Another book to muse about ~ and a cat like mine

Matters of Life and Death ~ by John B. Cobb, Jr., 1991, ethics, 122 pages

Using a bioethical approach, Cobb tackles some of the most controversial issues facing society today — something other writers have often failed to do in the past.  His four major topics are animal well-being, death with dignity, the moral status of the fetus, and sexual activity outside of marriage.  As you can see on the cover, he includes chapters on the right to kill, the right to die, the right to live, and the right to love.

In Ghost in the Garden by Carol H. Behrman (1984), which I rated 10/10, I came across a passage that made me stop and think of how it describes my cat almost exactly, except for the eyes:  "The kitten was coal-black except for a snowy white patch on its chest.  It had almond-shaped, glittering blue-green eyes, and its shiny black fur was softer than silk" (p. 35).  Clawdia's eyes are definitely yellow, sometimes shading towards green.

The Thinker musing about something

I read that magnesium may help prevent dementia

Some folks who live in my senior center are thinking about Alzheimers (or dementia in general) because a neighbor with symptoms was just moved somewhere else.  So I've been poking around the internet.  Here's some of what I've found out:

If you forget the name of a neighbor who just moved in or it took you ten minutes to remember where you left your phone, it is more than likely just part of aging that can happen to anyone.  Age-related changes that are often mistaken for symptoms of dementia include:

• forgetting why you walked into a room
• taking longer to retrieve common words or names
• finding it harder to pay attention to detail
• misplacing things, but finding them later
• taking longer to learn something new
• finding it harder to multitask

On the other hand, I read that magnesium in foods may be good for avoiding dementia.  Not taking magnesium supplements, but eating food that has magnesium in it.  It's found in many plant-based and animal foods, such as:

• leafy greens
• nuts
• beans
• whole grains
• seeds
• milk
• yogurt

When I read "leafy greens," I immediately thought of Popeye and his spinach.  I found a couple of iconic illustrations of the cartoon character for this post and have been singing his song in my head:

I'm Popeye the Sailor Man,

I'm Popeye the Sailor Man.

I'm strong to the finich

'cause I eats me spinach.

I'm Popeye the Sailor Man.

Okay, folks, do you eat your spinach?  Drink your milk like good little girls and boys?  Buy whole wheat bread at the store, as I do?  Okay, I think we're all set.  And yes, "finich" is the way Popeye pronounces "finish."  I have milk with my cereal and eat yogurt most days.  I eat beans, and my favorite salad has nuts in it.  Maybe all of that is why I'm still able to live on my own at 83 and keep doing things for myself, like grocery shopping.

Quantum Healing: Exploring the Frontiers of Mind/Body Medicine ~ by Deepak Chopra, M.D., 1989, psychology, 278 pages

Inspired by the unexplained recovery of patients in his own practice who had been given just a few months to live, Dr. Chopra began his search for answers.  After returning to his native India to explore humanity’s most ancient healing tradition, Ayurveda, he combined those insights with Western medicine, neuroscience, and physics.  What he discovered — a "network of intelligence" in the human body with the potential to defeat cancer, heart disease, even aging itself — forms the basis of this book.

Since few people seem to read what I post on other days of the week, I also want to share my Saturday Stuff post about what was on my mind yesterday.  So click HERE to read about another book I found on my shelves:  Beautiful Child by Torey Hayden.

Oh, no, I almost missed it!  The third Sunday in July is National Ice Cream Day!

Deb Nance at Readerbuzz

hosts The Sunday Salon.

Saturday stuff

Beautiful Child: The Story of a Child Trapped in Silence and the Teacher Who Refused to Give Up on Her ~ by Torey Hayden, 2002, psychology, 326 pages

Seven-year-old Venus Fox never spoke, never listened, never even acknowledged the presence of another human being in the room with her.  Yet an accidental playground “bump” would release a rage frightening to behold.  The school year that followed would be one of the most trying, perplexing, and ultimately rewarding of Torey Hayden’s career, as she struggled to reach a silent child in obvious pain.  It would be a strenuous journey beset by seemingly insurmountable obstacles and darkened by truly terrible revelations — yet encouraged by sometimes small, sometimes dazzling breakthroughs — as a dedicated teacher remained committed to helping a "hopeless" girl — and patiently and lovingly leading her toward the light of a new day.

Beginning ~ with our war against the sea

Beginning

This is the story of Man's [sic] newest victory in an age-old conflict — his war against the sea.  It is a story of great moral courage, of scientific skill, of million-dollar gambles; and though it affects every one of us directly or indirectly, it is almost entirely unknown to the general public.

