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TO-ing and FRO-ing in the MIDDLE EAST

 

 

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“Abbas Takes Defiant Step, and Mideast Talks Falter.”

 

 

 “Bill Clinton sticks his foot in Syrian quagmire.”

 

 

Going out on a limb, Pope Francis met to pray with Israeli and Palestinian leaders. The Rev. Thomas Reese, a veteran Vatican analyst for the National Catholic Reporter noted “In the Middle East, symbolic gestures and incremental steps are important.”

 

 

“Palestinians to walk away from peace talks.”

 

 

“Powers seek ‘first-step’ nuclear deal with Iran in Geneva talks.”

 

 

“Rouhani’s victory in 2013 is the Iranian equivalent to Obama’s victory in 2008: an electorate that voted overwhelmingly for hope and change, understanding that the process will be a marathon, not a sprint,” said Reza Marashi, research director at the National Iranian American Council in Washington.

 

 

[U.S. Secretary of State John] Kerry told reporters he was flying home to Washington to meet with President Obama to reassess the peace negotiations and whether there was a path forward. “There are limits to the amount of time and effort that the United States can spend, if the parties themselves are unwilling to take constructive steps in order to be able to move forward.”

 

 

“Syria chemical arms: ‘Global red line’ crossed – Kerry”

 

 

“For U.N. Chief, a Dance of Diplomacy Is Halted by a Misstep. Ban Ki-moon… choreographed a precise diplomatic sequence on Syria that relied on others to perform their roles equally precisely. The choreography did not go as planned, and Mr. Ban stumbled under the spotlight.”

 

 

Women in Saudi Arabia: Unshackling themselves

 

 

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How Not to Teeter Totter on Heels

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One way to learn how to balance and walk in your high heels is to take a “Stiletto Workout Class”. No guff.  In three-inch heels, you tighten your tummy, do kicks and squats, lift weights and perform ballet moves.  Nicole Demaris started these classes after observing women wobble all over New York City streets.

As the New York Times writer Hilary Howard’s husband balked, “You’re going to a stiletto class? That sounds like a lawsuit waiting to happen.”  But off to this workout class she went, right after she bought her first pair of very high heels! She claims she wasn’t sure what stilettos were, wondering if they were “those spindly things worn by fancy women who disappear rapidly into taxis?”

A stiletto workout?  After her first and last class, Hilary said, “It can be done”.  Check out studios around New York City. (ndgfit.com)

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/28/nyregion/stiletto-workout-invented-by-nicole-damaris.html?_r=0

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A Natural Pairing: Women and Shoes

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The Shoe Project is a writing workshop that enables women new to Canada to share life stories based on their memorable shoes. The workshops, led by award-winning author Katherine Govier, are held at the Bata Shoe Museum in downtown Toronto.

 Katherine states on her website http://www.govier.com/shoe.htm    “We meet for eight weeks in spring and fall. We exchange stories of arrival, and the role shoes play in old and new lives. At the end of each session we have either a ‘Snapshot Exhibit’ or a performance…The Shoe Project tours, too! Our shoes have been exhibited at Bow Valley College in Calgary and Mohawk College in Hamilton.”

 Check out these titles, among many others: 

  • In My Red High Heels
  • My Valentino Shoes
  • Democratic Shoes
  • My Mother’s Working Shoes
  • The Wind Beneath My Feet
  • My Convocation Shoes
  • My Great Grandmother: The Wartime Shoemaker
  • Sand in My Shoes

 For more information write to:  shoeprojecttoronto@gmail.com