Miele

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Hè wat heerlijk dat ik weer iets positiefs op consumentengebied kan schrijven.

Mijn Miele droger haperde.
Dus belde ik de klantenservice. Er werd een afspraak (op niet te lange termijn) gemaakt.
Keurig.

Tussen 7.45 en 9.15 uur kon ik de monteur verwachten.
Die belde om 9 uur dat hij in de file stond en dat het dus iets later zou worden.
Keurig.

Om half 10 was hij er. Met de machine was technisch niets mis.
Gelukkig.

Wel zat de condensor propvol stof. De boel werd schoongemaakt en de monteur legde mij ondertussen van alles uit. Ik wist niet eens waar de condensor zat, laat staan dat die schoongemaakt moest worden.
Vervolgens checkte hij de droger op eventuele andere mankementen.
Keurig.

Ik vertelde hem dat er in april ook een monteur was geweest. Dezelfde lampjes flikkerden, maar toen lag het aan het slot.
"Heeft hij U toen niet uitgelegd hoe U de condensor moet reinigen?" Het klonk verontwaardigd.

Ik schudde nee en gaf eerlijk toe dat ik ook niet zo ver was gekomen in de gebruiksaanwijzing.
Dat begreep hij wel.

De aprilmonteur was weliswaar ook aardig, zo consciëntieus als de decembermonteur was hij niet (geweest).

Toen het machientje weer als een droog zonnetje draaide kwam de laptop tevoorschijn. De Miele monteurs zien er niet alleen picobello uit, ze zijn ook uitgerust met de meest geavanceerde apparatuur.

Terwijl mr. Miele een éénmalige machtiging prepareerde adviseerde hij me contact op te nemen met de klantenservice. Hij kon zelfs de rapportage uit april nalezen op zijn laptop.
"Ik vind dat U toen niet goed bent voorgelicht."
Keurig.

Zijn advies heb ik opgevolgd.

De klantenservice zou het verder onderzoeken en er vandaag op terugkomen. Dat ik de gebruiksaanwijzing (6 jaar geleden) niet volledig had gelezen werd door de vingers gezien.

Vandaag kwamen ze hun afspraak weer na.
Keurig.

Ik krijg voorrijkosten plus BTW terug: toch nog zo'n € 58,-.
Jofel.

Miele. Laat je (ook) niet in de steek.

Nul Twintig

Laat ik toch iets aardigs proberen te zeggen over Amsterdam.

*****

Voordat ik naar het Opzijdebat in de Westergasfabriek ging, moest ik wat eten. Bij Grandcafé Amsterdam (Watertorenplein 6) zit je als eenling onopvallend in een gigantische, maar toch sfeervolle ruimte. Er heerst een prettige, ongedwongen stemming en de bediening is uiterst adequaat en vriendelijk.

*****

De menukaart is helemaal op mij afgestemd. Ouderwetse lekkernijen, zoals griesmeelpudding met (zure) bessensap deden mij watertanden. Het was moeilijk kiezen.

Twee glazen rode Franse huiswijn, hertenbiefstuk met champignonsaus (peertjes, rode kool en puree), de griesmeelpudding en een cappuccino brachten de nota op €29,20.

*****

Bovendien had ik gezellig contact met de tafel naast mij waar Alies Pegtel (HP/de Tijd) met haar gezin zat. Ze had graag meegewild naar het Opzijdebat.

*****

Achteraf denk ik dat ze een betere avond heeft gehad in "Amsterdam."

Zwart goud

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Geacht Filmfonds.

Ik heb een geweldig idee voor een succesvolle film - zelfs al is die film volkomen ruk. Het is het onderwerp en de hoofdrolspeler die ervoor zullen zorgen dat de film verkoopt.

Hier komt het idee.

Mijn film gaat over stervende kinderen (baby's ook) in Afrika. En de hoofdrol gaat dan gespeeld worden door Frans Bauer (!) Het verhaal (dat doet er eigenlijk niet toe, maar goed) dat gaat als volgt:

Frans Bauer is een Arts zonder Grens. Hij doet louter goed werk. (Nobelprijswinnaar!). Dan gaat hij diep de bush in en komt in een dorp waar ze de moderniteit niet aan kunnen. Het leger buit de dorpsbewoners uit, maar Dokter Frans laat zich niet kennen. Samen met zuster Kitty (Marianne Weber) besluiten ze om enkele kindertjes te redden en naar Nederland te brengen, maar K'nogo Boeng K'ding (De Generaal, gespeeld door Peer Mascini) zal alles doen om dit te laten mislukken. Hier tussendoor speelt nog het verhaallijntje dat zowel Frans als Peer verliefd zijn op Marianne.

Deze film zal zeker scoren. We komen er mee in alle actualiteitenprogramma's en die zullen alle enthousiast zijn, omdat het hier gaat over een groot wereldprobleem. (Honger en Oorlog, om er maar eens twee te noemen.) Je scoort dus altijd, want niemand zal zeggen: Wat speelt die Bauer slecht, want daar gaat het niet om. Frans moet ook overal roepen: ''Het gaat mij om die kinderen...'' Nou, met zo'n onderwerp krijgen we de hele koninklijke familie op de premiere, en ik weet zeker dat cast en crew in De Wereld Draait Door (Vara) mag komen vertellen hoe erg de situatie in Afrika is.

Bauer en Weber zorgen voor het succes in de bioscoop, want iedereen die naar een concert van Frans gaat, krijgt een gratis kaartje voor de film... Dus op de eerste dag, kunnen we al meteen zeggen dat er 600.000 kaarten zijn verkocht. Maar... we blijven zeggen... het gaat ons niet om het commerciële succes! We willen aandacht voor de situatie in Afrika. De sub-boodschap luidt dan ook: Regering, Verenigde Naties, wie dan ook, doe er wat aan!

Voor de regie dacht ik aan mezelf.

Theodor Holman in Het Parool

En route

*********************
Neem me niet kwalijk. Ik moet even bijkomen. Heb net drie uur in de auto gezeten. Kijkt U even hoe laat ik dit stukje geschreven heb.
Een wereldreis?
Nou nee. Amsterdam.

Op de heenweg kondigde de radio een file tussen Rotterdam en Delft aan. Ik wist die te ontwijken door via Zestienhoven te rijden.
Maar wie verwacht 's avonds om elf uur een stilstaande file van zes kilometer..........................

Oké, ik was naar Amsterdam.
Een stad waar ik mij een vreemdeling voel. Ik reis nog liever in mijn eentje naar de V.S., dan dat ik naar onze hoofdstad ga.
Maar goed, ik had nou eenmaal in mijn kop dat ik naar het Opzij-debat over de (doorgeslagen) seksualisering van onze maatschappij zou gaan. En daar ben ik dan ook geweest.
(Verslag door/van Opzij)

Ja, daar was ik vooraf sceptisch over. En na vanavond is dat niet veranderd.
Veel geleuter over pornoficatie, met name bij jongeren.

Veroorzaker?
Internet.

Doelgroep?
Natuurlijk weer de VMBO'ers.

Hoeveel?
Geen antwoord.

Statistieken?
Geen.

Directe oplossing?
Geen antwoord.

Er werden een paar zweverige pogingen gedaan.
- Seksuele voorlichting op de televisie (zo rond de tijd van Sesamstraat).
- Jongeren wijzen op vrouwvriendelijke pornosites. Om de jongens te tonen wat meisjes lekker vinden.
- Voorlichting aan kleuters. Als ze in het badje zitten bijvoorbeeld: "Kijk Jantje, dat is je piemie. En je zusje Coosje heeft een doosje."
- Naar musea met de scholieren om ze kennis te laten maken met "naakte" kunst.

Ja, ja. Dat doen al die VMBO' ers natuurlijk.
Gelooft U het?

Eerlijk gezegd is er niet veel veranderd sinds mijn jeugd. Ouder en kind praten niet met elkaar over seks. Op school wordt alleen uitgelegd hoe het zaadje bij het eitje komt. Giechel, giechel.

Er zaten veel "wie-is-dat-ook-al-weer-mensen" in de zaal. Er was niemand die een bom onder de discussie legde - de boel eens lekker opjutte. Daar gaf gespreksleider Margriet van der Linden (nieuwe hoofdredacteur van Opzij) ook geen gelegenheid toe.

Ja, er was toch iemand die voor opschudding zorgde. Er zouden pedofiele afbeeldingen in Opzij hebben gestaan. Deze mevrouw ging er persoonlijk voor zorgdragen dat Opzij aangeklaagd zou worden.
Dat was wel hilarisch, want Margriet van der Linden had de dame als één van de pioniers van de eerste seksuele revolutie aangekondigd.

Even dacht ik dat ik in een bijeenkomst van de Christen Unie was beland. Wat een truttigheid.

Op de terugweg hoorde ik op de radio "Voulez vous coucher avec moi ce soir" en kreeg ik zin in seks.
Vijf minuten later stond ik stil. Twee uur lang.

God straft snel.

