Read a Book Day

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Read a Book Day

September 6th is "Read a Book Day".

When I was young, I hated reading. I think part of the reason I hated reading was that I:
1) had to read what my teachers wanted me to read
2) had to read the book within a certain time frame (when the assignment was given to when the report was due)
3) had to write a book report when I was done

But as I got older, and the classes I was taking were more in the category of subjects I liked, for the most part the books we were asked to read were more likely to be books I enjoyed. Also, as I began to read on my own (after college), I got to choose to read the books I wanted to read.

Let me know as comments:

Do you prefer to read Fiction of Non-Fiction?

The Gold Star

One of my short stories, "The Gold Star" is now available in illustrated form. The story is about a young boy named Shmuel who helps a poor man without the man knowing.

The Princess Who Wanted to be Beautiful

One of my first short stories, "The Princess Who Wanted to be Beautiful" started out as a bedtime story for the children of a close friend. I had been worrying about the "Disney Syndrome" whereby all the heroes are beautiful and all the ugly people are villains. This is a story about a princess who has heard that all princesses are beautiful and doesn't think she is beautiful. She decides to go to a wizard and ask him to make her beautiful but along the way she makes some friends and learns a lesson about herself.

Compugraph Designs' Shop on Spoonflower

Spoonflower features custom designed fabric. My designs include a The Baby Book of Opposites  to sew for your favorite baby.

Designs for Writers from Compugraph Designs on Zazzle


Here are four samples of the products that are available at the Compugraph Designs Zazzle Store:

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Rosh Hashana Book of Life Tie

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Stained Glass Pencil Tie

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Passover Recipe Binder

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Pencil Tie

Witches and Wizards in Fiction

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Witches and Wizards in Fiction

I have always loved reading about magic in books. When I was young, I lovedBewitched. I enjoyed I Dream of Jeannie.

But I didn't really have a lot of "magic" again until I started watching Charmed and reading the Harry Potter and Septimus Heap series.

The Media World Loves Magic

Charmed is about sisters who use their powers to fight evil. It was a drama for the most part, and I enjoyed the plots and the inclusion of Mythological and Legendary characters, ranging from Greek Gods and Angels to Nymphs, Leprechauns and Banshees. The show ended its run by tying up loose ends and showing how things would be in 40 or so years.

Bewitched and I Dream of Jeannie were both on TV in the 1960s. They were both sitcoms and showed the funny side of magic. Both shows probably trace their genre back to movies like Bell Book and Candle and Blythe Spirit (which probably inspired both the movies and TV show Topper, about a banker who moves into a house haunted by a bon vivant young couple of ghosts). BothBewitched and I Dream of Jeannie show the 60s ideal of domesticity within the framework of witchcraft or genie magic.

Harry Potter is a young orphan living with his aunt and uncle (who hate him and treat him very badly) when he finds out, after turning 11, that he is a wizard and that he will be starting Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Harry also finds out that when he was about a year old, the most evil Wizard in the Wizarding world, Lord Voldemort, murdered his parents in his quest to take over the world. But Lord Voldemort lost much of his power when he tried to kill Harry. In the process, Harry received a lightning bolt shaped scar on his forehead and also, it was revealed later, gained some powers. The seven book series, which ends with Voldemort's defeat, finished off with a glance into the future also.

Septimus Heap is the 7th son of the 7th son who inherited magical powers and becomes the apprentice to the "ExtraOrdinary" wizard, Marcia Overstrand. The books center around Septimus's home life and work life and the danger he faces.

Stem Og Stel

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OK, I admit it. I am a die-hard Mets fan. Please don't try to figure out why. It doesn't have anything to do with their won-loss record (obviously). I'm not a masochist. And, yes, the Mets have been in the World's Series more times than many other clubs in the years since 1962 (the first season the Mets were in existence). But, in the years they haven't made it to the post-season, the Mets have often tortured their fans.

