Nina Lewis

Archive for January, 2009

The other day Craig, my husband, mentioned an article he read that said public library use has increased since the economy turned bad several months ago.  Why is that? I wondered.  Instead of paying outrageous prices for movie tickets, are library patrons checking out videos from the library?  Instead of purchasing books, are patrons saving money by checking them out?  Instead of paying hundreds of dollars to attend music concerts, the symphony, the opera, or live theater, are they spending time in the quiet of a library?

Pray tell, just what action is going on at the library?

At first, I didn’t think that there was much.  Then, I thought about all of the murders, the illicit love affairs, the political intrigue, the car chases, and the cowboy round-ups lurking on the shelves in the fiction area.  I thought of the mountain climbing adventures (by the likes of Krakauer), trips to the Antarctic (Ernest Shakelton), and the magnificent humanitarian projects (Greg Mortenson) on the shelves numbered 300.  I thought of the lush land of Costa Rica or the beckoning call of Tahiti that is tucked away in the 900 section.  I thought about how flat our world is, about the freakonomics of our economy, about the gruesome details of the genocide in Dafur, about the griping lives of those who survived the slaughter in Rwanda — all which can be found at the library.

All this thinking made the desire to visit the library surge through my veins.  My pulse quickened.  My breath became shallow.

I think I’ll whisk my husband away this evening for a wild Friday night of cavorting at our local library as our fun with a vengence activity!

During December, we spent less than $80 on gas.  Back in April before I started riding public transportation, we were spending almost $400 a month.  Quite a bit of savings.  Quite.

As the amount of money spent on gas has gone down, the time spent reading has sharply increased because of riding the bus.  I have just finished reading my 38th book — Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortensen and David Oliver Relin.  What a great book!  Very well-written!  Great descriptions of the rugged country of Pakistan, the hospitable people, and their desperate need for schools to educate their children — especially girls.

I was impressed with his explanation how education is the answer to fighting terrorism — how educating the children gives them an honorable way to support themselves and their families so the money dangled in front of them by men who want to groom them into being martyrs for terrorism is less appealing.

I was amazed at what one man could accomplish — building schools, women’’s vocational centers, medical centers.  He learned tribes’ customs, their language, dressed as they dressed, and gained trust and support of Pakistani leaders.  On his site, Central Asia Institute, there are some great pictures of the schools he has built and the children he has helped.

The site also mentions that the cost of educating one child for one month is $1.00.  One simple dollar.  For a whole month!!  Let’s do some math.  We have saved about $320 on gas per month for the last 8 months for a total of about $2560.  That much money could pay for one child’s education for 17 years.  Or 2 children’s for 8 years.  Or 213 children’s education for a year.

One man (Greg Mortensen) has been giving his life, his time, to helping educate those children.  What have I done?  And you???

Did you listen to Obama’s presidential inaugural address?  I did.  I was in the middle of a meeting — and we took time out to watch the proceedings for half an hour.  On a HUGE projection screen.  I was warmer than the one million people packed into the the mall between the White House and the Lincoln Memorial.  Much warmer.

I watched an evening news broadcast to see what they had to say about everything.  Was 10 minutes too late.  So, I watched Entertainment Tonight to see what they had to say.

Did they talk about how Obama challenged all countries in the world to reach out to those countries who were financially less fortunate?  No.  Did they talk about how he said that it was every country’s responsibility to help promote world peace?  No.  Did they say what a powerful speech he gave, how eloquent he was, how stirring he spoke?  No.

Did they describe his wife’s outfit?  Multiple times.  Did they do a close up of her shoes?  Yes, and the shoes that she wore last night.  Did they tell about the celebrities that were in attendance?  Yes.  Did they even mention celebrities who were in Germany and couldn’t attend?  Yes, and they even had those celebrities make comments.

Granted, this was Entertainment Tonight.  Granted their focus is on Entertainment with a capital E.  But couldn’t they just for a few minutes discuss Obama’s speech, his vision for America, and where he wants America to go and what he wants America to be?  Couldn’t they talk about things of substance????

I guess shoes are more imprortant . . .

What does every professional career woman need? What technology is a must-have? What Christmas present did my sweet husband give me that tickled my lil’ technology heart?

Why a little KupKake (2 GB USB drive), that’s what!

Imagine how impressed folks will be when I pull KupKake out to download files.  Imagine how envious my co-workers will be as I plug KupKake in during a meeting to access mission critical data.  Imagine how I could start a fad on campus among students who just HAVE to have their own KupKake.   Just imagine.