Roundtable Reviews

PASTA By Carlo Middione

2008-12-22T15:00:00.002-05:00

July 2008

ISBN: 9781580089005

Cooking

www.tenspeed.com

Reviewed by Bob Walch

This inexpensive little cookbook is filled with recipes for preparing sauces that will make any meal or side dish of pasta a memorable, culinary experience.

After explaining how to make five basic sauces (Salsa de Pomodoro Stracotto, Salsa al Pomodoro, Pesto, Salsa Bolognese and Balsamella (white sauce), the author gets down to the nitty-gritty with 32 pasta recipes.

Whether it is Penne al Salmone (macaroni with smoked salmon), Fettuccine Alla Romana (ribbon pasta with cream, butter and cheese), Penne Alla Parimavera (penne with vegetables), or Fettuccine Ala Giovanni (fettuccine with smoked sausage), you and your guests will be delighted with the easy to prepare entrées that come from your kitchen.

The Food Nanny Rescues Dinner

2008-09-22T09:55:00.002-04:00

Palmer/Pletsch Publishing
September 2008

www.thefoodnanny.com

As many families tackle longer work days, back to school activities and household chores, dinner can become a frantic rush to get something on the table. Quite often, meals involve take out options and unhealthy choices. THE FOOD NANNY RESCUES DINNER helps demonstrate how planning a weekly meal schedule can help ensure you are creating healthier home cooked meals and involving the whole family.

Liz Edmunds earns her living as a menu planning consultant. She's the mom of seven and uses her skills to help others manage their mealtimes. The recipes in the book sound great, but I do question if all of them will appeal to fussy eaters. For example, the recipe for macaroni and cheese uses cayenne and Tabasco sauce, two ingredients that guarantee my daughter will not touch them. Thankfully, I cook all the time and know how to substitute or omit ingredients. Those with less skill in the kitchen may find this harder to do.

The recipes are divided into days of the week. Using her meal schedule, you start off Monday with comfort foods and it is the one night of the week that dessert is offered. The rest of the week covers:

Tuesday Italian
Wednesday Fish/Meatless
Thursday Mexican
Friday Pizza
Saturday Grill Night
Sunday Family Traditions

You create one shopping list that will cover two weeks. This helps ensure you have everything you need and only visit grocery stores twice a month usually.

Obviously, you will need to make changes to suit your family. Not everyone enjoys Mexican, others may not enjoy fish. Either way, there are plenty of recipes included that switching days about is simple. I found this to be one of the best cookbooks around for those who are looking to prepare inexpensive, tasty meals at home. They may not always be low in fat, but again you have the power to change meals to fit your own dietary and personal requirements.

The Ice Dream Cookbook

2008-08-17T08:40:00.002-04:00

Planetary Press
ISBN: 9780964126725
October 2008

Around my house, Stevia has become one of my favorite sweeteners. Nutrasweet and Sucralose are problematic and enhanced my anxiety until one doctor realized that they might be causing my panic attacks and had me stop using anything with them in it. Lo and behold, it worked. I avoid using refined sugars, but Stevia, maple syrup, agave nectar and honey are used frequently in my household. It's for this reason that I was delighted to see that these sweetening agents are used in the recipes within THE ICE DREAM COOKBOOK.

The recipes in Rachel Albert-Matesz's latest cookbook are definitely going to thrill those with a sweet tooth. Recipes use coconut milk and fresh ingredients like vanilla, strawberries and pumpkin to create delicious ice cream recipes that eliminate dairy for those who are lactose intolerant or simply enjoy the taste of coconut milk, like me. Also within this book are a number of gluten-free recipes for cookies, brownies and more and some delicious toppings for your ice creams.

As a Vermonter, the comments on maple syrup hit home. It's typical here to have maple syrup on hand year round. If you can find it, grade B has the strongest flavor. However, grade B is also considered to be of lesser quality by many and only sold to locals. Most grocers stock grade A fancy. It's watery and the flavor, to me, isn't as pronounced. I suggest avoiding purchasing maple syrup in your stores and, instead, rely on the Web sites of New England maple producers to get a better price. Right now, a gallon of grade B priced locally is at $28 and fancy is $32, so you'll quickly see just how much mark-up the stores use.

Another topic that came to mind involves a bakery in Montpelier, Vermont. The owner of this bakery, Butterfly Bakery, makes an exquisite chocolate sauce from organic cocoa, agave nectar and cashew butter. If you are looking for a store-bought chocolate sauce for your sweet tooth, I highly recommend ordering from them. www.butterflybakeryvt.com/Products.html

Easy Entertaining For Beginners Cookbook Review

2008-07-07T12:05:00.000-04:00

Reviewed by Tracy Farnsworth

Patricia Mendez's EASY ENTERTAINING FOR BEGINNERS has to be one of the better party planning guides I've come across. The book is warm and friendly in tone; no one will become bored while reading it. Issues like budgeting, planning, scheduling and avoiding complications/problems are all covered.

Within the guide are a number of step-by-step menus and planning guides for various occasions. These menus cover:

Children's birthdays

Christmas gathering

Cocktail parties

Dinner parties

Family get togethers

Fourth of July

Parties suitable to men (think Superbowl)

Romantic dinners

Tea parties

Thanksgiving

Recipes are clearly laid out so that anyone should be able to tackle them. The sections each have a list of step-by-step instructions that cover everything from shopping to cleaning and cooking to serving. By becoming organized, you'll be able to avoid any stress and spend time mingling with your friends!

If you've ever wanted to throw a bash that others talk about for years down the road, you must purchase a copy of EASY ENTERTAINING FOR BEGINNERS!

A Fork In The Trail by Laurie Ann March

2008-06-09T08:04:00.002-04:00

Wilderness Press

ISBN: 0899974317

January 2008

Cooking

www.wildernesspress.com

Reviewed by Bob Walch

One way to deal with the skyrocketing cost of gas this summer is to take a camping-hiking vacation. If you are planning an outdoor adventure A FORK IN THE TRAIL is certainly a worthwhile read.

Filled with over 200 easy to prepare recipes for meals and treats that will make any outing a memorable one, this book's focus is on showing you how to eat well while enjoying the great outdoors.

While some of the recipes are cooked and dehydrated before the trip, others can be prepared in just a few minutes on site. For example, you can make Lemon Wasabi Hummus in your kitchen at home and then just add boiling water when you are ready to enjoy it while camping.

Besides a wide range of recipes inspired by foods from all over the world, the author also shares tips on menu planning, dehydrating and re-hydrating, packing food, and back country baking.

Laurie March insists that there's no reason why you and your family or friends can't eat well while on the trail. Each of her recipes is broken down into what you need to do "At Home" and "At Camp." Whether it’s the Garbanzo Bean, Tomato, and Thai Chili Salad, the Roasted Eggplant Spread, Pseudo Perogies or Black Forest Brownies, you'll discover there's more to camp fare than trail mix!

Real Barbecue by Vince Staten and Greg Johnson

2008-06-09T08:00:00.002-04:00

Globe Pequot Press

ISBN: 9780762744428

2007

Cookbook/Grilling

www.globepequot.com

Reviewed by Bob Walch

Part travel guide, part recipe book, REAL BARBECUE offers information on where to find some of the best classic barbecue joints across country along with a smattering of mouth watering recipes.

The authors recently updated 100 barbecue joints list is augmented by sidebars about sauces and sides, information about how to create a cook pit, and bits and pieces of fascinating pork lore. Besides sections that focus on Texas ribs, cowboy-que, Low Country pulled pig, and California-que-zeen, you'll discover how to select the right meat for your own backyard barbecue and learn the secret of concocting the perfect sauce to slather on your pork, beef or chicken.

Some of the recipes worth considering for your next outdoor gathering include Barbecue Coleslaw, Aunt Esther's Sweet Potato Pie, Cheesy Corn Bread and The Rib Joint Roadhouse's Black Beans and Rice side.

For those traveling across the country by car this summer, check out the authors' list of Barbecue Festivals or stop at one of the "joints" reviewed in the book. Some tasty, authentic barbecue may assuage the price of gasoline!

Weber Charcoal Grilling by Jamie Purviance

2008-05-05T07:53:00.003-04:00

Released February 2007
www.sunsetbooks.com

For many barbecue fans, spring is in the air. Home cooks are getting out of their kitchens and returning to decks and patios. If you are a skilled grillmeister, WEBER CHARCOAL GRILLING contains super recipes for appetizers, entrees, side dishes and desserts. If you are new to grilling, you'll find the handy tips make WEBER CHARCOAL GRILLING well worth the purchase price. Jamie Purviance's book bypasses propane grills and gets down to what I feel is the best barbecue method - charcoal.

I admit to owning two grills. We have a propane gas grill that is used when we are in a hurry. For most of our grilling, we prefer the charcoal smoker I purchased for Mother's Day last year.

The barbecue chicken we've created on the Charbroil Smoker grill is outstanding. Simply the best we've ever had. My kids love it, and I find myself craving it night after night. In fact, we could eat the chicken every night and never get tired of it.

WEBER CHARCOAL GRILLING contains more than 100 recipes. The book starts with a section on rubs, sauces and marinades and progresses into appetizers--the Beer Steamed Clams are fantastic. Other sections in the book include:

Red Meat: Black Pepper New York Strip Steaks and the Family Fajita Bar are well worth trying.
Pork: Baby Back Ribs and Pork and Mango Kabobs are both excellent.
Poultry: Tequila Citrus Chicken Thighs and Garlic and Oregano Beer Can Chicken are favorites.
Fish: Try the Fennel Spiced Salmon and Veracruz Scallops
Sides: Highlights are the Bacon, Lettuce and Grilled Tomato Salad and Fennel, Pepper and Mozzarella Salad
Desserts: Grilled Butter Rum Pineapple and Grilled Apricots and Pound Cake are exceptional.

The book adds tips on getting a decent bed of charcoals started, cooking times/temperatures for all cuts of meat and a section of blank recipes cards for you to create your own masterpieces.

Cooking by James Peterson

2008-04-21T06:32:00.001-04:00

Ten Speed Press
ISBM: 9781580087896
2007
Cooking
www.tenspeed.com

Reviewed by Bob Walch

Although COOKING is somewhat pricey this cookbook returns exceptional value. When you factor in the 600 recipes and 1,500 photos in this 534 page cookbook, the cost isn't that big a deal. In fact, given what you get, some folks would call this a bargain!

Here's a sampling of what you'll find in COOKING: 28 recipes for shell fish and 24 for regular fish, 55 ways to prepare various veggies, 32 salads, 40 broths and soups, and over 80 special dessert and cookie recipes.

The only problem I have with this book is its size. Although it fit comfortably on the coffee table in my living room, it takes up too much space on the kitchen counter.

The easiest way of overcoming this problem is to make a working outline of the recipe ingredients and preparation instructions on a sheet of paper and then take that into the work area. This is an added step, but it does force you to familiarize yourself with the recipe before actually trying it.

Favorite recipes: Thai Cucumber Salad, Lamb Stew with Indian Spices, Red Wine Pot Roast, Cream and Yogurt, Mushroom and Sausage Gratin, and Crisp Puff Pastry Apple Tart.

Route 66 Cookbook by Marion Clark

2008-03-11T19:52:00.002-04:00

Released in 1995

The ROUTE 66 COOKBOOK offers a look back at the diners and restaurants that lined the famed Route 66. Not only does the book offer a serious history of the towns and restaurants scattered along the route, but some of the restaurant owners have been kind enough to share recipes.

This is one of my most cherished cookbooks. The recipes within are definitely comfort foods. I've found some of the best recipes within the book from the incredible spaghetti sauce recipe that blends condensed tomato soup, canned tomatoes, ground beef and chili powder to recipes for chicken fried steak. I've tested a number of these recipes and all of them have been fantastic.

Scans of menus from yesteryear are included. Imagine paying less than $5 for a gourmet dinner that includes your appetizer! Hearty breakfasts that include eggs, meat options, buttermilk biscuits, sausage gravy and grits sold for under $3. If only time machines were in existence!

Seventeen Magazine

2008-02-11T08:26:00.000-05:00

My daughter is not yet a teenager, but she's starting to reach that point where clothing yens are more teen than child, body sprays are growing in popularity and lip glosses are criticial to her daily routine. When her brother had to sell magazines for a class fundraiser, she spent some of her own money to get a subscription to SEVENTEEN.

I remember reading SEVENTEEN when I was a teenager. A lot has changed. First, the magazine gives away more goodies than I would ever imagine. In fact, a shopping excursion this weekend that was meant to be my assignment for a national magazine turned into a deal packed adventure!

Two issues of SEVENTEEN have come through my house now. With the February issue, the magazine had a coupon stating that if you brought the coupon and cover of that issue into any JC Penney store, you would receive a free pair of Flirtacious undies if you used the couppon between Jan and February. Sure enough, with coupon in hand, my daughter found a color she loved, brought her coupon and magazine cover to the service counter and received the underwear for free. Priced at $7.50 per pair, she had already earned back half of what she paid for the magazine.

Next stop was with the March issue which promised a free PacSun Nollie T-shirt if the coupon was used between February 5th and the end of March. We walked in and there was a table covered in different colors all priced at $14.50. She found the t-shirt of her dreams and again the coupon worked wonderfully and she received her t-shirt for free. With just these two items, the cost of her magazine has been completely covered.

She's psyched and I'm impressed. With 10 more issues to go, I can't wait to see what freebies are offered next!

Harlequin Book Challenge

2008-02-07T12:16:00.000-05:00

Last year Harlequin readers read an astounding 24,440 books for the 10,000 Book Challenge. This year Harlequin is hoping to donate up to 100,000 books, with an estimated retail value of $700,000U.S., to fight illiteracy amongst the nation's most disadvantaged children and parents.

Harlequin is asking participants to make half their titles Harlequin and half their titles any publisher and genre. Any and all formats—print, eBooks, audiobooks, etc.—are acceptable. Challenge participants are also invited to share their progress, opinions, and reviews on the eHarlequin site, or even their own blogs.

We encourage you and your readers to participate in the challenge and help eHarlequin.com meet its goals and fight illiteracy. The 2008 Harlequin 100,000 Book Challenge is taking place right now and continues through 2008.

Join the Book Challenge! http://community.eharlequin.com/book-challenge

Good for you?

2008-02-06T07:53:00.001-05:00

Jumping away from the subject of books for a little, I recently received a product sample from Fiber One (the cereal.) I won't be eating it and have to say I'm a little upset with their "new and improved" product. The changes they've made are pointless. If you use their product and are not the type to read ingredient lists - BE WARNED.

Fiber One is supposed to be full of fiber. We all know that fiber is great for the body, but how about all the preservatives they are now adding? Here's the ingredient list.

*Whole Grain Wheat
*Corn Bran
*Cornstarch
*Calcium Carbonate
*Guar Gum
*Food coloring
*Cellulose Gum
*Salt
*Baking Soda
*Corn Oil
*Aspartame
*Zinc
*Iron
*Vitamin C
*Niacin
*Vitamin B6
*Vitamin B2
*Vitamin B1
*Folic Acid
*Vitamin B12
*Vitamin E (for preservative quality)

I've dealt with anxiety for years and I've discovered that artificial sweeteners (aspartame, sucralose, saccharin) worsen it. I avoid these sweeteners like the plague, so I was disheartened to learn they are adding the artificial sweetener to teh cereal. I also don't understand the addition of food coloring, it really isn't necessary.

The vitamins are okay, but if you already take a vitamin supplement, you wind up taking too much iron - a 1/2 cup serving offers 25% of your daily requirement. So if you are adding iron supplements on top of it, you could end up doing more harm than good.

Shame on Fiber One for changing their formula! I won't be eating this sample and will no longer be buying it in the store either.

GIL Publications Press Release

2008-02-02T13:49:00.001-05:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

GIL Publications celebrates its Fifth Anniversary with new publishing service,
website and newsletter for Christian Authors.

Contact:
Akili Kumasi, GIL Publications
www.PublishChristianBooks.com
(718) 386-6434
Publish@GILpublications.com

In celebration of five years in Christian Publishing, GIL Publications is launching
a new author publishing service, website and newsletter for aspiring Christian
authors.

January 28, 2008 - NEW YORK CITY - GIL Publications is announcing the launch of
their new author publishing service, website and newsletter for Christian authors
PublishChristianBooks.com will begin operation on February 1, 2008. This low-cost
service will make it easy for Christian authors to publish their books.

GIL Publications' new Christian Author Publishing Service is uniquely distinct from
others publishers in the industry as it was designed by a Christian author for
other Christian authors. Their motto: "Give us your manuscript - and we will give
you fifty books." GIL Publications actually supplies authors with 50 books. This
is in addition to the manuscript preparation service, ISBN, copyright, library
catalog number, book layout, cover design and marketing services.

The goal of this GIL Publications website is to "help authors write, publish and
sell their Christian books." PublishChristianBooks.com will feature helpful
articles, pricing information, books for aspiring Christian authors and a
newsletter to be archived on the site. Well-known personalities in the publishing
industry are being scheduled to contribute articles for the site.

The newsletter, PublishChrist will feature reviews of helpful websites for authors,
book reviews, articles and other industry helpful information.

GIL Publications is the creator and publisher of the popular Bible Word Search book
series that features word search puzzles made from accompanying scriptures.

For more information about GIL Publications or PublishChristianBooks.com send an e-
mail to Publish@GILpublications.com or call (718) 386-6434.

# # #

Test Drive Your Dream Job

2008-01-28T11:15:00.000-05:00

Unleashing Your Entrepreneurial Spirit

By Brian Kurth, author of Test-Drive Your Dream Job

The realization you’re in the wrong career does not hit like a lightening bolt. Rather, it festers within you for a long time, slowly worming its way into your consciousness, until one day you realize you’ve known it all along. For years, I sat in a ninety-minute-each-way commute in Chicago rush hour traffic to/from my telecom job in product management. I dreaded every Monday. It never occurred to me I could start over. It never occurred to me I might be an entrepreneur at heart, and I could create my own destiny. However, after the dot-com bubble burst left me on my own, the thought of another position in my field was finally too much to bear. I left my career and my horrible commute behind, and embarked on a new journey filled with questions, uncertainty…and elation.

It’s romantic to think the heavens will offer up a sign letting you know when the time is right to unleash your entrepreneurial spirit and start your dream business. Unfortunately, reality often doesn’t work that way. Launching a business is risky, and those risks can easily overwhelm your senses and weaken your confidence. The fear of failure pervades your psyche, and when the safety and security of your family is on the line, happiness seems like a selfish luxury you can’t afford to indulge.

Many people live their entire lives this way. For others, their work frustration grows a little every day until they realize their need for happiness is suddenly greater than the fear that comes with making that change. Once fear can be overcome – or at least overwhelmed – that’s when great things can happen.

However, merely conquering your fears is not nearly enough to ensure success in starting your own business. You might have all the desire and motivation in the world, but there are still many steps that need to be taken, and many questions that need to be answered. So once the desire outweighs the fear…then what?

1. Start Researching – Starting a new business demands acquiring a vast amount of information that literally no one can figure out entirely on his or her own. Luckily, our modern world is packed with resources and assistance for dedicated and passionate entrepreneurs. If you’re willing to take the time, you’ll find the facts you need.

· The Internet – As recently as ten years ago, compiling information on a given topic would mean an exhaustive process of scouring books in a library and talking to strangers on the phone. Luckily for entrepreneurs, the Internet has blown it all wide open. It is the entrepreneur’s best friend.

The business you are considering might be new to you, but it’s important to realize that it’s not for others. Get on the Internet and find everything you possibly can on your newly chosen field. Read it all, take notes, and write down questions that arise. Any piece of information you can get is one tiny step closer to being ready for your big change. But don’t get stuck in online analysis paralysis. At some point, it’s time to take the next step toward becoming an entrepreneur.

· A Mentor – There are people who work in your dream business who are willing to help you on your journey. You may need to find them in another city and may even have to sign off on a non-compete clause to get their advice, but they’re there for you. Find several people who work in your newly chosen field, and initiate discussions with them. Tell them you admire what they do, and ask if you could learn from them as you look to make a career change. When someone agrees to be a mentor, schedule a visit to their workplace where you can observe the process in action, take copious notes on all you see and hear, and ask a ton of questions. When starting a new business, there are absolutely no better lessons than those taught from someone within the field. They’ll tell you everything you want to know, plus much more you need to know.

2. Raise Money – One of the reasons why people so often fail to leave unpleasant work situations is the money; they simply earn too much in the job they hate, and fear a dream business of their own wouldn’t provide the same level of security. This is a legitimate fear, but there are things that can be done to mitigate the risk until the income matches the level of happiness and desired lifestyle.

