A Lily Bard mystery, by Charlaine Harris. In this one, Lily goes to her hometown for her sister's wedding. Lily is also dating a private investigator who just happens to get a case in that town. Of course Lily's brother-in-law-to-be is suspected of having kidnapped a baby eight years earlier.
Lily and her boyfriend investigate and crack the case AND make it to all the wedding functions. Plus Lily gets to beat up a couple men AND babysit several children.
We don't actually get to experience Christmas in Shakespeare (though we do hear what Lily thinks of blinking Christmas lights -- hates them!), but it's a fun read anyway.
Friday, July 31, 2009
Book 65: An Ice Cold Grave
I'm reading through the Charlaine Harris novels as quickly as my library can get them for me.
This is the third Harper Connelly novel. She finds dead people as a result of being struck by lightning.
In this one, she travels to a town that has several missing boys, and some of them are extremely unlikely to be runaways. She finds them, and then of course she is kept in town by the police, as usual. How else would she find out who killed them?
A psychic friend and her grandson make an appearance, and Harper's relationship with her stepbrother evolves further.
As always, a fast read with likable,unique characters, murders, and bad behavior.
This is the third Harper Connelly novel. She finds dead people as a result of being struck by lightning.
In this one, she travels to a town that has several missing boys, and some of them are extremely unlikely to be runaways. She finds them, and then of course she is kept in town by the police, as usual. How else would she find out who killed them?
A psychic friend and her grandson make an appearance, and Harper's relationship with her stepbrother evolves further.
As always, a fast read with likable,unique characters, murders, and bad behavior.
Book 64: Shakespeare's Champion
Another Charlaine Harris novel starring Lily Bard. In Shakespeare's Champion, a bodybuilder is murdered right before the competition. Lily still just wants to mind her own business, but she gets involved in solving the crime again.
She's tough, unaccomodating, honest, and doesn't have patience to waste on social niceties. She is a lot of fun.
Meanwhile, this novel's crime is related to some white supremacists who want to revive the old days when whites could kill blacks and get away with it.
It's an interesting mix of a light-hearted style with serious subject matter. As always, Harris makes great characters and interesting plotlines.
She's tough, unaccomodating, honest, and doesn't have patience to waste on social niceties. She is a lot of fun.
Meanwhile, this novel's crime is related to some white supremacists who want to revive the old days when whites could kill blacks and get away with it.
It's an interesting mix of a light-hearted style with serious subject matter. As always, Harris makes great characters and interesting plotlines.
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Running from a Squirrel
On Friday I walked out front to check the mail, passing under the tree next to our driveway. There was a cute little squirrel sitting up on its haunches. Awww.
Then it started to run towards me! I told it, "No! No!" but it scurried closer and closer. I was obviously forced to run in the other direction, taking a longer route to the mailbox.
After retrieving the mail, I had to pass the squirrel again. Again, it was sitting so cutely, looking around innocently. Again, it began to run towards me! This time I managed to speed walk past it, rather than actually running. I looked back, and it was still slowly creeping towards me, with a "That's what I thought!" look on its tiny face.
I'm guessing that there are babies in the tree, and the strange behavior was meant to keep me from getting too close to them. OR it's rabid and wanted to bite my ankle with its tiny teeth, that jerk.
Then it started to run towards me! I told it, "No! No!" but it scurried closer and closer. I was obviously forced to run in the other direction, taking a longer route to the mailbox.
After retrieving the mail, I had to pass the squirrel again. Again, it was sitting so cutely, looking around innocently. Again, it began to run towards me! This time I managed to speed walk past it, rather than actually running. I looked back, and it was still slowly creeping towards me, with a "That's what I thought!" look on its tiny face.
I'm guessing that there are babies in the tree, and the strange behavior was meant to keep me from getting too close to them. OR it's rabid and wanted to bite my ankle with its tiny teeth, that jerk.
Fun With Eyebrows
Inspired by Jason's description of a woman working at Wendy's, I decided to try out a couple of new Eyebrow looks.
