Weekly Geeks
Monday, July 7th, 2008Weekly Geeks #10 - Magazines
This week’s “assignment” is all about the magazines we read. Dewey wrote:
For each magazine you want to talk about, here are a few questions. Answer as many or as few as you want.
1. Name of magazine.
2. Do you subscribe or just buy it now and then?
3. What’s your favorite regular feature in the magazine?
4. What do you think your interest in this magazine says about you?
5. How long have you been reading this magazine?
6. Is there any unique or quirky aspect to the magazine that keeps you reading?
I read a lot of magazines…and I thought the best way to talk about them would be to break them up into categories. To read more about each magazine (including subscription information) click on the photo of the magazine cover.
I. Physical Therapy - Professional Magazines
As a California licensed physical therapist, I am continually upgrading my knowledge of what is current in the field. Some of the magazines I get come to me at no cost, simply because I’m a licensed PT. Others I must pay a membership to receive.
Today in PT - published by Steve Hauber is an attractive, glossy freebie which explores topics in the major areas of PT including: cardiopulmonary, geriatrics and home health, neurology, pediatrics, and sports and orthopedics. I most enjoy the sections on home health, neurology and pediatrics as they deal with information pertaining to my business, as well as my work as a home health physical therapist AND my volunteer work with children in Hippotherapy and therapeutic horseback riding.
Advance for Physical Therapists & PT Assistants is a trade magazine published by the APTA. It is another freebie and has the latest information about my profession, as well as a wealth of job advertisements. I enjoy the book reviews, information on conferences and the articles on the latest technologies.
Hippotherapy magazine comes to me through my membership with the American Hippotherapy Association (click here to learn more about what Hippotherapy is all about). I usually read this one cover to cover, but my favorite sections are those which give ideas about treatment on the horse.
Strides is the official publication of the North American Riding for the Handicapped Association (NARHA) and I get this one through my membership with that organization. This is a fun magazine designed to assist instructors in Therapeutic Horseback Riding programs. Again, this is one I enjoy cover to cover.
II. Book Related Magazines
World Literature Today is published bimonthly through the University of Oklahoma. I just started subscribing to this fascinating publication about a year ago. Often I find several interesting articles, and always I find new books to add to my wish list. This month’s edition (which just arrived today) is focused on the subject of the world’s rapidly changing ecology.
Bookmarks Magazine comes out once a month and is a terrific resource for book reviews and opinions about books. I subscribe to this one and look forward to reading each and every issue. I love the section which focuses on a new author each month.
Poets and Writers is also a bimonthly magazine devoted to writers, poets and the literary life. There is always plenty of information on writers conferences and news and trends in the literary world. I don’t subscribe to this one, but I often pick up a copy in the bookstore. The website for this magazine is fabulous - check it out.
III. Lifestyle, Regional and Cooking Magazines
Fine Cooking is one of the best cooking magazines out there - but it is expensive. I don’t subscribe to it (yet), but I do buy a copy when I’m feeling flush. It is glossy with gorgeous photos, and the recipes are those anyone can manage. One of my favorite regular features is the one about Equipment.
I’ve been subscribing to Sunset magazine now for too many years to count. This is a regional magazine that covers food, gardening, travel and home in the West. I constantly am ripping out the travel articles and filing them in a loose leaf binder for vacation and getaway ideas.
Country Home is also a longtime favorite of mine. I’ve been a subscriber for over 20 years now! I love the fresh ideas for home and garden. My favorite regular feature is probably Antiquing Highway.
Thanks for taking a tour through my favorite magazines. Other Weekly Geeks who have also posted on this topic are:
- Maree who shares her favorite cross stitching magazine
- Jessica who offers an eclectic mix of magazines
- Julie who enlightens us with a magazine which is designed to increase cross-cultural awareness
To see all of this weeks posts, visit Dewey’s post about Weekly Geeks #10 and scroll down to Mr Linky.
Wednesday, June 25th, 2008Weekly Geeks #9 - Challenge Me!
I skipped last week’s Weekly Geeks - I have every intention of doing the scavenger hunt, then I simply got overwhelmed with it and gave up. But this week’s theme is right up my alley. Dewey writes:
If you participate in any challenges, get organized! Update your lists, post about any you haven’t mentioned, add links of reviews to your lists if you do that, go to the challenge blog if there is one and post there, etc.
Anyone who knows even a little bit about me knows I love a good challenge. I keep A Novel Challenge blog listing all the reading challenges around the blog-o-sphere, and now I also include bookish events. I also run A Novel Challenge Yahoo Group.
