christmas cookies, mulled cider, ornaments, etc. They also flash "Did you know?" facts. (Did you know: Many Japanese people spend their Christmas Eve eating KFC!)<br />
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Anyway, we don't typically spend a lot of time actually sitting there watching photos of gingerbread and random factoids, but now and then we'll glance up and see them. That's how, a couple weeks ago, I learned that in 1940, Eleanor Roosevelt wrote a Christmas book for kids. <i>What???</i> Off to Amazon I went...</div>
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Older versions of the book (titled <i>Christmas)</i> range from $30-$165, which was far more than I was willing to pay. Luckily there's <a href="http://amzn.to/2iHm2Yc">a bland reprint for $15.95</a>. Still more than I wanted to spend, but I had a gift card, and we're talking about a Christmas story by Eleanor Roosevelt. I had already purchased my <a href="http://amzn.to/2BhPO18">Eleanor Roosevelt ugly Christmas sweater-shirt</a>, so I needed the book to complete my theme for the season. </div>
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Thanks to Prime Shipping, my book arrived two days later. I told my family that after dinner, we were going to gather 'round for a Christmas story by Eleanor Roosevelt. My kids groaned, but my 13-year-old said, "Guys, we have to accept that we're all victims of Mom's obsession." True, true. Two of my kids and Mr. Presidentressor cooperated very nicely, and only one child complained through the whole thing.</div>
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First, I set the historical stage for them: In 1940, World War II was well underway in Europe, and America was wondering if/when we'd enter the fray. Tensions and concerns were high. Then I proceeded to read the story aloud.</div>
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The plot involves a girl named Marta, from an unidentified European nation. (Based on some phrases within the story, I'm assuming Belgium or the Netherlands.) She recalls the previous St. Nicholas Day, when her father was able to briefly come home from the military to enjoy the holiday with his family. Now, however, her father has died, and she and her mother are living in poverty (and under Nazi occupation, although Marta is too young to use those exact terms).</div>
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Marta's mother explains that St. Nicholas will not visit them this year, but Marta holds out hope. Sadly, her mom is right: St. Nicholas does not come. But this whole time, Marta has been taking solace in talking to Baby Jesus to help her cope with the loss of her father, and she's convinced that the Christ Child will visit them for Christmas. So when Christmas Eve comes, she lights a candle and steps outside with it to guide the Holy Baby's way.</div>
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Suddenly, Marta is aware of a man standing near her, and she senses some darkness in this figure. Again, the book doesn't <i>say</i> it, but he's clearly a Nazi, and he's also depicted as a sort of otherworldly evil force. Tomato, tomahto.<br />
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Anyway, this dark figure berates her for believing in Christmas and Jesus. He says her only loyalty should be to "he who dominates the rest of the world through fear and strength." Then he goes inside to admonish Marta's mom for teaching her daughter such foolishness. At this point, the mom is holding a baby, who the man thinks is just a regular baby but is actually (spoiler alert) Jesus!<br />
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The mom stands up for herself (figuratively---she doesn't actually stand because she's still holding Jesus), explaining that believing in Jesus provides them with something good and hopeful against the current backdrop of fear. The guy just stands there for a while, and eventually his heart softens a bit, kind of like the Grinch, but instead of providing Roast Beast he offers her a life of comfort, but she'd have to let go of her beliefs.<br />
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The mom declines and gives a long response, ending with "You will go out into the night again, the cold night, to die as all must die who are not born again through Him at Christmas time." Then the man does go back out into the night, and that's pretty much it. He hears the evil spirits roaring around him, and looks back at the warm glow from the house, then shrugs and decides he'd rather stick with his power.<br />
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So...it would be an understatement to call this a heavy-handed allegory. I get the appeal of pitting good against evil, and what better example than poor, oppressed nice people versus Nazis? And if one of those nice people can <i>tell off</i> a Nazi in the process? Even better. And I'm in favor of people standing up to the government in order to exercise freedom of religion (or freedom <i>from</i> religion, as the case may be). But I have to draw the line at conflating non-believers with Nazis, which is ultimately what this book does.<br />
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If it were just a matter of Marta and her mom triumphing by remaining firm in their convictions against the Nazis who want to quash them, that would be one thing. But Eleanor (Why, Eleanor, <i>why</i>???) has to throw in the line about non-believers---not just <i>evil</i> non-believers, but all of them---dying out in the snow. Happy holidays!<br />
