tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31364922932716243742024-03-05T17:32:58.188-08:00Russell WritesKatharine Russell ponders the process of writing and publishing, addresses communications challenges in modern life and comments on the American scene without the benefit of rose-colored glasses, except when she is discussing golf. Russell advocates for science literacy, especially for women, and better science and math education for girls. She also shares some of her poetry and short fiction.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04726693219581734472noreply@blogger.comBlogger83125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3136492293271624374.post-70072747420474667932012-09-01T12:46:00.001-07:002012-09-01T12:46:02.279-07:00The Readers Favorite Awards Winners have been announcedReaders Favorite has announced the winners in the 2012 contest. See this link for the full listing:<br><br><a href="http://readersfavorite.com/2012-award-contest-winners.htm">http://readersfavorite.com/2012-award-contest-winners.htm</a><br> <br>My books have done rather well --<br><br>DEED SO received a silver in the general fiction category and was also a finalist in the Southern fiction category.<br><br>BUDDY'S TAIL won bronze in the Children's Grade 4-6 category.<br> <br>A POINTED DEATH received an honorable mention in the Mystery/Sleuth segment.<br><br>All my books have received five star reviews on the site.<br><br>I'd call this a day for celebration!<br><br><br> Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04726693219581734472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3136492293271624374.post-50915383667911854452011-12-14T11:45:00.000-08:002011-12-14T11:45:20.940-08:00My new book, Ghostly Tidewater Trilogy, goes live<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
My new eBook, Ghostly Tidewater Trilogy, has gone live on Amazon. It also has been submitted to Barnes and Noble and iPad and will appear shortly.<br />
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Ghostly-Tidewater-Trilogy-ebook/dp/B006LQ781Q/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1323891562&sr=8-1">Amazon Kindle Store Link</a><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO7Taau4o5bTomxrFChrhthn92WLCnYYata72YlhO6dioaLvk7TBOSv7gnGu2XO4H6fnkEv7IvLzE8ghZ9ymatjRRwPdWOXV3t0vssd5LVMVjoNzBa18er3QRSwOcv5pskG9qwx9gItVo/s1600/GTT_Cover_v3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO7Taau4o5bTomxrFChrhthn92WLCnYYata72YlhO6dioaLvk7TBOSv7gnGu2XO4H6fnkEv7IvLzE8ghZ9ymatjRRwPdWOXV3t0vssd5LVMVjoNzBa18er3QRSwOcv5pskG9qwx9gItVo/s200/GTT_Cover_v3.jpg" width="137" /></a></div>
<br /></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04726693219581734472noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3136492293271624374.post-6138028568138803812011-09-21T12:06:00.001-07:002011-09-21T12:37:40.136-07:00Sequential thinking on taxes<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Uncle_Sam_coin_bank.jpg"><img alt=""Uncle Sam" toy savings bank" height="397" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b9/Uncle_Sam_coin_bank.jpg/300px-Uncle_Sam_coin_bank.jpg" style="border: medium none; display: block;" width="300" /></a><br />
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Image via <a href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Uncle_Sam_coin_bank.jpg">Wikipedia</a></div>
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One of the things the folks in Washington don't seem to get is that citizens want them to demonstrate a change in their spending behavior before we sign on to giving them more money. That's just common sense. Their handling of our money has caused them to lose credibility big time. They cook up useless programs and dangerous regulations, overpay for under performance, continue policies, programs and services that have long outlived their purpose, duplicate services at every level of government, fund foreign governments whose leaders pocket the money, allow massive waste, fraud and improper utilization of services, micromanage or manage using outmoded technologies and practices. I could go on. <br />
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They need to change their ways before we sign on for any new spending, and they need to stick to the new behavior for a few years to show they are not going to backslide right away. Then I might be willing to pay more in taxes, but only to pay down the debt. This would be similar to charitable giving where the donor chooses to restrict the gift to endowment. In fact, that is what <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warren_Buffett" rel="wikipedia" title="Warren Buffett">Warren Buffett</a> should do, write a check to <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncle_Sam" rel="wikipedia" title="Uncle Sam">Uncle Sam</a> and restrict it to debt pay down. <br />
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Another change I would like to see is the exact opposite of the President's Buffett strategy. I belief that every citizen should pay something so that every one of us has skin in the game. I call my strategy the Sawbuck strategy. Everybody pays $5. We should stop picking on specific groups, and approach this as a team.<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04726693219581734472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3136492293271624374.post-48493039825227988462011-09-19T12:59:00.001-07:002011-09-21T12:39:10.684-07:00Radio interview<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
My radio interview about A POINTED DEATH is airing today (9/19) on The Author Show<br />
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<a href="http://www.theauthorsshow.com/">http://www.theauthorsshow.com/</a></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04726693219581734472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3136492293271624374.post-28800975956193795882011-09-11T15:17:00.001-07:002011-09-11T15:20:34.354-07:00Perfect water<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">I hope the families of the victims of 9/11 are pleased with the way the World Trade Center monument, Gravity's Rainbow, turned out. The more I see it, the more I like it. I think the choice of waterfalls was inspired, and I predict this memorial will become as cherished as the Vietnam memorial is today. I am having a harder time appreciating the Pentagon and the Shanksville memorials through the medium of television, although I think the flowers at the Pennsylvania site are also a wonderful choice and will bring peace and reconciliation to this scene of violent struggle and death. The twin fountains, however, I get in a New York minute. There are so many symbols in the water. The water represents the innocence of those who perished. It captures the communally remembered images of falling people and buildings, and stands for the tears of those left behind. The surface of the water ripples with a turbulence that signifies our rage at what was done to us, and yet it is the antithesis of the vivid fire that burned into our retinas that morning. The water is a sacrament, offering peace, solace, redemption and renewal both for individuals who mourn and for lower Manhattan. Water also is elemental, representing endurance and the connectedness of all things and all souls. The shapes of the fountains and the reflective nature of the surface and to the visitor's connection with the event being commemorated. I am sure the sound of the water adds another dimension similar to the way the sound in a seashell blends with your own pulse as you listen. This tribute was a long time coming, but it is wonderful they got it right. I look forward to my next visit to New York when I will be able to pay my respects firsthand.<br />
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</ul></fieldset><div class="zemanta-pixie" style="color: #cccccc; font-style: italic; text-align: right;"><a href="http://www.zemanta.com/" target="_blank">Zemanta</a> helped me add links & pictures to this email. <a href="http://www.zemanta.com/" target="_blank">It can do it for you too.</a></div></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04726693219581734472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3136492293271624374.post-73738213379000525752011-08-27T09:52:00.001-07:002011-08-27T09:54:32.212-07:00Saint Steve<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="zemanta-img" style="display: block; float: right; margin: 1em; width: 310px;"><a href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Steve_Jobs_Headshot_2010-CROP.jpg"><img alt="Steve Jobs shows off iPhone 4 at the 2010 Worl..." height="294" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b9/Steve_Jobs_Headshot_2010-CROP.jpg/300px-Steve_Jobs_Headshot_2010-CROP.jpg" style="border: medium none; display: block;" width="300" /></a><br />
<div class="zemanta-img-attribution" style="font-size: 0.8em;">Image via <a href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Steve_Jobs_Headshot_2010-CROP.jpg">Wikipedia</a></div></div>During this month of downgrades, hurricanes and political failures, it has been uplifting to focus on the remarkable career of <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.crunchbase.com/person/steve-jobs" rel="crunchbase" title="Steve Jobs">Steve Jobs</a>. Here is a man who embodies the virtues we would like young people to emulate. His vision, persistence, devotion to excellence, <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Risk_aversion" rel="wikipedia" title="Risk aversion">risk tolerance</a> and ability to thrive on failure are assets in business and in life. His commitment to breaking down boundaries between science and art and between different industries has freed all of us from many hidebound and constraining commercial practices. I think his most important contribution though has been the way he had unleashed the productivity of so many other people, knocking down barriers to creativity for people the world over. There are many people out there who make fine products, but only a rare few who put tools in your hands that magnify your own productivity. I say, Steve Jobs for sainthood!<br />
