Book Munchies

I've been a bookworm since graduation. While in school I would want to bury my nose in a good book occasionally, but my studies destroyed my motivation to read leisurely. Now that I have no more academic required readings I decided to participate in "book mooching" via bookmooch.com. My sister - queen of the bookworms - introduced me to the website last summer. Despite her constant pleas for me to join, I did not have the time or patience to give it a chance.

It's a nice concept. You post books you want to give away and in return you receive points to "mooch" other books. The only fee is the postage to mail books to moochers. Yet I'm debating whether to continue with it since my first mooching attempt was successful, but not so pleasant. I got a request for my book Up High in Trees by Kiara Brinkman from a woman in Illinois. I kindly sent it to her and was quite miffed when my feedback comment from her was "Thanks, though the book was really bent because it wasn't packaged well."

The remark put me right back in the classroom and made me feel like a teacher was scolding me on a barely passing grade. Though I am suspicious of this moocher (the book was thick so it couldn't have been that bent and points are refundable, if the giver agrees to do so... just think about that) it angers me. This is a recreational activity that's supposed to be fun, not something to be graded on.

Catholics for Obama

I usually don't like to immerse myself into political and/or religious controversy, but this video needs to be seen. Is shatters the notion that all catholics are raging liberal hating conservatives. If only all catholics could see it this way.

Hustle and Bustle

Yesterday, stuck in the usual clog of traffic getting onto 95/128n off the Mass Pike I passed by irritated drivers, slumped over their steering wheels in agony. There was the usual battle to of who can merge first where drivers ignore the attempts of those beside them to get into the lane. I am guilty of being a passive-aggressive participant in this game from time to time.

I started wondering to the tune of angry horn honking: Is all this negative energy worth it? If we are granted our wish of surpassing the cars next to us we're only .08776 seconds ahead then we would have been. What's the point of getting stressed out over something that is, for the most part, out of our reins?

Annoyance is inevitable. But why bother fan the flames when we can use the time to, oh I don't know, relax?

Oh, but who relaxes anymore? Everything nowadays is push, push, shove, shove, bitch, bitch, moan, moan.

Barbie Categories: Princess or Hooker

For nostalgia's sake and ha-has my boyfriend and I ventured to a Toys R Us the other night. Expecting to be overcome with the nauseating cheesiness of stuffed animals and silly figurines, a trip down Barbie doll aisle shattered my presumption.

I came face to face with what appears to be a new brand of Barbie. Her new look - heavy applied black eyeliner, gigantic hoop earrings and cherry red puckered lips.


This Barbie looks like she belongs outside a sleazy bar, chain smoking, batting her eyes lashes to goo-goo eyed greasy men - not stacked on toy store shelves serving as a beauty icon to young girls. If it's not bad enough to see woman walking the streets in this makeup montage, I fear 12 year olds will soon sport the getup.

It's a drastic change from my Barbie doll collecting days, about 13 years ago. The dolls then had an angelic touch. Long, flowing locks, shiny pink gloss and sparkling eyes. The dresses so wide and fluffy they look like over sized flowers.

Sadly, even a Barbie is not exempt from the battle many women in the media face of trying not to fall into the two demeaning categories of the hooch or the angel.

School's out... forever?

As summer fades into fall and my siblings are frantically finishing up summer reading and shopping for dorm accessories before another nine months of academia I'm trying to comprehend that, for the first time since preschool, I will not be returning to the land of learning.

Yes, I am happy about this. I've successfully earned a degree. It still is strange ending something that has been so constant. It's like removing training wheels off a bike. For the majority of my life, I've had teachers and textbooks to guide me.

But as I learned (the hard way) as a child, keep those training wheels on too long and there will be that kid who notices and gets the whole neighborhood chanting "SCAREDY CAT, SCAREDY CAT!"

And I am no "scaredy" cat.

Cancer threats really are everywhere

It is common knowledge that certain electronics, such as cell phones, are thought to transmit harmful, cancer-causing radiation.

A story on Boston.com today states the Director of the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, Dr. Ronald B. Herberman, urged his staff to limit their cell phone use because of his unpublished study that suggests cell phones are linked to cancer.

