On Saving LSU Press

Bertram Wyatt-Brown is an acclaimed historian of 19th-century America, professor of history emeritus, University of Florida, and visiting scholar, Johns Hopkins University. He writes below on the value of LSU Press, now facing the possibility of major cuts, and describes the press's historic significance and its vitality up to the present.


On Saving LSU Press
Bertram Wyatt-Brown

With many other academicians in this country, particularly those in the South, I am most distressed that the LSU community is encountering fiscal difficulties that may lead to a diminution or even an abolition of the great publishing institution on LSU’s campus. I am particularly indebted to the splendid capabilities of the LSU Press under the leadership of the late director Les Phillabaum and more recently Mary Katherine Calloway and her editor, John Easterly. For over a decade and a half I was editor of the Southern Biography Series (which was launched in the 1930s), having retired from the position in November 2008. In the course of that period, we produced over 35 volumes, none of which received unfavorable reviews, some of which won literary prizes, and all of which received acclaim in the marketplace.

Authors with subjects in a variety of fields were attracted to our series because of the high quality of the press's operations. The lives of Chief Justice John Marshall and Daniel Boone, for instance, have won widespread praise and high sales. We covered distinguished figures, both male and female, white and black, and a variety of fields-journalists, Civil War and Confederate military and political leaders, attorneys, judges, reformers, physicians, governors, and clergymen—from colonial times to the recent past. The field of southern history would have been sorely diminished if these works had not been published in our series. We have just published Thomas Settles’s John Bankhead Magruder: A Military Reappraisal. I might also mention that the Walter Lynwood Fleming Lectures, which the University sponsors, has produced a valuable set of works. They have included such notable authors as C. Vann Woodward, David Donald, John Hope Franklin, T. Harry Williams, James M. McPherson, William E. Leuchtenburg, Drew Faust, now President of Harvard University, and many others, including myself. Some of the Fleming lecturers have won Pulitzer Prizes in history.

The Southern Biography series is only one of several highly successful aspects of the LSU Press's contribution to scholarship and sound learning. Literature and poetry are also well represented. In the areas of literature and history, fields I know best, the press holds an enviable position in the realm of academic publishing. It published Confederacy of Dunces in 1980. It won the Pulitzer for literature in 1981. The press’s reputation extends far beyond the confines of the South and has an international standing. It is not a regional or local enterprise by any means. At the same time, it should be noted that the press does offer considerable notice of the Gulf region as well as the history and literary achievements of Louisianans. Only the University of North Carolina Press and the University of Georgia Press, in my opinion, matches it in quality and significance in the field of southern studies. As it is, the press manages its funds with great care; there are no frills in its operations, and many on the staff work very hard for relatively modest financial reward. The press team is thoroughly dedicated to top-notch publishing. In addition, we in history and other parts of the humanities, have to have strong academic presses to support the publications of young, first-book authors in our faculties as they seek to rise in the profession. The LSU Press is particularly adept at attracting such promising scholars to publish under the guidance of the professional staff in Baton Rouge.

For the state of Louisiana to amputate or even obliterate the LSU Press would be most tragic and most shortsighted. Better times will come in due course, but to revive a dormant or vanished operation of this kind would be disastrous. It would take many years to regain what would be lost.

Richardson's Rules of Order, Part IV: How to Read for a College History Course

In an essay on "Success" Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote: "'Tis the good reader that makes the good book; a good head cannot read amiss: in every book he finds passages which seem confidences or asides hidden from all else and unmistakeably meant for his ear." Careful reading is difficult to master. Undergrads in history find it tough to get that kernel of truth buried deep in a document. Others search long and hard for the thesis in a haystack with little luck.

In this installment of Richardson's Rules of Order, Heather Cox Richardson gives advice to college students on close reading. She poses some crucial questions students should consider when they make their way through that microfilmed newspaper article, court record, diary entry, novel, census record, television program, or monograph.


How to Read for a College History Course
Heather Cox Richardson

There are two types of sources in history: primary sources and secondary sources. They should be approached very differently.

Primary sources are things produced at the time. Letters, photographs, census records, songs, movies, advertisements, newspapers, TV shows, paintings, emails, and books are all examples of primary sources. Primary sources tell historians about the world at a certain time, and how people who lived then saw their world.

When you read a primary source, you need to read every word very carefully. You want to figure out who produced the source, and for whom it was written. A letter from a Confederate prisoner of war to his elderly father describing the black Union soldiers who had captured him would be very different than the memo from the black soldiers’ captain commending their actions, and neither would exactly reflect what had happened. (Think about it—a letter to your grandmother describing a day of college life would be a very different thing than a letter to your best friend describing the exact same day and, again, neither would be one hundred percent accurate).

