Happy Holidays from Random Kath!

{POOF!}

This picture is going to go poof in a while, but I just wanted to pop in while I have a moment and wish everyone a very wonderful holiday season. My classes are over for the semester - both for being a student and for being a teacher - and I am off of work until the Monday after New Year's. Yay!

Thanks so much for being patient and following along with me during this very rocky year. I'm hoping that the next year is full of more adventures and more interesting blog posts!

Waving and sending love to you all in this season of joy and peace,
your Random Kath

I Picked the Wrong Week to Stop Sniffing Glue . . .*

. . . However, I did pick the right time to study Economics!

These are scary times for the U.S. economy. There are a lot of things that have not been going right for, oh, about 10-12 years, and a lot of fundamental economic/business truths were tossed out of the window in the service of people getting really greedy. You would have thought that people would have learned lessons from 1987 and 2000-2001, but NOOOOO. People are stupid. Or rather, a number of people made a lot of money being stupid, so being stupid was the OK default for a very long time.

Now our very flawed system is starting to crash down and a lot of people are going to be hurt by it –even little old you and me at some point. It is a fascinating thing to watch as a student. There is so much information to process, so many things happening in such a short amount of time, such that trying to get one’s head around everything is impossible. There are many lessons to be learned from what’s occurred in the past year and from what will occur over the next six months or so. What happened this weekend is not bottom yet . . . so hold on tight . . .

“Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.” -- Winston Churchill

* Yes, I know . . . gratuitous Airplane! reference.

On Random Losses . . . and a Special Flower

Life comes and goes in an instant.

There is the life that exists before . . . and the life that exists after.

One moment, someone or something you know and care about is here on the earth. You probably take the presence for granted, that the presence will always be around, so you may not pay the presence much attention sometimes. But the presence is always there in the background, and you are comforted in the knowledge that it is there and all is right with the world.

Then something happens and the presence is not there anymore – taken away when we aren’t at all prepared for it.

Or maybe we are kind of prepared for it – we can see the signs – but we choose to ignore it and the shock of the event *actually happening* throws us for a loop. Our lives had been touched and they will be touched no more.

These are not original words or original thoughts, and they are not even that well written, but they are true.

Yesterday, Mr. Random actually called me from work as soon as he found out that Tim Russert died. Mr. Random works at a Random Publication which has sort of a tangential association with that world, and his publication has a lot of guys who fit Mr. Russert’s profile – middle-aged, kind of heavy journalist – so it struck really close to home. DC is a small place, and circles overlap, so it really was a bit of a blow.

But yesterday something else happened. For the past two weeks, my friend J had been dog-sitting a large poodle named Daisy, who was 14 years old. I had met Daisy a couple of times before and she was the sweetest dog, very well behaved and, since she was so old, had a bit of trouble with standing up and going up and down stairs. Yesterday, Daisy wasn’t eating at all and wasn’t herself. The owners were supposed to come back earlier in the day, but their flights got screwed up and only one of the owners came back early enough to help J take Daisy to the vet. It turns out that Daisy had to be put to sleep last night. J was there and very upset about it and called me after it happened, since I was one of the few people who actually met Daisy, and I was very upset too . . .

So I decided to write this post. Because while Daisy wasn’t as big and famous as some other people who died yesterday, her life had meaning to those of us who knew her, even briefly.

It may seem cheesy, and I didn’t write this very well, but this post is in honor of Daisy.

Well done, sweetie! You were a good girl! Sleep well, my dear.

Being Cultured on a Budget

Folks always ask how I see so many plays and movies as often as I do. That’s a pretty fair question, since the prevailing wisdom is that these things are uber-expensive and take up a lot of time. Well, here’s how I manage to swing it:

I have no children, just a cat. Therefore, it’s just me and Mr. Random, and often Mr. Random has to go to class on Saturdays. Since I hate staying around the house, it is a perfect time to see movies and go to museums.

Culture is cheaper than you think. When I go to the movies it is usually at 10:30-11 in the morning. Tickets are at matinee prices and the theaters are somewhat empty, so you aren’t smooshed next to random people. Then you also get the movie out of the way and can go on to other adventures for the rest of the day.