The article says that studies have been done in the past that disprove this theory, but Herberman insists his findings reveal a correlation between the two.

As if this information isn't enough to make you want to ditch your digital digits, in today's nytimes.com's health section there's a story about granite counter tops and how they are thought to be guilty of radiating cancerous rays responsible for lung cancer.

Who would have thought something like chopping vegetables on your counter top is as risky as smoking a half a pack a day?

Neither of these studies are a hundred percent determined nor do either say the risk (if there is one) is very high. Yet, a questions still arises - should we waste away our lives worrying and obtain full body bubble suits to repel harmful substances from festering our bodies or enjoy our lives without woes and take our chances?

Mt. Etna: Sicily's Friendly Volcano

From afar, Mt. Etna, an active volcano on the northeast edge of Sicily, looks a though it’s embedded into the skyline. The faint outlines of the mountain against the cloudy sky resemble a page in a coloring book, waiting for a child to scribble in its colors. My ears pop from the pressure as the bus carries us up the mountain. Now Etna, looks like a giant sundae oozing with chocolate syrup as we travel up the windy roads. Black rock peeks through the blanket of snow covering the rocky terrain.

The song “Somewhere over the Rainbow” playing from the ipod on the tour bus fits the scenery. Traveling through Etna’s evolving landscape is like visiting another planet. Brightly colored lemon and orange trees at the base, rich from the volcanoes ash, give way to thin and bent looking trees destroyed from past lava flows. Every so often, a small village appears.

Etna stands 10,991 feet tall on the edge of the city of Catania and it has been estimated that she has been active for over two million years. The inhabitants of these villages do not live in fear of Etna, but rather admire her for her power and beauty. To them, she is their queen and they are her obedient loyal subjects.

The higher part of Mt. Etna is much cooler than the temperature at the base. Mounds of harden lava cover the area and a small gift shop, that looks more like a log cabin, stands among the rubble. Patterns of trees march up the vast valleys. Green pines stand out against barren meek trees with windy white branches. The sun silhouettes the trees and makes the snow sparkle. Beauty this overwhelming makes it hard to believe that the mountain is capable of spewing hot lava.

“When it erupts, we’re drawn to it,” says Rosa Rizza, a Sicilian tour guide. “You stop. You figure out which mouth it’s coming from. If lava is heading to your house you wait until the very last minute. You wait for a miracle.”

Rizza explained that during an eruption in 1992 a priest who lived on the mountain took out a statue of the Madonna, set it on the ground facing the direction of the lava flow and knelt down to pray. Miraculously, the lava stopped 15 meters from the statue and only water was found under it.

Unlike Hawaiian volcanoes, there have been very few deaths from Etna’s eruptions. An article in National Geographic said the reason for this is that the lava moves slowly, so residents have enough time to evacuate. Explosive eruptions are not frequent and when they do occur they are closer to the peak. Etna has even been nicknamed “friendly giant” by the Italians.

Sicilians not only see Etna’s lava flows as non-threatening but welcome the event as a gift. The ash from eruptions fertilizes soil and is even thought to make hair grow.

“We love her because she spews ashes on our plants,” says Rizza. “It is the best fertilizer from the earth, which is energy. If you have a plant that’s dying and you sprinkle some ash on it then that plant is going to look right up at you and say ‘Ciao!’”

The amount of energy released from Etna’s eruptions is astounding. A report in Science Daily said Etna is one of the most active volcanoes in the world and is continuously erupting.

“If man could capture the energy from eruptions we would be able to light up the entire earth continent for 30 years,” says Rizza.

The lava flows are unpredictable, but there is one warning sign. Before an eruption Etna starts puffing black smoke. The closest scientist have ever come to a prediction is four days. The last lava flow was in 2001. Harden lava still remains on the premises of the volcano in the form of black rocks.

“There is no pattern. When it erupts, it erupts,” says Rizza. “The volcano never ceases to surprise us.”

Rizza says erupting volcanoes are nothing to worry about, it’s actually a good sign that the earth is functioning just fine.

“As long as volcanoes keep erupting we’re ok,” she says. “It means our planet is still alive, Volcanoes are part of life. We relate Etna to life - not death.”