3027 Maybe I should have answered nap to that one question

You Are 29 Years Old

Under 12: You are a kid at heart. You still have an optimistic life view - and you look at the world with awe. 13-19: You are a teenager at heart. You question authority and are still trying to find your place in this world. 20-29: You are a twentysomething at heart. You feel excited about what's to come... love, work, and new experiences. 30-39: You are a thirtysomething at heart. You've had a taste of success and true love, but you want more! 40+: You are a mature adult. You've been through most of the ups and downs of life already. Now you get to sit back and relax.

What Age Do You Act?

3026 Know any good book

shelves? Isn't this a neat idea? Could work in a small space. Self Shelf.

3025 With God and country at the public library.

I can find anything I need about computers, digital cameras, poker, Elvis Presley, movie stars or the latest fiction at my public library. Crafts? I could knit, tat, crochet and scrapbook out the wazoo. But its collection on Christianity and cultural issues from a conservative viewpoint is skimpy--bordering on "banned books." UAPL now has two, yes TWO, evangelical magazines in its huge collection. When I brought the condition of the collection (one) to their attention, they were so puzzled that a reader thought it was inadequate. No one had ever complained they said, and besides, Christian journals aren't listed in their review sources! I even suggested Books and Culture, an excellent Christian review journal, but I guess they couldn't find it listed either.

The poor selection of Christian book titles (if you want to read something other than Billy Graham, Joni Tada, or Rick Warren) is matched only by the selection of politically conservative titles (if you want something other than Rush Limbaugh or Ann Coulter). It's possible all the newer conservative books have been checked out, but here's what I found today on the new book shelf. Not sure why we need four new titles on the founding fathers, all "reclaiming" them for liberal causes, but I couldn't figure out why we needed that fancy, expensive new drive up book drop either.

American Gospel, God, the Founding Fathers, and the Making of a Nation by Jon Meacham, Managing editor of Newsweek.

Founders on religion by James Hutson, Chief of Manuscript Division of the Library of Congress, and formerly of the History Department of Yale. Would you believe that before this book there was "no reliable and impartial compendium?" Apparently previous compilations were prepared by "pious conservatives." Can't have that!

The Faiths of the Founding Fathers by David L. Holmes, College of William and Mary. I must have attended an excellent high school because I’m pretty sure that back in the 50s we were taught that some of the founders were deists and some secularists, but this author thinks this fact has been neglected.

Saving General Washington by J.R. Norton. This author works for Al Franken as a researcher, which makes him an authority on the founding fathers and the right wing assault on our legacies.

Fleeing Fundamentalism by Carlene Cross. Author describes her failed marriage to a fundy pastor; leaves her husband and church. Sob story with a silver lining--she forgives him in the last chapter. Does anyone ever write a failed marriage story about a guy who owns a gas station or who sits at a computer 10 hours a day? But you couldn't bash religion if you did that.

The Christian right or wrong; exposing corrupt teachings. . . by John Card, who holds a B.S. degree in "premedicine" (that would be?) This appears to be privately published and is a reprint of "Big Ol' Christian lies" (2002). Must have been a big demand. Not.

Middle Church; reclaiming the moral values by Bob Edgar who is head of the National Council of Churches, the most left wing "let's play church" group in America. He is a former UMC pastor and 6 term congressman. I wonder which party?

Hidden power by Charles Derber. Glancing through this volume, I’d say it is anti-Wal-Mart, anti-Bush, there's a huge rich-poor gap, and we’re on the tip of fascism. Nice to know what you think of your democratically elected officials, Mr. Derber.

With God on their side; George W. Bush and the Christian right by Esther Kaplan who writes for The Nation and Village Voice. The title tells it all. "A truly shocking dossier of recent religious fundamentalist incursions into the soul of American democracy." Didn't we get a shelf load of these titles in the 2004 election?

