Posts for category ‘overheard in my house’

- So apparently I’m not being an alarmist when I fret over the future of our brains. Study shows kids spend every waking minute online. In related news, parents “can still make rules and it still makes a difference.” You don’t say!

- The founder of Taco Bell died and much to my surprise, his last name was Bell. When I relayed this bit of information to my husband, he was quiet for a second and then asked, “What was his first name?” (If that is not hilarious to you, I don’t know what would be.)

- Interesting article on snacking culture, though it doesn’t reach a satisfying conclusion, which to me is: Fifty years ago when we did not have rampant obesity and metabolic disorders, people were mostly drinking whole milk, eating delicious fatty meats, and not subjecting themselves to spinning and Pilates. Guess what didn’t exist? The snack food industry. (Read Michael Pollan’s In Defense of Food.) A nutritionist quoted in the article says kids will self regulate. But we already know nurture can trump nature, and if adults are constantly offering snacks, eventually kids will lose touch with hunger.

- Do you read Tayari Jones’ blog? You should. She always finds the best links for writers. For instance.

- Story on NPR this morning about areas of Haiti where communities are coming together to help each other though outside aid is not reaching them. Moving.

Last night while watching the Grammy Awards, I called to G., who was in the kitchen, “Come in here. You’re missing Shakira.”

“Who?”

“Shakira. She does things with her hips.”

“You do things with your hips.”

“Not like this.”

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After reading Magic or Madness, I wanted to go back to a favorite childhood fantasy novel, The Silver Crown by Robert C. O’Brien. You know him best as the author of Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH (another favorite). When I was at the King’s English awhile back, I noticed a brand new beautiful hardcover re-issue of the book and bought it, intending to give it to a young friend. I greedily kept it, and am getting set to read. When I was putting it in my “now reading” file, I couldn’t get the cover art of the edition I have. I have this cover, designed by Peter McCarty.

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Are you tired of reading interviews with me yet? I hope not, because there’s another! It’s over at the fabulous Teens Read Too site, which is ably and lovingly managed by enthusiast Jennifer Wardrip. Check out the interview.

Andrew Auseon has decided that the Internet is woefully bereft of Andy (too true), and that he needs more fun in his life (don’t we all). What better way to bring in the fun, bring in the Andy, than with an Andy-centric comic book! (Don’t let it make you sad. I think it will have a happy-ish ending.)

Authors Supporting Intellectual Freedom celebrates Banned Books Week every week, in a way, by championing “those who stand against censorship, especially of books for and about teens.” Just think: if Robert Cormier’s The Chocolate War had been successfully banned at my school and I’d never read it, my career as a writer might never have started.

You know there are those sites Overheard in New York and Overheard in San Francisco? I am starting a new feature: Overheard in My House. This week:

S: (Singing while folding laundry) “Don’t bring me doowwwwn, Bruce! Don’t bring me dow-ow-own, Bruce!”

G: Bruce?

S: Bruce. You know that ELO song, Don’t Bring Me Down?

G: Yeah, but…Bruce?

S: Well, what else could they be saying?

G: (shrugs) I just don’t think it’s “Bruce.”

I checked the all-knowing Internet. Apparently there is a longstanding tradition of people believing the word is “Bruce” when in fact ELO is singing a nonsense word (or a German word, depending on which side of the debate you fall).

America’s Next Top Model. Oh, Tyra. Tyra Tyra Tyra. You are turning into a charicature of yourself. (And lose the wig already. Stop talking about it. DO it. And I would really love to see Mr. Jay’s natural hair color while we’re at it.) But the season looks promising.

Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. So far, so wonderful. For some reason, I never became a West Wing viewer – I think it was on a night when I was doing stuff, or I missed the initial launch and it’s hard for me to get into shows unless I was there from the beginning. I can say that I’ve been a fan of Aaron Sorkin from the beginning, truly, because we saw the touring production of A Few Good Men, the play, in San Francisco a couple of years before it was a movie. Michael O’Keefe had the lead, and I remember thinking, wow, this writing is awesome. I’m looking forward to seeing where this show will go. And by the way, also looking forward to 30 Rock, which debuts in October and seems to be about the same thing ast Studio 60 but in sitcom format.

It’s raining and gloomy. Bah.