Just finished reading King of bollywood SRK and the Seductive world if Indian Cinema- this book is for all those SRK fans who follow him, inspired by his charisma and never stop exploring new things about SRK .Very inspiring and very well narrated , which gives you an account of bollywood history – how it has evolved in past two decades and the influence of growing economy etc. without loosing focus on SRK.
Anupama Chopra has done a fantastic job in explaining the evolution of Bollywood and how cinema has evolved over the years- yet the focus remains King Khan.

Yesterday bought another SRK book by Mushtaq Sheikh – ” Shah Rukh Can- Story of the man and Star called Shah Rukh Khan”. Hope this is as interesting as Anupama’s book.

For workout I will repeat today the beach boot camp and before go for a light 20 minute run. In the afternoon I teach 2 personal trainings and 1 group class. Will be an active day!

Food today: started with scrambled egg white, tomato, whole meal toast with curd cheese and half an apple, as a.m. snack after workout I cook chicken and broccoli and add an orange. For lunch and p.m. snack I prepare an egg white – thuna salad with paprika, tomato and cucumber. I will come back home late today, so in the evening I will have maximum a whey shake.

Greg Garrett is a depression sufferer, a theologian, a writing teacher and a writer.

No Idea: Entrusting Your Journey to a God Who Knows is a book of a journey.

Greg begins with his journey through depression to his current place, and then meanders along to discuss God and his existence.

Truthfully, I had a lot of trouble with this book.  I’ve been trying to read it for weeks now.  I’ve at times found it a very helpful companion to my conversation.  It brought me the word ‘cerebral’ to describe my approach to life.

It is also a book I think is almost impossible to get though.  I have about 40 pages left, and I’ve finally given up.  Although Greg is hard to get through, it isn’t just because of his approach, it is because he is smart.  I have found Greg Garrett to be somewhat like a very depressed C.S. Lewis.  I think he really does put an interesting and theological spin on things, but for the most part, he is just depressive.  The hardest part of the book was the first part, which read something like the outline of someone’s fourth step.  It was just too much personal information outside of a confessional, close friendship or counseling relationship.

There is one group of people that I think might get a lot out of this book:  Those with mood disorders – but not until Spring or Summer (providing that SAD is part of your makeup).  Greg fully admits his mood disorder, and discusses in detail how he has worked with it.  I think it might be like going to a group session and listening to someone else talk about their issues.

Sorry, I rarely give a negative review, but I have to do so for this one.  I’d like to read some of Greg’s other work however, because I did find him to have a very sharp mind and believe that he would be very engaging outside the realm of the emotional.

I finally got around to reading Nick Carr’s book “The Big Switch – Rewiring the world from Edison to Google”. As evidenced by Carr’s previous book “Does IT Matter” and by writings on his Roughtype blog that I am an avid reader of, I found The Big Switch to be as much about society, economics and history as it is about technology. The author draws heavily on anecdotes that describe the invention and evolution of electric utilities to illustrate the ‘new normal’ in the world of computing – specifically Cloud Computing. While the book does not provide ground breaking insights to those of us within the technology industry involved in the transformation of on-premise to on-demand consumption & delivery models, it does offer lucid and entertaining insights into a similar transformation that occurred about a century ago. The book’s elaborate commentary on historical approaches that individuals and businesses have taken to productize, commercialize and monetize their ideas and innovations will resonate with technology product management and product marketing folks – I know it did with me.

The Big Switch, according to the author is the transformation of corporate and personal computing from “islands of individual automation” to what Nick Carr describes as the “World Wide Computer”.  Speaking of which, I think the author has coined an interesting moniker to describe utility computing. That said, the pervasive reference to the term World Wide Computer through out the book seems a bit forced. Since World Wide Computer it’s not part of our vocabulary today, even couple of years after the book’s publication I don’t believe it served its purpose.

The Book is organized into two parts. Part 1 traces the historical evolution, adoption and societal impact of electric power over the past century. At each step along the journey, Nick Carr draws a parallel between electricity and the Internet’s evolution. Part 2 of the book is all about the economic, cultural and business issues associated with the emergence and solidification of the Internet as the framework and platform not just for computing but for commerce in general.

