Book Review: Wonder by R. J. Palacio

I always read the Friday and Saturday Wall Street Journal editions because they include numerous cultural opinion pieces as well as travel advice and recipes from renowned chefs.  In this one edition there was a two page article on See Grown-ups Read.  It concerned the new phenomenon of adults reading books targeted to pre-teens and teens i.e. The Twilight series as well as Hunger Games.  One of the books mentioned was Wonder which was published in Feb. of 2012.  So I decided to “satisfy my curiosity” by reading the book.  It was meant to be read by 8-12 year olds.  No matter.  This book is so well written it can give an adult leaky eyes.  The novel is centered around 10 year old August Pullman, an ordinary boy, according to August (Auggie).  He plays X-box, rides a bike, eats ice cream and has a wonderfully loving family.  The thing is Auggie is not an ordinary boy.  Auggie has a horrible facial disfigurement and has undergone 27 reconstructive surgeries.  He tells us that, “I won’t describe what I look like.  Whatever you’re thinking, it’s probably worse.”  The author does tell us about Auggie’s craniofacial abnormalities via his sister, Via, and his other schoolmates.  He has “a mushed up face”, he “eats like a tortoise”, and he has cheeks “that looked punched in”. Read more...

Girls, Read This so You Can See Ryan Gosling Shirtless

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OK.  So I got your attention.  The picture is at the bottom of the blog but I put it there because I want you to read this article. It's by Rob Lazebnik, a writer for "The Simpsons".  Just by telling you that should also get your attention.  The theme of the article is: "Why are so many leading men suddenly so buff? So beware the pernicious trickle down effect for the average guy."  I found this article highly amusing because now it's the guys time to feel the pressure to look like Brad Pitt.  How many times, girls, have you heard your man say, "Wow, isn't Charlize Theron a knockout.  She's on my top ten list."  And then they proceed to tell you their entire list. Well, it's payback time!  You go Ryan, Hugh, Brad, Leonardo, Marky Mark, Matthew... Read more...

For a Sick Friend: First Do No Harm

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I saw this article in the April 13 edition of the WSJ.  It's not something I really wanted to ponder on a beautiful spring day, but ponder I did.  The article discusses how we should act and treat our friends or family members who have critical or terminal illnesses.  The reason I'm pondering this is because I am a woman of a certain age.  Meaning that the majority of the people around me are also of a certain age and are now more prone to critical or terminal illnesses (like breast or prostate or colon cancers).  Yuck :((  So, here's a primer by Letty Cottin Pogrebin from her book "How to Be a Friend to a Friend Who's Sick".  Conversing with the ill can be awkward, but keeping a few simple commandments makes a huge difference:  Read more...

Olga(75) to Helen(77) Let's Run Over the Homeless Guy and other Useful Info

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It's true.  Back in 2008 two elderly women were convicted of running over and killing a homeless man for his life insurance.  How did they know he had life insurance you may query?  They took the policy out on him.  They took the policy out, put him in an apartment for two years (the minimum I guess you have to live to get awarded the policy), then they got him drunk and drugged up, dumped him in an alley, backed up and gunned the SUV, and ran over him and killed him.  Unfortunately, as bright as these two ladies might appear to be, when they ran over the gentleman, they damaged the undercarriage of their SUV and called a tow truck.  Darwin awards anyone?  They will spend the rest of their lives in prison. Read more...