3 Reasons to Eat Less Meat--Part 2

Yesterday, I subjected you to the horrors of factory farming. Hopefully, it got you thinking seriously about reducing your meat consumption. But if animal cruelty and the absence of respect for farm animals isn’t enough to get you taking action and cutting back, maybe an environmental issue can help move you in that direction.

Factory farming is terrible for the environment. The amount of product is disproportionate to the resources required to produce it. You could say that the cost is too high for such a small product.

I’ll get right down and dirty and give you the facts:

· Half of all water used in the United States goes toward animal agriculture, either through watering the animals, watering the grain for the feed, or being used in the farms and slaughterhouses.
· 70% of all grain produced in the U.S. is used for animal agriculture. Scientists at Cornell estimate that the grain used for the meat industry each year could feed 800 million people for that year.
· To produce that one pound of ground beef for your Hamburger Helper, it cost 2,400 gallons of water (the rough equivalent of running your shower for 25 hours—do the math and see how many showers you can take in 25 hours) and 7 pounds of grain. Add into that the average American consumption of 97 pounds of beef annually, and one person alone requires 232,800 gallons of water and 679 pounds of grain just to eat beef. This doesn’t include the 176 pounds of white meat consumed each year by the average American.
· Each day, more and more forests are being cleared in order to make room for factory farms or to produce grain to support these farms. This leads to soil erosion, habitat loss, and endangerment and even extinction of species.
· Farm animals create 130 times more excrement than the human population. In areas around factory farms, the soil and water sources are poisoned by the excrement. Millions of fish are killed by this poisoning each year and the soil will likely not be able to support vegetation for hundreds, maybe even thousands of years.
· Gasses given off by the animals and their excrement include hydrogen sulfide and ammonia, as well as two major gasses involved in global warming: methane and nitrous oxide.
· Producing one pound of chicken produces the same amount of carbon dioxide as the average daily output of 250,000 American drivers. If a family of four forgoes one chicken dinner, it is the same carbon dioxide savings as taking 375,000-500,000 cars off of the road for a day.

Just to let you know, I used the most conservative statistics out there. For example, the amount of water necessary to produce a pound of beef varied between 2,400 and 8,000 depending on the source. A five-minute shower uses between 4 and 8 gallons of water, so I calculated the time using the larger amount. All of my information here is the low end of the spectrum.

I also find it interesting to note that when conducting biosphere experiments, the scientists involved did not raise livestock. Since they would have to use water and space to grow the food to feed themselves and the animals, then use more water and space to raise the animals, it was determined that they were better off simply using water to grow the food for themselves. The added bonus was that they didn’t have to find ways to dispose of excrement and counteract gasses produced by the excrement and the animals themselves. So, a group of scientists whose entire purpose was to create a sustainable environment chose a vegetarian diet for purely environmental reasons. I think that says a lot.

Agriculturists and scientists all agree that grazing animals in a pasture is better for the environment. I’m sure the animals would agree. But as long as we keep the demand high, factory farming will remain big business.

Here are some good sites if you want to know more:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_vegetarianism
http://www.organicconsumers.org/Toxic/factoryfarm.cfm
http://www.goveg.com/environment.asp

Three Reasons to Eat Less Meat--Part 1

And I’m back. I think this will be my final installment of my ecological stream of conscious. However, of the three, this is the one I am most passionate about. For that reason, this installment alone will take me about three posts to fully express myself.

A few years ago, I started to cut back on my meat consumption. I started with red meat, in order to decrease my intake of saturated fat. That had me feeling pretty good. I knew I could cut back even more, so I decided to not only keep going with my drastic red meat reduction, but to also go vegetarian twice a week. I’ve since extended that even more. This is because while I was researching vegetarian meals and nutrition, I came across information on factory farming.

Over the next two days, I’m going to try to convince you to go vegetarian at least two days each week. Again, this is about a lot of people who do a little as individuals, but make a big impact when put together. Today, I’d like you to look into factory farming so you can understand why I have such strong feelings about it. Then, tomorrow and Friday, I’ll go over the environmental and health benefits of eating less or no meat.