Highlights & Factoids from The Big Switch

• General Purpose Technologies: The Burden’s Wheel introduced in Chapter 1 of the book and referenced frequently thereafter uses water power, the precursor to electricity to explain the economic and societal impacts of General Purpose Technologies.
• The Ice Trade: In the 1800s, Global distribution of 10 million tonnes of ice cut from the frozen lakes of the northern United States and packed in hay and tree bark to countries as far as Singapore and India was a huge US industry – one that generated millions of dollars in profit. And it was one of the first industries to succumb to the advent of electricity and refrigerators.
• Toiling away on the Model-T: Number of man-hours it took to manufacture the Ford Model T: 1,260 in 1912, 617 in 1914 and 228 in 1923. Efficiencies attributed to assembly line automation and streamlining the production process created a go-to-market process enabling dealers to sell millions of these cars at $290 a piece.
• DC, Tesla and Dynamos: Chapters 2 and 3 of the book shed light on Edison’s insistence on local DC electric plants and the need to have captive local technology infrastructure. There is a a nice analogy here to the merits of distributed computing enabled by the Internet. The author makes several powerful comparisons between Tesla’s dynamo in the 20th century and the resulting metamorphosis of AC plants into regional power distribution companies to Internet-enabled bandwidth and client-server computing of the 21th century.
• The Home, Transformed: The author reminds us of the adage “A man’s castle is a woman’s factory” to describe the advent of  residential “white goods”  powered by electricity and how they transformed societal structures especially that of women.
• Goodbye Microsoft, Hello Google: Carr, in highlighting the criticality of Grid Computing in Chapter 4, bids adieu to device-centric software licensing models (read Microsoft) and extols the virtues of location-independent computing – a.k.a Cloud Computing with a clear hat tip to Google.
• End User Computing: The power that the World Wide Computer bestows upon the individual via the Programmable Internet is at the heart of book’s chapters 6 and 7 with positive examples such as a Ford Mustang fan’s multi-media blog and seemingly contrarian ones that lament the need for fewer and fewer people to work.  A key point made here is in favor of centralized corporate IT functions giving way to business units and individuals who will be able to ‘control the processing of information directly without the need for legions of technical specialists”
• The last Bastion: Carr asserts that “tasks demanding flexibility, creativity, generalized problem solving, and complex communications – what we call non-routine cognitive tasks” do not lend themselves to computerization. Seems to me that this is a reference to skill sets that individuals would need to hone, lest be made redundant by a computer – also perhaps in part a recognition of IT outsourcing and off-shoring.
• The Network IS the Computer: I have always believed that Sun’s awesome assertion was a bit ahead of its time. If launched today, the campaign would have fit right into the Cloud Computing discourse with no elaboration called for. Nick Carr says that Sun’s slogan “suddenly makes sense” today and I completely agree.
• Crowdsourcing – A Pithy Summary: I had written about Crowdsourcing earlier but let me just quote Nick Carr on this topic here from the book “By putting the means of production into the hands of the masses but withholding from those masses any ownership over the products of their communal work, the World Wide Computer provides an incredibly efficient mechanism for harvesting the economic value of the labor provided by the very many and concentrating it in the hands of the very few” . Need I say more? This is spot on.
• The Great Unbundling: Carr describes the move from mass markets to “markets of one ” as one of the offshoots of user-generated content. He describes an interesting dichotomy between the peaking of newspaper circulation in the US in 1984 at 63 million daily copies and the fact that the same period heralded a shift from “scarcity to abundance in media” giving us more much more choices that our parents and grandparents had. He also describes the power of an individual’s  viewpoint to get amplified via the Internet and Social Media as “ideological amplification”
• Spider’s web: Carr brings many of the prevailing concerns such as security, privacy and the weaknesses of free-flowing information. The effect of social networks causing worlds to collide is highlighted and the author suggests that workers are no longer “free” even beyond the “temporal confines of their workday”
• iGod: The book’s final chapter is a discussion on the intersection of human and machine consciousness using example of Google’s not-so-veiled aspirations at Artificial Intelligence. In raising questions about the future of AI and its rule on human society, this chapter alludes to a book by David Noble which featured the French philosopher Rene Descartes’ views that the “body is always a hindrance to the mind in its thinking” and that in mathematics he saw a model for “pure understanding”.

In summary, I think The Big Swith is a well written, lucid account of the transformation of Client-Server technology into Cloud Computing which the author believes will be the new normal. He relies, at times overtly, on the history of electricity to make this point – which does come across clearly.  It’s clear that looking to the clouds will soon become the new normal as evidenced by GXS and our work with the Microsoft Azure platform in leading the adoption of Cloud-Computing for an industry as steeped in tradition as standards-based B2B Integration.

The author’s views on the societal impact of technology – be it electricity or the Internet are wonderfully captured in a quote attributed to John M. Culkin that is featured prominently in the book:

“We shape our tools and thereafter they shape us”

Image courtesy: Nicholas G Carr

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140. The Gathering Storm by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson (2009)
The Wheel of Time, Book 12

Length: 784 pages
Genre: Epic Fantasy

Started: 12 November 2009
Finished: 22 November 2009

Where did it come from? From the publishers for review.
Why do I have it? I don’t talk about it a lot, since I read them all long before I started reviewing/blogging, but The Wheel of Time is the series that got me permanently hooked on fantasy as an adult. After 11 books and a prequel, these characters are like family, so how could I not want to find out what happens to them, especially now that there’s an end in sight?
How long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 28 October 2009.
Verdict? TOTALLY FRAKKING AWESOME. (So: keeper.)

It’s taken twelve books
to get here; I can’t sum up
in seventeen words.

***No spoilers for this book, but there may be incidental spoilers for earlier books.***

Summary: The Last Battle is coming, and coming quickly; the Dark One’s touch has never been more evident in the world. Rand al’Thor, the Dragon Reborn, is mankind’s only chance of defeating the Dark One in the Last Battle… but how can anyone prepare for a responsibility like that? Rand has conquered almost half of the known world, but his hold of the various countries is fracturing, and he knows mankind must present a united front if they are to have any hope of survival. To that end, he tries to make peace with the Seanchan invaders, but even that may be for naught if Rand cannot learn to control the darkness and hardness that he has tried for so long to cultivate in his soul.

Meanwhile, Egwene, the Amyrlin Seat of the rebel Aes Sedai, is a captive within the White Tower. She is subject to severe punishments at the command of Elaida, the irrational and power-mad Amyrlin, but worse than the pain of any beating is watching the White Tower crumble from within. She knows the Aes Sedai need to be strong, and the Tower must be whole in order to aid Rand at Tarmon Gaidon, but how can a prisoner possibly manage such a daunting task?

Review: If you would have asked me, before reading this book, if either Robert Jordan or Brandon Sanderson had a distinctive writing style, I would have said no. Not that they’re not both good writers, but just that neither has a way with words that would enable me to point to a passage and say ‘There, that sounds like Sanderson’ the way I could with Guy Gavriel Kay or Michael Chabon. However, as I discovered within the first few pages of the prologue, just because neither has a distinctive style, also does not mean that they have the same style. Sanderson addresses this in his author’s note, saying that he did not try to emulate Jordan’s style, choosing to stay true to the characters and the story, but to tell it in his own words. And that’s fine; Sanderson is an accomplished writer whose books I enjoy. On the other hand, I will admit it was initially a little bit jarring to come across paragraphs or sentences that were decidedly un-Jordan-like.

