December 31, 2007 by admin.

When I was just a little girl
I asked my mother, what will I be
Will I be pretty, will I be rich
Here’s what she said to me.

Que Sera, Sera,
Whatever will be, will be
The future’s not ours, to see
Que Sera, Sera
What will be, will be.

When I was young, I fell in love
I asked my sweetheart what lies ahead
Will we have rainbows, day after day
Here’s what my sweetheart said.

Que Sera, Sera,
Whatever will be, will be
The future’s not ours, to see
Que Sera, Sera
What will be, will be.

Now I have children of my own
They ask their mother, what will I be
Will I be handsome, will I be rich
I tell them tenderly.

Que Sera, Sera,
Whatever will be, will be
The future’s not ours, to see
Que Sera, Sera
What will be, will be.

The above lyrics are to a song performed by the actress Doris Day. The lyrics are actually quite a bit older than most might think, dating back to 1588, when Christopher Marlowe wrote in his play ‘Doctor Faustus’ “Che sera, sera, What will be, shall be”. In recent history, the lyrics are attributed to Ray Evans and Jay Livingston.

When I was little, whenever I asked my Mother questions about the future, she would sing this song. I don’t know if it was because the song was popular, or if my Mother believed the philosophy, but that song is ingrained in my psyche.

When I was in the fourth grade, a boy I knew fell in ‘love’ with me. He had been the ‘boyfriend’ of another classmate, but he decided that he wanted to ‘go steady’ with me. We spent our recesses together, and since we were in the same homeroom class, we saw each other most of the day. Once, as I was walking home from school, I had stopped to adjust my bag on the steps of the Boys Club, when a friend of the other girl skidded to a dusty stop in front of me. He said “This is from Judy”, and hacking up as much phlegm as he could, spat full in my face. I was heartbroken and humiliated. Upon returning home, my Mother simply said, ‘This is how life is sometimes’. I went to school the next day, a bit wiser and a very much more watchful of others.

Since I know that you read this blog Thomas, I want you to know that what will be will be. We have removed any offensive content regarding you and your friends from our personal websites. We are finished with the childish and stagnant game you have drawn us into. If you so wish to continue, that is up to you.

We have never abused the art sites of which we are members by sending out mass mailings with links to our personal websites. We are painfully aware that you and your friends did. It would be wonderful if each of you could go back and undo the harm done us, however we know that the time and energy required is probably not something you wish to engage in.

In closing, please accept my personal apology for any grief I have caused you and your friends. My goal is to move forward with my life, taking this as a valuable lesson that experiences in life can often times be cruel, much like the one when I was in the fourth grade.

Susan Isabella Sheehan

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December 30, 2007 by admin.

It was Solomon who said “The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.” The words we use today, and the way that we phrase our sentences has all been seen before. The sequence of the words may be different, but the meanings behind the words are the same.

Chiasmus

Main Entry:
chi·as·mus
Pronunciation:
\kī-ˈaz-məs, kē-\
Function:
noun
Etymology:
New Latin, from Greek chiasmos, from chiazein to mark with a chi
Date:
1871
:an inverted relationship between the syntactic elements of parallel phrases (as in Goldsmith’s to stop too fearful, and too faint to go)

The definition above is from Merriam Websters Online Dictionary, http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/chiasmus+/. It is a term which has been replaced with the word plagiarism in todays sophisticated and educated world. I found the following to not only be interesting, but really quite entertaining as well.

For instance, when Benjamin Franklin said “”Where there is a marriage without love, there will be a love without marriage”, he paraphrased, or in todays terms plagiarized, the English writer Thomas Fuller, who wrote in ‘The Holy State and the Profane State’ (1642) “They that marry where they do not love, will love where they do not marry.” This may not be the first instance of the use of this exact phrase, and it certainly was not the last, since it has been used by many other writers since Franklin’s time.

Here is another example of Franklin’s use of others thoughts. “Grief often treads Upon the heels of pleasure, Marry’d in haste, We oft repent at leisure; Some by experience Find these words misplaced, Marry’d at leisure, They repent in haste.” This was lifted in its entirety from English writer William Congreve (1670-1729), who wrote in his 1693 play, The Old Bachelor:

Sharper: Thus grief still treads upon the heels of pleasure: Marry’d in haste, we may repent at leisure.
Setter: Some by experience find those words mis-plac’d: At leisure marry’d they repent in haste.

The list of names of famous politicians and writers who practiced ‘chiasmus’ includes, but is not limited to, Confucius, William Shakespeare, Oscar Wilde, George Bernard Shaw, John F. Kennedy, Winston Churchill, and Ralph Waldo Emerson.

For more information, please visit Chiasmus.com.

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October 8, 2007 by admin.

