No Surprises Here

Having been participating regularly in the #RhodiaPaperProject, I won't surprise anyone with the news that I loved the most recent samples as much as any that have come before.

Week #17 included three different sheets of 90g blank white paper:

• GraFit Sketch Pads (the smallest)
• Trophee Sketch Pads (the middle size)
• Crok' Book (the largest size)

Week #18 samples included four sheets of ivory, lined paper:

• Rhodia Webnotebook  90g (small)
• Quo Vadis Habana 85 g (small)
• Rhodia Webnotebook 90g (large)
• Quo Vadis Habana 85g (large)

Of course all the samples are smooth, high quality, and accommodated the wet, heavy inks I prefer -- with no bleed through, no feathering, and no smudging.  The Week #17 samples are best suited for sketching or doodling, and I certainly will use them for that purpose.

By contrast, the lines on the Webbie and Quo Vadis samples make them best for writing. Although I like the size of the large Quo Vadis Habana sheet, the line spacing on the page is too tight -- and not nearly wide enough to accommodate my large writing.  The same is true for the small Quo Vadis and Webbie samples.  Only the large Webnotebook sample has a line width that will accommodate my penmanship adequately, although I could adjust my writing to be able to use the narrower ruled sheets.

Looking forward to Week #19 paper samples and to more experimentation with paper and pens!

Unbreakable Bonds in a Wedding Dress…and in Genes

Dear Olivia, Madeline, Megan, Hilarie, Mary, and Betsy,

I’m sure that today today wasn’t an easy day for you, Olivia, Madeline, Megan or Hilarie.  I send each of you my deepest condolences on the loss of your mother.  It is, I think, the hardest loss of all – and makes every subsequent Mother’s Day, and all the days leading up to it, difficult, painful, and sad.   

An Auspicious Day For a Wedding

Today is Lag BaOmer, the 33rd day of the Counting of the Omer. According to ReformJudaism.org, "[T]he period of the Omer is a time of semi-mourning, when weddings and other festivities are avoided, in commemoration of a plague that killed thousands of students of Rabbi Akiva, a Talmudic scholar. Lag BaOmer is considered to be the day on which the plague ceased, and thus became a day on which the mourning rituals are abandoned and replaced with great joy." Observed primarily in Israel, Lag BaOmer is celebrated with picnics and bonfires, as well as weddings.

A Glimpse Into History: An Anecdote from One Family's BRCA Story

Kate, Karen's grandmother

As depicted in Joanna Rudnick’s documentary In the Family and Decoding Annie Parker, a feature film directed by Steve Bernstein and starring Helen Hunt and Samantha Morton, every BRCA family has a story.