Emma Palova, born in Czech Republic, is an author, a writer, a screenwriter, a journalist, a photographer, a designer and the founder of Emma Blogs, LLC, based in Lowell, Michigan.
Currently, she is working on her memoir "Greenwich Meridian" which she intends to turn into a screenplay.
Palova started her blog EW Emma's Writings at http://emmaplova.com in support of the publication of her memoir in January, 2013.
The blog has grown into a passion and a company that designs blogs for other people under the umbrella of Emma Blogs.
Palova is a prolific online publisher open to new ideas and to new horizons. A natural innovator, Palova loves to create progressive brands into the future. Check out her inspirational post "Desert epiphany" and the authors page on About_me and on Facebook.
I am looking forward to seeing you around the greater Grand Rapids area and on my blog.
I am seeking an agent or a publisher for the memoir that I intend to publish for my mom Ella's 80 birthday on Aug. 23.
I celebrated my fourth anniversary on the WordPress publishing platform on Jan. 15th, 2017 with more than 1,000 followers and 500 plus posts.
Love always,
Emma
Today is a big day. As I write to the morning chirping of the birds, I still have my feet wet from watering the flowers for my mother, for Mother’s Day.
My dog Haryk passed in September of last year. So, I don’t have him anymore. It’s bizarre how many things have changed in one year. I’ve made a lot of posts since April of last year. I had around 100 posts, now I am close to 300 posts.
Mistakes. Yes, tons of them. Success, too. I’ve established my company Emma Blogs, LLC in August of last year. I got my eyes fixed with Dr. Verdier.
It’s May 9th, it’s my birthday. I was born on the national holiday in former Czechoslovakia. On that day, the nation’s capital Prague, the mother of all cities, was freed from the Nazi occupation by the Soviet Army. That was the end of World War II.
Many years later, I was born in the wee hours at 4 a.m. to parents Ella & Vaclav Konecny. My mom woke up to the cracking noises of fireworks announcing the anniversary of the victory.
“I thought it was war again, but then I realized those were fireworks celebrating your birth,” she said to me this morning as she wished me a happy birthday. “The whole nation celebrated.”
Czech Capital Prague
Mom says that to me every year, as the nature too celebrates the awakening after long winter.
“The nature blossoms on your birthday,” she says. “You always had the day off and a parade.”
Birthday blossom
The above note is one of the many reasons why I dedicated the memoir “Greenwich Meridian where East meets west” to my mother.
200 Posts & beyond
This post is inspired by Anton Chekhov’s “Three Sisters” and the constant friction that I have witnessed between sisters in this world.
Mom Ella & I
Mom Ella and aunt Anna
As I watch people drop like flies around me, I realize how time is going by fast. I like the inscription on the clock in the living room, “Tempus fugit.” That’s why I bought that pendulum clock as one of the first things when I arrived on this continent in 1989 for $110. Not that I had that kind of money. I just wanted the clock so bad, that I probably borrowed money for it. It announces the time by boldly striking every full and half hour. My husband Ludek still has to wind it by hand much like the clock that the in-laws had at home in the old country.
“They probably wouldn’t even let us know if Anna’s dead,” mom said about her sister.
Well, I think she is right. There is probably no one left to let us know. That’s all part of the emigration package that I am writing about in the memoir “Greenwich Meridian.”
To be continued as part of the ongoing series 200 Posts & beyond
Note: I decided to feature WordPress blogger Rob Goldenstein, who suffers from dissociative identity disorder, because May is the mental health month. As always before I write about somebody, I study their work, whether it’s an artist or an entrepreneur.
Longtime blogger deals with alternates of the dissociate identity disorder to express himself
By Emma Palova
EW Emma’s Writings
Lowell, MI- I do not know Rob Goldenstein personally only from an interview over Skype and from studying his extensive work. Goldenstein mentions that quite often he cannot relate to his own writing, and that it has been written by an alternate.
Featured blogger Rob Goldenstein
Few themes keep emerging in Goldenstein’s blogs both on Flicker and on WordPress.
“The alternates describe the blog is an extension of second life,” he said. “I have all these different avatars.”
In his About page, Goldenstein writes about his passion for right of full access to health care for people with mental illness.