Why was the document—or film, or canvas—produced? When James McLaughlin wrote his book My Friend the Indian (1910) was he trying to excuse his role in the murder of Sitting Bull? When Frank Triplett wrote The Life, Times, and Treacherous Death of Jesse James (1882) was he attacking the Republican government that controlled Missouri and the rest of the nation in the 1880s? The answer to both of these questions is yes, and as a result both authors strongly slanted their telling of events. No one produces anything without a bias, so you need to know the author’s agenda when s/he produced the source, to give you some sense of what can and can’t be learned from the document. McLaughlin is fairly reliable about mid-nineteenth-century Lakota treaties, while Triplett is reliable only for giving us an excellent picture of how ex-Confederates perceived the postwar Republican government.

When and where was the primary source written? A Southern version of Reconstruction written in 1868 would be dramatically different than one written in 1890, just as a letter to a friend about an exciting new job would be very different after five years of overwork, underpay, and an eventual sacking during a downsizing, even though both letters were about the same job and were written only five years apart.

Finally, a question most students have trouble answering: What does the source say? What can we learn from it about the time in which it was written? This will be much easier to decipher once you know the “who, when, where, and why.” Think, for example, of Jimi Hendrix’s famous version of the Star Spangled Banner performed at Woodstock in 1969.

Without any context except a knowledge of rock and roll history, his version has meaning for guitar fans, but someone who had never heard of Hendrix, or the song, or the era would probably dismiss the piece altogether as “a bunch of utter garbage,” as a student once called it when we listened to it in class. With a knowledge of the history of the song as the nation’s anthem, Hendrix’s position as America’s premier guitarist at a time when African Americans and Native Americans were demanding rights in the nation, the context of the Vietnam War, and both domestic and international challenges to America’s stratified society, and the story of Woodstock, it becomes a vital piece of America’s history.

Secondary sources are things written after the period, which analyze primary sources to make an argument about how we should interpret the events of the past. In history courses, secondary sources will usually be books or articles, but they can also be documentaries or websites.

You read a secondary source very differently than you do a primary source. Your goal in reading a secondary source is to discover the author’s argument, and to see what evidence s/he marshals to support that thesis. Once you have a handle on the argument and its evidence, you need to analyze whether or not you buy the argument, and why you’ve taken your position.

To read a secondary source, begin with the introduction, even if the professor has not assigned it and has asked you to read only a chapter or two of the book. Historians tend to say what they’re going to say, then to say it, then to say what they’ve said. Introductions almost always lay out the argument of the book. Once you’ve read the introduction, skip to the conclusion, looking again for the argument of the book. In the conclusion, an author usually summarizes the book’s thesis. Stay in the introduction and conclusion until you are certain of the book’s argument.

Once you know what an author is up to, read the body of the book. The most efficient way to do that is to read the introduction and conclusion of each chapter, to see how the argument progresses, and then to go back to the beginning of the book and move through it, reading the topic sentence of each paragraph. By now you should have a very clear idea of how the book works and how the argument develops. You can now go back and read the book to see how the author uses evidence to support his or her points. Check footnotes sometimes, especially if something seems forced. Is the source a solid one, or does it seem insufficient to support the point it makes?

This is a different way of reading than you are accustomed to, and it will seem awkward at first. It’s worth developing the skill to do it this way, though. This is by far the most efficient way to read secondary sources in history (and many other subjects), and will give you the best command of the material in the shortest time. Remember, what matters is not how many hours you spend reading, but whether or not you actually understand what you read. A student once told me proudly that he had taken all day Saturday and Sunday to read every single word of a book I had assigned although he didn’t understand any of it. Personally, I can’t think of a more thorough waste of a weekend. Please recognize—as he didn’t—that simply passing your eyes over the letters on a page is not a good use of your time.

Once you have command of the book, think about it. Do you agree with it? Did the author make his or her point by using factual evidence that supported the conclusion? If not, what seemed wrong? Did s/he make a sweeping argument about nineteenth-century American society and use evidence only from a few decades? Did s/he put into footnotes critical information that contradicted the argument in the text? Does the argument seem radically different than prevailing thought? Does it appear forced, without adequate and believable sources? Does it seem to make assumptions about the past in order to fit a specific theory? Or does the book seem to make a solid argument about the past that illuminates the way society works? Do you agree with the argument? Does it change the way you think about things?

Thinking about a book doesn’t have to take place at a desk. It’s a good way to take up time when you’re walking somewhere, or doing repetitive exercise, or even going on long drives. Make thinking about your studies part of your life. This, too, will be a habit that takes some effort to acquire, but will stand you in very good stead in the future, when you’ll have work issues that require more thought than you can give them during work hours.

See previous posts for more Richardson's Rules of Order.