I should probably tell you right now that I’m not here to tell you that meat is murder and that meat eaters deserve a very special place in hell. I am acquainted with the circle of life and the food chain. However, I have noticed a gluttonous way that we Americans consume meat two or three meals per day and also in snacks. Walk into a Walmart or Costco and look at their meat section. Then check out the frozen food. Then the soup aisle and the canned meat aisle. How many more Walmarts and Costcos are out there with just as much meat? How much of it is wasted because it sits too long? How many animals is that? How many cows and chickens does it take to keep one McDonald’s location in business? We’ve built a dependence on meat that has created a huge demand, which has in turn required the use of factory farming in order to meet that demand.

How much of a demand can it be? It is estimated that each American eats approximately 273 pounds of meat per year, 97 pounds of that being beef. It sounds like a lot, but think about it. That’s an average of only ¾ of a pound per day. A half a pound is eight ounces. If you go out to eat, that’s the tiny steak. We feel ripped off if a hamburger is anything less than a quarter pounder. Most families of four require one and a half to two pounds of chicken to make a meal. Plus, there is meat in places we don’t even notice it—bacon bits on your salad, a vegetable soup made with chicken broth, lard in your refried beans. I’d say that’s a pretty reasonable statistic.

If you take fifteen minutes to look into factory farming, you will be disgusted. After that fifteen minutes of research, you will have enough information to make you heart ache and your stomach turn whenever you allow yourself to think about it for a few seconds. So while I won’t get preachy and say that eating meat is wrong, I will definitely jump on my soap box and tell you that factory farming is one of the most horrible practices out there.

Here are some basics on factory farming:

· The purpose of factory farming is to raise the most possible animals to the biggest possible size in the smallest possible space for the lowest possible cost. It’s about business, not respect.
· Adding vitamins A and D to the feed negates the need for sunlight and exercise. Factory farmed animals live in tiny pens where they cannot even turn around. Farms are usually indoors, so the business can continue year-round.
· Little to no lighting in factory farms prevents the tightly-packed animals from fighting.
· With so many animals packed in such a tight space, disease is a concern. Therefore, the animals are treated with antibiotics, whether they need them or not. This goes into the blood, which goes into the meat, which goes into the consumer.
· Along with antibiotics, hormones are used to increase growth, allowing younger animals to reach a suitable slaughter size. Growing so quickly and being so heavy causes many painful health issues, such as bone and joint deterioration, respiratory problems, and heart problems. Another problem: consumers also ingest these hormones.
· Factory farmed animals are subjected to mutilations: beak searing (removal with a hot blade) in chickens, castration for male beef cattle, horn amputation, plus tail docking and ear cutting, and branding, all without pain killers.
· Genetic manipulation has caused chickens to have larger breasts and legs (the most popular pieces). This leads to skeletal deformities that make it painful to move.
· Ammonia from the huge amounts of manure that build up causes the majority of animals (80% of pigs) to have pneumonia at the time of slaughter. Yum!
· Once the animals leave the farm, they usually face a long trip to a slaughterhouse. It is not unusual for animals to be transported to another state to be slaughtered. It isn’t thought profitable for animals to be fed and watered during the final days of life, or to transport them in a climate-controlled cage, so they often arrive at the slaughterhouse dehydrated, starving, and exposed to whatever weather elements it was their luck to get. Through it all, they have also suffered from the health ailments caused by their experiences at the factory farm. You’d think that the quick death of the slaughterhouse would be a welcome release? Think again.
· The average kill-rate of a slaughterhouse is 400 animals per hour. In order to work this quickly, the killing process is begun, but the animal is often still alive and conscious while being seared in boiling water and dismembered. Production can’t be stopped simply because an animal is still alive.

