3038 Close, but no cigar.

A WSJ reader, writing about what ails married people commented this week, "Alcoholism and domestic violence, not gay marriage, not pre-nuptial agreements, not no-fault divorce, not co-habitation are the real threats facing families in this country." [Anthony Smith, Arlington, VA] I didn't read the article he was referring to, but just based on his letter, I'd have to disagree. Alcoholism and violence may be a problem for some, but of the marriages I've seen dissolve in the last 40 years, none were for those reasons. In fact, I've seen some incredibly "stable" marriages that are quite pickled in alcohol because of the dependency thing. What I see breaking up marriages is infidelity, greed, materialism and lust for power. The things he says are not a problem are just those problems with new faces.

Friday Family Photo

The Bruce home in Elwood, Indiana



C.L. Bruce's father had disappeared when he was very young. He originally come to Elwood, IN to look for him and worked in the glass factory as a glass blower. He answered an ad for a room in the Heffner household, and met his future wife, Abbie. His future father-in-law who owned a sawmill liked him and gave him a job in the Elwood office. Soon he was in charge of the mill and coal office. He ran for Mayor of Elwood and promised street lights, but lost the election (making his wife quite happy). Abbie inherited money and property from her father, but C.L. was sort of a visionary and added an auto dealership to the sawmill and coal business.

The family first lived in a home owned by Abbie parents, then they had this big house in the photo at 902 South Anderson, opposite Abbie's parents. Abbie died of diabetes when my husband's father, the youngest of 9, was about 4 years old. After C.L. lost his business during the Depression, the family moved back to the smaller home on D Street. To earn a living he went on the road selling fruit, and the 3 younger children were left alone, the youngest my husband's father. They lived for awhile in Marion, IN, with their father and then the two youngest moved to Indianapolis to live with an older sister and finish high school. So my husband and his father attended the same high school, Arsenal Technical High School.

About 10 years ago we drove to Elwood to see if we could find this house. We had only a photograph and a street name. We found a beautifully restored early 20th century home and the owner came out when she saw us taking photographs. She invited us in, and we were just amazed by the beauty and woodwork, and how she had decorated it so authentically for the period. However, at some point she mentioned that there had never been children in this home which is why most of the appointments (elaborate carvings) were still in tact. We realized we were in the wrong house, because C.L. and Abbie had 9 children. We drove further on the street and found it--cut up into many apartments, wrapped in wide, fading aluminum siding, and the porch filled in. It was enough to make you cry.

Adding some Color to my diet, pt. 3

Tomatoes! Pizza is one of my triggers that I wrote about at Thursday Thirteen which I'm avoiding. However, if you read up on tomatoes, pizza is practically a health food! They are great in the summer, and I love it when our son brings over tomatoes fresh from his garden, but they are also terrific when processed, particularly in juice or tomato paste.

Photo used with permission of SusanV who writes a vegan blog
I've always included tomatoes in things like chili, stew, and fresh salads, so I'm not sure this is a new addition as much as an increase. I'm drinking 6 oz. of tomato juice every day. I buy the small cans, because I don't like to drink it cold. I discovered that one of the reasons I always got a stomach ache from tomato juice was that I was drinking it chilled. It tastes much better at room temperature.

Lycopene is the hot word in tomato research. This carotenoid is found in tomatoes and is one of those antioxidents, running around battling those bad things that cause prostate, breast, pancreatic and intestinal cancers. Even catsup is good for you (that's a tomato product I rarely eat). I'm having a colonoscopy at the end of the month (the only test you can take that will actually prevent cancer), and studies show that blood levels of lycopene were 35% lower in people with polyps (the little growths that are removed before they become cancerous).

Tomatoes have lots of other good things--like vitamin C and vitamin A. My 6 oz. of juice has 90% of the C for the day. They are also a good source of potassium, niacin, vitamin B6 and folate, good for cholesterol levels, blood pressure and keeping your blood vessels healthy. There's a lot of research out there showing tomatoes' cardiovascular benefits. Tomato juice helps reduce blood clots, and there's some good studies going on for benefits for diabetics.