I am pretty well organized with my challenges. All the current ones can be found on my blog on the page Reading Challenges (with links to my post about each challenge and my progress). Completed challenges can be found under the category Completed Book Challenges (see how simple this is?). So far this year I’ve completed nine challenges:
- Winter Reading 2008 (completed 2/29/2008)
- Unread Authors (completed 2/22/2008)
- The Pub 2008 (completed 3/14/2008)
- Book Awards 2007 (completed 5/24/2008)
- Remembering Nattie (completed 5/31/2008)
- Book Binge 2008 (completed 5/31/2008)
- Themed Reading 2008 (completed 5/31/2008)
- 48 Hour Reading Challenge (completed 6/8/2008)
- Man Booker Challenge (completed 6/17/2008)
I am participating in eight perpetual challenges (those with no time limit), and 25 time limited challenges. I think I will also be signing up for The July Book Blowout.
I also participate in bookish events that I consider challenges of sorts:
So far I’m on track for most of my challenges this year. I may fall short on one or two, but overall I’m managing to stay organized.
To see what other Geeks are doing with their challenges, check out:
Or visit Dewey’s post for this week and follow the Mr. Linky Links.
Friday, June 13th, 2008Weekly Geeks #7 - Photos Week
This week is all about photos. Dewey writes:
Decide what to illustrate and start taking photos… Create a post of your photos.
**Please click on all photos to enlarge
I decided to create a post which will tell my readers a little bit about myself. Everyone knows I love books and challenges…so my first photo gives you a glimpse into the chaos of my TBR stacks:
But, I don’t just read books. I’m also a volunteer at a nonprofit therapeutic horseback riding program in Shasta County, California. Every Monday and Wednesday morning I spend my time under the California sun with horses
and wonderful people - and the best part is all the smiles: 
A photo collage of who I am would not be complete without my husband: 
and my fur children:
I’m also a crafter: 
And finally, I’ll leave you with my favorite place to read:
To see some other Geek photos, check out these posts:
- Jaimie at Bell Literary Reflections
- Terri at Reading, Writing and Retirement
- Debra at Reading Animals
To see even more great posts, visit Dewey’s site here and scroll down to the Mr. Linkys.
Friday, June 13th, 2008Weekly Geeks #6 - Catching Up
Better late than never, right? Last week we were encouraged to catch up on reviews. But, Dewey also said:
If you don’t review books in your blog, or if you’re all caught up on reviews, just choose something else you need to catch up on, anything at all, and you can still join in.
I do my reviews as soon as I read my books, so I didn’t need to catch up on those. BUT, I was quite behind in updating a couple of my blogs.
Some of you may know that I have a blog called: The Lists - Books for the Obsessive Reader. It is a place where I add lists of award winners, and other lists that strike my fancy. I also post reviews from those lists (of the books I have read). I was about a month behind. So now it is all caught up and current.
I also host The Orange Prize Project and needed to update the lists for 2008 winners. I also spent some time cleaning up tags and categories over there. Anyone can join the challenge at any time…why not check it out?
Thursday, May 29th, 2008Weekly Geeks #5 - Storytelling
This week’s theme was suggested by Renay. She says, “I thought it would be cool to ask people to talk about other forms of story-telling.” This week’s theme is once again one you could approach several ways. You might want to tell about the forms of storytelling (aside from books) you love.
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The art of stitching dates back many, many years to Egyptian times - embroidered cloth was preserved well in a desert environment. The earliest needlework can be traced back to about the 6th Century AD. Beginning in the 18th century, young girls and women began making samplers.
The Metropolitan Museum’s website writes this about the art of sampler making:
As part of her preparation for the responsibility of sewing clothes and linens for her future family, most girls completed at least two samplers. The first, which might be undertaken when a girl was as young as five or six, was called a marking sampler (1993.100; 1984.331.6; L.2001.53.4). Marking samplers served a dual purpose: they taught a child basic embroidery techniques and the alphabet and numbers. The letters and numbers learned while embroidering a marking sampler were especially useful, since it was important that any homemaker keep track of her linens, some of her most valuable household goods. This was accomplished by marking them, usually in a cross stitch, with her initials and a number.
The site goes on to note that samplers reflected not only the values of the stitcher, but also may have been all that survived to represent these young women’s lives. Signed and dated, a sampler tells its own unique story.
I have long been fascinated with this art. I started stitching as a young girl, and have continued to enjoy it as I’ve grown into a middle-aged woman. I especially love making patterns which represent who I am. Several years ago I completed a New England sampler - special to me because I grew up in New Hampshire and still hold New England close to my heart. Here is the finished piece:
I love browsing antique shops for antique samplers - and as I gaze at the imperfect stitches and trace the name of the stitcher, I wonder about her life - who was this young woman? Where did she live? What was her life like? Often the stitched piece gives me hints…a wintry New England scene, or the star of Texas.