The Theocons; secular America under seige by Damon Linker. This guy says he worked as an editor of "its" flagship journal, First Things. Was he the coffee gofer? One of my favorite reads. "A devastating critique" the cover says "of the theocratic ambitions of those who control the Republican Party."

The latest expose of Republican Christians David Kuo's memoir about how poorly he did in the halls of power I didn't see on the shelf, but if it bashes Bush, I'm sure it's been purchased. They haven't missed one yet--best collection of Michael Moore you'll ever find in one building.

Libraries, librarians, conservative books
Reading

3024 Librarian costume out of stock

The skirt is made to look like book covers. And the sizes went all the way up to 275 lbs. Maybe next year. . .
picture from Target

3023 Some blogging updates

The Thursday Thirteen on my food triggers on September 28 has been followed religiously, and the target (I don't like the word "goal") which I wrote down elsewhere on September 25 was to lose my birth weight, 9.5 lbs by the end of October. Although my 46 years old scales (wedding gift) doesn't have fractions, I'm calling it for----ME. The other day I cut through K-Mart looking for an item and went through the snack aisle. Oh my, thought I'd pass out as I passed the Fritos. My exercise routine hasn't been as good as I hoped, what with the weather turning chilly, and all these blogs (9) to supervise.

Also, last week I blogged about the used books I was going to take to the library book sale. You'll be delighted to learn that they have moved from my office to the garage, and have finally made it to the car. While I was at Meier's yesterday, I bought a smallish suitcase for $10 with wheels and pull out handle in a bright lime green which is small enough to keep in my van when empty. I've loaded the books into the suitcase, and today when I return my library books, I plan to drag my little red wagon (which is lime green). I also have stacks of magazines waiting for a new home, so each time I go to the library, I take a load and not strain my back. I thought about one of those folding carts, but this works for my purpose.

Stephanie who writes Skinny Jeans has added some great suggestions to my How not to marry a jerk post which I did back in February.

Today is Halloween, or All Hallows' Eve on the Christian calendar with tomorrow being All Saints Day. But like most Christian holy days, this one has pagan origins and we really do go back to the original plan when we dress up like goblins and ghouls (although the trashy streetwalker look is a newer variation with no tradition). I blogged about this last year. Last night I reread my link to a folklore site.

Michael J. Fox was in Ohio stumping for the Democratic candidate for governor (who will probably win because our current Republican governor is so bad). I'd written about embryonic stem cell research here in May. Fox is just plain wrong headed about this--offering hope where there is none. Yesterday's paper reported the huge private venture capital going into anti-aging research which may have other disease benefits too. The media flogs this looking for new victims. But where is the venture capital for stem cell research. It's not illegal. There is no government boondoggle unless the Democrats control the purse strings. I don't want my tax money being used to clone human cells by destroying embryos--talk about a ghoulish Halloween event year around!

3022 Christmas is coming

Whirled Events gives us Eight gift ideas for bloggers.

HT Back in skinny jeans.

3021 Size matters, apparently

In the coffee shop Friday I heard the man behind me complain, "If this keeps up, by the time I'm 60 I'll be 6'4"." I took a peek at him as he left--he was probably 6'5" and 55 years old. He must be concerned about shrinking. I've lost 1/2" myself.

But did you see the article in the Oct. 30 Newsweek about "Skinny is the new fat?" [p.55] Now I know why I weigh more than at any time in my life and can still get into size 12 jeans, about the same as high school. Apparently, the average American woman weighs 155 lbs and is 5'4" and her waist is 34.5" and her hips 43". (Well, one out of four isn't bad.)

But the "subzero" waist size is 23.5", according to the chart with the article. Now that surprised me. When I was 16 or 17, I had a 22" waist, and wore a size 9. I thought most of the other girls had small waists too. Maybe it was just the crinolines and an optical illusion. But a size 9 would be 6 sizes above a subzero! Sewing pattern sizes varied wildly back then, and in this photo I'm adjusting a size 12 pattern.

