http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php Great books at your fingertips! en-us Copyright 2012 Sat, 24 Sep 2011 18:36:49 -0400 http://www.rssboard.org/rss-specification September 24, 1869 is called Black Friday or the Fisk/Gould scandal. Financial panic was caused by two financiers trying to corner the market on gold throughout the summer of 1869 pushing the price of gold up. The price of gold plummeted on September 24 when the government put $4 million worth of gold into the open market. Many people holding gold were financially ruined by the drastic drop in price. James Fisk and Jay Gould who had hoarded gold and pushed the price up, did not suffer great loss. Markets still suffer ups and downs. Learn about them in The Wall Street Journal Guide to Understanding Personal Finance see details http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=125 http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=125 Sat, 24 Sep 2011 18:36:49 -0400 Jarrett went to the cooler and grabbed a beer. "Want one?" he asked Clay. "What time is it?" "Time for a beer, I guess." "I haven't finished my coffee yet." John Grisham in The King of Torts see details http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=124 http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=124 Sat, 17 Sep 2011 18:55:34 -0400 Actually, this is something I do regularly. He's a great help and also seeks out others in the office that need a bit of canine companionship. Want more info about the day? TakeYourDog.com Want to read about dogs? Search our "Pets" section. One possibility is You and Your Dog: A Complete Guide to the Health, Care and Behavior of Dogs see details http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=123 http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=123 Fri, 24 Jun 2011 11:02:13 -0400 The last Friday in April is always Arbor Day: a day to celebrate and enjoy the trees around us. Want to identify that tree? We suggest: A Field Guide to Western Trees: Western United States and Canada. see details http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=122 http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=122 Fri, 29 Apr 2011 15:37:29 -0400 Things had come my way over the years that I didn't exactly pray for but which had come to me in a sort of vision. I'd seen myself on campus at UCLA, and it happened. I'd seen myself living in New York, and it happened. I'd seen myself performing on Broadway for director George Abbott, and it happened. I always felt that I was somehow being looked after, that there was a Higher Power in and around all of us. —Carol Burnett in This Time Together: Laughter and Reflection see details http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=121 http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=121 Wed, 27 Apr 2011 11:22:07 -0400 Charles F. Richter was born this date in 1900. He developed the Richter Scale in 1935 to measure the magnitude of earth quakes. The scale is from 0 to 9 with each increase in number representing 10 times more energy released. Read more about geology in How Does Earth Work: Physical Geology and the Process of Science see details http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=120 http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=120 Tue, 26 Apr 2011 12:50:34 -0400 The Suez Canal connects the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea and was opened in 1869 after ten years of construction by the Suez Canal Company using slave labor. Construction began April 25, 1859 on the site of the future Port Said. Estimated thousands of workers died during construction. The canal is flat and has no locks. Traveling from Saudi Arabia to the United States through the Suez Canal (instead of around the tip of Africa) is about 2,700 miles shorter. Read more about important events in World History: The Story of Mankind from Prehistory to the Present by Hugh Thomas. see details http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=119 http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=119 Mon, 25 Apr 2011 09:48:07 -0400 The File Transfer Protocol (FTP) service is one of the most venerable Internet services in existence. Its presence on the Internet predates HTTP, and it's still one of the best option users have to transfer large files across a WAN. —Jonathan Hassell in Learning Windows Server 2003: The No-Nonsense Guide to Administering Windows Servers see details http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=118 http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=118 Wed, 20 Apr 2011 11:43:31 -0400 April Fools' Day is not a recognized national holiday in the U.S., but all school children are well-versed in the pranks performed to make "fools" of others. One of my media favorites is the film of the newly-discovered flying penguins done by Terry Jones (from Monty Python). You can find it on YouTube. Everyone deserves a laugh on April 1 and on other days as well. Try What's Science Ever Done for Us?: What the Simpsons Can Teach Us about Physics, Robots, Life, and the Universe see detailsor Comedy Classics see details