Happy Thanksgiving & a McPhee Book Review

It may be a cliche, but I have much to be thankful for with family and friends heading that list. Thankful for a house, food and a job when I need one.

I am also thankful I discovered John McPhee. Brother-in-law K got me started years ago and I've just kept reading his stories and books. This on, Pieces of the Frame, is a collection of articles is a typical McPhee mix of topics all written about in a way that makes you interested in what will happen next.

The topics start in Georgia with two people in the wildlife service picking up roadkill and using the roadkill for food and science. We go to Atlantic City in search of Marvin Gardens, the real street named such. along the way we learn of the game Monopoly. We meet a real live member of the McBeth family and learn how Birnam Wood did move. Professional tennis, firewood the Head park Ranger and quarter horse racing are also written about.

You may or may not be interested in these subjects, but the wonderful thing McPhee does is draw you into the people of each story and there is where you get hooked. These people are just like you and me, but McPhee makes them special.

Have a Selfish Thanksgiving

Patrice Lewis from Rural Revolution wrote this article about Thanksgiving. It is worth the read and as usual it made me wonder about the source  and origins of many of our "belief."

Super Freakonomics Book Comment

I offer these book reviews more as comments. I hear about a book and look into it, then decide to read it. These ideas come from family, friends, the radio, other books, and many other ways. I try to be eclectic in what I read, but tend to read non-fiction that teaches or challenges my thinking.

Super Freakonomics did a little of both. I learned that microeconomics is what one of the authors studies and this is more to do with what people do and the incentives that get them to do those things. The book also made me think about some of my beliefs about why things are the way they are. Child safety seats is an example. According to the authors and their studies of studies, child seats offer no more protection than adult seat belts. Starting with how the seat is often mis-attached to the car seat the authors show how claims of increased safety are overstated. This is one example of looking at the world we glide through with a different perspective. Much like The Invisible Gorilla.

Super Freakonomics was suggested by one of our sons that read it in a college class.

The Invisible Gorilla is a book based upon an experiment you can take. Search for "invisible gorilla videos."

What a Difference a Year Makes

One year ago today I entered the Stanford Medical Clinic. When I left two and a half weeks later I was fixed and repaired, but not healed. To say I thank those that helped heal me as well as those that fixed me seems trite and cliche like. But it is not trite at all.

Thank you.