Theater tickets can be pricy, but if you go on off days (like Tuesdays and Wednesdays) or during preview weeks, the tickets are much cheaper than on Friday or Saturday night. Also, most small theater companies are have pretty cheap tickets as a rule, since they just want to get people to come and see their productions. The most expensive theaters I’ve been to are the Kennedy Center and the Shakespeare Theater Company here in DC, but we don’t go to those very often and only for really big plays. There is also an outlet here that sells half-price tickets for some shows, and that can be a god-send. Besides, we only usually hit one or two plays a month, which seems like a lot when you don’t go to many plays normally, but when you see the whole universe of plays available out there it is only a drop in the bucket. I wish I could go see more! And that doesn’t even count all of the music I wish I could go see . . .

It’s a priority for me. I LOVE being out and seeing things. This Shakespeare project that J and I are doing has opened up a whole world to me that I hadn’t experienced before. I’m starting to be able to evaluate productions and acting. I think I can knowledgeably discuss plays now. The English major in me is just thrilled to be in semi-literary settings on a regular basis. I guess this may make me a snob, but it is FUN to me . . .

I bring my lunch to work at lot and cook more food at home. Doing that has really cut down on that sort of spending for me, which means more money can go towards entertainment. I don’t watch a lot of TV, I don’t travel anywhere, so this is how I find my joy.

Hope this answers any questions and concerns. Besides, what other exciting things would I have to write about otherwise? Even *I* get tired of me whining about work too . . .

Frailty, Thy Name is Woman

My grandmother has moved to a new independent senior living complex. The good news is that she is no longer in the outer boonies –she is now in the “inner” boonies. It’s still a schlep, but the drive is a half-hour shorter for me and Mr. Random.

This place has better security, it has more activities for the residents and the apartment my grandmother is much larger, more spacious and more light-filled than her old one. In fact, I would argue that it is too large because her furniture now seems tiny and sparse in the big open space of her combo living room/dining area/kitchen and the expanse also gives the illusion that she is smaller and frailer than she truly is.

And seeing that makes me sad. Each time I see her, it’s like she moves a little slower and she’s shrunken a little more. She now walks slowly and gingerly with a cane – this being a woman who used to walk for miles back and forth across Philadelphia dragging her two little granddaughters behind her. I remember her standing strong (not tall, she’s always been kind of short) and being fearless, and now . . . while she still has a lot of spunk in her and her mind is still very sharp, something about her is a bit more tentative and she has to depend on more people to help her do many things that she used to just charge ahead and do herself.

Seeing my grandmother, helping her out when I can, brings me face-to-face with what it means to age and what it means to watch someone you love slowly decline. I am very lucky – my grandmother will turn 90 this year and I will have spent most of my life with her living within a 50 mile radius of me. She has always been in my life, one way or another, and I can’t imagine her not being here - being cranky and crotchety and hating people, while having a heart of gold.

At least I know that we have a good relationship. That I am still close to her. That I am one of the few family members that she relies on and talks to on a regular basis. It means a lot to me and I think it means a lot to her. My only regret is that I don’t have any children of my own yet for her to put her blessing.

When my grandpa died 21 years ago, it hurt. A lot. And it still hurts in some ways, but I’ve moved on and try to do the best I can to honor his memory. But my grandma? Oy! The dread I have! There are some situations where you won’t know how you’ll react until it happens but this is something . . . I don’t want to know right now. Yes, I am trying to be rational and I know that she has lived a full, exciting life and she is tired and has ailments and has already told us that when she goes she doesn’t want any fuss but to just put her “in a Hefty bag by the curb.” (No, seriously! She’s said that several times. She has a wicked sense of humor . . .) I know a lot of things intellectually. I get it. But still . . .

So a cloud hovers heavily on my brain, even though it shouldn’t. Every time I see her I hug her tight and tell her I’m so glad I could be there. What more could we do in this life that would be more important than taking the time to appreciate the moments we have remaining and making the most of those?