The 5-10 Minute Rule

No matter how beautifully we decorate our homes, if they're messy & disorganized, we can't appreciate or even see the beauty. However, I think of "messes" as reality, at least in my life. I have a toddler and a job, and hence, my house is almost always a mess. BUT in general, I'm okay with this mess, because it can be disposed of in 5 to 10 minutes, tops.

So, I'll never pretend that I can have a "messless" life-- for me it's just not possible-- but I can have "organized messes." I consider an "organized mess"as a mess that's allowed for a time. It's a manageable mess & the most important thing about it is that it MUST BE ABLE TO BE CLEANED UP IN 5-10 MINUTES! That's the rule. It's easy to get rid of because an organized mess has a place where it belongs: baskets, bins, drawers, cabinets, shelves, etc... a SPECIFIC HOME. (This is the key to putting it away quickly, because you're not shoving the mess anywhere, you're putting it back where it belongs.)

I wanted to share with you some of my favorite tools/ organizational pieces used to handle messes and "stuff." Below is a picture of what I consider an "organized mess." The pillows on the sofa are all messed up, toys are everywhere & there are a few magazines/ books laying around. But it would take only 5-10 minutes MAX to get this messed cleaned up. And I'm so okay with it.

In our living room, we have a shelf with baskets full of Christian's toys. (Now I know some might think it sacriligous to keep toys in fairly plain sight in the living room, but it's the way we want to live... we all want to be able to hang in the same room, so I figure for a few years while we have little ones I can give up a half-wall in the living room ;)

Anyway, toys are all over the floor half the time but when we need to get them cleaned up, it takes 5 minutes to put them all away neatly in the baskets. (The key is keeping them in not-too-full baskets because there's always room, even when throwing the toys in carelessly and the little guy can help too. )

This hutch (below) in the family room (pic is from old house) fits tons off storage for toys and also photo albums & other random things. It makes clean-up so easy and totally hides all evidence if kiddies!!

I never regret spending on organizational items like baskets & storage bins. I'm often reluctant to buy them because I would rather spend the money on something pretty, but they're worth their weight in gold.

I LOVe these huge baskets from ikea. It's where I stick all the pages I've ripped out of magazines before they go into my Style Files:

For my office, these hanging file bins are awesome & when there's a mess all over my desk I can easily & quickly (less than 5 mins!!) stow it all away with these suckers:

So, my goal is to have every room in the house obeying the "5-10 Minute Rule." (and right now I'm SO far from that!! It seems as soon as we got our old house in perfect order, we moved!! I'm NOT doing that again!! ) Here's a quick punch-list for our new house:

1) Our closet --> it's a HUGE 4-6 HOUR MESS right now!! We need to install more bars & storage and get things put away nicely. Below is how we've been living: (ahhhh I can't believe I'm showing you this!!) It's tough to feel organized when your closet looks like this:

2) Little guy's bedroom-> Since I stole the toy shelf from his room, he doesn't have anywhere for the toys in his room and unfortunately the furniture form our old house doesn't fit right in his bedroom, which is driving me crazy!!!!

3) The kitchen-> I have more shelves to go up with baskets for extra storage but I'm waiting on the wallpaper install before I can get to this:

4) The entryway-> To put it simply, it doesn't work right now. We need to add some storage & decorate it asap!! It's so drab & unfunctional right now!! (haha check out my dead hydrangeas in the little vase & the dog chow- now THAT'S styling!!! ;)

There just doesn't seem to be enough time in the day!!! but i know everntually we'll get there... (don't worry, i'll take pics! ;)

Now, what to do with all that stuff that doesn't have a place? Arrggg like the strange piece of mail you don't know where to put (you need to handle it sometime soon, but not soon enough to warrant immediate attention) or those stupid screws that keep showing up everywhere (with all of these projects going on right now!!!) or the returns you need to make at the store or your pile of giveaways?


Take stock of the all items that keep popping up and start creating places for them. They're not going to go away and isn't it annoying to have them keep popping up? If you create a place for them to go, clean up is so much quicker!! Different times & stages in your life will call for different random clutter-busters. Wintertime items vs. beach towels & sunblock or screws and tools all over the place when you're in the middle of renovating. Whatever it is, realize the type of clutter you have as quickly as possible and find a place for it. The solutions should be easy & obey the 5-10 Minute Rule. (Sometimes this means not organizing down to the last minute detail because clean-up could be really time consuming!!)

I'm on my way to follow my own advice now... So, how are the rooms in your house? Do they meet the 5-10 Minute Rule? Any rooms on your "To-do" list? would love to know!!

xoxo,

lauren

Upcoming Classes

Clay Daisy & Ladybug Painted Rosebuds Wisteria

Photo Box

Check out Everything LEB

Hi! Good news: THIS NEW COMPUTER WORKS YAY!!! So I'm really, truly back!!

