About me:
Hi! Glad you could drop by. My name is Diane V.
McLoughlin. I am a wife, mom and writer with a social
conscience. I don't like talking about myself. Me? I'm just me.
But here goes.
I use the V. in my name not to sound, I don't know, upper
crust. I use the V because there is another Diane
McLoughlin with the exact spelling, who's name googles way
better than mine if I don't use the V. She is apparently a
wicked jazz sax player in Great Britain. This amuses me
because it could be me. Why not? I love music. If I am ever
fortunate enough to hop the pond I hope to hear her wail. If
I'm really lucky we could do a number together. Because I
love to sing.
Why I feel compelled to write: I care. I mean I really care
about the state of the world. For years I have been writing
free lance opinion articles trying to make a difference. But
also, I write because I am fortunate enough that my husband
is able to keep the roof over our heads, and food on the
table, by himself - with a lot of added stress because he
takes it all on himself. When I said I was thinking of quitting
and getting a job he didn't like the sound of it. I feel guilty
about it. I think it makes him feel better that I am writing
about what we both care about. He is a good man.
This year began with my taking stock. I realized my
approach was not the best way to do what I wanted to do
(scratch this: influence debate in the public square.) That's
bull. There's no time for that. I want to make the world better
from war, pestilence, hatred, disease, racism, and
ethno-pride. And I believe it can be better.
What was I going to do, quit? The world wasn't better. It was
worse. I have been writing for seven years. I didn't like that
option. My husband didn't like that option. So I began to
build my website The McLoughlin Post. I hope it grows. I
hope people join me who will work with me and together
share all our hopes for a brighter future. But right now it's just
me. I make mistakes. I keep wishing for more hours in a day
to do the reading, writing and website work I need to do.
And then, worry about how to let people know about my
project, and do a good enough job that they might visit again.
Under my Mcloughlin Post title I once had this:
George W. Bush: All hat. No cattle - Texas truism. (Ha!)
At the upper right-hand side of my homepage is the picture I
picked to be my icon (shown, right). It is a masterpiece
entitled, 'Christ in the Storm on the Sea of Galilee' (1633) by
Rembrandt.
I wanted an image that depicted a ship on a choppy sea to
represent the times we live in. Searching in Google Images,
I liked this image best.
The way the image is slashed from one corner down to the
other on the diagonal, with light on the one hand, dark on the
other; the ship in the middle of the frame flung almost too far
over, its mates struggling valiantly to live while hoping the
storm is soon to pass - gives hope in the way that a man
almost four hundred years ago understood and painted
about such themes; hope because the human race has
survived thus far - only because the good struggle valiantly.
The painting itself has fallen on hard times. It was stolen
from a gallery in 1990, according to Wikipedia, and has yet
to be recovered.
With an article I wrote about the current American election
cycle, Vote for Hope, I wanted to find an image for that. It is
my second favorite on my site: The Personification of Hope.
It portrays an angel. Painted hundreds of years ago, it
embodies the hopes and prayers in the hearts of sailor's
wives.
Thanks for visiting! I'm going to have lots of stuff, adding all
the time (come back soon!, we'd love to see you.)
Diane V. McLoughlin
homepage
|
|