I adapted quickly, though, and truth be told, Sanderson does an excellent job of maintaining continuity not only with the storyline, but more importantly, with the feel of the characters. Egwene’s POV chapters still feel like Egwene, Perrin still sounds like Perrin, Rand still feels like a complete dolt who you just want to kick in the shins until he finally loosens up a little. I was somewhat worried about Mat; he’s got a pretty distinctive voice – one that is easy to imitate, but hard to get right – plus Mat’s first chapter doesn’t come until almost midway through the book. To my delight, though, that chapter starts with Mat delivering a (*very* Mat-ish) monologue about women… followed by Talmanes making fun of the way Mat talks in a way that is not only hilarious, but also pokes gentle fun at Mat (and by extension, Jordan), and just generally lets us know that Sanderson gets it.

“I’m not giving up gambling,” Mat muttered. “Or drinking.”
“So I believe you’ve told me,” Talmanes said. “Three or four times so far. I half believe that if I were to peek into your tent at night, I’d find you mumbling it in your sleep. ‘I’m going to keep bloody gambling! Bloody, bloody gambling and drinking! Where’s my bloody drink? Anyone want to gamble for it?’” (p. 317)

And that’s the reason why I think having Sanderson take over after Jordan’s death has worked where so many multi-author continuations have failed: Sanderson gets it. He wants the series to turn out well as much as any of the rest of us do. He’s a fan too. But, unlike the average fanboy or fangirl, he’s also an accomplished writer in his own stead, with the chops to pull it off. And that combination of talent and passion are what makes The Gathering Storm a worthy continuation instead of merely an acceptable one.

Okay, enough about the writing, let’s talk about what actually happens. In short? TOTALLY AWESOME. It is not hyperbole to say that I laughed, I cried, I spent large chunks of the book with a pit of dread in my stomach because so many things were going so terribly wrong for the characters, and I quite literally stood up and cheered out loud at at least two points. (There may even have been fist-pumping.) There are prophecies fulfilled, storylines wrapped up, mysteries solved, and a wealth of wonderful and memorable and just perfect character moments.

I know there are also those out there who are apprehensive over the fact that Brandon Sanderson’s contribution was initially going to be one book… and then two… and now finally three. I was certainly a little worried myself that the split would result in something patchy and without a satisfying end point (I’m looking at you, A Feast for Crows.) But that worry was completely baseless; The Gathering Storm has some of the most complete narrative arcs of any book in the series, not to mention one of the most satisfying endings. Just excellent. 5 out of 5 stars.

Recommendation: Don’t start here if you haven’t read any of the previous 11 books, obviously. However, The Gathering Storm strongly reminded me why I love this series so much, why it was worth sticking it out through some of the slower books. It made me want to go start the series over from the beginning, and (although I wouldn’t have thought it possible), it made me even more eager to get my hands on the next installment.

This Review on LibraryThing | This Book on LibraryThing | This Book on Amazon

Links: – Brandon Sanderson’s webpage
- Encyclopaedia WOT, if you need to brush up on previous books

Other Reviews: Adventures in Reading, Age 30+…A Lifetime of Books, Books ‘n’ Border Collies, Neth Space, Only The Best Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Pat’s Fantasy Hotlist, The Wertzone
Have you reviewed this book? Leave a comment with the link and I’ll add it in.

First Line: Renald Fanwar sat on his porch, warming the sturdy blackoak chair crafted for him by his grandson two years before.

Cover Thoughts: Probably my least favorite part about the book. It is a pretty direct representation of a scene… and yes, Rand’s actually shaking his fist at the sky. (Optional: yelling “Nooooooo!!!”) Also, I don’t think Aviendha would be caught dead in that much eye make-up… or that boob-tacular of a blouse.

Vocab: (see the whole list)

• p. 25: “Well, he would have to replace the snath with a longer straight shaft of ashwood.” – the shaft or handle of a scythe.

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BOOK DETAILS

City by Design, An Architectural Perspective of Texas

Publication: 2009, $40, Hardcover, ISBN 1-933415-56-8, 336 pages, 9″ x 12″, 300+ color photographs

Author: Panache Partners

Publisher: Brian Carabet and John Shand, Panache Partners

Distributor: Independent Publishers Group

Subject: Texas Architectural Projects designed by Texas based Architectural Firms

Book Chapters:
Built to Play and Stay
Urban Living
City Projects
Industry Leaders
Sustaining Growth
City Futures

Architectural Firms Include:
Gensler
PageSoutherlandPage
HKS
Kirksey
Overland Partners
Lake | Flato Architects
Powers Brown Architecture
Graeber, Simmons & Cowan
SHW Group
Ford Powell & Carson

Editorial Content: Includes design inspirations, theories, perspectives, anecdotes and lesser known interesting details.

Comments: The book is a compilation of more than 70 architectural edifices located around the state. The collection is diverse with landmark skyscrapers from the state’s metroplexes as well as smaller thoughtfully designed buildings located in the suburbs and small towns. The selected works include all manners of buildings including retail, hospitality, dining, recreation, multifamily, mixed-use residential, public, education, government, religious, historic preservation and renovation, institutional, corporate, health care and research.

From someone that appreciates great architecture I was surprised, inspired and impressed by the numerous gems that the book uncovered that I was unaware of.