Check out Lindsay's blog Everything LEB here to read my about my favorites in her new series, "Blogger's Favorite Everything!" I was so excited when Lindsay asked me to do this & it was a ton of fun!! Thanks Lindsay!!! Also, you'll love Linsday's etsy shop, here. The pineapple cards below are just a tiny sampling of what she does!!

I'll be back tomorrow with a post on messes!

xoxo,

lauren

The New History of Toleration

Chris Beneke

The latest issue of the William and Mary Quarterly includes a forum on Stuart Schwartz’s groundbreaking All Can Be Saved: Religious Tolerance and Salvation in the Iberian Atlantic World (2008), which argues that a surprisingly large proportion of ordinary people within the early modern Spanish and Portuguese empires maintained that salvation was available to a wide range of believers. Drawing on his extensive archival work on both sides of the Atlantic, Schwartz contends that these two Catholic regimes, famous for their religious exclusivity, actually harbored a substantial number of religious relativists. Schwartz’s book is distinctive in another way: its subject, he notes, “is not the history of religious toleration, by which is usually meant state or community policy, but rather of tolerance, by which I mean attitudes or sentiments.” (6)

The WMQ comments are generally positive. Lu Ann Homza does find fault with Schwartz’s heavy reliance on statements drawn from inquisitorial tribunals and suggests that when “Schwartz found over and over again the phrase that ‘each could be saved in his own law,’ we must ask whether Inquisition notaries were fitting defense testimony into rhetorical formulas.” David D. Hall sets Schwarz’s book within the new, non-linear and anti-triumphalist historiography of toleration in early modern Europe, specifically Alexandra Walsham’s Charitable Hatred: Tolerance and Intolerance in England, 1500-1700 and Benjamin J. Kaplan’s Divided by Faith: Religious Conflict and the Practice of Toleration in Early Modern Europe. Hall suggests that Schwartz’s universalist-minded subjects might be evidence of “the persistence of tensions within any strong cultural system.” Marcy Norton expresses her wish that Schwartz had given more weight to the impact of religious and ethnic diversity in prompting tolerant attitudes. And Andrew R. Murphy argues that we need to devote more attention to the “borderland between attitudes and political practices” than Schwartz does in All Can Be Saved.

As engaging as it is for specialists, this WMQ forum might seem a bit esoteric to the un-initiated. Fortunately, Murphy summarizes recent historiographical developments in his conclusion. The new literature on toleration in the early modern (Anglo-American) world, he writes, is characterized by four “corollaries”:

* Intolerance was—theoretically, conceptually, and theologically speaking—as robust as tolerance.

* Elites often had “good,” or at least comprehensible, reasons for persecuting religious dissenters.

* Toleration often resulted from the intentional plans of tolerationist elites but as an unintended consequence of actions growing out of complex motivations (economic, political, strategic).

* Toleration, when it happened, was due as much to exclusionary impulses and intolerance (separatism, anti-Catholicism) as to humanistic and skeptical ideals.

The WMQ forum on All Be Saved falls on the heels of a fascinating September 2008 conference organized by Evan Haefeli, Brendan McConville, and Owen Stanwood on “Anti-popery” in the Protestant Atlantic world from 1530 to 1850, which also offered a generally non-triumphalist and socially grounded take on the extent of early modern toleration across the Atlantic world.

Beneke's essay, "America’s Whiggish Religious Revolution: An Instance in the Progress of History," will appear in the June 2009 issue of Historically Speaking.

What happens When you Try to Bake a Cake and Build Fence at the Same Time

Well, my new computer's not working & it won't let me get online so that's why I've been so MIA. We're going to return the computer & try for a new one tomorrow.

In the meantime, I wanted to share with you some pics from Better Homes & Gardens (they really are getting to be great, aren't they?!!!) The image above shows a lot of what I'm craving: pattern. And I'm usually not into it on drapes, but I have to say this is just the look I'm going for in a client's home right now (existing completely-solid furniture staying) and am considering for our bedroom. Below is the living room and I'm loving the vintage map! Again, I'm loving the energy & freshness in this space... in particular the little blue stool with the yelllow-patterned chair.

Below is another room in the same house, and how fun are the drapes?

Here's a beautiful shot, below. I love all the energy & how time-gathered the space feels.

The homeowner used vintage scarves as curtain tie-backs. What a fun idea!! (And would also be a great way to add seasonal changes in a neutral room!)

Below, I love displaying flowers like this at home. It's so easy & interesting.

Below is some vintage jewelry of the homeowner's. Displaying jewelry is another thing I love to do. (Half the time I forget to even put it on so why not have it make the room look good?!! ;)

Below is from a different house (also BHG) and I really love how the owners displayed these paint-by-numbers ship paintings. Alone, they're kitsch, but grouped together like this, they make a big (beautiful!!) impact.

And one last final image of something that's on my mind: blue!! I LOVE this group of vintage blue glassware (below) and how gorgeous it looks against the blue in the vintage map of Cape Cod. I'll be using this color in our bedroom & I can't wait to share my plans/ pics with you!!

