314 Such a wonderful description

Joseph Epstein, who wrote Envy (2003) has an article in the WSJ today about the gloom and doom attitude of many Conservatives. He describes a speaker with the following wonderful sentence:

So devastatingly gloomy was his prognosis that it could have plucked the smile out of Christmas, the cliches out of the Fourth of July, the joy out of a beagle puppy.

And later he mentions "double parking at the wailing wall." Isn't that great--the writing, I mean, not the speaker.

313 Exercise and mental fitness

A small note in USAToday and a long article in the Columbus Dispatch today noted that Ohio State researchers have determined that exercise helps older people maintain mental sharpness. The study involved people with COPD and it is assumed the results will translate to healthier older people. Still, I was a bit surprised to see the juxtaposition of skills listed:

follow a recipe

keep track of pills

learn computer programs.

So I went home, took my pills, walked for 20 minutes, then turned on the computer.
On-line version of USAToday article.

312 A Plug for McDonald's

While on the road last week, specifically at an exit near Brighton, MI, I had the new McDonald's Cob Salad with grilled chicken. Pillowed with field greens, the chicken, blue cheese, bacon, chopped egg and grape tomatoes with a peek-a-boo sliver of carrot was a tasteful $3.99 in a nice plastic salad bowl with cover and a choice of dressings by Paul Newman. It was so good, I ordered it on the return trip. The greens were fresh and the chicken was hot, and it felt so good to get out of the car. It has 270 calories (I assume without the dressing), 9 grams of carbohydrates, 11 grams of fat, and 33 grams of protein. I use only about 1/4 of the dressing package.

To be accurate, this is the description on a McDonald's site

Grilled Chicken Breast Filet: Boneless, skinless chicken breast filets with rib meat containing: up to 12% of a solution of water, seasoning [salt, sugar, garlic powder, onion powder, spices, whey, flavor (maltodextrin, natural flavors (vegetable source), dextrose, monosodium glutamate), partially hydrogenated soybean and cottonseed oils, Romano cheese (Romano cheese {milk, cheese cultures, salt, enzymes, calcium chloride}, nonfat dry milk, disodium phosphate), parmesan cheese powder (enzyme modified parmesan cheese {milk, cheese cultures, salt, enzymes, calcium chloride}, nonfat dry milk, disodium phosphate), xanthan gum, cheese flavor (dehydrated cheddar cheese {cultured pasteurized milk, salt, enzymes}, maltodextrin, autolyzed yeast extract), extractives of paprika (color), potassium sorbate (preservative), citric acid, and less than 2% silicon dioxide added to prevent caking], partially hydrogenated soybean oil and partially hydrogenated corn oil with citric acid (preservative), sodium phosphates. May contain wheat from contact with Crispy Chicken Breast Filet. Salad Mix: Iceberg lettuce, romaine lettuce, spring mix (may contain baby red romaine, baby green romaine, baby red leaf, baby green leaf, baby red swiss chard, baby red oak, baby green oak, lolla rosa, tango, tatsoi, arugula, mizuna, baby spinach, radicchio, frisee), carrots. Bleu Cheese: Bleu cheese (pasteurized milk, cheese cultures, salt, enzymes), powder cellulose to prevent caking, natamyzin to protect flavor. Bacon bits: Cured with water, salt, smoke flavoring, sodium phosphate, seasoning [gum acacia, smoke flavor, maltodextrin, hydrolyzed corn protein, natural flavor (vegetable source), autolyzed yeast extract, hydrolyzed corn, wheat, and soy protein, modified cornstarch, contains less than 2% of disodium guanylate, disodium inosinate, natural flavor (vegetable oil), salt, succinic acid, xanthan gum], sodium erythorbate, sodium nitrite. Chopped boiled egg. Grape tomatoes.

Newman's Own® Cobb Dressing:
Water, soybean oil, high fructose corn syrup, distilled vinegar, blend of parmesan, Romano and granular cheeses (part skim milk, cheese cultures, salt, enzymes, whey, lactic acid, citric acid), corn syrup, corn starch, salt, spices and natural flavors (fruit and vegetable source), egg yolks, olive oil, anchovy* (dextrin, anchovy extract, salt), maltodextrin, xanthan gum, basil, lactic acid, garlic*, red bell pepper*, parsley, oregano, molasses, Worcestershire sauce {distilled vinegar, molasses, corn syrup, water, salt, caramel color, garlic powder, sugar, spices, tamarind, natural flavor (fruit source)}, onion*, yeast extract, oleoresin turmeric, oleoresin paprika. *Dehydrated

311 Why Women Like Kerry

In today's USAToday (April 27) is the snapshot "Who Would Do a Better Job of Managing the Economy Over the Next Four Years?" 35% of women say Bush, and 48% of women say Kerry. I wonder why that is? Maybe they can identify with him.