The book’s compilation of works was very thoughtfully assembled. While it is apparent that a conscious effort was made at including a variety of projects in different locales across the state, the book does not sacrifice quality at the expense of trying to be all things to all people. The projects presented are of high quality and it’s hard to find fault with the selections.

As a citizen of the state, there was a real sense of pride when looking at the quality of the design work, the variety of project types and the beauty of the constructed results all located within our borders.

Strengths:
Representative variety of quality projects
Wealth of locales that projects are located across the state
Breadth of quality project types included
Photo quality

Weaknesses:
I would have like to have seen a summary of sorts for each project that told me who, what, and where. I am also of the opinion that the font size could have been larger.

Audience: Recommended for Texans, architecture enthusiasts, coffee table book buyers.

Grade: 3 out of 4 stars

Fast forward to the North America of the future…a Civil War has left the country divided; 12 districts oppressed by the mighty ‘Capitol’.

As eternal punishment for rebellion The Hunger Games are “played” each year. Two unfortunate children from each district must pit their wit and strength against each other to survive. In this Reality TV style game there is only one rule: kill or be killed.

Katniss Everdeen is the main character. We follow her throughout the trials and although she seems cold and sometimes distant we can’t help but hope that she and her ally, Peeta, survive.

This is one of the most action packed books I have read for a while. You’ll definitely want to start the second book of the trilogy right away.  

The movie rights to the first book have been sold and a tentative release date has been set for 2011.

I recommend this book for all fans of the action/adventure genre. The library has one copy of The Hunger Games and one copy of Part 2, Catching Fire’, ready to borrow.

 By Mrs. Williams

The good people at Osprey Publishing sent me a copy of Gordon Rottman’s The Great Locomotive Chase.  This book was of particular interest to me since I live about 35 miles from where the raiders were finally caught.  I’ve also been to the Atlanta Cyclorama and seen the Texas, so needless to say I was looking forward to reading this book.

True to form the folks at Osprey have done a good job illustrating this book.  Pictures of the participants, the trains, a few current photographs of the locations, and two really neat maps all arm the reader with the visualizations needed to enhance the story.

Rottman has also produced a readable work.  His writing is clear and crisp and he weaves an interesting story in a way that keeps the readers attention.  He has one slightly confused sentence on Page 31 but otherwise manages the timeline well.  One bigger mistake I found was on page 54.  Rottman states, “On May 31, 12 raiders…were transported to Knoxville, Kentucky for trial.”  This is an obvious mistake.  Now there is a Knoxville, Kentucky, but it is near the Ohio border up by Cincinnati.  Of course the author meant Knoxville, Tennessee since Kentucky was a Union state and Tennessee was part of the Confederacy.  Mistakes do happen and I would say that this one does not take away from the book.

I do recommend this book.  It is a good, enjoyable read and you won’t be disappointed.

How to write an Oakland, CA history? This question has undoubtedly occupied many a writer’s mind who stepped up to the task. Part unruly city, part sylvan town, Oakland is as complex as an entire nation.

In 1942, authors G.A. Cummings and E.S. Pladwell put pen to paper and wrote Oakland from the ground up. They approached the city history as a multi-storied skyscraper, in an era when the wartime economy was kind to Oakland. Shipyards brimmed with supplies; 714 miles of paved streets stretched across town; and Downtown had become a cultural nexus.

The structure and voice “Oakland…A History” reflects this kind of pro-industrial tone. The book divides into three parts of development, and the major milestones center around transportation and construction. In dry and certain terms, Cummings and Pladwell devise a mechanical history with more facts than narrative flair. City histories like “Gotham: A History of New York City to 1898,” winner of the 1999 Pulitzer Prize for History, hadn’t yet set the standard for nonfiction that read like a novel. The city story that Cummings and Pladwell present reads more like a textbook. That the owner of Grant D. Miller Mortuaries, Inc. published the book seems fitting.

But it is Miller’s conclusory contribution that infuses life into the book. His memoir-like epilogue adds character to what otherwise reads like yearbook of Dead White Dudes on parchment pages. His reminiscing about “a city still in a state of adolescence” says a lot about the crossroads his city found itself at the time of publication:

“We [older residents] recall the muddy streets, many of which lacked even sidewalks; the dim and insufficient street lighting; the primitive means of transportation—clumsy, slow horse cars, and early steam strains and cable cars.

“Those were the days when a trip from Oakland to Fruitvale took us through ranches, woods and vast fields of grain; when there were miles of open country between the northern boundaries of the city and Berkeley. When the land from Market Street, west to the waterfront, was mostly marsh, and the water system was so inadequate that there were windmills and wells in many residential areas.”

Miller presents a skyline that today any Oaklander is hard pressed to imagine. Perhaps then what is most redeeming about “Oakland…A History” is the mirror the authors hold up to a city in transition. Like the new high-rise condos that reflect Lake Merritt and its necklace of lights, Cummings and Pladwell tell an Oakland story through a city they saw outside their windows: a steel-framed, car-lined metropolis in-waiting.

Take a peek into “Oakland…A History” at the main branch of the Oakland Public Library, or purchase it online at Amazon or Alibris. You may find it’s a fitting addition to your Oak-book collection.

Book cover

As per the cash flow quadrant, a person can work as an employee, be self-employed, be a business person or become an investor (E, S, B , I).

Core values of different segments:
What are the core values of different segments of a cash Flow quadrant i.e. E, S, B or an I?

Employee says: I am happy with a well-paying job along with related benefits; I am looking for security. I must have a secured job

Self Employed person says: I am the sole owner of my work; I should do it all by myself

Business person: A business person thinks to develop a good system and look out for smart people who can work for him / her.

