One of the greatest pleasures in life, one of the things that makes me feel truly affluent, is the luxury of a monthly massage. My massage therapist is also a friend, but even if she were not, I would still say that she is the best massage therapist … [Read more...]
Madison Monday: Voices for Children
January 17, 2012 By Leave a Comment
I suspect it is not just academics whose working lives are ruined by the persistence of pointless meetings. As a sociologist, I fully understand that sometimes the point of a meeting is more subtle than what’s stated on the printed agenda; sometimes … [Read more...]
Peace is every breath: sitting and breathing
January 13, 2012 By Leave a Comment
In our house we have a little table that sits behind the couch. My husband calls the table an altar, but being a little less comfortable with any language that hints at religion, I’ll just go with table. On it sit some little statues of the Buddha … [Read more...]
Book Review: Hannah Coulter, membership and modern life
January 11, 2012 By Leave a Comment
It’s not a secret that I love Wendell Berry. One of the first posts I ever wrote on this blog was about Jayber Crow, and I find a way to include a Wendell Berry book on about every top ten list I possibly can. Recently I re-read Hannah Coulter for a … [Read more...]
Madison Monday: The Daryl R. Karns Natural History Trails at Hanover College
January 9, 2012 By Leave a Comment
For many of us in the academic world, today was the first day back to classes. The first day back on campus. Does this seem infinitely harder to do in the middle of winter than it did back in September, when you could convince yourself that summer … [Read more...]
Madison Monday: A Year on Trail 3
January 2, 2012 By Leave a Comment
It’s the new year, and time for reflection on the year past and the year to come (happy and healthy reflection, rather than the disassociative sort). Last year this time I was embarking on my happiness project. There were a couple of updates on my … [Read more...]
Book Review: Internal landscapes and The Road from Coorain
December 31, 2011 By Leave a Comment
So, I exaggerated in my brief description of this memoir by Jill Ker Conway in my top nonfiction books of 2011. It’s only the first seven pages of this book that are description of the Australian landscape. But those seven pages were enough to make … [Read more...]
Disassociation and the human condition
December 29, 2011 By 2 Comments
Everyone knows that the holidays, in addition to being a time of great joy and celebration, can also be a pretty sad time for a lot of folks. Rates of depression increase during the holidays, and suicides along with it. Why? Because people feel left … [Read more...]
Top Nonfiction Books of 2011
December 28, 2011 By Leave a Comment
I find comparing books of fiction to books of nonfiction too difficult. All in all, the experience of reading fiction versus nonfiction is very different, though one of the books below might be the exception to that rule. And separating the two … [Read more...]
Top Ten Fiction Books of 2011
December 27, 2011 By Leave a Comment
As the last week of 2011 trickles away, I’m glad to report I have achieved my sole reading goal for the year and hit the 100-book mark. As of today, I’m officially at 102, which I believe bests last year by one book. Last year I wrote my top ten list … [Read more...]