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</ul></fieldset><div class="zemanta-pixie" style="color: #cccccc; font-style: italic; text-align: right;"><a href="http://www.zemanta.com/" target="_blank">Zemanta</a> helped me add links & pictures to this email. <a href="http://www.zemanta.com/" target="_blank">It can do it for you too.</a></div></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04726693219581734472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3136492293271624374.post-63135348425226841502011-08-26T12:04:00.000-07:002011-08-26T12:19:12.196-07:00Hurricanes of my childhood<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="zemanta-img separator" style="clear: right;"><a href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Hazel1954kocinrain.png" style="clear: right; display: block; float: right; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Accumulations of rain with Hurricane hazel." height="350" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/62/Hazel1954kocinrain.png/300px-Hazel1954kocinrain.png" style="border: none; font-size: 0.8em;" width="300" /></a><span class="zemanta-img-attribution" style="clear: both; float: right; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; width: 300px;">Image via <a href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Hazel1954kocinrain.png">Wikipedia</a></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">I have vivid recollections of the hurricanes of my childhood. Well, not too vivid in one case because I was delirious. I had been out all day on the water and managed to get a bad sunburn which as dusk turned to evening progressed into frank sun poisoning. I think this was Hazel and she left me with these hazy images of our living room lit by (what else?) a <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lantern" rel="wikipedia" title="Lantern">hurricane lamp</a>. We were stranded at the farm because the flooding covered a low spot on our dirt lane out to the <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macadam" rel="wikipedia" title="Macadam">Macadam road</a>. So, we had to be patient and wait. There is a lot of waiting with hurricanes. The waiting in the eye of the storm is especially weird. I think the barometric pressure gets to you and messes with your mind. I'm sure my parents were very worried about my fever. My mother kept taking my temperature and putting cold compresses on my forehead. Funny, the things you recall. The buckets of water collected for us and our animals looked out of place next to the formal wing chair.<br />
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We lost power for a longer time with Connie, long enough to read all of <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_House_of_the_Seven_Gables" rel="wikipedia" title="The House of the Seven Gables">The House of the Seven Gables</a> by hurricane lamp. To this day, the smell of kerosene reminds me of that book.<br />
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I can't remember which hurricane took the wharf away while we stood on the shore and watched. Only moments before, my father and uncle had rescued the boat motors of several neighbors. People used to store their motors in little shacks at the end of the dock. Folks probably don't do much of that anymore. Too much theft. Anyway, the shack and the dock started to sway as they brought the last of the motors ashore. The whole thing collapsed into the waves and receded upriver like so much kindling.<br />
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People used to hunker down in hurricanes. Now, the government orders us inland like so much kindling on the tide.<br />
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</ul></div></div><div class="zemanta-pixie" style="height: 15px; margin-top: 10px;"><a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://www.zemanta.com/" title="Enhanced by Zemanta"><img alt="Enhanced by Zemanta" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/zemified_e.png?x-id=7028f63e-32c1-4db4-ae20-a1337559948d" style="border: none; float: right;" /></a></div></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04726693219581734472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3136492293271624374.post-83549098038276028622011-08-26T10:48:00.001-07:002011-08-26T11:17:38.208-07:00A sorbet affair<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Each of us has an embarrassing incident in our past that haunts us forever. I have a list of them, and the memory of such events comes back at odd times with no apparent connection to current experiences. The sorbet affair is a case in point.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">When I was a college student I worked one summer as a waitress in a weekend resort outside Cleveland. It was a big sprawling place with several restaurants, a banquet hall, and multiple bars. The main dining room featured an extensive menu which was a challenge for new employees to master. One of the specials was a five course meal with choice of entree which included a palette cleanser course of grapefruit sorbet. <br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">One night as fate would have it, the owner of the resort was seated in my section. I had been working for about two weeks, and was getting my rhythm, but when another server told me who the man was, it shook me up. I worked hard at keeping up with my other tables while lavishing special attention on this one. <br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">A particular challenge in waitressing in those days was complying with the labor laws while insuring that you got good tips. Employees could only work for three hours straight after which they had to take a fifteen minute break. You may never have waited tables, but you have been a customer. Can you imagine being abandoned by your server for fifteen minutes, while you stared at an empty coffee cup or waited for your check? Of course, we punched out, kept right on serving our customers and punched back in so that our tip income was not placed in jeopardy. On busy nights, we sent one waitress to the time clock with several punch cards. This was against the rules and risky, but efficient. The time clock problem was compounded at this particular resort because the device was located at the far end of the complex for the convenience of the cleaning and maintenance staff. I guess this particular business owner was more of a hotel man than a restaurant man, because he was rather inconsiderate of his wait and kitchen staff. It was quite a sprint to the far side of the resort and back.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">It was my turn to make the run. I was young and I made good time, but the trip disrupted my concentration on the five course meal I was serving to the big boss and his companion. I forgot his sorbet course. <br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">When the man settled his check, he called me over and pointed out my error. I apologized profusely and asked him if he would like me to bring the sorbet, but he declined. What I really wanted to say was that if he hadn't placed the blasted time clock in the next county, he would have gotten his sorbet at the proper time, but it was an age when you didn't make excuses to your elders. I thought I was going to lose my job.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Perhaps it was remembering the impact the punch clock regulations had on me personally that has brought this incident to mind. We have been hearing a lot about regulations and their unintended consequences in the news lately. Or perhaps it was the nature of my exchange with the restaurant owner. Several times in the past month I have been the victim of some sort of failure or mistake when I have bought a product or service. In each case there was no apology whatsoever. In one case, the error was a medication error. A pharmacy gave my mother a medication that was not the intended drug and had another person's name on the vial. Mother has macular degeneration, so I check all her medications. When I returned the package to the pharmacy, the drug was exchanged, but despite the fact that four people assisted me, including the chief pharmacist, there was no apology. I guess saying, "Sorry we almost killed your mom," is hard to wrap your mouth around. They all wanted to see whose employee number was on the receipt to learn who was in trouble. <br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Today as a consumer I feel like I am being treated as a three dimensional statistic rather than a human being. The idea that the pharmacy's mistake had inconvenienced me, since I had to drive across town needlessly, did not even register with the folks at the counter. They did get the part about the drug switch being life threatening, but only to their careers. There was no empathy for a person who might have lost her mother. Somewhere along the line, the relationship between the helper and the helped has evaporated. Is it the 'me' generation? I'm sure modern pharmacies have their version of the punch clock problem, but I still wish people would acknowledge mistakes and apologize. It would make for a better world.</span></div></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04726693219581734472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3136492293271624374.post-63621278172951137982011-08-25T09:57:00.001-07:002011-08-25T10:22:47.965-07:00Founders sending a message<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">I was thinking that the East Coast earthquake originated in <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginia" rel="wikipedia" title="Virginia">Virginia</a>, the epicenter of American democratic leadership, surrounded by the homes of Washington, Jefferson and Madison. The shaker cleared out the buildings in the district basically shutting down the government for the day. The next thing we hear is that a crack has been discovered in the Washington monument. Perhaps the founding fathers are so fed up with what is going on in Washington they have decided to send a message. Or they are spinning so fast in their graves, the vibes have unleashed a tremor? <br />