So, wish me luck that the new computer is able to get online!!! (I am techonology-cursed so I really need it!! ;) Also, thank you guys so much for all your sweet. supportive comments about the house!!

xoxo,

lauren

oh, and what happens when you try to bake a cake and build a fence at the same time?? you don't hear the timer from outside & you leave the cake in too long and when you try to get it out still hot from the pan to keep it from burning more, it breaks into pieces. And then you try to "glue" it back together with icing between the cracks and it's actually pretty good, but looks like crap!!! ;) ;)

xoxo

curry laksa

i cook curry laksa last nite for the family.... recipe given here is for 1 portion tho'.. it's my usual food development strategy... remember that not all ingredients can be mulitiplied....

good luck!


Curry laksa
Yellow noodle in spicy coconut gravy

Ingredients:
Ø 100 g yellow noodle
Ø 1 tablespoon oil
Ø 2 sprigs laksa leaves, thinly sliced
Ø 1 wild ginger bud , thinly sliced
Ø 300 ml water
Ø 100 ml coconut milk
Ø ¼ teaspoon sugar
Ø ½ teaspoon salt
Ø 40 g chicken breast, poached in water
and shredded
Ø 4 or 5 medium size prawns,
peeled, deveined and poached


Spice paste:
1 candle nut, roughly chopped
1 stalk lemongrass, sliced
½ cm galangal root
dash of turmeric root/powder
2 red chillies, deseeded and sliced
3 dried chillies, soak to soften
3 shallots, peeled and halved
¼ teaspoon belachan (shrimp paste)

Garnishes:
Ø cucumber, thinly sliced
Ø 1 egg, hard boiled and sliced
Ø 2 tablespoons bean sprouts, blanched
Ø red chillies, sliced
Ø spring onions, thinly sliced
Ø 2 or 3 calamansi lime, halved

Method:

v Grind spice paste in mortar or blender, adding little oil if necessary
v Heat oil in a saucepan over medium heat and gently stir fry the paste for 10 minutes, or until oil sips out. Add laksa leaves, ginger buds and water and bring to a boil
v Then add coconut milk and season with sugar and salt. Reduce heat and simmer very gently, uncovered, for about 4 minutes until oil separates from the milk
v Meanwhile, blanch the fresh noodles in boiling water for a few seconds to heat through.
v Scoop the noodles, chicken, prawns and bean sprouts into a noodle bowl and top the bowl with the remaining laksa leaves and ginger bud slices. Pour the coconut gravy over the noodles and garnish with cucumber, eggs, chillies and spring onions. Finally, squeeze in the calamansi lime into it

The History of Memorial Day and the National World War One Museum, Kansas City

Randall Stephens

As Americans cram their faces with hot dogs and swill cheap beer, many will also reflect on the heroic efforts of countless men and women who have served their country over the years. Parades, concerts, and ceremonies across Boston will turn our attention to those who fought and died for their country. The National memorial Day Concert in Washington, D.C., will draw a massive crowd of observers in the capitol and TV viewers.

According to the Library of Congress it all began in 1868 when:

Commander in Chief John A. Logan of the Grand Army of the Republic issued General Order Number 11 designating May 30 as a memorial day "for the purpose of strewing with flowers or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion, and whose bodies now lie in almost every city, village, and hamlet churchyard in the land."

The first national celebration of the holiday took place May 30, 1868, at Arlington National Cemetery, where both Confederate and Union soldiers were buried. Originally known as Decoration Day, at the turn of the century it was designated as Memorial Day. In many American towns, the day is celebrated with a parade.

One of my favorite history museums in the country, the National World War One Museum in Kansas City, will be open on Monday. A visit to it would make a perfect outing for the holiday. Open since 2006,

and designated by Congress as the nation’s official World War I Museum, the new state-of-the-art complex uses an incredible collection and highly-interactive technology to bring this global history to life, and to foster timely discussions of ethics, values, decision making and conflict resolution.

See also, Jeffrey S. Reznick, "Memorial Day, the Great War, and America’s Last Surviving World War I Veteran," History News Network, May 26, 2008; and Adam Cohen, "What the History of Memorial Day Teaches About Honoring the War Dead," New York Times, May 28, 2007.

Budget Deficits and Taxes

Today I'm writing my own personal statement about taxes. This isn't a student paper.

I'm concerned about the state's budget deficit. Some journalists (including Rich Miller) are reporting that Illinois has a $12 billion dollar deficit for the state budget in the upcoming fiscal year. Evidently there are some representatives in the Illinois General Assembly who aren't interested in solving this problem. Generally, such deficit problems can be solved by raising revenue (hard to do during a recession) and cutting spending (which tends to reduce stimulation of the economy, and is unpleasant to do in a recession). Budget cuts will most be unpopular, and raising additional revenue (raising taxes) will also be unpopular.