“By full access I mean access to all treatment modes regardless the prevailing myth of scarcity,” he stated. “In the About me, I express my intentions as they evolve as I continue to blog.”
Goldenstein has been blogging on Flicker since January 2010, and he has posted some 2,179 photos.
In his Inside Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) page Goldenstein outlines his goals as to organize what he knows about himself in a single place.
“It is where I can see it while interacting with other people,” he said.
His therapist told Goldenstein that he didn’t get sick in isolation, and that he is not going to get well in isolation.
One of Goldenstein’s goals is to let the alternates like Sara or Peter tell their stories.
“It is the only way that I can think of to set myself free,” he stated. The writing of this blog is only literary to the extent that I bring to it certain literary sensibility acquired from the study of poetry, literature, and film.”
The alternates, according to Goldenstein, use different styles in the way they write, but they share a certain tone of voice.
“That singularity of voice is my true self,” he stated. “I do my best to keep up with the people in my network, but my best is a bit slow now.”
Goldstein is thankful to other bloggers like Andy Weisskoff, LCSW, whose blog, 90 Days to Change, helped to understand the political aspect being a person with dissociative identity disorder.
The little I know about dissociative identity disorder is that it happens as a defensive reaction when overwhelmed, typically starting in childhood under extreme cases of abuse, and then gets triggered when situations in the present seem like dangerous situations in the past.
As far as what the government might do about treating mental illness, I’ve gotten very specific on my blog. The federal agencies that oversee medicare and medicaid dollars could audit Kaiser mental health services to ensure that basic services are being provided.
Kaiser is the largest provider of mental health services in California and so it is a very good place to start holding physicians’ groups accountable for providing the same level of service for people with mental illness as they do for people with other types of illness.
Psychology professor at Cornerstone University Daniel Ehnis said about the mental illness:
“In my opinion, the reason that DID is so misunderstood is that
it is often confused with Bipolar Disorder and Borderline Personality. Others think that
the symptoms can be faked. DID is a creative way to prevent repressed feelings from surfacing.
As a result, this creativity shows up in various ways.”
May Day is not only known for the International Worker’s Day to commemorate the Haymarket Affair in Chicago, but it is also a Northern Hemisphere spring festival.
It was an official holiday in former Czechoslovakia, complete with parades. But, most importantly, it was and it is a celebration of spring called Majales accompanied by the opening of the beer gardens. Majales are dances around May poles decorated with ribbons.
May Day pole tied with ribbons signifies love and spring.
The first day of May is known as the day of love immortalized by many artists, poets and writers. It was mainly the work of Czech poet Karel Hynek Macha who attached love to this day and the entire month with his poem May.
Karel Hynek Macha, Czech poet
Here are the first few verses from the poem translated by Edith Pargeter:
Late evening, on the first of May—
The twilit May—the time of love.
Meltingly called the turtle-dove,
Where rich and sweet pinewoods lay.
Whispered of love the mosses frail,
The flowering tree as sweetly lied,
The rose’s fragrant sigh replied
To love-songs of the nightingale.
In shadowy woods the burnished lake
Darkly complained a secret pain,
By circling shores embraced again;
And heaven’s clear sun leaned down to take
A road astray in azure deeps,
Like burning tears the lover weeps.
A haze of stars in heaven hovers—
That church of endless love’s communion—
Each jewel blanches and recovers
As blanch and burn long-parted lovers
In the high rapture of reunion.
How clear, to her full beauty grown,
How pale, how clear, the moon above,
Like maiden seeking for her love,
A rosy halo round her thrown!
Her mirrored image she espied,
And of self-love, beholding, died.
Forth from the farms pale shadows strayed,
Lengthening longing to their kind,
Till they embraced, and close entwined,
Coiled low into the lap of shade,
Grown all one twilight unity.
Tree in the shadows writhes to tree.
In the far mountains’ dark confine
Pine leans to birch and birch to pine.
Wave baunting wave the streamlets move.
For love’s sake—in the time of love—
Anguished goes every living thing.
The poem takes place by Doksy and the castles of Bezdez, Pernstejn, Holska and Ralsko point toward east and west, noon and midnight.
Castle Pernstejn the setting for the poem May.
Czech parks and castles invite to romance many designed in classical English style with strict hedges and groves.
A castle park in Vizovice where a big part of my book takes place.