Gezellig

Zo, de boom staat.

Een echte wel te verstaan. Weer twee euro duurder dan vorig jaar.

Maar er is ook veel nep.

Het is verbazingwekkend hoe lang ik daar mee doe. Ouwe ballen vergaan niet. Ze worden hooguit wat doffer.

Verder is het huis veranderd in een kitscherige "Zangeres zonder Naamwoning". Dat is een pleonasme, maar dan kunt u zich een voorstelling maken.

Er staat en hangt allerlei glimmends en de electrische kaarsjes hebben de gewone lampen vervangen. Je kunt nergens meer fatsoenlijk een krant lezen. Dat heet sfeer creëren.

De komende vier weken is het dan ook GEZELLIG bij ons.

All the Presidents Wives 13

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MARGARET "PEGGY" MACKALL SMITH TAYLOR

Birth:
21 September, 1788

Father:
Major Walter Smith, born 12 August, 1747, Calvert County, Maryland; tobacco planter, major in the Continental Army during the American Revolution; died, 1804, Calvert County, Maryland

Mother:
Ann Hance Mackall, born 12 May, 1755, Calvert County, Maryland; married sometime after 1772 as her father, in his will, dated and probated in 1772, states that she was single at that time; died 20 May, 1789, Calvert County, Maryland.

Ancestry:
English, Scottish; Margaret Taylor's paternal great-great grandfather Captain Richard Smith was born in England and immigrated to the American colonies in 1649 with his brother Walter, who settled in Baltimore County. RichardSmith settled in CalvertCounty and held the appointment of attorney-general of Maryland from OliverCromwell in 1655. MargaretTaylor's maternal great-grandfather was JamesMackall (1630- 1693), who immigrated from Scotland as an indentured servant to Calvert County, Maryland and had bought his freedom by 1668, although he remained illiterate.

Birth Order and Siblings:
Youngest of seven; three brothers, three sisters: ElizabethSmith (?-?), JosephSmith (?-?), Mary Anne Smith Chew (?-1825), RichardSmith (?-?), Sarah Smith Hellen (?-?), WalterSmith (?-?)

*Margaret Taylor's sister Sarah married into the maternal family of First Lady LouisaCatherineAdams, whose father was also from Maryland.

Physical Appearance:
Medium height, brown hair, brown eyes

Religious Affiliation:
Episcopalian

Education:
Nothing is known of Margaret Smith's early life. It can be assumed, based on the status of her family and the era in which she lived, however, that she received an education that was traditional for young daughters of plantation owners - sewing, embroidery, music, dancing, management of servants. There was a marked difference of what was proper to teach young woman by the early 19th century, in contrast to latter 18th century plantation, and it is also likely that she received training in grammar and basic mathematics. In consideration of her later managing of her and her husband's itinerant life would suggest that she may have had something beyond the traditional training.

Occupation Before Marriage:
Outside of the basic facts that Margaret "Peggy" Taylor was born and raised in a large brick plantation house (destroyed by fire in the early 20th century) to a wealthy and prosperous tobacco plantation family, no other documentation regarding her early life is extant. She was known to be a childhood acquaintance of NellyCustis, the granddaughter of MarthaWashington, who was raised on the Virginia plantation Mount Vernon, thus suggesting that PeggyTaylor socialized with other prominent Virginia and Maryland tobacco-plantation families. She almost certainly was familiar with Georgetown, then a major international tobacco port in present-day Washington, D.C., relatively close to her home.

Peggy Taylor was only 10 years old when her mother died, and her own sisters were said to be considerably older. She was thus often at the nearby estate of her maternal grandparents, "God's Graces." Her mother and aunts had been celebrated in the colony of Maryland as the "the eight beautiful daughters of General Mackall" and through their marriages and their children, Peggy Taylor was related to the most politically powerful families in the state. Her aunt Priscilla married into a prominent family, to RobertBowie, who was three times Governor of Maryland. Two other aunts - Susanna and Mary - married members of the Maryland Convention of 1774, to ThomasGantt, Jr. and EdwardReynolds, respectively. Yet another, Barbara, married General Wilkerson. PriscillaMackall had eloped by climbing over the family estate's renowned moss-covered brick wall by means of a rope ladder, furnished by her sweetheart. Tradition claims that all of PeggyTaylor's maternal aunts followed likewise, something of a humorous ritual.

With the death of her father in 1804, when she was 16 years old, PeggyTaylor moved to Louisville, Kentucky to live with her next oldest sibling, her sister MaryAnne, who was married to SamuelChew - whose own family was also a prominent one in Maryland. Five years later, in Louisville, she was introduced to ZacharyTaylor by Dr.AlexanderDuke, an old Smith family friend, also originally of Calvert County, Maryland.

Marriage:
21 years old to Zachary Taylor, Lieutenant , U.S. Army, (born 24 November, 1784, “Montebello”, Orange County, Virginia, died 9 July, 1850, The White House, Washington, D.C.) on 21 June, 1810 at the double log-house home of her sister and brother-in-law, Mary Anne and Samuel Chew.

Children:
Five daughters, one son: Sarah Knox Taylor Davis (1813-15 September, 1835); Anne Margaret Mackall Taylor Wood ( 9 April, 1811- 2 December, 1875); Octavia Pannel Taylor (15 August, 1816 - September, 1820); Margaret Smith Taylor (17 July, 1819 - October, 1820); Mary Elizabeth "Betty" Taylor Bliss Dandridge (20 April, 1824 - 25, July, 1909); Richard Taylor (27 January, 1826 - 17 April, 1879)

Occupation After Marriage:
For almost forty years, PeggyTaylor had an itinerant life, traveling around the frontier regions of the United States with her husband, directed by his U.S. Army assignments. Zachary Taylor rose to Major (1812-1814), Colonel during the Black Hawk War in 1832, Brigadier General during the Seminole War, 1836-1837, and Major General of the Mexican War, 1845-1847. She would live in forts, tents, log cabins, from the Florida Everglades, to the northern garrisons at Fort, Crawford in present-day Wisconsin to Jefferson Barracks in Missouri.

There is evidence that she began her marriage and made her intentions to always be with her husband, regardless of the deprivation, while she was in excellent health. One of MargaretTaylor's early trips to rejoin her husband was by horse back, after visiting her mother's family, from Calvert County, Maryland to Kentucky. In 1820, however, while at Bayou Sara, Louisiana, she lost two of her five daughters, three-year old Octavia, and one-year old Margaret. PeggyTaylor also fell deathly ill and the scant descriptions of her in her husband's correspondence to family members from that point on often refer to her "delicate" health.

Although she would give birth to two more children, Betty and Dick, Peggy Taylor insisted on having them sent out of the frontier once they were older, to be raised with relatives in the more civilized town of Louisville, Kentucky, where they were born, and to then receive the finest educations available: Anne went to a women's academy in Lexington, Kentucky, Sarah to Louisville and Cincinnati, Betty to Philadelphia and Dick to Yale, in New Haven, Connecticut. She did not want to expose them to the disease and other hardships more readily encountered in the frontier forts and camps where she continued to live with her husband. Settled for four years at FortCrawford (1832-1836), PeggyTaylor lived with her husband and four children in a two-story wood frame house. In the basement at the home, she made dairy products for her family and other residents of the fort, and also had an impressive wine cellar of fine vintage, served to various officials and guests who came to meet with Taylor there. On the property, she raised chickens, and planted a flourishing vegetable garden. By the end of the tour of duty there, however, all of the children had left.

On 17 June, 1835, SarahTaylor married Lieutenant Jefferson Davis at the Louisville, Kentucky home of her father's sister, and in the presence of his two other sisters and brother, as well as her sister Betty. The marriage was in no way an elopement, although not sanctioned by the father. Letters to PeggyTaylor, however, indicate that Sarah had the direction of her mother, who was disappointed not to be at the ceremony. The young couple moved to the groom's property on his brother's plantation. On a visit to his sister While on a visit to Locust Grove plantation, the home of his sister Mrs.LutherSmith, SarahTaylorDavis and JeffersonDavis both contracted malaria. He survived, but SarahTaylorDavis died on 15 September. A strange coincidence of her death was that it took place just near Bayou Sara, Louisiana - where PeggyTaylor's two other children had died fifteen years earlier. PeggyTaylor was broken in spirit by the loss. Taylor, previously on friendly terms with Davis, refused to acknowledge him for many years. Her husband recorded on several occasions that PeggyTaylor suffered greatly from a deep loneliness during her long years with him at the frontier forts. At one time, during their being stationed at FortKnox in Vincennes, Indiana, she was often even isolated from other women, being the only wife or female relative among a population of forty-six men. In 1837, Taylor was finally requested leave, so he and Peggy could visit Ann in Kentucky and Betty in Philadelphia. However, with the Seminole Indian battles in Florida, he was ordered to FortBrooke in Tampa. Once hostilities seemed quelled, PeggyTaylor made her way, via New Orleans, to Tampa. Here she served as a nurse in the army hospital, tending to the sick and wounded. Even when her husband then left the fort to lead other maneuvers, PeggyTaylor stayed at the fort and kept him apprised of military and other activity within the fort community. He relied on her reports and from them informed others of life at FortBrooke.