This got me to think about some other large states like Illinois and their budget problems. Here is a list of states, followed by their populations (estimated from summer of 2007), their likely state budget deficits in the upcoming fiscal year (taken from newspaper articles published in May of 2009 in the states reporting on state politics and budget problems), and an estimate of the total state budget deficit expressed as a per-capita estimate. Finally, I've included a taxation index, which is my estimate of the total property tax, sales tax, and income tax burden in the state experienced by median income households as a percent of the highest tax burden (California's, which is set to 100%).

California: 36.8 million residents, $21.3 billion deficit, $580 per person, and 100% tax burden.
Texas: 24.3 million residents, $0 deficit, $0 per person, and a 38% tax burden.
New York: 19.5 million residents, $6 billion deficit, $310 per person, and an 83% tax burden.
Florida: 18.3 million residents, $3.4 billion deficit, $186 per person, and a 27% tax burden.
Illinois: 12.9 million residents, $12 billion deficit, $930 per person, and a 61% tax burden.
Pennsylvania: 12.5 million residents, $3 billion deficit, $241 per person, and a 49% tax burden.
Ohio: 11.5 million residents, $3 billion deficit, $261 per person, and a 55% tax burden.
Michigan: 10 million residents, $1.7 billion deficit, $170 per person, and a 62% tax burden.
Georgia: 9.7 million residents, $800 million deficit, $83 per person, and a 62% tax burden.

A couple things grab my attention as I look at these nine largest states. First of all, Texas has a very small state tax burden, and it also has no deficit. So, I suppose Texas must spend far less per person than the other states on this list (although Florida has an even lower tax rate and might spend even less). Is Texas considerably worse in some ways than California and New York because of its low spending? That is, are hospitals, schools, police, roads, and state services far better in California and New York than they are in Texas and Florida? How do poor persons, the unemployed, the chronically mentally ill, and the disabled fare in New York and California compared to Texas and Florida? I'm interested in knowing how Texas keeps its budget balanced while its taxes are so low.

Secondly, I'm impressed that Illinois has the largest state budget deficit (expressed as a per-capita deficit) in the nation (comparing the large states). California is in the news because they have the largest deficit, nearly twice as big as the Illinois deficit, but California has nearly three times as many people as Illinois, so their deficit is actually smaller when expressed as a ratio to the number of people in the state.

Third, I'm interested in the variation in taxes. I calculated the tax burdens by estimating what a resident household would pay in state property taxes if they lived in a median value home, what they would pay in income taxes if they were a two-adult and two-children married-filing-jointly family earning $50,0000, and what they would pay in sales taxes if they spent 30% of the median state household income on things that were taxed at the state sales tax rate. Then, taking the sum of these raw dollar amounts, I converted them into percents of what the highest-taxed household (in California) would pay. I imagined that after combining sales taxes, income taxes, and property taxes, all the states would be close to each other, with "low-tax" states perhaps taxing about a third less than the "high-tax" states. But, it seems Florida taxes at about a quarter what California taxes people. I also thought my state (Illinois is where I live, although I'm a native Californian) would be a "high tax" state, but I see we only tax at about the same as Georgia and Michigan, which is more than a third less than California.

Looking at my raw dollars of household taxes estimated and the per-capita state budget deficit, I am able to calculate how many dollars more my median household would have to pay to cover the budget deficit. My calculations were that my median Illinois household of four persons would be paying about $5,400 in taxes. (My four-person household paid about $5,500 in such taxes last year, and we make about the median Illinois household income, but that's about $20,000 less than the median Illinois four-person family income, so perhaps my estimates are off and I'm underestimating tax burdens in Illinois, but the source of the difference could be that in my taxes I'm looking at both state and local taxes, and for this exercise I'm trying to just look at state taxes and ignore the extra couple percents of household income that might go to local government). If the median four-person household is paying $5,400 in taxes to the state, and our deficit is about $900 per person, that means you would need to raise taxes on that four-person household by about $3,700, up to $9,100 in total for the household, to cover the state's $12 billion deficit.

If Illinois did have tax rates that high we would be at 111% of the current Californian tax burden. But, I guess California needs to raise its taxes as well (by about $2,000, up from $8,600 per four-person median income household to $10,600 per four-person median income household.

Median incomes for four-person family households in California are about $71,000, so is it fair for families like that to pay a total of about $10,000 to $11,000 in their taxes to support all the California state government services? The median four-person family incomes in Illinois are about $73,000 (over $20,000 more than my household earns in a year). Is it appropriate for families in that situation to pay over $9,000 to the state for Illinois state services?