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It's not just in that exchange where she draws that conclusion. In her foreword, Eleanor says, "The times are so serious that even children should be made to understand that there are vital differences in people's beliefs which lead to differences in behavior." Combined with the ending of the story, it's pretty clear that the message is: Christian = good, non-Christian = bad.<br />
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At this point, we should possibly confront the issue of the Jews. Now, it's not fair to expect someone in 1940 to know that by the end of the war, Nazis would have exterminated millions of people, primarily Jewish. But by 1940, Nazi persecution of and brutality toward Jews was well established and was known in America, especially to those involved in the federal government. According to this story, they, as non-believers in Christ, should also go die in the snow.<br />
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In a <a href="https://www2.gwu.edu/~erpapers/documents/articles/whatreligionmeans.cfm">1932 speech called "What Religion Means to Me,"</a> Eleanor said the following:<br />
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And yet most of us who are in the forties and fifties today can look back to a childhood where religion and religious instruction were part of our everyday life, but we have come so far away from those days that in writing this article I even feel that I must begin by defining what I mean by religion. To me religion has nothing to do with any specific creed or dogma. It means that belief and that faith in the heart of a man which makes him try to live his life according to the highest standard which he is able to visualize. To those of us who were brought up as Christians that standard is the life of Christ, and it matters very little whether our creed is Catholic or Protestant.</div>
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To those of us who happen to have been born and brought up under other skies or in other creeds, the object to be attained goes by some other name, but in all cases the thing which counts is the striving of the human soul to achieve spiritually the best that it is capable of and to care unselfishly not only for personal good but for the good of all those who toil with them upon the earth.</div>
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Now that's fair. (Some people will argue about the wording, but the message is clear: Good people strive for good, regardless of what specifics might motivate them.) Would it have been so difficult to incorporate that into this story?<br />
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Am I looking at this through a modern lens? Yes, I am. Is that fair? I don't know. On one hand, we have the advantage of almost 80 years of retrospection. On the other hand, this book was written by the First Lady of the United States. Even in the 1940s, not every American kid was Christian, and it seems kind of crummy for the president's wife to ostracize them because of it, even back then.<br />
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And, okay, I'm willing to concede that this is a <i>Christmas</i> story, and therefore maybe it should be expected that there would be a religious component, but again, can't that be portrayed in a way that doesn't also shun others, <i>especially when</i> <i>you're the First Lady of the United States?</i><br />
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It might also be a trivial point, but the story is just kind of sloppy, too. One of the golden rules of children's books is that the protagonist needs to solve his/her own problem: Someone else can't just swoop in and make everything better. In this story, Baby Jesus suddenly appears out of nowhere. (One could argue that Marta summoned him, and therefore she's responsible, but...) Talk about a deus ex machina.<br />
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So, bottom line: I get what Eleanor was going for here, but I wound up really disappointed, as did my little atheist/agnostic children. Needless to say, this book won't become part of our holiday tradition.<br />
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Jen Presidentresshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16448215985432237883noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8816477313598875742.post-88954746651326323832017-12-15T07:48:00.000-08:002017-12-15T07:48:08.925-08:00Presidentress Christmas Carol 2017: Taft Edition!After a one-year hiatus, my annual Presidential Christmas Carol has returned! This year features a (brief, but important) song about William Howard Taft set to the tune of Good King Wenceslas.<br />
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<iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/X1CodjD3xNM/0.jpg" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/X1CodjD3xNM?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
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You can also view my previous songs about Warren G. Harding and Grover Cleveland:<br />
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If you're wondering why all their voices sound the same, it's because all presidents sounded alike until Franklin Roosevelt came along! Not many people know that.</div>
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From the Presidentress Family to yours, have a marvelous holiday season!</div>
<br />Jen Presidentresshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16448215985432237883noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8816477313598875742.post-39771349939487556242017-11-30T12:49:00.000-08:002017-12-01T10:00:25.477-08:00Book Review: My Search for Warren HardingAvid readers will know that I have a wee bit of an obsession with Warren G. Harding. I mean, how can one not, right? (Right?)<br />