This article at World's healthiest foods lists the journal sources if you'd like to check the research yourself. Even if you can't read all the big words, you can look at the summaries and conclusions and see how often the research is cited by others.

So, go out and have a pizza tonight.

Part 1, bell peppers
Part 2, grapes

carotenoids
lycopene
tomatoes
diet
Healthy Living

3035 Teenagers and high risk behavior

Although we were all shaking our heads around here when an Ohio State freshman was killed trying to exit an elevator in which 24 young bodies were packed (a 6' x 7' space), we sort of knew what was going through their heads when each followed the other on the way to that young man's death. Kids that age don't seem to understand consequences, and that's what Sharon Begley was writing about in her Health column today in the WSJ. She says there is new evidence that teens underestimate risk--of STDs, pregnancy, drunk driving, etc. She wrote:

"Young people are especially bad at resisting risk when they are with their peers and when they make decisions on the spur of the moment--the emotional brain hijacks the logical one, so knowing the numberical risk of driving drunk won't stop them. That information is suppressed." So apparently is the knowledge about weight loads in elevators, even though it's posted in every elevator I've ever been on. So apparently is experience, since many of these kids had probably been in that same elevator when it balked between floors with fewer passengers.

I was reading her article and watching the people coming in to Panera's (bakery, deli specializing in fresh and creative meals) for the Friday Follies--that's where someone from the office buys a huge shopping bag full of goodies to take in to work--brownies, huge bagels (about 450 calories) with packets of cream cheese, sweet rolls, bear claws, etc. I'm guessing 90% of the people I saw in line were overweight, and about 10% were grossly obese. All were adults.

If education, experience, pain, poor health, medical warnings, peer pressure and controlled impulsivity mean anything, Ms. Begely, why are adults not using these in making day-to-day food decisions?

3034 Adding some color, pt. 2

Yesterday I wrote about adding bell peppers, red, yellow, orange and green to my diet. Today I read that the green peppers are a bit more bitter, so I'll try to use more of the other colors. Also, I didn't know that pimento and papricka were made from bell peppers. One site described them as the "Christmas ornaments of the vegetable world."

But today I'll mention black seedless grapes. I bought a bunch yesterday, washed them and put them on the kitchen table; they are almost gone. So yummy. Grapes contain flavonoids and that's what give them their vibrant purple color, which you find in grape juice or red wine. The stronger the color, the more flavonoids.

This week the Wall Street Journal and NYT have been running articles on resveratrol, which some venture capitalists are betting has a future as an anti-aging drug. AP highlights here. Resveratrol and Quercitin, two compounds in grapes, appear to decrease degenerative diseases we associate with aging, such as cancer, dementia, diabetes, vascular disease (heart attack and stroke), macular degeneration and arthritis. People like the French who consume high fat diets but also drink red wine, have a low risk for heart disease.

Besides just tasting good (and I liked these black grapes better than red or white), they

• increase levels of nitric oxide, which helps reduce clot formation
  
• decrease blood clotting by red blood cells
  
• increase levels of alpha-tocopherol and antioxidant activity
  
• protect LDL cholesterol from oxidation
  
• inhibit protein tyrosine kinases
  
• inhibit the production of the blood vessel constrictor, endothelin-1, key contributing agent in heart disease
  
• directly affect (through resveratrol) the heart muscle cells, by inhibiting angiotensin II, which reduces the heart's ability to pump efficiently
  
• through resveratrol, cardiac fibroblasts are prevented from changing into myofibroblasts
  
• grape skins contain saponins which bind to and prevent the absorption of cholesterol
  
• red wines have more saponins than white wines
  
• grapes also contain pterostilbene, which is known to fight cancer and may help lower cholesterol--it is also found in cranberries and blueberries
  
• grape juice, not just red wine, has cardiovascular benefits too without the risks of alcohol consumption, or migraines which sometimes occurs because of additives. Six glasses of grape juice are about the same as 2 glasses of red wine in reducing platelet aggregation.
  
