River Light
By Christine Stoddard
QuailBellMagazine.com
QuailBellMagazine.com
Click here to check out our previous feature on Richmond, Virginia's Rice House.
Richmond, Virginia's ESL Programs Underserve MixtecsBy Christine Stoddard & Zack Budryk QuailBellMagazine.com The Anne Boleyn Villain Series: The MediaBy Bayly Ogden QuailBellMagazine.com The first movie portrayal of Anne Boleyn came in 1912. It was a short film about Cardinal Wolsey. Since then. there have been many movies about Henry VIII and his six wives. There have been two different portrayals of Lady Boleyn throughout the films: the independent woman who was following her heart and the cold, calculating woman out for revenge due to the loss of her one true love. 
In these movies, there are many differences between the fiction and reality. The first apparent difference is the casting of Anne as the “young and beautiful.” The majority of historians agree that Anne was not particularly attractive by standards of the time. As a brunette with dark eyes and darker coloring, she did not fit the typical 16th-century English standards of fair eye and blue eyes (Friedmann). Another element to touch upon is her age. In the films Anne remains a young beauty, but how is this possible throughout a ten year courtship? During the final three years of her life, Anne’s youthful looks faded away due to both the passing of time and the stress of maintaining her marriage (Friedmann). Black Dogs By Julie DiNisio QuailBellMagazine.com  Dogs are seldom portrayed as anything but loyal, affable, and pleasant. But residents of the British Isles have argued that their sightings of the declared Black Dogs have been terror-inducing. These alleged creatures are about the size of a calf and have shaggy black fur and red eyes. Despite their enormous paws, they leave no tracks and are usually sighted at night on deserted roads and in other lonely places. Allegedly, they guard sacred places and treasure. Though they are also known as Hellhounds, the Black Dogs do not always mean harm. Word has it that if you don't harm them, they won't harm you. In some cases, they have even purportedly helped lost travelers. But if you find yourself in a position to see a Black Dog, your best bet is to find a descendant of Ean MacEndroe, a man who gained immunity from the Dogs by rescuing a fairy. Better safe than sorry, after all. La fée verteBy Julie DiNisio QuailBellMagazine.com 
At first glance, I was completely unsure of what this unsettling green creature was. The jury was still out until I did a little research behind the meaning of this 1906 advertisement. Created by famous Italian poster artist Leonetto Cappiello (a forerunner of modern advertising), this image is actually quite famous. Advertising Maurin Quina, a once popular French brand and type of liquor, the green sprite represents absinthe which was often referred to as la fée verte (the green fairy) in French literature. Would it coerce me to purchase the product? I'm not so sure. But there must be a reason Cappiello's design has been an icon in advertising for over 100 hundred years. VCU R.A.M.S and 3D Archaeology By Julie DiNisio QuailBellMagazine.com As a kid, I'd always wanted to be an archaeologist, until someone informed me it was less exciting then it seemed. “Boring” is how they put it, actually. And I was pretty content with my decision up until I saw this Virginia Commonwealth University's Virtual Curation Unit's website. Nicknamed VCU R.A.M.S., short for Recording Archaeological Materials Systematically, the program is substantially more Quail Bell cool than VCU's identically named basketball team. A recent development in VCU academics, the Virtual Curation Unit is an offshoot of VCU's anthropology department and is headed by department professor Bernard Means. The program is in partnership with the U.S. Department of Defense's Legacy Program whose goal is to preserve American history and culture through 3D scanning and technology. And what better way to preserve America's true history then by focusing on American Indian artifacts? The (very small) R.A.M.S. Crew took a trip to the State Museum of Pennsylvania this past November where they checked out some artifacts, specifically a snake skeleton from an American Indian village and a Paleoindian point. Not terribly interesting at first thought. But what they do with the artifacts is when their work transcends boring. The Curation Unit scans the objects by means of some pretty sophisticated technology. The MakerBot Replicator works by “creating resin replicas of archaeological items.” Their Next Engine 3D Scanner digitally catalogues the images, giving a more lifelike appearance to the artifacts, allowing a wider audience the opportunity to experience history through their computers. Visit the Unit's blog to keep up with their latest endeavors and (if you're like me) vicariously live your archaeological life through them. Ellen Schreiber's Teenage MermaidBy Jade Miller QuailBellMagazine.com 
I was a bit skeptical about reading something called Teenage Mermaid, especially with a less than promising front cover featuring some very silly-looking font. However, I ended up being pleasantly surprised. You may start the book for the giggles, as I certainly did, but you finish because of nostalgia. Ellen Schreiber introduces us to Spencer, a 15-year-old surfer dude who is currently drowning. While he sinks deeper into the ocean, (with some pretty coherent thoughts for someone who’s dying, I might add!) he’s saved by a beautiful girl. This girl is described in a way that’s bordering on silly: “golden yellow and sun-fire orange hair…wonderful pink-lipped smile…angelic skin…and piercing ocean-blue eyes.” Spencer comes to on the beach, alive and unsure if what happened really happened or if it was all a dream…until he opens his hand and sees the girl’s locket. DUN DUN DUN! In the next chapter, you meet Waterlilly, a 15-year-old mermaid who just doesn’t feel like she fits in. She’s flighty, getting low grades at school when she bothers to show up and is obsessed with ‘Earthees.’ This obsession stems from a story about her great-grandfather, who was supposedly an Earthee who fell in love with Lilly’s great-grandmother, a mermaid. They had true love’s kiss and he turned into a merman – very intriguing for a young girl yearning to be in love. The locket Spencer now has was Lilly’s great-grandfather’s and Lilly will be in big trouble if her mother finds out it’s gone. Lilly spills the whole story about meeting the ‘Earthdude’ (no really, that’s what she calls him) to her BFF, Waverly. Lilly describes Spencer to her friend, and his description also seems a bit on the silly side, as Lilly sighs over his “deep-red clay-colored hair…chiseled jaw and soft melt-worthy lips.” Now, I remember the boys in my high school and none of the 15-year-olds had anything close to what could be called a chiseled jaw. But hey, this is fiction, right? The story continues with Spencer looking for Lilly to thank her and return her necklace and with Lilly needing to get her necklace back in order to stay out of trouble, she decides to go down to the depths of the ‘Underworld’ where all kinds of bad characters stray, including a…sea witch! Man, this sounds familiar. Lilly barters with Madame Pearl to get a potion to get legs to be human for a day. Did I mention that Lilly gets to this Underworld by way of dolphin? And that dolphin’s name is Bubbles? Cause yep, that happens. Lilly and Spencer meet up after a crazy day of Lilly trying out school and enjoy an afternoon on the pier and another soulful kiss, as Spencer is “so different…from every soul [Lilly] had ever encountered. [Lilly] felt a connection without…sharing words, a connection just sharing space.” Oh man, intense! Lilly rushes off to return to the ocean and Spencer is left behind. Cue another day and another visit to the sea witch, where you find out Madame Pearl went through the same thing Lilly did but didn’t go back to the man she loved. Lilly knows Spencer is her soulmate and Madame Pearl gives her another potion free of charge. I won’t spoil the ending, but c’mon! You know it ends happily. Teenage Mermaid may not be the most intellectually challenging for tween readers, but it certainly rings with a truth. The intensity that Spencer and Lilly feel for each other reminds me of my own high school relationships. There’s no dating or getting to know each other, just right away being together and being in love. Immature? Yes. Silly? Of course. Does it feel true? Absolutely. So, pick up Teenage Mermaid. It’s a great way to get a few giggles and a nostalgic smile or two. Flying by NeedlepointBy Christine Stoddard QuailBellMagazine.com Is Mixteco marketable? Maybe. In the hearts of six creative Manchester women, the answer is hopefully. La Cooperativa de Artistas Mixtecas, a new artisan's cooperative comprised of five Mexican Amerindians, seeks to empower disenfranchised Mixteca women through crafting and entrepreneurship. Neither fluent in Spanish nor English, these women come from an isolated town in the Mexican state of Guerrero, where their people have been ostracized for centuries. Since the first Mixteco family came to Richmond, Virginia 15 years ago, the Mixtecos continue to keep to themselves in a trailer park in Southside. While the men typically work jobs in manufacturing and construction, the women tend to stay home, caring for their children. Unable to enter the same male-dominated, unskilled fields as their husbands, the women find themselves unemployed because of the language barrier.  Mary Wickham, program director of the Sacred Heart Center/El Centro Sagrado Corazón sought to organize these women after observing their predicament. Many of the women take language and literacy classes at the community center or attend mass at its associated church of the same name. As Mary became more familiar with the women, she learned of their hobbies. “They make beautiful things.” The artisans work in a traditional form of embroidery that depicts natural and religious symbolism rendered in fluorescent colors. The women specialize in servilletas, or cloth napkins, of various sizes. Smaller napkins are meant for individual place settings, while bigger ones may be used to keep food warm or add flair to the dinner table. Commonly, servilletas are wrapped around tortillas to keep them from going stale. A few of the co-op's servilleta designs include portraits of Mary and Jesus, rows of magenta squirrels, and songbirds soaring over neon flowers. The Anne Boleyn Villain Series: DownfallBy Bayly Ogden QuailBellMagazine.com The three years following her marriage and coronation are crucial to understanding the victimization of Lady Anne Boleyn. Immediately pressure was placed on her to become pregnant and give birth to a son--which she only achieved in part. In August 1533, about eight months after the wedding, Anne's “condition” was noticeable (Bernard 73). But unfortunately her pregnancy did not result in the desired son, but in a baby girl, Queen Elizabeth I (Starkey 508). Then Anne suffered three documented miscarriages. But was this the sole cause of her downfall, her inability to produce sons like her predecessor Catherine of Aragon? There are many theories behind Anne's downfall: her inability to produce a male heir (the multiple miscarriages), the plotting of her enemies, or Henry VIII's interest in pursuing a new marriage with Lady Jane Seymour. But none of these theories actually acknowledges the charges that were brought up against Anne. Historian Warnicke, the author of The Rise and Fall of Anne Boleyn, concludes that all these factors combined were the result of Anne's downfall. 
Anne's main enemy was Thomas Cromwell, Henry VIII’s chief minister. Cromwell and Lady Anne constantly butted heads during the creation of the Church of England, especially over the disillusion of the monasteries (Warnicke 140). Since Cromwell was Henry VIII’s chief minister, he had the king's full attention. And when the king became weary of his current marriage due to the lack of a son, Cromwell was better able to assist his majesty in removing his current wife for a more attractive candidate, Lady Jane Seymour (Warnicke 207). Chirp goes the ChapelBy Paisley Hibou QuailBellMagazine.com 
Put on your equestrian boots and your tricorn hat. And while you're it, pour yourself a glass of Bordeux. We're taking a field trip, fledglings. 30 miles southwest of Philly lies a community that courts horses, wine, and history on a daily basis. That place is Chadds Ford Township in Pennsylvania's Delaware County, the site of the Battle of Brandywine and a well-to-do, semi-rural society. In a pocket of woods nestled between a couple of the township's many stone houses is a teeny chapel. That chapel, though built in 1995, alludes to a much earlier era--perhaps an era as early as Jamestown's. Observe this hatchling of architecture: 
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