Finally, in 1838, PeggyTaylor was able to have a break from army life when her husband was promoted and given his leave. They sailed to Pensacola, Florida, then to New Orleans, proceeding to Baton Rouge and then Louisville, to spend time with their relatives there. They then proceeded to Washington, D.C. where it was highly likely that Taylor, if not also PeggyTaylor, made their first visit to the White House, to consult with President MartinVan Buren. From the capital, they went to Philadelphia where they were finally rejoined with their daughter Betty, whom they had not seen for several years. The trio then made a relaxing excursion to Niagara Falls, in western New York. Finally, they returned to Louisville. Despite her many personal losses, this period began what was to be a relatively brief time of peace for PeggyTaylor, especially with the company of her daughter Betty. Two years later, Taylor was posted to Baton Rouge. Here she decided to turn down the commodious quarters that were provided for her as the wife of the post commander and decided instead to restore a dilapidated four-room square cottage with a wide veranda surrounding it. A relatively old building remaining from the Spanish commandant there, it sat overlooking the Mississippi River and was shaded by moss trees. It became her first permanent home that she shared with her husband. Although she would make two brief forays to join Taylor while was he was stationed at Fort Gibson and Fort Smith in Arkansas, she now preferred living at her Baton Rouge cottage, even if separated from her husband. She also planted a thriving and healthy vegetable garden, began a dairy to provide fresh butter and milk, and taught other military wives to do likewise.

In 1845, Taylor was called to command the Army and secure U.S. positioning near the Rio Grande in what would become known as the Mexican War. For their first time in their marriage Peggy Taylor decided not to join him at the front. Despite the distraction provided by visits from her daughter Ann, now married to a U.S. Army surgeon, Robert Wood (who served with Taylor) and her four grandchildren, Peggy Taylor lived in terror that her husband would be killed during his most famous and final command.

Legend claims that she prayed to God for his safe return and vowed that she would give up all pretenses to re-entering fashionable society in Louisville or anywhere else. The story is highly likely, for during this period of her life, Peggy Taylor became deeply religious. At the Baton Rouge command, she took a room in the garrison and turned it into a quiet chapel. On occasion, she was able to influence a minister who lived some distance from there to conduct Sunday services there. Realizing that there was no permanent Protestant church of any kind in the region, Peggy Taylor used her considerable status as the wife of the great Mexican War general, now legendary as "Old Rough and Ready," to rally area citizens in helping to establish the Episcopalian parish and church of St. James. All that said, Peggy Taylor was at the side of her husband when the city of New Orleans celebrated him with parades and tributes as the great hero of the Mexican War.

Campaign and Inauguration:
Several anecdotes, including two told by her husband, indicate that Peggy Taylor vigorously protested his nomination as the Whig candidate for president in 1848. He enjoyed telling people that she was praying that his opponent would win the presidency. Taylor also told the story of his meeting a man on a steamboat who did not know his identity. He asked the man what candidate he supported. The man said "Taylor," then asked the actual candidate if he was voting for the general as well. No, said Taylor, because he knew for a fact that the general's wife was against it. He may have been seeking to make light of her darker statement that the election was a plot to deprive her of his company in their retirement and further, to shorten his life. Certainly ever since the close of the Mexican War, Peggy Taylor found herself besieged by curious and well-intended strangers who had debarked river boats on the Mississippi just to stop at her Baton Rouge cottage, hoping to get a glimpse of the famous general.

Contradictory to what some chroniclers have asserted, Peggy Taylor was in attendance at the 1849 Inauguration ceremony of her husband, surrounded by her tightly-knit and supportive family circle. She turned down an invitation from the outgoing presidential couple, the Polks, to join her husband, family members and other Whig supporters at a White House dinner the night before the ceremony. She also did not appear at the two Inaugural Balls, remaining instead in her Willard Hotel suite with her grandchildren as she had done during the Polk White House dinner the previous evening.

First Lady:
4 March, 1849 - 9 July, 1850

Peggy Taylor's husband, two daughters, two sons-in-law, and four grandchildren were the primary focus of her brief tenure as a president's wife living in the White House. There seems to have been some sort of estrangement between her son Dick and the President, and the young man was not encouraged to visit the White House, making only one brief attempt to do so. Instead, he remained in Louisiana, overseeing the family's cotton investments. Her daughter Ann and grandchildren John, Bob, Sarah and Anna, lived in nearby Baltimore and visited the White House often. Her daughter Betty had wed Colonel William Wallace Bliss, General Taylor's aide, and they lived in the mansion with her parents, he continuing his work but now as the president's aide.

To what degree, if any, Peggy Taylor influenced the President on matters is unknown. Although it is unlikely that she took any interest in public affairs, it was clear that President Taylor highly respected her. At an 1849 White House dinner, Varina Davis (the second wife of Jefferson Davis with whom the Taylors had by then reconciled) records that Taylor told her husband, "You know my wife was as much of a soldier as I was." Peggy Taylor was especially close with her first cousin, Mary Bowie, who had married the prominent attorney and U.S. Senator from Maryland, Reverdy Johnson, also of the Whig Party. Family lore contends that it was upon the persistent influence of Peggy Taylor that her husband appointed Johnson as Attorney General, thus making his wife's kin part of his official family. As a Cabinet wife, Mary Reverdy was frequently at the White House for family dinners and official events, a comforting and familiar friend for the First Lady. By the spring of 1850, it was noted that Peggy Taylor and her daughter began to show a marked preference for Whig Senator Daniel Webster, who visited frequently and that she joined a conscious effort on the part of the Administration to recognize and entertain those Whig leaders who had first pushed for Taylor's candidacy and felt initially ignored or treated with ingratitude.

For almost her first full year as First Lady, Peggy Taylor focused her attention on the maintenance of the executive household - ordering food for family meals and most likely public entertaining as well, overseeing the slaves and servants duties, supervising the gardens, the dairy and the kitchen. Most of all, she took charge of the well-being of Zachary Taylor as she always had, looking after his diet, health and apparently an increasingly appropriate wardrobe, he having earned a reputation as something of a sloppy dresser. The one element of her role as First Lady that Peggy Taylor refused to engage herself in was presiding over any public functions as hostess. That was a task she gladly passed to her popular and young daughter, known to the general public and the press by the nickname "Miss Betty."

On a daily basis, Peggy Taylor left the White House and attended morning services at St. John's Episcopal Church across Lafayette Square from the mansion. Special guests, important Whig Party leaders, relatives and old friends from Maryland and Virginia were brought upstairs to be received by the First Lady in her private sitting room in the family quarters. She was well-versed enough in her husband's policies to always take "every opportunity to drop a good word in company that might help her husband," and it was recorded that she was the only woman guest at a private dinner hosted by Vice President Millard Fillmore for political figures in his residential hotel suite. She was at the President's side to welcome a Baptist Sunday school group in the East Room on July 4, 1849 and at a ceremony where she accepted honorary lifetime membership in the American Sunday School Union in November of that year. She was also among the women members of the Taylor family to appear at the large public reception in the White House on March 4, 1850 to mark the one-year anniversary of Taylor's Inauguration, dressed in beautiful gowns and diamonds.

Despite the fact that she was not entirely cloistered on the second floor of the mansion and did attend numerous public events in the state rooms, she was nevertheless rarely recognized or acknowledged by the general public. Standing among a larger group of visiting women relatives who clustered near the President, the presence of the First Lady could often go unnoticed while permitting her the pleasure of seeing how reverently the public responded to her beloved husband. Nevertheless, false rumors began to circulate among the capital society leaders that Mrs. Taylor was something of a crude recluse from the frontier who smoked a corncob pipe and was kept hidden by her mortified family in the attic. Ironically, any sort of smoke made her "actively ill," her grandson recalled.

In many respects, it was Peggy Taylor's daughter, Mary Elizabeth "Betty" Taylor Bliss Dandridge (1824-1909) who assumed responsibility for the family's primary interaction with the general public. She married her father's aide, Colonel William Wallace Bliss on 5 December 1846. He was the son of Captain John Bliss of the U.S. Army and his wife Olive Limonds, both of Connecticut. Educated in Philadelphia, and spending much of her adolescent years in Kentucky and Virginia with relatives and away from her parents, Betty Bliss was once dubbed a "rustic belle" but contemporary accounts suggest that she was intelligent and sophisticated. She had been acting as something of a spokesperson for her more reclusive mother once her father had achieved national acclaim and the family attracted unwanted curiosity. At the Inaugural Ball, following the Russian Minister's wife in red silk and diamonds, "Miss Betty" appeared in a simple white dress with a white flower in her hair and her naturalness became her trademark. She presided over all public functions in the White House as the official hostess of the Taylor Administration. By the time the fall 1849 social season began, however, there was a marked difference in the style of the family. There is a suggestion that her mother's health had briefly deteriorated since she then relinquished all the domestic management to Betty Bliss, who also seemed to observers to now "appreciate the importance of her social elevation." The change was visibly apparent at the March 4, 1850 White House reception when Betty Bliss led the conversations with men, balancing humor with sensibility and her poise was highly praised in the next day's newspapers.