• Resveratrol has been identified as a possible cancer preventive agent, and provides protection against benzopyrene
  
• resveratrol has anti-inflammatory properties and is an activator of an enzyme (Sir2) seen in extended life span studies

Information taken from The world's Healthiest Foods

Another advantage of drinking a glass of red wine at dinner is the socialbility factor. We wouldn't sit and discuss the possibilities of the Ohio State vs. Illinois football game Saturday over a glass of tomato juice or grape juice. Somehow, with a glass of Shiraz, it is almost tolerable and interesting.

Thursday Thirteen

Thirteen things about finances women need to think about

I jotted these ideas down from several different articles I've seen in the last month. With boomers starting to retire, there's a lot out there about women and finances, because the push to get women in the workplace and out of the home began around 1970.

1. Today, women are much more likely to have a successful career than their mothers or grandmothers.

2. They are also more likely to inherit wealth.

3. They will work fewer years than men because of time out to raise children.

4. They are more likely to be getting their health care through their husband’s job.

5. They have higher divorce rates than my generation, which affect their pensions and health insurance.

6. The average age of widowhood in America is 55.

7. Women are more likely to be focused on the present, and tend to postpone important decisions that will affect them 20 years from now. It's a lot more fun to plan a birthday party than read the business section of the paper.

8. Fewer than 1/2 of women have a retirement plan. That would be me until about 20 years ago.

9. Women actually prefer a female financial advisor, but there aren’t very many. No comment. I like our guy and he's younger than us.

10. Gen-Y women are often too busy paying off student loans, credit card debt and leisure expenses to worry about retirement. Gen-X hasn’t done much better. I did no retirement stuff until I was in my 40s, then I started putting the maximum allowed in my 403-b, so it is possible to catch up. But we are savers by nature and have never had a penny of credit card debt--you’re a different generation.

11. 45% of 65 year old women will live to be 90. Women should be saving $5,000 a year starting at age 25 to maintain a middle class lifestyle when they are retired. It’s called the miracle of compounding interest (and the impossible dream, in my opinion).

12. The poverty rate for elderly women is nearly twice that of elderly men (13. 1%) and they live an average of 6 years longer. Most of these women were comfortable when their husbands were still alive. Elderly widowers are more likely to remarry (someone younger) which keeps them out of nursing homes, and they have a chauffer, cook and companion. Because I have a teacher’s pension, I am not eligible for my husband’s social security--so you need to know the law when planning.

13. Uncle Sam is a poor step-father for your children, and an even worse live-in boyfriend when you're older. He’ll keep you poor and begging for life if you start depending on him. Marriage and the extended family is still the best financial and health safety net you can have--but take care of yourself.

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! Leave a comment and I'll add your name and URL. View More Thursday Thirteen Participants
Visitors and visited:
Amy, BabyBlue, Barb, Barbara, Beckadoodles, Blessed Assurances, Brony, Bubba, Buttercup and Bean, Carey, Carmen, Caylynn, Chaotic Mom, Chelle Y., Cheryl, Cindy, Dane, Danielle, Darla, Dawn, Denise, DK Raymer, Domestic Geek, Dorothy, Factor 10, Faerylandmom, Expressing myself, Friday's Child, Gattina, Ghost, Irish Church Lady, It’s all about me, Jaime, Jane, Janeen, JB , Joan,, Joy Renee, Just Tug, Kate, Kathy, Kaye, Kelly,Kendra, Lady Bug, Lazy Daisy, Mrs. Lifecruiser, Lyndsay, Lynn, Ma, Mama Duck, Mar, C.A.Marks, Mary, May, Michelle, Mistress of the dark MommyBa, N.Mallory, Nat, Nathalie, Raggedy Randy, Ribbiticus, Shannon, The Shrone, Southern Girl, Sunny Days, Sunshine Blues, Susan, Tammy, TC, Test, Tigerprr, TNChick,

3032 What it costs to smoke

How do I count the ways? My heart and hopes are with my 38 year old son who has been smoking half his life. When the morning cough and the expense ($8/day--almost $3,000/year) became alarming, he made another resolve to quit. He's made some really good progress this week, and is down to 5 from 45 cigarettes a day.

