Click on the link below and listen to the Ode to Joy by Ludwig van Beethoven with the orhestra conducted by Andre Rieu.

“Earth laughs in flowers.”– Ralph Waldo Emerson, “Hamatreya.”

“Observe the marvels as theu happen around you. Don’t claim them. Feel the beauty moving through and be silent.”–Jalil al-Din Rumi (1207-1273), Persia

“Look at the trees, look at the birds, look at the clouds, look at the stars… and if you have eyes you will be able to see that the whole existence is joyful. Everything is simply happy. Trees are happy for no reason; they are not going to become prime ministers or presidents and they are not going to become rich and they will never have any bank balance. Look at the flowers–happy for no reason. It is simply inbelievable how happy flowers are.”–Osho (1931-1990), India/USA

Watch this video, relax and enjoy the most amazing places on earth.

We had thousands of books in our home library. Reading was one of my favorite pastimes, especially in winter. We didn’t spent too much time with computers and computers games, and speaking endless minutes on the mobile. We didn’t watch television broadcasts with boring, upsetting news and undelivered promices by politicians. It could never have substituted or competed anyway with the world od classic literature and music.

 I savored the time I had to read masterpieces of literature, created by talented people throughout the world through the centuries. I convinced myself that the books would put me in fascinating adventures and voyages, and would substitute successfully in the wintertime for all the fine, soft-petaled spring flowers; the bounty of sweet-smelling summer blossoms and herbs, their scents made stronger by the heat of the summer sun.

I imagined that the books I held in my hands were paper flowers, blooming with brilliant human thoughts, so I developed a “strange habit.” It amazes me now how dedicated I was to reading and how I read each book voraciously as if I were a starving peasant with an insatiable appetite, gobbling down each word if it were my last bit of bread, my last drop of honey. I read volume after volume of Jules Vern’s science fiction, Alexandre Dumas novels, and James Fennimore Cooper’s colorful adventures in the wild West.

I devoured the works of Leo Tolstoy, Anton Chekhov, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Honore de Balzak, Gustave Flaubert, Theodore Dreiser’s dramas, Dante Alighieri, William Shakespeare’s tragedies, and Walt Whitman’s poems. It was a feeding frenzy. I never stopped reading an author’s collection. I read volume after volume until I finished all of them. It was my passion. I read all of their works, including the epistle genre: the letters they wrote to loved ones, friends, and other writers. Do you think I changed a little bit? I continue to read great books with the same passion day by day, year by year.

Today I would like to share with you my thoughts about Alexandre Dumas, a superstar of 19th century French literature. He was one of my favorite writers in the middle school. Fascinating adventures of his heroes in masterpieces like The Three Musketters and The Count of Monte Cristo fired my imagination, and I dreamed of  far-away, mysterious places where three musketeers and the Count of Monte Cristo have been living their  exciting life, their “joie de vivre.”

It was good influence. In 7th grade I gathered together my seven friends and formed my club, “Seven Musketeers.”  Twice a week we visited an orphanage in our town. We brought to the children there colorful picture books and fresh baked cookies that our Moms and Grandmas made with love. We  read them fairy tales and told them a story of  The Three Musketeers and their endless adventures.

While I have been admiring Dumas novels, sometimes I wondered how Dumas could be so productive in writing one after another such thrilling novels? Through the years some literary critics around the world argued the fact if Alexander Dumas really was an author of these works or he was a writer-businessman, an opportunist in the best meaning of a capitalist society. However, others insisted that without Auguste Maquet,  his collaborator’s creativity and precision of thought the erratic and uncontrollable Dumas would have been lost.

A longstanding, vigorous debate between the scholars and fans around the world took its central place  in a new movie about Dumas and his unknown collaborator, Auguste Maquet that has gone unacknowledged for more than 150 years. Finally the quietly creative ghostwriter playing crucial role in the production of Alexandre Dumas’s most famous novels, has his moment in a limelight. 

Creators of this new film cleverly mix fiction with fact,  and trace Maquet’s attempts to outshine his master in the public eye. Several days ago a film L’Autre Dumas (The Other Dumas) was released in French movie theatres.   Check out the site at http://www.lautredumas-lefilm.com (The Other Dumas–a  movie).

However, even if many scholars say that a beloved author of The Three Musketeers had a ghostwriter. Alexandre Dumas  is one of France’s most celebrated authors, so are other few around the world. Don’t we know how many famous authors with hundreds of novels written one after another, today have ghostwriters and collaborators quietly standing in the shadow of their masters– contemporary authors those names savvy publishers turned into brands?  

We can call anybody a collaborator who come up with “a million dollar idea.” Is that everything?  Somebody has to think and work all over all details, to do a solid research and produce an excellent writing packed in a great book-a novel that will take readers into a captivating adventure full of actions, noble and brave heroes, victories and happy end.