Betty Bliss was with her mother, husband, sister and brother-in-law at the bedside of the President when, after a sudden gastric illness of five days, he died on 9 July, 1850. Peggy Taylor could not accept the reality of his demise as it became inevitable within a matter of hours. She became hysterical and repeated that he had survived worse threats to his life on the battlefield and in the primitive forts where they had lived. She begged him not to leave her and upon his death insisted that the ice preserving his body be removed on three occasions just so she could look upon his face one more time. She was unable to attend his funeral in the East Room. Instead, according to Varina Davis, she listened to the funeral dirges and drum marches lying upstairs on her bed, shaking and sobbing in shock.

Six years a fter her first husband's death on 4 August, 1852 (just ten days before her mother's death) Betty Bliss remarried to Philip Pendleton Dandridge on February 11, 1858. While her sister Ann and her two sons moved to Germany during the Civil War, Betty remained loyal to the Confederacy and took responsibility for Ann's daughter and namesake, living in Winchester, Virginia. She herself had no children, but until her death at age 85, "Miss Betty" sought to maintain the public's fading memory of her father. She died on 25 July, 1909 in Winchester.

It had long been believed that there existed no extant picture of Peggy Taylor and in the years after her death, her daughter Betty stated that her mother had not sat for a portrait, suggesting a painting. However, in the early 20th century an engraving appeared that was claimed to be of her; it was drawn by an artist who did a series of such engravings of earlier First Ladies based on other images loaned to him for that purpose from descendants. In 1998, an early photograph that appears to be the original image from which the engraving was copied was purchased by a private collector in Washington, D.C. The apparent photograph of Peggy Taylor was part of a group of carte-de-visite, daugerotype, ferrotype and other images of Mexican War era figures that originated from a Winchester, Virginia collection once belonging to a collateral descendant of Betty Taylor Bliss's second husband's family. The last surviving Taylor child, Betty Bliss had no descendants, thus suggesting the image of her mother once belonged to her and was inherited by her second husband's relatives.

Life After the White House:
Peggy Taylor left the White House with her daughter AnnWood and her family, and lived with them for three months in Baltimore, more composed than she had been in her husband's final days. She then proceeded with her two daughters to New Orleans, where they met up with her son Dick for the legal division of Taylor's estate. PeggyTaylor lived a more comfortable life as a widow than she had for her four decades on the frontier, her husband leaving an ample estate, including five slaves for her. Although she was voted the franking privilege by Congress as a presidential widow, PeggyTaylor made no public appearances or remarks in retirement. She initially returned to live with the Blisses in Kentucky but found the constant expressions of sympathy for the late president that her presence always provoked to be too oppressive. She then moved to live with her son Dick in East Pascagoula, Mississippi. In 1849 he had begun an extensive sugar plantation operation in St. Charles Parish, Louisiana and she may have joined him for his inspection trips there on occasion. PeggyTaylor's only known public appearance as a widow was at his wedding in 1851 to MyrthéBringierde Lacadière. One source claims that she taught Sunday school as a widow, but there is no further documentation provided. All of the Taylor family's personal correspondence was stored at her last home which was burned by Union troops during the Civil War.

Death:
63 years old
East Pascagoula , Mississippi
14 August, 1852

Burial:
Zachary Taylor National Cemetery
Louisville , Kentucky

http://www.firstladies.org/index.htm

Oh Jee

De rechter heeft (lang) gesproken. Op 13 oktober van dit jaar werd hij door de jury schuldig bevonden aan gewapende beroving, ontvoering en geweldpleging. Gisteren werd de strafmaat bepaald.

De voormalige American Football-held O.J. Simpson werd veroordeeld tot vijftien jaar wegens een gewapende overval. In het extreemste geval kan de straf oplopen tot 33 jaar cel.

Maar hij kan ook na vijf jaar in beroep gaan voor vrijlating.

Wij volgden de uitspraak van de rechter. Het was alsof ik naar een film zat te kijken.

O.J. acteerde ontkenning, onschuld, verbazing, opluchting en verdriet.

Zijn advocaten acteerden met hem mee.

De bewakers acteerden onbewogenheid en mannelijkheid.

De familie van Nicole Brown Simpson acteerde tranenverdriet.

De rechter acteerde zelfs.

Tot mijn grote verwondering beklemtoonde ze tot twee keer toe dat haar vonnis niets te maken had met de rechtzaak van dertien jaar geleden.

Daarmee werden- in mijn ogen - haar woorden ongeloofwaardig.

Ze dronk uit een Burger Kingbeker met een rietje. Amerikaanser kan het niet.

Ik heb het rechtssysteem in de V.S. niet hoog zitten. Een gekozen (politiek) rechter en een jury die nooit onbevooroordeeld kan zijn: not my cup of tea.

Of O.J. erin geluisd is, hoop ik ooit nog eens te weten te komen. Ik zie de andere (milder) veroordeelde er voor aan, te willen brommen voor een heleboel dollars.

O.J. Simpson is in ieder geval een gewelige personage voor scenaristen.

Speeltjes

***********************
Mijn nieuwe laptop staat te glimmen op mijn bureau en ik glim wanneer ik er mee werk. Er waren nog een paar kleinigheden die ik niet begreep, maar de jongens van DIMENSION losten dat soepeltjes op.

Het prettige van DIMENSION is, dat je serieus genomen wordt.

Volgens een andere reparateur (waar ik was, voordat ik Dimension ontdekte) kostte het maken van mijn oude laptop "driehonderd-en-nog-wat euro".
Vandaar dat ik een nieuwe kocht. Bij DIMENSION. Ik schreef er eerder over.

Maar mijn ouwe, prettige Toshiba wilde ik niet zondermeer weggooien. Dus bracht ik hem voor een second opinion naar Dimension. Over de prijsopgave van de andere computerreparateur zweeg ik.
Ze namen hem in en zeiden dat ik wel op tachtig euro moest rekenen.
Tachtig euro?
Ik sloeg - van blije verbazing - steil achterover.
"Prima, doe maar", riep ik enthousiast. Alsof ik bang was dat hij het bedrag zou herroepen.

Dus mensen met kapotte PC's - een second opinion kan geen kwaad.

Twee dagen later was mijn oude knarretje klaar en rekende ik zeventig euro af.
En dit oude knarretje doet het weer als vanouds.

Misschien een beetje trager, maar dat heb je met oude knarretjes.

Het moment.

****************************
Vanmiddag liep ik over de Coolsingel. Liever gezegd, ik gleed.

Bij het zebrapad stond ik achter twee Hindoestaanse vrouwen. Waarom ik schrijf dat het Hindoestaanse vrouwen waren, weet ik niet. Om een beeld te scheppen?
Tussen hen in stond een klein jongetje. Vijf of zes jaar schat ik.

Het kind hield zich krampachtig vast aan één van de vrouwen.
Hij keek naar haar op. Tranen stonden in zijn ogen, zijn onderlip trilde maar hij huilde niet.
Terwijl hij aan haar arm trok smeekte hij met een huiveringwekkend verdrietige stem: "maar ik wil bij jou wonen".

Het licht sprong op groen en en masse staken wij de Coolsingel over.

Hooguit vijftien seconden, die ik niet van mijn netvlies kan wissen en uit mijn hoofd kan zetten.

Maar ik wil bij jou wonen.

Martin Bril

was vanavond weer terug als sidekick bij DWDD.

Ik schrok.

****

Martin - mijn favoriete columnist - heeft deze zomer een jasje uitgedaan , nadat een kwaadaardige tumor in zijn nek werd ontdekt.

Martin gaat nog vele jasjes uitdoen, want het is ernstig.

****

Maar hij heeft nu even de energie om zich weer te vertonen en te schrijven.

Wat mij betreft mag hij de (vrijgevallen) wekelijkse plaats van Marc Marie overnemen.

WEES WELKOM!!

Je zal het vanaf 1 januari wel uit je hoofd laten om met de auto het centrum van Amsterdam in te rijden. Parkeren in de hoofdstad gaat vanaf die dag VIJF euro per uur kosten. Tel uit je winst gemeente Amsterdam. Is dat om de verbouwing van de Stopera te bekostigen?

Betaald parkeren in Rotterdam is ook geen kattepis. Het is toch krankjorem dat je zelfs op feestdagen moet betalen.

Wij krijgen tweede kerstdag vrienden - die met de auto moeten komen. Manlief is alvast op onderzoek uitgegaan en kwam tot de verbijsterende ontdekking dat het volle pond betaald moet worden. Over gastvrijheid gesproken.

Nu heb ik her en der mijn contacten, dus ons probleem is opgelost. Neemt niet weg dat ik het idioot vind.