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Anyway.<br />
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Every now and then I see reference to a novel called <i><a href="http://amzn.to/2j1MCfd">My Search for Warren Harding</a> </i>by Robert Plunket. I was intrigued enough to put it on my Amazon wishlist at some point, but never motivated enough to buy it. Then a few weeks ago, someone on Twitter asked for funny book recommendations. Someone responded that <i><a href="http://amzn.to/2j21muC">Assassination Vacation</a></i> and <i>My Search for Warren Harding</i> were the funniest books they'd ever read.<br />
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Now, avid readers will also know that I have a wee bit of an obsession with <i>Assassination Vacation</i>, so having someone equate the two was the shove I needed....almost. I didn't buy it right away, but a few days later, I was stuck at the Atlanta airport for five hours and had run out of things to do, so I went ahead and purchased the Kindle version.<br />
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The novel is written from the point of view of Elliot, a graduate student in the 1980s who is trying to get his hands on love letters from Harding that are in the possession of his now-elderly mistress, living in Hollywood. He hatches a plan to rent the woman's pool house and uses various schemes to try to obtain the letters. The premise itself is fairly amusing, even if some of the plot points are rather unrealistic.<br />
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Most of the characters are fictitious, although there are some cameo appearances from real people, historical and contemporary ("contemporary" in this case meaning "early 1980s," when the book was written).<br />
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The former mistress, Rebekah Kinney, is largely a characterization of Nan Britton, Harding's actual young lover with whom <a href="http://www.presidentress.com/2015/08/the-presidents-daughter-is-presidents.html">we now know he had a child</a>. In this novel, Kinney (like Britton) had been a young woman from Harding's hometown, they had had an affair and a child, and she had written a tell-all book (called <i>The Price of Love</i>, as opposed to the actual <i><a href="http://www.presidentress.com/2015/08/book-review-presidents-daughter.html">The President's Daughter</a></i>). But Rebekah Kinney led a more glamorous life than Nan Britton, hobnobbing with Hollywood celebrities and dabbling in acting herself. As this book opens, she now lives a largely solitary life in a rundown Hollywood mansion.<br />
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The existence of a trove of love letters is more reminiscent of Carrie Phillips, Harding's other well-known mistress. Her letters were the basis of the nonfiction book <i><a href="http://www.presidentress.com/2015/06/book-review-harding-affair.html">The Harding Affair</a></i>, and were recently released by the Library of Congress. Nan Britton, on the other hand, held onto only a couple correspondences from Harding, none of which were intimate in nature, which is part of the reason she had a hard time establishing her story as truth.<br />
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Okay, so, grad student plots to obtain Warren G. Harding's love letters from a Nan Britton-Carrie Phillips mashup. So far, so good. The first couple chapters were amusing. Not laugh-out-loud funny, or even chuckle-worthy, but interesting enough.<br />
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Things start to take a turn when the main character meets Kinney's Mexican housekeeper. Queue the negative ethnic stereotypes. It was cringey, but I reminded myself this was written a long time ago ("a long time ago" meaning "in the early 1980s," which really isn't that long ago at all, but I tried to keep things in "historical" perspective.)<br />
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Then comes the chapter where the Elliot's friend brings a gay guy to dinner. Throughout the entire chapter (and the rest of the book), this man is referred to as "the faggot."<br />
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Remember when Donald Trump made fun of the disabled journalist and we all thought it couldn't possibly get any worse, and then it continued to? That's basically what this book was like.<br />
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The rest of the book basically turns into one giant fat joke about Rebekah Kinney's 20-something granddaughter, Jonica. An example: "Now the inevitable question: how fat was she? I would guess that she tipped the scales at around two hundred pounds. She was <i>fat</i>. She was what you mean by a <i>fat person.</i> She was so fat you wondered how she found pants in that size." Okay, so that paints a picture, and if that had been it, maybe it would have been bearable. But that wasn't it.<br />
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The comments like that go on throughout the book. Without exaggeration, probably a good 30% of the book is just a discussion of this character's weight. Also, some major plot points hinge on it. And I guess it's supposed to be funny, but it isn't. I don't just say that because it's insensitive or politically incorrect. I mean that even setting that aside, it just isn't funny.<br />
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Besides repeatedly explaining in great detail Jonica's appearance, Elliot also verbally, physically, and emotionally abuses her in an attempt to get his hands on the letters.<br />
