Bath Shower Home Design

by Carla Nappi CONJECTURES #4 For the most part, working professional historians bring to their sources a fundamentally forensic sensibility: they tend to treat their archival scraps like so many clues , which, rightly read, permit the reconstruction of events and persons. There is much to be said for this program, which works pretty well. But it does have its limits. For instance, certain old tidbits afford a queer intimacy with the past that seems to exceed their evidentiary utility. A death mask may display, trapped in white plaster, a single hair once belonging to the human whose visage we contemplate. The hair is of severely limited utility to a practicing historian, yet it rather seethes with an urgent presencing of the past — and that clearly has something to do with the work of history. So what’s to be done? In this excerpt from a larger project, the imaginative historian of Chinese science Carla Nappi permits a dreamscape to rise from four archival fragments — four obliqu...

The privacy, comfort, luxury and extreme sanitary conditions that we associate with our bathrooms today are the result of thousands of years of civil engineering and social change. Indoor plumbing, flushing toilets , heated water, water pressure , electricity and ventilation may be features we take for granted in our modern bathroom. But all of our bathroom’s high tech gadgets had a long history in the making. Although humans have always had the need to use toilet facilities and have used bathing as a way to cleanse themselves, it took centuries for our culture to bring these two important functions together into one convenient room. Let’s explore the fascinating history of the bathroom and see how much, or how little, has changed. Ancient Societies and Public Bathing When we talk about the activities we perform in our bathrooms today, we tend to speak of everything that relates to taking care of our bodies: washing, bathing, cleaning, relieving ourselves, manicuring our outer appear...

A Eulogy for the Greatest of Grandmothers My earliest memory of my grandmother was at Brule Lake. I couldn’t have been more than three. The quilt frame was stretched wide and filled up the width of the cottage. Gram, my Mom, and maybe an aunt (I don’t remember how many women were there, or who they were), were quilting on one of the nine quilts my grandmother made for each of her grandchildren. Shiny needles, bending in and out, up and down, creating a pattern on the bottom that was an echo of the kaleidoscope of colors on top. I can still feel the fabric brushing the top of my head as I salamandered around beneath the fabric, a little moving bump from the top, my own private cave beneath . “Be careful, or we’ll stitch your head!” Someone chided me and so I ran, top speed out from under the frame, only to be caught in a wide swipe of Pawpaw’s arm, netting me like a fish as I raced by where he sat in his chair by the wood stove. In my little world, Grandma was always a party. She arriv...

Sevierville, Tennessee, known for their slogan “ Where Smoky Mountain Fun Begins ,” is nestled near the base of the Smoky Mountains , beside Pigeon Forge and only a few miles from Gatlinburg. Originally known as “The Forks of the River”  due to its location between the Little Pigeon River and the French Broad River , Sevierville was renamed in 1794 and declared the county seat of Sevier County.  Today, Sevierville is a bustling town filled with family friendly activities . Located ten miles from The Great Smoky Mountains National Park , it’s a great place for a family vacation , romantic weekend, or Girlfriend Getaway. Planning a trip to Sevierville? Use this Travel Guide to Sevierville, Tennessee to find activities for everyone. If you are planning a trip to the area, your first stop should be the Sevierville  Visitors Center , located at 110 Gary Wade Boulevard . You’ll be greeted by Woody the Bear, affectionally known for being one of their hardest workers.  You can pick up broc...