And
And this one
I think they would look "better" if I plucked out all my real eyebrows, but I'm not quite up to making that sacrifice today.
And
And this one
I think they would look "better" if I plucked out all my real eyebrows, but I'm not quite up to making that sacrifice today.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Book 63: Shakespeare's Landlord
Another Charlaine Harris mystery. In this series, Lily Bard is a cleaning lady with a horrific past. She keeps herself separated from everyone to avoid having to talk about her life. But one night she sees something that draws her into the lives of her neighbors.
Since she cleans so many of their homes, she is able to snoop around and find clues she needs to solve crimes.
Lily is tough. She wins fights against men, she lifts weights, she doesn't let anyone in, emotionally. She's another interesting character from Charlaine Harris.
I got this one and the second in this series with my new library card. I love being able to read books for FREE and then just give them back, rather than wondering if I should sell them or give them away, or if I'll want to keep them and for future re-reading. BUT, it is so annoying to get hooked on a series and then some other jerk is reading the next book! I'm having to adjust to that aspect of using the library.
I'm ashamed to admit that I haven't had a library card in at least 10 years. But I'm trying to make up for it now by stopping in every few days to exchange books. :)
Since she cleans so many of their homes, she is able to snoop around and find clues she needs to solve crimes.
Lily is tough. She wins fights against men, she lifts weights, she doesn't let anyone in, emotionally. She's another interesting character from Charlaine Harris.
I got this one and the second in this series with my new library card. I love being able to read books for FREE and then just give them back, rather than wondering if I should sell them or give them away, or if I'll want to keep them and for future re-reading. BUT, it is so annoying to get hooked on a series and then some other jerk is reading the next book! I'm having to adjust to that aspect of using the library.
I'm ashamed to admit that I haven't had a library card in at least 10 years. But I'm trying to make up for it now by stopping in every few days to exchange books. :)
Monday, July 20, 2009
Book 62: Grave Surprise
Another in the Harper Connelly series by Charlaine Harris.
This one has a less-predictable plot, which makes it slightly more fun to read. We get to know Harper and Tolliver better. Harris continues to suck us into the world of Harper Connelly, hinting at what happens after death, plus future romantic possibilities for Harper.
Another fun read.
This one has a less-predictable plot, which makes it slightly more fun to read. We get to know Harper and Tolliver better. Harris continues to suck us into the world of Harper Connelly, hinting at what happens after death, plus future romantic possibilities for Harper.
Another fun read.
Book 61: Grave Sight
Charlaine Harris, author of the Sookie Stackhouse novels, has a couple of other series going, too. Grave Sight is the first of the Harper Connelly Mysteries.
Harper was struck by lightning as a teenager, and now she can sense and sort of hear dead people. She can find them and also discover their cause of death. She and her friend, Tolliver, travel around the country, helping locate bodies for desperate families and the occasional police force.
Harper tells us her story in first person, like Sookie does. But I like Harper a lot more than Sookie. She's much less vapid. She is meaner. She's sarcastic and rude and verges on violence. She's fun!
The plot of this book is totally predictable, but Harris excels at character development, and she has convinced me to read more of her work.
Harper was struck by lightning as a teenager, and now she can sense and sort of hear dead people. She can find them and also discover their cause of death. She and her friend, Tolliver, travel around the country, helping locate bodies for desperate families and the occasional police force.
Harper tells us her story in first person, like Sookie does. But I like Harper a lot more than Sookie. She's much less vapid. She is meaner. She's sarcastic and rude and verges on violence. She's fun!
The plot of this book is totally predictable, but Harris excels at character development, and she has convinced me to read more of her work.
Friday, July 17, 2009
Book 60: An Empire of Women
This is my second book by Karen Shepard this year (Don't I Know You? was the first). An Empire of Women was her first novel, and I think she's grown quite a bit as a writer. It's still a really good book, but her other work is more like poetry, more subtle, but also technically clearer and easier to follow.
