C3 Framework and the Religious Studies Supplement

I heard this on NPR’s “Fresh Air.”  Actually, I heard bits of it on two separate trips. It’s one of those broadcasts that fascinated me so, I had to find it on the internet and listen again.

Siddhartha won the Pulitzer Prize in General Non-fiction for The Emperor of all Maladies:  A Biography of Cancer in 2011.  He’s like the Carl Sagan of medicine.  He explains things in a way that both simplifies and enthralls.

First a little biography on Siddhartha:  He’s an oncologist and a cancer researcher.  He has a PhD from Stanford University of Oxford where he studied cancer-causing viruses and he’s a graduate of Harvard Medical School.  Siddhartha works on discovering new treatments for cancer using innovative biological methods.

Clicking on this photo will direct you to Amazon.

“Fresh Air” talked to him about his new book The Gene:  An Intimate History.  I took notes from the 45-minute podcast to create my post. Although this new book has a strong cancer component, it encompasses much more.

According to Siddhartha, the “Centerpiece of the book is that biology is not destiny. But some aspects of biology and some aspects of destiny are commanded very strongly by genes.”

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Thanks to my Texan friend and BAM roommate, Pam Lutrell, and the folks at WearUsOut, I got this pair of GlitterflopS.  Aren’t they gorgeous? Each pair gets hand assembled in Texas and includes real Swarovski Crystals.  You can’t see it here, but when I walk, I make my very own moving disco ball of colored lights, when the sun reflects off the crystals.  Fun! Is that saddle leather used for the straps? Indeed, yes.

That’s all wonderful. It’s great to be stylish, but the best part is the feel.  The footbeds are “high density” memory foam.  The moment I stepped into these sweet GlitterflopS, comfort nestled all around my feet.

So what exactly is high density memory foam?

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A rabbit the size of a cocker spaniel

August is County Fair month.  I mean to go every year. With all that intention, it’s been a long time.  This year I went.  4-H nostalgia washed over me. The cows, the pigs, the rabbits.  The cookies, the pies, the veggies. This week, I’m interviewing two blue ribbon exhibitors for newspaper feature articles.  The 11-year-old scone baker, started 4-H when she was six!

Maybe all that nostalgia is my eyes stopped  National Geographic’s Why Animals Make Us Better People.”  Dr. Pol is a 73-year-old veterinarian and star of The Incredible Dr. Pol television show. He grew up in the Netherlands, but lives in rural Michigan.  Hey, that’s where I grew up.

Loved-One calls SPAM “mystery meat.”

“It’s not a mystery,” I tell him.  “It’s pretty much just pork.  It’s probably simpler than most of the food you eat.”

 

Hormel offers 18 different varieties of SPAM:

SPAM is incredibly popular in Hawaii.

Maybe it’s because of the indefinite shelf-life (although Hormel says the flavor may start to change after the third year.) Maybe it’s because it takes up so little space in the pantry and requires no refrigeration until opened.  Maybe it’s because one little can contains six servings, which makes it about 50¢ a serving.  Maybe it’s because