· Save Up – Change doesn’t have to happen all at once. Merely planning for the switch can improve the situation in the short term. Put money aside out of every paycheck so you’ll have a nest egg for when you finally decide to take the plunge.

· Find Outside Funding – No matter how much money you’re able to save, it might not be enough to get a business off the ground. Luckily, there are other avenues for raising the needed capital. Look into finding government grants, private investors, or even bank loans to help you get started.

· Set Some Limits – No matter how strongly you believe in your new business and your ability to make it work, you don’t want to throw all your eggs into that basket. Be careful about putting up your personal assets as collateral. Keep some of your assets – be it your home, your pension, your 401K, etc. – off the table. Don’t invest your entire net worth into your business. In the event that something goes wrong, it will be a HUGE comfort to know some of your assets are protected.

3. Get to Work – Once the research is done and the money is raised, it’s time to get to work. New businesses take an extraordinary amount of time and effort if they’re going to make it. Don’t be afraid of the hours, and don’t shy away from the commitment. Remember: eighty hours in a job you love is still FAR more rewarding than forty in one you hate.

There will, of course, be obstacles along the way, but with enough passion, dedication and foresight, anything can be overcome. Keep reminding yourself you deserve to be happy, and your dream business is ultimately worth the time and effort it takes to get there. And once you do, you’ll never dread a Monday again….and as I like to say, everyday is a Friday!

Brian Kurth is the founder of VocationVacations and the author of “Test-Drive Your Dream Job” Kurth is a sought after expert on how to pursue and attain one’s dream job. He has shared his wit and wisdom in appearances on NBC’s TODAY Show, CNN, and FOX News, and has been featured in articles in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and Fortune Magazine. Many more regularly turn to Brian for his comments, advice and insights. A native of Madison, Wisconsin, Kurth lives in Portland, Oregon.

For more information on VocationVacations, visit www.vocationvacations.com

2008-01-28T11:04:00.000-05:00

MAKING SENSE OF YOUR BODY’S SIGNS
by
Joan Liebmann-Smith, Ph.D. and Jacqueline Nardi Egan

Authors of Body Signs

Have you ever noticed things about your body that are annoying, weird, smelly, or downright embarrassing? If so, you’re not alone. We all experience the often unsightly and sometimes unseemly signs and signals our bodies send us about our state of health. Ugly growths may pop up on our eyelids, or skin tags under our breasts. Our nails may be yellow or our partners may complain that we smell like ammonia.

Fortunately, many of these "body signs" are harmless and can be ignored or treated cosmetically. But sometimes what may seem like a cosmetic concern is more than meets the eye. The ugly growths on your eyelids may be xantelasmas, tiny deposits of cholesterol forewarning you that you may have high cholesterol and be at risk for heart disease. Unsightly skin tags – a common sign of aging – may signal diabetes. Yellowed nails may be nicotine stains, but they can also be warning signs of a lung or liver disorder. And while the ammonia-like odor you give off may mean you should hire a cleaning service, it can also mean that you’re eating too much protein, or you have Helicobacter pyelori bacteria, the bug that causes stomach ulcers.

Body signs can be seen, heard, tasted, felt, or smelled by you or others. Before modern diagnostic techniques, doctors had to rely on what their own and their patient’s five senses revealed to them. They listened to patients’ hearts, felt their pulses, looked at their tongues, eye-balled their eyes, inspected their hair, skin, and nails, smelled their smells, studied their stools, and sniffed or sometimes even tasted their urine. Doctors today, even though they may use sophisticated diagnostic equipment at their disposal, still apply these sensible techniques − with the possible exception of tasting urine.

You, too, can learn to use your senses to detect warning signs of serious conditions and get medical help before they become full-blown diseases. You can:

Look at your hair, eyes, tongue, skin and nails.
Listen to your voice and stomach sounds
Smell your body wastes
Taste your mouth and saliva
Touch your hair, skin, nails

Going from head to toe, here are some warning signs you may detect using your five senses. And keep in mind that any change in any of your senses can itself be a warning sign that something is out of kilter.

YOUR HAIR

When your hair feels more dry and brittle than usual, you may be over-processing it. Or, dry hair may signal an under-active thyroid or nutritional deficiency.
If your hair looks like it’s thinning, and you’re a woman, you may have female-pattern baldness, which often runs in families. But it can also be a sign of an over-active thyroid or an early warning sign of diabetes.

YOUR EARS

Hearing the sound of your heart beating inside your ears is actually normal, especially when lying down. But if you hear your heart beat or a throbbing sound in only one ear, it may be a warning sign of a heart murmur, high blood pressure, or other vascular disorders.
When normal noises sound louder than usual, it may be a drug side effect or a sign that you’ve been drinking too many diet sodas that contain aspartame. Super sensitivity to sound may also be telling you that you have a magnesium deficiency, or an autoimmune or other serious disease.
YOUR EYES

Seeing floaters, those spots or flecks that appear floating across your field of vision, is pretty common. But if you notice a sudden increase of floaters, you may have a retinal tear or even detachment (especially if you see flashing lights with the floaters), which requires immediate medical attention.

Eyes that feel dry all the time, may be caused by low humidity, or be a drug side effect. Chronic dry eyes can also be a warning sign of some autoimmune diseases including rheumatoid arthritis, hyperthyroidism, and lupus.

YOUR NOSE

While a nose that frequently looks red can be a tell-tale sign of excessive drinking, it can also be a red flag for the skin condition, rosacea. Interestingly, alcohol can trigger or worsen this condition.

If your sense of smell is not as keen as it used to be, it may be due to an injury to your nose, a normal sign of aging, or a sign of any number of disorders including zinc deficiency, nasal polyps, diabetes, hypothyroidism, and multiple sclerosis. It can also be very early warning sign of Parkinson’s or Alzheimer’s disease.

YOUR MOUTH

A terrible taste in your mouth that won’t wash away with mouthwash can be a side effect of such medications as antibiotics, antidepressants, antihypertensives, as well as some vitamins supplements. It can also be a sign of gum disease, a viral infection, gastrointestinal disorder, Bell’s palsy, or burning mouth syndrome, a rare condition that primarily affects menopausal women.

A healthy tongue is covered with tiny bumps called papillae. If you tongue looks or feels very smooth and glassy, it may be telling you that you’re deficient in certain nutrients such as folic acid, vitamin B12, or iron. A smooth, red tongue may signal pernicious anemia or malabsorption syndrome, a condition in which the body cannot adequately absorb nutrients.

YOUR TORSO

Hearing your stomach rumbling a lot may merely be the result of excess gas from a high-fiber diet or a diet containing too many carbohydrates, carbonated drinks, or artificial sweeteners. But excess gas may also signal lactose intolerance, food or drug allergies, or any number of gastrointestinal disorders.

If your arms or legs frequently feel numb and tingly, it may be the result of a pinched nerve, or an important warning sign of several serious conditions such as adrenal disorder, a circulatory problem (peripheral arterial disease), or a nerve disorder (peripheral neuropathy).

YOUR BODY WASTES

Whatever you eat can affect the odor (and color) of your urine. But urine that often smells sweet can be an important warning sign of undiagnosed or uncontrolled diabetes.

What you eat can also affect the color (and sometimes the odor) of your stools. If your stools look very pale, it may be from eating a lot of rice, potatoes, and other white-colored foods. Medicine containing calcium can also cause pale stools. But persistently pale stools can signal a blockage of the bile ducts, which can be caused by tumors or liver diseases including hepatitis, cirrhosis, or liver cancer.

YOUR SKIN & NAILS

If you feel a single, rough, or scaly patch of skin somewhere on your body –especially on your arm, leg, chest or other sun-exposed area – it may just be a scar. But you may have a pre-cancerous condition called solar (or actinic) keratosis.

If you see dark horizontal streaks that look like (but aren’t) splinters under your finger or toenails, they may be splinter hemorrhages, a sign of trichinosis, a parasitic disease caused by eating undercooked pork or wild game. They can also be warning signs of psoriasis, peptic ulcers, kidney disease, lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, blood-clotting diseases, and endocarditis, an infection of the heart.

You can see that checking your body periodically from head to toe can sometimes uncover important and often-missed warning signs of serious diseases. Keeping track of your body signs can be an important preventive health measure. It will also help you to actively participate in your health care and the diagnostic process as a partner with your doctor. And don’t forget to check out those near and dear to you; you may be able to pick up things that they themselves are unaware of.

If you do notice a disturbing body sign on either you or your loved ones – no matter how trivial or embarrassing – mention it to a doctor. Discussing annoying, bizarre, or embarrassing signs with a doctor will make it much easier to get a quick, accurate diagnosis when something is wrong, enabling you to get prompt treatment. It can also help you rule out serious conditions when all is well. Indeed, many of the body signs that may concern you will turn out to be perfectly normal and benign, or of no particular consequences, thus saving you further medical expense, time, and anxiety.

AuthorJoan Liebmann-Smith, Ph.D., is a medical sociologist and award-winning medical writer. Her articles have appeared in American Health, Ms., Newsweek, Redbook, Self, and Vogue, and she has appeared on numerous television talk shows, including The Oprah Winfrey Show and The Today Show. She has a daughter, Rebecca, a cat, Fazelnut, and lives with her husband, Richard -- also a writer -- in New York City.

Jacqueline Nardi Egan is a medical journalist who specializes in developing and writing educational programs with and for physicians, allied health professionals, patients, and consumers. She is also a former medical editor of Family Health magazine. She has a daughter, Elizabeth, two dogs, Coco and Abby, and divides her time between Darien, Connecticut, and Sag Harbor, New York.

Visit our website at www.bantamdell.com.

Break Time Is Over

2008-01-23T08:29:00.001-05:00

Sorry for the delay in posts. Around the holiday's life gets hectic, and then my daughter's basketball season kicked into high gear. Their record is currently 5-2 - so GO GEORGIA!

One thing I've learned is that refs come in two categories - great or horrible. Last night's game was a prime example. The girl's played in a neighboring (kind of) county - Grand Isle County - and because the interest in basketball is non-existent there, the middle school 5th grade team is mostly 6th graders who have a year's extra experience. The girls have faced this before and were expecting a challenge. What they were not expecting was two refs who clearly favored South Hero.

There were two girls on the SH team who would double up, #13 and #14. I will say that they were excellent players. However, the way their plays worked was that #14 would get hold of the ball and whoever was in charge of defending #14 would get her jersey grabbed by #13, spun around and planted to the ground. ONLY ONCE did either ref call a foul. I'll admit it was a subtle grab, but those parents on the benches say it. When the Georgia girls smartened up to this, they started to work extra hard to keep #13 blocked. The result was one of the Georgia girls getting a punch to the face that was "accidental" supposedly, though I didn't miss the smirk when she turned away from the refs. A minor foul was called and possession changed, but no foul shot occurred.

I realize that any sport is competitive, but at this level things should not be slipping by so easily. The girls were okay with the loss, but the bruises left behind are another issue. I know my daughter's limping around a bit today from being pushed to the concrete floor (some schools do not have wooden floors in their gym. Hopefully she'll be okay in a couple days for their next game.

From Author Jim Michael Hansen

2007-12-18T13:14:00.000-05:00

The Ja'Velle Nodja Thrillers are Coming!

Big news.Ja'Velle Nodja is a hypnotically beautiful Paris detective with a rough edge, a free spirit and a rather remarkable tattoo. She'll be introducted to Laws readers in Ancient Laws (2009), when Bryson Coventry gets entangled with her after getting pulled to Paris in pursuit of a killer.

Ja'Velle will then branch out into her own Edge series set in Europe, starting with Hot Edge. For all you Bryson Coventry lovers out there, don't panic. He will continue to appear in brand spanking new Laws adventures twice a year, just like he has since 2006. He's not going to leave town unless the coffee runs out.

News Release From Harlequin Romance

2007-12-18T13:10:00.001-05:00

For Immediate Release

DailyLit and Harlequin to Deliver Romance Novels
Via Email Installments
Leading Series Romance Publisher Offers Frontlist and Backlist Titles in Digital Serialization Format

Mamaroneck, New York –– DailyLit (www.dailylit.com), a service that allows users to read entire books via email and RSS installments announced today its initial deal with Harlequin Enterprises Limited, the global leader in series romance and one of the world’s leading publishers of women’s fiction, to deliver in its digital serialization format 100 of Harlequin’s backlist as well as 20 frontlist titles each month on an on-going basis.

His For The Taking, Beauty and The Billionaire and Expecting His Love Child are just a few of the titles that will be added over the next few months. Most titles will be priced under $5.00 and will be delivered in daily email installments, with more on demand, at the click of a mouse.

“We are delighted to be working with DailyLit”, said Donna Hayes, Publisher and CEO of Harlequin. “DailyLit allows us to bring our compelling editorial to readers in a convenient new way. This partnership means that the Harlequin experience will be available as emails on demand to readers with computers or handheld devices anytime, anywhere.”

“We’re thrilled to offer romance readers a large selection of Harlequin titles, including brand new frontlist titles on a monthly basis,” said Susan Danziger, Publisher and co-founder of DailyLit. “Romance novels are a great escape from day-to-day life, and via

DailyLit, they can be read in any spare moment, from when you’re waiting to pick up
your kids from school to when you want to take a break from work.”

ABOUT HARLEQUIN
Harlequin Enterprises Limited is the global leader in series romance and one of the world’s leading publishers of women’s fiction, with titles issued worldwide in 26 languages and sold in 109 international markets. The company produces 120 titles monthly and publishes more than 1,300 authors from around the world. Harlequin Enterprises Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of Torstar Corporation, a broadly based media company listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TS.B). Harlequin’s Web site is located at www.eHarlequin.com. Harlequin has offices in 18 countries, including offices in Toronto, New York and London. For more information please visit www.eHarlequin.com or press.eHarlequin.com.

ABOUT DAILYLIT
DailyLit (www.dailylit.com), a service that allows users to read entire books via email and/or RSS feeds, currently features over 500 classic and contemporary works offered for free and on a Pay-Per-Read basis. The books are sent in individual installments on the day and time selected by each reader (e.g., every weekday at 6:30 AM) and can be read in less than 5 minutes; additional installments are available to be read on demand. Co-founded by a team of publishing professionals and technology experts, DailyLit is headquartered in Mamaroneck, New York.

###

Real vs. Fake: The Christmas Tree Debate

2007-12-07T07:52:00.000-05:00

Three years ago, I got sick of trekking through snow to find a Christmas tree (I've always been a stickler for cutting our own to get the freshest tree possible). Given the fact that we are usually in and out throughout the holiday season, I just no longer saw the point in having a real tree taking up space in a small home. My children are older now, a 'tween and a teen, and they didn't seem at all interested in decorating a tree anymore. For this reason, my daughter and I went out and found a smaller fiber optic tree that is already decorated, looks pretty real, and takes up much less space than a real tree. The only downfall is that you lose the scent of pine, but I can buy candles for that purpose.

Then I came across a test in the local paper titled "How Green Are You?" Apparently, owning a fake tree is a sin to those preaching going green. They claim it is best to cut a tree every year. I still don't understand that mentality. Yes at some point, this fake tree will probably due out and need replacing, but by that time that happens, they may have come up with a way to recycle the nylon/plastic fibers that make up the tree. I've seen experiments that show a plant reacts to pain, and I find it equally heartless to cut a tree down before it has had a chance to fully grow up and live its natural life cycle.

I recycle everything I can and a recent change in practices here have made it possible for me to recycle every form of plastic found. So owning a fake tree, in my opinion, really doesn't make me a horrible, non-green person. Better yet, I'd love to see what the reporter who came up with the quiz drives. I'm going to bet that it isn't as efficient as my cars that get over 30mpg.

Holiday Rush & A Warning

2007-12-04T08:35:00.000-05:00

One of my goals was to keep this blog updated more frequently, but between the holiday preparation, chauffeur duties for my daughter, my freelance writing, and life in general, I've fallen behind yet again. Something, however, happened yesterday that made me want to get online and warn any potential readers before they head out on their battery shopping quests for Christmas toys and electronics.

I was talking to my brother yesterday when he suddenly vanished. This was weird for him, but I waited it out. Turns out he'd heard a loud pop from his living room and went to see what had happened. His universal remote was lying there with the battery cover off and one of his batteries had exploded. Seems unusual and very scary, so he went online to do a check of Logitech Universal Remotes to see if there is a product recall. While he did that, I decided to do a check of this Duracell battery and the results were quite surprising.

http://www.pcw.co.uk/personal-computer-world/analysis/2196695/strange-case-exploding-aaa-cell

http://johnbokma.com/mexit/2007/06/22/exploding-9v-duracell-alkaline-battery.html

http://ask.metafilter.com/50042/9v-battery-explosion

I don't know why his battery exploded or why others are having the same experience, but I do know that I'll be avoiding Duracell batteries in the future!

Outstanding Customer Service

2007-11-20T10:35:00.000-05:00

Back in March, my husband and I purchased and installed three outdoor motion dectector halogen lamps. We were having an issue at the time with our neighbor's teenage daughter and friends drinking in their driveway and then tossing their beer and Twisted Tea bottles into our yard. So hoping to deter them, we put in these lights from EML Technologies.

In August two of the bulbs blew and we took a bulb with us to Aubuchons to get replacement bulbs only they couldn't find a compatible size. So we went to Home Depot and ran into the same issue. In desperation, we emailed the company to ask what the bulb size is and to our surprise, not only did they provide us with the correct size, but they've now sent two separate shipments of bulbs so that we have plenty to last us for the years to come. That's what I call customer service!

Books or Music

2007-11-17T08:16:00.000-05:00

I'm a music junkie. While my book piles stack up, this month has seen some incredible music releases. With the age difference between my husband and I, the music in our house varies greatly. Here's my take on some of the recently releases available.

I am a huge Eagles fan. Their harmonies rock! I love the song Long Road Out of Eden and even How Long has been rather catchy. The rest of this album is growing on me. The big downfall is that I feel Joe Walsh's offerings are rather weak. I've love his music in the past, but the two tracks he does on this album just are not that good IMO.

In interviews, Little Big Town have said that Fleetwood Mac, the Eagles, and CSN are idols. Little Big Town's harmonies are exceptional. If you caught the concert they did with Lindsey Buckingham, keep watching for repeats! They did an amazing job. Their third release is pretty impressive. I still prefer the second, but their new one still needs to grow on me.

Like her or hate her, I will give Carrie Underwood credit for wanting to write her own music this time around. The album is pretty catchy, but one specific song caught my attention. "I Know You Won't" is the best on the album and showcases the power in her vocals. Some of it is pretty sappy, but you listen to Carrie Underwood music expecting her to be perky.

Reba isn't someone I normally would have chosen, but I will give her credit for being a good comedy actress and some of her music does intrigue me. Stand out tracks on this album have to be the one with Leann Rimes (heartache of being dumped and blaming yourself) and then the track with Don Henley. The track with Kenny Chesney about divorce and sharing custody makes me cry every time. Over all, I find this album has become one of my favorites this fall.

Robert Plant teaming up with Alison Krauss - enough said it's a weird combination. Yet, for some twisted reason the rocking Led Zepplin frontman and Alison work very well together.

The rocking side of me always loves some harder music, but I tend to be a very vocal person and want music that I can sing along to. Foo Fighters appease to my son and husband who want harder guitar driven music, and I find it still easy to sing along with. Pretender is one of the best tracks on the album. Let It Die is a decent song. Summer's End is my favorite though.

Book Preview: Tom Brokaw's BOOM!

2007-11-14T09:16:00.000-05:00

FSB Associates is kind enough to share a clip from Tom Brokaw's new book. Look for the review at RTR in the next few weeks.

Boom!: Voices of the Sixties
By Tom Brokaw

In 1962, I had an entry-level reporter's job at an Omaha television station. I had bargained to get a salary of one hundred dollars a week, because I didn't feel I could tell Meredith's doctor father I was making less. Meredith, who had a superior college record, couldn't find any work because, as one personnel director after another told her, "You're a young bride. If we hire you, you'll just get pregnant before long and want maternity leave."

In retrospect, the political and cultural climate in the early Sixties seems both a time of innocence and also like a sultry, still summer day in the Midwest: an unsettling calm before a ferocious storm over Vietnam, which was not yet an American war. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was confronting racism in the South and getting a good deal of exposure on The Huntley-Brinkley Report on NBC and The CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite, the two primary network newscasts, each just fifteen minutes long.