Who would want to be a shrinking subzero? Doesn't sound too appealing, does it? Nicole Richie looks like she escaped from North Korea during the government sponsored famine that killed millions.

Ten reasons to let go of your skinny jeans
women's sizes
dress size
sizology

3020 October is American Archives Month: Celebrate the American Record

So I'm a bit late in announcing this, since tomorrow is the last day of October, but I've had such a good time looking at the SAA (Society of American Archivists) site. Here's the message for their members:

"American Archives Month is intended to boost everyone’s current efforts and encourage even more participation. It is a tool that may be used to raise awareness among a variety of audiences, including policy makers, "influentials" within your community, resource allocators, prospective donors, researchers, future archivists, the media (including newsletter editors and community relations departments within your own institution!), and the general public. We encourage you to target your audience carefully, and focus on providing a consistent message that will be most likely to influence the thinking or behavior of that key audience."

I'm much more interested in archives now than I ever was when I was employed as a librarian. But even then, I often had things donated that were not for the library record. Fortunately there was a group in Columbus preserving artifacts, school work and memorabilia of veterinarians. I think every church, business, museum, government department, ethnic group, town, city, club, and family probably has an archive whether or not they realize it. When the oldest member of your family dies, often the history goes with them.

There's a very interesting "Introduction to the principals and practices" of archives next Monday and Tuesday in St. Meinard, IN (practically next door!) which "provides an overview of the core archival functions of appraisal, accessioning, arrangement and description, preservation, reference and access." Looks like it would be a wonderful way to become acquainted with the field, and although the registration is pricey, you sure can't beat the housing and food costs.

Monday Memories of Heritage Lake, Indiana

The date on this photo is 1992 and it was taken at my sister-in-law's home on Heritage Lake, a 320 acre lake near Coatsville and Danville, IN west of Indianapolis. She's a lot of fun and a great hostess, always has a crowd around her. One night while visiting there we went for a moonlight boat ride--it was warm and balmy, the music was playing, we were all having a great time, sigh.

Well, the lot next to her was for sale--$25,000. We decided in the heat of the moon to make an offer--but weren't terribly serious because we already had a second home on Lake Erie. Truly, I've put more thought into buying a pair of shoes. We made an offer through a sales agent (a niece) of $10,000. We knew they'd already turned down $20,000, although since then the husband had died. We left and continued on to my parents' home in Illinois not giving it another thought. One evening we got a phone call from the realtor that our offer had been accepted! We were practically in shock--we hardly remembered the moonlight and the crazy offer for a lot 4 hours driving time from Columbus.

We kept the lot about a year, visiting it occasionally and looking at the beautiful view of the water, then listed it for $25,000, and it sold almost immediately. I just googled a lake front lot on Heritage (don't seem to be many now), and it was around $114,000.

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Heritage Lake, Indiana
vacation property
impulse buying

Missouri, Don't do it. Vote no.

Not all entertainers want to throw money at stem cell research. YouTube Response Ad to Michael J. Fox.

3017 A librarian speaks out about copying

Way to go, Phoebe! Phoebe Simpson is the Technical Librarian & Conservation Specialist at the Rhode Island Historical Society Library in Providence. I was looking her up for verification that she had indeed discovered with some other writings a rare 1644 edition of Bloudy Tenent by Roger Williams, who wrote about separation of church and state, and had his books burned in England. He had immigrated to the future U.S. (Massachusetts) in 1631. I saw the item in Christian History & Biography, Winter 2006, the second evangelical title for my public library, purchased at my suggestion(s). UAPL has at least 40 magazine titles on computers and digital gee-gaws, but couldn't seem to find any appropriate Christian titles.

In my sleuthing, I uncovered some off the cuff remarks she said on a library listserv (discussion group), and thought she sounded like a woman after my own heart.

"Sorry to say, but money still talks. Here is says, "Do your own work." Or expect to pay market rate for the archivist's time."