Investor: Money works hard for them….

Poor Dad wanted: Job Security

however

Rich Dad said: Work hard to build business and pass it on from a generation to generation

GIVEN A CHOICE, WHAT WOULD YOU PREFE? JOB OR BUSINESS? TAKE PART IN POLL BELOW. MORE IDEAS FROM THE BOOK TO FOLLOW…….

JavaScript

Given a choice, what would you do? Job or Business?
(polls)

Enjoy the video clip and learn about the cash flow quadrant from the author:

More on cash flow quadrant and thinking of rich people to appear during the week.

Keep reading, sharing and enjoying

best wishes

Here is my latest article for the Anderson Independent.  It is a review of Mark Driscoll’s “Death by Love.”

Jesus died for us. His death is the most important event in history. His sacrifice on the cross is what cleanses us from sin. It makes us right before God and gives us the promise of being with Him forever. But does Jesus’ death on the cross just affect our eternal destination, or can it also speak to the daily struggles each of us face? What does the cross mean to someone trapped in bondage to lust? Can the truth of the cross really set them free? What about the person that is dying with cancer? Or the “good Christian” who feels superior to others who struggle with sins he doesn’t? Does the death of Jesus affect them in a practical way? Can someone who has been abused find hope in the cross? Can it bring true healing to someone that has been harmed signifigantly by another? Can the cross help me to let go of overwhelming anger?

Each of these questions are wrestled with in the book “Death by Love: Letters from the Cross,” written by Mark Driscoll and co-written with Gerry Breshears. It is one of the most unique books on the theology of the cross I have ever read. It gives us an insightful look at Jesus’ death on the cross and the hope that the sacrifice of Christ offers for those who struggle with sin and have been wounded by the sin of others. This book is rich with theology and at the same time practical to believers and non-believers in explaining the love God has offered to us through the cross.

“Death by Love” is written as a compilation of twelve letters to people in Driscoll’s church who he is trying to reach out to. These people have come to him for pastoral guidance and these are his responses to them and anyone else fighting through similar struggles. Driscoll uses these letters to teach suffering people what the cross says to them in their specific circumstances.

This book helped me grasp the depth of what Jesus did for me and taught me how His sacrifice effects me practically every day. “Death by Love” offers hope to anyone struggling with their own sin or struggling to find healing after someone has wounded them. I love how Driscoll shares God’s heart and compassion with each person while speaking bold truth to them and never minimizing their sin or diminishing their personal pain.

This book is not a light read. It is full of real sin and pain. It is also full of the power of God’s truth to that same sin and pain. Each chapter shows the need for genuine repentance and reliance on Christ’s finished work to cleanse us from sin. It is a phenomenal book that expresses the true power of the gospel to broken people in any circumstance.

As part of my research for the e-class, I decided to see what was new out there in the way of infertility literature.  This book, Unsung Lullabies, had good reviews on Amazon so I picked it up.  I had intended to read it all but had a hard time absorbing it.  Not because it wasn’t well written but because I’ve already been down this road.   This was a nice realization – hey, this is not me anymore and I have implemented a lot of what is recommended.  I would say Unsung Lullabies is for someone who really is in the beginnings of the infertility journey or is really needing some direction.

However, I did find one passage that really struck a chord with me.  It’s in the chapter Knowing When to Stop Trying p 225.  It reads, “The decision to stop treatment encompasses yet another level of loss that couples must mourn.  For some, it is only now, when you step off the treadmill for good, that you can finally begin your grieving process.  In its own way, being in the coping mode for long may have protected you from the full effects of this trauma; there was no time before to grieve.  So be prepared for a potentially big crash when you decide to stop.”  I found this to be very true and have been discussing this lately with other infertiles who are at this point right now.  When you stop, you really start the grieving process.  In the beginning the big wave hit but I’ve also felt aftershocks of grief every so often.  And each time it throws me but I am getting better at recognizing it. 

So, that’s all I’ll offer on the book – I think it has some good tidbits from what I saw.  I’m going to be passing my copy on to one of the women in the e-class and hopefully it’ll offer her more insight, too.

Warm characters that you want to connect with, you want to share a cup of coffee or cocoa with ~ Sheila

Ever since his mother left, life hasn’t been easy for Heath Wellington III. Between his father’s (Junior’s) bouts with alcoholism and literary rejection, and Heath’s own wrongful suspension from school, there hasn’t been all that much to be thankful for.

But following the tragic death of estranged grandfather Senior, father and son alike stand to inherit a life-changing fortune . . . with one catch.

Heath and Junior must spend the next three months managing Senior’s bed and breakfast, located in the same Massachusetts home Junior has spent the last eight years trying to escape.
Upended from his everyday life and relocated to a town where everyone knew and loved the grandfather he can’t even remember, Heath finds an inn full of some of the strangest people he’s ever met, such as:

• Winsted, the old, wise Jamaican man who used to lead the prayers in Senior’s factory;
• Mrs. Farrel, an elderly woman giving away her late husband’s fortune letter by letter;
• Mustang Sally, the muscle-bound, tattooed grease monkey who doubles as a children’s author;
• Carter, the silent TV news junkie and secret Harvard graduate.

And at a nearby school is Savannah, Junior’s first love, and her adorable, autistic daughter, Tori.

But most of all, there’s Junior himself, vinegar to Heath’s oil. As Heath adjusts to his new world, what he needs most is to start anew with his father, to understand that Junior, too, is dealing with loss, and to realize that, even in the most tragic of times, there’s a lot in life to be thankful for.