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</ul></fieldset><div class="zemanta-pixie" style="color: #cccccc; font-style: italic; text-align: right;"><a href="http://www.zemanta.com/" target="_blank">Zemanta</a> helped me add links & pictures to this email. <a href="http://www.zemanta.com/" target="_blank">It can do it for you too.</a></div></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04726693219581734472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3136492293271624374.post-34272740515305502792011-08-22T14:56:00.001-07:002011-08-22T15:22:43.322-07:00Marriage, a sinking ship?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="zemanta-img separator" style="clear: right;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/47263829@N00/1327064137" style="clear: right; display: block; float: right; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Free Love" height="188" src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1423/1327064137_d7696b0e47_m.jpg" style="border: none; font-size: 0.8em;" width="240" /></a><span class="zemanta-img-attribution" style="clear: both; float: right; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; width: 240px;">Image by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/47263829@N00/1327064137">liquidnight</a> via Flickr</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">I think back in <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1960s" rel="wikipedia" title="1960s">the Sixties</a>, we arrived at the <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_love" rel="wikipedia" title="Free love">free love</a> crossroads, took a wrong turn and got lost for fifty years. We reached that seminal destination due to technological, economic and cultural advances. Innovation freed the housewife from labor intensive chores. Machines transformed the workplace so that the majority of jobs were no longer dependent on muscles. A trend toward equal rights and opportunities for women gave women back control of their reproductive destiny, their personal freedom and their assets. Both young men and women began to identify and reject certain hypocritical and unethical features of the otherwise stable, productive and cohesive post WWII society their parents built, including racism, loveless marriages, abusive relationships, poor treatment for disabled and mentally challenged persons, homophobia and child abuse. <br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Technology delivered the birth control pill and in another decade, DNA science rendered the determination of paternity foolproof and the need for chastity moot. Class and geographic mobility eliminated or confused communal ties and rendered the need or desire to marry within a group or social stratum unnecessary or impossible. <br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">All of these factors made the original reasons for marriage obsolete from both a personal and a societal point of view. The first generation to be heavily impacted by all this charge was the <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australia_national_basketball_team" rel="wikipedia" title="Australia national basketball team">Boomers</a>. Because we were so young, our response was naive and simplistic -- free love! Problem was, as we matured, we never went back and had a serious conversation about what marriage should become. The kneejerk response that you can infer from our behavior, was 'whatever you want it to be, baby!' And that is what marriage has become. Now, we have reached a point where the institution is so sullied, distorted and abused or debauched, it is unrecognizable. Liz Taylor and her seven marriages is more obscene than garden variety infidelity, although John Edwards and his ilk have taken that particular sin to new levels of shame. <br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Unfortunately, governments and corporations have continued to pretend that the institution of marriage supports the societal goals of community stability, protection of children and workplace productivity, and continue to heap privileges on the marital state, including extra benefits, special legal standing, tax incentives and the like. Anyone who spends two minutes with the statistics on foster care, spousal battery, divorce, out of wedlock births, and juvenile delinquency knows this is all smoke and mirrors.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">My gay friends have spent a lot of time and energy lately making churches and states recognize their need/right to be married. I wish then happiness, but I have no interest in supporting this initiative, because I feel they are boarding a sinking ship. <br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Of course, I am single, so you may ask why I care. One reason is that the guy in the office next to me got five times the amount of employee benefits in dollar terms than I did because he was married with children, yet I worked just as hard as he did and had a better attendance record because I didn't have to take little Janie to the dentist. I paid taxes for schools, parks and youth services for his kids. Now his kids are the ones who are flash mobing Philadelphia. So he did a lousy job of child rearing despite all the extra bennies he got, and now my taxes fund the prisons for his delinquents. I feel cheated and not a little scared.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The 'love' of the Sixties may have been free but it hasn't ended up being cheap. We abandoned religious and other value systems because they were too constraining, and we didn't really achieve much but fecklessness. Although free love involved two people, it was really all about <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I</i>. Boomers under-appreciated the safety of the world they lived in, a world where getting food was easy, getting work was easy and more and more leisure was enjoyed by all. A family huddled at the hearth praying the wolf was not going to beat down the door was an image they didn't recognize. The family unit as a means of survival never crossed their minds. Boomers didn't realize their freedom from want and fear unleashed a focus on the self unprecedented in history. The costs of the 'me' generation has come home to roost everywhere in nuisance lawsuits, expensive attempts to legislate political correctness, high crime and vandalism rates, educational systems that don't educate, crass consumerism, obesity and highly placed leaders who engage in low behavior. <br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">For decades, we have allowed Hollywood and Madison Avenue to be the arbiters of taste and values. The result is the only things we worship are celebrity, conspicuous consumption and carbohydrates, or the eradication of same to achieve sculpted abs. Hollywood in particular, continues to flog the myth of romantic love at the expense of every other form of commitment or connection. Movie 'love' is a state of blissful euphoria shared by two beautiful people who have a backstage army of plastic surgeons, personal trainers, stylists, shrinks and couturiers. <br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The media and the AIDS epidemic pretty much took the mystery and magic out of sex. Sex used to be part of the forbidden world of adulthood -- a rite of passage. Today, eleven year olds do it. And congressmen text it.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Now we live in an age where sex is completely divorced from marriage in that you can reproduce by artificial insemination with or with surrogacy or, for that matter, cloning (coming to a clinic near you). You also can reproduce outside of marriage without stigma. Of course, we have arrived at a time in the evolution of Western Civilization where folks don't seem that anxious to reproduce anyway. Economists argue that a negative birthrate is a bad thing for any nation, but you don't see policy makers rushing to make child bearing more attractive. </span></div><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Of course, after the bearing, there is the rearing. Many people argue that two heterosexual parents are ideal. The child grows up exposed to both gender role models, and two people can share the mountain of tasks and expenses involved in bringing up a kid. Yet many single parents do fine, gay and lesbian parents do just fine and it does not require a marriage license for two people to collaborate successfully in caring for a child. Moreover, there are some kids in this world who seem to require six or eight parents. You've sat next to them in restaurants. (What every kid really needs is one good parent with enough tiger in her to put the child's welfare above her own, make the youngster understand he is not the center of the known universe, show him that what Mom is raising is a productive individual not a texting coach potato or a shopping diva.)</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">So, I think it might be about time to reassess the value of marriage in modern culture, whether or not it should be incentivized and what should be the 'rules' for the married state. We need to sort out from the Gordian knot of the old idea, the separate threads of sex, love, commitment, parenting and sharing.</span></div><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">There are benefits to marriage that have nothing to do with reproduction. There is the mutual help and companionship angle. Since we all are living longer, this takes on more importance. It is a lot cheaper for society, if your partner looks after you when you become sick or demented. Also, coupling up is a far better use of resources than living alone. All these single people knocking around in their own apartments and houses is kind of wasteful. Think of New York City which is now majority solo. Shared assets such as automobiles, washers, and dryers are a sound economy. Sharing joys such as pets and collectibles makes fun things more affordable and accessible.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Society does benefit from asexual partnering, but probably not at a level that requires incentives or regulation, and as far as the church is concerned, sharing a microwave oven does not require a sacrament.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The commitment to live as a couple necessitates some sort of agreement, so that the parties can plan and make forward going decisions, and such contracts are easily devised. They could even expire and be renewable. If this sounds a little loveless, it is important to note that conventional marriage has inflicted much pain as well as bliss.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The only aspect of the two-person relationship the state, employers and the church clearly have an interest in directing is the parent piece. Bringing a child into the world who will not be loved, fed, protected, socialized and educated is both a crime and a sin. The prisons are full of the consequences of bad parenting. Yet this is the area where prior approval is not required, enforcement is light and sanctions are all but nonexistent.