My husband grew up in a home with smoking parents. His mother who was very fair and blond lost about 5 inches of height in her later years and had a lung tumor (non-operable). Smoking is much harder on women than men. She quit smoking about 5 years before her death (I think she forgot she smoked), and actually recovered some brain function. When I met my husband nearly 50 years ago, he coughed every morning but he wasn't a smoker. We think he probably coughed at least an hour or two each morning when he worked in an office where smoking was allowed. I can remember in 1967 when I was in graduate school at the University of Illinois and he drove me to class, he would cough all the way from our house to the drop off on campus--probably a 20 minute drive. When he went to work for a downtown firm in Columbus in the mid 70s in an older, poorly ventilated office, he told them he would quit if they couldn't get him away from the smokers, so they stopped letting the employees smoke in the office. Over time, smoking has been eliminated in most public places, even stadiums, but I remember when the library employees smoked behind the circulation desk--patrons didn't, but staff areas were OK. And in retail stores--the clerks were all smoking at the registers. You couldn't get away from it. It was bizarre.

I heard Rush Limbaugh complaining today about the liberal conspiracy behind the smoking initiatives in various states. Rush may be right that the backers are liberals, but I hope we can stop issue 4, which will again allow smoking in bars and restaurants, and pass issue 5 which will stop it. Apparently, Rush hasn't noticed how many people earn their living working as waitresses, bar tenders, bussers and kitchen help in restaurants. A public non-smoking law was passed in Scotland this year, and within a month, when they tested the employees of restaurants, there was a huge improvement in their lung function (reported in JAMA).

Vote NO on #4, the amendment to the Ohio Constitution, called euphemistically, "Smoke Less Ohio," which will bring smoke back to our restaurants, hotels, nursing homes, etc.

smoking laws
anti-smoking laws
smoking ban
smokers
Ohio
Politics
Smoke Less Ohio

3031 Go Martha!

USA Today noted that "more than 18 months after Martha Stewart was released from prison, the company she founded continues to show signs of recovery. Advertising revenue for her magazines rose 75%.

Seems that college tuition is up almost 290% in the last 20 years, and hospital services are up 280%. The Consumer Price Index is up 84.3%. That means housing, fuel, food and beverages, electricity, new cars and apparel rose more slowly than 20 years ago. I suppose it depends on where you're spending your money. Tuition averages $5,836 at a public university today, or $12,796 when all expenses are considered.

Blacks seem to be leaving the plantation. USA Today highlighted 6 African American candidates for Senate and Governor today. Three were Republicans and three were Democrats, although the one who got the most inches was Democrat of course.

The Ohio Supreme Court ruled last Wednesday in a 4-3 decision that publicly funded, privately operated charters schools are constitutional. I know the unions won't give up and it will come back at us again. Judge Alice Robie Resnick wrote a dissenting opinion. She's our Supreme Court Judge who's had 2 drunk driving convictions in less than a year. She says she'll resign next January, but I wonder why she thinks she can do her job on the bench if she doesn't have enough brain cells left to know she should stay off the roads while under the influence.

We're still squabbling here in Ohio about voter ID. I pity the poll workers. My absentee ballot hasn't arrived yet, although my husband's came yesterday. I 'm sure all this confusion will cause the Dems to cry foul, if they lose. Did you read that dead Democrats are outvoting dead Republicans 4 to 1? Saw that in the Poughkeepsie Journal.

