Bozick's bookshelf - tbozick's Blog

Bozick's bookshelf - tbozick's Blog - Victoria Advocate http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/tbozick For the love of reading -- books, magazines and more. For the love of reading -- books, magazines and more. en-us Here comes mom-in-law... http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/tbozick/9874 http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/tbozick/9874 I'm picking up my mother-in-law Thursday from the Houston airport after she flies in from Virginia. My husband Grant and I were married about a year and a half ago and one of the pluses of marrying him was that I loved his mom. She's fun, active and young at heart. She always welcomed me into her home. I always thought in the back of my mind that maybe she finally enjoyed getting to have a daughter, as all of her  three children came out as boys. When I read an anonymous letter to the <a href="http://www.statesman.com/life/content/life/stories/other/12/30/1230hax.html">Carolyn Hax column on the Austin American-Statesman Web site,</a> I felt so bad for the writer, another mom-in-law who never had a daughter. Her sons' wives have always kept pretty distant from her even though she yearns for this close relationship. I'm just wondering how many other moms out there feel the same way. Is your kid scared of Santa? http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/tbozick/9738 http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/tbozick/9738 I admit, it's kind of funny looking at photos of toddlers crying in a crazy-looking Santa's lap. And so did Chicago Tribune journalists who asked residents for photos of their toddlers sitting scared in Santa's lap as part of a holiday package. Authors Denise Joyce and Nancy Watkins knew lots of families whose kids were scared of Santa at one point in time or another, and quite understandably. He's just not normal-looking. The Tribune's<a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/outdoors/chi-scared-of-santa-special,0,6191895.special"> "Scared of Santa" Web site</a> got millions of hits and the team turned the funny photos into a book called "Scared of Santa: Scenes of Terror in Toyland." <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/12/12/scared.of.santa/index.html">Read an interview about the project here.</a> I wonder if anyone out there has such photos. Care to share? Hmmm, hang out with happy people and be happy ... http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/tbozick/9685 http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/tbozick/9685 If your social circle is happy, you'll likely be happy, a study completed by a Harvard Medical School social scientist says. <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/05/health/05happy-web.html">Read about it here.</a> Researchers analyzed the emotions of more than 4,700 people and thousands of their friends, relatives, neighbors and coworkers from 1983 to 2003. It makes sense to me, but it's weird to think my friend's friend's friend influences my happiness. Another interesting tidbit in this story, researchers found that people who smiled in their Facebook profile photos had more friends than  those who did not smile. What's even better: researchers found sadness didn't transmit quite as well. Will your kids or grandkids afford the costs of college? http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/tbozick/9663 http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/tbozick/9663 With this recession and gloomy prediction from the media, I'm glad I finished college just in the knick of time (last year). A report from the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education says if we continue at the rate we're going, most Americans won't be able to afford going to college in 25 years. <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/03/education/03college.html">Read Tamar Lewin's article in the New York Times here.</a> The report takes into account rising tuition and the debt most families already incur for the sake of higher education. I attended the University of Texas at Austin and relative to other places I applied, UT was pretty cheap. I know in the last few years they keep tacking on more and more for tuition, but I wonder how much is too much for most people in our area. At what point would a student say  "No" to college?  I know some students already go the route of distance education via the Web and attending community colleges for some credits because of the costs of four-year institutions. More than a beauty pageant? http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/tbozick/9621 http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/tbozick/9621 One Washington Post story shows how winning the title of Miss Tibet and wearing it proudly may actually be a sign of rebellion against Chinese rule. <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/25/AR2008112502366.html?hpid=sec-religion">Read Emily Wax's story here.