A Little Bit of This and That

One of the pages for the kids' book::::


::::::::::Currently Reading:::::::



Apparently, I am "The Book Lady" at the park. I had a lady who was walking with a companion say she had just wondered out loud if she would see "The Book Lady" because they had changed the direction that they usually walk. I had a man stop and talk to me about his equal love of Patrick O'Brian books, last week. I think most folks are wondering how long it is before they find me sprawled on the ground, dazed, from running into a tree. I have to say that I'm a bit curious about that, as well.
I'm really enjoying the information that I'm learning about some forensic science methods being used in the book, The Death of Meriwether Lewis: A Historic Crime Scene Investigation. There are several experts brought together at an Inquest brought about by James E. Starrs. Mr. Starrs wants the body of Meriwether Lewis exhumed to see if Lewis committed suicide, or was murdered. Some of the fields represented at the inquest are firearms expert, military wound expert, two document examiners, forensic scientist and law professor, and an epidemiologist.
I am still reading through the question and answer portion of the testimonies. The epidemiologist, from reading through Lewis' journal, believes that Lewis and some of the Corps of Discovery men got syphilis from the Shoshone Tribe and became symptomatic several days later. He believes he had the neurosyphilitic kind that may have led to suicide, but I'm not finished reading his determination. If you like history and forensics this book is really cool.

Here is a very current article about where the exhumation stands:
::::::::::::::::Book Reviews:::::::::



If you are looking for some crazy satire, mixed with history then this book is up your alley. There is quite a hugemongous caveat: there are a litany of foul words and a page of nude old people (satirically purported to be the members of the Supreme Court). Professor Stanley K. Shchultz uses his red pen deftly in marking up many of the errors in quotes and historical dates. I like what he said about the book, "This book has many fine qualities, but its cavalier disregard for accuracy of quotations, its insufficient scholarly documentation, its often quixotic use of illustations, and its frequent usage of inappropriate language and word choices all detract form its virtues." p 225
What appealed to me about the book was the use of satire to make you think about the role of people from the founders to modern day politicians. They expose in their satire the cavalier way politians take their responsibility to our country. Lobbyists drive me to distraction. The amount of time politicians spend campaigning is another big annoyance.
The book has sections on "Discussion Questions" and "Classroom Activities". One of my favorite classroom activities is found on page 129, "Make the Electoral College come alive! Divide your entire school into 50 groups of varying sizes. Then assign a point value to each group roughly based on its size. hae each individual student then vote on an issue- say, "chocolate or vanilla." Tally the votes but tell them the side wth the most votes isn't necessarily the winner. Instead, caculate the winner within each of the 50 groups, then give the previously assigned point value to the respective flavor, Add up the point values and see who has more. Isn't this a better way to figure out a winner?"

Another favorite quote is, "The 1990s brought the advent of a dynamic new medium for news, the Internet, a magnificent new technology combining the credibility of anonymous hearsay with the excitement of typing." p. 151

The spotlight was shone on politicians and media alike. No one was safe. I appreciate the different perspective that these types of books bring to any subject. It makes people not take themselves to seriously and those that don't take their positions seriously enough quite a lot to consider. This book has quite a Monty Pythonesque quality.





Another fantastic trip aboard and abroad with Patrick O'Brian. If you love sailing books of all sorts, as I do, you will love this yarn. The Irish humor having to do with the different counties and old grudges is quite a hoot, too.

::::::::Housekeeping, Scrapbook Style:::::::::

I have been scanning each of the kid's baby albums. I have them uploaded to artscow.com and hope to find a coupon code to have them made into 8x8 books for the kids. Aaron's has 140 pages, Rachel's has 93 pages, Noah's has 62, and Eve's has 43. I had the most fun looking at the Halloween costumes Michael sewed for the kids. Rachel had fun flipping through everyone's books, multiple time, and sharing what she liked. Noah had me sit down and read his out loud. He really liked that I put actual quotes on some of the pages.

:::::::::Hankerin'

I'm hankerin' for some Chinese food.

Smiles! I hope y'all have a fabulously safe and fun weekend.