2298 I love this gal's name

Tara Parker Pope, the medical/science columnist, had an extensive article in the Wall Street Journal today about the mixed reviews and studies on vitamins--ran through the whole list of maybes, probably nots and NoNo's. Studies are suggesting that these mega doses some are taking may be doing more harm than good. If you eat all the colors, you’ll get most of all you need, or maybe a multi-vitamin. Some disease problems that are helped by A or C, cause other problems by encouraging other conditions like heart or cancer. $7 billion a year business. WSJ is usually a pro-business paper, but when the women write the stories, they often have a very skeptical slant. I love her name. Have written a poem about her.

Tara Parker Pope--
such a lovely name;
sing it, play it,
hang it on a rope.

Tara Parker Pope,
she of Wall Street fame;
read her, write her,
She will help you cope.

2297 I have no use for this on-line calendar

but I loved watching the demo for Airset, and if I were managing a group, and children's activities and my social life, and going crazy doing so, I'd sure give this one a try. I saw it at Joel On Software, a software developer who writes clearly about techie stuff on his blog, most of it over my head. I'll probably stick with Boogie Jack, but peek at Joel once in awhile. Billo gave him the nod.

Is the code for that plug-in that everyone's using to enter links of visitors on MM and TT free? I sure see a lot of people using it. Instead of the blogger entering the code, the reader does it. Saves a lot of time, I'm sure.

2296 Needs a bit more color

Honda has an ad "Introducing Shannon Banks. The next Chief of Surgery." An attractive African American woman about 19 or 20 is in the operating room "poised to make great contributions to medicine." The ad promotes Honda's "All-Star Challenge and "Battle of the Bands" for HBCU. Story about this and Shannon here.

The anesthetist, surgeon, O.R. nurse and patient in the ad are all white. I think we've made a bit more progress than that in the last 50 years.

Here's a funny minority ad that I've missed, but read about in Business Week. Grupo Gallegos (Hispanic advertising firm) won an award for this one: an Energizer battery ad showing an Hispanic man, with an arm transplanted from a Japanese man. He couldn't stop taking pictures with his new hand.

2295 I hate to buy shoes

They are all ugly. They are all size B or wider. If they don't have my size (8.5 AA), they bring out 9.5 or 7.5. I hate to shop for shoes. I think I know why everyone I see on the street is wearing clunky, fat athletic shoes. Today I walked into the shoe department at Kaufmann's Department store. The shoes were lovely and beautifully displayed. Be still my heart. I would have bought 10 pair in a minute. I picked up one--think it was an Anne Klein, but not sure--and took it to the help desk (or whatever it is called these days) where two young men stood. "Do you have this in a 8.5 narrow?" "We have no narrows," the American-looking clerk said. (The middle-eastern looking guy with an accent didn't know, or didn't understand.) "None at all--not in any style?" I persisted in disbelief as I looked around at the huge selection. "No. None." All the little old bag ladies you see wandering the malls are probably there looking for shoes.

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2293 Has anyone followed up on this?

Or protested the unfairness of one group making more than another?

"A white woman with a bachelor's degree typically earned nearly $37,800 in 2003, compared with nearly $43,700 for a college-educated Asian woman and $41,100 for a college-educated black woman, according to data being released Monday by the Census Bureau. Hispanic women took home slightly less at $37,600 a year.

The bureau did not say why the differences exist. Economists and sociologists suggest possible factors: the tendency of minority women, especially blacks, to more often hold more than one job or work more than 40 hours a week, and the tendency of black professional women who take time off to have a child to return to the work force sooner than others."

Reported at my blog via AP in March 2005. Story here in USAToday.

I looked, and someone had blogged about it from the left, disagreeing with the stats, natch.

2292 Ladies, take notice

A casually dressed man always looks more business-like in slacks than you do in a pants suit. You won't get to the position you want by dressing like a guy.



And fellows, that bag over your shoulder will always look like a purse, no matter what you choose to call it. If you have something to say, just come out with it.

2291 Could they explain how they do this?

Laureate International Universities, based in Baltimore, runs 24 for-profit universities in 15 countries. In 2005 it logged profits of $85.7 million (revenue $875.5 million). UVM in Mexico enrolls 67,000 students on 21 campuses and costs about $4,000 a year.

FLUENCY IN ENGLISH IS A GRADUATION REQUREMENT.

Maybe U.S. colleges could try this.

(Story from Business Week, March 13, 2006)

2290 Things get ugly

if you try to protect children at a public library these days. Try to add filters to computers to block explicitly sexual material or move adult entertainment materials to adult sections away from the children, and all sorts of folks pop up who don't have children or don't live in your community. They'll march to the tune of "no censorship."