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Oh, and keep in mind, interspersed with the fat jokes are plenty more comments about Mexicans, Blacks, Jews, and "Orientals," plus additional references to "the faggot."<br />
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At one point I decided I just couldn't take it anymore. The book was so despicable---it sounded like something that would have been written by an alt-right internet troll sitting in his mom's basement, if such people knew anything about Warren G. Harding---I just couldn't go on. But I'm also kind of anal about finishing books I start, and I felt a duty to review it here, which I couldn't do if I didn't read the whole thing. Plus I figured I had to be almost done. I checked: 42%. Ugh.<br />
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I forged on, though.<br />
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Our protagonist doesn't get any less deplorable...in fact, he only grows moreso. Another problem is that, with the possible exception of Jonica, <i>all </i>the characters are unlikable, and even Jonica is sympathetic only because everyone else is so awful to her, not because of any particular redeeming qualities of her own.<br />
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Then I got to the end of the book, which I will admit was spectacular. I don't want to spoil things too much in case, for some reason, you decide to read it, but it basically involves a heavy dose of schadenfreude. It felt so good. That's when I realized that we were, indeed, <i>supposed</i> to hate Elliot. (At least I sincerely hope that was the point.)<br />
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Now, there were some funny parts. The overall absurdity is pretty amusing. There are some good lines, like when Jonica (who doesn't know her grandfather was a president) says he was "somehow mixed up in oil." The footnotes contain recipes. The acknowledgements become funny once you've reached a certain part of the book and realize who some people are. And like I said, the ending is immensely satisfying in the sense that you might give an evil laugh.<br />
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Yet the marvelous ending really isn't enough to justify how painful the rest of the book is. Even if the novel's intent is to make fun of academia, or to serve as a commentary on L.A. culture, or to be an ironic statement about terrible people, or...whatever else, it's not worth wading through the unpleasant, depressing horror needed to get to the ultimate satisfaction. In this case, the end wasn't enough to justify the means.<br />
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I'll just stick with <i><a href="http://amzn.to/2i2ckiO">Assassination Vacation</a></i>.Jen Presidentresshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16448215985432237883noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8816477313598875742.post-42422677672124514372017-11-24T04:57:00.000-08:002017-12-08T07:46:35.605-08:00Presidentress Gift Guide 2017'Tis that season again! To help you find the perfect gift for the slightly-off presidential history nut in your life, I've compiled a list of some of my favorite things.<br />
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Some of these items contain Amazon affiliate links. Shopping through them doesn't add any cost for you, but it does mean that I earn a pittance so I can keep bringing you high-quality Sean Spicer fan fiction. The non-Amazon links provide me no benefit other than sharing in the feeling of happiness you'll get from knowing you've selected a perfect gift. (It should also be noted that I have not received any compensation from any of the entities mentioned here.)<br />
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Presidential Ugly Christmas Sweaters</h4>
You guys... Seriously...I don't think I've ever been this excited about a presidential Christmas item: President-themed ugly Christmas sweater-shirts.<br />
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Do I need to repeat that?<br />
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President. Themed. Ugly. Christmas. Sweater. Shirts.<br />
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Election College has a podcast that I haven't listened to yet (but you bet I will!) and they've also created this line of shirts.<br />
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Sure, there are some people you might expect: <a href="http://amzn.to/2Bjzpck">Abraham Lincoln</a>, <a href="http://amzn.to/2BgJ97f">Barack Obama</a>, <a href="http://amzn.to/2y7PaNE">Teddy Roosevelt</a>, <a href="http://amzn.to/2BLHvqr">Ronald Reagan</a>.<br />
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<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Theodore-Roosevelt-Christmas-Sweater-T-Shirt/dp/B077K73Z9L/ref=as_li_ss_il?s=apparel&ie=UTF8&qid=1511106301&sr=1-2&nodeID=7141123011&psd=1&th=1&linkCode=li3&tag=presidentress-20&linkId=e3428473983615be9d8b8a063b3c2b2d" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&ASIN=B077K73Z9L&Format=_SL250_&ID=AsinImage&MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&WS=1&tag=presidentress-20" /></a></div>
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But there's also <a href="http://amzn.to/2iFiHZy">James Garfield</a>, <a href="http://amzn.to/2B13Svf">Abigail Adams</a>, and...get ready for this...<a href="http://amzn.to/2y8di2B">Eleanor Roosevelt</a>.<br />