My Theory of Primaries

OK, Mommanator just commented that she wished that all of the primaries would be held on one day, so all of the states have a say in who they want as the main candidates. It is a commendable goal, and I understand the sentiment, but I can see why that may not be the best idea for several reasons.

Let me again preface this by saying that I used be really involved in politics and am speaking purely from my own experience and observations, so my views may be different from someone else who worked on a campaign. I think everyone should work on a campaign once or twice in their lives, to (a) get the experience and (b) be able to tell the BS from the truth in how things are reported. If you know anything about how campaigns are run, half the stuff you read in the newspaper about presidential electoral politics is overblown crap. Things that don’t mean anything or are normal kinds of campaign blips and errors get blown up way out of proportion to their importance. Just my $.02 . . .

Money: If you think that there is a ton of money being spent on campaigns already, just imagine how much would have to be spent by EACH primary candidate to campaign in each state SIMULTANEOUSLY. Some candidates count on good showings in early races to be able to generate enough support to be able to run in other states. That’s why Biden and Dodd dropped out - these early losses, coupled with a projection that they might not do so well in the next few races – they were not going to be able to generate enough support and funding for their campaigns to continue. Television, radio and newspaper ads cost money. Disseminating information (brochures, posters, bumper stickers, etc.) costs money. Travel costs money. Having enough staff to cover the country, costs money, even taking into account large numbers of volunteers – you still need someone to give them marching orders and be able to control what’s going on. Which leads to . . .

Staffing: During the general election, you notice that candidates don’t campaign in all of the states, they only campaign in key, battleground states. Why? Because there is only so much of one candidate to go around and a campaign wants to expend its resources most efficiently. The state parties can help, but a lot of times having the candidate there can make or break a state’s turnout. For example, in past years many Democratic candidates did not bother too much with Virginia because we were pretty much a pretty reliable red state, so it would have been silly to waste too many national election resources here. However, with the recent change in demographics here (growth in urban/suburban areas) making us a bit more purple, I think that the Democratic nominee would spend a lot more time here meeting and greeting and cultivating supporters. Now, think what would happen if all of the primary candidates had to cover all of the states at the same time. There will still be Wyoming situations where places get ignored for whatever reason . . .

Also, to effectively cover states, there has to be experienced, capable campaign staff stationed on the ground there. In a 50 state scenario, that staff would be spread pretty thin, whereas in the rolling primary scenario staff moves from state to state as a primary election is completed. You may not think it is a big deal, but you also have to think in terms of control – campaigns try to have as much control over information going in and out about a candidate as they can. You also notice that in general elections there lots of special interest groups sponsoring ads, hosting events, putting out negative information and otherwise running amok without the coordination or consent of the candidates or their campaigns. Just think if this was happening for 8 or 9 or 10 candidates, instead of just two! Oy!

Learning the ropes: Early primaries also serve as sort of “training wheels” for candidates. These allow the candidates to get their organizations up and running, get the volunteers and staff trained, and get the big mistakes out of the way early. It allows everyone to learn how to run an efficient and a responsive campaign, to learn how to interact with the public, and to learn which messages work and don’t work. Throwing all the candidates into a 50 state situation right off the bat would just be ugly and confusing.

OK, now that I’ve pooh-poohed the “one day – all states” primary idea, what would I be happy with?

I think that we should still have a few “warm up primaries,” with a mix of a few large and small states, and then maybe 4 regional “Super Tuesday” primaries, each held one week after another. This would allow campaigns time to ramp up and get their feet on the ground, allow candidates to cover a certain region prior to a primary, and allow most people to have their say. It may still suck to be one of the last primaries, but part of the race does have to do with viability, and if you can’t get people to vote for you when you’ve been practically living with them for months, staying in the race for an extended period of time is only going to hurt – both personally and financially.

That’s enough of my political ranting for today! See, that’s why I try not to discuss this stuff too much on this blog, since I get so overly passionate about it . . .

Please feel free to share your own ideas in the comments!

A Note to a Newborn Girl

A friend of mine is about to give birth to her first child. Her and her husband asked all of their friends to write little letters to the soon-to-be-arriving little girl on how to be a confident, well-rounded, young woman. These letters will be assembled into a scrapbook, which will be held until the girl is a bit older.