In writing up my post for this week’s Weekly Geeks, I browsed Amazon and found some great books about antique samplers and needlework:
- The Needle’s Eye: Women and Work in the Age of Revolution, by Marla Miller “unravels and reconstructs the working lives of unknown and unsung real women who plied the needle in the midst of multiple revolutions.”
- Sampler View of Colonial Life, by Mary Cobb “describes the samplers stitched by girls in colonial America and explains what these samplers tell about the lives of their makers.”
- Ohio is My Dwelling Place: Schoolgirl Embroideries 1800- 1850, by Sue Studebaker connects Ohio history with the lives of young girls and their sewing.
- A Maryland Sampling: Girlhood Embroidery 1738-1860, by Gloria Seaman Allen explores “the role of needlework in early female education and in the lives of ordinary women in the changing currents of Chesapeake regional history.”
I hope this post will inspire readers to look at this beautiful, yet simple art as a way of telling a story. I’ll leave you with a link to a wonderful site where you can browse antique samplers on line and read about their history and the stories of the women who made them: Antique Samplers.
Friday, May 23rd, 2008Weekly Geeks #4 - Social Awareness
Choose a political or social issue that matters to you. Find several books addressing that issue; they don’t have to books you’ve read, just books you might like to read. Using images (of the book covers or whatever you feel illustrates your topic) present these books in your blog.
I took my time selecting my subject for this week’s theme…Animal cruelty? Overpopulation? Child abuse and our dismal judicial system in dealing with it? There are so many issues I feel passionate about. But the one that cuts directly to my heart…the one which I have centered my professional life around…is discrimination against the disabled.
As a physical therapist, I have seen this discrimination time and time again. It comes from the medical field itself such as when a child with profound mental retardation is denied standard medical care because their life is not given the same value as a “normal” child; it comes from neighbors who protest against a group home for adults with developmental delay; it comes from the media when they portray someone with mental retardation as “dangerous” or “scary”; it comes from individuals who protest against the Americans With Disabilities Act because it is “too costly” or too difficult to comply with…Discrimination against those with disability can be direct or subtle, it has many faces - young and old. And it victimizes some of the most vulnerable members of our society.
I am often asked to describe my profession as a physical therapist. I used to say: “It is a lot like being a teacher because I am always teaching.” But these days, in my role as consultant for individuals with developmental delay and working at a therapeutic horseback riding program for children and adults with disability - I am more apt to describe my position as an advocate…going to bat for my patients to get funding for equipment or services, and speaking our for their medical needs in a system which is often more concerned with the bottom line than with providing the best possible care. Sometimes it is exhausting - but it is always rewarding when I am able to beat back discrimination, educate the ignorant or watch someone take another step toward independence.
I did a search for books which address this issue and found several.
The Memory Keeper’s Daughter, by Kim Edwards (read my review) addresses negativity and discrimination (from the medical field and also educators) toward children with Down’s Syndrome (Fiction).
Show Me No Mercy, by Robert Perske is a young adult book which examines society’s lack of acceptance of people with disabilities (Fiction).
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, by Mark Haddon tells the story of a young autistic boy arrested for a crime he did not commit (Fiction).
No Pity: People With Disabilities Forging A New Civil Rights Movement, by Joseph P. Shapiro explores the thoughts, fears and facts which surround the disability rights movement (Non Fiction).
Nothing About Us Without Us: Disability Oppression and Empowerment, by James Charlton produces “a ringing indictment of disability oppression, which, he says, is rooted in degradation, dependency, and powerlessness and is experienced in some form by five hundred million persons throughout the world who have physical, sensory, cognitive, or developmental disabilities.” (Non Fiction)
I also discovered this source book: Portraying Persons With Disabilities, Debra Robertson which is written for children and teenagers and is a selective annotated bibliography including more than 650 fiction titles that promote acceptance and understanding of the disabled (Non Fiction).
Friday, May 16th, 2008
Weekly Geeks #3 - Children’s Books
Weekly Geeks #3 - Children’s Books
I didn’t participate in last week’s Weekly Geeks (to provide links to other book reviews of books I’ve reviewed) because of the time issue. Right now, I’m up to my eyeballs in work and volunteering and I’m afraid to commit to something so time consuming. That said, I will re-consider doing this when my life gets back to normal (maybe in the fall!).
So, this week Dewey writes:
This week’s theme comes from Samantha, who suggested that one week we all write about our fond memories of childhood books. You could approach this several ways. I’ll probably list my favorite childhood books with maybe a paragraph about each book: why I loved it, how old I was when I read it, where I got the book, etc. You could also just pick one childhood favorite and review it as you would any other book. Or, if you’re fast, you could make up a meme other weekly geeks might like to use. (Edit: Beastmama came up with a meme you could use.) It’ll be interesting to see how everyone personalizes this theme.