Typical flowers for May are lilacs. Some have grown into trees and have been cross-bred into different colors. Some Czech customs have carried over to the USA. In the photo below, Americans of Czech heritage are dancing around a May pole easily recognized by the ribbons.
Abstract art by Kathleen Mooney inspired by quilting.
I love abstract art. You can do anything you want with it. Watch for a feature story for May, which is a mental health month. The featured blogger will be Robert Goldenstein.
I am very excited. I will be featuring fellow blogger Rob Goldenstein in my Emma Blogs May newsletter and a full feature story in May. An abstract by Rob Goldenstein titled, Mr. Anguish.
Rob Goldenstein’s abstract.
May is the mental health month. I’ve often reported on mental health issues for the print media, and as such I have received the Jim Neubacher award for reporting without bias.
I have no bias. I have a brother Vaclav Konecny who is a paranoid schizophrenic and mental health problems run in our family. My uncle took his own life in his early fifties. I often write about mental health issues in my memoir “Greenwich Meridian.”
I think surrealism as an art form fits many mental health disorders. I am naturally attracted to surrealism myself, because I feel it best express the turmoil inside.
Note: I often write about different names in the Czech calendar and in our multi-cultural family. In the memoir “Greenwich Meridian” I write about the people behind the names. Recently, I found out that each name has certain characteristics that may be a perfect fit or a perfect misfit. This is a second part of a mini-series about calendar names. The first part ran on April 10. Look for the greeting card logo. I focused on female names first.
Another name in the family is Julie. That was my late mother-in-law. I have very fond memories of her. Julie lived to be 92 years old, she was up and running until the very last minute when she passed away peacefully in her nap. She took care of our daughter Emma, while I was studying at the Technical University of Brno.
The name has bold characteristics. According to Soul’s Touches, Julie is a dragoness, who is both sensitive and attractive. She takes deep interest in men into late years, caused by the vibrations of Mars. When she falls in love, she tears down bridges, and rebuilds them again. But, most of all she’s a woman. As a mother, she can be both loving and strict. The name is right for all zodiac signs except for Scorpio. Julie celebrates her name day on Dec. 10.
Mother-in-law Julie Palova was very beautiful.
Anna, was my grandmother and her daughter Anna is my aunt and godmother. The characteristics for the name are: a true woman, loving, devoted, but living her life through others. It is a troubled life of labor & worries, a constant circle of obligations and feelings of being in debt to all. Anna is foremost a mother and a wife.
The astrologist does not recommend this name, because it carries the premonition of a hard life. Anna celebrates her name day on July 26 in the Czech calendar.
Martha is the name of my paternal aunt, as well as first and second cousin’s names. According to Soul’s Touches, the name carries traits of satisfaction. Even though Marthas do not reach the most coveted goals, they end up usually married. Martha is foremost a woman. She matures emotionally later in life, quite often divorces. Not recommended in Gemini, Libra and in Capricorn. Her name day is on July 29.
Mary is my mother’s cousin name, and we probably had a lot more Marys in the family.
Mary is a universal name used in all languages. She is motherly, devoted and hardworking.
The traits: always willing to learn, intelligent, sensitive and strict. Only a bad coordinate with the last name and birth date can worsen her life’s path, according to Soul’s Touches.
The feast of Saint Mary falls on Sept. 12 and it is celebrated around the world with festivities and pilgrimages to sacred places like Hostyn, in Moravia.
Lenka is the name of my second cousin, the daughter of Mary. The name has bad karmic vibrations. Lenkas do not have an easy life or a happy life. There are only a few exceptions depending on the birth date and coordinate with the last name. The biggest problem can be in relationships. The astrologist writes, “When a relationship ends and Lenka asks why?” I answer “Because you have bad vibrations. I would recommend to shorten the name to Lena at the birth registry.”
The name is influenced by Mars, Sun, Venus and Saturn. The Saturn negatively impacts Venus. That’s where the bad karma comes from.
I covered only a few female names in the family, and a fraction of female names in the Czech calendar. From time to time, I will be coming back to this subject, because it fascinates me. Most descriptions fit like a glove depending on the zodiac sign, and sometimes on the last name.
Trending names in Czech are: Tereza, Natalie, Anna, Adela, Eliska, Karolina, Katerina, Barbora, Lucie, Kristina, Michaela, Nikola and Veronika.