I was having a bit of trouble with the assignment, since I'm not exactly a poster-child for well-adjusted-ness, but I thought I would share what I wrote . . .

If anyone has any other advice to add, please feel free to do so in the comments!

****

Dear [Baby Girl]

First, I want to say that you are very lucky to have two of the most awesome parents in the world! They love you very, very much. You may not realize how much now, but you will when you get much older. There may be a lot of bad things going on in the world at the moment, but there are also a lot of amazingly wonderful things going on too, and your parents will help lead you on that journey.

Your parents asked many of us to write a little note to you before you were born on how to be a confident, well-rounded, young woman. At first, I did not know what to write because it took me a REALLY long time to figure that out myself . . . and in many ways I am still learning how, even after 37 years on this earth.

So my words may be a bit of a cliché, and have probably been written by many other people, but I learned them the hard way and sometimes the oldest words are the truest . . .

Be open.

Always be open to learning. Read EVERYTHING you can get your hands on. Travel. Learn about other cultures and religions. Be a sponge. Find out how things work. Know how to fix things by yourself (or know where to take them to be fixed.) Talk to cool people. Ask lots of questions. More information is always better than less. The world becomes a wonderful and interesting and fascinating place when you do that, you will very rarely be bored, and you will always have fascinating stories to tell.

Be yourself.

You are a unique individual. You will grow up to like certain things that other people may not. You will not like other things that other people do. That’s OK. Don’t do something just to fit in if you don’t like it, even though it may seem easier at the time, because it will make you miserable. People will love you for just who you are, and if they don’t . . . that’s OK too. It is always better to have one or two REAL and TRUE friends, than have lots of people that you call friends who don’t care as much about the real you.

Be a friend.

Like people for who they are, not who you want them to be. Care about other people and their situations. Be generous with your smiles and your kindness – you never know when someone who is having a horrible day may take comfort in your small little act. Sometimes people are happy and want other people to share in their joy. Be happy with them. Sometimes people are scared and lonely and need someone to listen to them. Be a friendly ear (. . . but within reason. Your Mom and Dad can talk to you about that . . .) Know how to refer people to get more help when they need it. Be the kind of friend that you would want people to be for you, but also don’t expect people to always be a good friend back. Unfortunately, that happens sometimes, but most of the time people will surprise you with their generosity.

Be one with your common sense and intuition . . . Don’t take crap from anyone!

Sometimes a voice inside of you will tell you that something doesn’t seem right, that you should be wary of a situation. Listen to that voice. Don’t let anyone try to talk you out of it. You should always be able to walk away and take time to think about things if you are uncomfortable. Seriously! No one should pressure you into ANYTHING on the spot. Good intentioned people will always understand and let you have that space to decide on your own. Not very nice people often will try to rush you to do what they want. If you are uncertain, ask your parents or a trusted adult to help you decide. Even if they don’t have the answers, they can help you talk through things and think about things a bit better. Then, once you’ve thought about things and made a decision, people should respect that decision. They may not like it, but they should respect it.

That is my advice to you, my dear. It may not be the best advice, but it is what I have for now.

It is given with much love and affection from my heart and soul. Welcome to the world, young woman!

Sincerely,
Random Kath

Wading in Knee Deep

I am surrounded by piles again.

It happens every so often – I look up and there are piles of papers and magazines and books, all waiting to be sorted and/or read.

Over the weekend, one of the shelves of one of our bookcases collapsed rather suddenly, breaking glass in the pictures frames that sat on one of the shelves and bringing several other shelves down with it. Many books thudding to the floor.

At first Mr. Random thought “Earthquake!” when he heard the noise, being from Southern California and all, but then thought better of it. My first concern was for Random Cat – luckily, she was sitting in another room at the time – and then my concern was for the pictures.