http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=117 http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=117 Fri, 01 Apr 2011 13:31:52 -0400 The upper middle classes held and managed a rising and spreading force: the power of mobile money and other capital in aggressive, expansive competition with the power of static land or a declining creed. They speculated on the stock exchanges of Paris, London, and Amsterdam, and, in Necker's estimate, controlled half the money of Europe. They financed the French government with loans, and threatened to overthrow it if their loans and charges were not met. They owned or managed the rapidly developing mining and metallurgical industry of northern France, the textile industry of Lyons, Troyes, Abbeville, Lille, and Rouen, The iron and salt works of Lorraine, the soap factories of Marseilles, the tanneries of Paris. They managed the capitalist industry that was replacing the craft shops and guilds of the past; they welcomed the doctrine of the Physiocrats that free enterprise would be more stimulating and productive than the traditional regulation of industry and trade by the state. They financed and organized the transformation of raw materials into finished goods, and transported these from producer to consumer, making a profit at both ends. They benefited from thirty thousand miles of the best roads in Europe, but they denounced the obstructive tolls that were charged on the roads and canals of France. . . They joined in the revolutionary motto, "Liberty, equality, and Fraternity"; they did not mean it downward as well as upward, but it served its purpose until it could be revised. Meanwhile the bourgeoisie became the most powerful of the forces that were making for revolution. —Will and Ariel Durant from http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=116 http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=116 Fri, 01 Apr 2011 12:53:02 -0400 Suddenly the lights of the Universe seemed to be turned down. As if some demon had rubbed the heaven's face with a dirty sponge, the splendor in which they had lived for so long blenched to a pallid cheerless and pitiable grey. —C.S. Lewis in Out of the Silent Planet see details http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=115 http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=115 Tue, 11 Jan 2011 13:00:40 -0500 Reading about your inner potential with an awareness of the dynamics of archetypes helps you to access one when you need it and to understand the behavior and motiations of others influenced by these patterns in humanity. —Carol S. Pearson, Ph.D. in The Hero Within: Six Archetypes We Live By see details http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=114 http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=114 Sun, 09 Jan 2011 18:39:52 -0500 The Canyon is quiet, almost. The birds are seen more than heard at this hour, the swallows (and an occasional swift) fly in patterns, cruising along the wavetops, then soaring back up, powering through a nongliding turn with that characteristic flapping of the wings which they share with the bats, then coming around again for another pass. The sounds of the water, fluting noises as the river passes over a submerged rock near shore, mix with the pitter-patter of the windwaves against the undersides of the moored boats, drumming up a beat. —William H. Calvin in The River That Flows Uphill: A Journey from the Big Bang to the Big Brain see details http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=113 http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=113 Tue, 28 Dec 2010 11:55:36 -0500 Josh is 7 years old. He's diligent to the task, a unique kid, a hard worker and, yes, Josh has Down syndrome. I mention the Down syndrome last because Josh is a person first. He's not a category or a diagnosis. He is a person before he is anything else. —Thomas J. O'Neill in the forward of New Perspectives on Down Syndrome see details http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=112 http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=112 Sun, 26 Dec 2010 18:55:07 -0500 The child is of considerable interest in himself, but interest in psychological investigations of the child is increased when we realize that the child explains the man as well as and often better than the man explains the child. While the adult educates the child by means of multiple social transmissions, every adult, even if he is a creative genius, nevertheless began as a child, in prehistoric times as well as today. —Jean Piaget and Barbel Inhelder in The Psychology of the Child see details http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=111 http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=111 Fri, 03 Sep 2010 11:19:05 -0400 "It's like mixing sand and water," [Kip] Thorne says. "General relativity is the water, which bends with the curvature of the space around it; quantum mechanics is like sand, and describes the behavior of tiny particles. Put them together, and you can get quicksand, which resembles neither water nor sand; and it sucks you down as neither water nor sand