And So It Begins...

The holiday season has officially started. I got my first Christmas card today. Dang Roger and Todd for being overachievers!

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Book Review - Nice Girls Don't Bite Their Neighbors

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Nice Girls Don't Bite Their Neighbors by Molly Harper My rating: 4 of 5 stars Nice ending to Jane's story (though I suspect she will be in a supporting role in future books). Jane and Gabriel are finally going to get hitched now that the government is allowing vampires to marry. Of course, all does not go well. With a vindictive spirit haunting her house, a potential killer stalking Gabriel and trying to keep her Mom from taking over the wedding, one would think Jane has enough going on. Nope. Add in her reluctant but requested turning of a young vampire childe and the mix gets overwhelming. I love these characters and I hope Harper includes them in her next books which look to center around a newly introduced character in this one. View all my reviews
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Frank Abagnale - The Art of the Steal

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I had the great fortune to hear Frank Abagnale speak last week. Yeah, that's the guy who inspired the Spielberg movie, Catch Me If You Can . Abagnale started the presentation with his personal story. Sobering and full of pathos; I don't remember it being as dark in the movie. While his cleverness at the art of the con at age 16 was entertaining and often humorous, his personal despair at the breakup of his family and remorse over his criminal actions were the overwhelming emotions I walked away with. He feels guilt to this day and has turned down three Presidential pardons. It was also a powerful story of the preservation of the two parent family and the importance of teaching children lessons in morality. He presented many studies showing the shift regarding the latter. Short story, kids today don't consider things "wrong" as previous generations have. For example, cheating in school is considered no big deal by a growing percentage of youth over time. Sa...
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It's Poison, I Tell You

I’m avoiding high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) like it’s the fictional devil. Let me tell you, it ain’t easy. What got me started on this crusade? Michael Pollan. I read The Omnivore’s Dilemma and In Defense of Food and he showed how the increase in HFCS in the American diet can be tied to the increase in obesity in Americans. If you want to study the documentation, check out the multiple references in his books. It wasn’t just Pollan, though. At the time I was reading Omnivore’s Dilemma, I came across a study where rats who were given HFCS gained more weight than the rats given regular corn syrup. That study has been refuted and defended with great ferocity. There’s a lot of money involved thanks to the subsidies provided to corn growers by the US government so it’s hard to weed through PR propaganda and true scientific results. I also read about a study that says it can cause scarring in the liver. I’m already doing enough damage to my liver as it is. Again, I’m sure there’s ...
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