I could post a video or two or five to further prove my point, but I’m afraid I would throw up—or make you throw up. If you’d like to see video of undercover investigations and plain old documentation, I’d suggest going to http://www.meetyourmeat.com/. Watching just one will change your life if you let it. I suffered through them in order to firm my own resolve.

If you are thoroughly disgusted by all of this and would like to find meat from small farms that treat their animals more humanely, go to www.greenyour.com/lifestyle/food-drink/meat/tips/choose-local-small-scale-farm-meat.

If you’re curious about these facts and would like to know more, do a google search for “factory farming.” Or try these sites, which I think are the most comprehensive:

http://www.idausa.org/facts/factoryfarmfacts.html
http://www.organicconsumers.org/Toxic/factoryfarm.cfm
http://www.peta.org/mc/factsheet_display.asp?ID=103

What I wish in all of this is that people would just be more mindful of what they eat. We take our meat for granted. When I learned all of this about factory farming, I vowed to stop and think every time I ate meat. I thought about the fact that it was once alive and wondered what the animal had to go through in order for me to have the chicken sandwich. I changed my perspective.

Sure, I’m just one person, but I’m doing my part to stop the demand and support for factory farming. Please help. Start by cutting back on your meat consumption. I’m only asking you to go vegetarian two days each week, thereby cutting your meat consumption by 28%. You can also start buying meat from small farms by using the link I’ve provided.

Good luck and let me know how it goes!

Be the Change

I’ve been thinking a lot about this idea of a collective effort making big changes, even though the individuals are each playing a very small role. Last school year, we had done some work with Thoreau, Emerson, King, and Gandhi just after Winter Break. All of these people encouraged this type of change-making, where it starts with the individual changing him/herself. Gandhi said it quite simply when he said, “Be the change you want to see.” We can’t do much if we simply delegate, but if we do something and take a personal action, then our example inspires others, and we will see a snowball effect. Change will occur—albeit slowly.

I used to be a notorious disposable-water-bottle abuser. I would go to Costco and buy a 48-pack of 20-ounce Arrowhead water bottles. I’d keep them in my classroom, at home, and in the car. It wasn’t unusual for me to leave an unfinished one on my desk one afternoon and bring a half-full one with me the next morning and have two bottles on my desk. There was also probably a new one somewhere close by, as well. At home, water bottles lived on my nightstand, computer desk, end table, and kitchen.

No, I didn’t refill them. I am very sensitive to mineral tastes in water and can only drink tap water when it’s full of ice and lemon juice. This wasn’t an option at the times I carried my bottles around, so I’d drink one and recycle it. Arrowhead was my preferred brand because they used “light” bottles, which are very thin plastic. I also rationalized that I recycled.

Our “Being the Change” unit made me think quite a bit about changes I would want to “be.” My big issues are educational ones, and I stand up for my education philosophy and beliefs each time I stand up in front of my students. My big educational change would be for every teacher to do two things: use research-based best practices and teach reading strategies specific to their subject/textbook. There are more things I’d like teachers to do, but those two are the biggest. I already do both and have seen results. I keep up with the research through journals, professional development, and collaboration with other teachers. We focus on reading strategies as both readers and writers.

The “Be the Change” unit bothered me because I couldn’t do what I was asking of my students: to find a change I would want to be. I settled for continuing to be the change I was already being, and I focused on finding new ways to use best practices in my classroom.

Then, Earth Day 2008 rolled around. A couple of weeks before, one of my students made a comment that I had water bottles everywhere. And it was a true comment. I think at that time, I had three visible. As I allowed this comment to sink in for a few days, I reconnected with the idea of being the change. I realized that being the change didn’t have to be about major career issues. It could be personal and simple. So I rededicated myself right then—switching to reusable water bottles and never going back.

Not quite. In reality, changing habits is hard. I liked the bottles—they were small, easy to handle, the perfect size if I wanted to add an individual drink mix, and spill-proof when tossed about in my bag. So I made a half-change. Al was already buying water at the filling station at Harmons and we had about six refillable gallon containers. The water tasted good, but he kept it reserved for his homebrewing. I started pilfering his H2O stash to refill my disposable Arrowheads, which caused him some minor annoyance.