The pictures that sat on the bookcase shelf are family photographs, the kind that are collected over the years and can never be replaced. Pictures of Mr. Random and his family, when his father and both sets of grandparents were still alive. Pictures of his grandmother and grandfather on their wedding day. Pictures of family moments sprinkled from a span of about 30 years. Whew! The frames were broken, but the pictures were intact. Hooray! Hooray!

But after the collapse we looked at the bookcase, and then looked at its partner a few feet away and decided to would be best to take all of the books out of them and eventually get new ones . . . and not cheap Ikea ones either! We just bought those a few years ago, when we bought the condo – you would think they would be able to handle lots of, um, books. So we’ve learned our lesson, no more cheap bookcases. And now we have about roughly 200 or so paperbacks and hardcover books sitting in piles in our living room. Lots of history and politics and law and philosophy. Many, many hours of reading and studying and learning sitting on the floor. I try to quickly walk past those piles – if I pick up a book, I will start to read it again and many hours will pass. Too much to do, but they call out “read me!” I have to persevere . . . I hope one day to be able to have the luxury to sit with them again . . .

So lots of piles. Piles that mock me. Piles that make me proud. There’s something about a house full of books . . . It just feels like home. You can pull one down from the shelf and curl up in a chair and be comfortable. Of course, our chairs and couches aren’t that comfortable which is why I don’t do it much any more. But if they were, say, nice comfy couches and chairs – if we win the lottery some day – my joy would be complete.

I have walked into homes that didn’t have any bookcases around and I immediately feel cold. Like, well, what do you all DO? What do you all read? What do you talk about? You can tell a lot about people by the reading material they have around. Yes, I’m judgmental that way. I guess you can call me a snob.

But when I was little, my parents didn’t have much, but they always had books around. Lots of worn paperbacks. My mom loved to read and always had a book in her hand. My dad always read the paper. Reading was a big thing. Reading is what you did at home. It was a safe thing. A comfort thing. Your day could have sucked royally, but you could come home and lose yourself in a book. A blanket and a book.

So piles of books I have. Piles of magazines and newspapers and stuff printed out to read. In fact, right now I have next to me a copy of the new NEA report on reading, To Read or Not to Read, that I am about to dig into. I have to read it myself to get a sense of what it is saying, whether I really am part of a vanishing breed or not. Right away, the coolest thing about it is this quote from Virginia Woolf at the end. It speaks to me for some reason:

I have sometimes dreamt, at least, that when the Day of Judgment dawns and the great conquerors and lawyers and statesmen come to receive their rewards – their crowns, their laurels, their names carved indelibly upon imperishable marble – the Almighty will turn to Peter and will say, not without a certain envy when he sees us coming with our books under our arms, “Look, these need no reward. We have nothing to give them here. They have loved reading.”

Virginia Woolf, “How Should One Read a Book?”

Chomping at the Bit

I’ve had a lot of caffeine today, so I’m pretty hyper. I’ve been trying to wean myself from caffeine entirely, but over the last couple of months I’ve been so stressed out and tired that it’s been “Bring on the Diet Cokes and Diet Dr. Peppers!”

Thanks everyone for the kind words for my announcement – I has helped a bit to put words to paper of what I want to do. And as I told Mommanator in the comments, whenever I AM finally pregnant, I will clearly mark the post as such!

The whole “having a baby” thought was one of the topics holding up my decision. I’m not getting any younger – I’ll be 37 in two months – and if I’m going to do either, I felt like I really couldn’t wait any longer. So if I do get pregnant while I’m in school – and it is a serious possibility – Mr. Random and I decided that we will cross that bridge when we come to it.

Given how important Mr. Random and I think that education is, it behooves me to practice what I preach. I know that whatever child we have will always be surrounded by people who love reading and learning and being involved in the world, and I would hope that that rubs off on them in some way. I know it certainly did with my parents . . .

Both my parents went to college in the evenings while I was a little girl. I remember spending lots of evenings at my grandma’s house while both of them attended class. I remember always seeing big textbooks lying around and I would try to read them (and sometimes draw in them . . . oops!) I remember a few times, if my Grandma couldn’t watch me, my mom would bring me to class with her and have me sitting in a seat next to her, coloring and reading while the professor lectured. I made sure to stay very quiet and stay in my seat (in which my little legs were usually much too short to reach the floor!)

