Sunday, February 20, 2011

Ah, Arthur, How Right You Are!

"To buy books would be a good thing if we also could buy the time to read them."

My bookshelves overflow with books, many of which remain on my “to read” list.  And yet, last night I purchased three more at the soon-to-close Borders Books and Music store around the corner from my apartment.

Although the store looked like London after the blitz—complete with a darkened cafĂ© and half empty shelves and tables already scoured into disarray by frenzied shoppers—I took my time, savoring the feel of each volume in my hand, browsing its back cover and opening pages, weighing the book's merits against the many others still available for purchase.

In the end, I settled on these:
One Hundred Years of Solitude
Silas Marner: The Weaver of Raveloe
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
If only I could delve into them right now.  But first, the reading for school, and then back to my newest read, which was loaned to me by a friend.  Although I’ve read only a few of its pages, it’s already proven to be an engaging and well-written page turner, which is more than I can say for the school assignment!

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

The Latest from Vogue

Although I’m no texting maven, there are definitely times and places for this wonderful form of communication.  This afternoon, an exchange with a friend took my mind off where I was and helped fill nearly an hour’s wait in a doctor’s office. The conversation went something like this:
D:  How was the appointment?

Me:  Still waiting, but now in a little opens-in-the-front seersucker number.  Quite the fashion plate!

D:  HOT!!!!!

Me:  Look for me on the cover of next month’s Vogue!

D:  :-)
We picked it up again about 40 minutes later:
Me:  On the bus going home.  All’s well.  Don’t need to see the surgeon again.  :)  Naptime!!

D:  Wahoo!  Happy nappy!
Me:  =)
Wahoo, indeed!

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Daily Blessings


Earlier today I went to class, had a quick bite with one of my study buddies, and returned home with enough energy left to catch up on email and to poke around on Facebook for a while.  I even posted this status update:
Wow...energy seems to be coming back. What a good feeling!
More to the point, I believe today’s the day for this blessing:
Baruch ata Adonai, Eloheinu Melech ha’olam, shegmalani kol tov.
I praise You, Eternal God, Sovereign of the universe, who restores me to health and safety.
Next week:  back to work!

Friday, February 4, 2011

Up in Smoke?

www.cigarettesdigest.com
Is it my imagination or are young people—especially young women—lighting up more often these days?  My extremely random and very unscientific survey tells me that they are—on the street, in the nooks and crannies outside office buildings, under colorful bar and restaurant awnings and, I would surmise, inside their own homes and apartments.

Another, more reliable study conducted at Harvard and released recently links cigarettes to breast cancer.  Even those who dispute the study’s findings, including Delyth Morgan of Breakthrough Breast Cancer, a breast cancer charity in the United Kingdom, agree that “smoking is associated with lung cancer and other cancers, as well as heart disease, and we would strongly advise all women and men not to smoke," she says.

As I struggle with some tough decisions about how best to reduce my own significant lifetime risk of breast cancer—resulting from a genetic predisposition to the disease—I am particularly baffled by this trend.  So, ladies, please tell me, with all that we already know about the risks and dangers of smoking coupled with this latest study, whatever are you thinking?!?”