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<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Eleanor-Roosevelt-Christmas-Sweater-T-Shirt/dp/B077HCYVKH/ref=as_li_ss_il?s=apparel&ie=UTF8&qid=1511105806&sr=1-3&nodeID=7141123011&psd=1&th=1&linkCode=li3&tag=presidentress-20&linkId=8a6984324bda91d0dce74006240fe0d3" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&ASIN=B077HCYVKH&Format=_SL250_&ID=AsinImage&MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&WS=1&tag=presidentress-20" /></a></div>
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Collect them all!<br />
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Candles...and a Book!</h4>
Back for the <i>third</i> year in a row is JD and Kate Industries/Hottest Heads of State. Last year I told you about their <a href="http://amzn.to/2ivAOBG" target="_blank">amazing president- and president-adjacent-scented candles</a>. Now they've added some new ones, including <a href="http://amzn.to/2jEvuiy" target="_blank">Rutherford B. Hayes</a>, <a href="http://amzn.to/2zSsllC" target="_blank">Theodore Roosevelt</a>, and <a href="http://amzn.to/2z1a5Tx" target="_blank">Ronald Reagan</a>.<br />
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<a href="https://img0.etsystatic.com/192/1/11170532/il_570xN.1294517462_qe9m.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="380" data-original-width="570" height="213" src="https://img0.etsystatic.com/192/1/11170532/il_570xN.1294517462_qe9m.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Look at those jelly beans! If you like eating wax, they look almost good enough to eat!<br />
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I have a few of their candles already and will inevitably buy more, even though I don't burn candles. Just sniffing them and reading the hilarious labels (don't read them while the candles are lit) is enough for me. I've been bugging them to create a smoke-, whiskey-, and waffle-scented Warren G. Harding candle, but for some reason they feel it wouldn't sell well. If you're so inclined, drop them a note to let them know how much you want one, too.<br />
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JD and Kate also have an upcoming book: <i><a href="http://amzn.to/2AHfd0G" target="_blank">Hottest Heads of State: Volume One: The American Presidents</a></i>. It won't be out until the end of January, but if you get it as a gift for someone, the anticipation will make it that much more rewarding when it finally arrives. The book is sort-of a mashup of presidential trivia and Teen Beat magazine. You'll learn presidential pick-up lines and can take a quiz to find out which president has a crush on you. Plus there's a Dwight Eisenhower mask! I can't wait!<br />
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<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Hottest-Heads-State-American-Presidents/dp/1250139686/ref=as_li_ss_il?ie=UTF8&qid=1511112803&sr=8-1&keywords=hottest+heads+of+state&linkCode=li3&tag=presidentress-20&linkId=c9e687bf3291ae49404adb223a1260cf" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&ASIN=1250139686&Format=_SL250_&ID=AsinImage&MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&WS=1&tag=presidentress-20" /></a></div>
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Octopuses</h4>
Also making a return appearance in my gift guide is Veeptopus, the sublime union of octopuses and vice presidents we never knew we needed. Veeptopus has a lovely new hardcover book featuring all of the vice presidents with octopuses on (or emerging from) their heads. I bought one as part of a Kickstarter campaign, and I can honestly say it is the finest volume of cephalopod artwork I own. <a href="http://amzn.to/2hqhJjs" target="_blank">And you can own one, too</a>.<br />
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To whet your appetite for octopus, Veeptopus has created a <a href="https://quiz.tryinteract.com/#/5a09e883f8ed5f0012deb9fa">quiz to help you determine which Vice President you are</a>. I'm Henry Wallace.<br />
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<h4>
A Probably Not-Good Movie</h4>
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The other day when I decided to find out how much the entire season of <i><a href="http://amzn.to/2hEArE0">The Brady Bunch</a></i> is (spoiler: $34.99), I discovered there's a movie called <i><a href="http://amzn.to/2hMGtWH">The Brady Bunch in the White House</a></i>. The description confuses me:<br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "amazon ember" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">"In The Brady Bunch in the White House," the Brady Bunch are moving to Washington when Mike Brady gets elected President of the United States. When he returns a $67 million lottery ticket to its rightful owner, he is invited to the White House to meet the president and finds himself being sworn in as Chief Executive of the United States. Now effectively acknowledged as the first family, the Brady clan manages to save the government from a devastating scandal.</span><br />
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At first I thought it meant that they were moving to Washington <i>because</i> Mike was elected president, but then I realized...no...I think he wasn't elected at all? He just accidentally got sworn in?</div>
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Frankly, it sounds terrible, but it might just be so terrible it's great. And for only $7.77, we can't afford not to find out. I'll have a full review soon, but buy it now if you need to mix up your holiday movie routine a little.<br />
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<h4>
Ornament</h4>
If you want to support some non-profits, one option is to buy <a href="https://shop.whitehousehistory.org/2017-white-house-christmas-ornament" target="_blank">this year's Christmas ornament</a> from the White House Historical Association. The 2017 ornament commemorates Franklin Roosevelt. The shape is meant to be reminiscent of a table-top radio, and the back features his beloved dog Fala sitting next to a Christmas tree.<br />