The real push to switch to a permanent, dishwasher-safe water bottle came in a more materialistic fashion. I was shopping at Victoria’s Secret and in the Pink section, there were 32-ounce bottles with the Pink logo and cute little phrases on the bottle to encourage you to drink up. Things like, “Aren’t you thirsty?” and “Hey! Have a sip!” Here was something that I could carry around without feeling like some mountaineering, Birkenstock-and-sock-clad activist. (I really don’t think this about water-bottle people, but it’s how I felt about me carrying one. And you all should know by now how seriously I take my shoes. )

So thank you, Victoria’s Secret, for helping me along with my water-bottle conversion. I estimate that this year alone, I avoided the need to recycle about 400 water bottles (Last year, I went through about one 48-pack per term at school and another one about every three months at home). I’ve also noticed that I drink more water now because the container is bigger. Being better hydrated has improved my overall health, awareness, and energy levels.

Don’t get me wrong, the cute bottle was a great motivator, but I still did need to make some adjustments. I no longer put the bottle in my bag. I carry it, to avoid leakage when I throw my bag around, and also because it doesn’t fit a lot of the time. I have to keep track of one bottle and not have a bottle in every conceivable place. I’ve since built a collection of various reusable mugs, cups, and bottles to keep around the house. (Real glasses aren’t the best choice for me since I tend to leave leftovers for later, and this has proven disastrous when the cat or dogs have knocked them over.) I also have to clean the bottle on occasion, instead of trading it in for a fresh one. Simple changes, sure, but that just goes to show you how resistant we are to change.

In this case, change was good. I feel happy about the small part this one action has made in the overall waste issue. I feel hydrated and healthy. I still drink water that tastes good and doesn’t leave a white chalk behind when it evaporates. I spend less money ($0.38/gallon as opposed to about $5.00 for 7.5 gallons--$0.66/gallon), get more water, and have cut my water-by-product waste by 100%. I’ve also drastically decreased my soda-consumption—an unforeseen side-effect. Since I always have water handy, I can reason with myself that I don’t actually need the diet soda.

If you’re looking for a small change that you can make, I’d strongly recommend this one. Even if you’re not a disposable-water-abuser like I was, carrying water in a nondisposable container and taking advantage of the water filling stations has had a notable impact on me and my overall health. I think you will come to enjoy this practice, and I promise you’ll never go thirsty!
But just to keep things in balance, I should confess that my next project is to lessen my dependence on the convenience of disposable plates, bowls, and plasticware. I’ve been an at-work- lunch-stuff-abuser for too long!

Some Links About Water Bottle Waste:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5279230/

http://www.dec.ny.gov/docs/materials_minerals_pdf/waterbottles.pdf

http://www.suntimes.com/lifestyles/health/348952,CST-NWS-eatwater19.article

Musings on the Earth: Part 1

I love springtime. After the snow and cold of winter, I feel so refreshed when I see my tulips coming out of the cold, muddy ground, and leaves and blossoms bringing life to the dead-looking trees. My thoughts turn away from dreading a chaotic snowstorm drive, heating bills, and sock-and-boot covered feet, and lighten with more hopeful things: how to improve the yard, what to plant in the garden, and painting my toenails a cute shade of light blue to be shown off in flip-flops.

It’s no wonder that this is the time of year chosen to observe Earth Day (April 22). I appreciate the reminder to treat my planet more gently, especially during these hopeful weeks when I’m instinctively thinking about nature (and, yes, cute shoes, too) anyway. So, over the next few days, I’m going to subject you to my musings on conservationism, my strengths, wanna-be-strengths, and many, many weaknesses.

Some of you may have heard about or participated in Earth Hour, an event sponsored by the World Wildlife Foundation on March 28 of this year. It was the third year for this event, in which cities and individuals turned off unnecessary energy-consuming devices between 8:30-9:30 pm local time (For info see http://www.earthhour.org/). This event has been criticized by conservative media as being overly symbolic and ultimately meaningless, because one hour once a year is hardly a change.

