Nintendo Games I Had As a Kid

Arkanoid Adventure Island Adventures of Lolo Castlevania Donkey Kong Dr. Mario Duck Tales Ghosts n' Goblins Golgo 13: Top Secret Episode Gun Smoke Ice Climber Kid Icarus The Legend of Kage The Legend of Zelda Little Nemo: The Dream Master Marble Madness Mario Brothers Metroid Mighty Bomb Jack Monster Party Pro Wrestling Rygar The Simpsons: Bart vs. The Space Mutants Snake Rattle n' Roll Solstice StarTropics Street Fighter 2010: The Final Fight Super Mario Brothers 1, 2, 3 Tetris Tiger-Heli Willow

100 Book Reading List, Take 2

A Passage to India by E.M. Forrester Canterbury Tales by Chaucer Walden by Thoreau Plato's "The Republic Milton's "Paradise Lost" T.S. Eliot's "The Wasteland" Ice Bound by Jerri Nielsen The Artist, the Philosopher, and the Warrior: The Intersecting Lives of Da Vinci, Machiavelli, and Borgia and the World They Shaped by Paul Strathern The Lexus and the Olive Tree by Thomas L. Friedmam The World is Flat: A Brief History of the 21st Century Sunrise With Seamonsters The Plant Hunters: Tales of the Botanist-Explorers Who Enriched Our Gardens by Tyler Whittle The Plant Hunters: True Stories of Their Daring Adventures to the Far Corners of the Earth by Anita Silvey Arctic Dreams Paperback by Barry Lopez About This Life: Journeys on the Threshold of Memory by Barry Lopez Annapurna: A Woman's Place by Arlene Blum Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer Running the Amazon by Joe Kane Touching the Void by Joe Simpson Life on Ice by Lonnie Dupre North to the Night: A Spiritual Odyssey in the Arctic by Alvah Simon Future Arctic: Field Notes from a World on the Edge by Edward Struzik The Last Viking: The Life of Roald Amundsen by Stephen R. Bown Into Africa: The Epic Adventures of Stanley and Livingstone by Martin Dugard A Ride Into the Neon Sun by Josie Dew The Great Railway Bazaar by Paul Theroux The River at the Center of the World: A Journey Up the Yangtze, and Back in Chinese Time by Simon Winchester Black Holes and Quantum Cats by Jennifer Ouellette The Emperor Far Away: Travels at the Edge of China by David Eimer The Father by Alfred Habegger Health and the Rise of Civilization by Mark Nathan Cohen Citizen Soldiers by Stephen Ambrose Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali Dragon Lady by Sterling Seagrave The Lost by Daniel Mendelsohn The Judgment of Paris by Ross King Grand Centaur Station by Larry Frolick German Boy by Wolfgang W.E. Samuel A History of Egypt by Jason Thompson. Shogun by James Clavell Tai-Pan by James Clavell King Rat by James Clavell Noble House by James Clavell Gai-Jin by James Clavell Whirlwind by James Clavell Black Mass by DIck Lehr and Gerard O'Neill Union Atlantic by Adam Haslett Kissinger: A Biography by Walter Isaacson Red China Blues by Jan Wong Notes From a Small Island by Bill Bryson The Swamp: The Everglades, Florida, and the Politics of Paradise by Michael Grunwald The Fifth Book of Peace by Maxine Hong Kingston Einstein's Miraculous Year Death by Black Hole: And Other Cosmic by Neil deGrasse Tyson A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking Cosmos by Carl Sagan God Created the Integers by Stephen Hawking Mistress of Modernism: The Life of Peggy Guggenheim by Mary V. Dearborn Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow The Mother Tongue by Bill Bryson The Know-It-All by A.J. Jacobs A Thousand Days in Venice by Marlena De Blasi Dry Storeroom No. 1: The Secret Life of the Natural History Museum by Richard Fortey Oleander, Jacaranda by Penelope Lively Stuart Little by E.B. White The Lost Heart of Asia by Colin Thubron A Gringa in Guanaja by Sharon Lee Collins Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe Sheba: Through the Desert in Search of the Legendary Queen by Nicholas Clapp The Lost Colony of the Templars by Steven Sora The Search for the Pink-Headed Duck by Rory Nugent Gifted Grownups by Marylou Kelly Strzenewski Fresh Air Fiend by Paul Theroux Dark Star Safari by Paul Theroux Billions and Billions by Carl Sagan The Universe in a Nutshell by Stephen Hawking The Demon-Haunted World by Carl Sagan Pale Blue Dot by Carl Sagan Broca's Brain by Carl Sagan Gandhi's autobiography Video Night in Kathmandu by Pico Iyer Color: A Natural History of the Palette by Victoria Finlay/li> Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin Stargazer: The Life and Times of the Telescope by Fred Watson Is Journalism Worth Dying For?: Final Dispatches by Anna Politkovskaya and Arch Tait The Two Koreas: A Contemporary History by Don Oberdorfer and Robert Carlin Blue Willow by Doris Gates The Patchwork Girl of Oz by L. Frank Baum Road Fever by Tim Cahill Jackson Pollock: An American Saga by Steven Naifeh and Gregory Smith Out of Eden: An Odyssey of Ecological Invasion by Alan Burdick The Tale of Genji by Lady Murasaki Beowulf by Seamus Heaney Europe: A History by Norman Davies Chasing Matisse: A Year in France Living My Dream by James Morgan Fun Home by Alison Bechdel Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie The Happy Isles of Oceania by Paul Theroux The Mathers: Three Generations of Puritan Intellectuals, 1596-1728 by Robert Middlekauff