Next week I’ll write about the characteristics of male names in the family.
See you then. Hope you find your name a great fit.
Sources: “Soul’s Touches” and “Greenwich Meridian”
Writer Sarah Harmon participates in the Lincoln Tribute
Note: The article is Sarah Harmon’s account of the two-day Lincoln Tribute held in Washington D.C. at the Ford’s Theatre this week.
“The Lincoln Tribute was definitely unforgettable and I am so glad I was able to experience it,” Harmon said.
EW writer Sarah Harmon in Paris
Lincoln Tribute, 150 anniversary
By Sarah Harmon
EW Emma’s Writings
“Lincoln shot! Condition considered hopeless!” Those were the headlines around America this very week 150 years ago. The night of April 14, 1865 changed the history of the United States forever when actor and Confederate sympathizer John Wilkes Booth jumped down onto the stage of Ford’s Theatre screaming “Sic semper tyrannus!” (Thus always to tyrants) and ran out the back of the theater after shooting President Abraham Lincoln. What should have been a time of celebration that after four long years, the Civil War was finally over immediately became a nation in mourning for one of its greatest leaders.
The box with the flag on the upper right of the theater picture is where Lincoln was sitting when he was shot.
The National Parks Service, Ford’s Theatre, and Civil War buffs everywhere have eagerly anticipated the commemoration of such an important turning point in American history. Museums throughout the D.C. held special exhibits in honor of the 150th anniversary of the Civil War and Lincoln assassination, and Ford’s Theatre in particular opened a special exhibit featuring artifacts that had not been all brought together under that roof since April 1865. Notable elements include the Derringer pistol Booth used as well as the bullet itself. They also show the objects that were in Lincoln’s pockets that fateful night. Perhaps most interesting of those was a Confederate five dollar bill.
The brick and white building is Ford’s Theatre during the vigil.
The two-day Lincoln Tribute at Ford’s Theatre began at 8 am on the fourteenth with a behind the scenes tour of the theater and concluded with the 7:30 pm performance of the play “Freedom’s Song: Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War” on the fifteenth. In addition to the usual spring performances of the one-act play “One Destiny” and the Detective McDevitt walking tour, several dozen living historians were on the sidewalks of Ford’s and across the street at the Petersen House, where Lincoln died. Both days included a panel discussion of the parallels between Lincoln and his legacy in America and the life and legacy of South African president Nelson Mandela. From 9pm to 10:15, the moment Booth fired the gun, a special performance, “Now He Belongs to the Ages,” took place on the stage at Ford’s. It was streamed live online and at the National Portrait Gallery for those unable to get tickets inside the theater.
The show began with music and an introduction by Colin Powell. Actors and historians shared words spoken by and about Lincoln including some criticism from his peers to remind us that the sixteenth president was not just the perfect marble version in the Lincoln Memorial, but was a man with faults who loved to laugh, tell stories, and be a loving father to his sons as well as his nation.
Crowds during the candlelight vigil on Tenth Street with Petersen House on the left and Ford’s Theatre on the right at 11:30 p.m.
The sound and emotion of 150 years of history reverberated through the theater and Portrait Gallery courtyard as the audience joined in singing “Amazing Grace,” a song Abraham knew and loved. Following the presentation, most participated in a candlelight vigil in honor of the president’s last hours, which he spent laying diagonally on a too small bed in Petersen House.
Actors in the crowds would suddenly burst into a monologue, telling of how she saw Booth just that afternoon or how he held Lincoln’s head while the doctor examined him. It truly felt almost as if the entire block traveled back in time a century and a half. The vigil and tours of the theater continued throughout the night and culminated in a ceremonial wreath laying outside Petersen House at 7:22 am, the moment Lincoln passed from life into history.
Artifacts at the Ford’s Theatre on display.
John Wilkes Booth wanted to be a hero for the Confederate cause by murdering the American President. He hoped that it would help to erase the name of the Great Emancipator from time, but in fact, his actions did more than any other single episode to make sure that the name of Abraham Lincoln would echo forever throughout the ages.
“Hoola” your dream for having a home based business
By Emma Palova
EW Emma’s Writings
Lowell, MI- Inspired by another woman at the Grand Rapids Women’s Expo last year, Sue Majinska started her home based business with Hoola jewelry seven months ago.