He hasn't owned a business or been a CEO of one, or been part of a management team in business.

His spouse has more assets than he does.

He believes that reassigning money he hasn't earned to "do good" is the best way to solve societal problems.

He likes to change his mind on issues and can talk both sides of an issue without coming to a conclusion.

He's got great hair.

310 Magazines look at bloggers

While researching one of my other blogs In the Beginning about premiere issues, I noticed this tid-bit in Folio about trends in magazines and how the net is affecting everything from content to design of print magazines.

But the new news on the Net is blogging, which fills an evident need for storytelling (on the part of the reader as well as the writer). Maybe magazines will take the hint and return to telling stories. The New Yorker, once commercially dubious, has roared back to life with the narrative form. Now all we have to do is attach an art director to this idea. To tell picture stories. That might get people to pick up more magazines. Here's another novel solution to the newsstand (and subscription) problem: originality in design. "The Trend is--there is no Trend," by Roger Black, Folio, March 1, 2004

The entire March 1 issue deals with design, attractive, functional and inviting. The articles are well worth reading because the principles apply in other areas too, particularly buildings and landscape.

309 Festival Report #3

I went to two presentations by Lauren Winner, author of “Girl meets God,” an autobiography by a 24 year old Orthodox Jew who converted to Christianity. She was the only presenter (of the sessions I attended) who prayed publicly before her presentation, and despite her young age (I think she is under 30) was the only woman presenter (of the sessions I attended) who dressed like anyone would care about her appearance. She is now Anglican, so perhaps her modest appearance is from her Orthodox life. However, when she was paired with a rather bombastic male author, Stephen Bloom, author of “Postville,” and a former press secretary for a politician, she seemed to quietly disappear from the stage as he took over the discussion.

Notes for writers (of memoir): Your siblings will remember it differently. Notes about life: On balance, protecting family and friends outweighs historical accuracy--and don’t forget about the lawsuits.

James Calvin Schaap (pronounced SKOP) was chosen because I got lost and couldn’t find the presentation I had marked. (Lovely campus; horrible signage) What a wonderful serendipity. He is a professor of English at Dordt College in Iowa and explained how he used ideas from his career as a journalist to be fleshed out in his fiction. If you are homesick for Iowa (or any of those flatter Midwestern states) we were treated to a 12 minute CD of his photography called “Chasing the Dawn; a Meditation,” which I think is available through Dordt College Press.

Notes for writers: “Great stories are in your neighborhood--use experience and imagination.” Notes about life: He is currently writing a book about Laotian Christians, relocated in the USA. Working through a translator, he interviewed a Laotian woman about her job in an Iowa meat packing plant, a job he thought too terrible to even imagine. She told him she loved her job because, “In Thailand I had to butcher the entire cow.”

I went to two presentations by Laurie R. King who read an original midrash which she said will be part of a collection of stories--readable, but which will contain source material. She also appeared on a panel with two other mystery writers, Michael Malone and Terence Faherty. I almost never read mystery fiction--King's being the exception because of book club--but after listening to these three I just might start.

Note for readers: Readers go to mysteries to get the great novels of the 19th and 20th century. . . You can bring the world in. . .moral, social concerns. Note for writers: many mystery writers on the best seller list.

These three probably had the best advice for writer-wannabees of any of the authors I heard. Malone was the head writer for "One life to Live," a day-time soap, which is how he supported himself between books. Fans keep the memories alive. Faherty keeps two series going, the Owen Keene series about a failed seminarian and the Scott Elliott books, set in post WWII.

I also attended a presentation by James Ransome, the illustrator of children's books who visited Highland School here in Columbus a few weeks ago. Nathan Bierma, who appears on my blog roll gave a presentation on blogging which was well attended. My goodness, he is young!

308 Festival Report #2

There were some heavy hitters for the presentations at the larger facilities which drew the largest crowds. The Field House was not a comfortable spot to sit for 2 hours, as you can imagine, although sports fans seem able to tolerate it. We also attended some larger gatherings at the Sunshine Church, off campus, but definitely designed for comfort and communication, with comfortable seating and good acoustics.

