When thinking of banned and contested books, it’s easy to conjure up images of the repression that existed in America during the 1950s. Sure, we’ve all heard of the book burning parties, and we all know that Diary of Anne Frank and Of Mice and Men
were banned back in the day.
But the repression hasn’t ended.
The assault on knowledge and ideas and discussion and diversity marches on. In 21st Century America book burning parties continue, as do attempts at banning books in libraries.
Here is a partial list of the banned and contested books from just this past year.
The irony of book banning is that it’s one of the best ways to get someone to read a book they otherwise might not consider. Read a banned book this week. Check with your local library for more information.
What is your favorite banned book?
I think mine has to be The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood. It’s more relevant today than it was when it was written.
Plants vs. Zombies
OK, I’ll admit I started reading Jorge Garcia’s blog because I’m a fan of LOST, and I just want to hug Hurley. But I love the blog too. It’s just a blogger.com blog. No fancy layout or assistant writing his posts for him. He writes about anything and everything, from having trouble getting his tomatoes to grow, to losing a shoe on a press junket and finding it later in a bag where he had stuffed everything in a quick-someone’s-coming-over-hide-the-mess move, to destroying my brain by introducing me to zombie games.
Made Me Think
Can You Save Money Renting Text Books?
I have not tried renting text books yet, but with the amount of money we spend on textbooks every quarter, it’s definitely worth looking into other options. It’s too late for this semester, but I’ll be investigating these sites further in anticipation of next semester.
The Healthy Americans Act
If the conservatives would discuss this bipartisan proposal I found on Republican Bob Bennett’s site, rather than sticking to their current tactics of trying to distort and prevent communication, we might have a real national conversation about health care. I wonder why conservatives are keeping this proposal under wraps.
Warm Fuzzy
Ode to Shel Silverstein
Thoughts on returning to school, with one of my favorite Silverstein poems.
Have you ever thought about making a living as a writer? That thought has been a constant companion of mine for the past 25 years. Yes, 25 years, and it was just about exactly one year ago that I actually started doing something about it.
Now with a little one on the way, I wondered if that dream would need to be postponed yet again. I really shouldn’t be so quick to sacrifice my dreams yet again to cater to the needs of everyone else around me. One of the things I most want to provide for my daughter is a good example. I want my daughter to grow up looking up to a mother who is loving and kind and attentive, yes, but also self-actualized, intellectually stimulated, self-sufficient, engaging, happy, and living up to her potential. I want to provide this example to my daughter because I wish these traits for her (in addition to the fact that I’m worth it, dammit).
Writer Mama, by Christina Katz, talks about how to get a writing career off the ground while you have small children in tow: start small while babies absorb so much of your attention and grow your business as your children gain greater degrees of independence and self-sufficiency.
Topics covered in the book include (among many others):
how to manage writing time around caring for children
how to deal with the “clips catch-22,” or how to get published if you’ve never been published
the business of writing: queries, article submissions, contracts, negotiations
managing your home and while managing your writing business
how to conduct interviews
editing and polishing your work
One of the hardest things to deal with for many who work from home, not just moms, is the fact that others tend to disrespect the time of the home worker. When people pack up their briefcase and head off to the office, that work time is respected and to some extent, even sacred. Those working from home seldom get the same respect unless they are very clear about setting their boundaries with others in advance.
Because of People Who Don’t Get It, if you are not good at setting boundaries with adults and children, you’re going to need to start practicing. I suggest you start sooner rather than later. If you wait until you have a deadline looming to try to convince family members that your work matters and that you deserve support in gettting it done, you will be sorry (and probably late with your work too).
I’m really appreciating this book. It is well organized so specific topical information is easy to find. I suspect I will be consulting it regularly over the coming months and years.
FTC Disclosure: affiliate links were used in this post.
The moment Barack Obama officially became the President of the United States, the Presidential website, WhiteHouse.gov, switched over to President Obama’s website. The new website is built on a much more stable and transparent architecture, and this switch heralds another of many significant changes in the American Presidency: we now have a President that comprehends and values the Age of Information in which we are currently living.
Whether you love him or fear him, I encourage all of you to spend some time exploring the new WhiteHouse.gov website in addition to subscribing to and reading his blog. To those who are still afraid of President Obama because, as they say, “I don’t know anything about him” (or you, or the people you allow to influence you are making assumptions about him), let me recommend a couple of books penned by the President himself: The Audacity of Hope and Dreams from My Father. You have the opportunity to get your information from the source, rather than the pundits. Please take advantage of that opportunity.
I am so excited about this new era of hope and information and transparency and integrity.
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, by Christina Katz, talks about how to get a writing career off the ground while you have small children in tow: start small while babies absorb so much of your attention and grow your business as your children gain greater degrees of independence and self-sufficiency.