This feels as though it's going to be one of those years. The past two years have been torturous. Two years ago, the Mets, for the first time, had the National League's leading hitter (by average), Jose Reyes. Last year, the Mets had the National League Cy Young Award winner, R A Dickey. Both players moved to other teams over the off-season (Reyes first to Miami in 2012 and, then, to the Toronto Blue Jays and R A Dickey signed with the Blue Jays over the 2012-2013 off-season).

So we're now in 2013 and they Mets, who started off reasonably well, have now lost 6 games in a row and are now 10 and 15. While I haven't seen them all, I have seen the end of the last two games and in both of them, they were not behind until the last play of the game. In both games they went into the 9th inning ahead by one (last night it was 2-1 and tonight it was 1-0). In neither game did the starting pitcher stink. In both games the hitters didn't hit much on either side.

Is it just me, or is anyone else wondering if the Mets will ever win another game?

(Oh, BTW, the title is "Let's Go Mets" backwards)

Madam, I'm Adam....

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Around these parts, there is a lot of talk on the news programs about a "Madam" who was running a "cat-house" in a building in Manhattan. There are blow by blow reports on how they arrested an upstate NY woman for running a brothel in the city (Manhattan) and how they put her bail at $2 million and how they won't let her out of jail even though a local lawyer put up his mansion as collateral. There are also reports on how they are "talking" to her second in command (her lawyer professes her innocence).

All this prosecution and scandal all begs the questions I have for them:

1) Is there no more important crime within the boundaries of New York City than prostitution?
2) Are our prisons so empty that we need to keep a woman in prison because she made a living from men's weakness?
And, most importantly:
3) In this day and age, why is prostitution still a crime?

Every time a story on this comes up on the news, all I can say is, "Who cares?" I don't care that this woman was a Madam. I don't care that she was running a brothel. I do think it would be better if there was zoning in the city for a "red light" district. I do wish they would legalize brothels and regulate them. I do wish they would be required to pay for medical treatment and blood tests that would make this process safer. And, if it were legal, it could be taxed: Sales tax, income tax, excise tax, you name it. This would lift some of the tax burden from the poor and middle class.

We have a perfect model for legalizing prostitution. We have Nevada. Use Nevada as a model for legalizing prostitution.

This case seems, to me, to be the perfect time to introduce such a law. Why should (mostly women) prostitutes be put in prison? Why aren't the "clients" put in prison? (Hint: Maybe because they're mostly men and often politically powerful?) From my perspective, going to a prostitute shouldn't be a legality issue. I think using a prostitute should be between a husband and wife, a man and his significant other, not a matter for law enforcement. Let's legalize prostitution and regulate and tax it. This is a moral matter, not a legal matter. Let's place it where it belongs and stop demonizing prostitution.

Heroes and Villains

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Back in August 2009, Failed Messiah had a post called America's Worst Rabbi. Read it and them come back here to continue.

While I agree with Rabbi Safran that people are making a much bigger deal of Bernie Madoff (I think the reactions to him, the out of proportion punishment he was given, a punishment that serves only to partially assuage people's need for vengeance, a punishment that murderers, rapists, kidnappers and terrorists often don't even get, shows that our society is overly obsessed with money and cares more about money than it does about people), I also think that there is little to admire in the man. Back then, I wrote a blog entry on this subject on my "Jewish Sandwich" blog called "He Madoff with all the Cash" which talks about my feelings about Bernie Madoff. To be honest, in retrospect, he could be let out of prison today and he will have already received the worst punishment, that being the knowledge that his actions led directly to his son's death by suicide.

All that having been said, I want to revisit the part of Rabbi Safran's article where he doesn't give "Sully" Sullenberger his due. "Sully", who, besides keeping a cool head and safely landing the plane in the Hudson River, besides not leaving the plane until he was certain EVERYONE was off the plane and safe, is also currently a spokesperson for St. Jude's Hospital (which shows where his heart is -- in helping others). And, this past week, we have a perfect contrast to Captain Sullenberger -- we have Captain Francesco Schettino of the Costa Concordia. Yes, I know someone is innocent until proven guilty, and I don't know what I would have done in his shoes. But I do know that people who tell the truth generally will tell a story that may expand as time goes on as the person recalls more details, but it doesn't change with the wind. Captain Schettino's story has changed more times than the death toll number has changed.