At the beginning of this one, it felt like we were jumping awkwardly between perspectives. Shepard alternates between the first-person perspective of Grandma, third person of Mom, Daughter, and Daughter's Ward, and descriptions of photographs. It's a lot to handle, and it felt rough to me at first. The reader has to adapt to the abrupt changes in viewpoint. But, after about 30 pages, I was completely into the story and had very little trouble for the rest of the book.
Three generations of women meet for a weekend, bringing with them the youngest woman's ward, a little Chinese girl whose mother wants to leave her to grow up in the U.S. Additionally, the grandmother reminisces about her own mother. So we essentially meet 5 generations of Chinese- or part-Chinese-descent women.
It's a great look into complicated mother-daughter-granddaughter relationships. The cultural differences between the women are huge, due to growing up in different countries, under different circumstances, and also due to their different generations. There are also intriguing peeks into Chinese history and culture during the Cultural Revolution.
There is beautiful writing and character development:
Grandma's way of dealing with kids: "Knives cut, pliers pinched: reasons for learning how to put both to their proper uses. And when they weren't put to their proper use, I told them: You are bleeding. Next time, handle yourself more suitably."
The grandma has such a distant relationship with her own daughter that she tells us, "I didn't know her well enough to know what she was capable of doing next."
The mother wonders: "Did people really change? When she was little, she'd thought that people got better and better year after year. Life was slow improvement. Now she thought that people just got more accustomed to their own mistakes." As I've mentioned before, I ALSO thought people got better all the time. It was very disappointing to realize that most people just give up and stop trying to improve. Did everyone believe that and then have to find out the sad truth?
Give this book a shot -- it's worth getting through the rough start.
At the beginning of this one, it felt like we were jumping awkwardly between perspectives. Shepard alternates between the first-person perspective of Grandma, third person of Mom, Daughter, and Daughter's Ward, and descriptions of photographs. It's a lot to handle, and it felt rough to me at first. The reader has to adapt to the abrupt changes in viewpoint. But, after about 30 pages, I was completely into the story and had very little trouble for the rest of the book.
Three generations of women meet for a weekend, bringing with them the youngest woman's ward, a little Chinese girl whose mother wants to leave her to grow up in the U.S. Additionally, the grandmother reminisces about her own mother. So we essentially meet 5 generations of Chinese- or part-Chinese-descent women.
It's a great look into complicated mother-daughter-granddaughter relationships. The cultural differences between the women are huge, due to growing up in different countries, under different circumstances, and also due to their different generations. There are also intriguing peeks into Chinese history and culture during the Cultural Revolution.
There is beautiful writing and character development:
Grandma's way of dealing with kids: "Knives cut, pliers pinched: reasons for learning how to put both to their proper uses. And when they weren't put to their proper use, I told them: You are bleeding. Next time, handle yourself more suitably."
The grandma has such a distant relationship with her own daughter that she tells us, "I didn't know her well enough to know what she was capable of doing next."
The mother wonders: "Did people really change? When she was little, she'd thought that people got better and better year after year. Life was slow improvement. Now she thought that people just got more accustomed to their own mistakes." As I've mentioned before, I ALSO thought people got better all the time. It was very disappointing to realize that most people just give up and stop trying to improve. Did everyone believe that and then have to find out the sad truth?
Give this book a shot -- it's worth getting through the rough start.
Book 59: Chi Running
Danny Dreyer's Chi Running recommends a style of running that reduces or prevents injuries and discomfort.
I haven't been running much at all, but I have tried out some of the techniques, and they make running a lot more comfortable. Remembering to relax, and that I don't have to take a BIG step helps me a lot.
I will continue to work on landing on my midfoot instead of toes or heels, and on leaning slightly forward to allow gravity to pull me along (rather than legs having to push me or drag me along).
So far, I'm still huffing and puffing! I know if I would be consistent, I would become a good runner. I have gotten better at all kinds of activities over the last several years (some of them are MUCH harder than running). But one doesn't improve if one doesn't DO the thing. My brother-in-law has a sign in his studio that reads something like, "to be a painter, you must paint". Same thing: if I want to be a runner, I will just have to do it.