At her library, you can expect to pay $45 an hour for the first hour, and $40 an hour after that, with deliveries, 4-6 weeks if you don't want to carry your own water--or research. Libraries and archives aren't Kinko's, she says.

She also writes about the damage that photocopying does to documents, "with 1 photocopy equal to 24 hours of daylight exposure and scanning is worse."

"Taking notes," she writes, "was sufficent for 98% of researchers until the blessed advent of ubiquitous photoduplication in the 1980's. Modern culture encourages people to "get a copy" of whatever they can. When the collections are damaged a little bit by every round on the copy machine I don't think it is excessive to encourage people to be selective in what they really need to photocopy (with a $.50 per page preservation charge)." May 11, 2005, Phoebe Simpson, Archives & Archivists List

libraries and archives
Rhode Island Historical Society Library
library preservation
photocopying

End of the month blogbits

With 9 blogs, you'd think I'd get everything said, but when I flip through my notebook at the end of the month, I find little snippets that I thought I would research, comment on, and find links. Here are some:

Defense information school (Dinfos), Ft. Meade, MD trains artists in 66 days to learn what their civilian counterparts at art academies take in four years. They attend 8 hours a day, 5 days a week, and 95% of the recuits complete the program. What are our colleges and universities doing wrong that makes education so time consuming and expensive? WSJ story here.

Temp employment agencies in Ohio are weeding out illegals. ICRA (1986) arrests have increased by 638% in the 3 years since the INS was folded into Homeland Security. Garcia Labor Co. in Ohio was watched for 2+ years before the arrest. Columbus Dispatch story

Opinion page in Dispatch blasts Christians. 2 letters to the editor and a column by E.J. Dionne (WaPo)

Zaha Hadid, Pritzker Prize, architect. WSJ article on 10-19. Don't care if she is a woman, I hated the Cincinnati Centre for Contemporary Art. Why do architects try to make you dizzy?

Pet odors, pet smells. I'll still do this one. Very important not to abuse your pets. On the back burner.

Costs of a second income. How 1 income families get along.

Do children really need expensive vacations? I listed all the favorites our family did. Might be a Monday Memory or Thursday Thirteen.

Firsts. Maybe a TT list.

Who has time for breakfast? Are you abusing your oatmeal? 20 minutes? Yikes, I do 60 seconds in the microwave.

Children of alcoholics. The biological connection.

New activity badge for Boy Scouts about down loading pirated movies and music. They learn about copyright and how to identify stolen materials.

Homophily--birds of a feather flock together. Comments on a WaPo story.

B & D infrawave speed oven. I want it.

Do you want Charlie Rangel to be the House Ways and Means Chairman?

If the Dow were plummeting instead of soaring, do you suppose the media would pay more attention? Maybe if someone leaked it?

Draw a 6 x 6 chalk line and ask 24 lawyers to step within the line. Elevator death at OSU.

Licking Co. (Ohio) Child Support Enforcement Agency is still collecting child support from Joe Randolph even though he's had custody of his children for months after the death of his wife. You need a bureaucracy to really screw up a family.

Service Employees International Union Local 1199 and the Homeless Coalition are trying to thwart Ohio's voter ID laws. They are suing Ken Blackwell, our current secretary of state, and Republican candidate for governor. Update at Volokh When they used voter ID in Cleveland in the primaries, the observers said people brought in everything but the kitchen sink. It's not that hard to prove who you are. Dems want to get illegals to the polls.

Over the past 25 years governments at all levels have collected twice as much in gas taxes as the domestic oil companies have earned collectively in profits. Add on corporate taxes and the govt's total take rises to $2.2 trillion in today's dollars. (WSJ column)

Pets are property, not family. But you should make plans for their care in the event of your death or illness.

Gasoline costs and obesity. Engineering Economist, Oct-Dec 2006

Daddies in coffee shops letting their toddlers run when people are walking with hot coffee.