Just look at the mess the Upper Arlington Public Library has made of public relations and child protection in a request by a parent to move free Gay periodicals from the library entrance. The issue has always been called a "ban" or "censorship" in the local media and by library organizations. How silly. It is neither. These are not subscription items; the library doesn't purchase them. They are dropped off by the distributer/publisher in stacks for people to pick up as they please. There are probably 30-40 free-circ newspapers and magazines that come and go in this part of central Ohio. They are completely supported by advertisers, not subscribers. They cover sports, parenting, art, religious sects, the environment, animals, pets, entertainment, careers, young women, old women, senior citizens, decorating, fashion, Hispanic community, African American community, restaurants and cooking, and so forth. At least two I've seen are specifically targeting in advertising and articles, the gay community, but there may be more. And that includes photos, diagrams and how-to articles on performance, enhancements and techniques, either safely not so safely. Some depictions are pretty gross and graphic. Generally speaking, this not what parents like to find in the 10 year old's backpack when he comes home from the library where many go after school for unsupervised "safe" environment until the parents get home from work. But for desensitizing children to the dangers--well, these publications will work for that.

Stacks of these newspapers used to be in the large soaring attractive entry of the main library building next to the park and grade school (all the parking lots adjoin), but I've seen them in drug stores, coffee shops, grocery stores, and book stores. I've read a lot of these publications because at one time I'd planned to write an article about free-circ publications (they are not indexed or tracked by any library publications or databases--and remember this because it is IMPORTANT*). They provide a lot of jobs for free-lancers and ad-writers. Writers have told me that they pay well, too. I retired before I completed my research and finally threw out my huge collection of yellowing and faded late-1990s papers.

No public agency or private business should be required to give distribution to ANY free-circ publication. If I print up a bunch of my poetry, let's say 50 copies every week, and stack it inside the library door for people to pick up, and the librarians or library board decide they don't need my stuff cluttering up their tax supported building, it isn't censorship or banning my rhymed and metered offerings to my muse. And it isn't censorship for a library to say "We're not giving space for distribution of adult sexually explicit material." I know why librarians support not removing the material, even to an adult section of the library, but the library board? Now that really puzzles me. I thought the solution to move them inside the library actually gave some shoddy material more respectibility than they deserved; but once that bad decision was made, moving them to the adult section away from the children looked like a good compromise.

Here's the story in This Week, a local paper. I have no idea how long they keep their stories on-line.

*When I requested that the library add more Christian magazines to its collection (there was only Christianity Today to represent our culture from the evangelical viewpoint) I was told that the titles I suggested were not indexed in the library's periodical database or covered in the usual review sources that recommend publications. Also, Christianity is apparently a "subtopic" in collection development, if it is conservative, and therefore outside its collection guidelines. The two gay publications that were in the lobby, are in fact also cataloged and kept in the periodical section. I'm pretty sure since they are free-circ that they are not indexed or reviewed in standard library publications.

2289 My new Cat's Meow

I collect Cat's Meow lighthouses--there are far more produced than what I have, and I haven't found any in recent years. This week my friend Bev gave me a new one, "Marblehead Lighthouse and Perry's Monument" painted in 2005. I keep them at our cottage on Lake Erie.



On the back: "Marblehead Lighthouse and Perry's Monument Marblehead, Ohio Marblehead Lighthouse, at the entrance to Sandusky Bay, is the oldest lighthouse in continuous operation on the Great Lakes. Built from native limestone in 1821 for $5,000, the tower stood 50 feet tall; 15 feet more were added at the turn of the 20th century. Over the years 15 keepers, including two women, cared for the light which began as 13 whale oil lamps. Today the beacon projects a green signal visible for 11 nautical miles." [This painting by my husband is of the keeper's cottage.]

Cat's Meow products always have the little black cat in the painting which is done on a wood cutout which are not 3 dimensional. Unless I've never seen it from this angle, I'm not sure Perry's would look this close. However, it is a delightful addition to our little cottage.

The webpage is lots of fun with far more variety of products than I imagined (because I only look for lighthouses). I didn't even know Cat's Meow was located in Wooster, Ohio!

I also have a few Sheila lighthouses, which are 3 dimensional.

2288 Workshops for guitarists in Ohio

Back in the 80s I thought I'd learn to play the guitar--it was part of my "mid-life crisis plan." 1) Get my ears pierced, 2) learn guitar, 3) take aerobic dance. I don't have any ear lobes to speak of, so it sounded like a good idea. Got my kids all excited that Mom was going to "get with it." Well, I never did #1 (squeamish) or #2 (too difficult), but I did take aerobic dance for several years, lost about 15 lbs and found a job through one of the instructors.