I think this book is really helpful and if you run, you should check it out from your library.
I haven't been running much at all, but I have tried out some of the techniques, and they make running a lot more comfortable. Remembering to relax, and that I don't have to take a BIG step helps me a lot.
I will continue to work on landing on my midfoot instead of toes or heels, and on leaning slightly forward to allow gravity to pull me along (rather than legs having to push me or drag me along).
So far, I'm still huffing and puffing! I know if I would be consistent, I would become a good runner. I have gotten better at all kinds of activities over the last several years (some of them are MUCH harder than running). But one doesn't improve if one doesn't DO the thing. My brother-in-law has a sign in his studio that reads something like, "to be a painter, you must paint". Same thing: if I want to be a runner, I will just have to do it.
I think this book is really helpful and if you run, you should check it out from your library.
Monday, July 13, 2009
The Making of a Dolphin
I've been trying to make a crocheted dolphin, but have struggled with getting a nice body shape.
The top doll is an earlier incarnation. I didn't love the body shape, but I added the face and dorsal fin to see if it would look okay -- it didn't.
The bottom one has a much better shape and I love the tail. I haven't gotten the fins sized correctly yet, but I'm getting close!
The prototypes are usually left lying around until my cat adopts them as his toys. Sometimes he steals the ones that I'm still working on, unraveling rows of crochet. Someday I'll learn to put them away, if I ever stop thinking it's funny when he carries things around in his mouth.
Book 58: People Who Sweat
This is the third book I've read by Robin Chotzinoff. I really enjoy her writing. It's a mix of reporter-style writing and memoir.
She focuses a lot on interviewing people in Colorado, since she lives here (or did in the '90s when she wrote this). I like reading that the drummer from Cream (Ginger Baker) lives (or lived) near me, raising polo ponies. Now I will have to look into polo matches and see if Jason and I can go to one. He is concerned about having to dress up, but I think it would be worth it for one afternoon. Polo is such a foreign sport to me, it would be really interesting to me to check it out.
This book is about people who are really dedicated to extreme sports and unusual sports: tree climbing, mall walking, caving, bow hunting, surfing, ultra-running, snowboarding, and more. Chotzinoff tries to figure out WHY people get so involved in their sports -- what drives them. The answer: it varies. :)
Very enjoyable read.
She focuses a lot on interviewing people in Colorado, since she lives here (or did in the '90s when she wrote this). I like reading that the drummer from Cream (Ginger Baker) lives (or lived) near me, raising polo ponies. Now I will have to look into polo matches and see if Jason and I can go to one. He is concerned about having to dress up, but I think it would be worth it for one afternoon. Polo is such a foreign sport to me, it would be really interesting to me to check it out.
This book is about people who are really dedicated to extreme sports and unusual sports: tree climbing, mall walking, caving, bow hunting, surfing, ultra-running, snowboarding, and more. Chotzinoff tries to figure out WHY people get so involved in their sports -- what drives them. The answer: it varies. :)
Very enjoyable read.
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Tour of Dad's Childhood, part 5
Hmm, I can't find the pictures from Tatum. Weird. Anyway, Dad liked it there. He worked or at least hung out at a printing shop, learning all the steps and processes involved. He was disappointed to move back to Elida after the good times in Tatum.
We took pictures of a little house that they lived in. Dad parked in front, and I took photos from inside the car. I took a couple, and suddenly the house's door flew open! I though someone was going to come running out, demanding to know what we were doing taking pictures of their house. But it was just the wind. We could see that the house was full of stuff, but since no one came to shut the door, it seemed that no one was home and the door was left unlocked (and not latched very well).
Also, Dad informed me that in Air Force, he was a mechanic and diesel generator operator. He has always been a tinkerer, as was his dad. I just put it together that I like tinkering with things, too. Like when I took apart my sewing machine, or when I tried to fix the sink (it was unfixable by an amateur and the plumber charged $700 and had to cut a hole in the wall!), and when I used to fix my VCR about once a week when it ate tapes.