For almost a century, the cables could carry only telegraph signals; then the development of submerged repeaters made possible the first transatlantic telephone circuits in 1956.  But only one year later, the dawn of the Space Age presented the cables with a new challenge — communications satellites.  This book is a complete though non-technical account of this electronic adventure, which has profoundly changed the patterns of human life.

Voice Across the Sea ~ by Arthur Charles Clarke, 1974, history, 228 pages

The laying of the first transatlantic cable, just over a hundred years ago, was the Victorian equivalent of the Apollo Project.  It was also almost as well documented by the leading journalists and artists of the time, for it was linked with the saga of the famous Great Eastern, the only ship in the world that could carry enough cable to reach from Europe to America.

"How inappropriate to call this planet 'Earth' when it is clearly 'Ocean'." — Arthur C. Clarke (1917-2008)

Footnote:  This hardcover turned up during my recent move.  The dust jacket shows that it originally cost $10, but the sticker still on it shows that I paid a mere 25-cents.  Only a quarter!  This copy had once been a library book in a private girls school in Chattanooga, and exactly one student ever checked it out!  The Dewey Decimal System (621.382) indicates that Donna B. (that student) was interested in Applied Physics.  Well, so am I.

Gilion at Rose City Reader hosts Book Beginnings on Fridays.

Thursday Thoughts, once again

1.  I love this quote from The Girl at the Back of the Bus, a novel by Suzette D. Harrison about a girl whose life was changed because she witnessed Rosa Parks' refusal to move when the driver told her to give her seat to a white man, even though she was already in "the colored section" of the bus:

"Whenever I was tired enough to quit, my mind would float back to that night on the bus, recalling a woman who'd tired of her rights being infringed upon.  Her sitting gave me the courage to stand" (p. 289).

2.  Was it a coincidence that I decided to get an extra $20 cash from the bank yesterday, and a neighbor asked to borrow $20 that evening because she was out of cash?

3.  The Future Is Analog: How to Create a More Human World ~ by David Sax, 2022, technology, 289 pages ~ This is the day I'll get this book that I put on hold because a friend recommended it.

I read between the lines of my books

I love the title of our University City newsletter (Between the Lions) because I love to play with words.  Those two lions symbolize the city and are on opposite sides of Delmar Blvd, across from City Hall at the roundabout.

Word of the Day

round·a·bout / noun = a road junction at which traffic moves in one direction around a central island to reach one of the roads converging on it; a traffic circle.  Example:  "Exit the roundabout at the first right to go to my old church."

Idiom of the Day

read between the lines = look for or discover a meaning that is hidden or implied rather than explicitly stated.  Example: "Do you also read between the lines?"

Two books on my mind this TWOsday

The Little Prince ~ written and illustrated by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, 1943, translated by Richard Howard, translation 2000, fairy tale, 100 pages

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry first published The Little Prince in 1943, only a year before his Lockheed P-38 vanished over the Mediterranean during a reconnaissance mission.  More than a half century later, this fable of love and loneliness has lost none of its power.  The narrator is a downed pilot in the Sahara Desert, frantically trying to repair his wrecked plane.  One day, his efforts are interrupted by the apparition of a little prince, who asks him to draw a sheep.  "In the face of an overpowering mystery, you don't dare disobey," the narrator recalls.  "Absurd as it seemed, a thousand miles from all inhabited regions and in danger of death, I took a scrap of paper and a pen out of my pocket."  And so begins their dialogue, which stretches the narrator's imagination in all sorts of surprising, childlike directions.  I wanted to re-read this book and was surprised to find that my library did not have a copy.  So I ordered it.  When it arrived, I had just finished a book, so I started this one the day I got it.

Other Dimensions: Ten Stories of Science Fiction~ edited by Robert Silverberg, 1973, SF stories, ix + 178 pages

1. "—And He Built a Crooked House" ~ by Robert A. Heinlein
2. "Narrow Valley" ~ by R.A. Lafferty
3. "Wall of Darkness" ~ by Arthur C. Clarke
4. "The Destiny of Milton Gomrath" ~ by Alexei Panshin
5. "Stanley Toothbrush" ~ by Terry Carr
6. "Inside" ~ by Carol Carr
7. "The Captured Cross-Section" ~ by Miles John Breuer
8. "Mugwump 4" ~ by Robert Silverberg
9. "The Worlds of If" ~ by Stanley G. Weinbaum
10. "Disappearing Act" ~ by Alfred Bester

In this anthology of ten science fiction stories reprinted from genre magazines, Silverberg seems to have been trying to select a group of stories as far apart from each other in theme and style as he could.