100 Book Reading List

ach: An Eternal Golden Braid Lise Meitner and the Dawn of the Nuclear Age by Patricia Rife, J.A. Wheeleer Le Ton Beau De Marot: In Praise Of The Music Of Language by Douglas R. Hofstadter I am a Strange Loop by Douglas Hofstadter The Mind's I by Douglas Hofstadter The Guns of August by Barbara W. Tuchman, Robert K. Massie Our Life in Gardens by Joe Eck, Wayne Winterrowd With Their Backs to the World: Portraits from Serbia by Asne Seierstad The Bookseller of Kabul by Asne Seirstad Black Lamb and Grey Falcon by Rebecca West, Christopher Hitchens Letters from Burma by Aung San Suu Kyi, Fergal Keane The Sacred Willow: Four Generations in the Life of a Vietnamese Family by Duong Van Mai Elliott John Adams by David McCullough Mornings on Horseback by David McCullough The Greater Journey: Americans in Paris by David McCullough The Wright Brothers by David McCullough Truman by David McCullough Gandhi & Churchill: The Epic Rivalry that Destroyed an Empire and Forged Our Age by Arthur Herman Health and the Rise of Civilization by Mark Nathan Cohen The Irrational Journey by Pauline de Rothschild In Xanadu by William Dalrymple White Mughals by W. Dalrymple From the Holy Mountain: A Journey in the Shadow of Byzantium by William Dalrymple The Age of Kali: Travels and Encounters in India (Text Only) by William Dalrymple From the Holy Mountain: A Journey Among the Christians of the Middle East by William Dalrymple Return of a King: The Battle for Afghanistan, 1839-42 by William Dalrymple City of Djinns: A Year in Delhi by William Dalrymple Nine Lives: In Search of the Sacred in Modern India by William Dalrymple Tsvetaeva by Viktoria Schweitzer and Robert Chandler The Father a biography of Bronson Alcott Ska: An Oral History by Heather Augustyn The Strangest Man: Paul Dirac Musicophilia by Oliver Sacks Oaxaca by Oliver Sacks My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers Uncle Tungsten by Oliver Sacks Wild Swans Dante's Inferno Illiad Odyssey Orchid Fever by Eric Hansen The Orchid Thief by Susan Orlean The Scent of Scandal: Greed, Betrayal, and the World's Most Beautiful Orchid by Craig Pittman A Brief History of Everything by Bill Bryson Neither Here Nor There by Bill Bryson The Blue Nile by Alan Moorehead The White Nile by Alan Moorehead Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan by Herbert P. Bix The Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan The Korean War: A History by Bruce Cumings Autobiography by Benjamin Franklin River Town by Peter Hessler Oracle Bones by Peter Hessler The Road to Reality by Roger Penrose An Unexpected Light by Jason Elliot Mirrors of the Unseen: Journeys in Iran Hyperspace Michio Kaku Parallel Worlds by Michio Kaku Einstein's Magical Year The Hidden Reality: Parallel Universes and the Deep Laws of the Cosmos by Brian Greene The Fabric of the Cosmos by Brian Greene A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking The Elegant Universe: Superstrings, Hidden Dimensions, and the Quest for the Ultimate Theory by Brian Greene The Brother Gardeners: A Generation of Gentlemen Naturalists and the Birth of an Obsession by Andrea Wulf Memory Maps by Lisa St. Aubin De Teran River-Horse: The Logbook of a Boat Across America by William Least Heat-Moon Prairy Erth: A Deep Map by William Least Heat-Moon Blue Highways by William Least Heat-Moon Motoring With Mohammed by Eric Hansen Little Princes: One Man's Promise to Bring Home the Lost Children of Nepal by Conor Grennan Over the Edge of the World: Magellan's Terrifying Circumnavigation of the Globe by Laurence Bergreen Art & Physics: Parallel Visions in Space, Time, and Light by Leonard Shlain The Reformation by Diarmaid MacCulloch The Sewing Circles of Herat The Prince of the Marshes Flower Hunters Warped Passages Unpacking the Boxes: A Memoir of a Life in Poetry Paperback by Donald Hall Euler's Gem: The Polyhedron Formula and the Birth of Topology Paperback by David S. Richeson Stolen Voices: Young People's War Diaries, from World War I to Iraq Paperback – December 26, 2006 by Zlata Filipovic Francis Bacon: Anatomy of an Enigma by Michael Peppiatt The Normal Christian Life by Watchman Nee The Koran The Flute Book: A Complete Guide for Students and Performers by Nancy Toff Journey through Genius: The Great Theorems of Mathematics by William Dunham Euler: The Master of Us All by William Dunham Something Incredibly Wonderful Happens: Frank Oppenheimer and the world he made up by K. C. Cole Bella Tuscany by Frances Mayes Under the Tuscan Sun by Frances Mayes A Year in the World by Frances Mayes Ghost Train to the Eastern Star by Paul Theroux The Mother Tongue by Bill Bryson The Island of the Colorblind by Oliver Sacks Paris to the Moon by Adam Gopnik