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</h4>
<h4>
Do Some Actual Good</h4>
You could also make a tax-deductible donation to <a href="https://www.oneamericaappeal.org/" target="_blank">One America Appeal</a>, the joint effort created by the five living former presidents to aid in hurricane relief efforts. There's still a lot of work to be done.<br />
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Go forth: Shop, donate, and have a joyous holiday season!<br />
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<br />Jen Presidentresshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16448215985432237883noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8816477313598875742.post-19076341835570721152017-11-13T16:33:00.002-08:002017-11-13T16:33:49.550-08:00Cooking with the Presidents: Mount Vernon Pumpkin Pie<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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A couple weeks ago, the Mount Vernon Facebook page posted a tutorial for making 18th Century Pumpkin Pie:<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="true" allowtransparency="true" frameborder="0" height="476" scrolling="no" src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FHistoricMountVernon%2Fvideos%2F10155311360048822%2F&show_text=0&width=476" style="border: none; overflow: hidden;" width="476"></iframe><br />
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What intrigued me right away was the use of rosewater. Rosewater was a common flavoring before vanilla became a thing, and you might remember it from such posts as <a href="http://www.presidentress.com/2015/07/cooking-with-presidents-dolley-madison.html" target="_blank">Dolley Madison Cake</a> and <a href="http://www.presidentress.com/2015/08/shaker-apple-pie.html" target="_blank">Shaker Apple Pie</a>. Now, I'll admit I was a bit skeptical. I don't even put vanilla in pumpkin pie, so putting <i>rosewater</i> in it seemed especially unusual. But it's probably historically accurate, and I'm always up for a presidential baking challenge, so game on!<br />
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Besides rosewater, the other unusual thing about this pie is the lack of eggs. You might notice a bowl of eggs sitting there, as did several people who commented on Facebook that the Mount Vernon cook forgot to add them. But apparently the eggs are for the <i>crust</i> (go figure) not the pie, and apparently the pie sets up just fine without them.<br />
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Now, this recipe calls for the use of an actual pumpkin. Mr. Presidentressor asked why I didn't just use one of the many cans of pumpkin puree we stockpiled last fall when the country was supposedly on the verge of a pumpkin shortage that never materialized, but I explained that I needed to be as authentic as possible in making this recipe.<br />
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And then I got historically inauthentic. This recipe wants you to cut, peel, and chunk the pumpkin, and then boil it. Peeling a raw pumpkin seems like a great way to lose a finger, so I decided to use my <a href="http://amzn.to/2hwqV9x" target="_blank">Instant Pot</a> instead. Sorry, but it was way easier and quicker. I added a cup of water to the pot, put in the trivet, set the pumpkin in whole (sideways---the stem made it too tall otherwise), and cooked it on Manual for 10 minutes. When it was done, I let it sit for about 20 minutes, then took it out and easily sliced it open with a knife. The seeds practically fell out in one clump, and I was able to peel the pulp away from the skin with just my fingers and a spoon. Then I used my immersion blender to puree the pumpkin.<br />
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But look, the end result was the same, so I'm not going to apologize.<br />
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Per the recipe, I added to the pumpkin puree 1 tbsp of rosewater. Then I needed to add the spices "to taste." I decided upon 1 tsp of cinnamon and 1/2 tsp each of ginger and nutmeg. I skipped the mace because I don't have any (and if I'm being honest, I've never understood the difference between nutmeg and mace anyway). I was tempted to add some cloves because it felt like I should, but I also didn't want to deviate too much from the recipe, so no cloves.<br />
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Then I mixed in 1/4 cup of molasses, then a pint of heavy cream, which seemed like a lot, but I trust the Mount Vernon people.<br />
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Then I poured it all into my crust. (A word on the crust: I did not make the crust that accompanies this pie on the Mount Vernon Facebook page. Making pie crust is already my most despised culinary task---despite my undying love of pie---and theirs seemed like too much work, even though it probably wasn't. The fact that I made crust at all is an accomplishment.)<br />
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Thanks to the molasses, at this point it looked and smelled more like a gingerbread pie than a pumpkin pie, but I'm not sure that's anything to complain about.<br />
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Into the 350-degree oven it went for 45 minutes.<br />
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After 45 minutes, it still looked <i>very</i> jiggly, so I gave it another 15. After that it still looked pretty jiggly, but reasonably so, so I took it out and let it cool at room temperature for a couple hours, then in the fridge for a couple more.<br />