In My Opinion:

Thanksgiving At The Inn was a timely read that I had intentionally left for Thanksgiving weekend to read.  I enjoyed 12 year old Heath as the narrator of the book.  I think this perspective really added to what this book was and I can not really imagine what it would have been read like if it would have been told from Jr’s perspective.  Author Tim Whitney made a smart choice when he wrote the book this way and it really made me think how books can totally change when told by a different character.

A smooth easy read, I found the book lite enough for the MG (middle Grade) it was written for, and at the same time the subject line had an inner deepness that I found surprising and appreciated as an adult.  I guess what I am saying is that while this book would be a good read for a younger person, I didn’t find it too simply written.  The characters were good fits with the book and I enjoyed learning that each one had a bit of quirkiness.  For a young person reading this book I think these characters are a good way to remind us not to judge someone and that you really don’t always know what a person has going on inside.

Over all a good read that I really enjoyed.

I won this book from Miss Remmer’s Reviews

Book reviewing is a family business.

Two sets of Willse bylines in today’s Newark Star-Ledger. I’ve got a review of Ben Mezrich’s book about the founding of Facebook. And Dad’s got a twofer–
‘Total Recall: How the E-Memory Revolution Will Change Everything;’ ‘Delete: The Virtue of Forgetting in the Digital Age’
Check it out- I’m impressed with the way Dad pulled together two books, showing different views of information preservation in the digital age. Also- he quotes the authors, something I don’t feel comfortable that I can do well in a review. Yet.

Dad’s out of the newsroom, but not out of journalism. He’s enjoying his retirement, as I’m getting my writing career launched.
It makes me feel proud of both of us.

Encouraged by a friend’s mention of it, I dug through my collection of books to find a yellow-paged copy of The Practice of the Presence of God, by Brother Lawrence.  I’m sure I have read this book before, but it seemed brand new this time around.  I am definitely in a different place spiritually, so the words of this book are like a breath of fresh air, encouraging me to pursue the Lord so I might know Him more – yet without the old feelings of guilt because I’m not there already, followed closely by condemnation saying I never will be.

Brother Lawrence lived and wrote in the 1600’s, but Whitaker House Publishers has done an excellent job of updating and clarifying the language for people like us not only to read, but comprehend, the riches contained within the pages of this book.  It is primarily an autobiography, yet Brother Lawrence wanted so much to keep the focus on the Lord that he wrote as did Paul in 2 Corinthians 12:2,  “I knew a man . . .”   This does not at all detract from the message, but accomplishes the desire of Bother Lawrence’s heart – to glorify the Father.

From the very first chapter, a desire was ignited to begin practicing the presence of God as I haven’t to this point in my life, simply because of the Truth so obvious in Brother Lawrence.  In addition, my thinking was challenged by such statements as:

“. . . we must give ourselves totally to God, in both temporal and spiritual affairs.  Our only happiness should come from doing God’s will, whether it brings us some pain or great pleasure.  After all, if we’re truly devoted to doing God’s will, pain and pleasure won’t make any difference to us.”¹

“. . .God has infinite treasures to give us, he says.  Why should we be satisfied with a brief moment of worship?  With such meager devotion, we restrain the flow of God’s abundant grace. . .”²

Despite the challenges, I wasn’t condemned as I considered my life against his.  Instead, the Lord reminded me that He hasn’t called me to live the same life, in the same circumstances.  Rather, He has called me to live the same consecrated life in total pursuit of His Presence, in my circumstances, so that, “acting with childlike simplicity in God’s sight, he did everything for the love of God, thanking Him for His guidance.  And everything He did passed calmly, in a way that held him close to the loving presence of God.”³

It’s the simplicity of the Truth that has stirred such a yearning in me for life in the continuous awareness of the Presence of God.  It’s not a set of rules or steps by which I can attain this position.  It simply begins with the understanding that it is possible.  It’s not a pipedream.  It has been done before, as a human being yielded his life to God.  Brother Lawrence spoke of practicing the Presence of God.  It does take practice, but the more it is done, the greater the hunger, which leads to even greater practice.  Yet it isn’t practice for the sake of practice, but practice with the goal of developing an ever-increasing intimacy with our heavenly Father.  That, my friends, is worth every bit of effort.  But don’t take my word for it.  Find a copy of The Practice of the Presence of God and let the Lord draw your spirit to His as you meditate on its words.

______________

¹Brother Lawrence, The Practice of the Presence of God (Springdale, PA:  Whitaker House, 1982), 8.

²Ibid., p. 26-27

³Ibid., p. 16

Hallelujah! WOO HOO, Happy Christmas! I WANT this book! Oh I can see it now, gathered round a piano drinking egg nog and singing Zombie Christmas carols! Oh how I love the genius of this book!!!!! without even opening it I give it five stars on the idea alone!

Over the past decade there has been an onslaught of books about America’s corrupt food industry. From Eric Schlosser’s meticulously researched, “Fast Food Nation” to Michael Pollan’s powerful, “The Omnivores Dilemma,” it almost seems like it’s considered ‘cool’ to know about what is in your food. Jonathan Safran Foer can now be added to the perpetually growing list of food-obsessed authors with his non-fiction debut, “Eating Animals.” In “Eating Animals”, Jonathan Safran Foer explores the argument of eating animals from the point of view of an on and off vegetarian. After his wife becomes pregnant, Foer decides to find out what really goes into the food he eats and will soon be feeding his child.

One thing that definitely sets Foer apart from all of the other authors writing about the food industry is his sympathy and understanding of meat eaters. The fact that he himself has struggled all of his life with eating meat only strengthens his argument. Even though I have been a vegetarian for over a year, I can have a hard time reading some people’s arguments about animal welfare and factory farms. This isn’t because I don’t agree with them, but because the majority of animal rights activists can come off as holier-than-thou and shove their opinion down your throat. Foer manages to keep a somewhat level head as the book progresses, making it easy for anyone to read. Foer realizes that the argument against factory farming is so strong; you don’t have to force your opinion on curious readers.