A common argument (and it's supported by some research) is that if taxes are too high, businesses and hard-working, intelligent people will move to states (or countries) with lower taxes. I suppose that if I had a choice between two states that provided about equal quality and quantity of government services, and one was asking me to pay a total of $11,000 per year in taxes (combined income, sales, property, etc.) and the other was letting me pay $6,000 per year, I would seriously consider moving to the lower-taxing state. But, if the state charging me $11,000 had much better schools and universities, lower crime, no homelessness, low unemployment, excellent roads, fine libraries, and fantastic parks, etc., while the low tax state was generally inferior in every type of government service, then I might be satisifed to pay the extra $5,000 per year to live in the state that gave me value for my tax dollars. If the difference was only $1,000 per year in taxes, I don't think I'd notice and I don't think the taxation difference would have any influence on my decision about where to live. After all I have roots in states where I have lived and worked, and I have preferences in climate, politics, geographical region, and culture that determine where I want to live with greater influence than considerations about taxation.

I suppose after all this consideration, I do hope Illinois increases its taxes, and I hope this covers our budget deficit. Governor Pat Quinn is suggesting a 50% increase in our income tax, from 3% of adjusted gross income remaining after deductions to 4.5% of the same income remainder after deductions. I know there might be a few dozens of millions of dollars the state could cut here and there, but we can't cut a billion dollars, let alone 12 billion dollars, from the state budget, and I'd be glad to pay 1.5% of my household income more than I do now to keep the state's roads, schools, mental health clinics, hospitals, parks, courts, jails, universities, and police & fire stations open and functioning well. I'm upset that representatives in the general assembly won't vote to increase our taxes and cover the budget deficit.

Summer Travels in Roman Western Europe

Randall Stephens

In time for the summer travel season Elaine Sciolino writes an interesting piece on "Roman France" in the NYT travel section.

Over the years, I have discovered traces of Roman civilization throughout the country, from Arras in the north to Dijon in the center and Fréjus in the south. My hunt for Roman Gaul has turned up treasures in the oddest places, including the middle of wheat fields, the foundations of churches and the basements of dusty provincial museums. . . .

If French history books tend to underplay ancient Roman rule, local politicians and entrepreneurs in the south do not. In the summer, area restaurants offer “Roman” menus with 2,000-year-old recipes: dishes prepared with cumin, coriander, mint and honey.

The article features a map with key sites marked out and a slide show. Related pieces include: "Traces from When Paris Was Roman" (May 17, 2009); and "Amid the Glory of France, the Grandeur that Was Rome" (May 17, 2009).

There's plenty to see across the channel, too. About a year ago Kevin Rushby wrote about a short trip he and his four-year-old daughter made to Hadrian's Wall and the Housteads fort, "England's Great Wall" Guardian, March 29, 2008. The serpentine wall is UN World Heritage site and a fascinating window into the distant past.

Built around AD124 in a commanding position on a swathe of the dramatic Whin Sill escarpment, Housesteads is one of the most important sites of Roman remains in Britain, in its day the last decent bath house before the great unwashed of Caledonia. . . .

Many interesting finds have come from the fort, even more from the settlement of hangers-on clustered below its walls. Two counterfeiting coin moulds from the 3rd century AD were discovered next to the remains of a house, the forger's den. Under his floor were two skeletons, one with a knife still stuck in the ribs.

What We've Been Up to

So I'm finally back!! I've missed everyone - both blog readers & writers- like crazy!!! We've been busy, of course. It's been 2 weeks since we moved into our new house. Here's what it looked like the first night:



The first thing we attacked was the kitchen. Below is a pic of my husband and one of his best friends pretending to help take apart the cabinetry ;)

Here I am taking off the screws that keep the front of the cabinets in place:

Christian was also really great in assisting Dave with the babyproofing of the lower cabinets:

Here's where we got the first Friday night after we moved in: (Oh yes, and that's definitely a dumped over bag of dog food on top of the fridge and my dog going crazy after all the food that spilled on the floor- that's when we knew it was quitting time!!! )

The next day, my (amazing) husband put up the beadboard and then painted it white.

We used $3 cheapie brackets from Home Depot, but I love the black against the white and am really happy with them:

Dave installed 12" painted shelves all the way accross the wall. (I can't thank him enough because he did all of this in the middle of the move!!!)

When I received Cowtan & Tout's sample of Botanique Spectaculaire I was in Heaven!! I had thought it was going to be in black and white and was surprised that the colors used happened to perfectly match all of the fabrics I'd chosen for the living room. No joke. And I already have tons of that Ralph Lauren greige I love so much ("Hopsack") which PERFECTLY matched the leaves in the wallpaper.