It's fun to realize the things I have in common with my parents. Another surprise was realizing that I look a lot like Mom did at my age.
This kind of posting is called, "procrastinating." I'm doing it instead of applying for 90 jobs. I'm going to stop it right... now.
We took pictures of a little house that they lived in. Dad parked in front, and I took photos from inside the car. I took a couple, and suddenly the house's door flew open! I though someone was going to come running out, demanding to know what we were doing taking pictures of their house. But it was just the wind. We could see that the house was full of stuff, but since no one came to shut the door, it seemed that no one was home and the door was left unlocked (and not latched very well).
Also, Dad informed me that in Air Force, he was a mechanic and diesel generator operator. He has always been a tinkerer, as was his dad. I just put it together that I like tinkering with things, too. Like when I took apart my sewing machine, or when I tried to fix the sink (it was unfixable by an amateur and the plumber charged $700 and had to cut a hole in the wall!), and when I used to fix my VCR about once a week when it ate tapes.
It's fun to realize the things I have in common with my parents. Another surprise was realizing that I look a lot like Mom did at my age.
This kind of posting is called, "procrastinating." I'm doing it instead of applying for 90 jobs. I'm going to stop it right... now.
yet another goal
Okay, so I have read that statistically, you'll get one interview per 10 jobs applied for, and one job per 10 interviews. So my goal is to apply for 100 jobs by the end of July. I have 10 so far:
1. Home Text Editing (what I do now, but with a second company)
2. Assistant Editor
3. Marketing Assistant
4. Imaging Specialist
5. Imaging Supervisor
6. Records Manager
7. Floating Admin for a county
8. Admin/Research support for a university
9. Admin Assistant for a university
10. Professional Development Coordinator
I better get going on meeting this goal. My current work will start picking up again next week, and the week after that I will be swamped. I don't want to miss out on making any money at that job while it's busy.
1. Home Text Editing (what I do now, but with a second company)
2. Assistant Editor
3. Marketing Assistant
4. Imaging Specialist
5. Imaging Supervisor
6. Records Manager
7. Floating Admin for a county
8. Admin/Research support for a university
9. Admin Assistant for a university
10. Professional Development Coordinator
I better get going on meeting this goal. My current work will start picking up again next week, and the week after that I will be swamped. I don't want to miss out on making any money at that job while it's busy.
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Trying To Keep My Chin Up
So, I'm in need of a better job. A job with more consistent pay, and that is somehow rewarding. I mean, I like fixing people's spelling; don't get me wrong. But it's kind of for useless things. I would like to fix BOOKS or MAGAZINES or something that someone actually reads.
Mostly, though, I need much steadier income. What I have now is great when there's work, but there seems to be less and less work, which means no pay.
I'm over-educated and my experience is in things that I don't want to do. I don't particularly want to work in banking, or in retail. I want to use my law degree somehow without practicing law.
I apply for jobs that I'm correctly qualified for, and those that I'm overqualified for, and those for which I'm WAY overqualified, and I'm not getting any interviews! Why don't they like me?
I keep feeling like I'm somehow just barely missing the key to it all. If you know what I'm doing wrong, just tell me. You know how it's so easy to look at someone else's problem and say, "Jeez, gimme a break. Just do XYZ. It's so OB-vious!"? Well, do that for me. Find the so OB-vious answer for me and tell me what it is.
Okay? Thanks.
Mostly, though, I need much steadier income. What I have now is great when there's work, but there seems to be less and less work, which means no pay.
I'm over-educated and my experience is in things that I don't want to do. I don't particularly want to work in banking, or in retail. I want to use my law degree somehow without practicing law.
I apply for jobs that I'm correctly qualified for, and those that I'm overqualified for, and those for which I'm WAY overqualified, and I'm not getting any interviews! Why don't they like me?
