now posting regularly

Hey NPR! You gotta slow down on the interesting stories, guys! I don't have all day to stand there and listen, and I'm beginning to think that I need to keep my radio bookmark attached to my hip all day so that I can just keep clicking away to remember which pieces I want to really listen to later.

I'm kidding, of course NPR folks. You just keep on doing what you're doing, because it's clearly working for you. And me. Here's the bevy of sound bytes that caught my ear this week:

• Eat, Pray, Love has been on my reading list for a while now, but I didn't know much about it until the author, Elizabeth Gilbert, released her second memoir Committed. When she was the guest on the Diane Rehm Show recently, I got to listen to bits and pieces and I'm intrigued even more by her story.

• Myopia is a word that I learned very early in my life, with my fitting for my first pair of glasses in fourth grade. Suddenly the world was a brand new place, and truth be told, I probably needed those glasses long before my 9th birthday! On Morning Edition this week, the story "Medical Detectives Focus on Myopia" caught my attention. (And not just for their groan-inducing punned headline.) Perhaps my problem was less about my intense love for reading and more about my intense dislike of any outdoors activity.

• Keeping with the vision theme for a bit, the follow-up story to the previous one got clicked, too. While I've been cautiously interested in Lasik since I first found out that someone I knew had it done over ten years ago, it's never been a possibility for financial reasons. And after hearing this story, "For Some, Lasik Bring More Problems Than Solutions," my interest is waning. Oh, and be forewarned- if you click the link, there's a big old picture of an eye all prepped for the surgery- not gory, but just plain startling to see.

• Apparently it was a medically heavy week, because the next story I saved from Morning Edition had to do with migraines. I get some nasty headaches, but I don't believe they're of the migraine type. Hubby, on the other hand, has way too much experience with those, so I've seen the effects they can have. This story, "Bright Lights, Big Headache: A Study Explains" is simply fascinating. Blind people, who cannot detect light otherwise, report having more intense pain when they're having a migraine and are exposed to bright light. Holy cow. Brain research is incredible.

• I really feel need to preface this one by saying that I am not now, nor have I ever been, a fan of Motley Crue. I'm sure I would recognize a song or two of theirs if it scrolled by on one of those Hair Bands of the 80's CD collection commercials, but otherwise, they just weren't my scene. So, why then did this piece, "A Gritty Homage to Motley Crue in 'The Dirt'" on All Things Considered captivate me? Yeah, I don't know either.

• And how about this for an idea- coconut water? Huh? I'm strangely drawn in by the idea. And the hangover prevention factor is just an added bonus. Am I simply making no sense at all? Marketplace Morning Report brought this to my radio- "Coconut water yet to crack U.S. market." (Again, those punny headlines are making me giggle- you silly NPR folks!)

• Now, this last story wasn't aired this week, but hubby had heard it a few weeks back and told me about it, and this week he reminded me that I had wanted to look it up. Having given breastfeeding a valiant effort when JAM was a baby, and subsequently failing miserably, I had feared that it would just be out of my reach for the other children. Thankfully, there were many different factors in play when Red, and then Pudge, were born, and they both nursed happily until they were one. But, there was never a question for me about the desire to breastfeed, for so many reasons- financial and convenience at the top of the list. Although I had zero experience being around nursing mothers throughout my own childhood and adulthood, it just seemed like a naturally good idea once I found out I was pregnant. Coming from that perspective, this story from All Things Considered, "Teaching Black Women to Embrace Breast-Feeding" was interesting and thought-provoking.
  

Here's to the NPR people keeping the good stories coming!


Keeping my radio bookmark within an arm's reach,