Thursday night we enjoyed Katherine Paterson, a popular children/young adult writer, whom I’d never read, but she had a huge number of fans there from the college and surrounding communities as well as attendees.

Notes for writers: “Tell the truth,” she said. Notes about life: She also commented on a writing workshop she did for prisoners. She has been a foster mother and has also written about a boy who had been in foster care. “I asked the roomful of prisoners how many had ever been in foster care, and every one of them raised his hand.”

Friday was definitely the heaviest day--with so many concurrent sessions that it was difficult to choose. The Friday evening session at Sunshine was given by Joyce Carol Oates. Neither of us was interested in that, so we went to a local shopping center, found a Naturalizer store where we could buy sensible librarian shoes, and ate at a pleasant restaurant with huge portions and reasonable prices. The reason we skipped this one was simple--we’ve read her.

Saturday had two large gatherings at the Field House--in the morning was Barbara Brown Taylor, an Anglican priest who is now a college professor and in the afternoon the delightful Leif Enger, who wrote “Peace like a River,” and who lives on a farm in Minnesota and appears on NPR. Rev. Taylor loves words and is a wonderful writer/speaker. Her faith, although beautifully expressed, is where I was 30 years ago and I don’t want to go there ever again.

Notes for writers: “Words are meant for the ear. The page is where they audition.” Notes about life: “People who won’t go to R-rated movies often come to pastors about their own R-rated lives.”

Enger wrote poorly received mystery novels with his brother that he seems a bit embarrassed about now, and then developed his acclaimed novel because his son is asthmatic and he started from the perspective of a boy who had asthma. Even from a bit of a distance, you can see the twinkle in his eye, and the women swooning over his good looks.

Notes for writers: “Write with passion.” Notes about life: “Gratitude defeats despair.” Enger read aloud from his favorite book, “Wind in the Willows.”

A third large gathering on Saturday (I assume it was large, but I wasn’t there) was at Sunshine Church given by Frederick Buechner, who has written more than 30 books of fiction, non-fiction and auto-biography. Again, I’m not familiar with him and didn’t attend, but I could see his books were selling well at the publisher’s exhibits. By the time he spoke I was eating a hot-fudge sundae somewhere around Rt 30 and 23 in Ohio, ready for the last leg home.

307 Festival Report #1

“Are you a writer? Not really. I’m a reader.” I heard that a lot at the Festival of Faith and Writing last Thursday through Saturday, and truly, if you love to read, write--even in a journal (one session was on blogging)-- or you are connected in some way with library or publishing work--this is the dessert table at the banquet of books. The next Festival will be in 2006, so save your nickels and dimes and vacation time.

The campus of Calvin College is beautiful with sensible parking plans, also a visual, well-endowed feast of 70s and 80s architecture (campus relocated around 1960), the young student staff who manned registration and snack tables was polite and helpful, the English and the Communications faculty who introduced all the speakers were articulate and knowledgeable, and the schedule was full and tight but manageable with shuttle service.

However, most importantly, the programming was planned to please those interested in a variety of genre and writing styles--criticism, drama, publishing, music, fiction, writing for children, poetry, non-fiction, story-telling, memoir, e-media, and traditional media. There were a variety of formats including workshops, panels, lectures, readings by the authors, musical performances, stage productions, “conversations with. . .” and lots of opportunities to meet with the authors at book-signings.

Founder Dale Brown writes: "We come to this place with hope for more good ideas, more good words, more ways to think about the lives we lead. . . Imagine a gathering that combines the erudition of a literary conference with the heat of a Billy Sunday revival." (Conference program)

306 Great weather continues

This is the final day of the festival. Some long walks today, but gorgeous weather. I'm passing through the lovely library on my way to the chapel to hear Lauren Winner and Stephen Bloom talk about their faith. I've just left a wonderful presentation by James Calvin Schaap of Iowa. He read some of his non-fiction journalism material to show how he reuses some ideas and events in his fiction. A fantastic presentation--I think the best I've heard.

305 Festival Thoughts

I'm here in Grand Rapids at the Festival of Faith and Writing. I've heard some great speakers/writers and am taking a break until I hear Nathan Bierma at 4:30. What a lovely city. And this looks the way a small campus should look.

304 A lovely bed and breakfast

While we were in Oregon, IL over the Easter week-end, we walked up the hill and around the corner and visited the Pinehill Inn, a bed and breakfast with a variety of rooms and prices. The hostess gave us a tour of the lovely Italianate country estate, built in 1874. I'm wondering if at that time, it might have had a view of the Rock River, which now would be obscured by the town. The owner also showed us the cook book that contains some of her recipes. Until August she has a wonderful picnic special thrown in for week-end guests. Check it out at http://www.pinehillbb.com. The web site shows a view from the rear, which is even prettier than the street side.

