now posting regularly

Obligatory opening statement on first blog post in December:

Holy crap, how is it December already?!?!


Okay, with that out of the way, let's get to business.  The last couple of weeks have been pretty lame with the NPR linky love, so I'm going to make up for lost time today with thirteen! stories that have caught my ear this week.  Woo-hoo!

• "Britain to launch a Happiness Index"-- Forget GDP and imagine measuring a country's success by the happiness level of its citizens as described in this Marketplace piece.  This concept has been the subject of recent books (I recommend The Geography of Bliss: One Grump's Search for the Happiest Places in the World by Eric Weiner), and its one that I find compelling... I wonder how our country would measure up, and how different areas of the country would compare to each other.

• "Bailey White's Thanksgiving Story: 'A Kind Of Love'"-- I heard this short story read during All Things Considered on Thanksgiving evening, and I was enthralled while preparing our dinner.  It's much better listened to than read- you gotta hear the author's drawl telling it.

• "A 'Modern Family' Fueled By Sibling Fodder"-- I was thrilled to see Morning Edition giving one of my favorite shows some attention during their focus on sibling relationships-- Modern Family is a fabulous portrayal of the complexities of family life.  This piece made me smile!

• "That Fat Lip Might Give Obama Some Street Cred"-- This opinion piece by Scott Simon (who I adore!!) is as entertaining as would be expected.

• "Finding 'Teachable Moments' In Animal Tales"-- Hey All Things Considered, loved your story with Craig Hatkoff, children's author and all-around nice guy!  (Even if I did post a lovely and more extensive interview with him myself last year... woo-hoo, I got a leg up on NPR!!) 

• "Remembering Leslie Nielsen, A Master Of The Art Of Not Being Funny"-- Oh Leslie, you will be missed.  I remember watching the much-too-short series Police Squad with my mom and cracking up at the ridiculous humor.  This Monkey See blog post is a perfect tribute to what made Leslie Nielson beloved by many.

• "Your Brain on Computers"-- This Kojo Nnamdi Show piece really resonated with me and the part where they talk about the need to check your online messages certainly touched close to home... for the person whose Firefox opens with 2 email tabs, one for Facebook, one for my Google Reader and one for Twitter.  Yup, they got me.

• "To Become A 'Black Swan,' Portman Had To Go Dark"-- She is beautiful and an amazing actress with a very wide range, and I just adore her.  This Fresh Air interview simply had to go on this week's list.

• "Why It's So Easy To Give Kids The Wrong Dose Of Medicine"-- This All Things Considered story makes so much stinking sense I can't believe we're still talking about it and not just doing it.  Seriously folks, mL makes sense!!

• "Millions To Lose Unemployment Benefits"-- Hmmm... this is okay but we need to keep in place tax cuts for the richest of Americans or else the whole world will implode?  What the hell?  Thanks to Morning Edition for waking me up with this craziness.

• "Overeating, Like Drug Use, Rewards And Alters Brain"-- Another Morning Edition story from today... and another that I can completely relate to.  

• "New Networks Target Discomfort With Facebook"-- Morning Edition was rocking the house here today, and this story needs to be listened to by every 15-25 year old Facebook user out there.  Seriously people!

• "Autobiography of Mark Twain"-- Thanks to The Diane Rehm Show for today's segment on Mark Twain's autobiography that will be the next piece of nonfiction that I (attempt to) read.  I haven't listened to this segment yet, but I hope to tune in during naptime today!

Happy to be back in step with NPR,