But even if he did "fall off the boat", he clearly didn't do all he could to save lives, clearly didn't search to see if there were people who needed help, didn't coordinate rescue efforts with his crew. Granted, his ship is larger than was "Sully's" airplane. But instead of being "proactive", instead of reporting right away that they needed help, he and his crew seem to have taking more time seeing if they could keep it quiet than trying to coordinate rescue. The passengers were left in the dark, not knowing what was happening, not knowing what to do to save themselves.

The Costa Concordia was a tragedy, a tragedy that could have been averted if the Captain had been a man more similar to Captain Sullenberger. I doubt the entire fault lies with the Captain, but, if Captain Sullenberger hadn't, G-d forbid, landed the plane with the skill and forethought he did, the ensuing tragedy would not have been his fault either. With his bravery and insight, his knowledge and his caring, no lives were lost. That, Rabbi Safran, is why, even though part of his actions was self-preservation, Captain Sullenberger is a hero and Captain Schettino isn't.

Reyes of Sunshine??????

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I have always had a "special" s*** list for men (or women) who left the spouse who stood with them through their training/college years only to have the spouse dump them when they made it big. In this category, I would place people like Jim Carrey, Roseanne Barr and Robin Williams.

And I'm a Mets fan. I've been a Mets fan for a long time, as long as I can remember. It's ingrained in me. For the most part, I like the players on the team (there have been a few exceptions over the year, but they have been few and far between).

Jose Reyes used to be one of my favorite players. He started with the Mets when he was very young. His 9 seasons with the Mets have been productive, but they have also been plagued with injuries. He gave the Mets a lot in those years, but the Mets also stuck with him, despite injuries.

After 9 seasons with the Mets, Reyes did something that no other Met ever did; he won the batting title. As a Mets fan, I was rooting really hard for him. But I also had some difficulty feeling really good about this because I knew in my heart of hearts that if he won the title, it would be VERY unlikely that he would sign with the financially plagued Mets.

To make matters worse, as soon as the rumor mill started grinding, it because more and more obvious that not only wouldn't Reyes sign with the Mets (apparently they weren't even talking), but he would be signing with a team in the Mets' own division, a team that was in the group of teams that they will be playing more than the other teams in Major League Baseball.

So now that the other cleat has dropped and Reyes signed a 10-year (longer than he played with the Mets) contract that rivals a huge Power Ball Jackpot, I am angry. I feel as though I was left after sticking with a spouse through the lean years (granted, Reyes years have rarely been totally lean, but, by the same token, his true potential never totally came through), after the Mets built a stadium designed to be a triples-hitter's (like Reyes) paradise, after the fans have loved him and cheered for him and showered him with affection that is rare among New York fans. Maybe he's spoiled. He doesn't realize how rare that sort of adulation is, particularly in NY. But I will adulate no longer. I will, from my perch in my house, boo him when he comes up against the team that nurtured him.

The nice thing about this happening now is that I have time before the season to forget Reyes, to move him from the beloved category to the despised category that I usually reserve for players who I heard abuse their spouses, children or animals. I hope by season's start some players I have loved will still be with the Mets (I just heard yesterday that Angel Pagan was traded away -- that I can't blame Angel for, any more than I can blame Carlos Beltran for leaving, since he was also traded). Good riddance, Jose Reyes. Take your dirty money and run.

Supplemental Security

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Disclaimer: I am NOT a doctor or even a licensed nutritionist or any other medical or para-medical person. I only know what I read and what I hear from my alternative medical practitioners. This is not supposed to be a substitute for medical advice from either allopathic or alternative medical practitioners.

I'm a long time vegetarian and vegan (34 and 22 years respectively). Though I didn't make either decision (giving up meat/poultry/fish/leather/fur first and then adding dairy/eggs/lanolin etc. to the list) for health reasons. But somewhere along the line I did begin to be interested in health and nutrition and, of late (within the past 5-10 years I suppose) I've been downright obsessed with it. Health and nutrition books populate my bookcases and I subscribe to several health and nutrition magazines and newsletters.