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">We believe we have the right to procreate and that right is limited only in that you may not force another person to do it with you. Pro lifers believe a child once conceived has the right to be born. But nobody has the right to mold a child into a sociopath or neglect or abuse a child in such a way that she becomes a burden for the state.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">If you witness the potential destruction of property, such as a burning house, you rush in an put out the fire. But all of us stand by and watch the destruction of children every day, and we do not take to task our leadership or our consciences.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">I hope I never see the day when the US ala China licenses something as personal as child bearing. On the other hand, society should find ways to reward Tiger Mothers, married or single, and penalize bad parents.</span></div></div><div class="zemanta-pixie" style="height: 15px; margin-top: 10px;"><a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://www.zemanta.com/" title="Enhanced by Zemanta"><img alt="Enhanced by Zemanta" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/zemified_e.png?x-id=9c3c1100-307f-4438-972d-4b08820e18be" style="border: none; float: right;" /></a></div></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04726693219581734472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3136492293271624374.post-86188291089732706532011-08-14T15:46:00.001-07:002011-08-14T15:52:34.768-07:00Black Fridays<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">I had one of those Fridays where I should have stayed in bed. We have a house we are trying to sell, and one of the compressor/condenser units went kaput. Fortunately I had it under a service contract with Sears. The technician came out several weeks ago, diagnosed the problem, declared the unit reparable and ordered the requisite parts. I kept checking the house, and in the fullness of time the first part arrived -- all seventy-eight pounds of it. Picture me hefting the thing over the sill in the 109 degree heat.<br />
<br />
<div class="zemanta-img separator zemanta-action-dragged" style="clear: both; float: none;"><a href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Axial_compressor.gif" style="clear: right; display: block; float: right; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="An animation of an axial compressor. The darke..." height="164" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/ca/Axial_compressor.gif/300px-Axial_compressor.gif" style="border: medium none; font-size: 0.8em;" width="200" /></a><span class="zemanta-img-attribution" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; width: 300px;"> Image via <a href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Axial_compressor.gif">Wikipedia</a></span></div><br />
The technician said there would be two boxes. Several days passed and no second parcel materialized, so with sinking shoulders, I headed for the phone. (You know how much time can be consumed 'on hold' these days while somebody in India tries to fix your problem, presuming they grasp your problem in the first place.) Finally, I penetrated the phone tree and spoke with a live person. I was shuffled to another person, put on hold several more times, and finally was told there was only one box in the shipment. Now, I'm a desert rat, and I know from painful experience what compressors and condensers look like. I told her that was not possible given the size of the box. She insisted there was to be only one box. I was ready for her though. I had the packing slip from the box in my hand. It said the other item would be shipping separately. More precious moments of my life on hold. She came back and said she would follow up with me later. She called back the following day, and said I was right. There were two boxes, but the other box had been shipped directly to the technician who would be bringing it with him on Friday.<br />
<br />
Friday arrived and I journeyed to my other house at 7:30 am for my service 'window' of 8a - 12p. At 12:15p I called the repair department to inquire about the location of my technician. About a half hour later, the gatehouse where my other home is located called to say that the technician was there. The guard handed the technician the phone. He was the same technician who had diagnosed the problem and he realized that he had been sent to the wrong address. I gave him the correct address. He and his assistant arrived in another twenty minutes. <br />
<br />
"Where's the other box?" he asked. <br />
<br />
"According to Sears, you have it," I informed him. He and his assistant returned to their truck to utilize the special computer for communicating with the powers that be in the Sears parts and repair department. <br />
<br />
They returned to my entry. "The parts in El Cajon," he said. "They'll ship it and we'll have to reschedule. The next appointment I have available is next Friday."<br />
<br />
"Lucky me," I said.<br />
<br />
I have another week ahead of me of checking on the delivery of the elusive box. Or cooling my heels 'on hold.'<br />
<br />
What I want to know is how I find my way through the phone tree to the young woman who told me the part had been shipped to the technician. Did she just make that up to mess with me? Did her boyfriend break up with her and she had to direct her rage somewhere else before she exploded? Does she not have an air conditioner and harbor envy for people who do? Does she like to fantasize about sixty-something women lifting eighty pound boxes? Inquiring minds want to know.<br />
<br />
Have a cool Friday!<br />
<br />
<br />
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</ul></fieldset><div class="zemanta-pixie" style="height: 15px; margin-top: 10px;"><a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://www.zemanta.com/" title="Enhanced by Zemanta"><img alt="Enhanced by Zemanta" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/zemified_e.png?x-id=b1aba6ff-5733-4771-98d8-1f4bbee12e10" style="border: none; float: right;" /></a></div></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04726693219581734472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3136492293271624374.post-27167734057217901522011-08-04T10:24:00.001-07:002011-08-04T10:27:04.681-07:00A Sad Anniversary<p class="mobile-photo"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidW1weRpYMCTDb83QDnLBxzQ09g9K0Onpgcj1H4pBpacpGRxRgV4bjQfEgTdo7hcnMsrnGaEFMFIQCsZr48Tqvi1ARhxhDCj31M8mKwpF93L0ZKbeQthG9XfX3ntUb0qUoeZHtXZ4ZhEg/s1600/Vegas+016-791650.jpg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidW1weRpYMCTDb83QDnLBxzQ09g9K0Onpgcj1H4pBpacpGRxRgV4bjQfEgTdo7hcnMsrnGaEFMFIQCsZr48Tqvi1ARhxhDCj31M8mKwpF93L0ZKbeQthG9XfX3ntUb0qUoeZHtXZ4ZhEg/s320/Vegas+016-791650.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5637053059988685858" border="0"></a></p>Tomorrow marks the passing of a wonderful dog. Buddy was the inspiration for my children's book, and we were fortunate to enjoy his company for six wonderful years. He just fell over in my office one day and died. I think maybe this sudden death thing may run in the <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poodle" title="Poodle" rel="wikipedia">Standard Poodle</a> breed, especially in the Royals, the really big dudes.<br />
<br />
I wrote the following poem shortly after his passing, so I thought I would publish it again to honor his memory. What a special guy. We sure do miss you, Babe.<br />
<br />
<p style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="MsoNormal"><b style=""><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Come Back</span></b></p><p style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">(after <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.dorothyparker.com" title="Dorothy Parker" rel="homepage">Dorothy Parker</a>)</span></p><p style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"> </span></p><p style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">A mild and most bewildered little shade</span></p><p style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">paces my darkened office all alone,</span></p><p style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">stares in disbelief at the rug where he</span></p><p style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">died, oh so suddenly last Tuesday morn,</span></p><p style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">gone with one exhale as I composed with</span></p><p style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">my back to him, his head fell on his paws.</span></p><p style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">I typed away as he ebbed away. Soft.</span></p><p style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Praying was my first thought when I turned. Spoke</span></p><p style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Buddy? Buddy. Buddy! Then I knelt down,</span></p><p style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">the first mourning tears already falling,</span></p><p style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">touching the already heavy form. Eyes</span></p><p style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">sinking back away from me. Please don't go!</span></p><p style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">I held him close. Done it a thousand times.</span></p><p style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">The loving heart that beat, "I'll never leave</span></p><p style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">You. Ever." Was still. Still, I hoped we'd be</span></p><p style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">together years from now. Assumption dashed.</span></p><p style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Opened myself to grief and pain. Only</span></p><p style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">through this sad journey did I come to terms,</span></p><p style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">accepting. Then I found that I could see</span></p><p style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">him. His lanky silhouette in the night.</span></p><p style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Buddy you kept your word! You have not left.</span></p><p style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Earthy angel, soiled paws and frowzy ears</span></p><p style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">No Standard Poodle you, my dear. Noble</span></p><p style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">friend. You must go, you know. To claim your wings.</span></p><p style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">All dogs go to heaven it is said. But</span></p><p style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Before you fly, please promise that you'll come</span></p><p style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">back. For me. When it is time. Okay?</span></p><p style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Back. To lead bewildered, weary me. Home.</span></p><br />