Mussels don't like Prozac. Getting into Ohio's rivers and streams, female mussels release larvae early. Drug screens for sewage?

What I saw in the ink blot ibm.com/special/cio1

American can do spirit. Illinois river fisherman makes money selling carp to China.

Kahuku High School north of Honolulu has 5 graduates in the NFL--2 in CA and 3 in FL. Beaches and palm trees.

Are you pre-diabetic? There's a plan to list it as "communicable disease" and track you with lab tests. Letting the gov't supervise your fatty acids is like letting it plan levees for a city below sea level.

There are over one million head injuries each year from car crashes, falls and assaults. There are about 250 a year from the War in Iraq. (story about how Progesterone can reduce brain swelling)

"My little Golden Book about God" 2 billion sold since 1942. WSJ article 10-6-06

No load, no Republican mutual funds: "Act blue" and "give blue" investments for liberals: Adobe Systems, Apple, CBS Corp., CVS, Costco, Starbucks

blogging leftovers
ideas for blogs
Current Affairs
opinion
health and fitness

3015 How to confuse a voter

Ohioans have two smoking issues on the ballot this November. Issue 4 is a proposed AMENDMENT to the Ohio Constitution which says it prohibits smoking in enclosed areas except tobacco stores, private residences or nonpublic facilities, separate smoking areas in restaurants, most bars, bingo and bowling facilities, separated areas of hotels and nursing homes, and race tracks.

If it passes, it would invalidate all the local and state laws that currently prohibit smoking (like our favorite restaurant). It is called "Smoke Less Ohio."

The second issue #5 is a proposed LAW which would prohibit smoking in public places and places of employment. It exempts certain locations, including private residences (unless it is used as a business), designated smoking rooms in hotels, motels and other facilities, designated smoking areas for nursing home residents, retail tobacco stores, outdoor patios, private clubs, and family owned businesses. It is called the "SmokeFree Workplace Act."

An Amendment trumps a Law, as I understand it. We have many local and municipal smoking ordinances to protect customers and employees of certain businesses.

No one hates smoking than I do. It is a killer and adds tremendously to our health care costs. However, I don't believe the SmokeFree people will stop with this Law. Eventually, they will try to make it illegal to smoke in your home or car. After protecting the workers, they will go after protecting the children (I can't imagine why idiots smoke with a child or pet trapped inside the car with them, but they do.) I'll vote for #5, but I think we can see what's coming. On the other hand, it is so pleasant to go out and not be choked by smoke and come home with stinky clothes.

Then another amendment to the constitution is to permit 31,500 slot machines at seven horse racing tracks and at two Cleveland non-track locations. This is called "Earn and Learn Initiative" because some of the money is earmarked for scholarships.

Doesn't that sound odd--even if you're a gambler? A constitutional amendment for 31,500 slot machines. Why not 32,000? Why not Cincinnati? This is being pushed on TV with ads that promise the money will go for college scholarships and grants to eligible students. But when you read the amendment, 55% goes to the casino owners and operators, only 30% for scholarships, and the rest is divided among local governments, race tracks and the gaming commission. What a rip off! The TV ads don't say a word about race tracks, only college scholarships.

"Charles J. Ruma, whose Beulah Park racetrack in Grove City made $778,000 last year, would reap most of an average $30 million annual windfall from slot machines if state Issue 3 passes.

And MTR Gaming Group, the owner of Scioto Downs on the South Side, would parlay a $1.3 million annual loss into an average $30 million-a-year income of its own.

If voters approve Issue 3, the so called Learn and Earn initiative, a handful of individuals and corporate interests behind Beulah Park, Scioto Downs, five other Ohio racetracks and two new betting parlors in Cleveland will divide an estimated $1.6 billion in revenue by 2012, according to proponents of the issue." [Columbus Dispatch]

gambling
smoking
smoking bans
greed
dishonesty

3014 Buckeye Homecoming

44-0 doesn't quite seem fair, does it? Yesterday was so cold and rainy (parade, pep rally and tailgate) I couldn't imagine that we would end up with a gorgeous sunny, bright October day, a perfect day for football. You've got to feel bad for those Minnesota players. This seemed to go beyond the home team advantage, to just plain good playing.

