by Rupe | Oct 2, 2010 | Not So Recent Reads
Title: Stein on Writing: A Master Editor Shares His Craft, Techniques, and Strategies by Sol Stein
Publisher’s Summary
Stein on Writing provides immediately useful advice for writers of fiction and nonfiction, whether newcomers or accomplished professionals. As Sol Stein, renowned editor, author, and instructor, explains, “This is not a book of theory. It is a book of usable solutions, how to fix writing that is flawed, how to improve writing that is good, how to create interesting writing in the first place.” With examples from his best sellers as well as aspiring students’ writing, Stein offers detailed sections on characterization, dialogue, pacing, flashbacks, liposuctioning flab, the “triage” method of revision, using the techniques of fiction to enliven nonfiction, and more.
My Comments:
by Rupe | Sep 22, 2010 | Mad Musings
Credit: https://frugaldad.com/2010/09/21/uses-for-vinegar/
Thanks to the acidity in vinegar, it has more uses than you might imagine. For years frugal folks have found numerous ways to save money using it. From health benefits to use as an environmentally-friendly cleaning product, vinegar is a versatile substance that every household should have on-hand.
Here’s a look at ten uses for vinegar that you’ve probably never thought of before.
1. Control Your Cholesterol
In May 2006, a study by Japanese researchers published in The British Journal of Nutrition showed that lab rats fed with acetic acid, which is the primary ingredient in vinegar, had much lower harmful cholesterol than the control group. Additionally, the rats eating the acetic acid also had lower blood pressure and other health benefits. Although the same study hasn’t been performed yet with humans, the results seem to indicate that regular intake of vinegar, whether in salad dressings or other means, is a great natural way to lower cholesterol and other risk factors in heart disease.
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by Rupe | Sep 2, 2010 | Not So Recent Reads
Title: Long for This World: The Strange Science of Immortality by Jonathan Weiner
Publisher’s Summary
From the Pulitzer Prize-winning science writer Jonathan Weiner comes a fast-paced and astonishing scientific adventure story: has the long-sought secret of eternal youth at last been found?
In recent years, the dream of eternal youth has started to look like more than just a dream. In the 20th century alone, life expectancy increased by more than 30 years—almost as much time as humans have gained in the whole span of human existence. Today a motley array of scientists, researchers, and entrepreneurs believe that another, bigger leap is at hand—that human immortality is not only possible, but attainable in our own time. Is there genius or folly in the dreams of these charismatic but eccentric thinkers?
In Long for This World, Jonathan Weiner, a natural storyteller and an intrepid reporter with a gift for making cutting-edge science understandable, takes the listener on a whirlwind intellectual quest to find out. From Berkeley to the Bronx, from Cambridge University to Dante’s tomb in Ravenna, Weiner meets the leading intellectuals in the field and delves into the mind-blowing science behind the latest research. He traces the centuries-old, fascinating history of the quest for longevity in art, science, and literature, from Gilgamesh to Shakespeare, Doctor Faustus to “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”.
He also tells the dramatic story of how aging could be conquered once and for all, focusing on the ideas of those who believe aging is a curable disease. Chief among them is the extraordinary Aubrey de Grey, a garrulous Englishman who bears more than a passing resemblance to Methuselah and who is perhaps immortality’s most radical and engaging true believer.
A rollicking scientific adventure story in the grand manner of Oliver Sacks, Long for This World is science writing of the highest order and with the highest stakes. Could we live forever? And if we could…would we want to?
My Comment:
by Rupe | Aug 2, 2010 | Not So Recent Reads
Title: Being Wrong: Adventures in the Margin of Error by Kathryn Schulz
Publisher’s Summary
To err is human. Yet most of us go through life assuming (and sometimes insisting) that we are right about nearly everything, from the origins of the universe to how to load the dishwasher. If being wrong is so natural, why are we all so bad at imagining that our beliefs could be mistaken, and why do we react to our errors with surprise, denial, defensiveness, and shame?
In Being Wrong, journalist Kathryn Schulz explores why we find it so gratifying to be right and so maddening to be mistaken, and how this attitude toward error corrodes relationships—whether between family members, colleagues, neighbors, or nations. Along the way, she takes us on a fascinating tour of human fallibility, from wrongful convictions to no-fault divorce; medical mistakes to misadventures at sea; failed prophecies to false emories; “I told you so!” to “Mistakes were made.”
Drawing on thinkers as varied as Augustine, Darwin, Freud, Gertrude Stein, Alan Greenspan, and Groucho Marx, she proposes a new way of looking at wrongness. In this view, error is both a given and a gift—one that can transform our worldviews, our relationships, and, most profoundly, ourselves.
In the end, Being Wrong is not just an account of human error but a tribute to human creativity—the way we generate and revise our beliefs about ourselves and the world. At a moment when economic, political, and religious dogmatism increasingly divide us, Schulz explores with uncommon humor and eloquence the seduction of certainty and the crises occasioned by error. A brilliant debut from a new voice in nonfiction, this book calls on us to ask one of life’s most challenging questions: what if I’m wrong?
My Comments:
by Rupe | Jul 21, 2010 | Mad Musings
We live in a world  and a state (Florida) where natural or man-made disasters can happen without any warning.
Our checklist covers 8 simple categories:
- Warmth & Shelter (depending on the time of year)
- Water & Hydration
- Food & Nutrition
- Sanitation & Hygiene
- First Aid & Medical
- Light & Communication
- Cooking & Fuel
- Tools & Supplies
Each category has several emergency items that you will need. Please feel free to share this list with your friends and family. We hope that this list will help keep your house and family prepared for whatever disaster may come:
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Title: Stein on Writing: A Master Editor Shares His Craft, Techniques, and Strategies by Sol Stein