In the fall of 1963, first CBS and then, shortly after, NBC expanded those signature news broadcasts to a half hour. As a sign of the importance of the expansion, Cronkite and Huntley and Brinkley were granted lengthy exclusive interviews with President Kennedy. ABC wouldn't be a player in the news major leagues until the 1970s, when Roone Arledge brought to ABC News the energy and programming approach he had applied to ABC Sports. Kennedy, America's first truly telegenic president, was a master of the medium, fully appreciating its power to reach into the living rooms of America from sea to shining sea

During our time in Omaha, John F. Kennedy was not a local favorite. The city's deeply conservative culture remained immune to Kennedy's charms and to his arguments for social changes, such as civil rights and the introduction of government-subsidized medical care for the elderly. I'm sure many of my conservative friends at the time thought I was a card short of being a member of the Communist Party because I regularly championed the need for enforced racial equality and Medicare.

One of the most popular speakers to come through Omaha in those days was a familiar figure from my childhood, when kids in small towns on the Great Plains spent Saturday afternoons in movie theaters watching westerns. Ronald Reagan looked just like he did on the big screen. He was kind of a local boy who had made good, starting out as a radio star next door in Iowa and moving on to Hollywood, before becoming a television fixture as host of General Electric Theater.

Reagan's Omaha appearances were part of his arrangement with GE, which allowed him to be an old-fashioned circuit-riding preacher, warning against the evils of big government and Communism, while praising the virtues of big business and the free market. He was every inch a star, impeccably dressed and groomed. But those of us who shared his Midwestern roots were a bit surprised to find that although he was completely cordial, he was not noticeably warm. That part of his personality remained an enigma even to his closest friends and advisers throughout his historically successful political career.

In Omaha the only time he lightened up in my presence was when I noticed he was wearing contact lenses and I asked him about them. He got genuinely excited as he described how they were a new soft model, not like the hard ones that could irritate the eyes. He even wrote down the name of his California optometrist so Meredith could order a pair for herself. (Later, when he became president, I often thought, "He's not only a great politician, he's a helluva contact lens salesman.")

President Kennedy also passed through Omaha, but only for a brief stop at the Strategic Air Command headquarters there. In those days, SAC was an instantly recognized acronym because the bombers it comprised -- some of which we could see because they were always in the air ready to respond in case of an attack -- were a central component of America's Cold War military strategy.

More memorable for me was a visit to SAC by the president's brother Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy. The younger Kennedy was a striking contrast to the president, who had been smiling and chatty with the local press and even more impressive in person than on television. Unlike the president, who was always meticulously and elegantly dressed, the attorney general was wearing a rumpled suit, and the collar on his blue button-down shirt was frayed. He was plainly impatient, and his mood did not improve when I asked for a reaction to Alabama governor George Wallace's demand that JFK resign the presidency because of his stance on school desegregation. Bobby fixed those icy blue eyes on me and said, as if I were to blame for the governor's statement, "I have no comment on anything Governor Wallace has to say."

I was on duty in the newsroom a few weeks later when the United Press International wire-service machine began to sound its bulletin bells. I walked over casually and began to read a series of sentences breaking in staccato fashion down the page:

Three shots were fired at president Kennedy's motorcade in downtown Dallas . . . Flash -- Kennedy seriously wounded, perhaps fatally by assassin's bullet . . . President John F. Kennedy died at approximately 1:00 pm (CST).

John F. Kennedy, the man I had thought would define the political ideal for the rest of my days, was suddenly gone in the senseless violence of a single moment. In ways we could not have known then, the gunshots in Dealey Plaza triggered a series of historic changes: the quagmire of Vietnam that led to the fall of Lyndon Johnson as president; the death of Robert Kennedy in pursuit of the presidency; and the comeback, presidency, and subsequent disgrace of Richard Nixon.

On that beautiful late autumn November morning, however, my immediate concern was to get this story on the air. I rushed the news onto our noon broadcast, and as I was running back to the newsroom, one of the station's Kennedy haters said, "What's up?"

I responded, "Kennedy's been shot."

He said, "It's about time someone got the son of a bitch."

Given the gauzy shades of popular memory, the invocations of Camelot and JFK as our nation's prince, it may be surprising to younger Americans to know that President Kennedy was not universally beloved. Now Kennedy was gone, and this man was glad. I lunged toward him, but another co-worker pulled me away.

Copyright © 2007 Tom Brokaw from the book Boom! by Tom Brokaw Published by Random House; November 2007;$28.95US/$34.95CAN; 978-1-4000-6457-1

About the Author

Tom Brokaw is the author of four bestsellers: The Greatest Generation, The Greatest Generation Speaks, An Album of Memories, and A Long Way from Home. From 1976 to 1981 he anchored Today on NBC. He was the sole anchor and managing editor of NBC Nightly News with Tom Brokaw from 1983 to 2004. http://www.boom-brokaw.com/

Becoming a Book Reviewer

2007-11-13T11:54:00.000-05:00

I've been getting a few emails asking how someone can become a book reviewer. The answer is really easy - if you love books and love to talk about them, you'd fit right in.

At RTR, we've been getting a string of people who think they love to read everything and then after one or two reviews discover they hate reading books that they do not pick out for themselves. People feel book reviewers should be getting paid - that's nice if the advertising is heavy enough, but I hate ads, especially pop-up ads, and I refuse to charge authors a fee to get a review.

Reviewing can take a lot of time out of your day. I read a book a day on average. My day starts at 5:30 a.m. with a shower, followed by lunch preparation for the kids, and then my daughter and I fit in a half mile walk around the neighborhood. Usually, I work on my freelance writing jobs until noon. I write about some pretty unusual things from job duties of an underwater welder to medications for prostate infections. On better days, I write up airport, hotel, or product descriptions for a number of websites. After this, I go for a mile walk, and then get chores done. With whatever time is left over, I get some reading in. My kids are home at 3:30pm, so is my hubby actually, so chaos usually ensues until after dinner. Both of my kids have an hour to two hours of homework per night. I have a daughter who has to be shuttled off to team practices from 6pm to 8pm twice a week and then weekend practices and games are also involved. At 7pm, I try to get upstairs to relax for an hour or two with a book in hand and finish up what I started reading earlier. I've been reading since I was three years old, thanks Dr. Seuss, and read far more quickly than others. Yet, I can't own up to the rate that Harriet Klausner seems to be able to read at, nor do I think I'd want to because if she really does read as many books from cover to cover as is claimed, I can't see her having any time left over for her personal life.

I have the opportunity to work from home which helps out tremendously. I don't have to deal with commutes, work hours, and the likes. If I did go back to work full time, I'd give up reviewing because there are not enough hours in the day.

RTR is always looking for reviewers, but we don't accept everyone. Experience isn't necessary, but we do want people who enjoy trying new authors, aren't scared to sample a new genre, and can handle the pressure of sharing their thoughts on a book that they feel is truly sub par. That's where people seem to get lost. If they hate a book, they don't see the point in finishing it.

LOR Book Fair Starts Tomorrow

2007-11-13T11:50:00.000-05:00

If you have some time to spare for the next few days, head over to the Love of Reading Book Fair hosted by FSB Associates. www.loveofreading.com

The first round of raffle books are up on their website and you can enter to win them with the click of a button. Reviews for the books are found below.

http://www.roundtablereviews.com/keetphilomena110107.htm

http://www.roundtablereviews.com/yennebill100107.htm

http://www.roundtablereviews.com/mayjane100107.htm

Book Fair for Book Worms

2007-11-08T09:07:00.000-05:00

Love of Reading Online Book Fair
Second annual fair celebrates and connects online book community with three days of non-stop events.

The second annual Love of Reading Online Book Fair will be held November 14-16 at http://www.loveofreading.com/ from the hours of 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. EST. Talk about an idea that’s really plugged-in.

A cause for celebration and connection for the burgeoning online book community, the three-day fair has something for everyone, according to Fauzia Burke, a pioneer in online book promotion and president of FSB Associates, host of the successful event. With its “Love of Reading” theme, the event is designed for a wide audience—authors, publishers, booksellers, bookworms, bloggers, reviewers and anyone looking for a gift for the holidays.

“Participants will have non-stop interaction and information at their fingertips,” says Burke, along with a variety of special events and giveaways. Among the online happenings:

4 Free raffles—including 3 free books an hour and one large prize giveaway per day

4 Ongoing Podcasts and author readings by popular authors such as Alan Alda, Kim Edwards and Pulitzer Prize Winner Rick Atkinson.

4 Guest bloggers and reviewers will blog at the fair

4 Forum and discussion groups

4 Reader’s Choice Award for favorite book jacket. Last year’s winner was the mega bestseller, The Thirteenth Tale.

4 Roundtable discussions with topics including How to Get Your Book Published

“Today’s online book community is more vital and vibrant than ever” says Burke. “Throughout the book fair, we want to celebrate their increasingly important voice and connect people who love books in a whole new way.”

To participate in the book fair, or to get more information, visit http://www.loveofreading.com/

Red Sox and Patriots

2007-10-29T12:04:00.000-04:00

What a treat for New England sports fans!! Congrats to the Red Sox for another championship. And my glass is raised to Tom Brady and his team - they rock!

Parenting Advice: A Book To Avoid

2007-10-28T07:36:00.000-04:00

It's not even out yet, but I shuddered when I read that Britney Spears mom was penning a book that is touted to offer parenting advice. I'm not sure which aspect of her so-called "parenting" skills scares me more... the use your child to make you lots of money or the I didn't fit in as a cheerleader, so my girls are damn well doing it for me.

I haven't even seen a copy of this book, nor do I want to. Here's my own parenting advice and this comes from someone with two normal children! DO NOT take anything this woman says as decent parenting. If she was a great mom, she would have stepped in and helped out Britney long before now. She's always struck me as a media/drama queen and now with her book on the way and Britney and Jamie not earning enough money for her liking, she's going to ride Britney's coat tails and pull in some of her own money. Run far, far away!

http://www.eonline.com/news/article/index.jsp?uuid=89a9f122-5d3b-4ccd-ad31-aaaf31673872&entry=index&sid=rss_topstories&utm_source=eonline&utm_medium=rssfeeds&utm_campaign=rss_topstories

Can We Move On?

2007-10-19T12:19:00.001-04:00

I have a typical morning routine - I tackle writing jobs and then read the online news. Britney Spears is yet again in the news. This time she ran over a photographer's foot.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071019/ap_en_ot/britney_spears_foot_flap;_ylt=ApkjvuYKdZjO7mBL4hDa2xBxFb8C

First off, WAH. Maybe if he'd not been so close to her car and invading what little privacy she has, his foot would have been safe. I still think it is time for Britney to lock herself up somewhere, kick the drugs that she's fallen prey to and then try to start life anew. And meanwhile, could someone please wipe the smirk of Federline's face. He has his hands in her money because he's too pathetic to get a job, and now that the judge has supported his wonderful parenting skills--sarcasm included--he's been nothing but smug.

The quote I read earlier about him telling a pal that "Britney is a hard woman to control..." Perhaps had people allowed her to NOT be so controlled through her childhood and now adult years, she would have had the freedom to make mistakes without everyone jumping at her.

Guess what people, when I was four months pregnant, I lost my balance coming down the stairs and fell down five stairs. I'm not the only pregnant woman to lose my balance and the fact that Britney's stumble on the curve when she was carrying baby #1 and pregnant with baby #2 is still haunting her is just ridiculous.

Sure she's made plenty of mistakes, but you know what everyone has. The only difference is that the average person doesn't have psychos with cameras watching their every move.

Woodstoves

2007-10-16T11:31:00.000-04:00

This winter, my husband and I decided that given the extreme expense of propane, and the fact that our company was dropping all pre-pay plans due to the rising costs, we need to revert to heating our home with the woodstove again. Our woodstove is older and I didn't trust it after fifteen years of non-use. With some money we'd saved towards propane, we purchased a new woodstove.

Now, when we first moved in, the previous owner only heated with woodstove. We never had, so inexperienced as we were, we used it and quickly learned it was hard to keep our house from quickly reaching 80 or 90 degrees. We've learned a lot since then. A book that can be of tremendous help -

Woodstove Cookery does teach you how to cook on the woodstove, but it covers far more than that. I am adamant that come the cold of winter when the woodstove is going, we will have pots of stew or soup simmering on the woodstove all day long. First, it is an efficient way to cook, but also it is like crockpot cooking only better - it uses no electricity.

I'm hoping for a relatively mild winter, but I won't hold my breath. In Vermont, mild isn't usually an option. I've seen January lows topping 30 below at my house before, and I know just how much propane can get sucked up after a week of below zero temperatures. I've had it with the propane and gas industry and think it's time to revert to the olden days with wood heating becoming my main source.

Favorite Novels

2007-10-15T10:02:00.000-04:00

I read a lot, I mean a lot! Usually, it is not surprising for me to read one or two books per day. While I've never quite tapped into the pacing that Harriet K. claims to be able to read -- in all honesty, I do speed read and don't see how one can read as many books as she claims and still have a life -- I do enjoy reading a book or two after I've polished off my freelance writing assignments and sent them for editing. I usually have a three hour window between the time I finish writing and the time my kids return from school. Then if I'm lucky, I'll read a bit before falling asleep as well.

Over the years, I've read some duds and some real gems. But I find myself always reverting to a few favorites. In fact, two of them I kept after my senior year in high school ended (Sorry Mr. C., but I just didn't have the heart to give them back, but you never hounded me to turn them in either, so I'm thinking deep down you knew.)

George Stewart's EARTH ABIDES is the only sci-fi (though I prefer to title it postapocolyptic) novel I've ever enjoyed. Fans of Stephen King's THE STAND will find subtle common themes between the two. At heart, this is a story of a few people who manage to survive some epidemic and now must repopulate the earth and also figure out a way to survive without electricity and the modern conveniences of life.

Stephen King's THE STAND is similar to EARTH ABIDES. In fact, King admits that he's enjoyed EARTH ABIDES for years. I've read posts from people who think George Stewart's novel is a copy. For that reason, I'll note that Stewart wrote his book decades before Stephen King was an author. THE STAND tends to be a little more creepy, and for those who've seen the miniseries, it can be hard to get Gary Sinise's face out of the mind while reading...

Harper Lee's only novel TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD has to be one of my favorites. It's another book I swiped from high school. I fell in love with Atticus Finch in this novel -- I wish more men would look at others like he does. In fact, there is a blog I frequent, www.freelancewritinggigs.com, in which the author/owner of that blog shows us some of her reader mail throughout the week. Some of the mail is just downright hurtful and there's really no need to send in mail of that nature. I have never understood why people can't argue without namecalling.

Finally, Alice Sebold's THE LOVELY BONES haunted me the day I read it. I picked up that book and stretched out on the back lawn near my kid's swingset. I read it in one sitting and have never cried more during a story. It's been in the process of turning into a motion picture for years and I just hope that Peter Jackson does it justice. Casting an unknown for Susie's role is probably a very good idea. As for the rest of the cast--Susan Sarandon, Rachel Weisz, Ryan Gosling, Stanly Tucci, etc.--I'll just wait and see.

Recent Movies Worth Viewing

2007-10-14T08:59:00.000-04:00

It's been pretty dreary and rainy in Vermont for the past few days. While I've been working on my freelance writing projects, and actually caught up, I've also been reading. As yesterday was a family day though, weekends are always family days, it was due time to sit down and do some movie watching. I've always had my favorites and have found some pretty good ones recently. As it is still dull outside, I figured it's a good time to talk about them.

Pleasantville (New Line Platinum Series)

First up is a movie that I've watched and re-watched for years--PLEASANTVILLE. The movie is a number of years old now, but I still watch it and think the producer/writer/director team had a stroke of brilliance. Reese Witherspoon (Legally Blonde) is one of those actresses who I really enjoy--she adapts nicely to the roles she plays. Pleasantville also stars Tobey Maguire (Spiderman) The pair play a brother and sister duo who get sucked into a 1950's television show and have to figure out how to get out. The problem is that if they behave more modernly, the show begins to colorize. The scene where Joan Allen learns how to pleasure herself is a riot!

Big Daddy

We also watched Adam Sandler's BIG DADDY again yesterday. It's been years since we've seen this movie, but our daughter happens to have an Adam Sandler lookalike for her teacher this year. He's a great guy and mixes schoolwork with lines from some of the movies, so that students who answer the question and name the movie correctly win prizes. She loves going to school every day, and this was on of the only movies she'd not seen yet. (Other than Punch Drunk Love, which I don't think was that good a movie anyway.) Any parent with tweens who are hooked on the Disney show "Suite Life of Zach and Cody" will be interested to know that the Sprouse twins happened to play the little boy in BIG DADDY.

Knocked Up - Unrated (Two-Disc Collector's Edition)

KNOCKED UP is a newer movie, but I have to say I've already seen it twice. The movie has this knack for making me laugh and even cry a little towards the ending. What impresses me the most is that they didn't hold back during the birth scene. I happen to know two teenagers, both about to become parents far before I think they are ready, but there is that part of me that thought had they seen this birth scene it might have scared them from having sex. Birth isn't necessarily pretty, but it is an amazing experience, and those in KNOCKED UP did a great job with this scene.

My Fair Lady

MY FAIR LADY is a classic musical. Now some may be groaning now, but for anyone who enjoys a romance, MY FAIR LADY is an exceptional movie, yet the ending still ticks me off. I'd like the chance to go back and rewrite the ending! Audrey Hepburn is a timeless actress, so anyone who enjoys musicals must give it a shot.

These are only a few of my favorites. Today we'll be watching movies I've not seen yet - Adam Sandler's Reign Over Me. Hopefully, it will be a good one. Meanwhile, I have to figure out what's for dinner. With a high temperature of 45 and rain predicted for the day, I'm thinking it might be time to bring out the crockpot for a stew.

Parenting 101: SMARTEN UP

2007-10-12T07:41:00.000-04:00

I just read the morning news and this story http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071012/ap_on_re_us/student_arsenal_5 truly disturbs me on so many levels. However, I will cover the issue that bothers me the most - the boy's mother.

What the hell is that woman thinking buying her 14 year old an assault rifle? I have a 14 year old. If he EVER asked me for a gun, I'd be locking him up, not purchasing said gun for him. In my own opinion, this woman now needs to have her children removed while she undergoes parenting 101. Had the boy gone through with his plans, I would hope she'd be charged as an accomplice and thank God the other student and his father called police and that police took it seriously.

Now, I understand bullying and know it can make a student feel helpless. I've been there. Here's a tip to those in that situation. The law is on your side. Instead of letting the bully push you to the point that you feel ending the lives of dozens is acceptable (and hopefully you have the brains to realize this is not okay), talk to your teachers--a teacher you trust. If that fails, slap the bully and his/her parents and the school with a lawsuit, include the school for not working harder to prevent it because schools are supposed to have bullying policies in place. I'm not one for suing over every little matter, but you know what if a lawsuit is what it takes to prevent these high school shootings from occuring, then it's time to try something a little more radical. I can guarantee that a school slapped with a bullying lawsuit, especially if it makes the news, is going to work harder at putting a stop to all bullying in the future.

NECAP Testing

2007-10-09T08:23:00.000-04:00

With the school year newly in session, it is time for students throughout Vermont and New England to sit down and spend an entire week taking the government mandated NECAP tests. Now for those who may not be familiar with NECAP (New England Common Assessment Program), they are tests that students in all school districts in New England must take in order to receive any federal funding. Schools whose students do miserably are cut off from government money. In a nutshell, and in my opinion, this means that the students and schools that most need money to provide a better education receive a slap in the face for receiving failing or low test scores.

Tests cover the basics: Reading, Math, and Writing. According to the Principal's Guide, tests are broken into three sessions for each topic and each session takes 90 minutes. Children from the third grade up must take the NECAP tests, so in all it comes to six 90-minute sessions to complete the entire NECAP exam. Is it any wonder children dread this test?

In order to properly prepare children for this test, many teachers spend hours teaching the children how to take the test. That's right, focus is pulled from actually teaching school and instead teaching kids to take long, drawn out tests. I have spoken to many teachers that dread the NECAP tests just as much as the students.

Parents who want an idea on what the questions are like are welcome to answer the following questions taken from the sample test. These are fifth grade questions, so it truly is time to find out--Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader?

Now that you have a better understanding of the NECAP tests. It leads to my frustrations, and I'm sure hundreds of other parents feel the same way.

