If You Read or Plan to Read e-Books, Consider This

29 Tuesday Nov 2011

Posted by Richard in Escapes and Pleasures

Long before the Kindle, iPad, Nook, etc., I started reading e-books (reading ‘electronically’) with what I think was the first quality device, a Sony Reader. For reasons not worth detailing, I moved on to the Kindle, and now I use the iPad for virtually all of my e-reading.

Probably about 70% of my reading is now on an e-reader. But what I want to highlight in this post is not the reason(s) why I am an advocate, but rather how it is now possible to use e-books and still support your local independent bookstore.

One of the concerns I always had about e-books was that I felt I was abandoning Politics and Prose, our local, wonderful independent bookstore that has grown from a small, one room store to one of the truly unique places in Washington, DC for folks interested in books, authors, and everything connected to them.

Yesterday, I took my iPad to P & P, and in about 20 minutes, I learned how to order books through P & P so that they would benefit from what I pay for my e-books (they get 40% of the cost of the e-book).

A Peking Duck Thanksgiving

26 Saturday Nov 2011

Posted by Richard in Escapes and Pleasures, Family and Friends

≈ 2 Comments

Favorite younger daughter Elizabeth has ‘Storified’ our annual tradition of substituting Chinese food for turkey. I’m not sure I understand ‘Storifying,’ but somehow it merges tweets, emails, pictures, and videos from various folks and allows the writer to tell a story.

Two Articles Worth Your Time

23 Wednesday Nov 2011

Posted by Richard in The Outer Loop

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Linked here are two articles having to do with what is occurring in our country which I believe are worthy of your time. Both were printed in the current (Nov. 28) issue of New York Magazine.

The first one is by conservative writer David Frum, a former economic speech writer for President George W. Bush, a former contributing editor to the National Review, and the author of six books. Here he writes about a Republican Party he doesn’t recognize and one he fears is self destructing.

“When Did the GOP Lose Touch with Reality,” by David Frum – – Click Here

The second link is the latest article by Frank Rich. He draws some parallels between John Kennedy and Barack Obama, not ones that you might expect but ones having to do with the climate of hate both have encountered.

“How Obama’s Presidency Mirrors JFK’s, by Frank Rich — Click Here

And as always, please feel free to comment on one or both.

Steve Jobs’ Biography: My Favorite (NF) Read This Year

23 Wednesday Nov 2011

Posted by Richard in Escapes and Pleasures

≈ 3 Comments

Those of you who have read this blog for some time now know that each year I post a list of favorite books recommended by readers of MillersTime. I will call for your best reads in the next few weeks and post the results in early January.

In the meantime, I don’t want to wait to write about the non fiction book I have enjoyed the most in 2011. I finished Walter Isaacson’s Steve Jobs just yesterday and have no doubt that this biography will stay with me long after 2011 passes.

Near the end of the 571 page book, Isaacson quotes Jobs’ wife Laurene Powell: “Like many great men whose gifts are extraordinary, he’s not extraordinary in every realm.”

That’s an understatement.

Two New Films About Love

21 Monday Nov 2011

Posted by Richard in Escapes and Pleasures

≈ 2 Comments

Here are two films we’ve seen recently in our Sunday morning Cinema Club which have (young) love as a central theme, one of which belongs on a ‘to see’ list when it hits the theaters shortly.

Photos from Auschwitz I & Auschwitz-Birkenau

18 Friday Nov 2011

Posted by Richard in Escapes and Pleasures

≈ 2 Comments

(The nine photos below were all taken at Auschwitz I and Auschwitz-Birkenau by Maria Jesus Verdugo during the recent trip Ellen and I made to Poland. We traveled with Andrew Rasiej and Maria, who is on her way to becoming an accomplished photographer. Click on the picture to see it in its larger version.)

Joan Didion’s “Blue Nights”

16 Wednesday Nov 2011

Posted by Richard in Escapes and Pleasures

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(Note: If you have not read but plan to read Joan Didion’s newest memoir, “Blue Nights,” be warned that the posting below contains ‘spoilers,” and it might make sense to wait to read my thoughts until after you have read her book.)

