Alas, a new year dawned on my old pile of magazines, finding it nearly as deep as ever. I'm still wading through...and I've learned:
Golfing can make you deaf. (Discover Magazine January 2009)
The hottest treatment for heart attacks is hypothermia. (This link to NYT article dated December 4, 2008; a longer article in Popular Science is quite good.)
The stem cell answer may lie within. (Discover Magazine January 2009) ...
...and I have too many $#%& magazines!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Monday, January 19, 2009
Friday, January 16, 2009
Words are Cheap, Laughter is Free
Recently I wrote about what fun my son and I had just hanging out the library. I didn't mention the oodles of hand puppets, games, puzzles, and friends we enjoyed there, nor did I mention that we went to the library that day to sign up for one of its many upcoming programs for children. I didn't mention it because I think we all know: libraries are fun. They're also a great source of free entertainment, and I'm talking about more than just being able to borrow a bazillion books, for nuthin.'
But as we enjoyed several of Doris Cronin's books (Click, Clack, Moo; Diary of A Worm) it occurred to me - she's one of those authors whose books all but guarantee belly laughs. Great big guffaws, even. We laughed so loud I was afraid we might be asked to leave :-0
What authors do that for you? Let me know!
But as we enjoyed several of Doris Cronin's books (Click, Clack, Moo; Diary of A Worm) it occurred to me - she's one of those authors whose books all but guarantee belly laughs. Great big guffaws, even. We laughed so loud I was afraid we might be asked to leave :-0
What authors do that for you? Let me know!
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
We're Reading More! So, What?
The New York Times reports that we're reading more books - and specifically, fiction.
When I saw the headline, I thought, well, there's one benefit of this economic disaster. But the experts who comment on the National Endowment for the Arts' annual report don't go there...instead, their scholarly opinions seem to be, who knows what that means?
They're probably right. The increase, the first seen in 25 years, is just one increase. According to the report, conducted by the US Census Bureau, just over 50% of adults surveyed said they had read at least one novel, short story, poem, or play in the previous 12 months. In 1992, nearly 57% answered "yes" to the same question.
I'm not going to second-guess the experts; I can only hope that means we're not as dumb as we've been told.
I will hazard a guess (and hope!) that we'll find ourselves spending more time in libraries. My son and I read and played away two hours at our local library last weekend, and we had a blast - for free. :)
When I saw the headline, I thought, well, there's one benefit of this economic disaster. But the experts who comment on the National Endowment for the Arts' annual report don't go there...instead, their scholarly opinions seem to be, who knows what that means?
They're probably right. The increase, the first seen in 25 years, is just one increase. According to the report, conducted by the US Census Bureau, just over 50% of adults surveyed said they had read at least one novel, short story, poem, or play in the previous 12 months. In 1992, nearly 57% answered "yes" to the same question.
I'm not going to second-guess the experts; I can only hope that means we're not as dumb as we've been told.
I will hazard a guess (and hope!) that we'll find ourselves spending more time in libraries. My son and I read and played away two hours at our local library last weekend, and we had a blast - for free. :)
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Three Cups of Tea For Me
Greg Mortenson is the kind of guy that makes me feel really shallow.
After a couple of decades climbing (real mountains) and a short stint in the US Army, he became an ER nurse - you know, saving people's lives and all that jazz. Then he dedicated his life to building schools in Pakistan. He's still at it, and there are nearly 60 schools to show for it. The schools aren't a true measure of success, of course. The lives the students and their families can lead thanks to what they learn in those schools, now that's success. And joy. And possibly, a road to peace. Certainly, it's a start.
To learn more about the Central Asia Institute that Mortenson founded and the good deeds being done, visit the CAI's website.
If you haven't read Three Cups of Tea, I really think you should. Why should I be the only one getting an inferiority complex?
I'm reading the "grownup" version, and it's not taxing my brain :) but just to let you know, there's also a Young Adult edition and the essential story is soon-to-be-available in picture book format, too, under the title Listen to the Wind. Buy 'em through the link on the Three Cups of Tea website and Amazon makes a donation to the institute. Nice.
After a couple of decades climbing (real mountains) and a short stint in the US Army, he became an ER nurse - you know, saving people's lives and all that jazz. Then he dedicated his life to building schools in Pakistan. He's still at it, and there are nearly 60 schools to show for it. The schools aren't a true measure of success, of course. The lives the students and their families can lead thanks to what they learn in those schools, now that's success. And joy. And possibly, a road to peace. Certainly, it's a start.
To learn more about the Central Asia Institute that Mortenson founded and the good deeds being done, visit the CAI's website.
If you haven't read Three Cups of Tea, I really think you should. Why should I be the only one getting an inferiority complex?
I'm reading the "grownup" version, and it's not taxing my brain :) but just to let you know, there's also a Young Adult edition and the essential story is soon-to-be-available in picture book format, too, under the title Listen to the Wind. Buy 'em through the link on the Three Cups of Tea website and Amazon makes a donation to the institute. Nice.
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Sunrise Over Fallujah = War Lite
Walter Dean Myers' Sunrise Over Fallujah describes the war in Iraq from a soldier's point of view, with a minimal amount of killing and "misting." (Explanation not for the faint of heart, or queasy of stomach.)
The 280+ page book bears a copyright date of 2008, and although the book is timely it's not quite up-to-date - the "war is over" theme repeated throughout might have seemed almost possible while Myers was writing it...but we know better now.
I have no real comparison at my disposal, as I'm just not into war books. As I recall I gave up on Catch 22 before I made it halfway through that dreary work. All I can really say for this book as a YA is there's no sex, and only enough killings to make it seem really, truly a book about soldiers on the ground. There are no answers, no characters that are all right and all wrong, and fortunately, Myers stays out of politics.
Too bad more folks don't.
The 280+ page book bears a copyright date of 2008, and although the book is timely it's not quite up-to-date - the "war is over" theme repeated throughout might have seemed almost possible while Myers was writing it...but we know better now.
I have no real comparison at my disposal, as I'm just not into war books. As I recall I gave up on Catch 22 before I made it halfway through that dreary work. All I can really say for this book as a YA is there's no sex, and only enough killings to make it seem really, truly a book about soldiers on the ground. There are no answers, no characters that are all right and all wrong, and fortunately, Myers stays out of politics.
Too bad more folks don't.
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