</a> Eighteen-year-old Sonam Choedon won this year's crown in spite of elders and others pressuring contestants to withdraw. She fled her homeland to Dharmsala, where the Tibetan Government in Exile resides. While you wouldn't normally think strutting your stuff in bathing suits fits in with a culture of Buddhist philosophy, Choedon says she will use her new platform to help fight for a free Tibet. She's inspired by the Dalai Lama not to give up. What's up with the atheist billboards? http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/tbozick/9519 http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/tbozick/9519 A Colorado atheist group is starting to put up billboards during the holiday season to tell fellow nonbelievers they are not alone. <a href="http://coloradoindependent.com/15031/atheists-believers-revive-war-over-public-holiday-displays">Read about a series of these articles here.</a> I'd like to know how atheists are spending the holidays or vacation time or whatever they want to call it. As far as cities and businesses whitewashing over religious symbols and words not to offend anyone, I'd sure like to know what people in Victoria think about that. We talk about celebrating diversity, yet we seem to dilute that during the holiday season. Online cheating causes divorce http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/tbozick/9512 http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/tbozick/9512 The bizarre story of a woman and man married in real life and also in Second Life, an online virtual world, has been circulating on the Web. <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/nov/13/second-life-divorce">Read it here.</a> The couple met online, but eventually met and married. But then apparently, the husband was found to be chatting up another virtual woman online. A woman hired a Second Life detective to find out about this so-called affair. The wife decided it was cheating and filed for divorce. The husband says he was just hanging out and talking. I know my one friend met her current husband through an online matchmaking service, but the relationship was mostly in real life. Can a relationship established in an online world last? What would you do if you found your significant other chatting up the opposite sex online? Why are people so rude? http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/tbozick/9476 http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/tbozick/9476 Most people say they're not rude, yet most people encounter rude people. Oprah delves into this issue in the November issue of O magazine, or you can read it <a href="http://www.oprah.com/slideshow/oprahshow/20080909_tows_rude/1">here</a>. Having worked in the food service industry and having a husband that still does, I know all too well that people can be mean-spirited to complete strangers. More often than not, people take their anger out on people who don't truly deserve it or who had nothing to do with the reason for the anger. I admit I've accidentally cut a driver off in the road and used my cell phone while checking out in the grocery store -- pretty rude I know. What can we do to change this culture of bad manners? Can we trust bank CEOs? http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/tbozick/9059 http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/tbozick/9059 I watched the episode of Mad Money when host Jim Cramer apologized for letting down his viewers by supporting Wachovia's Bob Steel. He looked quite distraught when telling viewers to buy up the company stock two weeks earlier.  Then Wachovia looked like it would be taken over by Citigroup in a deal that would have wiped out shareholders. This was the same day the U.S. House originally failed to pass the $700 billion bailout. Cramer slapped Steel on the Wall of Shame, but <a href="http://www.cnbc.com/id/27016287">then the show learned of a Wachovia deal with Wells Fargo</a>, which benefited shareholders. So, Cramer apologized again and removed Steel from the Wall of Shame. But that raises the question, how much can we really trust what bank CEOs say? Some people may not have a conscience ... http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/tbozick/7945 http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/tbozick/7945 In Martha Stout's <a href="http://www.bookbrowse.com/reviews/index.cfm?book_number=1530">The Sociopath Next Door</a>, the psychologist-author warns people against a minority of the population, but dangerous nevertheless. These people may or may not be violent, but they wage psychological warfare and Stout shows how it's best to keep away from them. This is the first time I've heard of a psychological equivalent of  "evil." I bought the book because when I googled "sociopath," curious as to the exact definition, I found a profile that fit my father's personality perfectly. Let's just say I grew up with a not-so-nice dad. After reading Stout's book, I finally figured out why my dad acted the way he did after years and years of struggling to figure it out. I wish I had known about this book sooner, as I'm sure many others would if they ever lived with or befriended a sociopath. Sociopaths may act like they care or feel sympathy, but they don't, Stout says. It's all about control with them and ultimately, most sociopaths end up using you for their own purposes. They have a charisma that will suck you in, but beware, Stout says. Sociopaths are incapable of love or feeling guilt and in that way are life's "devils." Maybe this book can help you recognize them before you fall into their trap.