Joan Didion, an icon to many, has followed up her The Year of Magical Thinking, the memoir about the year she struggled to exist following the sudden death of her husband, with a second memoir.

J. Edgar, The Movie

16 Wednesday Nov 2011

Posted by Richard in Escapes and Pleasures

≈ 4 Comments

Walking out after viewing the film J. Edgar, I said to my wife that something seemed wrong about the movie. Despite it being captivating and worth seeing, I was bothered.

The early reviews have been mostly positive, particularly about the directing, by Clint Eastwood, a director I’ve come to admire, the acting, of Leonardo DiCaprio, an actor who I’ve grudgingly come to admire also, and the writing, of Dustin Black (Milk).

Abigail Sarah Orgad: 1 on 11/11/11

14 Monday Nov 2011

Posted by Richard in Family and Friends

≈ 5 Comments

Retirement 2.0

13 Sunday Nov 2011

Posted by Richard in Family and Friends

≈ 5 Comments

When I last wrote about retiring, I had left my job of working with troubled kids and their families and was about six months into ‘retirement.’

Now it’s been three (or is it four?) years. And things seem quite different.

‘It Even Happened to Joe Paterno”

10 Thursday Nov 2011

Posted by Richard in Go Sox

≈ 4 Comments

As a follow up to the excellent column I linked to at this site the other day (The End of Everything at State College, Click Here if you haven’t read it), I add a column from this morning’s Washington Post, written by the wonderful sports columnist Thomas Boswell.

Boswell always seems to see clearly and say things well, often things we may be thinking but haven’t put words to yet.

Click Here to read Boswell’s column.

“The End of Everything at State College”

08 Tuesday Nov 2011

Posted by Richard in Go Sox

≈ 5 Comments

Although at this site I tend to focus on baseball, I also follow sports in general.

Those of you who know of what has occurred at Penn State with Jerry Sandusky and all those around him have no doubt read numerous articles about this tragedy. If you haven’t read about it, start with the 23-page grand jury report (you can get to it from this site).

There is no sugar coating possible here.

Thanx to a Facebook posting by a former colleague, Justin Barrasso, I came across the following article and pass it on. It’s not about the facts nor about the outrage(s) per se but about the corollary damage that comes when those we invest with power and prestige fail to do what is right.

It Wasn’t ‘The Final Solution’

07 Monday Nov 2011

Posted by Richard in Family and Friends

≈ 11 Comments

The railway tracks. Click Here to see more photos by Maria Jesus Verdugo.

It Wasn’t ‘The Final Solution’

Thankfully.

A month ago I reversed the death walk that many of the 1.1-1.5 million Jews exterminated at Auschwitz-Birkenau were forced to make.

Whether or not you’ve visited this extermination camp or have simply seen pictures in any of the now many museums, films, or books dedicated to the memories of this and other Nazi camps, you probably have a picture in your mind of Jews being unloaded from boxcars and standing on the ‘platforms.‘

For Hard Core ‘Base Ball’ * Fans

05 Saturday Nov 2011

Posted by Richard in Go Sox

≈ 13 Comments

Now that we have to suffer with no beisbol (as my friend Nelson refers to it) until the mid Feb. spring training reporting time, I thought I might offer a small contest for the Hot Stove League participants amongst you.

So here it is:

Predict some occurrence that will happen this winter (e.g., Pujois signing with the Yankees, Tito being chosen as manager of the Cubs, or perhaps Torre going to the Sox as a manager, etc).

Bill Moyers: “Democracy Begins at the Bottom”

04 Friday Nov 2011

Posted by Richard in The Outer Loop

≈ 2 Comments

For those of you who have followed MillersTime’s The Outer Loop blog, you know that episodically I post or link to articles and speeches that I believe help us understand what is happening in our country.

Once again I turn to Bill Moyers for his insights. This time it is a speech he gave in October 2011 celebrating the 40th anniversary of Ralph Nader’s Public Citizen organization.