After listening to The Chapin Sisters, I thought I'd throw in this information about the Fur Peace Ranch in Meigs County, Ohio. Jorma Kaukonen, guitarist for Hot Tuna and a founding member of Jefferson Airplane and his wife run the place and offer instruction. Here's the web site. I saw an article about it in the March 2006 Kiplinger's. "If you don't have a creative outlet, you wake up one day and you're 65 years old with nothing better to do than walk the mall in shoes with Velcro closures." [quote from that issue]

2287 The National Security Strategy of the United States of America

The WSJ says that "promoting democracy has become the central theme of Mr. Bush's second term," based on this report.

2286 I've learned a new coding trick--I think

Blue Star Beth and her sisters and cousins and brothers are always adding fancy stuff to their blogs. So today I tried just one little thing. And I did get it to work the very first time. I coded a link so it would open a new page instead of leaving mine. This is useful because if you are like me, you start clicking on links and lose track of where you started. I'd seen this code before but wasn't sure how it worked. If I try to type the code and then save this entry, blogger will smack me and tell me I've done something illegal, so I'll just refer you here to the Blogger Forum. Now, if I've done this right, you should see that window open without losing mine, so you can come back and finish reading all my good stuff like How not to marry a jerk, or my defense of Hillary Clinton.

Thirteen things about my date to the St. Patrick's Ball
1. Balls at the University of Illinois were usually sponsored by a campus wide or large organization and held in more public places like the Armory or the Athletic building; dances were for the individual fraternity, sorority or independent residence. Other balls during that era were Sno-Ball, Beaux-Arts Ball, Military Ball, Interfraternity Ball and Panhellenic Ball.

2. Balls always had a nice dance band or small orchestra; dances usually a combo. To not have live music would have been unthinkable. There was also a photographer to take a formal portrait. I can't find the 1959, so the photo is from the 1960 Ball.

3. First we had a coffee date to get acquainted, since the St. Pat's Ball was an invitation from a guy I didn't know.

4. I borrowed a red lace dress from my housemate Sally who was slightly smaller.

5. My date wore a jacket that had belonged to his grandfather, who was slightly larger.

6. I weighed more than my date.

7. He borrowed a car from a friend.

8. I was 19 and living in McKinley Hall.

9. He was 21 living in Armory House.

10.My date was one of the few good dancers I'd ever dated. We went to many more dances.

11. He was a city boy, I was a small town girl.

12. He probably wanted to impress me so he told me that night he'd like to marry me.

13. He did.

Visitors and other Thirteeners: 1. Kimmy, 2. Carol, 3. Natalie 4. PJ 5. Kelly 6. Libragirl 7. Denise8. Scouser 9. Momma A 10. Tanya, 11. TNChick, 12. Carmen, 13. Jane, 14. 15. Jade, 16. Dariana, 17. Froggie, 18. Courtney, 19. Kontan Jou, 20. Lingerie Lady, 21. Mr. Roe 22. Mar 23. Lazy Daisy, 24. Melli, 25. Lauren, 26. Elle, 27. Robin 28. Karen, 29. Karin, 30. Renee, 31. Shelli, 32. Amy the Black, 33. JK 34. Master Enigma

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2284 Why teachers have more voice problems

When I was browsing the internet looking for vocal warm-ups and singing tips, I came across the Voice Academy which is for teachers. It is sponsored by the University of Iowa. Here's why teachers have so many problems. When you think about everything from the environment and acoustics of the classroom to the illnesses of the children, it makes a lot of sense.

1. Teachers simply use their voices more each day than most other professionals.
2. Teachers get little recovery time - typically working five days a week with only two-day weekends to rest. Personal and sick days are few and far between.
3. They are constantly exposed to students with sniffles and sore throats. Viruses and other upper respiratory episodes usually wreak havoc on the voice.
4. More children are hard of hearing as compared to previous generations. [Do you suppose it's their music?]
5. Environmental conditions. In particular, chemistry, art and industrial education teachers are exposed to irritating fumes. Chalk dust, dusty ventilation systems, low humidity, or molds can all contribute to vocal tissue irritation and difficulty voicing.
6. Many classrooms have poor acoustics.
7. About 75 percent of all teachers are female. Since women usually speak at a higher pitch, their vocal folds collide more times each day than those of men.
8. Teachers probably haven't been taught healthy ways of speaking. Knowledge of optimal voice use from disciplines such as speech-language pathology hasn't crossed over to the field of education. Also, when teachers have a voice problem, they may be unsure how to seek help.

There's some really interesting information at this website.

The Chapin Sisters

I had a pleasant surprise today visiting Natalie's Thursday Thirteen. She is a record/performer/music buff (loves the 60s), both old and new. In one of her posts she mentioned that the Chapin Sisters were a really nice group to listen to and provided a link to I don't love you. I love it. I've listened several times, resetting the button thingy. Simple guitar, sweet voices. They are the daughters of Tom Chapin and their half sister (they have the same mother). I wrote about Tom Chapin July 28, 2005 as a performer at Lakeside.