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I was impressed that the pie <i>did</i> set up, although it was very soft.<br />
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Mr. Presidentressor and I wound up being the only ones to eat the pie. (The kids opted for cupcakes instead. Sometimes their intuition is good.)<br />
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This pie is...different. The molasses was pretty overpowering, so it didn't even really taste like gingerbread---just molasses. There was absolutely no pumpkin flavor whatsoever, and also no rosewater flavor, which is probably for the best. It was also, as I mentioned, very soft and mushy, and sort of grainy. Whipped cream helped, and I'll admit that it sort of grew on me as I continued eating.<br />
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Even so, I probably won't make this again unless I need to bring a George Washington-themed dish to a party, but it was worth a try. I can definitely see how this would have been a big hit back in the 18th century, but today I'd probably take a cupcake instead. On the plus side, my crust was excellent!Jen Presidentresshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16448215985432237883noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8816477313598875742.post-42655417117811845762017-10-06T06:27:00.001-07:002017-10-06T07:51:53.188-07:00First Ladies' Séance in a Box<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6mWK4r06aP1_DSy8Qyq-wEfomtxbGzewl12OQDHsvFgf_jiyQDhK8HZ-KhZ3DUi093x8mmmiulJn8zQFWtIfzuY6qG__xBVI_mU8irsdbBSvcGyuvpYLwk4UqYZrfT-yaQzyaGuA3wrLF/s1600/Seance+1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6mWK4r06aP1_DSy8Qyq-wEfomtxbGzewl12OQDHsvFgf_jiyQDhK8HZ-KhZ3DUi093x8mmmiulJn8zQFWtIfzuY6qG__xBVI_mU8irsdbBSvcGyuvpYLwk4UqYZrfT-yaQzyaGuA3wrLF/s320/Seance+1.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
Several First Ladies have dabbled in the supernatural, perhaps none more than Florence Harding. In fact, one of the coolest objects I've seen at a presidential site was Florence's séance chair: high-backed and elaborately carved with celestial symbolism. That chair is in Marion, Ohio, but Florence's forays into the supernatural extended to Washington, D.C., as well. <br />
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Florence first met a woman named Madame Marcia Champney in 1920 while Warren Harding was seeking the Republican nomination. Madame Marcia was a well known fortuneteller in D.C., and in fact served as Edith Wilson's go-to astrologer. Madame Marcia was able to see that Warren had many affairs (but who wasn't, amirite?), and predicted that if he became president, he would die a sudden death before the end of his term. Despite this ominous forecast, Florence vowed that if Warren won, she would make Madame Marcia the official White House astrologer. As we know, Warren did win, and Florence continued to consult frequently, even obsessively, with Madame Marcia throughout his (brief) presidency.<br />
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Many other First Ladies held séances, referred to horoscopes, or believed in other supernatural phenomena. For example, Julia Tyler claimed to have ESP. Jane Pierce and Mary Todd Lincoln held séances to try to communicate with their dead children. Nancy Reagan famously consulted with astrologers in the White House. Hillary Clinton seemed to have taken the "First Lady Occult Club" to another level when she was rumored to have communicated with a long-dead Eleanor Roosevelt. (Upon clarification, it turned out that she just <i>imagined</i> what it would be like to talk to Eleanor, like asking WWERD?...which is something we should all be doing.)<br />
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Hillary and Eleanor might not have communicated with each other, but there was another supposed instance of First Ladies picking up vibes from one another: One night Edith Wilson went to bed with an ominous feeling. She awoke to newsboys spreading word of President Harding's death. Ooooo! Coincidence, or something supernatural?<br />
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Anyway...in honor of all of our spooky First Ladies and just in time for Halloween, I present a DIY Séance in a Box. Depending on what materials you use, it's actually really fast and easy to make. (Or it can be really complicated and take more than a week. It's up to you.)<br />
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Here's what you'll need:<br />
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<ul>
<li>Empty mint tin (I used a Trader Joe's Gingermint tin)</li>
<li>Printed ouija board</li>
<li>Glue</li>
<li>Velvet or velvety paper</li>
<li>Tiny printable tarot cards</li>
<li>Glass marble</li>
<li>Tiny picture frame</li>
<li>Resin (optional) and resin molds (also optional)</li>
<li>Other tiny spooky things</li>
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My project was inspired by <a href="http://www.instructables.com/id/Tiny-Seance-kit-in-a-mint-tin/" target="_blank">these instructions</a>. That kit uses a very cool <a href="http://amzn.to/2fOE5tY" target="_blank">Ouija mint tin</a>, but I didn't have one. What I <i>did </i>have was a lovely tin that had previously contained Trader Joe's Gingermints, so I decided to make that work. You could use any mint tin, really, but it probably helps if it's one with a flat top, rather than one with embossed writing or details.<br />
