A note on Recent Reading

I'm pleased to have begun reading a little again. It has coincided with an abandonment of my computer at home and weight gain, but the weight gain is probably as attributable to my current obsession with NCIS as to my having taken up a little reading again.

Which is why my current and recent reading are not being updated much.

Nevertheless, some notes:

1. Tami Hoag's books do not seem worth bothering with again. Granted the one I chose seems to have been an intentional (and self-conscious) departure from her usual Forensic Science angle on murder mysteries, but I remain left with the impression that I might as well watch television.

2. Louise Erdrich never disappoints. Terrific storyteller, presenting fascinating meditations on identity. I sort of disagreed with the ending of Shadow Tag, I would've liked to see it go in another direction, but it was not untrue.

3. I can't find my copy of The Woman Warrior. Wah.

4. Luckily, I still have a couple of Amy Tan's on my bookshelves that I hadn't had time for before.

5. This is a picture of a Tennesee Rose of Sharon quilt, which i got curious about when Louise Erdrich mentioned it in Shadow Tag:

When I am an old woman, I may or may not wear purple, but I shall quilt.

How Diabetes Affects Vision

Here's a patient education video about the effect of Diabetes on vision:



(This lady has a great voice, doesn't she?)


In more depth, here are the folks from UC, who told us about Congestive Heart Failure last year:

How-To'sday: 6 Sunscreen Hints from the WashPost

For parents: 6 facts about applying sunscreen

-- Most sunscreens need time to react with substances in your skin before they become effective. Be sure to apply them at least 20 minutes before you go out in the sun.

-- Sunscreens containing zinc oxide or titanium dioxide create an invisible barrier to UV rays on top of your skin and start working immediately.

-- SPF stands for sun protection factor and determines how long that sunscreen will allow you to stay in the sun without burning. Use at least an SPF 15.

-- The Environmental Protection Agency puts out a national UV index forecast map, with sun protection advice, every day. You can even put in your own Zip code! Go to http://www.epa.gov/sunwise/uvindex.html.

-- Sun-protective clothing, which has a sunscreen in the fabric, really works (but can be expensive).

-- SunGuard is a laundry additive that gives your clothes long-lasting sun protection when you add a packet to your wash.

“Deep down, obesity is really an economic issue”

A study in Seattle compared BMI of shoppers at different food stores and concludes that people who shop at pricier grocery markets tend to be thinner. Since wealthier people tend to be thinner, this is not surprising (hence the duh-study tag), but it does call into question just how helpful programs aimed at educating children about nutrition will be for reducing obesity rates. Not that I'm against educating the nations' children about nutrition, it's about time, but it needs to be combined with programs that put daily physical activity back into schools and address some of the subsidization programs that make unhealthy foods so much cheaper than healthier food.

Here's the msnbc article about the study, and below is a chart from the article:

Supermarket obesity rates
Seattle researchers ranked supermarkets according to the obesity rates of their shoppers at these Northwest and national grocery stores. A body mass index (BMI) of 30 or higher indicated obesity.

— Whole Foods Markets: 4 percent
— Metropolitan Market: 8 percent
— Puget Consumers Cooperative (PCC): 12 percent
— Quality Food Centers (QFC): 17 percent
— Fred Meyer: 22 percent
— Safeway: 24 percent
— Albertsons: 38 percent
Source: University of Washington