Je nodigt mensen uit en vermeld terloops "vergeet niet je chipknip op te laden - ik schat zo'n vijftig euro".

Oh ja, en aan strippenkaarten doen wij vanaf 29 januari (dank je Karin) ook niet meer in Rotterdam.

Dat u het maar weet.

I got it

Al maanden loop ik bij van Leest te zeuren: "wanneer komt de complete box van de Sopranos"??

Nu is ie er dan eindelijk en heb ik diep in de buidel moeten tasten. Maar ik ben als een kind zo blij. Iets wat mijn familie niet zo goed begrijpt, trouwens.

Zoonlief deed ik onder ander twee DVD's van de fel omstreden "Reichscineaste" Leni Riefenstahl cadeau.
Der Sieg des Glaubens" uit 1933 en "Triumph des Willens" uit 1934.

Wij vieren dit jaar geen Sinterklaas - maar met Jacob en zijn beminde beleefden we toch een heerlijk avondje.

Met stukjes spek van marsepein- want zij is vegetariër.

All the Presidents Wives 12

Sarah Childress Polk

Born: September 4, 1803 - Murfreesboro, Tennessee
Died: August 14, 1891

Father:

Colonel Joel Childress (d. 1819)

Mother:

Elizabeth Whitsett Childress

Ancestry:

Scotch-Irish; English

Siblings: Sarah Polk was the younger of two daughters and third of six children

Physical Description: Fairly tall, with black hair that was parted in the middle and worn in ringlets, brown eyes and sallow coloring. She had prominent teeth that caused her to tighten her lips, giving her a disapproving look, though she was admired as a "handsome" beauty. She tended to dress in vibrant blues, reds and maroons, which suited her dark coloring. Due to her coloring, she was given the nickname "Sahara Sarah".

Religion: Very devout Presbyterian

Education: Colonel Childress was a prosperous planter, merchant, tavern keeper and militia officer who raised his children in luxury. His social circles taught Sarah early a love of politics and politicians. She was educated at the Danil Elam School in Murfreesboro. Later the principal of Bradley Academy in Nashville, where her brother and James K. Polk were students, tutored her and her sister, Susan. The Childress sisters boarded (but didn’t attend) at the Abercrombie School in Nashville where Sarah met General and Mrs. Andrew Jackson. To further their education, the Childress’s sent both girls to the best girls school in the south: the Moravian Female Academy in Salem, North Carolina in 1817. Here they studied English, grammar, geography, needlework, history, music, drawing and the Bible. It had a very strict moral setting that became a permanent part of Sarah Polk’s nature and personality. Colonel Childress’s death in 1819 ended Sarah’s education, and both she and Susan returned home to help their mother.

Husband:

James Knox Polk (1795-1849)

Courtship and Marriage: In the years after Colonel Childress’s death, Sarah and her family suffered a number of financial reverses due to her brother’s mismanagement of the estate. This diminished their income, but did not alter their living style. Sarah met, at this time, a farmer schoolmate of her brother, James Knox Polk. He was an ambitious, earnest, rather silent young man who had the approval of Andrew Jackson. Jackson, according to legend, urged Polk to marry Miss Childress, who was "wealthy, pretty, ambitious and intelligent." Sarah encouraged James Polk to run for the state legislature and soon after his election, on January 1, 1824, they were married in her home in Murfreesboro.

Age at marriage:

20 years, 119 days.

Personality:

Serious, religious, a proper lady in every way except in her love of politics and gentlemanly conversation. She was known to remain behind with the men to talk, rather than retire to the parlor with the ladies. Humor was never a strong point with her (or with her husband). She loved to read, she read the newspapers, and, because of this, she eventually took on the duties of an unpaid secretary to her husband. The Polks had no children, and his career became, in a way, a surrogate child for Sarah.

Children:

None

Years Before the White House (1824-1845):

Probably because there were no children, Sarah Polk was able to be a part of her husband’s life and career to an unusual degree. Her sharp intellect, wit and charm were definite assets to his career. Men as diverse as Henry Clay, Andrew Jackson and future President, Franklin Pierce, who said he would rather discuss politics with Sarah than with James, testify to her forceful personality. It is strange to note that, for a woman of such unusual political outlook and drive, she received no criticism from the women of her day. This was due to the unique ability she showed in blending her political interest with her well-defined domestic skills. For all her love of politics, Sarah Polk never forgot her place or the place of women in society.

After an unusual year’s separation, Sarah joined her husband in Washington, where he was serving in the House of Representatives. Until the end of his life, with the exception of this one short separation, Sarah would remain at her husband’s side – as his nurse, his secretary, his confidante, and his emotional helpmate. There was nothing they didn’t share. Her strong religious beliefs were respected, and nothing transpired on the Sabbath. She would ban card playing, dancing and hard liquor as part of her religious beliefs. In spite of this, she was admired for her looks, her wit and her social skills – all of which aided her husband’s career. This did not mean that she didn’t have certain ideas of her own: she disagreed with Polk’s stance against the use of paper money, pointing out how difficult it would be for a woman to carry gold or silver on her person. In the height of the Peggy Eaton affair, Sarah Polk created something of a difficult time for her husband, from whom General Jackson expected full support. Peggy Eaton was the wife of the Secretary of War. She had an immoral reputation, but Andrew Jackson insisted that the Cabinet wives accept and receive her. (For more details on this affair, see chapter on Emily Donelson). Sarah refused. Polk was seen as a hen-pecked husband, leading his future Vice President George M. Dallas to say of Sarah, "She is certainly mistress of herself and I suspect of someone else as well." Because of Sarah’s refusal to accept Peggy Eaton, Andrew Jackson told Sarah to go home to Columbia, Tennessee (where they had built a home near his parents) in late 1830. She did not return until early 1831.

The Polks had numerous nieces and nephews in and out of their lives and, after Polk’s death, Sarah would adopt one of them as a child of her own. After his election as Speaker of the House, Polk and his wife had even more exposure to the social life in Washington. In 1838 they returned to Tennessee where Polk campaigned for Governor. Sarah remained behind the scenes, organizing the campaign, sending him documents – as ever, the center of his world. Though a good governor, Polk was defeated in 1841 and in 1843. He then returned to his law practice. Sarah worried about his weight loss. He had never been a robust man, and surgery early in life had weakened his system. In 1844, to his great surprise, he was nominated as a dark horse candidate by the Democrats. Sarah, as usual, handled the campaign from their home in Columbia and even worked on the press releases. In a new move, her daguerreotype was taken and engravings were made from it for the campaign. The campaign was successful, and the Polks departed for Washington early in 1845. Sarah’s only public response was to ask that the bands greeting them in various cities along the way refrain from playing on Sundays.

First Lady (1845-1849):

Wearing a red and gray striped silk dress, a beige cape and a red velvet bonnet, Sarah watched as her husband took the oath of office. Later that evening, though they didn’t dance (and would soon ban dancing), Sarah appeared at the Inaugural Ball wearing a beautiful powder blue silk dress, with a brocade of poinsettias woven into the material. In her hands, she carried her husband’s gift to her: a fan bearing the portraits of the first eleven presidents. Her tenure would be very different from that of the regal, fun-loving and youthful Julia Tyler. Rather than spend lavishly, Sarah Polk would save half the money given to her to refurbish the White House, though she did install gas lighting in 1846. However, on the evening of the first reception after the gas was installed it, of course, failed. The prudent First Lady had made sure that her favorite room was well lit with candles. Her social occasions were proper, genteel and even elegant, but lacked the spark and music of Julia Tyler’s receptions. She thought that dancing was improper in the Presidents’ house, and it was banned until Caroline Scott Harrison restored it in 1889. After a short interval, Mrs. Polk restored the playing of "Hail to the Chief" because her rather short husband tended to be overlooked, and the tune helped people to identify him.

After the juvenile and youthful imprudence of Julia Tyler, the public was ready for the proper Sarah Polk, who proved to be immensely popular. She turned to Dolley Madison for advice and gladly gave over first place to "the Queen Dowager." She once rebuked a niece for defending Sarah from the charge that Mrs. Henry Clay made better butter, adding "That I expect to live on $25,000 per year and will neither keep house nor make butter!" Aside from John Van Buren, the son of Martin Van Buren and very influential behind the scenes in the democratic party, whom Sarah Polk found offensive, she willingly made friends with everyone, even enemies of her husband and, in doing so, won high favor from the politicians. She would only discuss issues under the cover of "Mr. Polk certainly says so." This was never seen as transgressing her role as a proper lady. In private, as seen from her diary and her letters, she expressed herself freely on all issues, personalities and topics. It was soon evident that the First Lady preferred the company of men and had few women friends.