303 Which city?

Take the quiz: "Which American City Are You?"

San Francisco
Liberal and proud, you'll live your lifestyle however you choose in the face of all that would supress you.

The choices are a bit limited. If you like to drink coffee with your friends, you'll probably be in San Francisco--with me.

302 Who's to blame?

You've got to laugh--or weep. The Car Talk by Tom and Ray column in Saturday's paper carried a question by a mother of a teenager who'd had a small disaster with the car. The teen was driving the 1995 Dodge Neon to school and a sudden thunder shower flooded the parking lot. But the girl drove into the parking lot in deep water and cracked the block. The mother's question: Who is responsible for the damage? Dodge or the school? I think you can figure out who Tom and Ray thought was responsible.

Although I can't find the actual column at their website, it has a lot of useful information--safety, financing, shopping, insurance, etc.--so bookmark it.

301 Church of the Holy Amyloid

Sharon Begley seems to be fighting a one woman science journalist battle--two articles in the Wall Street Journal about the amyloid hypothesis and Alzheimer’s. She points out in her first article on April 9 that after 20 years of following the theory that the disease is caused by the accumulation of sticky plaques made of beta-amyloid, maybe it’s time to look at alternative theories. Brain autopsies of many elderly that have amyloid plaques do not have any symptoms of Alzheimer’s--some normal brains have more amyloid than Alzheimer brains. She writes quoting a researcher: “Powerful people in this field think that amyloid causes Alzheimer’s and won’t consider research that questions the amyloid hypothesis.” Results of alternative research was published in the journal Neuron.

Her second article on April 16 concerns the difficulty of funding research and then publishing anything that goes against “Church of the Holy Amyloid.” In the Journal of Neural Transmission Glenda Bishop published her research that showed rat brains injected with beta-amyloid suffered no more cell death than brains injected with salt water. Researchers looking at other possibilities have seen their grants evaporate. The challenges rest on solid science, claims Begley, but because amyloid research has dominated Alzheimer’s research for so long, almost all the experimental drugs and vaccines in the pipeline are predicated on that.

300 Bloomed where he was planted

Over at Boogie Jack’s Amost a Newsletter there is a story about his brother, who has been named Volunteer of the Year in Iowa. Dennis’ brother began beautifying his home town of Marshalltown, Iowa with hanging baskets of flowers, grown by him in his own green house and maintained by him--all without government funding. Boogie Jack’s newsletter is about designing web pages, and I started reading it when I had a web page at the university. Now I read it because Dennis is always positive and upbeat about life and technology, and even has an advice column about personal problems since his readers ask him everything. Take a look--you’ll become a fan, too. Many of his offers are free and he has great suggestions for making the web a more readable, interesting place to hang out.

299 Room with a View

One of my favorite cable TV channels is HGTV--Home and Garden, especially the make-over and real estate search programs. I was surprised this week to see what is considered "a view" in California real estate.

An artist who owned a 1 bedroom home with a small studio for her painting was looking for a 3 bedroom with a studio, but with a view and good light, something she could afford as she became increasingly successful in selling her paintings.

We saw her and the realtor trudging up many hillside steps and investigating several homes, the first two too small. The third seemed to be perfect, because she thought she could add a studio either over or behind the garage (this would never fly in our zoning here because of coverage rules). However, what surprised me was "the view" for all those homes. The houses for sale were on a hillside, therefore overlooked a valley--the view was roof tops. In all cases, they admired the view as the camera panned. Maybe you had to be there. Maybe there were mountains when the smog lifted. I like trees and open spaces and creeks in my view.

I noticed an ad in USAToday for a home in Bozeman, MT, which I believe is one of the prettiest states in the nation. For $519,000, which was probably the price range of the tiny hillside California suburban home with a view of roof tops, this artist could have purchased 2.54 acres, overlooking a stream, a contemporary log home with 3,700 sf, 5 bedrooms, and 3 baths--and a spectacular view. You can paint anywhere--why not in Montana?

298 Keep your mind sharp

Having just spent a few days with friends and family, some of whom I've known for over 60 years, I heard a lot of regrets about misremembered or forgotten names, faces, and facts. Today the local paper had a syndicated article on how to keep your older brain sharp. The author only listed nine things, but I think there are more, so I’ve added numbers ten through twenty. I think there must be thirty, so e-mail me if you think of any more and I'll add them to the list. Actually, I would put my number ten at the top of the list to start the week out right.