I remember when each of my parents graduated and seeing them wearing black robes and “flat hats.” They worked incredibly hard to get where they are and as I get older I appreciate even more the sacrifices they made to finish their educations. I guess it is partially for them that I try to finish – for them and for my future children.

Most of all, however, I have to finish for ME . . . so I know that I can . . . That’s the part that finally got my fanny in gear after all of these years . . .

Now that thought has to sustain me through the next several years. Do I have the true will to do so? I really hope I do . . .

Another Brick in the Wall

Every so often, when I’m reading the blogs of people who have children, at some point someone always brings up the fact that it would be great if schools should be in session all year round - so working parents don’t have to arrange for extra activities and child care for their children.

Every time I read that, I always think, “Were you EVER a kid? Did you forget what it’s like? Did YOU want to be in school all year long?” I mean, I barely want to work all year long, but that’s only because I have to . . . that’s the only way they’ll pay me . . .

I know that I am not a mother yet and that I may change my tune once I have little darlings of my own. But I’ve always looked at the summer as a time to not be so scheduled, a time to do lots of exploration on your own, to read whatever you want, when you want, without having to fit it in with homework and other scheduled activities. Summer is a time when you discover the joy of learning outside the classroom – where you discover that you don’t have to be guided by teachers and you can dig deep into the things in which you are most interested. Summer is a time when you learn how to be bored and learn how to use your imagination to entertain yourself.

When I was little during the summer, my mom would take me to the library once every week or so and I would just load up on all sorts of books and spend the rest of the week just plowing through each one. The summers that my mom was working, my sister and I would spend time at the babysitter’s and occasionally we’d go to the park or the waterslides. We watched a lot of TV too, as us children of the 70’s and 80’s often did, but it wasn’t that big of a deal. It was awesome to not have to worry about things being due, to stay up late, to be so unstructured! My parents didn’t have a lot of money for enrichment activities as some people do now, but I wouldn’t have traded my periods of laziness and boredom for anything.

I still think of the summertime as sacred, a time when I put a hold on volunteering and doing the eight million “should dos” that I set up for myself over the course of the year, and just do whatever strikes my fancy. I read more, I cook more, I go to a few more fun things (thus my rampant play-going) – it’s just a nice break from the usual grind in the middle of the year. Why shouldn’t we keep that alive? Why does everyone have to be on the treadmill all of the time? Why do we want our children to get used to structure and regimentation so young? There's plenty of time in your life to learn that! That’s the best thing about being a kid – your time is your own! You have the space to be bored and to think and to be creative.

Because if you have that experience of freedom under your belt, you tend to want to keep making that time for yourself . . . and you find ways to do so. Some people even get creative enough to be able to do it all year long and still earn a living that isn’t soul sucking. That’s certainly MY goal . . .

But, to get back to my original rant, I hate the idea of having school year round. I know it makes it easier for the parents, but what will it mean for the future generations of kids? We are starting to see some of the consequences of that now – kids with impressive resumes but who can barely make a move without their parents’ guidance. I want my kids to learn that you don’t have to be in school to learn – that life is your schoolroom and there is always more to see and read and do and imagine on your own.

I just feel like sometimes that message isn’t out there anymore and it’s being smothered by the need to read by the time you’re five and to know what you want to do by the time you are finished high school, so you can go to college and get a decent paying job by the time you’re 21 or 22. That life is just this straight line from pre-school to elementary school to middle school to college to the work world and then spend fifty years working until you are either lucky enough to retire for a few years or until you then get sick and die. I want there to be another message out there that there’s another way. That you may not become rich, but that life can be fun and interesting and rewarding and full of constant learning and growing . . .

At this point, I don’t know what I’m saying . . . it’s all still jumbled up in my brain. You know those rants where people build up a head of steam and then forget where they are going? Yeah, that’s what’s going on here . . .

Do you know what I’m getting at, though? I do hope so . . .

Forty Years Ago Today . . .