Today is my brother’s 56^th birthday. It has been over seven years since he has seen the sun, held his loved ones, or filled a room with his unique laughter. Daniel Patrick Sheehan, my brother, was needlessly and savagely murdered on June 8^th, 2000. As a taxi driver, he had picked up a fare in the small town of Casa Grande, Arizona around 11:00 p.m. The two animals in the skins of human he had picked up subdued him, abducted him, and robbed him of his life. Michael Edward Anita and Dale Lester Kisto, one of whom met his own fate in a manner well deserved, the other serving a sentence which is, unfortunately, not for life, these two animals, knew what they were doing when they beat my brother over the head until it separated from his neck. They knew what they were doing when they buried his body in a place not yet discovered. They knew what they were doing when they stole my brother away from his family, stole his charm and his wit, his knowledge and intelligence, his love of life and his future. Today, I celebrate my brother’s birthday, he who cannot celebrate for himself. Today, I remember my brother. Happy birthday Danny! You are well loved and remembered often and fondly!

Susan Isabella Sheehan

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September 9, 2007 by admin.

In our disposable society, what value do we place on our ancestors?

There is a battle ensuing in Ireland, and it has been for several years now. This is a battle not unlike that of 1793, or even more recently the Easter Rising of 1916. Born of the Republic, this battle has at its core the finest champions, whose love lies deep in the Heart Of Ireland, the Tara Complex.

The Tara Complex has a rich, ancient, and honorable history. It is where the seat of the High Kings of Ireland was, the center of ancient Irish Spirituality, and the inspiration for the writings of an abundance of poets and scholars. The Celtic Twilight was born from this setting. It is told in mythology that the Tuatha Dé Danann made their home there, and that their descendants remained in the complex for centuries. It was a place of birth, marriage and death. Feasts, rituals and ceremonies were held there. It was on the Hill of Tara itself that the Beltaine Fire was lit by the head Druid. After extinguishing the old hearth fires, the people would carry a new spark, a token flame, back to their homes as a symbolic blessing from Deity. Beneath her hallowed ground rests the remains of ancestors to many, copper and bronze age villages, relics of antiquity, archaeological wonders, and perhaps the greatest prize known to humankind.

On April 1st, 2007, the Minister of Transportation, Mr. Noel Dempsey, turned over the first spadeful of soil, declaring the beginning of the destruction of the Tara Complex, and the construction of the M-3 Motorway. No sooner had the bulldozers begun their violation of the grounds than a wonder began to come forth. On May 1st, 2007, the day of Beltaine, before them they saw something taking form. Little by little, a wood-henge, the size of at minimum three football fields, began to emerge. This wood-henge dates from about 2500 B.C.E. to 1800 B.C.E., some say perhaps older than the Pyramids of Giza. This ancient henge includes earth enclosures, timber circles, and many banks. The surprised workers had uncovered a Sacred place of gathering. A cessation was called until archaeologists could determine if the work should proceed.

And proceed it does. On June 14th, 2007, then Minister of the Environment, Dick Roche, signed an order to allow the motorway work to continue. His successor, John Gormley, states that he is not able to countermand that order. On August 22nd, 2007, the An Bord Pleanala gave the go ahead to the National Road Authority of Ireland to commence archaeological work on the site. The artifacts and ancient ruins of Lismullen will be “noted” or recorded by the archaeologists, with anything they feel should be at the National Museum carried away. The plan is then for the NRA to continue the ground work and paving over this Irish National Monument. This decision is under review by the European Commission, who plan to conduct an Environment Impact Assessment this Autumn. On Thursday the 30th August the NRA are holding a conference at the Gresham Hotel in conjunction with National Heritage Week. A ploy? Perhaps. It is with great hope that a change will come.

Protesters, all heroes, have been working diligently to protect this important historical site for many months, spending countless hours writing letters, speaking endlessly to the public, and meeting with representatives who they still hope have the valor and courage to stop this “scheme”. A team of legal experts led by the esteemed Vincent Salafia have spent several years preparing authoritative documentation to prevent this planned motorway from going through. Will all of the blood, sweat and tears that have been poured into the protest be to no avail? The bulldozers seem eager to destroy this land, all for the comfort and convenience of the good people of Ireland, those who bought the dream of the “Celtic Tiger. These are those who are forced to live many miles from where they work, since they cannot afford to live in Dublin. It is very little thanks that we give to those who created the concept of the “Celtic Tiger”, for in this they have given the people more of a nightmare than a dream. The heritage of the people is being ripped away.

What price does heritage carry? Is it worth nothing in this disposable society that we find ourselves living in? Some day we too will become ancestors to someone. Will they remember us with love, or will they plow over our tombs, building rodes over and upon the ground in which we rest? It is with hope that they will remember us with honor and respect.

Susan Isabella Sheehan

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