The news magazine Le Point suggested that whether Dumas was the brains and talent behind 17 novels that Maquet co -wrote with him or if Maquet was a hidden genius collaborating with Dumas, but the famous writer treated him “as a slave.” Other undisputed facts have fuelled the “French Style” melodrama. In 2002, Dumas was celebrated and honored in a posh ceremony that only national heroes are entitled to.

Devotees of Dumas say that Maquet’s greatest talent was his hard work . He assisted Dumas the best way he could and provided him with basics on which Dumas could then build his masterpieces. In the meantime, on Maquet’s tombstone at Pere-Lachaise cemetery the titles of classics The Three Musketeers,  The Count of Monte Cristo and La Reine Margot are engraved in a beautiful script. Was he the true genius behind these novels? In the public eye only Dumas was crowned with laurels for these masterpieces.

A new movie The Other Dumas (L’Autre Dumas) shows Maquet as victim. Famous French actor, Gerard Depardieu created an image of Dumas as a dude with ceaseless appetite for women, a careless spender running deeper and deeper in debt. Renoit Poelvoorde plays Maquet as a devoted family man, Dumas’ shadow. In 1858, frustrated with his lack of recognition, he sued Dumas in an attempt to gain the joint rights to their works they have been working together. Maquet was awarded financial damages for unpaid fees, but Dumas kept his sole ownership of their output. Dumas admitted Maquet’s help, but insisted he was the one true creator.

Scholars will definitely continue to study Alexander Dumas legacy, his life and character. Bernard Fillaire, the author of “Le Grand Decervelage,” other books and has written an essay in support of the ghostwriter’s rehabilitation,  favors Maquet as Dumas’ secret weapon. ” Of course he wasn’t a Balzak or a Dickens… but he definitely had talent.” He calls Dumas in his book ”as a kind of highway robber too busy as a bon vivant  to actually take that time to write his novels.”

It is such a pity to realize that a reputation of a brilliant writer widely recognized in his genre can be “smashed.” Scholars continue to clash over Auguste Maquet’s role in creating masterpieces such as The Tree Musketeers. For loyal Dumasiens, this is just a ruling which vindicated their idol’s brilliance. After all who individually can produce dozens of novels and plays over one decade without assistants’ s involvement?

In the article “Film reignites literary debate over Alexander Dumas’s ghostwriter”, Lisa Davies writes in Guardian on February 9, 2010, “There’s a view shared by Safy Nebbou, director of L’Autre Dumas, for whom Maquet was an able accomplice but little more. “Maquet did not have the genius of Dumas, neither did anything else that was really excellent. But Dumas did nothing more of any note, while Maquet went on to write a lot.”

As it happpened even Dumas had a grand burial, but being a hopeless debtor, he died a pauper. Maquet, sources say, died rich. he even bought himself a chateau in the French countryside. Some sources reveal tha fact that , in his library, he had a copy of The Three Musketeers rebound and retitled: “By A. Dumas and A. Maguet.”

So, who is a better businessman here? The writer or his collaborator? No matter what, as French scholar, Claude Schopp said, “They had an unusual alchemy together.” Obviously they both understood the magic of it and both profited from it in their own way.

My Grandma used to say, “Every love has its own secret.” In reality, Maquet was a talented but struggling writer. He couldn’t get published his works because “he did not have a famous name,” so he decided to sacrifice on recognition and collaborate with  already well known Dumas  and make money to support his and his family good life. But the only Dumas name on the cover of the books makes him unforgettable in the literary world with all other credits attached. As Schopp concluded, “They were both smart men in their own ways. Nobody was a real victim here.”

Is it not the same story can find its light in the 21st century? Do we ever read the same reminiscences about a group of 10-15 super popular writers who write so fast one book after another, as they bake pancakes? Sometimes it reminds me a publishing  factory production line that stops working only for  routine maintenance. Do you think, for example, that the  famous writers like Danielle Steel and Nora Roberts who are producing an uncessant stream of popular novels,  work without a team of collaborators? It’s simply impossible. But who are they? The history will hopefully show.

Sources: Mama’s Home Remedies: Discover Time-Tested Secrets of Good Health and the Pleasure of Natural Living by Svetlana Konnikova, MA, AN, Aurora Publishers, Inc., 2008, p.224; http://www.lautredumas-lefim.com; http://www.aolnews.com/world/article/did-alexandre-dumas-use-ghostwiter-august-maquet-fo-the; http://www.guardian.co.uk/book/2010/feb/maguet-dumas-ghostwriter-feud/print

Copyright 2010

Don’t you understand that sometimes winter can happen even in South Florida? Now relax, watch and listen to Vivaldi’s classic “Four Seasons”–Winter.