Today, I want to honor the anniversary of the Supreme Court decision that 31 years later allowed Mr. Random and me to be married in the State of Virginia:

LOVING ET UX. v. VIRGINIA

SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES

388 U.S. 1

June 12, 1967, Decided

MR. CHIEF JUSTICE WARREN delivered the opinion of the Court.

. . .

Marriage is one of the "basic civil rights of man," fundamental to our very existence and survival. To deny this fundamental freedom on so unsupportable a basis as the racial classifications embodied in these statutes, classifications so directly subversive of the principle of equality at the heart of the Fourteenth Amendment, is surely to deprive all the State's citizens of liberty without due process of law. The Fourteenth Amendment requires that the freedom of choice to marry not be restricted by invidious racial discriminations. Under our Constitution, the freedom to marry, or not marry, a person of another race resides with the individual and cannot be infringed by the State.

. . .

Read the full decision here

It is so hard to find someone to love in this world . . . May the next few years bring the end of ALL discrimination in marriage, and may our LGBT brothers and sisters be able to exercise one of the basic civil rights of man, according to the requirements of the Fourteenth Amendment.

Here is a picture of me and Mr. Random (having some serious bad-hair days.) We don’t have a better picture yet – so it’ll only be up for a day or so . . .

[Addendum: Today on NPR there was a segment about this: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=10889047]

Attention: Book Lovers!

Hello, everyone:

I just read Scott McLemee's article in Inside Higher Ed about the National Book Critic Circle's campaign to save the Book Review sections in newspapers around the country.

As someone who reads both the Washington Post's and New York Times' sections religiously every week and always finds at least a book or two to add to my growing list of "must reads," I know that I would be rather lost without them. I cannot imagine a paper getting rid of them, but many are . . .

I know many of you are huge readers (and some of you are actually writing books too!) - So please do what you can to spread the word and keep this community asset in your papers.

Some simple things that us little folks can do are:

**Go to the Critical Mass blog and get the lovely beige sticker to put on your blog.

**Write to your local newspaper’s publisher to express support for its book coverage. (It lets the paper know that people do read it and care about it.) And if your paper doesn’t have such a section, ask why not.

**Spread the word to other folks who would also care.

Thanks so much for your time and attention. We will soon go back to my usual random mutterings . . .

Yom HaShoah

For the dead AND the living, we must bear witness.

--Elie Wiesel

I was going to write a blog post about my experiences at the United States Holocaust Museum, but I simply could not do my thoughts and emotions justice. I am humbled by the enormity of it all. I am rendered speechless and angry and upset.

Today is International Holocaust Memorial Day, described by Wikipedia as:

In a unanimous vote, the United Nations General Assembly voted on November 1, 2005, to designate January 27 as the "International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust." January 27, 1945 is the day that the former Nazi concentration and extermination camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau was liberated. Even before the UN vote, January 27 was already observed as Holocaust Memorial Day in the United Kingdom since 2001, as well as other countries, including Sweden, Italy, Germany, Finland, Denmark and Estonia. Israel observes Yom HaShoah vea hagvora, the "Day of Remembrance of the Holocaust and the courage of the Jewish people ," on the 27th day of the Hebrew month of Nisan, which generally falls in April. This memorial day is also commonly observed by Jews outside of Israel.

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holocaust]

From the Museum Website:

The United Nations General Assembly designated January 27 as an annual, international day of remembrance, by official resolution on November 1, 2005. The resolution urges every member nation to honor the memory of Holocaust victims and encourages the development of educational programs about Holocaust history as part of the resolve to help prevent future acts of genocide.

The UN resolution rejects denial of the Holocaust, and condemns discrimination and violence based on religion or ethnicity.

[http://www.ushmm.org/museum/exhibit/focus/ihrd/]

If you can today, please take a moment to remember those who perished and those who survived. Let us promise to speak up and speak out against injustice, violence and discrimination in all forms, against anyone.

First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out –

Because I was not a socialist.

Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out –

Because I was not a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out –

Because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me – and there was no one left to speak for me.

-- Attributed to Martin Niemöller (1892-1984), anti-Nazi German pastor