“I love the idea of having unique jewelry that nobody else has,” said Majinska. “And being able to get it at a reasonable price.”
Well, who doesn’t?
Sue Majinska surrounded by Hoola jewelry.
The Hoola interchangeable jewelry comes in individual kits with different pieces. From these kits, you design your own jewelry using a simple process. You start with a hoop, add a hoola, a second hoola and a third hoola or more if you wish. You get a beautiful piece of jewelry that looks a lot more expensive than it is.
The ever-changing jewelry sizzles and shines in daylight or night.
During the interview, Majinska showed two different kits and demonstrated the process how to put the jewelry together. The Silver Shine kit is for $49.99 and the Spring Bling Earring special kit is for $29.99. Each kit has a higher value. The shine kit is valued at $130 and the spring bling has a value of $70.
Hoola Jewelry is a new merchant this year in the GNO event.
“It’s a new concept to West Michigan,” said Majinska.
The Hoola business women are home based jewelry consultants or reps. They come into other houses for Hoola parties for 10 to 15 women.
Although one on one consulting is also available, the preferred way are the jewelry design parties with boxed starter sets.
“You just take a basic hoop and add anything you want to it,” said Majinska. “You get out of one kit over a 100 looks.”
Majinska, who is on the phone a lot, likes the jewelry because of its light weight.
The basic material is fine sterling silver with 7.5 percent alloy to prevent breaking. Sterling silver will eventually tarnish, not by defect, but as a result of exposure to chemicals, cosmetics, hairspray perspiration, direct sunlight, or humidity.
Other interesting materials used to make different jewelry designs are Mother-of-Pearl (M.O.P.) This is a shell with a natural layer of nacre, making it a close “relative” to the pearl. It has a similar luster to pearl and it works well in designing combinations together.
Sue Majinska put on a Hoola demo at the Lowell Expo last month.
The Spring Bling Earrings kit uses the mother-of-pearl hoolas for a colorful fresh look.
The company is a mother/daughter team, Laurel & Lauren Gravelyn based in Chelsey, Michigan.
For Hoola jewelry designers like Majinska, every day is like Christmas.
“How can you not go with that,” she said. “It’s no longer what am I going to do today?”
Most women like putting the jewelry together themselves. As a banker, Majinska deals with math every day.
“This is my creative side,” she said. “It allows me to be creative. I love being around people and socializing. Having a home-based business fits my personality.”
The other fun aspect of the Hoola business is that it moves with you.
“If we want to move, I can take it with me,” Majinska said.
Majinska carries all her Hoola jewelry in one compact bag.
And the company plans to grow all over 50 states. They have reps now in California and Florida.
“I think they would go international,” she said.
The Hoola business is allowing women to be independent and enjoy having options for jewelry that no one else has.
“You have a unique look,” Majinska said.
For Hoola parties, Majinska suggests having at least 10 to 15 people. She puts on a 15-minute demo, and then the hostess and the guests get to design their own interchangeable jewelry. The hostess earns her jewelry for putting on the party.
Majinska did well at last month’s Expo in Lowell.
“It was a great way to introduce the jewelry line to the local area,” she said. “It was time and money well spent. It was nice to see everybody in the community.
Majinska is taking the Hoola jewelry to Girls Night Out on April 16. She will be next to Advance Eye Care storefront along with Pauly’s.
For more information contact Majinska at 1-616-334-6744 or go to her Sue’s Hoola Jewelry facebook page.
Hello to all. I will be writing more about this in May since it is the mental health month, and anger management is important.
However, most recently I was angry at myself for totally dehydrating after I didn’t get up from the computer for eight hours because I was working on a newsletter project. My blood pressure skyrocketed and my heart rate flew to the sky. I forgot to eat or drink the whole day.
I’ve struggled with anger many times for entire weeks or months. Anger roots deeply and sprouts quickly. Sometimes, I think it originates in my past. No matter how hard I tried, I never got the results I wanted. The harder I tried the worse the results.
Anger isn’t a totally negative emotion. If you don’t get certain thoughts out in the open, you will stew inside. It’s a matter of targeting.and how you get it out. I find exercise helps and writing or journaling, and of course meditation.
Rob Goldenstein’s abstract. 
authoremmapalova 