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</ul></fieldset><div style="margin-top:10px;height:15px" class="zemanta-pixie"><a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://www.zemanta.com/" title="Enhanced by Zemanta"><img style="border:none;float:right" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/zemified_e.png?x-id=81a4b1c4-3cdc-4c13-b41b-54e1ac0ceaf4" alt="Enhanced by Zemanta"></a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04726693219581734472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3136492293271624374.post-83470609611994153432011-08-03T13:17:00.001-07:002011-08-03T13:17:55.419-07:00Autographing Kindle Books<div class="zemanta-img" style="margin: 1em; float: right; display: block; width: 310px;"><a href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:David_Suzuki_%28book_signing%29.png"><img src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f7/David_Suzuki_%28book_signing%29.png/300px-David_Suzuki_%28book_signing%29.png" alt="Suzuki signing a copy of his works." style="border: medium none; display: block;" height="223" width="300"></a><p class="zemanta-img-attribution" style="font-size: 0.8em;"> Image via <a href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:David_Suzuki_%28book_signing%29.png">Wikipedia</a></p></div>Someone has actually accomplishing the feat of enabling the autographing <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-book" title="E-book" rel="wikipedia">eBooks</a>! Kindlegraph is now available and authors can enter the books on the Kindlegraph site so readers know they are available for personalization. When a buyer requests an autograph an email comes to the author's mailbox with the request. In a special box, the author types the personalization. Under the message box is a signing tab. If you are familiar with electronic contract signing software, you will recognize the signature tab immediately. When you click on the tab, you get choices. You can select from a menu of script signatures or you can use the writing software to create your own freehand signature. I am not good enough with my mouse to make my cursive look like anything other than chicken scratch, so I have opted one of the standard choices. Some day, I'll have a few scotches and try the freehand tool again. It may be one of those situation where you have to be complete relaxed to succeed. <br> <br>You would be amazed at how many authors have been wringing their hands over this autographing problem in the eBook world. I guess writers really love those <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_signing" title="Book signing" rel="wikipedia">book signing</a> gigs at stores and conferences. Personally, I think the practice is archaic and it will die of with the current generation. At least I did until I saw Kindlegraph. Since I type pretty fast, I can be far more generous with my personalization. This is sort of like book signing meet Twitter or something.<br> <br>Check this out. It is way cool.<br><fieldset class="zemanta-related"><legend class="zemanta-related-title">Related articles</legend><ul class="zemanta-article-ul"><li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://www.teleread.com/ebooks/kindlegraph-lets-authors-send-digital-signatures-to-fans/">Kindlegraph lets authors send digital signatures to fans</a> (<a href="http://teleread.com">teleread.com</a>)</li> <li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://mybookaddictionandmore.wordpress.com/2011/07/31/kindlegraph/">Kindlegraph??</a> (<a href="http://mybookaddictionandmore.wordpress.com">mybookaddictionandmore.wordpress.com</a>)</li> <li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://darayoungwrites.com/2011/07/27/sign-my-ebook-please/">Sign My eBook Please!</a> (<a href="http://darayoungwrites.com">darayoungwrites.com</a>)</li><li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"> <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2011/07/21/do-authors-dream-of-electric-book-signings-kindlegraph-hopes-so/">Do Authors Dream of Electric Book Signings? Kindlegraph Hopes So</a> (<a href="http://techcrunch.com">techcrunch.com</a>)</li> </ul></fieldset> <div class="zemanta-pixie" style="color:#CCCCCC;font-style:italic;text-align:right;"><a target="_blank" href="http://www.zemanta.com">Zemanta</a> helped me add links & pictures to this email. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.zemanta.com/">It can do it for you too.</a></div> Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04726693219581734472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3136492293271624374.post-11400999716355511042011-08-03T12:39:00.001-07:002011-08-03T12:39:41.323-07:00Goodreads giveaway for BUDDY'S TAIL and A POINTED DEATHI am running giveaways for two of my books this month -- BUDDY'S TAIL and A POINTED DEATH. Go on over there, enter and get lucky!<br><br><a href="http://www.goodreads.com">http://www.goodreads.com</a><br> Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04726693219581734472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3136492293271624374.post-31539091755349828522011-06-19T14:20:00.001-07:002011-06-19T14:30:16.929-07:00Deselecting girls -- choices and consequences<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Pointed-Death-Pointer-Mystery/dp/1450563090?ie=UTF8&tag=russel-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank"></a><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">Yesterday's Wall Street Journal, the weekend edition, contained a book review by Jonathan Last about Mara Hvistendahl's Book, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Unnatural Selection; Choosing Boys over Girl and the Consequences of a World Full of Men</i>. Hvistendahl writes about countries which regulate, promote or condone the preferential birthing of boys. As my readers know, my mystery, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Pointed-Death-Pointer-Mystery/dp/1450563090?ie=UTF8&tag=russel-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">A POINTED DEATH</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=russel-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=1450563090" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" />, deals with this subject, although I can't say how as it might spoil the plot for you. The author makes several frightening points. Some really big countries like China and India are involved in sex selection favoring males, the anti-girl families are the rich ones not the poor, and societies with more men tend to be more violent. She also note that cultures with fewer women don't hold females more dear, rather the opposite, the women are more likely to be exploited. Also, she notes, big countries with too many men steal women from small countries.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Both the author and the reviewer ponder the impact of gendercide on the right to have an abortion. One result might be the narrowing or loss of abortion rights. I would prefer to focus less on the fear of losing rights and more on changing for the better the perceived value of women.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">It is sad to contemplate the prospects of women in countries where political, economic and cultural constraints make having daughters such an undesirable outcome. We need a lot of wattage to shine the beacon of female equality, opportunity, intellect and productivity into the dark corners of the globe.</div></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04726693219581734472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3136492293271624374.post-9458115591542698252011-06-15T13:14:00.001-07:002011-06-15T13:20:06.233-07:00‘BUDDY'S TAIL' WINS PURPLE DRAGONFLY BOOK AWARD<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 150%;">PALM DESERT, CA (June 15, 2011) – The judges of the second annual <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Purple Dragonfly Book Awards</b> contest, which recognizes excellence in children's literature, have spoken, and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Buddy's Tail</i> by K. Anne Russell, won honorable mention in the Animals/Pets category. <br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 150%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 150%;"> "Winning any place in the Purple Dragonfly Contest is a huge honor because <i><span style="font-style: normal;">in order to maintain the integrity of the Dragonfly Book Awards, a minimum score of 72 out of 80 must be earned for a 1st Place award, 64 out of 80 for a 2nd Place and 56 out of 80 for an Honorable Mention – even if it is the sole entry in a category,</span></i>" explains Linda Radke, president of Five Star Publications, the sponsor of the Dragonfly Book Awards. "Competition is steep, too, because there is no publication date limit as long as the book is still in print."</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 150%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 150%;"> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Buddy's Tail</i>, is about Buddy Boutonniere, a rescued Standard Poodle who finds love and purpose in this world and the next. His pal MacKenzie, a take-charge Border Collie who narrates Buddy's story, learns the power of friendship and acceptance through Buddy's travails and triumphs. The book retails for $7.99 (paperback) and can be purchased at Amazon.com, CreateSpace.com, Kindle, Barnes & Noble Nook, and the Apple iPad bookstore.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 150%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 150%;"> For a complete list of winners including all 1st and 2nd places and Honorable Mentions, visit <a href="http://www.fivestarbookawards.com/">www.FiveStarBookAwards.com</a> and click on "Winners."</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 150%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 150%;"> The <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Chocolate Dragonfly Book Awards contest</b>, which is open to any and all books about or relating in some way to food, is already underway with an August 1 deadline for entries; as is the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Royal Dragonfly Book Awards</b>, which honors all genres of books in 50 categories, with a February 1, 2012 deadline. However, Royal Dragonfly s<b><span style="font-weight: normal;">ubmissions postmarked December 1, 2011 or earlier are eligible for the Early Bird reward: a free e-copy of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Economical Guide to Self-Publishing</i> or <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Promot</i>e<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> Like a Pro: Small Budget, Big Show.</i> The 3rd Annual Purple Dragonfly Book Awards contest will launch following notification of the Chocolate Dragonfly winners. <br />