I agree that it isn’t a change, per se, but what Earth Hour does is show us what can be done if many people commit to doing a little. Percentage-wise, participating cities saw negligible drops in energy consumption, on average 3-5% in heavily populated major cities. However, when we look at how much energy those cities use, even that small of a drop amounts to big savings. In Chicago, 840,000 pounds of carbon dioxide were conserved, which is the equivalent of the hourly output of 104 acres of trees. (I wish I had that statistic in a monetary figure, since we Americans tend to think in terms of wallet-green.) Put in a global perspective, Chicago is just one city out of millions, a million people out of billions.

So, sure, Earth Hour isn’t something we can or should do every day, but as individuals, we can do our part. Turn off the lights when you’re not in a room. Don’t leave your computer on when you go home from work. Take the minute or two in the morning to get it up and running. If two people are in separate rooms watching the same show…why not spend some time together near one television? Very simple changes, made on an individual basis, can have a big impact when multiplied.

To further illustrate this point, school districts have been starting to use technology to turn off computers remotely a few hours after school has let out for the day. Larger districts (in places like Los Angeles and Houston) have reported savings between one and two million dollars in a school year. This money is being saved simply by one school district turning off computers that aren’t being used!

So, many people doing a little each certainly gets a big job done! “Many hands make light work” has been adapted for a new age of technology. And this doesn’t have to be a sideways movement, focusing on those already here. If we can teach our children to be less wasteful, they will in turn teach their children the same. Start now, and your impact could be bigger than you ever imagined.

When I first heard about Earth Hour in March 2008, I was intrigued by the idea. The results amazed me, and I committed to being less wasteful with energy. However, my resolve has wavered, more to do with my own laziness than anything else. I leave empty Glade Plug-ins plugged in, I keep our mist fountain on overnight when no one is enjoying it. I turn on the three lights in our basement, but end up really only using one. The computer is left on all the time simply because it takes approximately 4 minutes to get going (a problem which has since been alleviated by the building of a new computer). I’ll walk away from the XBox 360, leaving it on with no explanation at all. I don’t think only vacuuming once every week or two actually makes up for that wastefulness, so it seems a personal commitment renewal is in order.

So that’s what Earth Day got me thinking about this year. Stay tuned for resolutions and musings it has inspired in previous years!

Just For Fun

For the past few months, I've been rewatching our collection of Frasier. I loved the show while it was on the air and I still love it. It's great writing and a great cast. I think what really got me hooked, though, was David Hyde Pierce. Most of the laugh-out-loud moments I have with the show are courtesy of Niles. I really, really hope that one day, there will be a DVD of the original cast of Spamalot, since he was a part of it.

So please take five minutes and enjoy some of the more memorable Niles moments. Then, start collecting the seasons on DVD!

Because at 31, my metabolism is slowing down...

Al and I have finished day 9 of the P90X program. Wow! This workout is nuts! You'll need a chin-up bar and hand weights (I use 5, 8, 10, and 15. Al uses 10, 15, 20, and 25), as well as a yoga mat and a willingness to keep going in spite of wanting to die a little. I would just like to say, that I did a whole pull up on my own yesterday. It was just one, but it was start to finish and I haven't done that since somewhere around 4th grade.

I'm sore and I'm loving it. The program is a bit expensive, but it's worth it. You can find it used on Amazon.com, as well, which is cheaper. When put in perspective, though, Al and I spend $50 a month for a couple's membership to the gym. This 3-month program is cheaper than 3 months at the gym! And, we can use it beyond the 3 months!

You do need to keep in mind, though, that this is a strength-building program. Yes, there is cardio, but the purpose of the program is to build muscle, endurance, and strength. You will gain weight before losing. However, muscle uses more calories to maintain itself than fat does, so eventually, the metabolism will start helping you to see weight loss as long as you are consuming fewer calories than you are using each week.