Our daughter, son-in-law and his widowed father from Cleveland came over for lunch. Somehow we got to talking about games and I brought out the Boggle game. While the guys retired to the family room to watch (the game before OSU), my daughter and I must have played 10 or 15 sets. She's good! She enjoys words, as I do, but thinks Scrabble just takes too long. Her father-in-law got interested because you can also play it alone. In this game you try to find as many words of three or more letters as you can in 3 minutes. Form words by joining letters up, down, side-to-side and even diagonally. The longer and more unusual the words the higher your score. If you both find the same words, you cross those out and don't score with them.

HOME TEAM WINS FOOT BALL GAME

Ohio State University Football
Buckeyes
Boggle

3013 Before you vote

be sure to read Victor Davis Hanson's assessment of where we are in the Middle East. Then if you still want "cut and run" candidates, pause and say a prayer for all the millions of Vietnamese we sent to their death the last time we did that.

". . . by the historical standards of most wars, we have done well enough to win in Iraq, and still have a good shot of doing the impossible in seeing this government survive. More importantly still, worldwide we are beating the Islamic fundamentalists and their autocratic supporters. Iranian-style theocracy has not spread. For all the talk of losing Afghanistan, the Taliban are still dispersed or in hiding — so is al Qaeda. Europe is galvanizing against Islamism in a way unimaginable just three years ago. The world is finally focusing on Iran. Hezbollah did not win the last war, but lost both prestige and billions of dollars in infrastructure, despite a lackluster effort by Israel. Elections have embarrassed a Hamas that, the global community sees, destroys most of what it touches and now must publicly confess that it will never recognize Israel. Countries like Libya are turning, and Syria is more isolated. If we keep the pressure up in Iraq and Afghanistan and work with our allies, Islamism and its facilitators will be proven bankrupt.

In contrast, if we should withdraw from Iraq right now, there will be an industry in the next decade of hindsight exposés — but they won’t be the gotcha ones like State of Denial or Fiasco. Instead we will revisit the 1974-5 Vietnam genre of hindsight — of why after such heartbreak and sacrifice the United States gave up when it was so close to succeeding." VDH Private Papers

3012 Vocabulary builders

At Liberty Books last night (see previous post) I picked up one or two vocabulary drill books. They always look so interesting, but I know I won't do the exercises. Besides, I have two books on my shelves that I just love--and I don't know all the words yet!

The first is English Vocabulary Builder by Johnson O'Connor published by Human Engineering Laboratory, Hoboken, 1939 [c 1937]. O'Connor opens the book with an article he wrote for Atlantic Monthly, Feb. 1934, about the relationship between vocabulary and success. But note this from "Acknowledgments":

"The International Business Machines Corporation has enabled the Laboratory to have a set of data-handling machines for the accurate assembly of material. The Atwell Company of Boston has made it possible for the Laboratory to have Ediphone equipment which has contributed to the preparation of this volume."
Of course, we know what IBM is, so this book used the latest technology in 1937 (there were 9 men and 5 women listed as collaborators, which may have been less sexist than IT staffs today), but the Ediphone was used to replace stenographers. It was invented by Thomas Edison to compete with the Dictiphone. The Ediphone had a tube to speak in and the voice vibrations would be recorded on a wax cylinder. A secretary would then type up the recording and then shave the used layer of the cylinder so it could be reused.[scripophily.net]

O'Connor arranged this book by order of familiarity. In 1937, apparently just about everyone, including children, knew the word, "horseshoer," so it was #1. Seventy years later, you probably wouldn't find many children who had ever seen or touched a shoe for a horse, and if they had to draw one might sketch something resembling a Manolo Blahnik. Using the latest data crunchers of the time, the laboratory found 55 words known to all adults--including "fragrant," "quench," and "disordered." From known to all, he moves on to "unknown to 1 per cent," all the way through to "unknown to 99 per cent." The last group has words that 70 years later would not be that rare, like "brochure," "unconscionable," "utter," and "detraction." I was a bit surprised to see that 50% of high-schoolers knew the meaning of "elegiacal" and "asseveration" in 1937, which I might figure out in context, but would not likely use.