I remember my childhood as being filled with books. Almost every week my mother took me to the library to borrow books, and it seems I received books for every Christmas and birthday. I had many favorites. My earliest years were filled with Dr. Seuss (recently I re-read two of my favorites and reviewed them here), and Barbar the Elephant. But it is the early chapter books which I remember with the most clarity…so it is these I will talk about here.
Mary Norton’s The Borrowers and all the sequels which followed were my favorites. I re-read them many, many times…and recently purchased the 50th Anniversary volume for my library. I sank right back into my youth as I re-read it. You can read my review here.
If you have never read Louise Fithugh’s wonderful Harriet the Spy series, you are missing some real fun. I adored Harriet - and I spent about a year prowling around my neighborhood spying on the neighbors doing their gardening, or washing their cars, petting their dogs…and jotting down notes about their mundane activities. As a writer, Harriet captured my imagination at a very young age.
Is there anyone in their 40’s who has not read the Nancy Drew series? I adored these books and at one time had the entire collection. A couple of years ago I attacked my parent’s attic looking for the box containing them to no avail. My mother thinks she might have sold them in a yard sale (gasp!)…so I’m on the look out to replace them someday. I remember curling up beneath my covers with a flashlight reading long into the night and scaring myself with these fabulous mysteries.
E.B. White is a genius of children’s literature - and I re-read Charlotte’s Web and Stuart Little until their pages were torn and dirty. Any book whose hero was an animal got my attention and kept it. Recently I’ve been reading White’s fabulous essays which I’ve written about in my Sunday Salon posts here and here. Just goes to show you, a great writer can write anything!
And finally, who can forget The Little House on the Prairie, by Laura Ingalls Wilder? I adored this book and the series of books which followed (although I cried when the dog died!). And later, when the television series was born, I watched every episode.
I’m sure I am missing some of the great books I read as a child…but these were definitely my favorites. What were yours?
Saturday, April 26th, 2008Weekly Geeks - Week of April 26, 2008
This week is the first week of Dewey’s Weekly Geeks - she is still looking for someone to make a button if any of you are good with that kind of thing.
The challenge this week is: Discover New Blogs Week
- Look through the list of blogs for the participants of Weekly Geeks; find five that are new to you. If you can’t, find as many new blogs as possible and then some you don’t read super regularly.
- Visit those new blogs and leave a comment.
- By Friday (May 2nd) write a post in your blog featuring those new blogs you visited.
- Go back to the post about this week, and leave a link to your blog post.
I discovered that a lot of my blogging friends are doing this fun weekly event! But, I also found some new blogs which I’ve now added to my Google Reader (oh dear!).
Adventures in Reading has some great literary and art links … and this blogger knows how to write an interesting article. I will definitely be visiting again.
Amateur de Livre’s Weblog is a well designed, fun blog to browse. I discovered a meme, of sorts, which lists the top 106 books most marked ‘unread’ on Library Thing. I think I’ll have to do this one!
Everyday Reads (lightheaded takes on books and comic, lovely or otherwise!) is mostly dedicated to reading, and the design and conversational tone drew me right in.
Kay’s Bookshelf appealed to me immediately. She’s a software developer and it shows on her well organized blog. I love the way Kay lists her authors down the left side of the page with links to her reviews.
The Curvature is: “A feminist perspective on politics and culture.” I was immediately intrigued. I don’t consider myself a rabid feminist, but I have a rabid interest in women’s issues. I was raised to be a strong woman, and so the idea of asserting myself is well ingrained! I also am watching the American political scene very closely. Could America actually elect a woman as President? I hope so, but I’ve learned not to be overly optimistic when it comes to things like this. Anyway, The Curvature, is a cutting edge blog - one that doesn’t mince words. I like it.
Wednesday, April 23rd, 2008Weekly Geeks
Dewey from The Hidden Side of a Leaf has come up with a great idea called Weekly Geeks. Here’s the concept:
1. Every week there’ll be a different theme. One week might be “catch up on your library books” week and the next might be “redecorate your blog week” or “organize your challenges” week or “catch up on your reviews” week. It’ll be fairly bookblogcentric, but not exclusively.
2. Everyone who joins agrees that they will try to check each week to see what the theme is, although they DO NOT have to participate each week, only when they feel like it.
3. Everyone who joins is welcome (encouraged, begged!) to send ideas for weekly themes via email, comments, whatever. The more ideas, the better.
4. If you post about your progress with that week’s theme in your blog (whether you were wildly successful or didn’t get around to any of it) then you can come back and leave a link to that post in the comments for that theme.
AND there is a chocolate monkey give-a-way for those participants who post about this idea before the end of April. I’m very motivated by chocolate - so here’s the post, Dewey!!