If you're curious: www.beachbody.com/p90x

I'd also like to share with you one of my favorite workout aids. Lady Fitness uses Bender Balls, so that's how I found out about them. When I was at the Gateway recently, I wandered through the sporting goods store and saw them for sale. I love them, so for $20, I grabbed one and brought it home. That's when I noticed that it came with three DVDs. This is totally a great deal. If you're looking to build core strength or develop your abs, I highly recommend this little green goody. The ball itself is only about 7-8 inches in diameter, so it's easy to store. If it's a little flat, it makes the workouts harder. Check it out at www.benderball.com.

Snakes, Authors, Reading, and Books

Thank you all for your birthday wishes to Al yesterday! We are pleased to announce that in honor of his birthday, we are adding to our reptile collection. This is Aornis, a female black pastel ball python who was hatched in February. She will be shipped to us this coming Thursday from VPI, a breeder out of Texas.

We are both very excited to have this cute little girl join Acheron! If anyone is curious about the name, we named Acheron after Acheron Hades, a villian in the Thursday Next series of books. In the books, the evil Hades family is made up of siblings named after the rivers of the Underworld. Aornis isn't actually a river, Jasper Fforde made it up and pretended it was one, counting on the average person's knowledge of the underworld rivers being limited to Acheron and Styx...

So she's named after another Thursday Next villian. Dad has also said that he'd like to learn how to handle a snake! Stay tuned for pictures. We'll be sure to document the occasion. He should have an easy time with our snakes. Acheron is very laid back.

In other news, for the past three days, I have had the opportunity to learn under Will Hobbs, a young adult author of 17 novels and 2 picture books. I haven't read any of his books, but I do plan to. He primarily writes western adventure novels, but has expanded to historical and realistic fiction and sci/fi comedy. The cool thing about his writing is that he's a real outdoorsman. All of his settings are real places, so when he talks about a mountain, a dirt road, or a bend in a river, he's actually been there.

He was at our district in connection with the young writers conference. Remember that school-wide writing contest I was in charge of? That was a part of this conference. On Tuesday, he came to Northridge, where I teach, to do presentations for students. It was kind of a stroke of luck that he came to my school, and on a B-day, so I was able to take my creative writing class to his presentation. I was a bit surprised that I was the ONLY Northridge teacher to take students, though, seeing as though the presentation was on campus. The rest of the district sure took advantage; his morning session was 1,200 kids, and the afternoon session 500.

On Wednesday, he did a writing workshop for the winners of the school contests. I went down to be with our students. Then, Thursday, he spoke to teachers. Since he's a former teacher, he came at it from a writing teacher's perspective, which was nice. He also did some pretty hard sells of his books, but I guess that is to be expected. I bought a couple and got them signed. I was pretty impressed that after three days of being on display in the Davis District that he was still so friendly. Even on the last day, he was acting as if he'd just arrived! In truth, his personality reminded me a little of Dad. He was just very at-ease with people.

I do want to clarify that even though I've never read his books, it isn't because they aren't good. In fact, they've won many awards for young adult literature and span young readers from upper-elementary school to high school. Typically, my reading does not take me on Western adventures down the Colorado River, so I just haven't been exposed to him just yet. I am very excited to read Crossing the Wire, about a 15-year-old Mexican boy who immigrates illegally to the U.S. in order to support his family. Hobbs put a great deal of research into it and every review I've seen says that it is very even-handed, exposing the goods and evils of both sides of this issue, while putting a human face on something that usually only gets a label.

If you want to know more about his books, his website is website is: http://www.willhobbsauthor.com/ I've spent some time looking it over and it is a very cool site. Every book has tons of information about it, including an interview with him about the different events and places.

And speaking of reading, on Tuesday night, I had my last writing class, which was also my last class for my reading endorsement! Once my credit posts on the State Education Office database, I apply and pay an application fee, and then I am highly qualified to teach reading. This is technically different from teaching literature (but in a perfect world, they would be the same thing). In a reading class, we discuss reading strategies and help students who struggle with reading come to understand what good readers do, then purposefully and consciously use those same strategies when they're reading.

