I spend a lot of my book-time reading children's books and YA.

I *like* children's books and YA. They're cheaper than grown-up fiction (I'd say adult like the adult I am, but somehow that means explicit and explicit has to do with sex. I hate the euphemism game sometimes!) and just as well-written - oftentimes they're *better* written if only because they're not busy cramming in multiple romantic subplots and gratuitous sex! (I have nothing against a well-written sex scene, mind you, but most of them don't advance the plot very much and are just awkward to read on the train or with my mom in the room.)

There's a trend recently for children's book covers to have silhouettes.

The first few times it was interesting and novel. Now - and it's only been a few years! - it's already tedious and overdone. I thought at first it was one publisher trying to set a new cover style for all their books, which would at least make sense, but a quick search shows me three different publishers for three different books, I stopped looking after that.

I don't get it at all. Why exactly did this become so popular, and when is it going to stop? Or if it isn't going to stop, when are people going to start doing something new with it?

*sighs*

At least the contents of the books are readable. (I need bookcases.)

Articles...! (And random links)

New Kellogg School Research Suggests a Colorblind Approach to Diversity May Frustrate Efforts to Identify and Confront Discrimination. No duh.

The Disease Called Perfection.

Time Lapse video of a compost pile

This WTF? inducing post by Nikki Grimes

An article on getting boys to read that confirms that literacy does not mean you understand logic.

"Dr. Robert Weis, a psychology professor at Denison University, confirmed this suspicion in a randomized controlled trial of the effect of video games on academic ability. Boys with video games at home, he found, spend more time playing them than reading, and their academic performance suffers substantially. Hard to believe, isn't it, but Science has spoken."

Or maybe boys who prefer video games to books are more likely to have video games than books.

"The secret to raising boys who read, I submit, is pretty simple—keep electronic media, especially video games and recreational Internet, under control (that is to say, almost completely absent). Then fill your shelves with good books. "

And you're also going to keep them from playing sports, you're going to keep them from exploring outside, you're going to keep them from having swordfights inside, you're going to keep them from masturbating, you're going to keep them from doing chores, right? Because the choice is screentime or books, not books and EVERYTHING ELSE, right?

That link comes from here which ultimately I got from here.

On bikeshare programs (and similar)

"But the question is whether most consumers would ever accept time share ownership of a bike or a blender. After a bike share program began in Denver, one gubernatorial candidate in Colorado attacked the program as un-American. "

Yup, you got it, a business model that allows you to pay to share a bike is un-American. Capitalism isn't American!

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Some Obama Allies Fear School Lunch Bill Could Rob Food Stamp Program

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Old West Traditions, and Tensions, at Rodeo

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At Sukkah City, Religion Meets Whimsy

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This house is only a few blocks from mine
Pics!

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Their Moon Shot and Ours

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Achieving Techno-Literacy

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