One of my best friends, Lindsey, and my cousin, Jen, came over on Sunday to help out (thank you!!!) and Lindsey and I painted the remaining lower cabinets while Jen watched the little guy. (I really gouged the lower cabinets with the belt sander because the I only had really heavy sandpaper and was too impatient/ lazy to go to the store to get a finer grade for the belt sander. Oh well! you can't really see it now-- I hope!) Below is Lindsey digging in to the painting:

And finally, here's how the kitchen looks now:

Still lots left undone but I'm much happier with where we're at:

I have to say that I LOVE open shelving more than I could've dreamed. It really is such simple, easy living. We use almost everything up there all the time and clean up is such a breeze. I don't dread putting away the dishes nearly as much!!

Below is my Grandma Maestranzi's colander and I love it up there right above the stove:

Here's my favorite white bowl my mom gave me. It was brand new a few years ago & has seriously aged with wear & tear !!!! love it.

I found the chandelier (below) on that NY flea market trip with Eddie Ross and was undecided about it when I left. I loved it but planned to put it in my dad's house & couldn't get a hold of him. Eddie was so sweet and picked it up for me a couple of weeks later & mailed it to us when I decided I wanted it. I'm still waiting on new wax drips/ covers but my husband rewired it & got it up and working & I couldn't be happier with it!! It was in an old hotel in NY that has since been torn down:

Here's a detail of the hammered finish:

Here's the breakfast area as it is now:

I picked up the vintage saarinen-style table on Ebay and love it!! I was really picky about the shape of the pedestal because I found that some of the immitations don't have pretty lines & others do. I really loved the lines on this piece & since there's no way we could afford a real one, we went for this one.Here's our little parrot who sits on the window sill. Christian loves him:

So, I ended up changing my mind about the wallpaper when the Studio Printworks Pineapple paper arrived:And here's why I've come to this conculsion. I LOVE both and will consider using the other somewhere else in the house BUT I'm in the mood for color. Bright color. And the Cowtan & Tout paper has color already, but very subdued color and it won't be as easy to inject fresh colors into all the time with accessories. Being in this all-white house you'd think I'd be in Heaven, but I've already moved onto the stage where I want to add color. And I guess since it's so bright & warm out I'm looking for bright!! I think the black & white will be a better backdrop for bright color. So, I'm going to paint over the greige on the cabinets and I'll be going for a fun color. It will take about an hour and I figure it's a cheap & easy color fix. I'm considering a kicky green, inspired by our parrot or maybe even a turquoise or aqua ... whatever we go with, I'll be aging so it doesn't look too new. Below is a pic of my fun little magnetic spice rack that I made from a cookie sheet: (yet to be hung!! :)

I saw the idea in Real Simple way back in college & have taken this baby with me to 3 homes since! We've also been really busy outside and a friend of mine is a landscape designer & she and her husband have been amazing!!! Below is a pic of him in the yard with my husband taking down a tree!!! He's been coming over and helping so much!!

The next order of business was the living room. At this point the white was driving me mad!!! But now that I think of it, it was more than the white, it was the overall sterillity of the place:

My mother-in-law and I made white linen drapes & my husband hung them with Christian's help:They softened the room incredibly!!! (I have no idea why this is underlined but oh well- computers are the worst and hopefully it'll go away!!) I didn't hem the vertical edges because I was impatient and wanted them hung & because I also wanted a raw look. I figured it I didn't like them I could go back later, but I love the look!!!

Here's what the living room looks like for now:

We're using all of our old furniture because the basement is a complete construction zone. (My father-in-law came to visit and worked so hard down there & I can't wait to show pics!!!) Eventually, a lot of these pieces will be going downstairs and we'll be bringing in newer things (like the reupholstered craigslist sofa!!) but for now, this is what we're working with. We went out to Lucketts this weekend to find a mantle and here's what we found:

It's raw oak from an 1800s house in Pennsylvania. Currently we have it nailed into the wall and when things calm down a bit I've got big plans for making this baby look a bit more realistic. That's my grandparents' old camel sadel in front of it for warming your hands in front if the fire ;) ;) Below is a close-up of my old man oil painting I scored at a thrift shop: (I really love him)

Below is a close-up of one of my favorite etched pitchers. It, too, has old men engraved all over it!! hahaha I think I may have a new living room theme?!! ;) ;)

My favorite thing about the house is all the light & windows. I still haven't hung much & have plans for the main wall...

Here's an area of the dining room where I just sort of stuck a bunch of things on a whim because I was mad for some color. I used my desk and a huge oil painting and some botanical prints:

I just stuck a bunch of accessories all over & didn't put much thought into any of them as most of our things are still in boxes but I was actually really happy with how my collection of things has finally seemed to just work together:

I found these pillows for $5 at a thrift shop a few years ago. Putting them on the sofa really made me happy because like I said before, I was CRAVING some color & energy:

Below is my pretty door knocker lady. She's been moving around since we got here on various surfaces:

So, that's it for now. And this is me for now:

so glad to be back!!!

xoxo,

lauren