I didn't care for the Chapin Sisters' web site at all--found it squashed and not easy to read or navigate, but I did find a nice album cover at their dad's site.



Thanks for the tip, Natalie. I'll be back to visit some more of your suggestions.

2281 My ridiculous invention

Glenn Beck was doing an over the top routine on the new Idol show about inventions. Like the watch alarm that goes off when the hand gets near the mouth, or the butt crack designer jeans that actually has creative cut outs placed strategically and then is marketed to 15 year olds, not plumbers. So he's having a contest for the most ridiculous invention.

I won't submit this because I think someone ought to get a Small Business Administration loan and go for it. Invent a nice smelling hand cream, one for sugar junkies and one for salt freaks that emits an odor like raccoon feces when the hand dips inside the package or touches the plate of the offending food. The fat, or salt or sugar triggers a chemical in the cream, and you'd have to head for the nearest rest room and scrub down. After a few tries, my hand, like Pavlov's dog would be avoiding that bag of Fritos. But not right now.

2280 Help us plan our trip

I get a brain freeze when it comes to trip planning. I'm pretty good at the "Why don't we. . . " part, and paralyzed when it comes to final decisions. This summer we're planning to go to Helsinki, Finland to see Finn friends whom we met in the late 1970s. She's a veterinarian and he's an architect. And while we're there and so close we plan to go to St. Petersburg, either by train or by bus. We are working with a woman who helped us in 2003. Today she was riding in a car with another woman and mentioned what she was doing. The other woman said not only had she taken that exact same trip, but she had visited the couple we are planning to see (and indirectly she knows me too through my former job at the vet college).

So my husband called her, and of course, got a million suggestions because I think they stayed in Helsinki 9 months, not 2 weeks.

If you've been to Finland, or to St. Petersburg, I'm open to suggestions, especially any small tour company you might have used, little restaurant you loved, vistas you enjoyed, etc.

I've already told them I won't go naked in the sauna at their summer cottage.

Virtual tour of St. Petersburg

2279 Harvey's unhappy

He decided on his 40th birthday to come out to his doctor, a major emotional breakthrough for him*. He was disappointed that "he did not discuss my sexual history or recommend that I be tested for HIV, nor did we discuss the need for hepatitis A or B immunizations." And when he was at the registration desk of a hospital he was listed as "single," when he told them he had a partner. Harvey, I feel your pain. No one has ever suggested I be tested for HIV, and I've even had to inquire about a tetanus shot when I got a new kitten and "should I be worried about this spot on my arm."

In our diversity-hysteria society it must be very tough for doctors, pharmacists, lawyers, police, and school teachers to say nothing of bakers and candlestick makers to know what they are legally allowed to ask or advise. How many ways are there to spell l-i-t-i-g-a-t-i-o-n? It's just a suggestion of course, but if anyone, gay, straight, bi, tri or trans thinks he/she/they might have gonorrhea, syphilis, chlamydia, lymphogranuloma venereum, hepatitis, HPV, or any of those other "fun diseases," just speak up. Anyone can fill in the "who to notify in an emergency" box. It may not be legal in that jurisdiction to even ask you what you've been doing with your free time and with whom. Harvey, by the way, IS a doctor.

[*NEJM, March 2, 2006]

2278 Recruiting hospitalists

The term "hospitalist" first appeared about 10 years ago in the New England Journal of Medicine. The term seems to be a bit squishy and nebulous and my spell checks flag it, but I think it means "there's a doctor in the house," the same one most of the time looking after other doctors' patients. Originally, doctors "in transition" took these jobs while waiting for something better to turn up. Now it is considered a specialty. Today I was perusing the ads for hospitalists in JAMA and noticed it's either a growing field, or no one wants those jobs, because there were a lot of ads. Also, some ads promote the location more than the job--unless there was nothing to say about it, then said nothing.

1. Hartford, CT: Upscale living choices, easy access to NYC and Boston, first rate schools, pleasures of coastal environment. . .
2. Brunswick, ME: 1/2 hour north of Portland, minutes from the ocean, good schools, serene life style, boating. . .
3. New York City: says nothing about the location, assuming I suppose that everyone knows the Big Apple. . .
4. Prince George's County, MD: I think the ad writer hopes all readers will know this is a DC suburban area, but she could be wrong . .
5. Indianapolis Community Hospital: not a word about the city or location. No oceans, no mountains. Just my relatives.
6. Denver: beautiful Rocky Mountains . . .
7. California: beautiful central coast. . . pretty vague, but at least it isn't LA. . .
8. Eugene, OR: major university, PAC-10 football, pristine rivers, forests, lakes, snow covered peaks in the Cascades. . .