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I searched for some Ouija board images and needed to go through a few before I found one with the right proportions for my tin. I just resized them in a document until I had one that worked, then printed it out on cardstock, trimmed it with scissors, and rounded the corners with a <a href="http://amzn.to/2xlAQRi" target="_blank">1" corner punch</a>. (But you can use scissors, too. Or leave them pointy. Whatever.)<br />
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I glued the board onto the lid with <a href="http://amzn.to/2y2WfSA" target="_blank">Tacky Glue</a>, and then brushed on a coat of resin. Now, I realize not everyone has resin lying around. I love how it gave my board a hard, shiny finish, but obviously you can skip this step. I would recommend at least using some kind of top coat or varnish to seal it and give it a little more heft, but that's up to you. (If you want to give resin a try, though, it's really very easy and fun. I use <a href="https://www.little-windows.com/" target="_blank">Little Windows resin</a>, but you can find other brands on <a href="http://amzn.to/2xYhfs9" target="_blank">Amazon</a> or at your local craft store, too.)<br />
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The resin did make my board a bit translucent, so if you look carefully you can see some of the writing from the gingermint tin, but I think that gives it extra character. Next time I might add a basecoat or add an extra piece of paper or cardstock underneath, but I might not.<br />
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For the planchette, I used resin (colored with a bit of glow-in-the-dark paint) in a mold I got from <a href="https://www.etsy.com/transaction/1322843956" target="_blank">Etsy</a>. If you don't have resin, you could try forming a planchette out of polymer clay, or you could use a guitar pick like in that other tutorial I linked to. Or maybe carve one out of bone like they did in the old days. (I jest!)<br />
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Instead of using real velvet to line my tin, I found some velvet-ish paper in the scrapbooking section of my craft store. It's very thin and more sturdy than fabric, so it was really easy to cut. Then I glued that into the tin with more tacky glue.<br />
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There are tons of printable tarot cards online, but I used ones from <a href="http://blog.beeskneesindustries.com/files/playscale-tarot-cards.pdf" target="_blank">this site</a> because it doesn't require a ton of paper (just one piece!) <i>and</i> because you can print a back to them! I printed that out on cardstock and spent about five minutes cutting out the tiny cards.<br />
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I tried making a crystal ball by gluing a marble to an overturned teacup charm, but I couldn't get <i>anything</i> to adhere to the marble, even after sanding it. So instead I have a "standalone" crystal ball, although I found that it fits nicely inside the planchette hole, so there's that.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIg91CUptZDFi7_lIwB-po3K8yEvaiNj8R50ScvkKo9r0Nr6z-GFYn9mBvTV0drlZu9NoAaQv-p0xrMr7L8DeU5EqRAGgqlAScizD_OLO3s9HrYdaQWNefpt5u4JiZx7DSDDe_EbooqRTy/s1600/planchette.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1189" data-original-width="1600" height="237" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIg91CUptZDFi7_lIwB-po3K8yEvaiNj8R50ScvkKo9r0Nr6z-GFYn9mBvTV0drlZu9NoAaQv-p0xrMr7L8DeU5EqRAGgqlAScizD_OLO3s9HrYdaQWNefpt5u4JiZx7DSDDe_EbooqRTy/s320/planchette.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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I also added a little skull charm for some extra creepiness (I cut off the charm-nubbin with wire cutters and filed the little bits down).<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAh6xBr82G13j9JIZAWfaTgo6cf-1xKysSp2IP25lT4-RiqnnstdttN6v089qPJrgTk0STtp5sY8ssapxVH2gec3S1yy_lUMMap_49Sim590Jq6Zp12IgNY1X69plOzHz4rJbQTj3su1m2/s1600/seance+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAh6xBr82G13j9JIZAWfaTgo6cf-1xKysSp2IP25lT4-RiqnnstdttN6v089qPJrgTk0STtp5sY8ssapxVH2gec3S1yy_lUMMap_49Sim590Jq6Zp12IgNY1X69plOzHz4rJbQTj3su1m2/s320/seance+2.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
And of course, I needed a picture frame (another <a href="https://www.michaels.com/found-objects-silver-and-gold-rectangular-frame-pendants-by-bead-landing/10421340.html" target="_blank">charm</a>) to help commemorate the dead. (Yes, that's a tiny photo of Florence Harding. I also printed out Edgar Allan Poe and a raven, because of course.) The photos are just printed on regular paper and then sealed with some packing tape. They slide in and out of the top of the charm, so it's easy to change them depending on what you're going for.<br />
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I had planned on adding a candle, too, but decided against it when I realized my interest in fire safety outweighs my interest in necromancy. A birthday candle would fit just fine, but be careful when burning it.<br />
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You can add anything else you want: Throw in some tiny runes, a few little crystals, a miniature pendulum, whatever floats your ghost ship.<br />
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And there you have it: A portable supernatural kit for all your conjuring needs! (This would also be useful if you have an American Girl doll who starts to show an interest in the occult.)<br />
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If you make one of these, let me know how it goes. And tell Florence I say hello.Jen Presidentresshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16448215985432237883noreply@blogger.com1