LOVE A PUP !

 

HAVING A MERRY DOGGY CHRISTMAS : IT'S NATIONAL MUTT DAY!

It's Holiday Season, the end of another year, and what I want to do is relax. And when I think of relaxation, I think of my dog. 

She is no longer with us, but my every day with her was a better day because of her. 

I remember a day that was so intense, I had a splitting headache.  

I started thinking about her as I sat in traffic. How I had to get home to feed her - How she would be there to greet me - The way she played - Her pretty face - How much I loved her -; The headache evaporated, just went right away, along with my bad mood.

Not everyone can own a dog. If you rent it can be difficult to find a dog-friendly apartment. But I want to suggest to you that if you do love dogs, you volunteer to foster one, and see how that goes. Many cities now offer fostering programs or adoption without having to put the animal in a shelter, as shelters can be traumatizing. You can save a dog's life by giving it some time away from the shelter.  

And, well, having a dog is beyond loving it and caring for it and it doing the same for you. There's responsibilities and money involved. It needs medical care, good food and treats, baths and grooming, but there is also lots of reward. Having a dog, having to walk it, is excellent for your health. Having a dog can open conversations with others. You can meet people, other dog lovers. 

But ah, I'm suggesting that when you adopt a dog and do this for yourself and the dog. It's OK to ask someone else to get one for you, but please don't surprise anyone by gifting them a pet without their approval!

Consider what your priorities are. Some dogs are for protection. Some dogs are officially service or companion animals. Some dogs will mainly sleep on your lap. One of my friends says her dog picks her boyfriends.

This month we're going to have ourselves a merry doggy Christmas and explore some options for you!  And we start with NATIONAL MUTT DAY!

NATIONAL MUTT DAY IS TODAY!

Woof! Woof!

Missy  

PS: I have carefully chosen to link to organizations that I believe in! 

THE DIVINE SARAH BERNHARDT FILM TRAILOR AKA LA DIVINE

IMBD : THE DIVINE SARAH BERNHARDT FILM

I note that there's been some commentary that this film, staring Sandrine Kiberlain, isn't exactly accurate in its portrayal, but then again, most "biographical" films do have their particular viewpoint and there are limits in what can be focused upon in the limited time of one. This French film is said to focus on the world famous stage actress at the height of her fame.

WOMEN WITH GRAPES AND FRUIT

By Alphonse Mucha

An image of plenty, a bodacious women, bountiful fruit and grapes...

GIVE THANKS

SARAH BERNHARDT -1917 - MOTHERS OF FRANCE - MERES FRANCAISES : FILM SUPPORTING FRANCE IN WORLD WAR I

Born in 1844, by 1917 Sarah Bernhardt was in her sixties... She was a stage actress who made it into silent films and some consider her to be the best actress of all time. I can't make that judgement but I see Sarah as someone whose notoriety propelled her to fame also. 

She had a leg amputated but insisted on being carried to the front lines!

SARAH BERNHARDT'S MEMOIR : MY DOUBLE LIFE : ON PROJECT GUTENBERG

GUTENBERG ORG : SARAH BERNHARDT : MY DOUBLE LIFE 

Ma Double Vie (My Double Life) was published in 1907.  However, scholars don't think it's the most accurate account of Sarah Bernhardt's life. Still, I always think it's important to consider what a person has to say about themselves because who knows a person better?

I think it's interesting the way the book is described in Project Gutenberg: "The book chronicles the extraordinary life and career of the renowned French actress, emphasizing her personal experiences, challenges, and the pivotal moments that shaped her into a theatrical legend. The memoir touches upon themes of childhood, resilience, and the performing arts, offering readers an intimate look at the woman behind the iconic performances. The opening of the memoir introduces Bernhardt's tumultuous early years, revealing the absence of parental care as her mother frequently traveled and left her in the care of a nurse. Bernhardt reflects on her childhood experiences in Brittany, her relationships with her family, and a serious incident during her infancy that required her mother’s hurried return. The narrative sets the tone for Bernhardt's later struggles and triumphs, detailing her feelings of abandonment and the longing for familial affection. As the opening progresses, it hints at her eventual journey towards becoming a prominent actress, interspersing her childhood memories with vivid descriptions of her environment and the care she received from her nurse."

SARAH BORE HER SON MAURICE AND NO DOUBT BECAME A COURTESAN FOR A WHILE

There were so many stories of Sarah's son's fatherhood, some from her, that overall, there is no way to know. Prince Henry de Ligne is said to be the love of her life. But it would be like a courtesan to claim a royal or aristocratic man as the father of her child. It would be like a royal or aristocratic man to be the patron of a courtesan. Or did she spin a story or have a fantasy?

Did she tell him right away? Did he find her? Did his rejection create such turmoil that she became a patient in a psychiatric hospital?  Apparently Sarah had a difficult birth of Maurice.

Page 43 Excerpt: Even so, her amorous life was proceeding far more successfully than her professional life. Beginning in April 1864 when she abandoned the Gymnase, she had no work in the theater for more than two years, expect for a short run as a replacement in a kind of fairy spectacle called La Biche au bois. So far she had made no impression at all as an actress. What was she doing?

 According to author Robert Gottlieb, having Maurice changed Sarah because she became determined she would support her son. (Page 43) "Every aim of her existence was to provide for him while he was young the shield of respectability she herself had never known." When she appealed to Prince de Lingne for support of Maurice, down to her last dollars, "The prince's reply was brutality itself: "I know a woman named Bernhardt, he wrote, 'but I do not know her child."

Excerpt: "This period of her life has been fudged over by her first biographers, starting with herself, but it's now clear that she was living by her wits -- and her body. Not of course, as a common prostitute of kept woman, but in an unique situation that she fashioned through her sexuality, her charm, and her common sense. In the white-satin salon of her new apartment in the rue Duphot she managed to establish a kind of court, made up of a group of distinguished men who were seemingly content to pay joint homage (and a fairly allocated tariff) to her while sharing her favors openly and with equanimity. "What's odd," she told Colombier -- if you can believe Colombier, and in this case I do --- "is how well they get along together.  They never quarrel and they seem to adore one another. I sometimes think that if I were to disappear, my menagerie would go on congregating in my apartment with the greatest of pleasure."  Apparently, among their joint ventures was chipping in to buy Saran the elaborate coffin she had always wanted, and which famously accompanied her thereafter wherever she went.

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CONTEMPLATION

By Alphonse Mucha