1. Parents are flooded with letters from the school principal and teachers urging parents to move up bed times and ensure the children are fed a full breakfast on testing days. Apparently research shows that children with a full belly are better prepared. While this may be true, the average parent gets home at 6pm if they are lucky. Dinner has to be cooked and homework must be completed before a child can even think about bed time. Now teachers swear they won't give out homework during NECAP weeks. If this is true, I'd LOVE to know why my son had fifty algebra problems and spelling definitions to write out last night.

2. It is also made general knowledge that the children will NOT be allowed to take bathroom breaks during the testing period. When I was admitted into the hospital for dehydration eight years ago, my doctor told me that a person is really supposed to drink enough so that they are peeing every hour. Test sessions are 90 minutes long during which kids cannot drink or use the toilets, let alone walk around or stretch. I am adamantly against keeping a child sitting on a hard plastic seat for a full 90 minutes before offering them a ten-minute break. Can you say thrombosis?

3. Students experience tremendous amounts of pressure by the school before and during these tests. I remember my son and daughter both coming home from school in tears in 4th grade because their teacher kept telling them that students who didn't score highly were letting their teachers down by not having tried hard enough. The teacher and I had words that year. A child should NOT be pressured by anyone, and for a teacher to make a child feel bad if they don't do well on the NECAP tests is horrifying.

What the government has done to our education system is unforgivable. It is time for them to sit down and take a long hard look at suicide rates and talk to the kids feeling this pressure. Childhood is the only time a person can truly enjoy life and act like a kid. Is it really necessary to take that away from them?

Today's Vent: Britney Spears

2007-10-02T09:26:00.000-04:00

Going off the usual book topic again. Let me start by saying, I am not, nor have I ever been, a fan of Britney Spears. With this in mind, I am unhappy at the judge's decision to take her kids from her.

While I wholeheartedly agree that Britney needs counseling, drug rehab, and the likes, I just don't see Kevin Federline as being a great parent either. This is a man per the gossip columns was getting $20,000 a month - A MONTH - and wanted more alimony because $20,000 was not enough to live on. I know people who earn that much in ONE YEAR and have to struggle to survive. My message to Federline is to trade in his car of the week, buy a cheaper SUV and get a freaking job.

This is where I think the judge is wrong. Federline now has the kids in hand and I'm sure he's sat in his ritzy little home/apt/mansion (whatever he's living in) and rubbing his hands with glee. With both kids in hand, he now has a great way to tap into Britney's pocketbook. Those kids should have been placed in a good foster home (check it out first because some foster homes suck), put them far from the media's vulture-like stares, and given a chance to enjoy childhood while their mom gets the chance to get help.

For whatever reason, people seem to forget that Britney was a childhood star, her mother seems more than happy to let her child turn into a sex symbol at the age of 12, and also seemed to enjoy the money that Britney had rolling in. No one gave this girl a chance to be a kid and I'm sure that's where the majority of the problems lie. She was thrown into adulthood before she was a teenager, and that's always a recipe for disaster.

I know that there are Federline fans out there who think I'm nuts for insulting their hero. I know that there are those who completely loathe Britney who think she got what is coming. You're more than welcome to your opinions.

Meanwhile, I still shake my head at the fact that Britney's kids have been taken from her and thousands of other kids are starving their children, leaving them alone while they go out for drugs or drinks and social services don't have the manpower to handle all of these cases so non-famous kids are in risky situations and it will take their death before someone says, "Hey, we should have helped them."

Beer Drinking Throughout New England

2007-10-02T09:15:00.000-04:00

At a local thrift shop, I came across a book in the dollar bin that I just knew would appeal to my husband. Andy Crouch must have spent a good deal of time touring New England, probably gaining a nice buzz along the way. THE GOOD BEER GUIDE TO NEW ENGLAND is the best guide to all of the brewpubs and breweries located in New England to hit shelves.

As a frequent traveler around my home state and through New Hampshire and Maine, I've been to many of the brewpubs listed within. While I don't always agree with the author's favorites, and that's not a bad thing, the information found within each brewpub or brewery guide is exceptional.

Listings include information on the brewery/brewpub's history, tour hours, regular and seasonal offerings, best beer (his personal favorite), and directions. There is little this guide is missing. He does delve into if the brewery/brewpub offers food or not, but I wish he'd spent a little more time on the menus. Redhook Brewery for example makes an exceptional white chili from turkey and their beer that is definitely worth ordering.

The author even hits places that I wasn't sure the general public knew about, so it is obvious that he spent plenty of time and energy finding every little nook and cranny where homemade beer is served.

Those coming to New England looking to sample some microbrews should not miss this guide. Order a copy before your trip and you'll hit some of the best places in town for a frosty mug of beer or two--or three if you're not driving.

What Gives?

2007-10-01T11:48:00.000-04:00

I've been trying to focus this blog more on books, but something happened last week that is ticking me off, so today's blog will be slightly more political.

There are certain houses in my neighborhood that seem to have landed straight from the soap operas, but like it or not, these situations are happening in many areas. Years ago, a local resident decided to open his house to wayward teens who were a step away from juvie hall. While this is a thoughtful act, it has led a lot of miscreants to this family neighborhood. I've yet to hear of a success story from his house, but maybe only the bad seeds are making the gossip rounds. Anyway, I digress.

My next-door neighbor was a single mom for a number of years trying to raise her eight-year-old son and eleven-year-old daughter while holding two jobs to pay for her house and have any shred of a life. I'm the first to admit that she's done some things that I've thought were off the wall, but she's my neighbor and so be it. Today, she has a gem of a beau, a second daughter, and she's doing well. Her two teenagers on the other hand are about to become parents. The son is 16 and the daughter is now 19. Not exactly a prime age to become parents, especially not the son, but it's happened and now they have to grow up rather quickly.

The daughter is the reason for my post today. Her boyfriend is one of the not-so-great seeds to come from this wayward home for troubled kids. I think he deals drugs, though I can't prove it beyond the wad of cash he seems to have and his hanging out on the corner at night talking to people who drive up to him in their cars. He comes and goes from her life more than a yo-yo. Meanwhile, mom kicked her out of the house in an effort to force her to grow up and take responsibility for her soon to be born child. From my vantage point, this girl has done little in the past year but hang around and refuse to work.

She's finally gotten herself a job paying a typical Vermont salary of around $8 per hour, just barely over minimum wage. She has a baby on the way, due in a month, and has found an apartment with a rent of around $700 a month. The apartment isn't anything fancy, but it is inexpensive for the area. Meanwhile, the daughter got her act together and applied for assistance to help her and her baby survive.

Break this down at $8 an hour - that's $320 a week or around $1,400 per month. Take out taxes which usually come to around 18% around here - I'll round it down to 15% to make things easier. She's left with a little over $1,200 per month.

So here comes the rent - she's immediately left with $500 to cover her electricity (heat and water are generally covered by the cost of rent), her gas to get to work (no bus service in this area), phone for emergencies, health insurance, food for her, diapers, renter's insurance, and clothing for both her and the baby. $500 will not last long at all.

Last week, she received her letter from the state as to how much assistance she will be getting. NADA, ZIP, ZILCH. If she wants state aid, she'll have to quit her job, but they know she is capable of working because she has a job. She's left to gain income from her boyfriend who may or may not remain in the picture. Then she'll have to go after him for child support, but he's never worked a legit job that I know of, so there will be no money to get. This leaves her with the alternative of turning him in, but then he's in jail and she still might not get a cent from him while he serves his jail sentence.

While this girl is now struggling to figure out how to survive, my other neighbors, both on disability, haven't worked a day since I've lived here (15 years) because of back problems, but the back problems have never once stopped the husband from climbing up onto his roof drunk or from bending over to tie a push mower to the back of his car so that he could mow his lawn by driving around it.

The system infuriates me. It's time to step back and look at the bigger picture. This girl wants to do right but she's been slapped down. Someone who knows they are riding the system all the way to the bank has the system mastered and the state doesn't seem to check up on it to ensure people really are disabled. Plain and simple, the system is F$%KED.

Harvest Time

2007-09-25T09:10:00.000-04:00

Few families have time for it, but I always try to make jam/jelly and do some canning or freezing in the fall. This is the first year that I plan to turn the crab apples from my apple tree into jelly. I made the juice a couple days ago and have it sitting in the fridge. Yesterday I bought the wax and pectin so that I'd be ready to go today.

Jelly for me has always been hit or miss. I'm hoping it turns out okay, but it took me forever to find the best book I own on canning. Everyone has their favorite book and mine is clearly a book my husband acquired before we married.

This book has unique recipes and normal ones. The pickled green beans are exceptional, and there are a number of jam recipes that I've tested as well. While the book seems to lack a crab apple jelly recipe, they do have an apple jelly recipe that I'm using as a base. I can't wait to see what happens.

The Final Chapter In An Older Topic

2007-09-25T08:12:00.000-04:00

Years ago, I'd posted about the new pets my daughter had acquired. A number of people said "Ewww, Rats." I'd owned a rat before and knew what a great pet they make. Rats are clean, you can litter train them to a section of their cage, intelligent, and never aggressive (at least ours never have been.)

Templeton and Stormy were sisters hand reared by a local pet shop and we bought them when they were a couple months old. They turned two this spring and sadly Templeton passed on in May. Both had developed a common problem with rats, cysts and tumors, but area vets here don't take on animals that small. Templeton died peacefully one morning. She'd seemed pretty lethargic and came up to be handled. Went for a walk, returned, and she had died with Stormy curled up next to her.

I'd figured that Stormy, who clearly had a larger tumor and a cyst, would go shortly after. Two years is a good life span for a rat. Months passed and she did great. Her cyst ruptured and I spent the next week keeping it cleaned, bandaged (for whatever reason, Stormy never objected). It healed beautifully and she was in great shape until August when the tumor started growing. She died yesterday in my hands, and it wasn't an easy death. Any pet I've owned that has died in my hands (both of my Siamese cats--one from old age and the other had to be put down because he'd developed a life threatening ailment and was suffering) has died quickly and relatively painlessly. Stormy was different than any others. She suffered to the final breath. Having witnessed this, it really shook me up. I've always believed that humans should have the choice to terminate their life if they are facing a life ending disease. Having seen Stormy suffer in pain only reaffirms my belief that everyone should have the right to not have to suffer.

Guilty Pleasure Books

2007-09-14T08:01:00.000-04:00

I've been a book addict for years, but there are some books that I own that people, particularly my husband, ask why on earth I need so many--I'm taking cookbooks.

I love cookbooks and have hundreds of them tucked away, yet I really only regularly rely on about two dozen of them for ideas. Why collect so many? I am among the few who will sit down and read a cookbook from cover to cover to learn new tips, come up with new recipe ideas, and always view the pictures. I think pictures are the key to a successful cookbook.

My friend was asking if she could come look through my collection and take away a few of my least used books because her cookbook shelf is empty. I am always willing to share. My thing is that there are certain books I will not part with, and sadly two of them are done by a company with whom I don't agree--Marlboro cigarettes.

Marlboro rewards smokers with freebies from time to time. A decade or so ago, they came out with a series of cookbooks that are the best cookbooks I own. Like it or not for cowboy style cooking Marlboro's cookbooks are what you need.

The recipes in these cookbooks are not all healthy options, though some are, but it does offer excellent recipes for comfort food at its best. It doesn't matter who you are, comfort food is sometimes needed! One of the greatest recipes in this book is the recipe for a sourdough starter. I keep a batch of this starter on hand regularly now and have made incredible rolls, breads, and even pancakes from it. My son swears the country fried steak recipe is the only recipe to use. I find their chili recipes to be fabulous.

With the recipes are loads of pictures, handy tips, and even a glimpse at times on the cattle trail - a life that cowboys have lived and still live today. These cookbooks are definitely my keepers and the ones I will not hand over to anyone!

Honest Book Reviews

2007-08-22T13:26:00.002-04:00

Good or bad, I've always told my reviewers to be honest when reviewing the books they receive. If a book costs $20 as a paperback (very true with some publishers like PublishAmerica for example) and the book is only mediocre at best, I find it very hard to recommend the book for purchasing. Only if the quality is exceptional will I give it a glowing review.

With this in mind, a recent lawsuit (http://www.switched.com/2007/08/22/blogger-sued-for-negative-book-reviews/) has gained attention. In this case, a very negative review has led to a libel lawsuit. At this point the outcome is yet to be determined, but it does offer food for thought. Must reviewers sugarcoat the truth in order to save themselves from the wrath of authors?

I've never been threatened to this extreme, but I did once have an author demand I take a review down for pointing out errors made in the storyline. I was threatened with the atypical "If you don't take the review down, I will tell all of my writing groups and publisher to blacklist you." In the end, it wasn't worth the barrage of emails I got so I took it down, but the authors who emailed me defending the original author and the author herself were added to my list of authors I would never review again.

Another time, I had an author (he was a retired cop) make a comment that I better hope I was never in his former jurisdiction because he'd told his friends my name. A quick note to that publisher guaranteed he would never talk to me again and that I would never review his books again.

In all of my 7 years reviewing, two incidents really isn't surprising. However, I now wonder how many emails someone like Mrs. Giggles receives. Her book and music reviews are usually very honest, and refreshingly funny.

At what point do negative reviews become libel? It's hard to say, what's hurtful to the author may never have been intended that way. It all makes me wonder how far this lawsuit will go.

Previous discussion of Associated Content

2007-08-14T12:23:00.000-04:00

I have posted raves over the is website in the past. Unfortunately, now I have to revise my statement. The winds are changing at AC, which in itself is not a bad thing, but it became apparent to me that they are not reading the articles they are rejecting.

I have been writing for them since April, usually just posting my rants or restaurant reviews for places in the area. My latest restaurant review was rejected after three weeks of it being pending. They rejected it with a note saying I should resubmit it after adding the name of the restaurant, city, and state. The problem is that all of this information was in the review to start.

I opted to hit their forums and see if others had the same problem. Apparently, I am not alone with the frequent rejections. On top of this, if you resubmit an article without editing it too many times, they will ban you from the site. So it is a lose lose situation now.

In the end, I'd really love to promote this neat Vietnamese Restaurant in St. Albans, VT. The newspaper in the area would not take content from a reader, so AC was my second choice. It's not going to happen there either unless their editors wake up and read the articles.

Skipping to the End

2007-08-06T17:21:00.001-04:00

How many of you are guilty of skipping to the last couple of pages of a book, peeking at the ending, and then going back and reading where you left off? I'm notorious for it, especially when reading mysteries.

I read a lot of mysteries and find that usually by the time I'm halfway through the book I have a strong suspicion on the culprit. Most of the time, if I reach this point, I'll go see if I'm right. Don't get me wrong, I still finish the book, but that sleuth in me loves to know if I'm right.

I have friends who do the same thing while others ask if it spoils the book. For me, it really doesn't. If I know the ending, I feel glee at having solved the case in advance. I still will go back and read it just to find out how long it takes the real sleuth in the novel to figure it out. Half the time I find myself annoyed that the hero/heroine isn't as perceptive.

I know others who will read the end of a romance to make sure it ends as they like it, otherwise they'll forgo reading the book and move onto something else.

Over the weekend, my mom informed me that she finished reading one mystery and was horrified with the ending. I'm not going to give the title or author away, but the book ends with the main character dying instead of the criminal. Now truthfully this is a stroke of brillance on the author's part because he/she is going against the norm and introducing a strong dose of reality. However, it also ticked off readers who are now certain they will not read a book by this author ever again. So in the end, I wonder if the author has done him/herself a favor or giving all future books a kiss of death? Only time will tell...

Changes to the RTR Site

2007-08-01T12:31:00.000-04:00

I was starting to feel tha the website was getting too cluttered, so I've done away with some of the pages (particularly the Welcome page) that few visited anyway. Instead, everyone is welcome to come in and read about my current "ramble." I love to talk, I'm an excellent gossip (I guess that depends on who you are), and I think far too many people sit back and keep their mouths shut in today's world. Sitting and ignoring an issue doesn't make it go away. I'm far happier witching about it and hoping that maybe one person might listen and take something away from the conversation.

Those who know me well generally know all about my neighbors. In a nutshell, they are the most predictable family known to man. There are certain things that the kids have done or said that signaled impending doom. When the daughter turned up pregnant this winter around six months after graduating, I can't say I was surprised. The daughter's motivationally-challenged boyfriend had been allowed to move into the house with them during the daughter's senior year. To me that was a sure signal that the daughter would start to lose any responsibility she had towards sex. My heart broke, however, when I soon learned that her almost 16 year old brother, a kid I tried to set on the right path from the time he was 8, was also entering impending fatherhood. Part of me feels bad that I gave up hope on him two years ago, maybe he might have been spared...he's never been a good student and now that he's about to become a dad, I honestly can't see him motivated to stay in school.

This has weighed heavily on my mind for most of the summer. The lack of protection used by both of these teens isn't a great thing. So now a family of five is about to become a family of seven, plus the on-again, off-again boyfriend/father of the daughter's baby. They all must fit into one tiny house that can't be more than 1100 square feet.

Then in the news this past week have been two tragic stories regarding women who had babies, killed them, and went on to have other babies. The woman in Maryland obviously hid her pregnancies well, but how can she put her body through the birthing process time and time again. You can go to any Planned Parenthood and get on the pill and then follow this with the use of condoms. I can think of many men and women who would have given both arms and a leg for these babies. Instead, they were tossed aside like last week's garbage. It horrifies me.

Today, I woke up and read the headlines. A woman out in California was having babies and dumping them in various locations. I don't get the mentality. How can you have a baby and just dump it? Again, has this woman heard of birth control? I'm sickened. I know there are those who say this is inhumane, but perhaps people who have been convicted of crimes this horrendous should undergo mandatory sterilization to prevent another innocent newborn from death.

Unfair Late Fees

2007-07-30T11:09:00.000-04:00

My husband and many of his friends and co-workers were offered a credit card through their union a decade ago. The credit card has always offered incredibly low interest rates because they are union members and up until recently, we've been happy with the card. Now we are going to have to cancel it and run far, far away.

A while ago, HSBC took over the company who originally owned the credit card. Now, there may be some people out there who are happy with their service, but I am disgusted. First, they use a telemarking service, 800 446 1022, to call you dozens of times per day asking you to sign-up for their “credit protection” services. Both of us have declined the service numerous times. I've even spoken to a supervisor who promised to take me off their calling list to no avail. I see on the Internet discussion boards that I am not alone. This company starts calling at 8am and proceeds to continue until 9pm. I no longer answer my phone if I see it is that number because being on their do-not-call list means nothing to them and after talking to the state, they say there is little they can do because we are customers of the credit card company.

This alone is enough to make me switch banks, but the breaking point came last month. Usually, I pay online to save postage, but a rash of thunderstorms kept knocking out my power and/or Internet. Without Internet, I can't pay the bills online, so I opted instead to mail out the payment six days before it was due. I could have risked it, but if you pay the same day with the Union card now, they slap on a $15 rush fee to process your online payment. You can call in your payment, but again expect to pay a $15 fee.

I paid my car payment, satellite, and Union card bills on the same day. The car payment and Union card were going to the same state – Delaware. Prior experience shows me that it generally takes two days for mail to reach this area. The car payment was received two days later and they posted it to my account that day and the check cleared the next. Satellite does in North Carolina took three days, but the check cleared on the fourth day. By last week, Union card still hadn't gotten my payment so I called. I learned from “Steve” that they need ten days to process mailed in payments and that any payment without the account number written on the check is automatically delayed because they separate payment coupons and checks when they open their mail. I still cannot get an answer as to why they do this. I've worked in banking and know that writing your account number on a check is a great way to become a target of identity theft.

After talking to another woman higher up in the company, she informed me that the company promises that they do not process any transaction that does not require the three digit security code on the back of the card. Liars! I've used that card online and have only been asked for the code twice. If the website is set up to ask for the three digit code, you do have to give it, but many sites still do not, so anyone could take the account numbers that people write out and then have the means to go on a shopping spree.

By now, my mailed in payment is late because they claim it takes ten days to process a check payment. So they slapped on a $40 late fee because they say they may well have the check, but until their staff processes the payment, even if they have it in hand, the payment doesn't count. So some schmuck who hates his job can sit on payments for weeks and make you pay the late fee. This is not sitting right with me. I wound up paying again, online, just to make sure the money has been paid.

This infuriated both myself and my husband, so he started asking his co-workers if they are having problems with their card payments now too. He knows many of them do not have home computers and Internet access at work is forbidden. Turns out, every single one of the half dozen people in his department who use the Union card have had this happen. While we are not alone, it strikes me that it is time for cardholders to ban together and start going after HSBC for causing delays with payments. Unfortunately, it is also a very hard thing to prove. They say it might be the payment got lost in the mail, and I can't prove otherwise unless I start sending payments with return receipts.

