Imagine What It Feels Like to Lose 37 Years of Emotional Baggage...

Jill Taylor was a 37-year-old Harvard-trained brain scientist when a blood vessel exploded in her brain. Through the eyes of a curious scientist, she watched her mind deteriorate whereby she could not walk, talk, read, write, or recall any of her life. Because of her understanding of the brain, her respect for the cells in her body, and an amazing mother, Jill completely recovered.

In My Stroke of Insight, she shares her recommendations for recovery and the insight she gained into the unique functions of the two halves of her brain. When she lost the skills of her left brain, her consciousness shifted away from normal reality where she felt "at one with the universe...."

...Read more here or watch Jill's amazing presentation of her story at TED below:

Money is not Real

Whether you're a stock broker or Joe Six-pack, if you have a 401(k), a mutual fund or a college savings plan, tumbling stock markets and sagging home prices mean you've lost a whole lot of the money that was right there on your account statements just a few months ago.
Read the full article...

BOOK REVIEW: "Cuisines of the Axis of Evil and Other Irritating States: A Dinner Party Approach to International Relations" by Chris Fair

As the title forewarns, Cuisines of the Axis of Evil is a cookbook with much more than a gastronomic mission on its mind. So in the event that you'd like to learn how to cook a traditional Persian meal, but have no interest in the geopolitical past and present of Iran, move quickly along. If, on the other hand, you're a Liberal American (the capital L is no mistake) who likes to explore food and the reasons behind why our world is in such a damnable bad state these days, your only problem may be deciding whether to buy this book for your cookbook shelf or as an addition to your 'world polemics' series. Just buy two copies - you won't be sorry.

Chris Fair, the author of this catalogue of cuisine and perfidy, is an academic - a think tanker who has broken the mold to use her at times loquacious but often effective voice to talk freely about subjects she knows and cares lots about. There's no shortage of geopolitical and historical roughage here and while bald finger pointing exercises cover the
pages, Fair backs up each one with impeccably well researched references, all listed in the notes section at the back of the book. Chris also has a conscience about the food; each dish is explained in loving detail; flexibility with ingredients trumps hard and fast rules, and we're even offered a 'where to shop' section for each Axis delicacy.

I liked this book so much I was thinking of including it on my gift list for the holidays this year but realized that I'd better know my friends very, very well before sending them a copy. My Indian friends might be offended by the characterization of their country; center-to-right leaning Israeli or Jewish buddies would certainly stop taking my calls; and my European friends might wonder if I've lived in the US too long to appreciate that what's written for a US audience might not be as compelling for citizens of non-superpowers. "There is life beyond the pale!" I already hear them yell in frustration.

As for Americans who are not liberal minded, forget this book if you want to remain on speaking terms with them. Fair doles out harsh criticism of US foreign policy throughout the book but builds to a climax in the US 'Great Satan BBQ' chapter. She paraphrases Bin Laden in the chapter title and acknowledges more than once that he makes some good points in his video missals. For the liberals among us Chris Fair is a voice of truth and of reason but you can guarantee the religious right would thrill to see her and her fans burn in the foodless ovens of hell forever.

--Niamh Bushnell
imagineatrium.com

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More from Chris Fair

More from artist James Polisky

The Virgin Birth...of a Shark

Scientists studying sharks at the Virginia Aquarium & Marine Science Center in Virginia Beach, VA, have confirmed that a female blacktip shark gave birth to a pup without any help from a male shark. Read the complete AP story at CNN...


Apparently, however, in the shark world, virgin births are yawned at. National Geographic published a story over six years ago about the same thing happening at a Detroit aquarium involving a white spotted bamboo shark, who at that time gave birth to not one, but two babies all by her lonesome.

Who knew sharks were so talented?

BOOK REVIEW: "Blue Genes: A Memoir of Loss and Survival" by Christopher Lukas

The only thing misleading about Blue Genes: A Memoir Of Loss And Survival , a moving tale of how self-inflicted death leaves wounds in the living, is the title. While acknowledging the genetic predisposition towards depression in the title, author Christopher Lukas barely touches on what that means. This is a book about nurture more than nature.

Although recognizing that his family is genetically predisposed to severe depression, Lukas nonetheless searches for understanding in the events of the individuals' lives. He clearly grasps the genetic factor and both brilliantly and emotionally describes the symptomatology, but never quite gets you inside a depressive's head to understand the actual mindset of depression.

Of course, that is a tall order. As one who also comes from a family with a history of clinical depression (though thankfully not suicide) and having fought a fierce battle with the illness myself a decade past, the only writer who I have seen achieve this is William Styron in his memoir of depression, Darkness Visible.

That said, Blue Genes is a very moving memoir of two brothers cyclically driven incredibly close and vastly apart in a world where depression and suicide were the rule, not the exception. Through reliving his memories of his older brother, Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Tony Lukas, from their early youth to Tony's suicide in 1992 at the age of 59, the author comes to understand himself better. Stretched out as it is from the Great Depression through to the Modern Age, this is a moving look at how siblings hurt, protect, and shape each other over a lifetime.



---David Norman
imagineatrium.com




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BOOK REVIEW: "Confessions of an Eco-Sinner" by Fred Pearce

Growing up in the pre-Internet era, I was always one of those children who frequently asked two dreaded questions: "Mommy, where did this come from?" or "Why is this this way and not that way?" To this day, these sorts of curiosities have continued to kindle my brain. This explains why I was overjoyed to read the book, Confessions of an Eco-Sinner, by Fred Pearce.

Mr. Pearce also suffers from the plight that racks my brain: Where does stuff come from? He explores in great detail the places from where many common items emerge, such as the gold in his wedding ring, the cotton in his socks, teddy bears, computer parts, and so much more. Now, most Westerners couldn't even be began to fathom all the processes and changing of hands stuff goes through. However, there are many other questions this book raises, especially since "Going Green" has made its way into mainstream society.

How can individuals actually pay a fair price for products that start in many impoverished countries? Is fair trade actually fair? Is there enough water for people and not just the crops? And if there isn't enough food or water to feed workers, how will migration be affected? Mr. Pearce addresses these questions with the growing concern that more people are unaware of their purchasing decisions and explains why knowledge is the true way to "Go Green."


---Avalon Lent
www.imagineatrium.com


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