I keep feeling like I'm somehow just barely missing the key to it all. If you know what I'm doing wrong, just tell me. You know how it's so easy to look at someone else's problem and say, "Jeez, gimme a break. Just do XYZ. It's so OB-vious!"? Well, do that for me. Find the so OB-vious answer for me and tell me what it is.
Okay? Thanks.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Book 57: Revolutionary Road
Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates.
I started this one night when I couldn't sleep, and I hated it. I'm not sure why I ever picked it up again! But once I did, I fell in love with it. It reminded me of "Mad Men," which i really enjoy, but also find a little unsettling.
Revolutionary Road takes place during the '50s, and "Mad Men" is set in the '60s, but there are some big parallels: the men work at bullshit jobs in NYC, which they sort of think of as jokes. They drink and smoke and have affairs. The wives are home in the suburbs all day, leading lives based only around their children and husbands, with nothing for themselves.
In Revolutionary Road, the husband and wife dream of someday leaving all the bullshit behind and leading a more bohemian, more meaningful life. I ended up kind of disgusted by both the husband and the wife, but it was a great read, once I got past the first chapter.
I haven't seen the movie, and don't really like to watch Leonardo DiCaprio movies since What's Eating Gilbert Grape, so I can't compare. Let me know what you thought of it if you saw it!
I started this one night when I couldn't sleep, and I hated it. I'm not sure why I ever picked it up again! But once I did, I fell in love with it. It reminded me of "Mad Men," which i really enjoy, but also find a little unsettling.
Revolutionary Road takes place during the '50s, and "Mad Men" is set in the '60s, but there are some big parallels: the men work at bullshit jobs in NYC, which they sort of think of as jokes. They drink and smoke and have affairs. The wives are home in the suburbs all day, leading lives based only around their children and husbands, with nothing for themselves.
In Revolutionary Road, the husband and wife dream of someday leaving all the bullshit behind and leading a more bohemian, more meaningful life. I ended up kind of disgusted by both the husband and the wife, but it was a great read, once I got past the first chapter.
I haven't seen the movie, and don't really like to watch Leonardo DiCaprio movies since What's Eating Gilbert Grape, so I can't compare. Let me know what you thought of it if you saw it!
Monday, July 6, 2009
More House Ornaments
It's a little early for the Christmas spirit, but I finished 3 more styles of little house ornaments: Fall, Winter, and Christmas. Plus you can see a dragon ornament hanging with them. VERY Christmasy, right?
Rather than setting up the Christmas tree in July, I've been taking photos of them hanging on a pine tree in my neighborhood. So far, no neighbors have demanded to know what I'm up to. They only like to look in the windows, I guess, not watch me when I'm outside!
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Tour of Dad's Childhood, part 4
The next town we visited was Elida, NM. Dad hates Elida! He was so happy to see that it is totally dying, rotting into the ground. We didn't take any photos there, because he didn't want any.
In this town, his family had lived in a decent house (still standing!) while Ernie's teenage niece was staying with them. She had been getting into trouble at home, so the family sent her to live in the middle of nowhere, to keep her safe. But, she ended up meeting every man in town and finally got sent back home!
Without the niece's parents' contribution to the rent, Ernie, Helen, Dad, and his little sister had to live in the restaurant they were running. The kids slept on the counters, and in the winter it was very cold at night. They'd start out with blankets as padding underneath them, but as the cold really set in, they'd shift the blankets to cover them and sleep on the cold countertops.
Dad's older sisters had left home at age 14, to live and work in farm houses. Apparently, they were able to finish high school under this arrangement. After school and on weekends, they did chores and babysat to help out the farm wives. They were envied for escaping.
This was a town Dad was glad to leave. Unfortunately, after living in Tatum for a year, they moved back to Elida again! This was finally the town where Dad stood up to Ernie, shoving him through the drywall when Ernie grabbed him and insisted he was suddenly "hired" as the restaurant's dishwasher (for no pay). Within days, Dad was shipped off to Indiana to live with his father.