This leads me to wonder. The government is cracking down on credit card companies who are now becoming overzealous charging fees. How long before HSBC is in their sights?

If you are a member of HSBC, be very careful with your mailed in payments. They say they need ten days to process a payment once they have it in hand. I say that is very wrong and ensures I will be cancelling this account immediately.

Associated Content

2007-06-12T12:08:00.001-04:00

Obviously, I've not been frequenting this blog very often. I've been freelance writing more and more which limits my time, but I've also found that I can get paid to vent my frustrations at Associated Content

In all honesty, I'd rather vent and get paid for it. So anyone looking to read up on my latest happenings is welcome to go to AC. If you can write, I highly recommend signing up with them while you are there. They take anything from game reviews to television show recaps to town information and travel guides.

Oh, Boy. Guess I've Been Busy

2007-06-05T12:36:00.000-04:00

I just noticed I've let a month slip without posting. Sorry for those who do come in and read. I have been busy writing travel articles and trying to catch up with reading!

I did have a warning to send out today. Recently a job posting appeared in Craigslist within many cities. The company was/is looking for restaurant evaluators - think mystery shopping only for a restaurant. I was excited and signed up. Within hours I had the necessary forms, only after reading them two contradicting terms made me leery. Thankfully, I'd not yet sent the W-9, so they didn't have any of my SS information.

The company had two contracts for you to sign. One stated that you were not an employee so that made you able to work for any of their competition providing you keep information regarding your jobs and their paperwork format private - copyright laws and all that. I had no problem with this.

However, in the second contract it stated that you could not own, work for, contract for, consult for, be an officer for, or manage any other restaurant evaluation firm to a term of two years. Failing to meet this term made you open to lawsuit. I emailed them immediately and the woman claimed that the form only means you cannot own another firm within two years. I became very worried over this term because it clearly states more than "owning" per the "consult for," "contract with," and "work for." I'm not willing to risk a lawsuit because of their unclear terms.

Anyway, it wasn't a day later that the account I used to apply for the job started filling up with spam even with my spam filters turned on. I try to use a private Yahoo account for things off of Craigslist and I hadn't used this account for anything yet. For it to suddenly be filling up with dozens of "Evaluate hotels," "Become a mystery shopper," "mystery shop at restaurants," etc. I am pretty certain they took my email and then sold it. That ticks me off and I informed Craigslist of it.

For this reason, I am warning others who may have seen this ad from Restaurant Evaluators, don't bother! The spam truly isn't worth it! I'm up to my 47th spam message today and am clicking away constantly to beef up my spam filters.

GeoBee

2007-05-07T10:54:00.000-04:00

This weekend, my husband and I took our son to participate in his school's GeoBee. Now I am seriously hoping that the Vermont chapter of the GeoBee is not related to the National Geographic competition at all. If it is, what an embarrassment for National Geographic!

To start, some brainchild decided that the regional competition would be held in Northfield, about a two hour drive, and that all students had to be there at 9:30 to register with his school's team and await the arrival of the others so that the competition could begin promptly at 10am. So we left at 7:30 on Saturday morning (try getting a teenager up at 6:30 to get dressed and showered on a WEEKEND. This is earlier than he has to get up to catch the bus during the school week.) There was no time for breakfast at that hour, so unfortunately he had to go into the competition on an empty stomach which wasn't a good thing.

They started off extremely well. I still can't understand why they opted to hold the competition in this place with a lack of seating and the seating that did exist was folding metal chairs. We were told that they usually use the auditorium in the middle school that have padded seating, but they wanted to try something new this year. Folded metal seating SUCKS, but we'd been told the competition would take two hours. Three hours later, my behind disagreed with the location!

The geobee is 12 rounds of sheer torture. These questions are ridiculous. One round of questioning had nothing to do with geography. The questions were - What is the name of the professor killed at Virginia Tech two weeks ago? The next, where was he born? Where is he being buried? I supposed to of those questions could be stretched to fit in with geography, but it is a stretch and nothing these kids would have studied. So that category was absurd.

My biggest issue came towards the end of the competition. In round 10, a question was asked - What is the deepest lake in the world? And then four choices ABCD were given. IN round 12, the question was asked again without the choices. So obviously that team got it right because they heard it two rounds earlier. That same round 12 another question was asked that had been asked three rounds earlier. The teachers and parents were all balking that it was unfair to repeat questions. Meanwhile, the judges were simply stating too bad these are the official questions we were given. So one team was able to pull ahead of another because they got duplicated questions.

In the end, my son lost, and no he's not upset by it. He's actually quite happy and plans to skip this competition next year. He got one question about pointing to Cuba on a map, he looked at the map and they had Haiti there and then a circle next to Haiti that was shaded with the symbol representing a lake, so he was unsure what was goign on and decided to point to Haiti and explain that the other was shaded to look like a lake. Two teachers jumped up to defend him and the judges shot them all down.

My experience with this stunning GeoBee, what's the point? The judges were from the school that won, so obviously there was some crooked politics going on. The announcer is a TV announcer for public television and he seemed not to care. In the end, my son learned that he competition is too biased for him to have enjoyed. It's a shame they let this happen to somethign that has such promise otherwise.

Church & Religion

2007-05-02T10:47:00.000-04:00

I had a discussion this past weekend regarding the state of religion today. I do realize everyone usually has a strong opinion regarding church and religion. I'm no different. The question came up - what is the one biggest incident/occurrence that shaped your views of church/religion. For me there is one biggie:

When my son was born, we had just moved to a new town. Let me backtrack, I didn't grow up with parents who pushed us to attend church. They let us make our own choice with my dad being Protestant and my mom Catholic. As a teen, I took a job working in an area church's nursery and Father Don was human. He did not look down on anyone. He make the services fun, with laughter and merriment.

So I move to this town, and there are three choices. Catholic, which wasn't going to happen, Methodist, or Baptist. I opted for Methodist and my husband and I decided to start going ever week because having our son Christened was important to us. What a miserable experience that turned out to be. The reverend was very anti any form of gambling. He scorned people who bought raffle tickets (even for charitable purposes), lottery tickets, friendly poker games with friends, etc. But I figured it might be a Methodist principle. We attended for a couple months and then my husband's work started forcing weekend overtime. Because I stayed home with our son, we cut down to one car to save money. So weekend overtime meant I was home without a car. For three weeks while he was mandatoried, we skipped church. The next week we returned. Before the service, the reverend's wife and some of her friends were sat in front of us and made the following comment out loud so that I heard - "I don't know why those sinners bothered to return at all. It's obvious that they are doomed."

Floored, I walked out of the church and never returned. When the reverend called me to find out why we'd left, I told him and he stood up for his wife. At that point, I decided that with an attitude like that church was not for me. Over time, I've developed into an agnostic anyway. I am pretty sure there is a higher being, but I'd like evidence to prove it. Renderings of a "white" Jesus doesn't convince me. In Jerusalem, he is far more likely to be Middle Eastern. Again, I want my proof.

Then I heard another story that happened probably fifty years ago. My grandfather was the one who would go out and plow roads during the winter. Vermont winters are quiet snowy. So one Sunday morning, he had been out plowing snow since the wee hours. He made it to church and happened to fall asleep during the sermon. The pastor took him to task in front of the church for daring to fall asleep during a sermon. Church wouldn't have been held had he not been out clearing the roads, so I'm baffled. He never returned to that church.

Obviously, times haven't really changed. It leaves me to wonder, how can people like this call themselves "Christians". Tolerance is supposed to be a part of being a good Christian and I've heard far too many stories of intolerance in church to believe some churchgoers are truly any nicer than the average joe.

Why??? I Don't Understand This!

2007-04-24T07:16:00.000-04:00

I caught this news story today.

http://cw2.trb.com/news/kwgn-csu-football-kid-hit,0,7112496.story?coll=kwgn-home-2

I can only imagine how horrible the player feels, but I am still perplexed and have yet to find an answer. Why was this four year old down on the field? He should have been in the stands and not on the sidelines. I realize the students say they have no plans to sue, and if they had said otherwise, they wouldn't have wanted me on a jury. I cannot understand why the parents allowed the kid to be that close and from the video I saw, I don't see a parent nearby either. If anything, they are more to blame.

Simon Is Right Again

2007-04-18T10:48:00.000-04:00

I get tired of them always booing Simon. He's usually the only person up there with common sense. I would LOVE to hear Randy expand his vocabularly. My husband has taken to predicting what Randy will say and he's usually right. What's up Dawg, Yo, Dope... they all drive me nuts. Someone hand the man a dictionary please!

Last night was country night with Martina McBride--

Phil did Keith Urban and he finally got peppy. I liked that.

Jordin did one of Martina's songs "Broken Wings" if you have ever tried to sing it, you know there is a lot of holding notes and hitting higher notes. Jordin nailed it.

The drunken karaoke clown seems to think that "Something to Talk About" qualifies as country - in my book Bonnie rate is more blues. Whatever, he sucked anyway.

Lakisha - She did Carrie Underwood's "Jesus Take the Wheel." I liked how she started. Then she hit the chorus and to me it was all over the place. She yelled, she expanded words to make them last longer, shortened others, and I just didn't like it at all.

Chris did the one Rascall Flatts song that I don't like "Mayberry". He thinks his nasal quality was for the song, I'm afraid he does the nasal, Billy Goat note holding thing too often for my taste. He had a rough night given the V Tech tragedy, and I feel for him for that reason, it had to be hard focusing on music when your head was with your friends. I don't think he should go tonight, but I bet he will because the one who deserves to go won't.

Melinda did a newer Julie Reeves song. I don't know it, but she definitely pulled sassy off.

Blake - I wasn't horribly impressed. First, Blake picked this song, I'm certain, because it really isn't a country song. Ryan Adam's wrote and performed "When The Stars Go Blue" years ago. Bono and the lead singer from the Coors make it a hit a few years back. I'm betting Blake knew the Bono version better than the Tim McGraw version. I still say Bono's version is the best of the bunch and Blake left me feeling bored.

All in all, I'm betting it comes down to Phil, Lakisha and Chris tonight and Phil will be the one to go home only because someone else keeps staying in there undeservedly.

Is It The Weather?

2007-04-16T09:41:00.000-04:00

Sick of rain and snow, my husband and I opted to spend all of Saturday doing errands and getting the kids and myself out of the house. I freelance write and had been completing assignments for IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome) and a travel guide for a city in Vermont. There has been nothing but rain and gloom for 9 days here, and this was topped off by a snow storm yesterday. Our basement is now flooding and in general I am sick to death of this weather.

Anyway, Saturday we are driving down Shelburne Road, not one of the best roads in town due to the congestion, and this woman on a side street decides she wants to ignore the red light and pull out in front of traffic. My husband didn't have time to stop, so he got past her okay by swerving into the other lane half way, but she was obviously pissed that he didn't stop and let her out ahead of him. A few miles down the road, she passes us on the right by using a turn-only lane and misses our car by inches as she cut back in. Now, my husband at this point is laughing at her stupidity--she was in a brand new (temp plates anyway) Pontiac Grand Am, our car is a few years old. Had she hit us, she was clearly at fault for passing us in a turn-only lane, and she would have owed us a nice little sum. She then proceeds to give us the finger repeatedly by slowing to a crawl. Meanwhile, there is this elderly woman in the car looking scared to death. I grabbed my cell phone and made it look like I was calling in her license plate number (don't really think that would do any good around here, but it did the trick) she flipped us off once more and sped off until she was on another car's bumper.

Usually this would tick me off more than it did, but the speeds were slow enough that I know any damage caused wouldn't have hurt any of us. This was apparently only the beginning however. We then ran into a real jerk who kept pushing his cart into my daughter anytime she wasn't tucked right against my cart. Instead of apologizing, he would comment that she needed to get out of the way of adults. This store, Mr. G's, doesn't have huge aisles, I understand that, but at the same time, he seemed to be following us around. I would see him go into an aisle and bypass it and all of the sudden he would be right there again, so I'd backtrack to an area I missed and he'd be there again.

At another store (a Bouyea Fassetts Bread store), the clerk insisted that a sale item wasn't on sale until the manager came up front and told her he'd discussed it in the staff meeting and that if she looked at the sales notice pinned to the register she would have seen it.

It just seemed no matter where we went, the people were extremely pushy and argumentative. With this in mind, I wonder how much of this is weather related. I know I deal with SAD from time to time, but this long dreary period when we should be much warmer must be affecting lots.

Fate's Twisted Humor

2007-04-09T11:42:00.000-04:00

Growing up in VT, Ben and Jerry's has been a staple of my life for decades. Unfortunately, in the past decade, their quality has gone downhill in my opinion. It's mass produced now and you can tell it.

So a couple weekends ago, I came across another locally made ice cream, Island Ice Cream, that is made about 15 miles from my house. We drove over to the islands in Lake Champlain to buy some. http://www.islandhomemadeicecream.com/

On the drive to Keeler's Bay Variety Store, we saw a smooshed rabbit in the road. Now, obviously my kids are older so this wasn't too disturbing to them. Nonetheless, my daughter did have to ask about how many kids were seeing this dead rabbit and thinking Easter Bunny... It was rather twisted to think about it being the day before Easter and there was a bunny dead in the middle of the road...

The Feminine Mistake?

2007-04-09T08:34:00.000-04:00

So I recently heard about the major debate over author Leslie Bennetts' book "The Feminine Mistake." Apparently, the author brings up points about why becoming a stay-at-home mom is a bad thing. My immediate goal was to find out more about this woman. She is a mom, so she gets minor points there.

I have been a stay-at-home mom for thirteen years. Sure, I rely on my husband for money, the government told me long ago that I'm useless to them and that as a "non-working" entity, I am entitled to NOTHING, I do some writing from home to supplement our income and to earn enough credits to qualify for any social security benefits that may or may not be around by the time I am of retirement age. I will not argue the author's points regarding the financial aspects of being a stay-at-home mom.

However, I would not change my life. I'll take the lower pay scale having been out of the actual work force for more than a decade. My kids are well-adjusted, do not touch drugs or alcohol, they have not had sex by the age of 13 like many of their peers, and they are both straight A students. To me, that is far more important that money.

In my childhood, almost every mom in the neighborhood stayed home until the kids were in middle school. We are all well adjusted. The one mom who did work. Her son has been in and out of jail, beats his wife, and is raising his children by ignoring them unless they've done something wrong and in that case he'll smack them around too.

In my own neighborhood now, I look at the homes where the moms either work from home or stay home. Those are the children who never get into trouble. Across the street, we have girls who actively do drugs and are dating boys much older than themselves. In other homes, one boy was dating a girl 10 years older and his mom was at work and seemed not to care "she's slow and seems to be mentally the same age..." A kid down the road almost went to jail for destroying headstones in the cemetary because his mom was working and he was "bored." Some former neighbors used to kill time when their mom was at work by having sex with the neighborhood boys. For these girls it became a game to see how many times they could have sex before the mom came home. Sadly, and far too often, I'd see the mom pull into the driveway and then the boy would be climbing out the bedroom window. Where are they now? Both girls are now in their early twenties and both girls are moms. Each had a child by her 19th birthday.

This isn't what I wanted of my kids. I'll take the loss of pay and stay home until they have matured enough to know right from wrong. My kids know that we could be in a much nicer place financially had I not given up my job as the assistant to the president of a mailing company, but I was willing to sacrifice everything to raise children who know how much I was willing to forego. Eventually, I will be returning to the workforce. In the meantime, I am tired of those who do think that SAHM's are going against the ideals set by feminists years ago. Perhaps the freedom to choose what you feel is right for yourself and your children is the ideal goal.

Would I buy this book? Never. I don't feel the need to pad someone's pockets when they are not showing both sides of the issues.

Unseasonably Cold

2007-04-04T07:51:00.000-04:00

Global Warming... I am sure there is some merit to it, but suddenly I find myself in the throes of winter again and given that the weather pattern has shifted oddly like this for hundreds of years, I begin to doubt that the change in weather patterns are truly based on global warming. According to my morning news, the warmest day on record happened more than 20 years ago. The coldest according to the grid at Weather.com occured in the 1920s.

So far our winter started off incredibly warm. Through early January we had little snow to talk about. Then something shifted. We started hitting sub-zero temperatures regularly and this was followed by a pattern of holiday snow storms. Valentine's day dumped more than 20 inches on most of Vermont. The same occurred on St. Patrick's Day. My neighbor jokingly asked what Easter would bring. I really wish he'd kept his mouth shut. They are saying that those of us near the lake will be spared the worst of it, most likely sticking near the 2 to 6 inch range. Those in the mountains, enjoy your 3 to 10 inches! This weather sucks! I've had enough and am extremely ready for spring

Education Today

2007-04-01T12:37:00.000-04:00

My daughter is in the 4th grade and has been struggling (very frustrated) with math this half of the year. Our school uses a program developed by the University of Chicago and in my opinion it is worsening the way children are learning math.

In the past month, I have kept notes regarding what she is learning from day to day, week to week. In mid-February, they switched from learning multiplication to division. They started by memorizing basic division (the tables). It hasn't come horribly easy to her, but she's working on it.

The first trouble came when the unit jumped into long division in mid-January. They still didn't have their tables memorized and this suddenly became a huge challenge to many of them. My daughter learned this odd way that I can't see how it helps and now the frustration is kicking in because she cannot understand my way and I think her way is making the paperwork and time involved triple.

So to divide 7 into 320, the kids have to guesstimate how many times 7 would fit into 320. My daughter did a problem similar to this, guessed 30 and that leaves you with 110. She then has to figure out how many times 7 fits into 110, etc. At the end, she adds all of her "guesstimates" and gets the correct answer eventually.

Most of us learned to divide 7 into 32. Subtract, bring down the 0, and continue. It is so much faster, and neater!

Anyway, a week after this assignment, they jumped to geometry and started working on triangles. A week later they were working on surveys/polls. The next week they worked on fractions. Supposedly this breaks up the boredom. Meanwhile, we are back division now, but they are learning how to turn fractions into decimals and she's utterly confused because the division wasn't enforced for long enough that she can get the problems done. Come to find out, not that it was on the homework papers at all, they are supposed to be using a calculator now until they have learned division.

Why not just learn division before you start showing children how much easier and quicker it is to use a calculator? I think it is sad that they are teaching kids to use a calculator before they are teaching them how to do the actual math.

I'm working with her now to teach her my way of division and we are working daily so that it sticks. Sadly, I know many schools started using this "Everyday Mathematics" and I don't think that this system is truly going to help children in the long run!

American Idol/Sanjaya #2

2007-03-29T08:05:00.000-04:00

Never mind, I was just reading that Howard Stern has been on a quest to prove that he can control who wins American Idol. He's been urging his listeners to vote for the worst contestant. Given that, we all know that Sanjaya is guaranteed to win. May as well stop watching now.

American Idol

2007-03-29T07:44:00.000-04:00

Okay, I'm not a big fan of reality shows over all, but I do watch American Idol. Like many viewers, I'm left wondering exactly what these teeny-boppers see in Sanjaya.

American Idol is supposed to be about TALENT not looks, yet week after week the rather lame Sanjaya whose performances strike me as very bland, makes it another round. His faux-hawk was just as weak as his performance, and I have a feeling that hair-do helped him stay out of the bottom three.

I guess what I don't understand. Sanjaya seems to be a decent, slightly shy kid. He has to know he's not as good as the rest of the competition. By now he knows he is the laughing stock and that he's even pushed one woman (slightly deranged albeit) to go on a hunger strike until he's booted out. In fact, he's even pushed Simon to serious consideration of not returning for another season. With all of this in mind, how can he not resign? Apart from some ten-year-olds, and what 17 year old wants to be the object of a 10 year old's devotion, and his family and friends, he's not getting support from the rest of us. In fact, I know quite a few people who loathe him.

After last night, I had to wonder. Is it really the 10 year old crowd that is pushing him through? Perhaps, those who have hated Idol and all it stands for are voting for the weakest link to show just how ludicrous the show has become...

Ratings are down over last year - I don't find that surprising. Even I am sick of it. Tony Bennett is next week, I think I won't mind skipping it at all.

How It Should Be Vs. How It Is

2007-03-28T09:41:00.000-04:00

American Idol - Sanjaya. I realize he'll win because of his amazingly large population of fans. He just doesn't have the talent in my opinion. With training perhaps, but he has no stage presence and his vocals are far too weak and timid. His hair, I don't even want to go there. When he told Simon he was just jealous - trust me Simon had nothing to be jealous over. The hair was ridiculous!

