In light of recent financial news: an interesting review on the UK’s “The Spiked Review of Books” (www.spiked-review.com) dealing with Benjamin Barber’s new book Consumed and the cultural contradictions of modern capitalism. The article asserts: “Once, society celebrated money-making chancers and lauded prudent hard workers. Today, says [Barber], it is plying us with dumbed-down ‘stuff’ in order to keep us infantilised.” See:http://www.spiked-online.com/index.php?/site/reviewofbooks_article/5026
Consumed: How Markets Corrupt Children, Infantilize Adults and Swallow Citizens Whole, by Benjamin Barber is published by W W Norton & Co.
The Happiness Project: This is a blog I was checking out by a writer, Gretchen Rubin, for Real Simple Magazine, etc. She has a book deal in which she documents her one year experiment test-driving every known theory re: happiness. On her home page she has a sweet 1 minute movie designed around the idea that “The days are long, but the years are short.” It’s perhaps a little sappy, but resonates with moms everywhere who are rushing through the day. For movie: http://www.theyearsareshort.com/
Address for The Happiness Project site: http://happiness-project.com/
phdcomics: Courtesy of a friend’s facebook posting, I just found this blog. The latest comic flow chart on how the economic meltdown affects graduate students as well as bona fide professors is pretty amusing: http://www.phdcomics.com/comics.php
Zen Habits: One of my favorite blogs is Leo Babauta’s Zen Habits. I would describe Leo’s blog as a place to find information and inspiration on a variety of life topics—or, according to Leo, “achieving goals, productivity, being organized, GTD, motivation, eliminating debt, saving, getting a flat stomach, eating healthy, simplifying, living frugal, parenting, happiness, and successfully implementing good habits.” Yes, this is an extremely diverse list (kind of like a Cheesecake Factory menu), so those new to the site might want to check out The Beginner’s Guide to Zen Habits, a Guided Tour. Yesterday’s guest post, “11 Ways to Bring Out the Awesomeness in Life,” from contributor Jonathan Mead caught my eye. It is a good reminder on how to live in the moment—which can be difficult when one is feeling overwhelmed with the competing obligations of the dissertation and family life.
SouleMama: For those who might be looking for some creative options for time spent with their children now that the weather is turning more fallish (especially if you live in the northeast where we have not seen the sun for days!), I would recommend the following book that I recently added to my collection. The Creative Family: How to Encourage Imagination and Nurture Family Connections by Amanda Soule is an inspiring read. Some readers may already know Soule from her popular blog, SouleMama, which also provides unique ideas and activities that kids will love. This book is fantastic–lots of great ideas in this book for inspiring creativity in your children (and their adults, too)! Soule’s philosophy on parenting is similar to the ideas promoted by the Montessori/Waldorf methods so I found it very appealing. I will keep this book handy as a reference for years to come.
Hi! I was surfing and found your blog post… nice! I love your blog.
Cheers! Sandra. R.