He finished high school there. He worked a few odd jobs. He kept seeing recruiting signs for the Air Force, advertising a free college education under the G.I Bill. He signed up and fixed airplanes in Vietnam during the war.
Dad's free college education resulted in him being a social worker at the Veterans' Administration Hospital in Des Moines.
He got out, made some great decisions, and was able to make good.
Thank goodness I didn't have to grow up in Elida!
In this town, his family had lived in a decent house (still standing!) while Ernie's teenage niece was staying with them. She had been getting into trouble at home, so the family sent her to live in the middle of nowhere, to keep her safe. But, she ended up meeting every man in town and finally got sent back home!
Without the niece's parents' contribution to the rent, Ernie, Helen, Dad, and his little sister had to live in the restaurant they were running. The kids slept on the counters, and in the winter it was very cold at night. They'd start out with blankets as padding underneath them, but as the cold really set in, they'd shift the blankets to cover them and sleep on the cold countertops.
Dad's older sisters had left home at age 14, to live and work in farm houses. Apparently, they were able to finish high school under this arrangement. After school and on weekends, they did chores and babysat to help out the farm wives. They were envied for escaping.
This was a town Dad was glad to leave. Unfortunately, after living in Tatum for a year, they moved back to Elida again! This was finally the town where Dad stood up to Ernie, shoving him through the drywall when Ernie grabbed him and insisted he was suddenly "hired" as the restaurant's dishwasher (for no pay). Within days, Dad was shipped off to Indiana to live with his father.
He finished high school there. He worked a few odd jobs. He kept seeing recruiting signs for the Air Force, advertising a free college education under the G.I Bill. He signed up and fixed airplanes in Vietnam during the war.
Dad's free college education resulted in him being a social worker at the Veterans' Administration Hospital in Des Moines.
He got out, made some great decisions, and was able to make good.
Thank goodness I didn't have to grow up in Elida!
Book 56: I Was Told There'd Be Cake
I Was Told There'd Be Cake by Sloane Crosley
This is humorous essays by a youngish woman. Okay, she's around my age, and I like to think of myself as "youngish." OR she's about 30, if you really insist that I define it.
She talks about weird stuff she collects and that she considers what her family would think if she died and they had to clean out her apartment. She was drafted into being a bridesmaid for a childhood friend she hadn't seen since high school. She had a terrible first job. She tried to figure out why her parents named her "Sloane."
Stuff like that. She doesn't ALWAYS hit the mark for me. You know who does? David Sedaris. She's no David Sedaris. But she's damn good. It's a good book. You can't just keep reading David Sedaris over and over again, so sometimes you have to let someone else make you laugh. Give her a try.
Book 55: 1491
1491 by Charles Mann is a summary of anthropologists' and archaeologists' modern beliefs about the pre-Columbus Americans. Many of the traditional assumptions about that time period have been dismissed by scientists for 30 years now, but history books and history teachers are not updating their information.
Many aspects of Native American history are still hotly debated, and Mann explains each of the main positions to us, along with the evidence they're based on. Here are some of the main points:
* There were probably more people living in the Americas in 1491 than in Europe. By the time most European settlers had arrived, early contact had already wiped out maybe 90% of all the people on the continents. That's why it was believable that the Americas were barely inhabited, and therefore the colonists didn't kill THAT many natives. That's why the survivors were poorly organized and terrified. The number of pre-smallpox inhabitants is vehemently debated, but it was certainly millions and millions (maybe over 25 million in Mexico alone).
* The first inhabitants probably arrived 22,000 - 30,000 years ago (the Bering Strait theory, which says they arrived 13,000 years ago, is no longer widely believed).
* American Indians built elaborate, sophisticated cities with running water, more than adequate food production, and clean streets (unlike any place in Europe, where there was generally sewage running down the streets and very poor nutrition).
* Before 1492, Mexicans used plant breeding processes to create corn. Modern scientists say they would be so unlikely to succeed at it that they would never get the grant money to try.