can." Similarly, quantum cosmology is thought to resemble neither general relativity by itself, nor quantum mechanics by itself, but something different from both. —Donald Goldsmith in The Astronomers: Companion Book to the PBS Television Series see details http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=110 http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=110 Thu, 26 Aug 2010 13:27:11 -0400 Skunks. This peaceable, gentle creature has refused to come to terms with highway traffic and continues to behave as if roads, cars, and trucks do not exist. Armed as it has always been with an odorous repellent strong enough to turn away any potential predator, it hops along totally unafraid, which is as fatal as overly aggressive behavior on the road. —Roger M. Knutson in Flattened Fauna: A Field Guide to Common Animals of Roads, Streets, and Highways see details http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=109 http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=109 Fri, 16 Jul 2010 11:14:32 -0400 Long ago in the country of Iceland, there lived a man by the name of Autun. He worked for a kindly farmer, and as a reward for his hard work, the farmer decided to send him on a trip abroad. —by Anita Feagles in Autun and the Bear: An Old Icelandic Legend see details http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=108 http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=108 Sat, 10 Jul 2010 20:01:22 -0400 In the Palouse Region, but less so in the Great Basin, the grasslands are green in the winter and spring, but turn dead and brown in the summer and fall. Spring is the best time to watch for wildlife in the grasslands, as in the hot summer many animals migrate to cooler places or go into a long sleep, aestivate. —by Vinson Brown, Charles Yocom and Aldine Starbuck in Wildlife of the Intermountain West see details http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=107 http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=107 Tue, 06 Jul 2010 11:48:36 -0400 The [Grand] Canyon is at least two things besides spectacle. It is a biological unit and the most revealing single page of earth's history anywhere open on the face of the globe. —by Joseph Wood Krutch in Grand Canyon: Today and All Its Yesterdays see details http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=106 http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=106 Sat, 29 May 2010 18:15:14 -0400 He experienced the sensations of a man who has had a tooth out after suffering long from toothache. After a fearful agony and a sense of something huge, bigger than the head itself, being torn out of his jaw, the sufferer, hardly able to believe in his own good luck, feels all at once that what has so long poisoned his existence and enchained his attention, exists no longer, and that he can live and think again, and take interest in other things besides his tooth. —Count Leo Tolstoy as translated by Constance Garnett in Anna Karenina see details http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=105 http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=105 Wed, 19 May 2010 11:11:04 -0400 On May 18, 1980, residents of the Pacific Northwest—and, soon after, people throughout the United States—were shocked by the realization that every age in history is a volcanic age. Mount St. Helens, a stratovolcano in southwestern Washington that had been smoldering and venting steam and ash for several weeks, exploded with incredible force. . . .Within minutes nearly 400 meters (1300 ft) of the mountain's north summit had disappeared into the sky and down the mountainside. —Robert E. Gabler, Robert J. Sager, Daniel Wise, and James F. Petersen in Essentials of Physical Geography, Sixth Edition see details http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=104 http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=104 Tue, 18 May 2010 09:32:56 -0400 Born May 17, 1962 in Glasgow Scotland, the author and comedian is now the host of The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. He has also been in many films, written two books, and holds dual citizenship: American and Scottish. Want to travel to Scotland? Here's a guide book for you: Scottish Highlands and Islands see details http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=103 http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=103 Mon, 17 May 2010 19:32:54 -0400 Wind is horizontal air movement arising from differences in air pressure. Nature always moves to eliminate a pressure difference, and wind is the result when air flows from a place of high pressure to one of low pressure. Since air pressure is related to density—high pressure means the air is more compressed and therefore more dense, low pressure means less compression and lower density—horizontal movement is always associated to some degree with vertical movement. —Brian J. Skinner, Stephen C. Porter, Daniel B. Botkin in The Blue Planet: An Introduction to Earth System Science see details http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=102 http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=102 Mon, 17 May 2010 