This post is all about that, and a holiday song that became a favorite of millions of people around the world. Listen to it and read a little holiday story telling you about extraordinary ideas, persistence of vision, and tremendous creativity that can come from the most unlikely places, but bringing really amazing results.

Of course, you heard and enjoyed it many times. This smooth tune puts you right away in a holiday mood. But do you know the inspiring story behind this song, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer and its creator? From a depressed widower father, to a millionaire… How did Rudolph change the life of Robert “Bob” May?

As the holiday season of 1938 came to Chicago, Bob may, 34-year old ad writer for Montgomery Ward, a father of a four-year old girl, was exhausted, broke, and about to lose his wife to cancer.

One night, Barbara, his daughter asked him, “Why isn’t mommy like everybody else’s mommy?” As he struggled to answer his daughter’s question, Bob remembered the path of its own childhood. A small, sickly boy, he was constantly picked on and called names. So he began to spin a tale about a reindeer with a bright red nose who found a special place on Santa’s team. Barbara loved the story so much that she made her father tell it every night before bedtime. As he did, it grew more elaborate. Because he could/t afford to but his daughter a gift for Christmas, Bob decided to turn the story into a homemade picture book.

Bob’s wife died in early December. A few days before Christmas, he reluctantly attended a company at Montgomery Ward. His co-workers encouraged him to share the story he’d written. After he read it, there was a standing ovation. Everyone wanted copies of their own.

Montgomery Ward bought the rights to the book from their debt-ridden employee. Ovet the next six years, at Christmas, they gave away six million copies of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer to shoppers. Every major piblishing house in the country was making offers to obtain the book. In an incredible display of good will, the head of the department store returned all rights to Bob May. Four years later, Rudolph had made him into a millionaire.

He soon remarried and was blessed with good fortune and growing family. There was more to come. His brother-in-;aw Johnny Marks, set the uplifting story to music. The song was pitched to artists from Bing Crosby on down. They all passed. Finally, Marks approached Gene Autry. The cowboy star had scored a holiday hit with “Here Comes Santa Claus” a few years earlier. Like the others, Autry wasn’t impressed with the song about the misfit reindeer. Marks begged him to give it a second listen. Autry played it for his wife. She was so touched by the line “They wouldn’t let poor Rudolph join in any reindeer games” that she insisted her husband to record the tune.

Within a few years, it had become the second best-selling Christmas song ever, right behind “White Christmas.” Since then, Rudolph has come to life in TV specials, cartoons, movies, toys, games, coloring books, greeting cards, and even a Ringling Bros, circus act. The little reindeer dreamed up by Bob May and ommortalized in song by Johnny Marks has come to symbolize Christmas as much as Santa Claus evergreen trees and presents.

As the last line of the song says, “He’ll go down in history.” And he did…

SEVEN SMART THOUGHTS

“Inspiration and genius–one and the same.”– Victor Hugo

“Try not to become a man of success but a man of value.”–Albert Einstein

“First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do.”–Epicteus

“No great man ever complains of want of opportunities”–Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Happy are those who dream dreams and are ready to pay the price to make them to come true.”–Leon J. Suenes

“Do we not all agree to call rapid thought and noble impulse by the name of inspiration?”–George Elliot

“The power of imagination makes us infinite.”–John Muir

References: http://SocyBerty.com (November 19, 2009); http://www.youtube.com

]]> http://mamashomeremedies.com/2009/12/24/inspiration-is-a-great-motivation-to-dream-your-dreams/feed/ 0 http://mamashomeremedies.com/2009/12/23/how-to-create-the-peaceful-feelings/ http://mamashomeremedies.com/2009/12/23/how-to-create-the-peaceful-feelings/#comments Wed, 23 Dec 2009 01:45:04 +0000 svetlana http://mamashomeremedies.com/?p=4185 Do you feel already in a holiday mood? If not, put aside all your problems and other serious issues. Give yourself a break from your busy and speedy life. You deserve to relax and feel healthy and happy.

Yesterday I got an interesting email from a friend in San Francisco who wrote, “This guy is cool… worth watching! Have patience… it will drive you crazy as you try to imagine what he is painting. Hope it works for you.” So, I did just that and watched the video. I included it in my post for you to watch, too.

Be patient and breathe deeply. Master the art of breathing serenely. Since you are continuously breathing the entire day, you don’t realize that this is the most powerful and effective tool for creating the peaceful feelings that are conducive for patience. As soon as you begin to feel impatient, let the feelings you experience be the start of your focusing on the gift of oxygen. As you exhale, feel all stress and tension leaving. As you inhale, feel the fresh oxygen traveling from head to toe relaxing every muscle and every cell in your entire body.

As you breathe, repeat the word, “Patience.” Say it with gentle and soothing patience. As your brain is conditioned to associate slow breathing with patience, the very act of breathing slowly will continuously enable you to be more patient.

