now posting regularly

Week two of hit or miss NPR station listening- yes, there are two "local" stations that are pretty close to each other on the dial here at my parents' houses, but depending on the weather, or the microwave usage, or the happiness of the Greek Gods, or something like that, the clarity of the station can go from mostly clear to nothing but static.  So, the listening habit has severely decreased, but the clicking on links from their Facebook feed has gone up dramatically.  Hence, this week's round-up:

• "Flowers (And Family Dysfunction) 'In The Attic'"-- Okay, I clearly remember reading this book, and then the ungodly number of "follow-up" novels by VC Andrews when I was in middle and high school.  Obviously, my parents had no idea what I was reading until the wee hours of the morning, because there's no way this would have been allowed.  Why oh why was I sucked in by these?  I'll bet if I was 14 right now, I'd have consumed all the Twilight books, too... Oh well, this All Things Considered piece took me down a little reader's memory lane.

• "Personal View Of History: 'Stonewall Did That For Me'"-- I know I've reiterated my love for the Story Corps feature of Morning Edition, and this latest piece is no exception.  Any involvement in civil rights history- for whatever group- consistently amazes me because of the strength and courage shown by individuals simply wanting equality.  Powerful stuff.

• "No Mouse Is Safe: Cat Gets World's First Bionic Paws"-- Here's another case of the headline screaming out that you click over.  It looks like its an AP story that NPR published on its website, and the picture is worth the click.  Unbelievable stuff.  

• "Bacteria May Grow In Reusable Grocery Bags, But Don't Fret"-- From NPR's health blog Shots, this story interested me because we use the reusable bags (mostly) and I haven't washed them more than once or twice.  Most of the stuff that we get is in cans or boxes, and the produce is usually in those thin plastic bags anyway (which I do recycle for dirty diapers, at least).  But, still something to think about.

• "Study: C-Section Babies Skip The Bacterial Slide"-- An All Things Considered piece that caught my eye.  Personal preferences for birth experiences aside, I'm pretty sure that it's an undeniable reality that the C-section rate is rising in our country, with a vast majority of them either medically unnecessary or the result of interventions that may play a significant role in increasing the possibility of a hospital's medical staff pushing for surgery.  I'm not sure how much of an effect a study like the one outlined in this story will have on this trend, but it should certainly play a role in the discussion.

• "'Mozart Effect' Was Just What We Wanted To Hear"-- So, so happy to see a story like this Morning Edition one.  I've become really disgusted over the amount of crap that's packaged and sold to parents with the idea that it will make their kids smarter-- from "Your baby can read at 8 months old!" to "Build your baby's intelligence while she's still in utero!" these claims are not only ridiculous, but they prey upon every parents' desire to do best by his child, and perpetuate an already horrible problem of putting kids in competition with each other- even before they're born!  So read on- and pop in the Mozart just for fun or exposure to classical music, NOT to raise your child's IQ a few points!

• "A Neuroscientist Uncovers A Dark Secret"-- Now, I put these in chronological order, but it ended up with saving the best for last.  This Morning Edition story is way intriguing.  If you click only one from this post, let it be this one.  Brain research astounds me, but doing research that involves your own actual relatives as well as yourself has got to be terrifying, especially when you discover something like this.  Did I convince you to click over??

Looking forward to hearing my favorite WAMU voices again next week,