3030 It's not an apology

if you say, "I'm sorry you were offended." Not to your wife, or best friend, or the Army and Marines. Someone let Kerry know so he can try it again. He could choose:

• "I regret what I said. It was rude and untrue."
  
• "I'm so sorry I denigrated our service men and women serving in Iraq. They are the smartest and best we've ever had. Above the national average."
  
• "I'm such a klutz--I tried to insult the President, but insulted you guys instead, and I am sorry. Then I kept making it worse. What a doofus."
  
• "If I'd been a better student myself, maybe I wouldn't keep making these dumb, haughty mistakes. Forgive me?"

John F. Kerry
How to apologize

3029 Adding some color to my life

Once I eliminated all the food triggers from my diet, life at lunch got a bit boring. Not that a sandwich and chips are so beautiful, but I liked the crunch. So I've been trying foods I rarely, or never ate, either because they don't agree with me, or I just didn't like the taste. One thing I'm eating a little of each day, to ease myself into liking, then loving (hopefully), is chopped bell peppers. In the past I've used them in my paintings, but I don't think I ate these.

Summer's Bounty
They are pretty on a salad--red, yellow green, and Meijer's sells small cartons already chopped, so I don't have to buy several and throw half a soft bell pepper away if I don't eat it. Also, they do have a distinct flavor that truly doesn't trigger my taste buds to ask for more!

According to the World's Healthiest Foods website, they are a wonderful addition to my diet, and will protect me from free radicals. I'm not positive what a free radical is, but I think they are like the political radicals, running around with placards shouting deceptive ideas hoping we'll lose the war against heart disease, diabetes and cataracts. In their little red, yellow and green antioxidant uniforms, peppers police the pro-disease rallies of the radicals and throw them out of the parade, tying them up with fiber and hauling the dirty rotten scoundrels off to jail for trial as traitors to our systems.

Red peppers contain lycopene which might help with cancers of the cervix, bladder and pancreas. Peppers contain a lot of vitamin C, beta-carotene, and folic acid, and their consumption is associated with reduced risk of colon cancer. So we've got below the waist covered, right? What about above the waist and neck? If I were a smoker (thank God I'm not) the vitamin A in peppers might help protect me against lung inflammation and emphysema. Long lived smokers have probably been eating peppers! But there are people who get lung cancer who don't smoke, so eating foods in the red-to-yellow family, like bell peppers, pumpkin, papaya, tangerines, oranges, peaches and corn, offer some protection. Some day if I have to have cataract surgery, the red bell peppers will reduce that risk.They're tasting better already!

Bell peppers are in the nightshade family along with eggplant, tomatoes and white potatoes.

bell peppers
Healthy Living
weight loss
nutrients
cardiovascular disease
triggers

Technorati's search by authority

In checking what questions brought people to my site today, I noticed a technorati search on "politics," and was surprised to see that when those thousands and thousands of blogs were sorted by the "authority" limiter, I was number 2. It seems to select by the number of blogs that link here, which for that service was 815. The first on the list had 816. I don't know how this if figured because TTLB says I have about 560 links coming in. I'd never used the authority filter for those large searches. Looks like something I need to look into.

These searches recorded by my site meter are funny. Today someone's question was "my step son wants to be a nudist," so it found the blog I wrote about 2 years ago which mentioned my great grandmother cared for her daughter's retarded stepson and that my dad had recently arranged for his funeral. Blogs that pass in the night.

technorati tags
statistics counter

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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My visitors and those I'll visit this week are:Ma, Viamarie, Mrs. Lifecruiser, Debbie, Lazy Daisy, Lady Bug, Janene, Michelle, Anna, ChelleY. Jen, Melli Becki, Paul, Friday's Child, Irish Church Lady,Cozy Reader

Heritage Lake, Indiana
vacation property
impulse buying