Dangerous Food Dyes

The Rainbow of Risk Food dyes have been used for many years. The dyes add no nutritional value to food, nor do they enhance their taste. They just make the food look more food more appealing to customers. Few people want to buy processed food that is bland in color.  The dyes help these products fly off the shelves. Many natural food dyes also exist in products, like beet juice for red and purple,carrot for orange, and many more. There are eight artificial food dyes that are allowed in the United States; some are which are banned in some European countries. Here is the rainbow of colors commonly used in the United States: Red #3 Red #40 Yellow #5 (Tartrazine) Yellow #6 Citrus Red #2 Green #3 Blue #1 Blue #2 Some of these dyes are linked to cancer. Some can also cause behavioral problems in children. Many kids labeled ADHD could actually be reacting to food dyes. Yellow #5 can cause symptoms of IBS. Many parents of hyperactive children who have taken Red #40 out of their children's diets noticed a dramatic difference in their child's behavior. Within minutes of accidentally giving their child something with Red #40 in it, the child may start throwing tantrums and is screaming and running around the place. Why are these preservatives allowed in the United States and in some other countries? Easy. It's money. Adding these dyes make the foods cheaper to make, and thus more profit for companies. Also, doctors make money off sick people. Drug companies make millions of dollars on Ritalin, Adderall, and other psychotic drugs given to kids.c Yet, if these dyes can cause problems in children, why not adults? Many adults claim they have attention deficit disorder, anxiety, insomnia, and depression.  Millions get prescriptions for anxiety meds, especially benzodiazepines; sleeping pills like Ambien, and anti-depressants like Abilify and Zoloft. And maybe, just maybe, some of those people may not even need those pills if they would just give up certain dyes, most likely Red #40--but possibly also Yellow #5 and Yellow #6. Here are some natural (and SAFE!) food dyes that can be used in foods, and are common in Europe and Asia: Annatto extract–yellow color from a tropical tree Dehydrated beets (beet powder)–red-pink color from beets Canthaxanthin–pink color from mushrooms, crustaceans, trout and salmon, and tropical birds Caramel–brown color made from burnt sugar Carotene–yellow color from carrots Carmine extract (aka Cochineal)–red color derived from a species of beetle that feeds on cacti Sodium copper chlorophyllin–green color from plants and copper Toasted partially defatted cooked cottonseed flour–yellow coloring from cottonseed (may cause allergic reactions) Ferrous gluconate (approved only for ripe olives)–yellowish-grey color from iron Ferrous lactate (approved only for ripe olives)–green color from iron Grape color extract (approved only for nonbeverage food)–purple color from the fruit Grape skin extract (approved only for still carbonated drinks & ades; beverage bases; alcoholic beverages) )–purple color from the fruit Synthetic iron oxide (approved only for sausage casings)–red-brown-black-yellow color from combining iron with oxygen Fruit juice–various colors from various fruits Vegetable juice–various colors from various vegetables Carrot oil–yellow color from carrots Paprika–orange color from the spice Paprika oleoresin–extracted from the spice using toxic solvents Riboflavin–yellow to orange color from plants Saffron –yellow color from the spice Titanium dioxide–white pigment from the mineral Turmeric–yellow color from the spice Turmeric oleoresin–extracted from the spice using toxic solvents

Religious Joke

An old joke - During a recent ecumenical gathering, a secretary rushed in shouting, "The building is on fire!" The Methodists gathered in the corner and prayed. The Baptists cried, "Where is the water?" The Quakers quietly praised God for the blessings that fire brings. The Lutherans posted a notice on the door declaring the fire was evil. The Roman Catholics passed the plate to cover the damage. The Jews posted symbols on the door hoping the fire would pass. The Congregationalists shouted, "Every man for himself!" The Fundamentalists proclaimed, "It's the vengeance of God!" The Episcopalians formed a procession and marched out. The Christian Scientists concluded that there was no fire. The Presbyterians appointed a chairperson who was to appoint a committee to look into the matter and submit a written report. The secretary grabbed the fire extinguisher and put the fire out. Ten minutes later the Mormons arrived, bringing the refreshments.

Cortisone Shots

Today I went for my first cortisone shots. I just hope that they work. I am still sore, even though I had them about 6 hours ago. I am sure I will be all right. It was not at all comfortable to have them done. But at least I know that whenever I go for them again, I know what to expect. I just hope that I do not have to have them often. I am hoping to avoid surgery. I have a few slipped discs in my back and they are inflamed. I was hit by a car when I was 8 years old, and it is likely from that.