Twice a week the White House was opened to all callers. Everyone approved of the changes Sarah had made to the house as being neat and sufficiently rich without extravagance. All hard liquor was banned, although wine was served at state dinners. Mrs. Polk, like Eleanor Roosevelt, paid little attention to the actual running of the White House, even to the extent of once not having napkins at the table of a formal dinner. She did attempt to familiarize herself with the substance of any books she received as gifts, especially if she knew the gift-givers were going to be at a White House reception. The Polks rarely traveled, and he only traveled without her on one occasion. On the occasion of her last White House reception in February 1849, Mrs. Polk followed second to "Queen Dolley" who walked at the side of the President. Sarah Polk was the first First Lady to be photographed on the White House grounds and the first to be photographed with her husband.

The long trip home, after the inauguration of Zachary Taylor, was exhausting for both Polks. Weakened by their four demanding years in the White House, the Polks, particularly James, had little strength to combat the fever that afflicted them. James Polk died on June 15, 1849. His last words were, "I love you, Sarah, for all eternity, I love you."

Last Years:

Sarah Polk’s last forty plus years were spent in Nashville at the home she and her husband had built called "Polk Place". During the Civil War, both sides respected Mrs. Polk’s neutrality, and she entertained officers from both armies. She would lose a second plantation she owned in Mississippi, and times would be hard for her. After James Polk’s death, Sarah turned their home into a shrine in his memory. He was even buried on the grounds of Polk Place, until it was torn down in 1893 and his body, along with that of Sarah, was moved to the grounds of the State Capitol. Her grief and her austere view of life caused the last 42 years of her life to be somewhat barren, enlivened only by the adoption of a great niece, Sarah Polk Jetton, and the visits of President and Mrs. Hayes and, later, President and Mrs. Cleveland.

Death:

Polk Place, Nashville, Tennessee – August 14, 1891
Age at Death: 87 years, 344 days

Burial:

On the grounds of Polk Place. However, in 1893, Polk Place was torn down, and the bodies of President and Mrs. Polk were moved to the State Capitol grounds.
Legacy: Sarah Polk was the first First Lady since Louisa Adams whose presence was dignified, comfortable and seen as non-threatening. (Jackson, Van Buren, Harrison and the first wife of Tyler were either sickly or died before their term of office). Intelligent, witty, highly principled and very religious, Sarah Polk had both the intellect and the ability to serve as both a social asset to her husband publicly and an advisory, helpmate and political mentor behind the scenes. Without a family to distract her, Sarah Childress Polk was able to devote all of her time to her husband’s career. When he was gone, she would be left without any goals or ambitions. While First Lady she was able, as few have done, to blend the private and the public without criticism. While appearing to be the epitome of the proper lady, she was able to exert an unusually powerful hand behind the scenes.

http://www.firstladies.org/index.htm

020

Ruim twintig jaar staat hij er - de toentertijd fel omstreden STOPERA. Wat is nou twintig jaar.

Nu lees ik dat er een verbouwing nodig is wegens ruimtegebrek. Hoeveel miljoenen dat gaat kosten is nog niet precies bekend, maar het moet gebeuren.

Amsterdam staat op instorten vanwege een Noord-Zuidlijn, "de Wallen" bestaan niet meer, de bekendste musea staan (al jaren) in de steigers, een paddootje scoren is er niet meer bij en Ajax laat Klaas Jan gaan.

Wat blijft er van Amsterdam over?

Aan het uitgavepatroon te meten zou ik zeggen: een bodemloze (bouw)put.

WE GOT IT

Rita en Kay

**************************
Op 10 september schreef ik in Rita en Ed over de jammerlijke afgang van Ed Sinke. Ik voorspelde in die column dat het daar niet bij zou blijven.

Wederom maakt een mobiele telefoon meer kapot dan.....................
Kay van der Linde bleek zelf een windbuil. Ook gebakken lucht stinkt.

Hoor Rita en haar TON
Met een plakbandje erom
Hard juichen, hard juichen
Maar haar TON die valt in duigen.

Service

Twee weken geleden kreeg ik weer eens post van de Nespressoclub. Daar zaten ondermeer twee tegoedbonnen van ieder 70,- bij - voor nieuwe machines. Geen kattepis.
Mijn Nespresso-apparaat is nog geen twee jaar oud en functioneert gelukkig nog prima. Dus kan ik anderen blij maken met deze gulle gift.

Twee weken geleden begaf ook de Aeroccino het. Ik gooide de melkschuimer weg omdat ik er niet vanuit ging dat daar nog garantie op zat.
Een vriendin verklaarde mij (terecht) voor gek. "Bel het servicenummer", was haar advies.

Afgelopen maandag deed ik dat en een vriendelijke medewerkster vroeg mij een kopie van de aankoopbon op te sturen.

Vanmorgen ging de bel en werd er een pakketje bezorgd. Van Nespresso.
Een spiksplinternieuwe, vernieuwde, vergrote Aeroccino.

Daar kan geen Sinterklaas of Kerstman tegenop.

Fun

Het Parool van vandaag.

Appelmoes

Eén van de favoriete gerechten van P. is gebakken lever. We eten het zo'n vier keer per jaar.
Mijn moeder gaf er altijd appelmoes bij. Als werkende vrouw maakte ze het zichzelf makkelijk. Er werd meestal een blik of pot opengerukt.

Mijn groentevrouw verkocht mij vandaag een bijzondere moesappel (Goudreinet):
Malus domestica oftewel de´Rode Boskoop´.
Ze vertelde mij dat deze appel wordt gebruikt door oliebollenkramen voor de appelbeignets, door restaurants voor de appelmoes, maar dat het ook een heerlijke handappel is.
Bij het schillen had ik door dat ik kwaliteit in mijn handen had.
Niet alleen wat betreft de structuur, maar ik rook ook daadwerkelijk appel.

Met een klein scheutje water zette ik de pan met stukjes appel op een middelhoog vuur. Na twintig minuten kon ik er met een garde een prachtige compacte appelmoes van roeren.
Ja, er is appelmoes en appelmoes.

Vandaag kookte ik de lekkerste appelmoes die ik ooit heb gemaakt.
En er is niets meer over voor de dorst.

Oversteken

*****************************
De Coolsingel oversteken is overdag nog wel te doen, mits je het zebrapad neemt. 's Avonds is het een levensgevaarlijke onderneming en kan je maar beter bij een verkeerslicht naar de overkant lopen. Het lijkt er op alsof rancuneuze automobilisten hun gram willen halen vanwege het vele stilstaan overdag.

Afgelopen vrijdagavond moest een 24-jarige Schiedammer de oversteek met zijn leven bekopen. Met lede ogen zagen wij vanaf de 28ste hoe politie en ambulance zich met het ongeluk bezig hielden.

Vanmiddag rond vijven stak een jonge vrouw in tegenovergestelde richting van mij het onbewaakte fietspad over. Ze werd gegrepen door een brommer. Het gebeurde op nog geen twee meter van waar ik stond. Het fietspad is zebraloos, dus feitelijk moeten de voetgangers wachten.

De vrouw had beter moeten (uit)kijken en de brommer reed misschien niet te hard, maar had zijn snelheid zeker niet aangepast aan de omstandigheden op de drukke Coolsingel.
Beiden maakten een behoorlijke smak, maar - na het zich later liet aanzien - kwamen zij met de schrik vrij.

In plaats van behulpzaam toe te schieten, vlogen omstanders de brommende jongeman bijna aan.
Ik bekommerde mij om het geschrokken meisje, dat alleen wat schaafwonden aan haar hand had.

"Godverdomme klootzak, je reed veel te hard".
"Als het mijn vrouw was geweest had ik je rotkop in elkaar geramt".
"Je zal boeten voor de gevolgen".
Etc, etc.

Ik probeerde tevergeefs de gemoederen te sussen. Vanwege de scheldpartijen over en weer barstte het meisje in een nerveus huilen uit.

Een oudere dame begon de jongen te vertellen wat hij moest doen wilde hij zichzelf "man" noemen. Een ander schold de vrouw uit voor "bemoeiteef".
Gelukkig maakte een patrouillebusje van de politie een eind aan het verbale geweld en werd de jongen bevrijd uit zijn benarde situatie.

Toen ik terugkwam van mijn boodschappen was het vuur gedoofd en zaten het meisje en de jongen vriendschappelijk in de warme politiebus.

Vraag is alleen: wanneer wordt de gemeente wakker.

Laat Rotterdams bekendste straat niet veranderen in Rotterdams beruchtste straat.

All the Presidents Wives 11

Julia Gardiner Tyler

Born:

May 4, 1820 - Gardiner’s Island, New York

Father:

Senator David Gardiner (d. 1844)

Mother:

Juliana McLachlan Gardiner

Siblings:

1 sister, 2 brothers. Margaret Gardiner, her younger sister, often stayed with Julia in the White House

Religion:

Episcopalian, later Roman Catholic

Physical Description:

She was 5’3" tall, with dark black hair, usually worn parted in the middle; gray eyes, beautiful shoulders and a good figure. She was flirtatious, prone to be indiscreet, and very daring for her day. Impulsive and reckless at times, the young Julia Gardiner was one who loved being "center stage."

