From The Window Seat

A Laugh a Day

There is a lot of emphasis these days on how to do more with:  less energy, less calories-intake, less disposal income, less partisan-bickering.

But there's one thing we could all do with a bit more of:  Laughter.  My friend Mike reminded me of this with his August 13 blogpost on the subject.  Then I found this cool list of factoids from someone simply identified as Isabel online: 

• Stanford University studies equate a good belly laugh to 8-10 minutes on a rowing machine.
• Laughing increases oxygen intake, which is good for our cells.
• Pre-School age kids laught or smile 400 times a day, but that decreases to only 15 times a day by the time we hit 35.

So, in the interst of doing my part here's my effort to make you laugh today.

Listen to Ron White's "Tater Salad" comedy routine. 

Scan through the New Yorker Cartoon bank. Or just challenge yourself to make at least two people crack up today with your own brand of humor.

 

Upside of the Downturn

I've been looking for silver linings in the economic downturn and happy to report that I found one.  According to the American Library Association, library usage is on the upswing, 10 percent over the last economic downturn.

An original rule of my book club formed in 1987 was that we would only read paperbacks.  As our incomes have grown, we decided it was okay to occasionally read a new hardback release.  This past month, however, I just couldn't justify $27 for a book I wasn't sure I would like. 

So, instead of laying down the cash, I checked it out from the library along with about four other books and three magazines.  Turns out, when I am handing over my library card rather than my credit card, I get books on subjects I wouldn't otherwise.  This week's surprise checkout:  Best American Poetry of 2005.

What would you read if it were free? 

All Politics is Local

After a 2 1/2 year sabbatical from politics in Miami (US politics, that is - Miami has its own brand) I'm excited to be back in Washington, DC during a presidential election year.  But I am also overwhelmed by the enormous amount of offline and online information sources from which to follow the action as it unfolds. 

Today I stumbled on a cool site hosted by the Christian Science Monitor and funded by the Knight Foundation called Patchwork Nation.  The idea behind this electoral monitoring project is to go beneath the red/blue state surface and study local political environments at the county level. The project leaders have divided America's 3,124 counties into basically 11 types.  The site has on-the-ground bloggers (many with traditional media backgrounds) reporting from each of the community -types.  

My home in Arlington VA is considered the Monied Burbs.  There are 304 such counties and 84 million others like me who reside in them. In 2004, we split our votes evenly between Kerry and Bush and we make up 30 percent of the nation's population, so we are considered an uber battleground in this year's race. Of course, I could have told you that by the yard signs that I see each morning during my walk - quite evenly split between the Rs and Ds. 

One of the most interesting features is a breakdown of what percent of their time each candidate has spent by community type.  Both McCain and Obama have spent the greatest percentage (about 30 percent for both candidates) in the Monied Burbs. 

Have some fun and take the survey to see how well you compare to your community type.