Television:

Television in general. It was a dreary, rainy day yesterday so I watched some television in the afternoon while waiting for my daughter's bus. Here there is a rule that a child is not dropped off unless the parent is visible. Flipping channels, I came across The Real Housewives of Orange County - WHY are people paying these women to act ridiculous? Then one of my top billed "Shows that have no place on television" I Love New York. WHY are these men fighting to get to be with her? I've yet to understood that. She's loud, brass, obnoxious, and sorry but just not that attractive at all. I can't imagine why they stay and put up with her. I'd like to see the tides of TV turn and get away from reality TV and focus on something better that doesn't make my mind melt after thirty seconds. Too many people are now making money for ludicrous reasons.

Music:

My daughter came home and told us she had to do a report for her music class (4th grade) and had chosen Ray Charles. First, I'm impressed by her choice. Second, I'm happy to say that we've listened to lots of Ray Charles in the past week and she's really enjoying most of it. I wish more schools could offer music classes and take this approach to showing kids that there is a lot more out there. Sadly, I also know that many schools have given up their music classes to keep budgets down. If teachers would stop asking for dramatic pay raises in some areas. (Speaking from experience, my son's 2nd grade teacher was making $50,000 five years ago, she's now up to $62,000. She's not a great teacher and often made him feel very inadequate, despite the fact that he has never received less than an A- in any class.)

Speaking of teachers, I got another letter from my children's school. My son has just missed his fifth day of school this school year due to illness. The school still wants to keep student absences under three per school year. I tore up the letter and have this to say:

1. If students can't miss more than three days, why has my son's science teacher, the brainchild behind the attendance committee, already been out 10 times this year. I'm keeping tabs this year and so far he is definitely slacking!

2. How about you disinfect the school!! In my daughter's class, we were just talking to her teacher. There are 17 children in her class. One now has viral pneumonia, 10 have had strep, all 17 wound up with the stomach bug back in February, 10 had this weird high fever and lack of energy. If the kids are bringing it home to their siblings and friends, you cannot possibly expect other kids to remain healthy.

What I'm sick of is the school's attendance committee's decision that children who miss more than three days per year will fall behind in their classwork. I'm certain that is true for some. Pushing kids to attend school when they are sick is absurd. My own son is a straight A student, has been since kindergarten, and always completes any work that he misses. Until this changes, stop wasting my tax paying money and stick to focusing on the kids who truly are delinquent.

So, Anna Nicole Smith

2007-03-27T08:40:00.000-04:00

For years, I have been telling my husband that Anna Nicole Smith needed serious help. I was saddened when she passed on, but I can't honestly say I was surprised. Every appearance she'd made, her speech was always slurred and she looked lousy.

Yesterday, the results on her autopsy came in. Three different antidepressants, Human Growth Hormones, sleeping pills, and pain killers. They've deemed her death accidental. I'm sure it appears that way. However, I don't get one thing. The people around her - her assistants, her supposed husband, how could they stand by and watch her pop all these pills. To me this is the real tragedy. The woman was grieving the death of her son, she was understandably despondent, and probably postpartum depression was kicking in as well. Perhaps she was in counseling, but she needed to be kept in-house and not just handed pills. She needed serious rehab.

Who was her doctor that happily prescribed her all of these different pills? I know the sleeping pill came from her friend and psychiatrist- the woman's license needs to be carefully examined in my opinion. How could those around her sit and let her take all these pills? Pills are NOT a solution!! To me that is the real tragedy. While they didn't actually kill her, from what I see they sure didn't lift a finger to help her out either. She should have been placed in a mental hospital a long time ago and taught to be independent and weened from all pills.

Per Yesterday's Post

2007-03-23T07:58:00.000-04:00

Yesterday, my "American Idol" post ticked a few people off. I went back in and edited it, deleted every post, and then planned to come in today and restate exactly how I (emphasis on I) feel. Those who wish to respond in a civil manner certainly may, otherwise expect your post to get dumped.

For all of the Taylor Hicks fanatics. I didn't mind him last year. He reminded me of a young Michael McDonald at times. For the record, I do have his album and I think it sucks. And I did see a news story - tabloid or not, I can't exactly remember who had posted it so I can't cite my reference as some have demanded - that said he was disappointed that his fans had suddenly become absent in terms of record sales. He may be the greatest guy in the world, but I can also truly believe he would wonder where all of his fans were when his record failed to sell extremely well.

Kelly Clarkson fanatics (funny how there were about a dozen of Kelly's #1 fans who posted, I'm afraid you cannot have multiple #1 fans, and I would be her immediate family get to truly claim that title) - I did happen to see her in the Reba M. tribute and yes she was great there, she and Martina worked well together. I'm also sure she really got to practice. I saw her aired live before a Nascar concert a few weeks ago and she was horrible. Again, maybe it was an off day, but based on that one live show I wouldn't pay money to see her.

Let's see. Clay Aiken - he has a few fans too, but I still don't like him. That's my opinion and telling me that I have to see his concerts before I judge him. I think not. I have better things to do with my money. I heard all I wanted on American Idol.

Kellie Pickler - again, still don't like her and all the fans in the world won't convince me to change my mind.

For those who then wondered exactly where my music tastes do stand. They vary. I would far prefer to spend my money on people like Jonny Lang or Shannon Curfman who can play guitar better than some "pros" and never seem to break out into the limelight. I expect Stevie Ray Vaughn quality from my musicians. I want to hear a voice and not have to name fifteen others before getting the right artist. Louis Armstrong, you'll identify his voice every time. The same is true of Maria McKee, Stevie Nicks, Jackson Browne, Eric Clapton, etc. There are other bands that sound so much alike that they've become boring to me. Many of the Idol "stars" follow down that sound-alike, boring path.

That's one of my things. For an artist to have true talent, let's see these American Idols pick up an instrument, write their own music, and have America judge those songs. It worked extremely well for Chris Young - he took the Nashville Star win. Though I'm not fond of his style of country, I hate twang, he wrote a song, performed it, and won the competition. To me, that is true talent.

American Idol

2007-03-22T10:40:00.000-04:00

After laughing my way through the auditions, I have watched a little more Idol this year than I normally would. I don't enjoy the popularity contest that this show endorses. Become a singer if enough of the world loves you for your looks/appearance versus your actual talent. Sanjaya is solidly proving my theory.

The kid can almost sing. I'll give him that. He has no stage persona, however, and for that reason he needed to be out of that show WEEKS ago. Unfortunately, I think there is a strong aspect of racism here. Whine if you like, but he is Indian (the country) by ancestry and I think the majority of those voting for him are voting for who he is/where his family comes from versus his actual talent. I won't even go into a rumor I've been hearing about those from India that work for U.S. companies managing to get in and vote. Maybe it's true, maybe not - but either way there needs to be a stricter voting system in place.

I think it is high time that American Idol sits down and looks at their format. It is far too easy to vote for this show and no one has to vote responsibly. Hire a panel to vote or allow the judges to have a larger say in who really stays or goes.

Energy Efficient Lightbulbs

2007-03-14T08:35:00.000-04:00

After reading the news a few weeks back about California's decision to outlaw normal lightbulbs, I spent a little bit fuming about the price that some families are now having to spend. I will not argue the impact on the environment, but in my small house, I would need to purchase 29 light bulbs to cover all of the lights inside, in the basement, and outside. Some stores here sell those bulbs at $10 a pop so that would be pretty costly.

I did, however, make the change this week. If you have a Costco, they are selling 8 packs of those bulbs at a ridiculously low price. Here they are $10 for the 8 pack, but the state is offering an instant rebate of $8 - making the 8 pack cost a meager $2. Not bad, so I stocked up and started changing the more frequently used bulbs over. You may want to see if your state is offering a similar rebate.

Anyway, I also stumbled across this website. The biggest draw is that it records your purchases and tells you your total yearly savings to date. I'm up to $120 a year now - so my electricity bill should show a difference of $10 per month. Just one month has paid for all the bulbs I need.

Video Games Vs. Egos

2007-02-26T08:59:00.000-05:00

I am the first to admit that at times I can be a wicked kid at heart. I see nothing wrong with this! Everyone should let their hair down, ditch grown up responsibilities, and enjoy themselves periodically. Given it is my birthday week (we celebrate weeks here in my home rather than a single day it's far more rewarding), I was given a PS2 for my birthday. While some of my presents will wait for the actual day, I did receive three presents from others earlier. This leads me to two very popular games that I have spent plenty of time with this weekend.

Guitar Hero II is going to drive me batty. I would like to think it has nothing to do with my age, but as someone who can type 80 words a minute, I know my fingers are capable. For the life of me, I cannot make my brain and fingers connect for Guitar Hero II. I did manage to pull a three star rating on Heart's Crazy on You, but for the most part I will be in a pattern of red red yellow yellow and then have to hit green and fail miserably.

In the end, I am highly addicted, but I wonder how many cases of carpal tunnel syndrome will occur from this game! If you want a game that both parents and kids will have so much fun playing together, purchase Guitar Hero II. It's available for either the Xbox 360 or the PS2.

PS2 also offers a new Karaoke Revolution game that is an at home version of American Idol that gives you ample opportunities to have Simon Cowell, Randy Jackson, and then some Paula Abdul Wannabe named Laura tell you exactly what they think of your singing. This game is PERFECT for those who want an ego boost!!

Now, I realize I can sing. I may be too old for American Idol in real life, but the game has no age restrictions. My issue, I can't get Simon to tell me I suck. I do know that he can do it, he told my son who was imitating Bob Dylan's style that he was horrible. For me, I always wind up with Randy telling me I rock, Paula/Laura saying she can sum me up in two words - Phe and Nominal. Then Simon tells me how much he loves me and how I am the next American Idol in his mind. And the cartoon version of Simon is just as sexy as the real life version. ;-)

Karaoke Revolution American Idol is great fun. I can see it providing hours of entertainment at our next poker/game night. It's another must-have in my book.

Online Dating

2007-02-13T11:41:00.001-05:00

I recently had to write a series of articles on online dating. I had to write them for sixteen different companies and include the pricing plans, features, and such. This was an easy and interesting task, but I also learned something.

First, everyone tells you not to trust what you see. I would state this is true. In order to access any of the information, I was forced to create free profiles with each site. In every possible case, I added that I was only researching costs and that in order to do so, I had to sign up for an account. This made me active with most of the sites. The men I was matched with --- well some were dead on it seemed while others were so far away from what I like in a man that it wasn't even funny.

I used my traits from today and then based everything else on when I was single.

Note for those creating dating sites - if a person puts absolutely no smoking - don't then turn around and match them with a smoker anyway!!

So basically I worked on two articles per day.

Now if you've been thinking about signing up, be cautious. I created a new account through Yahoo and immediately turned on Spam filters. Even though eHarmony told me they couldn't find me a match because I had shown devotion to my children, they were the first site I enrolled with and I did not get any spam following my enrollment. A few days later, I reached a website called American Singles and then LavaLife and my spam count started multiplying. Perhaps it was coincidence, but it just seemed odd that the day after I finished those articles my spam counts increased.

There was one thing that did happen that made me leery of using online dating. I live 10 miles south of one of Vermont's maximum security jails. I have driven by the correctional center many times and know the building and scenery surrounding it. One potential match, who looked vaguely familiar to me, showed this scraggly looking guy standing in front of a red brick building with a chain fence in the background and trees behind that. Now this is the set up at this correctional center. I began to wonder if he was an inmate there... The city of residence said St. Albans for him so that would still fit. It defintiely made me wonder!

Overall, I think the online dating services are pretty good. Some are far more expensive than others, and some certainly lack. Look for sites that focus more on personalities than looks. You may find your true love sooner than you were expecting. Meanwhile, I'm happy I'm married and out of the dating pool!

Do People Have Nothing Better To Do?

2007-02-07T11:02:00.000-05:00

Today's news--- Prince is underfire for his half time show in which some people believe he deliberately made it appear that he had a huge penis. PLEASE. First, he's male. Men are proud of their genetalia, so what if he did? Turn off the television or walk away. I don't like seeing hairy plumber's butt cracks, but I certainly will not start a movement to have plumber's banned from the world.

Did Prince do this intentionally? I highly doubt it. First, any guitarist holds their guitar at that level. Do you expect them to hold it at the chest level and still be able to play? Get over it. If you have this much time, maybe you need to get a life or spend some quality time with your friends/family/children, etc.

The next story to raise my ire. The Snicker's ad that mimics the Disney movie "Lady & The Tramp." Two men are eating a Snicker bar and wind up bumping lips. Realizing they practically just kissed, they decide to do something manly and pull out a handful of chest hair. Certain gay and lesbian organizations find it offensive. Whatever...

The ad was funny. That's all Snickers was going for - a unique dose of humor. No one threw a fit when Lady and the Tramp did it - is that because it was male and female? If so, then the gay and lesbian groups would have been fine with the ad if it was man and woman - isn't that just as disciminating? And aren't they supposed to be open minded?

Their claim is that the ad puts gays in a negative light. No - I think Rosie O'Donnell does a good enough job of that. Part of the problem in today's world is that people are making huge deals out of stupid things. Rosie's fit that Kelly Ripa is a homophobe because she didn't want Clay Aiken putting his hand over her mouth. I wouldn't have either. I have enough colds/viruses come into my hands because of school, I wouldn't want to be exposing myself to even more of it.

I wish I could snap my fingers and make everyone tolerate everyone else, but it isn't going to happen. Part of the thrill of being human is the right to make up your own mind - free speech!-- if I am being told that an ad is offensive to a few and therefore must be banned then my free speech is being tampered with and I'm not happy.

I'll share something I told my kids - if you don't like something, that's fine. Keep it to yourself and move on. Lingering is only going to piss others off.

Parenting

2007-02-05T11:58:00.000-05:00

I was just reading the news and apparently the government in California is currently acting to introduce legislation that bans spanking a child. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16929303/

So $1,000 or one year of jail if you spank your child in public. PLEASE.

First, I think there are more troublesome offenses that need to be taken care of. You can drive while intoxicated in many areas and get away with a lower fine and no jail time. That is a travesty.

Now, I will add my two cents to this. First, spanking in my book is a quick smack on the padded bottom or hand. Face is never allowed. It is also one slap, not a series and certainly not with dropped pants like a former neighbor did to his own children. I have my limits.

My own children, I can't remember the last time I did smack either one of them, but I can tell you why. My daughter was going to put a pencil into an outlet after figuring out how to remove the safety caps that we had in all of our outlets. She got her hand quickly smacked. She dropped the pencil immediately and never touched outlets again. She was three at the time and should have known better, but being curious, she tried it anyway. Is she scarred for life? No. Did she get zapped causing possible health issues? NO! I took action and remedied the situation immediately.

My son. He was four and decided to go across the street to see our neighbor's grandson's new Hot Wheel's Jeep type toy (the one that kid's actually drive.) We were doing dishes and never heard him leave the house. Our street is not the safest street to go across - we are the short cut to one of the quieter (and free) boat launches for Lake Champlain. Boat traffic in the summer goes far too fast and too frequent for any child that young to be out in. The fact that he made it across the road safely thrills me, but the fact that he went across alone got him a smack on the rear end. Even today, he admits that he knew he'd be in trouble but he wanted to see the Jeep. He's not scarred by it. In fact, those who will say that hitting leads to hitting (in my book hitting is not a quick slap), my son has never hit another person. He's one of the rare few in middle school who has never gotten into a fight and has walked away from fights despite the laughter from his peers.

Now, I know people who refuse to hit their children. One of these children throws more temper tantrums in one day than my children have in their entire lifetime combined. This mom constantly battles with her child to eat the meals she has prepared, go to bed at his set bedtime, pick up toys, take a bath when told, and stay in their yard. She swears that the simple word NO and restrictions works well, but I can't see that it has. Fighting with her child on a daily basis makes me thrilled my kids have learned that I am the boss! They know I love them, they love me, and they also know that when I say NO it means it.

Climate Changes

2007-01-30T12:34:00.000-05:00

Only in Vermont could we start out the month near 60 degrees and then end up with morning temperatures of 18 below. This morning was very nippy! I have this thing with going outside to wait for the school bus while I can feel my nostrils freezing together every time I try to inhale--not that my lungs appreciated my trying to inhale at all!

While we really haven't had that much of a winter this year, I am ready for it to go away. Walking on snow at 18 below zero makes for some nasty sounds. If you've never experienced it, imagine fingernails on the chalkboard with every step. The styrofoam squeak that occurs is plain annoying and feels odd too. It does feel like you are on hard styrofoam.

With this said, if anyone in the warmer states would like to get a fan big enough to blow some of their warm air up north, I'd really appreciate it!

Morning Coffee

2007-01-21T06:20:00.000-05:00

It's Sunday. I'm up far too early. It's a balmy three degrees. All I wanted was my cup of coffee and then to attempt to get some work done. Weekend mornings at this hour suck!

Why get up so early? It probably has everything to do with my pesky cats who pawed open lower cupboards in search of their kitty high. I'd bought a new bag of catnip for them and they were determined to find it. Unfortunately, our younger cat is all too clever at opening cupboards and she found it. I came downstairs to find a torn apart bag of catnip all over my floor and two very stoned cats attempting to look innocent.

Once I'd cleaned the gritty mess off the floor, I gave up on any thought of returning to bed. Instead, I decided to try the latest coffee in a round of tests...

Years ago, I stopped drinking items with caffeine. It was felt that my anxiety, besides being genetic, might be related to caffeine intake. I stopped drinking coffee and discovered it made a big difference. Any coffee addict who has given up caffeine knows that decaf coffee can be horrendous! I've spent years going through brands that are worthy of purchasing.

Dunkin Donuts - one of my favored caffeine brands - makes a lousy decaf usually. The coffee definitely has bitter, almost sour, after tones. Unless you ask them to make a fresh pot from freshly ground beans, don't count on a good cup of decaf.

Green Mountain Coffee Roasters is what I drink the most - Paul Newman's blend is the best to me. I want to say it is called Special Roast decaf - but it is his organic blend of decaf. The price, however, is a bit of a pain. $6 for a 12 oz bag.

My sister-in-law started drinking decaf a few months ago and swears by a newer VT company - Vermont Coffee Roasters - out of Bristol, VT. It is expensive stuff. For the price you pay, it should be liquid gold! For Christmas, I splurged and treated myself to a pound bag of their decaf Columbian. $13 per pound. How disappointing! While the coffee tastes okay, it isn't as good as Green Mountain. Worse yet, I find that if you do not double the amount of coffee, you get a weak tasting pot. For a pot, I tend to use between 1/2 cup to 3/4 cups of beans (estimating my measurements, I really fill the beans to the top of my grinder's metal rim and then grind away) and then grind them up. With this Vermont Coffee Roasters, I grind one batch of coffee beans, pour them into the filter, and then grind a second batch. So I'm using double the amount of beans to get a normal pot of coffee. That makes it a wasteful coffee to me.

Starbucks - not a big fan of their coffee - the decaf is bitter. Speeder and Earls (another local company) is another of my favorites! It's a little pricier, but definitely worth it.

Yesterday, I decided to try Costco (Kirkland's) decaf arabica. I purchased the three pound canister for $8. Usually, I'll buy the whole beans, but I felt it was a better idea to spend less and see if it is worth it before investing the additional $6. I guess I'm more comfortable throwing out $8 worth of coffee over $14. I did realize that being pre-ground, it might be the best coffee, but I want something that tastes like coffee without the bitter aftertaste. This Kirkland coffee isn't bad. Very smoky and better than some of the other coffees I've had. I can't wait to try the whole beans!

American Idol

2007-01-18T09:08:00.000-05:00

My husband, daughter, and I always watch the opening shows of American Idol. Year after year, I am continually amazed by people who show up for auditions and then sing their hearts out sounding more like a monkey on crack than a human. I'm sorry, but some of these people just CANNOT sign. Last night's show, in Seattle, leaves me with a lot of questions.

1. People continue to rant about how mean Simon is. Okay, first the taping takes place over an entire two day period. Two DAYS are turned into two HOURS. You know for ratings that the show is going to cut everything except Simon's comments, Paula's saccharin attitudes, and Randy's "Yo Dawg" garbage. It was very nice to see Randy show a little backbone and tell someone that they sucked. It was just as nice to see Simon rub it in a bit and fire the lousy singer up. I'd really LOVE to see Paula come right out and tell someone that they suck at singing and dancing. For the most part, I agree with everything Simon has to say. Though the Indian girl and her younger brother, while I agree he is the better singer, she did a great job too. It wasn't just okay.