Education:

Brought up in a world of money, wealth and position, Julia and her sister were educated at Madame N.D. Chagaray’s Institute for young ladies in New York City. Julia studied French, arithmetic, literature, history and composition. By fifteen, she was already seeking an advantageous marriage and was something of a trail to her staid parents. In 1839, at age nineteen, she allowed her image to be used for an advertisement for a dry goods store, under the title "The Rose of Long Island." Extremely angry, her parents took her to Europe where she added to her string of suitors and was presented to King Louis Philippe and Queen Marie Amelia. All the images of royalty that she saw gave the young Julia Gardiner a severe case of "Queen fever" that would be reflected during her time in the White House.
Husband: John Tyler (1790-1862)

Courtship and Marriage:

By 1841, Senator Gardiner’s two daughters had taken Washington by storm, so much so that, by 1843, he had to take a few extra rooms in their boarding house to entertain the gentlemen callers. Sometimes Julia entertained her guests by playing the guitar and singing. In 1842, she met her future husband at a White House reception. Between 1841 and 1844, Julia received proposals from no less than 2 Congressmen, one Supreme Court Justice and one from President Tyler, now a widower. Christmas Eve 1843 the Gardiner’s were invited to the White House. By February 1844, the gossips were making much of the friendship between President Tyler and Julia. Tragedy interrupted the talk. Dolley Madison had arranged a trip up the Potomac on the gunboat, The Princeton, on February 28, 1844. Among the guests were President Tyler, most of his cabinet, and the Gardiners. One of the guns that was fired while passing Mount Vernon exploded, killing the Secretary of State and Senator Daniel Gardiner, among others. Julia, hearing the explosion, fainted into the arms of the President. She said later that, after her father’s death, the President seemed to fill the void that no younger man ever could. Amidst great secrecy, John Tyler married Julia Gardiner on Gardiner’s Island on June 26, 1844. Dolley Madison prided herself on the role she played in helping the romance along.

Children:
1. David Gardiner Tyler (1846-1927)
2. John Alexander Tyler (1848 –1883)
3. Julia Tyler Spencer (1849 – 1871)
4. Lachlan Tyler (1851-1902)
5. Lyon Gardiner Tyler (1853 – 1935)
6. Robert Fitzwalter Tyler (1856 – 1927)
7. Pearl Tyler Ellis (1860 – 1947)

First Lady (June 26, 1844 – March 4, 1845):

Though Julia Tyler did not have long in the White House, she nonetheless made quite an impact. Like Angelica Van Buren before her, Julia’s impact was not always a positive one. She often gave offense by appearing "too regal" or "queenlike". Also like Angelica Van Buren, Julia preferred royalist trappings: a dais of several steps, ostrich plums and royal purple, for example. Unlike Angelica Van Buren, however, Julia Tyler found it impossible to stay on her dais, but rather would come down and lead the dancing on the arm of her gallant husband. There was no doubt that Julia enjoyed her position and had a deep love for her husband, who was some 30 years her senior. At twenty-four, Julia was the youngest First Lady to date and was immensely wealthy as well. She was able to bring a certain style and opulence to a rather dull and staid White House. She, still mourning her father, wore either white, black lace or royal purple (also a mourning color), and in her hair, ending on her forehead, a headpiece made of black jet beads, later changed to diamonds. She often appeared in public with the greyhound given to her by her husband.

It was Julia who had "Hail to the Chief" played for the President at state occasions. Later it was briefly banned by Sarah Polk, who very soon realized her mistake (her husband was being overlooked) and had it restored. Julia also had a "court" of ladies in waiting made up of her sister Margaret, two cousins and one of Tyler’s younger daughters by his first marriage. Perhaps one reason this worked was due to their youth and beauty. Julia once noted that much could be forgiven is one is young and pretty. Julia introduced both the polka and the waltz, but would never dance outside the White House, unless she arrived early enough to open the ball herself. No wonder she was often called "Lady Presidentress" or "Her Loveliness". Julia even hired a press agent to sound her praises fair and wise and, though some like John Quincy Adams made fun of the Tylers, it made good news.

As for her stepfamily, Julia had her troubles with them but, in the end she won them all over, with the exception of Letitia Tyler Semple, who never forgave her. Of course all the Tyler men like her. As a New Yorker married to a Virginian, Julia Tyler soon took on all of her husband’s views and lobbied, though not very subtly or well, for the annexation of Texas. Three days before leaving office, Julia watched as her husband signed the joint Congressional resolution for the annexation of Texas. When Tyler gave her the pen he used to sign the document, she turned it into a necklace and wore it on formal occasions.

Over 3,000 people, who watched as the young Mrs. Tyler opened the dancing on the arm of the Secretary of State, attended her last ball on February 18, 1845. It was a huge success, and the evening closed with the ladies dancing a cotillion with the ambassadors from Russia, Prussia and Austria. John Tyler noted wryly that "no one could now say he was a President with no party!" One the day they left, the staff, guests and ambassadors formed two lines to say farewell. Though short, Julia Gardiner Tyler’s stay had been colorful, hectic and remarkable.

Later Years (1845-1889): Because she was still so young when she left the White House (25), it is important to make a few observations of what Julia did later. Living up to her motto "The full extent or nothing", Julia redid their plantation home, Sherwood Forest, with her own money and made it into a showplace. She bore seven children which, along with the eight children borne by Letitia Tyler, made Tyler the president with the most children. Their years at Sherwood Forest were marred only by Julia’s over-spending and by imprudent loans made by John Tyler to his children and to friends. He was cash poor, which added to his troubles before his death. In 1853, Julia Tyler wrote a letter to the Southern Literary Messenger rejecting the pleas by English women to Southern women to help end slavery. Instead she praised it as a civilizing influence and noted that their slaves lived better than the poor of London. Though John Tyler had long fought for the preservation of the Union, when Virginia seceded in 1861, the Tyler’s went with it. Julia eagerly supported the Confederacy and encouraged all her sons who were old enough to join the army.

The death of John Tyler on January 18, 1862 in Richmond, Virginia left Julia a heart broken widow at 41. Sherwood Forest was captured by Union forces. Julia tried to settle in New York but, because of family arguments, went back to Virginia. The war made the sale of Sherwood Forest impossible. By the late fall of 1862, Julia was back in New York. Her mother, siding with Julia in the family argument, evicted her son, David Gardiner and made Julia welcome. After her mother’s death in 1864, her estate was divided between her children, and Julia received a 3/8ths share. Though never a wealthy widow, Julia was able to have her children educated in Canada and Germany. After the Panic of 1873, Julia had further financial difficulties. She resorted to selling her New York property and returned to Sherwood Forest. She did return to the White House on several occasions. She would present her portrait by Von Anelli to the nation, which was the first portrait of a First Lady to hang in the White House. Later First Lady Lucy Hayes would invite Julia to receive with her at a White House reception. In 1881 she won her battle to receive a pension as a president’s widow. She received $1,200 a year, which was later raised to $5,000 a year. Settling in Richmond, Julia Tyler’s last years were happy, especially after her conversion to the Roman Catholic faith in 1872.

Death:

July 10, 1889 at the age of 69. She died in the same hotel room that her husband had died in 27 years before.

Burial:

Hollywood Cemetery, Richmond, Virginia by the side of her husband.

Legacy:

After the sadness of Letitia Tyler’s long illness and death, and the political turmoil of the Tyler administration, Julia Gardiner’s bursting on the Washington scene was both dramatic and colorful. She had youth, beauty, wit, charm and an obvious enjoyment of that she did, which disarmed the would-be critics. Unlike the hapless Mary Lincoln, Julia Tyler’s sometimes bumbling attempts at treading the political waters caused little comment. Her nepotism, however, was another matter. Her "royalty touches" were ill-advised, but not motivated by malice or a real sense of snobbery. Young was her failing, but her attempts to add to the dignity of the office were more lasting. Especially notable was her introduction of use of "Hail to the Chief" to signal the entrance of the President. Her later years were filled with ups and downs, but her loyalty to John Tyler and all he stood for, never faltered or wavered.

http://www.firstladies.org/index.htm

Fun

Speeltje

Eindelijk is het zover, heb ik de knoop doorgehakt. Mijn vijf jaar oude laptop pakt de netstroom niet meer. Reparatie zou 300,- of meer kosten, omdat het moederbord losgemaakt zou moeten worden. Provisorisch wist ik het plugje altijd zo te manoeuvreren dat hij het toch deed, waarmee ik de beslissing tien maanden wist te rekken.

Vraag alleen: waar ga ik een nieuwe laptop kopen. Bij een "take-away zonder uitleg winkel" of bij een kleine specialist. Ik ben voor de laatste optie gegaan en heb daar - tot nu toe - geen spijt van.

Uit den treure kregen wij uitleg, een uur lang. Niets was te veel. Laptops werden uit de verpakking gehaald en gedemonstreerd. Perfect!