</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 150%;"><b><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br />
</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><b><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%;"> </span></b><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 150%;">For complete winners' lists including 2nd Place and Honorable Mention wins, rules and entry forms for any of the Dragonfly Book Awards contests, visit <a href="http://www.fivestarbookawards.com/">www.FiveStarBookAwards.com</a>. For more details on Five Star Publications, email info@FiveStarPublications.com or call 480-940-8182.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: center;">###</div><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;">FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif";">CONTACT:</span></b><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif";"> Linda Radke, Five Star Publications</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif";">Phone: 480-940-8182</span><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif";"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif";">E-mail: info@FiveStarPublications.com </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Bodoni;">or author</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Bodoni;">E-mail: <a href="mailto:russell@rwwra.com">russell@rwwra.com</a></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Bodoni;">Phone: 760-773-4470</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Eras Demi ITC","sans-serif";">High-res photo available</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Eras Demi ITC","sans-serif";">to the media upon request</span></div></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04726693219581734472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3136492293271624374.post-41073876575375328472011-06-15T12:24:00.001-07:002011-06-15T12:43:00.888-07:00Buddy's Tail recognized by Purple Dragonfly Children's Book Awards<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div><iframe align="left" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=russel-20&o=1&p=8&l=bpl&asins=1456411950&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="align: left; height: 245px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 5px; width: 131px;"></iframe>Buddy's Tail has received an honorable mention in the animals/pets category of the annual Purple Dragonfly competition sponsored by Fire Star Publications. Here is a link to the Five Star award web site:</div><div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
<a href="http://www.fivestarpublications.com/bookcontest/images/pdba_sm_logo.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="275" src="http://www.fivestarpublications.com/bookcontest/images/pdba_sm_logo.gif" width="320" /></a><a href="http://www.fivestarpublications.com/bookcontest/winners.html%27">Five Star Publications</a><br />
<span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"></span></div></div></div></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04726693219581734472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3136492293271624374.post-35099162070572711052011-06-15T08:33:00.001-07:002011-06-15T08:36:52.249-07:00China's cyberassaults: life imitates genreToday, on the opinion page of the <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.wsj.com/" title="The Wall Street Journal" rel="homepage">WSJ</a> is an article by Richard Clarke opining about China's assault on the computer networks of America's businesses and the need for the US government to do something about it. This scenario is very close to the plot of my mystery thriller, A POINTED DEATH, which deals with the stealing of industrial intellectual property and biological samples in the biotechnology industry. Sadly, truth is imitating fiction, although I am not claiming any huge prescience or originality here. The Chinese certainly give fiction writers s lot of fodder when it comes to nefarious doings. It is kind of like the Russians during the Cold War; an author just couldn't resist making them the heavies. These days we have a lot of evil actors to choose from, but when it comes to cyber-hacking, it is pretty clear who leads the pack.<br />
<div style="margin-top:10px;height:15px" class="zemanta-pixie"><a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://www.zemanta.com/" title="Enhanced by Zemanta"><img style="border:none;float:right" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/zemified_e.png?x-id=3e10c0f1-1d0a-4ad9-a8be-0d3255c440b0" alt="Enhanced by Zemanta"></a></div><a target="_blank" href="http://www.amazon.com/Pointed-Death-Pointer-Mysteries-ebook/dp/B004AM5OV4?ie=UTF8&tag=russel-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969">A Pointed Death (The Pointer Mysteries)</a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=russel-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B004AM5OV4" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important; padding: 0px !important" />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04726693219581734472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3136492293271624374.post-25164786635582978852011-06-14T09:18:00.000-07:002011-06-14T09:18:35.825-07:00'DEED SO' Giveaway on Goodreads<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">I am running a giveaway on the <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.goodreads.com" title="Goodreads" rel="homepage">Goodreads</a> site for my novel DEED SO. If you are not already a member of Goodreads, this would be a good time to join!<br />
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<h2 style="margin: 0 0 10px !important; padding: 0 !important; font-style: italic; font-size: 20px; line-height: 20px; font-weight: normal; text-align: center; color: #555;"><a href="http://www.goodreads.com" target="_new">Goodreads</a> Book Giveaway<br />
</h2><br />
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<br />
<div style="float: left;"><br />
<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10118587"><img alt="Deed So by Kath Russell" src="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51QooIkgpLL.jpg" title="Deed So by Kath Russell" width="100"></a><br />
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<div style="margin: 0 0 0 110px !important; padding: 0 0 0 0 !important;"><h3 style="margin: 0; padding: 0; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal;"><br />
<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10118587">Deed So</a><br />
<br />
</h3><h4 style="margin: 0 0 10px; padding: 0; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"><br />
by <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4336347" style="text-decoration: none;">Kath Russell</a><br />
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</h4><br />
<div class="giveaway_details"><br />
<p>Giveaway ends July 07, 2011.<br />
</p><p>See the <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/11446" style="text-decoration: none;">giveaway details</a><br />
at Goodreads.<br />
</p><br />
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<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/enter_choose_address/11446" class="goodreadsGiveawayWidgetEnterLink">Enter to win</a><br />
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</div><div style="margin-top:10px;height:15px" class="zemanta-pixie"><a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://www.zemanta.com/" title="Enhanced by Zemanta"><img style="border:none;float:right" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/zemified_e.png?x-id=a2a89ced-0b9a-492f-afc3-1da7a72938a6" alt="Enhanced by Zemanta"></a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04726693219581734472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3136492293271624374.post-11017852277201925782011-06-13T15:13:00.001-07:002011-06-13T15:13:19.959-07:00Pictures from California Crime Writers ConferenceElaine Ash has posted the pictures she took at the California Crime Writers Conference held in Pasadena this past weekend. There's even a picture of me! It was a great conference and all the organizers are to be congratulated for a job well done. This is a joint Sisters in Crime and Mystery Writers of America Southern California chapter effort. Be sure to consider attending next year!<div> <br></div><div><a href="http://ashedit.wordpress.com/2011/06/13/california-crime-writers-conference-2011-part-2-2/">http://ashedit.wordpress.com/2011/06/13/california-crime-writers-conference-2011-part-2-2/</a></div> Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04726693219581734472noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3136492293271624374.post-17628443309213411002011-06-09T15:42:00.001-07:002011-06-09T17:33:14.866-07:00I 'neutral' you!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Funt" rel="wikipedia" title="Peter Funt">Peter Funt</a> published a telling op-ed in the <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.wsj.com/" rel="homepage" title="The Wall Street Journal">WSJ</a> today about the word 'disrespecting' and its current usage. He made several chilling points. First, the word respect has come to mean an entitlement rather than something you earn. And the more entitled people become about respect, the quicker they are to cry '<a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Respect" rel="wikipedia" title="Respect">disrespect</a>' when they feel the least bit offended. An offense can be something as simple as not getting what you want. Sometimes, it gets positively scary when people turn Webster on his venerable ear.<br />
<br />
In the hopes of getting things back on track, I'm going to propose a new usage. It is non-threatening, and presupposes no baggage. When I meet a stranger, I will accord her a neutral status. She has no negative or positive attributes. I give her the benefit of the doubt, of course. She is the human version of a tabula rasa, and we are a positive species by nature. Hope is in our DNA.<br />