* Huge sections of the Americas were completely landscaped by Indians. Miles and miles of hills were built, rivers were rerouted, the Amazon rainforest was turned into an orchard against all odds (today, our scientists cannot succeed at growing anything there). It looked natural, hence the stereotype of Indians living either like ignorant beasts, unable to manipulate their environments, or like perfect creatures in balance with nature.
Some other cool stuff:
* More than 9 out of 10 Native Americans have type O blood. They have a very limited gene pool because the first Indians were a small group of people. This limited gene pool is why so many were susceptible to small pox.
* Indians spoke about 1200 different languages.
* Mesoamerica is the source of corn, tomatoes, peppers, most squashes, and many beans. Indians may have developed 3/5 of the crops currently in cultivation. Imagine Italy without tomatoes or Thailand without any peppers!
* Mesoamericans invented the Zero independent of Sumeria. Mann writes:
"That zero is not the same as nothing is a concept that baffled Europeans as late as the Renaissance. How can you calculate with nothing? they asked. Regarding zero as a dangerous idea, the Catholic Church banned Hindu-Arabic numerals -- the 0 through 9 used today -- in much of Italy until the fourteenth century."
* The Olmec had invented the wheel and had used it for over 2,000 years... for toys. Maybe because their land had no horses or oxen to pull carts. Maybe because their land was wet and muddy all the time -- wheels would have just gotten stuck.
* I learned the word "fissiparous" which means "tending to break apart into pieces".
I really enjoyed reading 1491. It's not too dry for a history book.
Many aspects of Native American history are still hotly debated, and Mann explains each of the main positions to us, along with the evidence they're based on. Here are some of the main points:
* There were probably more people living in the Americas in 1491 than in Europe. By the time most European settlers had arrived, early contact had already wiped out maybe 90% of all the people on the continents. That's why it was believable that the Americas were barely inhabited, and therefore the colonists didn't kill THAT many natives. That's why the survivors were poorly organized and terrified. The number of pre-smallpox inhabitants is vehemently debated, but it was certainly millions and millions (maybe over 25 million in Mexico alone).
* The first inhabitants probably arrived 22,000 - 30,000 years ago (the Bering Strait theory, which says they arrived 13,000 years ago, is no longer widely believed).
* American Indians built elaborate, sophisticated cities with running water, more than adequate food production, and clean streets (unlike any place in Europe, where there was generally sewage running down the streets and very poor nutrition).
* Before 1492, Mexicans used plant breeding processes to create corn. Modern scientists say they would be so unlikely to succeed at it that they would never get the grant money to try.
* Huge sections of the Americas were completely landscaped by Indians. Miles and miles of hills were built, rivers were rerouted, the Amazon rainforest was turned into an orchard against all odds (today, our scientists cannot succeed at growing anything there). It looked natural, hence the stereotype of Indians living either like ignorant beasts, unable to manipulate their environments, or like perfect creatures in balance with nature.
Some other cool stuff:
* More than 9 out of 10 Native Americans have type O blood. They have a very limited gene pool because the first Indians were a small group of people. This limited gene pool is why so many were susceptible to small pox.
* Indians spoke about 1200 different languages.
* Mesoamerica is the source of corn, tomatoes, peppers, most squashes, and many beans. Indians may have developed 3/5 of the crops currently in cultivation. Imagine Italy without tomatoes or Thailand without any peppers!
* Mesoamericans invented the Zero independent of Sumeria. Mann writes:
"That zero is not the same as nothing is a concept that baffled Europeans as late as the Renaissance. How can you calculate with nothing? they asked. Regarding zero as a dangerous idea, the Catholic Church banned Hindu-Arabic numerals -- the 0 through 9 used today -- in much of Italy until the fourteenth century."
* The Olmec had invented the wheel and had used it for over 2,000 years... for toys. Maybe because their land had no horses or oxen to pull carts. Maybe because their land was wet and muddy all the time -- wheels would have just gotten stuck.
* I learned the word "fissiparous" which means "tending to break apart into pieces".
I really enjoyed reading 1491. It's not too dry for a history book.
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