With most words, he gives the percentage that knew it or thought it was something else, and what group they were in (college seniors, adults, prep-school, etc.) and words that might be confused, like retinue and retainer or annulled and nugatory.

The second book I have is Dictionary of Contemporary American Usage by Bergen and Cornelia Evans, Random House, 1957. It's not really a vocabulary builder, but a correct usage guide. This book is lots of fun--snarky remarks about English all over the place. This book is old now, and the authors warn the readers that the language is constantly changing--that silly once meant holy, fond meant foolish, beam meant tree and tree meant beam. But I still like it, and am not ready to replace it with something until I learn all the words I should have known in 1957. Don't pay more than $1.00 for it if you see it at a sale.

Cornelia was Bergen's sister, not his wife, and his papers are at Northwestern; if you look through the description of the files, her name appears also. They had planned a second edition, but didn't complete it. She was also a novelist and wrote "The Cloud of Witnesses," and "Journey into the Fog," using the name Cornelia Goodhue. They were born in Ohio.

Bergen Evans
Cornelia Evans
English language
Vocabulary

3011 Why you should buy a world map

Last night after dinner (where I once a week forget turnip greens, tomato juice, and eating healthy) we went next door to Liberty Books. I'd been carrying around a gift card for ages. Although I was a bit surprised that my husband agreed to go in (he's got the male non-shopper gene), I thought perhaps he was humoring me. After much browsing for a premiere issue (there were none I didn't have), I selected a $14.95 paperback (I remember when new pb's were $.25, and trade pb's were $1.00), and he walked up to the cashier with a $4.95 folded world map.

"What's the copyright date on that?" I asked. He looked surprised--so did the clerk. It was all wrapped up, but she went online and looked. "All I want is a world map," he said, sensing his prize slipping away. "It doesn't have to have last week's coup on it." "Nope." I said, standing my ground, "if we need a map, we need the latest." "January 2003," the young lady chirped. "We needed something newer," I said. "This was the only one," he persisted.

So we bought the book and the map. I'm such a softy.

Later that evening I noticed it was spread out on the living room floor. I squatted down (which is much easier to do since I've lost 8 lbs.) and started looking over the map. "China doesn't look as large as I remember," I said, "but, my goodness, Russia is huge!" "And here are the Canary Islands that some of the bloggers I read talk about as vacation spots." And then, "Oh my goodness, in my mind's eye I had New Zealand on the wrong side of Australia! It's been a very long time since geography class in fifth grade."

My husband sat there looking quite pleased. "Yes, but now look at how tiny Israel is, and all the surrounding countries that are trying to destroy it." Even with my glasses, it was hard to spot it. And very sobering to know how many countries are doing everything they can to remove it from the next edition of this map.

Yes, do buy a world map.

world maps
book stores
Love
date night
copyright

3010 Almost makes me wish

all my old photo albums hadn't fallen apart. Isn't this a fun site?

Blogger burps

My site meter has plummeted this week to about 200 a day. Blogger has been having significant problems. I checked their updates:

"You need to look no further than our status blog or perhaps your own experiences to know that Blogger had a significant number of unplanned outages this last week (forgive me my euphemisms?) and a handful of planned ones to clean up from the unplanned ones. It’s been a Murphyesque cavalcade of power failures, fileserver trouble, and wonky network hardware, and I hope you’ll believe me when I say that the Blogger staff is even more sick of it than you are."