I came into reading this book already knowing quite a lot about the food industry and what is going on in factory farms. Yet some of the things that Foer writes about and brings to the reader’s attention are entirely new and repulsing for me to read. One of the most shocking things I read in “Eating Animals” is the ‘cleansing process’ for chickens. After being slaughtered, machinery cuts open chicken’s limp bodies. The majority of the time, the machinery accidentally rips open their intestines. Which in turn spreads the chicken’s feces all over the corpse. After the incision, the chickens are placed in a large tub of water, also known as “fecal soup.” Please recall that not all birds where improperly cut open, so many of them are clean. However, by immersing them in a tank with other feces covered birds, the cleanly chickens become contaminated as well. The birds are kept in the fecal soup for large sums of time so that in effect they absorb water. This way, manufacturers can charge you more for the amount of chicken you’re purchasing.

Since the chickens absorb more water, they gain weight and manufacturers are able to put a higher price on the chicken and claim they are selling the consumer more meat than they are actually getting. So not only are you being falsely charged, you are also consuming chicken that has absorbed large amounts of feces. Now I know after reading this, most people like to have an ignorant mind set and think that fecal soup is the exception, not the rule. However, “99% of US poultry producers have stayed with water immersion systems.” So don’t assume that your chicken is okay, that it is part of the 1% that hasn’t been ‘cleansed’ in water immersion systems. This is the reality of the situation, and it’s anything but pretty.

Another situation I never really put much thought into is fish slaughter. Even when I became vegetarian I thought, “It’s just fish, who cares?” For some reason, people seem to be more lenient or forgetful when it comes to fish’s tolerance for pain. However, the method used to obtain fish for slaughter is downright cruel. Captains of fishing vessels use GPS systems to track schools of fish and observe from an electronically controlled room to decide the best moment to reel in the fish. However, one important thing you should know about aquaculture, is the effect it has on other types of fish. When a fishing vessels goes out to catch fish for slaughter, they’re usually only trying to obtain one type of fish. Whether it is tuna or shrimp, they don’t want any other sea creature. So when fish are reeled in, they are capturing and killing dozens of other species of fish. This is referred to as bycatch, or animal species that are accidentally caught.

Today, fishing involves large nets so they can capture large amounts of fish. However, there end up being more bycatch than what captains of fish vessels are actually trying to catch. For example, when attempting to capture shrimp, “80 to 90 percent of the sea animals it captures overboard, dead or dying, are bycatch.” These fish aren’t dying peacefully either, they are drowning (yes, it’s possible), bleeding to death, or they may be injured by the hook and suffer for days until they finally die. Foer brings to light one of the arguments of animal rights that you don’t hear or think about often. Why is it that fish are so indispensable for us? Millions of people brag about how they catch fish and show off photos and videos of fish that they have personally caught and killed. Why is it okay for this one animal, but unacceptable for others? Foer simply puts it; “no reader of this book would tolerate someone swinging a pickax at a dog’s face.”

Which brings me to one of my favorite arguments the books makes. Why don’t humans eat dogs? Dogs have become the most popular domesticated animal. Studies have shown that the majority of dog owners talk to their dogs and feel as though their dogs talk back. Americans have formed a loving bond with this animal. But in all truth, why is it considered taboo to eat them? It is legal in 44 states to eat dog. If you give the dog a good life and treat it well, what would be wrong for you to eat it as well? As long as the slaughter is humane and quick, there should be no social issue.

All of the arguments used against eating dogs go perfectly well with any other species. Some people argue that you shouldn’t eat animals with significant mental capacities. However, this statement would include cows, pigs, chickens and many sea animals. Isn’t it hypocritical to eat these listed animals, but claim that eating dogs is wrong?  Three to four million dogs and cats are euthanized annually. So what’s stopping us from using those animals as food? It’s resourceful and good for the environment. Honestly, eating dogs is the same thing as eating cows to me. There are people who raise pigs in their homes and eventually slaughter them. Why is it that dogs can’t be treated the same? It’s unfair to favor certain animals for no specific reason, other than it isn’t morally right. If you’re going to claim that eating dogs isn’t ‘right’, then you better have a strong argument as to why eating every other species IS right.

Probably one of the smartest things Foer does throughout “Eating Animals” is his choice to interview family farmers and activists. At one point he has an exchange of letters between a vegetarian family farmer, a PETA activist, and a carnivore family farmer. These sections show you how similar the views between animal rights activists and family farmers are. The majority of the time, family farmers are going to agree that animals do feel pain and suffering. It’s actually surprising how much family farmers advocate for animal welfare. It is this love of animals and not wanting to see them suffer that leads family farmers to avoid factory farming at all costs.

We’re living in a society where 99% of our meat comes from factory farms. It’s hard for farmers to choose animal welfare over profit. Family farmers end up not being paid as much due to a smaller number of animals. This is why it is so hard to find family farmers in today’s society. And by family farmers, I don’t mean meat you see in the organic section or cage-free eggs (which really means nothing). These farmers are at Farmer’s Markets and work independently, and they’re disappearing faster than ever. Hearing the arguments and opinions directly from these farmers really gives you insight into how tough family farming has become and how much pressure there is to switch over. One of the farmers interviewed and profiled in the book was eventually forced out of business due to a nearby slaughterhouse. Foer’s book really brings to light the fact that animals aren’t the only ones suffering from our corrupt food industry. Thousands of farmers across the nation have been forced out of business and are now unemployed.