<br />
I think this is a fair beginning because I don't know her. I believe it is unreasonable for her to expect respect from me because I have no data. For the very same reason, she should expect me NOT to disrespect her. I don't have any data for that conclusion either. So, I will treat her as an ordinary human being, a fellow traveler on life's journey, a fellow citizen with the same one vote I have, a 'do unto other' opportunity according to the Christian canon.<br />
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Let's say we're on a bus. An elderly person boards the bus, and the stranger gets up and gives the senior her seat. Now, the pendulum swings in the respect direction. Conversely, let's say she takes up two seats, throws trash on the floor and yells into her cell phone with total disregard for her fellow passengers. The pendulum swings into the disrespect danger zone. I smile or frown and turn away according to my data.<br />
<br />
There are people in public life who don't seem to understand that you can push the pendulum so far into the danger zone, it flies off the fulcrum right out into space. Their public, personal and professional lives are a train wreck and yet they seem to think someone owes them respect. Moreover, they believe others can disrespect them more than they already have disrespected themselves. Their moral and ethical pendulums are sorely in need of calibration. They are so far gone that people don't want to relate to them at all, other than to find a bushel basket to stuff them under. Their fellow humans have moved from a position of neutrality to one of wanting to neutralize these offensive brothers, or maybe just erase their slate altogether.<br />
<br />
Today we live and die by image,which we can finesse for a while, but in the end becomes the sum total of our actions. Am I just getting old, or are there a lot of Dorian Grays walking around?<br />
<br />
So, should we meet in the future, know that I neutral you from the bottom of my heart...<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="zemanta-related"><h6 class="zemanta-related-title" style="font-size: 1em; margin: 1em 0pt 0pt;"> Related articles</h6><ul class="zemanta-article-ul"><li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304432304576371713574433274.html">Peter Funt: 'Disrespect' Is Something You Earn</a> (online.wsj.com)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://angelduridiaries.wordpress.com/2011/06/08/pay-for-respect-with-due-respect/">Pay for Respect with due respect!</a> (angelduridiaries.wordpress.com)</li>
</ul></div><div class="zemanta-pixie" style="height: 15px; margin-top: 10px;"><a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://www.zemanta.com/" title="Enhanced by Zemanta"><img alt="Enhanced by Zemanta" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/zemified_e.png?x-id=98bce220-c3bb-4bb0-8f43-f09741749aba" style="border: none; float: right;" /></a></div></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04726693219581734472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3136492293271624374.post-15158644874011380012011-05-26T07:41:00.000-07:002011-05-26T07:41:54.264-07:00Book Trailer for BUDDY'S TAIL Launches<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><a href="http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xiwh82_k-anne-russell-book-trailer_people">http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xiwh82_k-anne-russell-book-trailer_people</a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04726693219581734472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3136492293271624374.post-28249769872095473772011-05-17T17:19:00.000-07:002011-05-17T17:19:31.616-07:00Deed So by Kath Russell Book Club Discussion Guide from BookMovement --Book Clubs, Book Reviews, Discussion Questions, Book Lists<a href="http://www.bookmovement.com/app/readingguide/view.php?ratings&readingGuideID=17723">Deed So by Kath Russell Book Club Discussion Guide from BookMovement --Book Clubs, Book Reviews, Discussion Questions, Book Lists</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04726693219581734472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3136492293271624374.post-49748669705226799562011-04-21T17:49:00.000-07:002011-04-21T17:49:20.434-07:00Science Literacy for Girls: Start Early to Defeat Dependency<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">After birth, female and male children continue to develop along divergent paths when it comes to their ability to learn science. As Abigail James points out in <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Teaching-Female-Brain-Girls-Science/dp/1412967104?ie=UTF8&tag=russel-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">Teaching the Female Brain</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=russel-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=1412967104" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" />, the left side of the brain, where language skills reside, develops earlier in girls, while the right side, the part responsible spatial cognition develops earlier in boys. Differences emerge in how the sexes reason to solve problems, use language to communicate, relate to other humans and interact with the environment. Girls deploy more words and are better at managing boredom. Boys are better at abstract thinking and occupy more space when playing. Girls are better at groups, but boys are better at teams.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal"><div class="zemanta-img separator zemanta-action-dragged"><a href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Children_in_a_Primary_Education_School.JPG" style="clear: right; display: block; float: right; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Group of children in a primary school in Paris" height="150" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c3/Children_in_a_Primary_Education_School.JPG/300px-Children_in_a_Primary_Education_School.JPG" style="border: none; font-size: 0.8em;" width="200" /></a><span class="zemanta-img-attribution" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; width: 300px;">Image via <a href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Children_in_a_Primary_Education_School.JPG">Wikipedia</a></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Skill and sensory development occur at different times in male and female infants. According to <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Gurian" rel="wikipedia" title="Michael Gurian">Gurian</a> and colleagues (<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Girls-Learn-Differently-Teachers-Parents/dp/0470608250?ie=UTF8&tag=russel-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">Boys and Girls Learn Differently</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=russel-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0470608250" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" />), infant girls can recognize the faces of people they know in photographs at four months of age and male infants cannot. Girls have better peripheral vision while boys have superior narrow vision and depth of vision. Even emotional maturation develops differently. Boys are quicker to anger, while girls are quicker to sadden.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Moreover, parents, family members and friends socialize children in different ways depending on their sex. Even the most aware parent can unwittingly engage in gender bias when performing the most elemental of acts, such as hugging. Skolnick and colleagues (<a href="http://www.amazon.com/How-Encourage-Girls-Math-Science/dp/086651323X?ie=UTF8&tag=russel-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">How to Encourage Girls in Math and Science</a>) reported that mothers started directing boys away from their persons to go exploring at about six months, but continued to worry more about the well-being of their daughters, and kept their girls physically closer longer.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Beyond parents, are the family members and friends who just want to enjoy the new human and are not thinking critically about that chubby-cheeked cherub's chances for mastering astrophysics. Uncle Henry, who tosses baby Freddie in the air, but tickles little Patricia under her cute little chins. Or Aunt Marcia who always brings Patricia a doll and Freddie a truck or tractor. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">As a kid, I always wanted the truck. To this day, I remember fondly a two-level gas station, complete with gas pumps and vehicles that a thoughtful relative gave me one Christmas. I also remember the microscope, chemistry set and the circuit board template for making a variety of gizmos, and the very personal gift of my father's own Ham radio Morse Code key and circuitry. Now that was something. Or at least it was until he made me memorize and use the code, and demonstrate proficiency at a certain speed.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">The behavior of adults around children can impact a girl's success with science in a number of ways. We know adults can reinforce destructive stereotypes. They also can encourage behavior that may be innate, but is not particularly useful in mastering science. Always praising a daughter for her flowery prose style, and never encouraging her to try a graphic presentation or a chart to make her point is an example of encouraging a child <i>away</i> from skills she needs to develop. Grownups can discourage behavior that would be useful in scientific inquiry, such as exploration and experimentation, deeming it too unladylike or dangerous. Telling a girl to stay clean and not muss her cloths, is the same thing as putting her in a straightjacket when it comes to learning about the natural world.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">The professionals (see <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Science-Girls-Successful-Classroom-Strategies/dp/0810853671?ie=UTF8&tag=russel-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">Science for Girls: Successful Classroom Strategies</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=russel-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0810853671" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" />) by Susan Gibbs Goetz) say that what unthinking adults are engaged in is the 'dependency training' of girls, and that behaviorists can see the effects of this subversive instruction as early as that first birthday. Girls begin to lose confidence in their ability to do science from the get-go. It may even go beyond loss of self-confidence to the instilling of fear. Fear to try, fear to fail.