The extra credit hours of work will also go into a lane change application, which will result in a raise for me, too!

This is my level I endorsement. I could go for my level II, which is a few more classes and an internship. As a level II endorsed person, I could apply for district level jobs, like a literacy specialist or a teacher of the level I classes. The district started a group through that process this year. It will probably be another year or two before they offer the opportunity again. I'm really thinking seriously of doing it.

I'm glad to have this out of the way. I should have actually finished it last summer, but Al's vacation was the same week as the writing class was offered, so I wasn't able to enroll. It feels good to have this done, now, though. I've been working on it since September of 2006!

And finally, a couple of book recommendations from my recent reading experiences. The first is The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. This is the first in a series of books. Written for young adults, the premise is that in the future, the U.S. has a big war, leaving behind a capital city and 13 districts. The capital city is oppressive, and when District 13 rebels, it is completely destroyed. Now to keep the rest of the districts in check, every year, each district has to hold a lottery in which one boy and one girl ages 12-18 is chosen to participate in the Hunger Games. They are sent off to the capital, thrown into an "arena," which is a large expanse of wilderness, and left to fight to the last man/woman standing, while cameras catch all the action and turn the event into reality TV. The book follows the experiences of a sixteen-year-old girl who ends up in the arena.

Yeah, it sounds horrifying. It's not about blood and guts, though. There are not elaborate descriptions of people's deaths. It's more about strategizing and issues of trust, humanity, and whether or not it's ok to sacrifice another to save yourself. It also asks how far we will go for entertainment. Once upon a time, it was considered great fun to tie up a bear so it couldn't defend itself and watch the dogs kill it. Then there is the coloseum in Rome...arena...fighting to the death...sound familiar? Reality TV is turning into the capitalization of suffering; audiences eat it up. How far away are we from this, really?

So I highly recommend The Hunger Games. It's an engaging and fast read that can really get a good discussion going. And yes, Jill, I think Kenzie would love it. The Pirates of the Carribean movies were far more violent than this book.

Then there's The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch. I read this because it was the selection for high schools in our Davis Reads program. (For those of you who don't know, Davis is my school district.) I picked it up in September or so and flew through it. It really pulled a lot of writing out of me, as well. I was very excited when Jeffrey Zaslow visited our district (another author presentation that I took my creative writers to) and I got my copy signed!

If you haven't read this book, get it now. Randy Pausch was a professor at Carnegie Mellon, which has a tradition of asking retiring professors to give a last lecture in which they talk about what they've learned in life. Paush found out that he had advanced pancreatic cancer and only a few months of good health left. He saw the lecture as an opportunity for his young children to have fatherly advice after he had passed away. Zaslow, a columnist for Wall Street Journal attended the lecture and wrote a column about it. The lecture became a huge hit on YouTube (it's still there). The book idea wasn't appealing to Randy at first because he wanted to spend the last months with his family, not writing a book. But the revenue from book sales would be a way to provide for them. So he got a cell phone with a head set and every day he would bike for an hour around his house (to keep his health up) and dictate to Zaslow, who put the book together.

Seriously, this is one of the best books I've read in a while. I found myself saying "AMEN!" to a lot of what he had to say. It's just so common sense, but now someone who is actually being listened to is saying it! Plus, Randy is an amazing person. You'll find yourself truly inspired by what he managed to accomplish in his life, his positive attitude, and the way he really puts things in perspective. The book isn't terribly long, so you'll find that the actual reading is quick. You'll probably spend three times the amount of time thinking about what he has to say.

A couple of quotations to get you acquainted:

• Experience is what you get when you don't get what you wanted.
• Brick walls are there for a reason. They keep the other people out. (He's talking about perseverence.)

Well, I hope you enjoyed my random list of stuff today. To sum up the rest of life, I'm busy, the weather stinks, and I'm really excited for Spring Break next week!