Wat een rust, klantvriendelijkheid en geduld. DIMENSION - Goudsesingel 93

Tecra S5-15Q 15" notebook
Intel Core2 Duo T5670 1.8GHZ
2GB DDR2 667MHz
120GB HDD
15.4" TFT (non glossy)
NVIDIA Quadro NVS 130M 256MB
Wireless A/B/G/N
Bluetooth
DVDRW
MS Vista Business & Win XP Pr

Ja, ja het is me wat. Inmiddels heb ik alles geïnstalleerd en overgezet.

Dit is mijn eerste vertelseltje op mijn nieuwe laptop.

Dat er nog maar velen mogen volgen.

Asian Glories

doet haar naam eer aan.

Dit buitengewoon goede Chinese restaurant straalt professionaliteit en gastvrijheid uit. Strak opgemaakte tafels met gesteven, grote witte servetten duiden erop dat dit geen standaard "Chinees" is.

Yenny Fan Loh, directeur-eigenaar van Asian Glories en Dim Daily te Rotterdam, Dim Daily te Den Haag en Aziana te Zoetermeer is de perfekte gastvrouw.
De Kantonese keuken, met een eigentijdse presentatie en variatie, vormt het uitgangspunt van haar bedrijfsvoering.

Je kunt blind varen op haar advies en dat raad ik iedereen aan, die verdwaald raakt in het menuboek.

Haar flexibiliteit, vriendelijkheid, kennis en humor doen je meteen thuis voelen in dit pretentieloze klasse-restaurant.

Wij hadden een gast aan tafel die allesbehalve makkelijk was. Hij luste niets. Yenny stelde onze vriend op zijn gemak, nam er de tijd voor en kookte een heerlijke maaltijd voor hem.

Minpuntje?

Oké een kleintje dan.

Een schoon, nieuw menuboek zou geen overbodige luxe zijn en warme borden is natuurlijk een must!

Asian Glories is op woensdag gesloten.

Leeuwenstraat 15 - 3011 AL Rotterdam - Tel.: 010 4117107

Reserveren is zeker noodzakelijk.

PON & TON

*************************
Eerst medianieuws van eigen bodem.
De Belgische uitgever De Persgroep neemt AD Nieuwsmedia over. In Nederland is o.a. Het Parool eigendom van De Persgroep.
Het huidige AD vind ik een waardeloze krant. Zo erg zelfs dat wij het abonnement opgezegd hebben. Mocht het AD eenzelfde koers gaan varen als Het (Amsterdamse) Parool, dan krijgen we misschien weer een echte Rotterdamse krant.

Als het aan de aanvoerder van Leefbaar Rotterdam - Ronald Sörensen - ligt komt er een Populistische (lees rechtse) Omroep.
In die zin ligt alles besloten.

Sörensen is geen domme man, al komt zijn openhartigheid soms wat simpel over.
De trouwe volgeling van Pim Fortuyn houdt de herinnering aan de grondlegger van het huidige "rechts" met man en macht in leven.

Een zender voor de "rechtsdenkende".
Hmm.

Rita Verdonk zie ik om de haverklap aanschuiven waar maar een plekje vrij is.
Als er een wind dwars zit komt ze dat vertellen. Als ze een wind gaat laten komt ze dat vertellen. En als de wind haar TON heeft verlaten, komt ze dat ook vertellen.
Het maakt Rita niet uit waar of bij wie ze dat doet. En de programmamakers zijn niet vies van Rita's winden.

Geert Wilders heeft - wat aandacht betreft - ook niet te klagen.
Iedereen wil hem! Maar hij wil bij niemand!
Dat is handig van de gebleekte LPF'er. Want wat men niet kan krijgen, moet en zal men hebben.

Sörensen vindt het Nederlandse omroepbestel op voorhand links.
Prima. Dat mag hij vinden.
Hij heeft 50.000 steunbetuigingen nodig. Afgaande op de prognoses voor TON en de PVV, mag niets PON is de weg staan.

Het Gesprek (te vaak besproken op deze site) zit al maanden in de herhaling. Het is nooit wat geworden met de praatzender.
Bij Het Gesprek zaten wel wat presentatoren die zichzelf rechts noemden. Nu ben ik benieuwd wie er echt met de billen bloot durven.

Naar ik heb vernomen heeft aartsconservatief Bart-Jan Spruijt zich bij Sörensen gemeld.
Dat is één......................................
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Het Breekijzer Storms durft - nu hij getrouwd is met de vrouw van 262 miljoen - een claim van 2,5 miljoen bij het driemanschap min één van Het Gesprek te leggen. Min één slaat op Derk Sauer, die in Moskou op immuniteit kan bogen.

Kijk, als Pieter verliest dan betaalt Nina de kosten tegen een natuurlijke compensatie (stel ik mij zo voor).
Als Pieter wint, dan kan hij eindelijk eens op eigen kosten een halfje bruin kopen.

Want zoals gefortuneerden als Sauer (kunnen) zeggen: "ik ben zo gewoon gebleven".

Dromen

Wanneer je ziek bent en ligt te (kw)ijlen van de koorts, droom je ook veel. Vooral in die hazenslaapjes.

Het waren prettige dromen, die wat mij betreft veel langer hadden mogen duren.

Ik werd wakker vanwege mijn droog gesnurkte keel, dronk wat water en probeerde weer in mijn droom te stappen.

Oftewel onder de douche.

Want ik stond onder de douche met mijn echtgenoot en Kevin Spacey. Ik vind Kevin Spacey een geweldig acteur, maar ik ben nou niet bepaald idolaat van hem.

Toch was het douchen met beide heren bepaald niet onprettig.

En vanmorgen zat ik in de camper van en met een "Dobbelsteenachtig" echtpaar. Ze hadden me uit mijn ziekbed getild en in hun camper gezet. We zouden naar Zuid-Spanje rijden. Daar kon ik dan lekker opknappen.

Mevrouw had een glimmend joggingpak aan en schonk zoete, slappe, witte koffie uit een thermoskan. Ik moest op het dashboard zitten. Uit de cassetterecorder klonk de trompet van James Last.

******

Weliswaar ziet het nog groen en geel voor mijn ogen, toch ben ik aan de beterende hand.

Het schijnt trouwens nogal te heersen. De voorstelling van "les Misérables" werd gisteren geannuleerd. Tien man, waaronder ook hoofdrolspelers, zijn geveld door de griep. Twee leden van het ensemble hebben hun vakantie onderbroken en zijn terug gevlogen.

******

Goed nieuws kwam gisteren uit de mond van Wouter Bos - die volgens mij ook op water kan lopen.

Gerrit Zalm wordt de nieuwe topman van de AAB-Fortiscombinatie.

***

Ik heb er alle vertrouwen in dat hij deze zware taak goed zal volbrengen.

ABNAmro'ers zijn fusies gewend.

Toen Amro en ABN samengingen was men ook bang dat de culturen zouden botsen. Het was even door de zure appel doorbijten. Nog steeds betrap ik ons erop: "wat is hij/zij van geboorte?"

***

Maar beide partijen zagen in dat het om DE Bank ging.

Daarna zijn er nog behoorlijk zware verbouwingen geweest waar de (onwetende) klant niet of nauwelijks iets van heeft gemerkt, maar wat behoorlijk veel van de stressbestendigheid en flexibiliteit van de AAB'ers heeft gevergd.

***

Daarom heb ik er, wat de AAB'ers betreft, goede hoop op. Wie het laatst lacht...................

Jazeker, maar nu zijn we uitgelachen en moet deze bankcombinatie weer de sterkste en grootste van het land worden.

******

Het was een nachtmerrie, maar werd een "dream come true."

38.5

Zielig.

Daar is ie weer: de lappenmand. Een snotterig virus heeft me te pakken gekregen. De onverlaat die me heeft aangestoken................................

U kent dat misschien wel. Geen koorts, wel verhoging. 37.7 - een temperatuur dat je eigenlijk wel naar bed wil, maar het niet toelaat.

Oh, wat ben ik zielig.

P. slaapt in de logeerkamer. Voor hem is zo'n virus veel kwaadaardiger dan voor "gezonde" mensen.

Ik hoor hem door vier muren heen snurken. Hij wel.

Ik kan niet ademhalen. Alles zit verstopt.

Mijn kussen is nat van kwijl en het water dat spontaan uit mijn neus loopt. De tap werkt niet eens meer.

Oh, wat ben ik zielig.

Zojuist deed ik toch nog boodschappen bij de supermarkt. Ik besproeide ongewild en per ongeluk de groenteafdeling van Appie.

Na het eten, dat vanavond veel vroeger zal plaatsvinden, duik ik direct onder de wol met uitgeperste sinasappels en vla. Dan ga ik naar "A few good Men" kijken. Voor de tigste keer, maar dat maakt niet uit.

Mocht Vertelsels een paar dagen stil liggen, dan weet u dat ik hetzelfde doe.

Oh, wat ben ik zielig.

Het lijf doet pijn,

is oververhit

Het lijf is uitgeblust

Het lijf zegt nee,

ik wil niet meer

Geef mij vandaag maar rust.