Back in the Old Country this week. I found one of my old college books on my parents' shelf. It had this to say ( Read more... )

I read Riding Lessons last night. It's the first novel by Sara Gruen, the woman who wrote Water for Elephants. It's not nearly as good as Water for Elephants, not even in the same league. But still, I read the whole thing in one night, and couldn't make myself turn the light off until it was over ( Read more... )

Water for Elephants is the best novel I've read in a long, long time. I am officially recommending it to everyone.

It's like being on a roundabout, spinning too fast. If I look inward, at my feet, or at my hands clutching the red-painted bar, I can see clearly, if narrowly, where I am in spite of a sick feeling in my stomach and a fear of looking up. But when I pluck up the courage to look up, the world is a terrifying, unhinged blur and I cannot deterine ( Read more... )

An interesting insight into some of the more frustrating characteristics of old humans.

Psychologist Dwight Tapp, now at the University of California at Irvine, tested dogs on a different task. He first taught them the difference between big and small objects. For instance, a dog might always be rewarded when he selected the larger of two ( Read more... )

Himalayan Dhaba
By Craig Joseph Danner
Rating: Five worms

So it didn't take me long to tire of my book report kick. I seldom had much to say and there was always a better use of time. But my afternoon was almost entirely consumed by the first five-worm book I've read in ages. I took a brief break to commit an act of heroism, but all else was ( Read more... )

"Sometimes, I ask my thousand-person audiences, 'Is there anyone here who had a difficult childhood, who has had a bad relationship, a bad boss, or a friend or business associate who betrayed or cheated them, or who has otherwise been badly treated in life ( Read more... )