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">What can parents do to combat dependency training? First, knowledge is power. Understanding the developmental paths of boys and girls, and their strengths and weaknesses as it relates to learning, is important in guiding your parental choices and your reactions to a child's behavior. Spend some time on the internet. Some other suggestions follow --</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><i><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Objective recap:</span></i><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";"> Parents can review at the end of the day or the week, what they have observed in terms of learning behavior. What learning opportunities occurred and how did the child problem solve? Was there an example of analytical thinking? How did the parent or other adult who was present react to the behavior? Was the response constructive? Thing about keeping an <i>activity journal</i> to support this discussion.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><i><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">In-law management:</span></i><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";"> You have the right to raise your child according to your own rules. Relatives and friends need feedback if they are stereotyping.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><i><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Toy inventory:</span></i><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";"> Do an inventory of your daughter's toys. Stand back and assess the hoard as a whole. Make a list of toys that should be acquired, and share it with relatives for gift-giving.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><i><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Space assessment:</span></i><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";"> Does your daughter have room to spread out? Project room, not just reading room?</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><i><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Explorer gear.</span></i><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";"> Does your daughter have clothing that is suitable and safe for active exploring and experimenting? Don't forget the shoes!</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">When families commit to open up experiences for girls to reach for science, they turn dependency into opportunity.</span></span></div></div><div class="zemanta-related"><h6 class="zemanta-related-title" style="font-size: 1em; margin: 1em 0pt 0pt;"> Related articles</h6><ul class="zemanta-article-ul"><li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://dontconformtransform.wordpress.com/2011/03/30/how-toy-ad-vocabulary-reinforces-gender-stereotypes-the-achilles-effect/">How Toy Ad Vocabulary Reinforces Gender Stereotypes | The Achilles Effect</a> (dontconformtransform.wordpress.com)</li>
</ul></div><div class="zemanta-pixie" style="height: 15px; margin-top: 10px;"><a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://www.zemanta.com/" title="Enhanced by Zemanta"><img alt="Enhanced by Zemanta" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/zemified_e.png?x-id=872fbde7-72b4-498c-98fd-b3f1714bbe81" style="border: none; float: right;" /></a></div></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04726693219581734472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3136492293271624374.post-29491641577036724052011-04-18T11:10:00.000-07:002011-04-18T11:10:58.964-07:00The Battle for Science Literacy Begins in the Womb<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="MsoNormal">In my last post, I said I was going to start blogging about <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_literacy" rel="wikipedia" title="Scientific literacy">science literacy</a> for women at the bassinet level. Already I have made a mistake. We need to start in the womb. There are differences in male and female <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fetus" rel="wikipedia" title="Fetus">fetuses</a> that may play a role in the way boys and girls learn science and math. <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Gurian" rel="wikipedia" title="Michael Gurian">Michael Gurian</a> and Kathy Stevens in their book, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Girls-Learn-Differently-Teachers-Parents/dp/0470608250?ie=UTF8&tag=russel-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">Boys and Girls Learn Differently! A Guide for Teachers and Parents</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=russel-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0470608250" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" />, published lists of fundamental differences at various stages in development that affect learning, including development <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">in utero</i>.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><div class="zemanta-img separator zemanta-action-dragged"><a href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Gray727_anterior_cingulate_cortex.png" style="clear: left; display: block; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Anterior cingulate cortex." height="116" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/22/Gray727_anterior_cingulate_cortex.png/300px-Gray727_anterior_cingulate_cortex.png" style="border: medium none; font-size: 0.8em;" width="200" /></a><span class="zemanta-img-attribution" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; width: 200px;">Image via <a href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Gray727_anterior_cingulate_cortex.png">Wikipedia</a></span></div><br />
Some of the findings support old wives tales that any mom or midwife will tell you. For example, male fetuses are generally more active than female fetuses. How often have you heard a mother-to-be react to a hearty kick with the comment, "I know this one is a boy."</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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The male fetus produces testosterone and the female fetus produces estrogen. So the <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hormone" rel="wikipedia" title="Hormone">hormonal</a> system is already setting up boys to be more assertive, even before they're born. In addition, the female fetus produces more serotonin, than the male. Serotonin, is a hormone that calms you down, and many people take serotonin substitutes to aid sleep, especially women after menopause.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">In the male brain, the basal ganglia or <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triune_brain" rel="wikipedia" title="Triune brain">reptilian complex</a> is emphasized, which is responsible for aggressive behavior, territoriality and dominance, while in <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.amazon.com/Female-Brain-Louann-Brizendine-M-D/dp/0767920090%3FSubscriptionId%3D0G81C5DAZ03ZR9WH9X82%26tag%3Dzemanta-20%26linkCode%3Dxm2%26camp%3D2025%26creative%3D165953%26creativeASIN%3D0767920090" rel="amazon" title="The Female Brain">the female brain</a>, it is the <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cingulate_cortex" rel="wikipedia" title="Cingulate cortex">cingulate gyrus</a> or limbic part, which is responsible for emotion, motivation and nurturing behavior.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Although the fetus starts out as undifferentiated and basically female, changes instigated by hormone bursts significantly alter males and females before birth. Thus the template for our contrasting performance in learning about science is being built in the womb.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">This must seem frustrating to parents. Even in a safe, protected place where social influences can't get at her, your daughter's brain is being wired to make it harder for her to learn science and math.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">For that initial nine months of waiting, is there anything parents can do to begin leveling the playing field for daughters? There is. This is the time to begin a dialog about gender neutral parenting. It is important for mothers and fathers to reach a consensus on how they as a team will approach this issue. It is a time to learn through reading and research and conversations with professionals how boys and girls absorb and process information. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Fetus_amniotic_sac.jpg" style="display: block; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div><div class="zemanta-img separator zemanta-action-dragged"><a href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Fetus_amniotic_sac.jpg" style="clear: left; display: block; float: left; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Human fetus" height="172" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0b/Fetus_amniotic_sac.jpg/300px-Fetus_amniotic_sac.jpg" style="border: none; font-size: 0.8em;" width="200" /></a><span class="zemanta-img-attribution" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; width: 300px;">Image via <a href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Fetus_amniotic_sac.jpg">Wikipedia</a></span></div>This also is a very good time to observe the behaviors of family members and friends. At the baby showers and in the conversations about religious observations such as christenings, parents will quickly see which grandparent, aunt or neighbor is gone to pose a challenge with regard to stereotyping your daughter. It is never too early to start making known your intentions for creating a neutral environment for your female child when it comes to her education, her experience of the natural world and her career aspirations.</div></div></div><div class="zemanta-pixie" style="height: 15px; margin-top: 10px;"><a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://www.zemanta.com/" title="Enhanced by Zemanta"><img alt="Enhanced by Zemanta" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/zemified_e.png?x-id=a532dcda-a0a5-4c12-9f2b-cc49bee6b509" style="border: none; float: right;" /></a></div></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04726693219581734472noreply@blogger.com0