Foer also talks about the inner workings of slaughterhouses. Animals are being killed while conscious and tortured to no end. Pigs are picked up and bashed against the floor. Pigs that remain conscious end up being stabbed with electric probes in places I’d rather not mention. There are endless forms of abuse going on in slaughterhouses and factory farms. It seems like this is an issue that is so clearly wrong and inhumane that it should be fixed by now. However, the majority of people running the food industry also have positions in the government. This is the type of argument where no matter what your stand (vegetarian, meat eater, etc.) you have to admit that the methods being used are undeniably cruel and wrong.

It may feel like I’m giving away the entire book to you, but trust me; there is a plethora of information that I haven’t even reviewed. While I found this book highly fascinating and incredibly researched, I still have some issues with it. Perhaps the largest issue with this book is that no matter how hard he tries, Foer is a fiction writer. His prose isn’t as authoritative as a journalist, which in the end weakens his argument. Foer has a knack for answering his own rhetorical questions and including irrelevant discussions about Franz Kafka. At one point, Foer interrupts his argument to inform the reader, “There’s more on that in the next chapter!” I’ll get to your next chapter when I get to it. Please don’t interrupt me with pointless reminders. There are parts of the book where he uses his creative writing for good. When Foer illustratively talks about his Grandmother who stuffed him with food whenever he came to visit, you can’t help but be sucked in. It makes you wish he wrote a book about his experiences with food, as opposed to where food comes from.

Another thing that really bothered me in “Eating Animals”, is how Foer slowly but surely turns on the family farmers he interviewed. Foer wrote endless letters to meat producers (a letter to Tyson is included in the book), and none of them responded. The only people to let Foer into their farms were a few family farmers. These are people who opened up to Foer and shared their fears of being run out of business. These are people who let Foer into their homes and let him view their raising methods. These are people that are trying their absolute hardest to raise and slaughter their animals in a humane manner. Yet Foer somehow ends up attacking them and their farming methods.

I guess what bothers me the most is that Foer makes this grandiose argument that he doesn’t care if people eat meat, as long as the animals are killed sensibly. Yet towards the end of the book, after interviewing several family farmers, Foer starts attacking their methods. One of the farmers, Bill Niman, talks about his inner struggle when it comes time for slaughter. He talks about how it’s an experience that never gets easier and that he is perpetually troubled by it. Niman tells Foer very personal information, and instead of treating Niman with respect, Foer goes on a rampage against him. Foer accuses Niman of being shallow and cruel. He states that him going forward with slaughtering his animals is his surrender. The worst part of this is that Foer doesn’t bother to share his opinion with Niman. Instead he twists what Niman says and talks about him without Niman’s knowledge. If I were Niman I would feel betrayed upon reading this section of “Eating Animals.” Niman willingly shared something very personal, which in turn Foer twisted for the benefit of his argument. In the end, it makes Foer unlikable and actually weakens his argument. These are people that welcomed Foer into their homes, let him see their farms (the only people who would), and shared very personal struggles they have with their job. By completely exploiting their experiences, Foer proves himself to be unlikable and no better than the very factory farmers who refused him.

Despite the issues I had with this book, I recommend that everyone read “Eating Animals.” Whether or not it was good, I just spent four pages writing about the pros and cons of this book. “Eating Animals” is a book that will get you talking about what you believe in. Whether or not you agree with everything in this book, the argument is so strong that it will get even the biggest omnivore to think about its content. The absolute strength of this book is the strong reaction that it rouses out of its reader. I have read several reviews, and in each one, whether they like it or not, the reviewer has a strong reaction to the book.

I definitely feel that this is especially an important book for teens. This is the phase where you really start to find your identity and form your morals. This is a book that will get you to question your own morals and beliefs. I have no doubt that even the biggest meat eater would second-guess their actions or at least think about them. Who knows, it may even strengthen your belief that eating animals is a good thing. Regardless of your stance, “Eating Animals” is an important book that everyone should read.

Several of the blurbs for this book say it is as close as we will get to a memoir from Vonnegut.  Honestly, if you have read Cat’s Cradle, Slaughter-House Five, and his collections of lectures, speeches, etc. you have read everything in this book before.  That doesn’t mean it isn’t worth reading. It is full of Vonnegut wit and misanthropy.   It is fragmented, like his novels.  It is funny, like his novels.  The humor is to deal with the fear and hopelessness.  He states that he has given up on mankind, and in particular, America.  He strongly disliked the Bush administration, and he strongly believed that humans have destroyed the Earth.  In typical Vonnegut fashion, he doesn’t have any hope for us. To some degree it reads like a really depressed Al Gore- if Al Gore had a personality and was funny.  I like Vonnegut’s fiction.  I liked it even more in my twenties when I was just as negative as he is, but now I have a family and the unabandoned gloom with no solutions or alternatives is starting to seem a little immature and emo.  Don’t get me wrong.  He’s a great American writer.  Cat’s Cradle is still one of my all-time favorite books.  

Easy Sunday. My workout today: light 15 minute run, jumping jacks with light dumbbells, shadow boxing with light dumbbells, dumbbell flys on physioball, crunches diagonal on physioball, pushups on physioball, jumping jacks, shadowboxing. In the afternoon I had a fit & stretch class and a personal training session. Active, but from the intensity easy to medium.

Food today: for breakfast I had an omlette with paprika, for lunch ham, tomato and 2 egg whites, for p.m. snack 2 egg whites and paprika and for dinner I will have a protein shake. All together, since the morning,  i had about 1 liter of water and 1 liter of tea.

Have a nice day, Jens