1. Socializing--listening as well as speaking.
2. Music--listening as well as performing.
3. Puzzles--crossword is good; jigsaw too.
4. Games--even the old standards like checkers and chess
5. Activities like Toastmasters--helps to organize your thoughts
6. Visit museums and art galleries
7. Reading--try a genre you don’t like (mysteries, science fiction)
8. TV (this some seems a little weak to me)
9. Volunteerism--mentor, nursing home, animal rescue, environment, food pantry

10. Corporate worship, listen, sing, kneel, shake hands
11. Physical activity like dancing, hiking, aerobics, walking
12. Attend City Council and school board meetings
13. Attend support group meetings--Al-Anon, Tough love, Over-eaters, Visually impaired, COPD, etc.
14. Become a fan and supporter of a lesser known sport--women’s lacrosse, volleyball, crew
15. Write your memoirs in a group where you listen and share the discussion
16. Learn some introductory phrases in a foreign language
17. Become a conversation partner or reading volunteer
18. Try one new recipe a month and invite a guest for dinner
19. Learn the names of all the bushes and trees in your yard, then your street, then your neighborhood
20. Choose a long standing problem and solve it in 30 or 90 days

297 The Silk Road Redevelopment and Highway 64

The Wall Street Journal April 14 carried a story about the pain of redevelopment along the Silk Road in China. The Nighurs are seeing their markets and towns disrupted and the rents are soaring. The Han workers and retailers are taking over their bazaars.

It made me think of the reconstruction going on along Routes 2 and 64 in northern Illinois, through the little towns of Oregon and Mt. Morris. In Oregon the townspeople have tied ribbons around the huge trees they want to save. In Mt. Morris, it is too late--it looks like Hitt Street has taken a hit indeed--like a tornado or bomb practice has wreaked havoc on a town already suffering losses in business and closed schools from fire and consolidation. At the IDOT website the map shows a tiny smear of orange right through Mt. Morris--no other "improvements" on that main artery. The Oregon project, which is still being developed, doesn't show at all.

It makes one wonder who in IDOT (Illinois Department of Transportation) never lived in a small town graced with 150 year old trees, where the homes may be the only asset many people have, where the townspeople stay because of their neighbors and values even when the employers and retrailers leave them. I'm guessing these IDOT bureaucrats live in protected cul-du-sacs in tree lined suburbs of Chicago and Springfield. It makes one want to follow the money to find out just who dreamed up this scheme which must be benefiting someone who obviously doesn't live in either town.

296 New URL for Church of the Acronym

I have four blogs. I have made changes in templates and URLs and names over time as I learn this system. I haven't been able to figure out how to take down the old URL without eliminating the whole file, so this is a reminder to change your bookmarks to http://churchacronym.blogspot.com. While that site was closed for repairs, I noticed an ad for new floors (I have not control over the ads).

295 The Widows of 9-11

The Wall Street Journal has an editorial by Dorothy Rabinowitz about "widow fatigue."

"Out of their loss and tragedy the widows had forged new lives as investigators of 9/11, analysts of what might have been had every agency of government done as it should. No one would begrudge them this solace.

Nor can anyone miss, by now, the darker side of this spectacle of the widows, awash in their sense of victims' entitlement, as they press ahead with ever more strident claims about the way the government failed them. Or how profoundly different all this is from the way in which citizens in other times and places reacted to national tragedy. . . " And she goes on to describe the horror of the bombings in Britain in 1940 and 1941.

As I've watched and listened to the hearings, and read the criticism of both the Clinton and Bush Administrations I'm wondering if in the long run they won't benefit President Bush.

Afterall, the most hateful critics of Bush seem to be crying, in hindsight, that he should have been aware of how to stop 9/11 even on vague, poorly worded intelligence summaries. These same people wanted him to take preemptive action, like racial profiling of Arabs in the country legally, taking legal flight classes. On the other hand, they didn't want him to take preemptive action when he had very specific intelligence on WMD, which haven't been found yet. They wanted him to take action against terrorists in the summer of 2001 without any support from allies, but didn't want him to take action in 2003 when allies who were in cahoots with Sadaam wouldn't support him.

The 9-11 hearings are so political they are starting to smell really bad. And the widows are diminishing the memories of their loved ones, behaving as though the lives of the rest of the nation have no meaning at all as they play into the hands of the terrorists and set us up for more tragedy.