About the same time I "went vegan", I also stopped taking medications. I don't even take aspirin. Most people find this very surprising (many even find it hard to believe). There are situations where I might take medication (particularly if it would be to treat an acute infection or injury) but I would then have to deal with the "fallout" (for example, taking antibiotics causes an imbalance in the body of bacteria vs. yeast -- for the most part, they keep each other in check, but antibiotics kill all bacteria without regard for whether or not it is helpful to the body's function -- if I were to need to take antibiotics then after I would have to pump up my body on probiotics and prebiotics).

One of the reasons I read a lot about health and nutrition is that I need to read about supplements and herbs to know which ones help the body regain equilibrium (as in how to treat different health issues to assist your body in healing itself).

Toward that end, I read a lot about this subject. My Mom has even "jumped on the bandwagon" (not that she doesn't take any medication, but she also takes supplements, etc.) -- this began when she went to a doctor for some muscular pain she was having. The doctor asked her what she wanted him to do. All he could recommend is semiannual cortisone (or something similar????) shots, something that, thank goodness, she cringed over the very idea of.

I had just been reading in one of my health newsletters about vitamin D and how prevalent vitamin D deficiency is, particularly in seniors, particularly in people who avoid the sun and particularly in the Northeast (all three conditions apply to my Mom). And, as it turned out, one of the symptoms was muscle aches. So she tried increasing her vitamin D and within days, the aches went away.

A few days ago, she had a bit of food poisoning (she thinks, anyway) and I gave her ginger tea (hot water with a few slices of ginger root in it) and, voila! Within a short time, she was feeling better.

I myself take many supplements, including vitamin D, vitamin B complex, niacin and niacinimide, and iodine. Some I take on my own (though I run them by my alternative medical practitioner) and the others I take on the advice of my alternative medical practitioner. With the help of these supplements, I have lowered my blood pressure, my cholesterol (though I think my vegan diet made the biggest dent in the cholesterol since I eat precious little saturated fat and no cholesterol).

So I was pretty intrigued by an article about The 12 Most Dangerous Supplements. I was curious as to how many of them I had heard of (7) and how many I had ever taken (none). The ones I might have considered taking (and with herbal preparations one should always either do research or discuss with their medical practitioner (allopathic -- that's MDs -- or alternative -- naturopaths, osteopaths, chiropractors, etc.) or both (with me, I try to do both).

It's ironic, from my perspective, that they spend so much time and effort trying to make it seem as though thousands upon thousands of people are dying from taking bad supplements. But they ignore the myriad side effects of medications.

Just about every day I see commercials from some law firm trying to find victims of this or that medication (Avandia is the big one right now, but there are so many drugs with potentially fatal side effects that once Avandia isn't there another one will pop up). So why is there such a fuss made of supplements and herbal preparations?

Too many people just follow what their doctors say. But most of the doctors just take symptoms and make a diagnosis and from the diagnosis they pick a medication from the a list and write a prescription for it. Doctors get most of their information about drugs from the pharmaceutical company representatives, who convince the docs that these are the only solutions to these specific issues. So most people are putting their faith in the drug companies. And I think most of them are doing this without understanding the consequences.

Most drugs work by suppressing a symptom, whereas most nutrient supplements and herbal preparations work by helping the body heal itself. What happens with drugs is that they suppress a symptom (say high blood sugar) but they haven't been proven (and in many cases, as a matter of fact, they have been proven to NOT) to save lives. Oftentimes, they cause more deaths than they save. (An example is diabetes drugs -- there was a study to see what would be the ideal dosage of diabetes medications that would prevent heart attacks in diabetics. What they found -- they had to stop the study early -- was that the drugs themselves caused more heart attacks! Everyone was surprised even though this also happened in the late 1960s when they tried this with diabetes drugs from that era!

I think people need to remember that the doctors won't have to live with the consequences of their prescribing. Only the patient has to live (or die?) with the fallout. So it behooves everyone to take control of his/her own health. Do more research, read magazines and books. Be an advocate for yourself and your family members.