So, what are the 10 most important books you've never gotten around to reading? In addition to many of the ones acknowledged in this post and the post it links to, I'd have to admit to at least:
"The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich." I always get to the point where we learn that Hitler was a failed Austrian painter named Schickelgruber, put the book down and decide to pick up again in a day or two. I don't, then pick it up in a year or two to start all over again.
Happy Veterans Day. Would it be unlibertarian of me to wish the federal government would require that veterans get the day off with triple pay? Oh, well. Just send me money, and I'll toast you at the local VFW. Wait, I forgot. I don't belong.
All I can say is that I'm glad my parents made it up as they went along in raising their children, especially me.
Even those uncouth parents who try to tune out the current fads of child discipline and advice are swayed by community mores, school rules and the jail time involved if they vary too much from the norm. But many of us wonder how much of this advice is not only unhelpful, but just plain wrong.
They needed a scientific study to figure this out?
The tongue may indeed have a taste for cheesecake, french fries and butter cookies, according to study published Tuesday.
In experiments with rodents, French scientists identified a receptor on the tongue that appears to detect dietary fat.
This is my 500th post since the beginning of the blog on July 11, which is, I suppose, milestone enough these days for a look back. The first thing I notice is that in the same three-and-a-half-month period, I've probably written fewer than 200 pieces for the editorial page. The pace required for blogging can be daunting sometimes. I'm generally pleased with the mix of posts -- long ones and short ones, frivolous ones and serious ones, on a good variety of personal, local, state and national issues.
You know the Jeff Foxworthy routine, "You just might be a redneck if . . ."? A friend who knows I have cats sent me a link to this site titled "You know you're a cat person when . . . " I noticed this one right away:
When I was a kid, I had such a sheltered life that I thought "oral sex" meant "talking about it." Did get quite a reputation after frequently saying, "Know about it? I'm an expert at it."
Geez. If I'd known it was this simple, I'd have skipped all those doughnuts. On the other hand, maybe I'll just switch to a Fig Newton diet.
I notice not a single Mad magazine cover made the list, so how much should we really trust these people's judgment?
I have a cell phone with which I can talk to almost anybody, from almost anywhere. It has a 1.3-megapixel camera, with which I can take stills or very short videos and post them on the Web, again from just about anywhere. Apple just introduced a new iPod. It enables users not only to carry around thousands of songs and still photos, but also downloaded video; people can watch last night's episode of "Desperate Housewives" (or their own homemade videos, for that matter) while they're on the train or waiting in the doctor's office (OK, make that two episdoes).