2. I want to know how many of these people watch the taping of their audition and then cringe. I would hope that the majority are forced to watch it and then apologize for all the f-you Simon's. That guy who sang Unchained Melody last night. I had to mute the TV - his performance was brutal. I realize some people are tone deaf, but please. Perhaps you should go to some karoake bar first and see how the crowd reacts before you embarrass yourself on national television.

3. When you've been told you suck - why do some insist on ignoring the judges and sign even more. I couldn't stand the song that girl (the blonde who was her mom's twin - the only difference was age and hair color) did -- the "Dontcha Wish Your Girlfriend was hot like me...". I don't mind that song, but her rendition was horrifying. To then try to do Sweet Home Alabama. I was cringing.

Damn... School Systems Today

2007-01-10T11:34:00.000-05:00

My ten-year-old recently informed me that she refuses to miss another day of school. She's missed one this year and I had to fight her to stay home that day -- fever of 100.8 and she was fighting me every step of the way.

Anyway, a situation came up this week where it would have been beneficial to me to have both kids take the day off from school on Friday so that we could travel to the other side of the state, only my daughter burst into tears at the thought of missing school. It took me three days to get her to explain why -- especially when she announced that she wish it would snow so that she could have a snowday. (Vermont has been virtually snowfree all season.)

Last night, she finally told us why she doesn't want to miss school. Now, the school and I have battled on things before. I don't blame the teachers fully, I know a lot of today's problems lie with "No Child Left Behind." However, until school systems put their feet down and tell the government to get real, nothing is going to change. I'd love to not pay my taxes, but one person is not enough - the entire country needs to revolt and demand changes!

As it turns out, if a child here misses a day/days of school, they are not allowed to have recess until they have caught up on all their work. They are sent to another teacher's room (like detention from my day) where they have to catch up on all they missed before they can return to recess with their class. So in my daughter's case, she would typically miss her math chapter for the day, spelling work, short story writing, and whatever history/science they did while she was out. When I made her stay home in the fall, she wound up missing recess for three recesses (days).

This leads me to question:

1. why are we punishing kids for staying home sick???
2. Why not send the work home as homework?
3. Why are we send a message to kids that NO SICK days are allowed without punishment?

I don't know about everyone, but my friends, family, and husband are all given at least three sick days per year paid. Teachers that I have questioned admit that they get 10 sick days per year and those can be accumulated.

So if teachers are allowed to be sick without punishment, why are we sending the kids a strong message that if they skip school, they will be punished. It's wrong!

The state of the school system is depressing. I wish something would change and soon!

Better than our local weathermen

2007-01-08T10:35:00.000-05:00

Our weathermen have been off the mark pretty much all season. Take today - they said a mix of snow, sleet, and freezing rain. It warmed up a lot last night, so we are dealing with another round of rain. It's absurd - VT and it's January and to date, I've seen a maybe 3 inches total land in my yard. We've had three "storms." One barely left a dusting. The next left half an inch. The other left about 2 inches tops. Saturday's mix of sun and clouds and 60 degree weather had the birds singing their springtime songs. My white lilac trees have budded. My pink sedum is up out of the ground.

For Christmas, my younger brother bought my husband this indoor/outdoor thermometer. My husband LOVES it. What I've noticed is that the barometer aspect that tells you what the weather will be like in 12 to 24 hours has yet to fail us.

Friday before I went to bed, I glanced at it and it showed the sun coming out from behind a cloud. Now the weathermen were saying rain tapering to showers by late afternoon. Sure enough, Saturday afternoon the sun started to come out. The barometer function was once again more accurate than our weathermen. I am thoroughly fascinated by it and wish we'd bought one a long time ago. Now if I really truly understood how barometric pressure works and is calculated....

The Chicago Manual Of Style

2007-01-04T10:28:00.000-05:00

For years, I have wanted to buy myself a copy of The Chicago Manual of Style, but the high cost has been rather off-putting. My younger brother (I like to call him my little brother, but he's now a foot taller, so "little" doesn't quite fit anymore) surprised me with a copy this Christmas.

If you do any writing, I do have to admit that this book is a fantastic resource. It delves into the current rules on punctuation, grammar, and even publishing. While it may seem rather dull, I found myself actually enjoying sitting down and reading through the book when time allows. I can actually see myself working through this book from cover to cover just to have an idea on what has changed since I had grammar drilled into me by my shorthand teacher. (I still thank her to this day for all she taught us!)

Happy New Year!

2006-12-30T16:16:00.000-05:00

Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season so far. I also wanted to squeeze in a minute's time and say Happy New Year.

Sadly, my family's New Year is starting with the unexpected death of my best friend's older brother. As he wasn't much older than me and he was the same age as my own older brother, I'm still in a bit of a state of shock. For the first portion of the year, my focus will be on helping out wherever I can. I know I'll have the baby during the private memorial service. Meanwhile, it really kind of hits home - doesn't matter how old you are - death can hit suddenly and unexpectedly!

I hope everyone else has a wonderful and prosperous New Year!

Mock Trial

2006-12-15T10:25:00.000-05:00

My son has spent the past two months completing a course called "Mock Trial." In this course, the 7th and 8th graders learn what it is like to be a lawyer. I learned a few things in the process as well!

The case involves three private high schoolers - Anne, Beck, and Cody. Beck and Cody are feeling pressured to pass a certain honors class so they steal a blank copy of the test. Anne catches them and school policy is that she must turn them in or face strict punishments. Beck tries to talk her out of it. Over the weekend, Beck and Cody go to a local beach to try to talk to Anne - Anne is murdered and Beck is arrested.

Okay, here is the kicker - this entire case is based on circumstantial evidence. My son was on the prosecution. Their biggest evidence is the bloody rock and then a statement Beck makes to police about Anne's head being bashed in - that statement is thrown out because Beck's parents were not there when Beck was questioned. So this leaves the poor kids trying to win with no hope.

They did a fantastic job! I congratulate all of them - it had to have been hard to put on this performance to a room full of adults, but in front of real lawyers and a real judge - that makes it a lot more nerve racking! They did great.

Meanwhile, I learned something important.

Jury chairs are horrendously uncomfortable. This case lasted 3 1/2 hours - all on a school night no less - we were there from 6:30 to 10pm and by the time I left my tail bone was killing me. I can't imagine HOW any juror makes it through a case when it is extremely apparent that the chairs are not designed for comfort.

Jane Eyre

2006-12-13T08:37:00.000-05:00

I picked up this book a few weeks ago and then had to walk away due to more pressing demands. So yesterday, I started it over. I still find myself utterly entranced with Charlotte Bronte's classic novel.

Many claim that Jane Austen is the founding voice in romance, I won't argue. However, I'm reading Jane Eyre (into the third part now) and I would bet money that many Regency romance authors started with this book. The classic pairing of a wealthy man and his child's governess is all too apparent.

If you read historical romance and have missed Jane Eyre, definitely pick it up! I have work to do - otherwise I'd be elsewhere with my nose in the book waiting for the final page!

Love, Magic, & Mudpies

2006-12-08T11:19:00.000-05:00

Here is a parenting guide that I will happily put my faith in. Why? The author, Dr. Bernie Siegel, is as laid back as they come. He throws away traditional parenting and suggests having fun! He's the first to admit his own parenting faults and says no parent is perfect! It's about time.

Dr. Siegel won me over after pointing out one small fact. How many of you have taken a day off of work because you were tired of it all? We've all done it. There have been times I have stayed in PJ's all day and ignored the computer. I call them "Mental Health Days", Dr. Siegel refers to them as "health days." He also states that he gave his children five health days per semester.

This is the first time I have heard of anyone else doing this. I've been known to let my son take a "mental health" day from time to time. This year he has been adverse to doing so. The school changed the policy last year and more than 3 days of missed school meant a child was sent home with a letter discussing delinquency. After seven days off, a meeting was held with the advisory board. They did it to cut delinquency, in the end they've scared kids into going to school sick.

I'm ticked off about it and have not let the brainchild behind this new policy rest since.

I'm going to agree with Dr. Siegel. Kids are being given federally mandated tests earlier than ever. They are being pushed in school beyond reasonable demands. Kindergarteners are coming home with an hour's worth of homework some days. Some areas require kindergarteners to give their first oral report (I know ours does). Studies show that kids are under more stress than ever, so if they ask for a mental health day and their grades are fine, why not give it to them? You know if you were pressured at work and tired of it all, you'd take a personal day!

Avoid this one!

2006-12-07T11:09:00.000-05:00

With Christmas coming, I know many people are out there hunting for unique gifts. I don't care who you are purchasing a gift for, avoid this product:

http://www.epinions.com/content_217832525444

I'm sure you've seen the automatic shower cleaner advertised on TV. The man is brushing his teeth and finds a dozen maids in his tub. I love gadgets, so as soon as I had a $5 off coupon, I ran out and bought one.

At first, I was pretty amazed. It seemed to keep stains down. My unit dripped after using it, though, so I would have to go in and wipe up the drips from time to time. If any of us were taking a bath, it would start dripping and annoying the hell out of whoever happened to be in the tub. Not to mention, I wasn't sure the cleaner is safe enough to be dripping onto the feet during a shower, especially with little ones.

Anyway, while my friend was up, we started noticing that where the cleaning system was dripping, the chrome finish on the tub spout was slowly dissolving. I immediately threw the system away. If it can eat off the chrome finish, I can only imagine what it does to other surfaces.

Here is what they say:

Is Scrubbing Bubbles® Automatic Shower Cleaner safe to use on most shower/tub surfaces?

Yes. Scrubbing Bubbles® Automatic Shower Cleaner can be used in most standard showers, including fiberglass, acrylic, and plastic shower stalls and shower/tub enclosures. Scrubbing Bubbles® Automatic Shower Cleaner is also safe for use on plastic and synthetic shower curtains. Over time, it may lighten natural fabrics such as cotton. Do not use Scrubbing Bubbles® Automatic Shower Cleaner in showers with brass fixtures, natural marble, or finished wood surfaces. Rinse surfaces well if the cleaner is accidentally sprayed on these surfaces.

Now, I don't have brass fixtures, so I figured I was fine. BIG mistake. I now have to put in new fixtures. My shower curtain (the heavy-duty hotel type) is also starting to dissolve.

Trust me, this product is not worth it - run far, far away!

Movie Break: The Break-Up

2006-12-06T10:03:00.000-05:00

Okay, someone please tell me - what part of this movie is a romantic "comedy?" I have never been so disgusted with a movie ending in my life!!!!

The movie stars Vince Vaughn and Jennifer Aniston. They play a couple who are crazy for one another, but in typical male fashion, he wants to kick back and relax and she's a little high strung and wants to know she is appreciated. Sorry guys, we are hormonal 99% of the time and we do like to know this from time to time without us having to prompt you along!

Anyway, in order to get him to realize how much he needs her, Jennifer's character breaks up with him. Only they must live together in their condo still and this presents a major problem. He's as stubborn as they come; she's possibly more stubborn, and neither is going to cave in.

So there is the basic premise to the movie. Now for the spoiler:

Don't read the next paragraph if you do not want to know how the movie ends!!!

The ending is not what I was expecting. He realizes he's screwed up. He tries to patch things up. She spurns him. Heads off on her travels. Returns. They bump into each other and go their separate ways. They end up apart. What kind of ROMANTIC comedy is this? It was depressing and the happily-ever-after never arrived! I'm feeling rather depressed at having spent money to see this stuff. If I wanted depressing, I could have flipped on the news!

Television & Books

2006-12-01T15:03:00.000-05:00

For years, I read Kathy Reich's Temperence Brennan series religiously. I loved this series and found myself addicted from the start. Temperence Brennan is a forensic anthropologist who splits her time between North Carolina and Montreal (a city about 1 1/2 hours north of me that I can't say I enjoy because every Montrealan I've encountered has been snotty and rude to tourists.)

Last year, I started watching Bones. Bones is the television series based on Temperence "Bones". At first, I disliked it. Bones was much younger, the romantic side of Bones was gone, and she was based in D.C. That made the show seem totally wrong.

As time has passed, however, I tried reading a book and found myself truly disliking it. I've grown to prefer the show over the books. It leads me to wonder - are authors doing themselves a disservice by crossing over. Why not create an entirely new character with new names and pitch that to television instead?

Max Collins seems to have the knack - but he goes the opposite way. He takes a show and then writes a book about that show. These television show based book series have never disappointed me.

Writing: Getting Paid To Blog

2006-12-01T11:32:00.000-05:00

Can you truly make money blogging? Sure, but the better question becomes is the pay worth the required time?

Many paying blogging sites earn money through Google's Adsense. They also require their writers to spend hours every day posting responses on similar blogs in order to get their name out there... Though that doesn't officially qualify as SPAM, it certainly seems it. Blogging for money can be cut throat, but at the same time becoming cut throat and being in it only for the money takes a lot of the joy away.

If you have hours to spend, certainly look into it, but be careful. While it can sound easy, you may find the time you are putting in does not become worthwhile when you receive a paycheck for less than $10 after investing 2 or 3 hours a day over a month's span. $10 for 60 hours of time is absurd!

Ideals

2006-11-25T11:04:00.000-05:00

In my opinion, everyone has the freedom to form their own ideals in life. However, when they start preaching those ideals and telling me that I am wrong, I tend to turn into my evil Irish-heritaged self. So for the sake to today's post, if you are of an opinionated sort, that's fine. BUT, do not push your opinions onto others and then tell them they are "bad," "the problem with the world today," or otherwise offer them an insult. It's uncalled for and in my opinion part of the reason why the world is so screwy- intolerance is still too big a deal.

I got into a minor disagreement this week with someone who is becoming a vegetarian. I do not have issues with those practicing vegetarianism until they start preaching why I am so evil because I still eat meat. According to this person, people like me who eat eggs that are not necessarily free range, eat veal on special occasions, and do not eat organic meats are the reason the world is so awful.

I live on a budget. I eat and feed my family what we can afford. $4 a dozen for free-range eggs, double the cost for organic produce and meats is not something I will be tackling. You can disagree but don't then tell me how evil I am because of my budgetary concerns. Last organic produce I ate (spinach) made me pretty damn sick, so I'm not sure I like the whole organic bit anyway. Either way, something is going to kill us all, so I'm not going to put myself into bankruptcy paying the absurd prices for organic items. That's my choice.

We all have different opinions, that's what makes the human race unique. Not accepting others opinions and outright name calling because of them is what it truly wrong today.

Christmas Shopping...

2006-11-12T13:43:00.000-05:00

Okay, I'm going to go over the list of shopping rules again... If you are heading out to the store, please stop and think about your actions before entering a store!!

1. There is no need to act like a child: Yesterday, I went to Christmas Tree Shops in Williston, VT. This store seems to have some means for turning people into raving lunatics. It's not even after Thanksgiving, yet the store was shoulder to shoulder. People were rude, flat out rude! Is the $4.99 boot container really worth acting like an imbecile?

2. Watch for others! I can't state this one enough. To the mother with the two teenagers was it really necessary to ram your cart into the side of my 10-year-old's ankle while she stood tucked against the counter where we were checking out. She has bruises on that ankle bone from the cart. You didn't stop, you never apologized. She was crying and you turned and looked at her and then kept right on walking. If you were embarrassed-whatever. If it was an accident, that's fine. But you could have stopped and apologized. You are what makes me shop online!

3. Move out of the way. If you are looking at an item before purchasing - that's great. Do you really need to leave your cart blocking an aisle and then an aisle away away to look at something else? Then when I moved a cart, the "owner" yelled at me for touching her stuff. Get over it. If you don't want your cart to be moved out of the way, then take it with you. To the woman who was on her hands and knees looking at pajamas. TWO PEOPLE asked you to move so that they could get through, you opted not to, you looked right at them and then continued digging. Why you acted stunned when one accidentally bumped you with her cart is beyond me.

4. Parking... If you see a car waiting for a parking space, it is rude and obnoxious to then whip your car into that parking spot. The woman waiting had her directional on. You came out of no where - too fast at that - and took the spot. You laughed after doing it. You are the reason parking lot rage exists.

5. Check outs. This one always gets to me. At the check out counter is not the time to decide you wanted something after all. I think it should be declared "illegal" to then tell the cashier that you will be right back after grabbing some item you'd decided you didn't want. If you do change your mind, get out of line and then get back in after you're retrieved the item. We had a woman decided after half of her order had been rung through that she wanted a bird feeder after all. She was gone for five minutes (other side of the store) while everyone in that line had to sit and wait for her to return.

6. Using a cart... Okay this one always fails to surprise me. When driving a car, there are two lanes correct? Why do shoppers always insist on pushing their cart side by side when they are shopping with a friend? Single file!!! If the store is empty that's one thing, any where else - traffic heading to the back of the store is on the left - traffic heading to the front is on the right. It's that easy!

7. Parking Lots - back to the parking lots. This is the store's/architect's fault and I still don't get it. I was hit a few years ago backing out of a space. The truck that backed into me couldn't see my car because his truck was too high. He admitted that he didn't see anything parked in the space behind him through the rear view so he backed up. He told his insurance company that he was to blame - he also told police that he was at fault. So knowing that a sedan and a truck are vastly different, why can't they segregate parking lots? Have trucks and vans in one half and sedans in another. It would save a lot of parking lot accidents from happening. If a sedan is sandwiched between two huge trucks, that car driver's visibility is seriously reduced. I'll get out and direct my husband out in that situation. But not everyone has a passenger with them, so parking larger vehicles with other large vehicles makes a whole lot more sense to me!

8. Sale items - there was a mad rush on these silly plastic boot trays yesterday. Sure they were a great price, but to watch people push each other out of the way to get to them was absurd. Is a boot tray really worth the injury that could happen to someone else. A raincheck guarantees you get the lower price and most stores offer them.

Interesting Book

2006-11-10T10:26:00.000-05:00

I started reading a book today - Melissa Clark's SWIMMING UPSTREAM SLOWLY

It revolves around the premise of Lazicum Spermatoza in which a sperm remains viable years after sex. The heroine of the story finds herself pregnant and the kicker is that she has not had sex for the past two years.

It is certainly a different storyline!

Reading

2006-11-02T09:12:00.000-05:00

Last night and this morning, I actually picked up a book that was not review related and read it. It has been years since I read a book that I had picked out - not one that my children asked me to read with them, but a book truly for myself that didn't require a review! How refreshing.

The site will be undergoing a bit of a change in the next two months. Due to a lack of traffic on the Christian/Inspirational page, we have made the choice to finish up all pending reviews with that section and then dismantle it.

Finding reviewers willing to work without pay has been a challenge. Another site claims they pay $1 per review, and many of the reviewers I have or who email me state they would be happier with that site. Given the lack of interested reviwers and the number of releases we are receiving, something had to be cut, unfortunately.

Writer Scams

2006-10-26T11:00:00.000-04:00

I've been doing some freelance writing to earn a few bucks here and there.

I did some articles three weeks ago for this editor named Tom Francis. The offer was $12 each for some keyword rich articles on mortgage banking and construction positions. I knew enough about both of these that I agreed to do them. I had the seven articles done in a little over two hours, he loved them and told me that he was sending money immediately.

He never did.

This is a topic that I see more and more. The writer doesn't get paid, the person who owes disappears, and then posting his name becomes the only way to spread word. So watch out for Tom Francis.

It's a shame there are not better ways to protect against scam artists like him.

Breast Cancer

2006-10-18T12:13:00.000-04:00

My thoughts and prayers go out to the family of author Miriam Engelberg today. Miriam lost her lengthy battle against the dreaded disease. If you missed my review of her book - http://www.roundtablereviews.com/roundtable/Archives/engelbergmiriam62206.htm

Please, if you can, continue to donate to any breast cancer fund. Every little bit counts!

Tracy

Delivery people...

2006-10-06T12:27:00.000-04:00

I get shipments almost daily. I also happen to have this odd driver for one of the large overnight services who yesterday truly crossed the boundaries. So while this isn't book related, per se, I hope some publishers out there who read this might begin to think carefully about whom they choose.

The company in question is Fedex. And I do have complaints in with the company and hope they will be dealing with the matter immediately, they said they'd contact me as soon as they'd discussed the situation... haven't heard a word, yet.

Anyway, there are three drivers in this area. Two are really nice, the other is also really nice, but he's a letch. Flat out, he is a sick pervert who should NOT be delivering packages to women.

When he first took the route, he would tell me how he had close ties to the local courthouse because of his former military career in which he was pretty high up. But he'd retired and wanted a part-time job with flexibility that allowed him to be out and about, Fedex fit his needs.