Now you are ready to watch the video with Dan Dunn’s PaintJam magic.

“If you judge people, you don’t have time to love them.”–Mother Teresa

References: http://www.paintjam.com; http://www.youtube.com

]]> http://mamashomeremedies.com/2009/12/23/how-to-create-the-peaceful-feelings/feed/ 1 http://mamashomeremedies.com/2009/11/26/thanksgiving-the-holiday-of-thanks/ http://mamashomeremedies.com/2009/11/26/thanksgiving-the-holiday-of-thanks/#comments Thu, 26 Nov 2009 23:13:19 +0000 svetlana http://mamashomeremedies.com/?p=3871 Today we (in the U.S and Canada) celebrate Thanksgiving, which is really a big harvest festival. We give our thanks for the harvest and express our gratitude to everything good we have in our lives, and at first, to our famillies and good food on our tables.

Due to heavy rains this year and almost impossible conditions for picking pumpkins we did not see too many of these symbols of Thanksgiving in all their natural beauty in grocery stores. No matter what, we did manage to keep the tradition. We even went further. We changed our holiday menu a little bit, perfected it and came up with several new, great meals with tasteful, healthy and nutritional benefits. About these new recipes read in our next post.

Want to have fun? Watch these three parts of Thanksgiving cartoon about Arnold and Helga who were sick of the Thanksgiving traditions established by their families. So they decided to go to Mr. Simmons’ house to celebrate the holiday. This was a disappointment, and in the same time a good lesson for both. They learned that nowhere in the world can feel better to celebrate the holiday of thanks than with your family gathered together around the dinner table full with lovingly prepared homemade delights.

Arnold’s Thanksgiving Part 1

Arnold’s Thanksgiving Part 2

Arnold’s Thanksgiving Part 3

]]> http://mamashomeremedies.com/2009/11/26/thanksgiving-the-holiday-of-thanks/feed/ 0 http://mamashomeremedies.com/2009/11/08/creativity-without-any-limits-or-borders/ http://mamashomeremedies.com/2009/11/08/creativity-without-any-limits-or-borders/#comments Sun, 08 Nov 2009 18:52:05 +0000 svetlana http://mamashomeremedies.com/?p=3614 Did you have your cuppa of coffee today? Coffee can be a remarkable stimulant, energy booster and mood elevator, we all know that. What about coffee as a substitute for paints in creating a great art. There are no limits in art for talented people! Look at the photos below.

Timeless Mona Lisa…  Artist’s assistants stand next to 3,604 cups of coffee which have been made into a giant Mona Lisa in Sydney, Australia. The 3,604 cups of coffee were each filled with different amounts of milk to create different shades!

                                                                              

 

 

 

 

 

]]> http://mamashomeremedies.com/2009/11/08/creativity-without-any-limits-or-borders/feed/ 0 http://mamashomeremedies.com/2009/10/24/healing-with-roses-positive-emotions-and-a-fine-mood/ http://mamashomeremedies.com/2009/10/24/healing-with-roses-positive-emotions-and-a-fine-mood/#comments Sat, 24 Oct 2009 15:39:07 +0000 svetlana http://mamashomeremedies.com/?p=3146 How is your weekend? Unhappy with house errands and many other causes? No matter what, get out of emotional unhappiness! Take your time for relaxation. Surprise yourself and women you love! Buy them roses and make them happy. Don’t wait till Valentine’s Day. This beautiful, most sensuous and romantic of flowers has inspired poets, artists and many other people for centuries as the symbol of love and beauty.

Strew the roses petals into your bathtub and enjoy their enchanting scent. Since ancient times the rose has been extolled not only for its beauty and fragrance but also for its medicinal properties. Do you know that Greek doctors used the champagne rose as a tonic? Pliny listed 32 medicines prepared from roses. Avicenna in the 10th century praised the rose and was the first to make rose water that is so popular today. He used rose jelly to cure spitting of blood. Around the turn of 16th century otto or attar of roses was discovered in Persia. Now it is a major ingredient in perfumes and soaps, and widely used in aromatherapy.

Make your weekend with your loved ones romantic, pleasant and full with positive emotions! Now watch this video full with roses, queens of flowers, and music by unforgettable Fausto Papetti.

“Treat people for their emotional unhappiness, allow them to be happy, and they will become well.”– Dr. Edward Bach

Source: Mama’s Home Remedies: Discover Tome-Tested Secrets of Good Life and the Pleasures of Natural Living by Svetlana Konnikova, Aurora Publishers, 2008

The Complete Floral Healer by Anne McIntyre, Sterling Publishing Co., Inc. 2002, P.191

www.youtube.com/Fausto Papetti–Emmanuelle

Copyright 2009.

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