Don't you just love the techie talk: "Murphyesque cavalcade of power failures," and "wonky network hardware." Right up there with thingamajig.

All I know is, I couldn't upload my photos today, and had to borrow some from one of my other blogs. But we finally got my classmate Sylvia added to the reunion blog.

3008 Fourteen super foods

I've been reading SuperFoods RX by Steven Pratt,MD and Kathy Matthews. It's interesting, but I can't imagine how one could eat all this stuff as often as the authors recommend. Here's the list, along with what the authors call their "sidekicks," or substitutions, which helps expand the group. But read the book for the details on the micronutrients, health benefits and the shopping suggestions.

• Beans--all beans such as pinto, navy, northern, lima, garbanzo, lentils, green, snap peas and green peas. Try to eat 4 1/2 cup servings per week.
  
• Blueberries--purple grapes, cranberries, boysenberries, raspberries, strawberries, currants, blackberries cherries, and all other varieties of fresh, frozen, or dried berries. 1 to 2 cups daily (!).
  
• Broccoli--brussel sprouts, cabbage, kale, turnips, cauliflower, collards, bok choy, mustard greens, swiss chard. 1/2 to 1 cup daily.
  
• Oats--wheat germ, ground flaxseed, brown rice, barley, wheat, buckwehat, rye, millet, bulgur wheat, amaranth, quinoa, triticale, kamut, yellow corn, wild rice, spelt, couscous. 5 to 7 servings a day.
• Oranges--lemons, white and pink grapefruit, kumquats, tangerines, limes. 1 serving daily (can be orange juice).
• Pumpkin--carrots, butternut squash, sweet potatoes, orange bell peppers. 1/2 cup most days.
• Wild Salmon--Alaskan halibut, canned albacore turna, sardines, herring, trout, sea bass, oysters and clams. Eat fish 2-4 times a week.
  
• Soy--tofu, soymilk, soy nuts, edamame, tempeh, miso. At least 15 grams of soy protein, divided into two separate meals and not from fortified products.
  
• Spinach--kale, collards, Swiss chard, mustard greens, turnip greens, bok choy, romaine lettuce, orange bell peppers. 1 cup steamed or 2 cups raw most days.
• Tea--1 or cups daily
• Tomatoes--red watermelon, pink grapefruit, Japanese persimmons, red-fleshed papaya, strawberry guava. One serving of processed tomatoes or sidekicks a day and multiple servings per week of fresh tomatoes.
• Turkey (skinless breast)--skinless chicken breast. 3 - 4 servings per week of 3-4 oz.
• Walnuts--almonds pistachios, sesame seeds, peanuts, pumpkin and sunflower seeds, macadamia nuts, pecans, hazelnuts, cashews. 1 oz. 5 times a week.
• Yogurt--kefir. 2 cups daily.

I'm dizzy. I have a tummy ache. I can't imagine eating 2 cups of yogurt a day! A dollop on my fresh fruit, yes. And soy? Tofu? Eeeyew. I'm fine with the oats, OK with the OJ, turkey and pumpkin--terrific; but blueberries I might have 3 or 4 times during the summer.

And I'm crushed that apples aren't on the list! I eat an apple every single day. A day without an apple is just not worth waking up for. Tea I'll drink when I don't have coffee.

So today I had a big giant Honey Crisp apple, 6 oz. tomato juice, 1/2 cup of turnip greens/turnips mixed with about 1/4 cup of yellow corn (really makes the greens taste better), a 1/2 cup cantelope, 1/4 cup of sliced carrots mixed with 1/4 cup fresh pineapple topped with fat free cottage cheese. And of course, coffee with cream.

And it's Friday so we're going out to eat and I'll have my favorite sandwich (philly cheese loaded with onions and peppers) and french fries. You can imagine how great that's going to taste after mustard greens for lunch.