A few months later, he told me how he was a major league umpire. He then proceeded to tell me that he'd been on the field during the Curt Schilling bloody sock game, that I could check out - we have that game on DVD. It was no surprise, he wasn't there, so my husband and I started to realize that this guy had an issue. Later he told me that he and another driver were always fighting over who got to come see me. It was odd again, but I still figured it was all him bragging over silly things.

The end of August, my hubby had the first full week of school off. The Fed Ex guy came and didn't see Dave putting in a new kitchen light. He made a comment that sounded suggestive about quickies but I wasn't sure if I just was taking it wrong or hearing it wrong, when Dave came out and made it known he was home, the FedEx guy took off faster than I've ever seen him move. That's when I realized that maybe it wasn't all must my making something more of it. Dave made a comment back that he didn't want to see this guy on our route anymore and that he'd be watching.

A full month went by and never saw the Fed Ex guy again. So I figured it was over. Until yesterday, he came right up and started asking how I'd been. I tried to blow him off by saying I was busy and had to get back inside. His response, "Turn around and I'll show you busy honey." I am 99.9% certain that there is no other way that that statement could be taken. It was suggestive. Thankfully, Dave is home for his birthday and he immediately contacted Fedex and told them that this guy is just not mentally stable and shouldn't be driving a route where women are home alone working. He also suggested going outside with a bat, but I told him as sweet as his wanting to defend me is - that's not the solution.

I'm hoping Fedex takes immediate action and either fires or at least puts this guy on a route where he has to enter fully staffed businesses. He's certainly not fit to be delivering to any establishment where a woman is by herself. In the meantime, I'll be locking my doors all day again and making sure that I have my 9-iron next to the door just in case. Again, the 9 iron isn't a great answer, but it's that or a really mean dog... with kids I don't like the dog aspect. Though I'm truly starting to think otherwise.

Books and food

2006-10-05T09:44:00.000-04:00

I was discussing the link between books and food with another reviewer. Oddly enough, my daughter came home that same day and was looking over my shoulder at emails. She saw that and said, "Everyone knows you read a book with tea and biscuits."

That led me to wonder, if my ten year old knows it, is it something that she picked up because my mom is British or is it just as common here in the U.S. So I asked her why she said that. Her response was that in all the television shows she sees where a character is having tea, there is always a plate of cookies. (Cookies are biscuits in England). This led me to believe that the practice may be just as common over here.

I'm often disturbed by the lack of true coffeehouses/Used book stores in this area. We can go to Borders or Barnes and Noble and have a cup of coffee and a tart or something similar while you read, but I want a place like I've seen in smaller English towns where the coffee shop has racks of used books or is very close to a used book store and they invite you with comfy chairs to come sit down and read while you enjoy your coffee.

Some day that is my dream. I'm going to open up a small cafe type establishment with coffee served a special manner that I'm not posting with book shelves full of used books. Kind of a home away from home where you know the service will be friendly and the treats are always exquisite.

Hidden Gifts Of The Introverted Child

2006-10-04T09:34:00.000-04:00

A month or so ago, I had the opportunity to review a book about introverted children. http://www.roundtablereviews.com/roundtable/Archives/laneymartiolsen82906.htm

Now this book really made an impression as I tend to be introverted, and I've noticed both of my children are the same way. One of my sticking points in school was the teacher who always insisted on calling on the shyer children--the ones who wouldn't make eye contact or raise their hand. That was me!

In this book it suggests that forcing an introverted child to answer a question before they have had time to think an answer through is actually damaging to their self-esteem. I would again agree. Mr. Carney, my 8th grade history teacher, did this to me. I will never forget the question, "In the 1970s, the US came up with stricter regulations allowing the entry of these people into our country?" History was never my subject. He called on me and I said the first thing that came to my head, "aliens". Meaning illegal immigrants. The class and Mr. Carney spent a good 15 minutes laughing hysterically over my answer. Carney admitted he knew what I was saying, but he still had images of the spacemen in his head. Meanwhile, I was humiliated and it reinforced my thoughts that calling on students who do not want to be called on is rather destructive.

This leads me to a question for teachers. Why can't you lead a class without calling on others in a sneak attack mode? The night before, announce to all the students that tomorrow's discussion will be on whatever subject. Everyone will be expected to give their opinion on ... and that they will be taking turns offering their thoughts. This gives the introverted kids a night to prepare their arguments. It takes some of the stress off the sneak attack that many teachers currently use.

My son's science teacher last night said my son's biggest thing is that he doesn't always raise his hand to volunteer an answer. SO WHAT. He is pulling straight A's so they know the material is being learned. Try a different approach and you may find he jumps right in - IF he's had time to plan things out.

Favorite Authors

2006-10-03T10:32:00.000-04:00

Every year, a huge harvest market is held very close to my childhood home. We will drive to my parents' home, park for the day and walk to the harvest market festivities. This year the Harvest Market was a bit of a bust, due to the weather (I think) many booths were absent or missing completely.

At the Harvest Market, local libraries, preschools, and other organizations hold huge flea markets, book sales, and food booths. So we all go to eat french fries, fried dough, onion rings, and various other bad for you foods. Then I always look for cookbooks and a few other goodies that I feel the urge to purchase for a ridiculous amount. This year I was looking for two books specifically - both by Diane Mott Davidson.

Now if you are unfamiliar with this author, she writes a series based on a caterer (Goldie) who always seems to stumble across a dead body. Diane Mott Davidson was my introduction to the world of the culinary mystery and all of her books sit in my kitchen where I am always game to try out her recipes from time to time. Unfortunately, I had not been keeping up and I'd not purchased her last two books until recently. Now I have some catching up to do.

Since my introduction to Diane Mott Davidson, I have found so many other delightful culinary mystery writers - Joanne Fluke is another I can't live without.

To me, getting hooked is what it is all about!

Rainy Days

2006-09-19T11:26:00.000-04:00

While it may have started out relatively clear, it is now pouring rain. I have to admit, even when it is dreary and gray, the sound of rain falling on my back roof is also so relaxing.

Today is one of those days when I got my freelance writing done, so now I'm just waiting to hear if I will need to do rewrites or not. The rest of the day, I can get some reading done. I have a bunch of books pulled out. I'm not sure where to start first, but with it so grim outside, I am in the mood for a glowing, scented candle, and then a number of books. Hey, I may even pull out some more classics... the stuff I HATED reading in high school. Quite a few of them are rather intriguing now that I have a little more experience in the world. :-)

Children and Reading

2006-09-14T14:01:00.000-04:00

A reviewer and I were talking about school imposed reading. Adults will remember those high school days when you were handed a book and told READ IT. This was followed by essays, tests, and lengthy discussions about symbolism, themes, metaphors, etc. I hated being told what to read. Shakespeare--I had no use for him and his speech that always ended with -eth. What he did sayeth never meanteth much to me.

In high school, there are a few books I did keep. To Kill A Mockingbird. I loved that story, just as much as I love the movie with Gregory Peck. George Stewart's Earth Abides - can you imagine being one of a handful of survivors to a major plague? I never minded reading Judith Guest's Ordinary People either.

Romeo & Juliet, I've never understood why we had to read it in both Freshman and Junior year. Worse, my grades on the tests given after reading the book never improved! Same goes for MacBeth or Hamlet.

John Steinbeck, I have all of his books and love reading them from time to time. But George Orwell's 1984 - no thanks.

With this my son is starting his 7th grade year. They have to finish 25 books in order to pass the class in June. To my amazement, I actually heard his teacher announce that they get to pick the books they read. She'll do some anthologies with them, but all of their other reading is on their own. Textbooks, magazine subscriptions (a full year of magazines counts as one book)- they all count as reading. It's ABOUT TIME. My son has two magazines that he will not let me miss - Consumer Reports and X-Box Magazine. He does read and reread these magazines all the time. I can't imagine any teacher saying a magazine counts, but I'm glad someone finally acknowledges it!

So far, my son is almost finished the first book in Phillip Pullman's trilogy. (Can't think of the name - but Golden Compass is one of the books - possibly the first, possibly not). He tends to be drawn to sci-fi/fantasy type books. He's working on The Hobbit in another class.

A question arose though - what books would you recommend to fussy readers?

Here are the answers I've come up with:

Romance -

Try Lavyrle Spencer. Her books are gentle enough to be teen friendly, the historical detail won't overwhelm a young woman, but the romances are incredible. Lavyrle is the writer who introduced me to romance.

General Fiction:

I'm hooked on authors like Steinbeck and Salinger. Not everyone agrees though.

Sci-Fi/Fantasy-

C.S. Lewis hands down. George Stewart of course. Stephen King (though he can be horror too). My son will add Eoin Colfer, and JK Rowling to this list.

Lois Duncan, Judy Blume and Ann Rinaldi are winners for the middle school ages in my mind. Lemony Snicket books are another big hit in my house.

Jane Austen

2006-09-11T14:17:00.000-04:00

As a romance reader who also loves a wide variety of other genres, I expected to love Jane Austen. She's touted as the genius to invent the romance, so what's not to love?

I dove into Sense & Sensibility and was instantly making cracks about Fanny living up to her name. :-) Unfortunately, as time passed I found myself become bored in a sense with the writing. Jane Austen and her heroines did not rush to do anything. I can understand it perfectly, but it is not in my lifestyle to slow down sadly. I always run from deadline to school function to errands to appointments in a frenzy of activity. Toss in normal every day things and I don't see how single working mom's ever find the time to breathe! I'm happily married with older kids, working from home, and I still struggle to handle everything on my plate.

Does this mean Austen isn't worth reading? No, I don't think so. I thoroughly enjoyed Lady Susan and her disconcern about polite society's rules. It's a dog eat dog world out there and Lady Susan seemed to be a woman with whom I'd enjoy gossiping!

I do think that what has happened is that in my world of having no time to myself, I want that tidbit of time to be fast paced and entertaining. Jane Austen can entertain, of that there is no doubt, but her pacing was just a little too slow for me to be able to connect with it.

New Year - Changes Being Made

2006-09-07T12:19:00.000-04:00

Starting today, this blog will only be related to books. I'll update when I can. I do some freelance writing, so on some days I'm busier than others.

Today, I want to talk about reading. The school recently sent home a newsletter discussing reading. Children who read at least 20 minutes per night prove successful in school. Is there truth to that?

My children see me with a book in hand regularly. My son and daughter both read nightly. So I am an advocate of reading to or pushing your child to read. However, there are points where I disagree! It is a big thing at school that the kids should pick a different genre every month. If they start with sci-fi, they can't read a sci-fi again until they've read an award winner, non-fiction, general fiction, adventure, human interest, etc.

No child should be forced to read a book. I never agreed that our English teachers got to choose what we read. I hated Shakespeare. Few books ever appealed to me if they were forced into my hands. The only two books that I still keep on my bookshelf - TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD and EARTH ABIDES. I love and reread those books constantly. As a note to others, if you loved Stephen King's THE STAND read George Stewart's EARTH ABIDES it is the same premise.

Now that I am no longer forced by teachers to read their choices, I have picked up many classics. TWELVE ANGRY MEN is a great classic - short but entertaining. I'm working my way through the complete collection of Jane Austen novels. Those are taking me a while to get into, but once they hit the key element, I can't put the novel down.

At home, my children can read what they want. I don't limit them. Even though some of their teachers don't like that attitude. To me, my son picking up an Alton Brown cookbook (one of his favorite chefs) counts as reading. He is fascinated by this man and will sit and read the cookbook from cover to cover. He does the same with Giada di Laurentiis cookbooks. In fact, he makes the best Chicken Picatta I've ever had. He loves reading cookbooks and I'm not about to tell him that a cookbook "doesn't count." Some teachers need to get over themselves and change with the times. He's also hooked on Harry Potter and Artemis Fowl books, so it's not like he only reads cookbooks. He has other likes.

My daughter loves Junie B. Jones. She has just about every book out there and reads them over and over. I've had teachers tell me that she needs to broaden her selections. I disagree. She's reading and enjoying it, what more does she need?

I will never understand the education systems push to get children reading a different genre every month. Why? There is plenty of time for them to do that when they enter high school and college. For now, let them be kids!

Back to School with serious hesitation

2006-08-21T14:38:00.000-04:00

My children head back to school next week. Neither my fourth or seventh grader is happy about the return to school. This is pretty typical you'd think. Unfortunately, I understand their hesitation.

I received my 7th grader's temporary schedule last year. It seems that with the start of 7th grade, they try to mimic a high school schedule. The schedule is given to them on the first day of school and then any changes have to be made by Monday (they return to school on Thursday.) His big issue is that they are given 15 minutes for lunch this year. Can you imagine? Fifteen minutes to stand in the lunch line, eat your lunch, and then it is a school rule that students at each table clean their own area. So this means the students at the 6-person table have to wipe down chairs and table surfaces, bring up trays, deposit any litter, eat, and get their lunch within 15 minutes. It's absurd. The government blames video games and TV for children's growing waistlines - I have my own ideas about training childen to wolf down an entire meal within at least 10 minutes. Then the 7th graders all go to their student advisor instead of recess where they will discuss bullying, peer pressure, and any educational concerns. My son has already announced that he does not want to bother bringing a lunch to school this year because he doesn't like having to eat it in record time. I can't blame him...

Meanwhile, my 4th grader will have a 20 minute lunch this year and then 10 minutes of recess. Every year, the recess gets shorter and shorter for these kids. Better yet, if they don't get their work done in time they have to skip recess and sit in their classroom and finish any school work instead. This happened last year to my daughter. She'd gone to one of her gifted classes and didn't have time to complete her writing assignment. So she was forced to skip recess. I was ticked and the school had to deal with my wrath. I'm not a popular person at that school - not at all.

Thicker skins

2006-08-15T09:26:00.000-04:00

Some people in the world today need to toughen up. I came across an email yesterday that was insulting, poorly writtten in terms of grammar and punctuation, and contained enough bad language that it made the author of said email look childish.

Those who know Jen and I know that we founded Roundtable Reviews on the premise that we would not rate books...we would tell readers what we thought about a book. The question on our mind while reading a book is "Would we be willing to spend the money needed to buy this book?" That is what we ask of our reviewers and ourselves.

Last week, I reviewed a non-fiction title that was okay, but the principle behind the book bothered me. I'm part Irish and am not about to hold my tongue--never have, never will. My review stated that the book was well-written, but the fact that the author (a former police officer sworn to uphold the law) states clearly that he broke many laws he is sworn to uphold bothered me. He waited until the statute of limitations ran out, released this book, and is now profiting. That does bother me regardless of his reasoning for breaking the laws. Sorry, but as a mom, I find anything glorifying breaking laws and stating "To beat a criminal, you must becomea criminal" is not something for which I would be willing to pay money. Hence the answer to my question - "would I be willing to buy this book if I were in a bookstore today?" That is what I based my review on. http://www.roundtablereviews.com/cearobert80106.htm

The author states he is disgusted by my "Dan Rather Gorilla Type" journalism tactics and that I make money by twisting the truth. My response to this - book reviewers are not paid despite what you proclaim. Online review sites do it for the love of books, not for money. I've never profited off my reviews - in fact, I wind up shelling out personal money to cover things like shipping, website fees, etc. So in no way am I biased by money. Secondly, one thing all authors need to realize, and most do, is that reviews are OPINION. This review is MY OPINION of your book. If you don't agree, so be it. That's your right.

I, however, still stick by my first opinion. People got hurt. Laws were broken. And now a profit is being made. I do believe that the author himself stated that his years as an officer provided him with the resources to "pad his pockets". Sure, the author knows what he did was wrong and has turned his life around. I do not debate that. However, if you look at the definition of "padding pockets"...

pad 1 (pd)
n.
1. A thin, cushionlike mass of soft material used to fill, to give shape, or to protect against jarring, scraping, or other injury.
2. A flexible saddle without a frame.
3. An ink-soaked cushion used to ink a rubber stamp.
4. A number of sheets of paper of the same size stacked one on top of the other and glued together at one end; a tablet.
5.
a. The broad floating leaf of an aquatic plant such as the water lily.
b. The flattened fleshy stem of a cactus such as certain varieties of prickly pear. Also called paddle1.
6.
a. The cushionlike flesh on the underpart of the toes and feet of many animals.
b. The foot of such an animal.
7. The fleshy underside of the end of a finger or toe.
8.
a. A launch pad.
b. A helipad.
9. A keypad.
10. Slang One's apartment or room.
tr.v. pad·ded, pad·ding, pads
1. To line or stuff with soft material.
2. To lengthen or increase, especially with extraneous or false information: pad a lecture with jokes; pad an expense account.Idiom:
on the pad Slang
Taking bribes.

This suggests that the author realizes he is now profiting from his past by a. Providing false information or b. taking bribes. Either way, I still find it wrong.

Driving Rules

2006-08-08T12:32:00.000-04:00

I have a new rule. This blog entry goes out to the two drivers who beeped and gave me the finger yesterday! Perhaps you'll read this and learn something.

Exit 14 on the interstate has led to some one-lane issues which means the traffic is backed up for a long time. I was on the interstate yesterday and got caught in it. After spending 30 minutes moving from Exit 16 to the bridge over the Winooski River, I was getting hot and tired. My kids were no different. On the bridge, a sign stating "Merge Right. Left Lane closed in 1/2 mile" appeared. That means people had 1/2 mile to get over. So two drivers raced by on the left right when I was about 10 car lengths from the barrier with the lane closing. They then expected to be let in immediately. No one in front of me did and I wasn't about to either.

If you have had plenty of warning that you need to merge, then don't expect those who have merged in advance to suddenly feel sorry for you for ignoring the signs. I'm not about to let you in, not if you wait. If I had my way, you'd be sitting until the wee hours when traffic finally eases enough for you to get over without issue. If you can't follow the signs, you don't get the perk of getting on with your day. Sit and wait like the rest of us had been doing!

Back To School Shopping

2006-08-07T08:17:00.000-04:00

My son finally got his back to school list from the school (7th grade). I guessed almost completely wrong. I'd bought him pencils, which were needed, pens (again necessary), notebooks (not needed at all)...

So I get the list - 2 inch binders - four of them. I checked Staples and Walmart. For 2 inch binders, we are looking at at least $5 a piece. Staples has them on sale this week 3 for $21. I'd bought him 1 inch binders, but apparently that won't do. I'm slightly ticked because that's a lot of money to have to spend on binders that he is certain he could have used 1 inch and made do with them by cleaning out the old from time to time and 1 inch are what he's used in the past.

We also have to buy him a scientific calculator, a metric ruler, colored pencils, computer disks (not that they mentioned the size, I'm assuming they mean 3 1/2 inch disks, though blank CDs would be much handier to me as I always have those on hand), reinforcers for the binder, and dividers for the binders. He will not get his schedule until the first day of school, so the rest of the list will be given to us when his full schedule is set. I'm ticked about that. That means parents will have to do a mad dash to get the rest of the items that weekend.

Our daughter, they still haven't sent her list yet.

Kudos

2006-07-31T11:03:00.000-04:00

If you read my blog ever, you'll have seen that my children's pool fell victim to some ATV riders. Anyway, there was an article in the local paper a few days later regarding some ATV trails that are being shot down by one of the state agencies. So I fired off a letter to the editor about this...

Would an ATV trail really be that bad?I have to say that the NRPC is wrong. I have no tolerance for ATVs in most cases, but I would much rather have ATV riders on a trail than where they currently ride - my yard. We awoke Wednesday morning to ATV tracks across our yard, and one of the ATVs had run over my children's 10 foot by 6 foot pool, destroying it. Police say that there is little that they can do to prevent these wee hour of the morning ATV activities because there is only so much of a police force to go around throughout Franklin county. Perhaps if ATV users had somewhere to actually go, they'd get off of other people's yards. In the meantime, if anyone has a pool to donate, I'm sure my children would appreciate it. - Georgia, VT - July 23, 2006

I tried to remain civil. And I've been told I didn't sound as witchy as I could have been. So I guess I kept the civil tone throughout. I have an update to this story now!

The local ATV Assocation (the North Country ATV Association) contacted me after seeing my letter. Not only did they find a replacement pool (not an easy feat, I'd gone to four stores and couldn't find a pool that was the same size), but they also went out back and talked to the kid we feel is responsible. His ATV tracks are still visible, they saw them and said it looks like the kid steered for the pool. They warned him that there was going to be more patrolling and ticketing by not only the police, but also by fish and game wardens who now have the authority. They suggested he join their association and get out on the trails where ATVs should be. Since Friday, the kid has not been out ONCE on his ATV. Things have been quiet. I appreciate everything Steve (the president) has done for my children!!