19:24:33 -0400 Born April 29, 1899, Edward K. Ellington became the Duke as composer, musician, band leader, film star. He referred to his music as American Music rather than jazz. His awards and recognitions include: 13 Grammy Awards, the Medal of Freedom (given by President Nixon), the President's Gold Medal (presented by Johnson), and the French Legion of Honor. His hits include: "Take the A Train," "Satin Doll," "It Don't Mean a Thing if It Ain't Got that Swing." More about him can be found at DukeEllington.com He died May 24, 1974 and his NYC funeral was attended by over 12,000 people. Read a bit about Duke and more about living life in the musical world in Michael Feinstein's book Nice Work If You Can Get It: My Life in Rhythm and Rhyme. see details http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=101 http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=101 Thu, 29 Apr 2010 10:04:51 -0400 The parties Pinkie hosted to celebrate his legal victories contributed to his notoriety as much as the flashy diamond ring he wore on the small finger of his right hand, from which he'd derived his nickname. —Sandra Brown in Fat Tuesday see details http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=100 http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=100 Wed, 28 Apr 2010 11:15:05 -0400 In tropical regions, volcanic ash weathers readily to produce highly fertile soils. This beneficial aspect of volcanism is sometimes offset, however, by the encroachment of agricultural villages too close to active volcanoes. Not only are these settlements at increase risk of destruction by lava flows, pyroclastic flows, and lahars, but pyroclastic-fall deposits at such close proximity to volcanoes may be enough to cause buildings to collapse. —Gary A. Smith and Aurora Pun in How Does Earth Work? Physical Geology and the Process of Science see details http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=99 http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=99 Tue, 27 Apr 2010 11:44:03 -0400 The world is twofold for man in accordance with his twofold attitude. The attitude of man is twofold in accordance with the two basic words he can speak. The basic words are not single words, but word pairs. One basic word is the word pair I - You. . . . The basic word I - You can only be spoken with one's whole being. —Martin Buber as translated by Walter Kaufmann in I and Thou see details http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=98 http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=98 Mon, 26 Apr 2010 10:49:15 -0400 The hundredth anniversary of American Independence was being celebrated with a Centennial Exposition featuring everything from the greatest steam engine ever built to the first public demonstration of Alexander Graham Bell's telephone, from the hand of the unfinished Statue of Liberty to George Washington's false teeth. . . . and the new typewriting machine. —Ralph G. Martin in Jennie: The Life of Lady Randolph Churchill see details http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=97 http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=97 Sun, 25 Apr 2010 21:12:04 -0400 Happy Earth Day! I remember the first Earth Day---I was in grade school and I felt it was something very special. Books for today are many, but try This Little Planet, a timeless collection of essays and articles about ecology, conservation and the environment. see detailsAnother classic book about our fragile Earth--- Gaia: A New Look at Life on Earth, by James Lovelock. He was the first to write about the idea of the Earth as a living entity. see details http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=96 http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=96 Thu, 22 Apr 2010 13:21:46 -0400 Students need recurring, systematic, and regular feedback to understand their own strengths and capabilities in learning, and to identify areas for improvement. —Rodney Doran, Fred Chan, and Pinchas Tamir in Science Educator's Guide to Assessment see details http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=95 http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=95 Sun, 04 Apr 2010 19:29:34 -0400 Born April 4, 1928 in St. Louis, Missouri, Ms. Angelou is a poet and autobiographer. She is perhaps best known for I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, an account of her first 17 years, but is also a prolific poet. She was chosen by President Bill Clinton to read her poem, "On the Pulse of a Morning," at his inauguration in 1993. Some of her poetry is found in Poems see details http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=94 http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=94 Sun, 04 Apr 2010 18:31:06 -0400 Happy birthday to Doris Day, born April 3, 1922. Her first hit song was "Sentimental Journey" in 1948. More recently, she is known for her work as an animal activist. In 1978, she formed an non-profit organization that has become Doris Day Animal Foundation and also Doris Day Animal League Doris Day Animal League (now part of HSUS). Books about pets? How about The Complete Basenji see details or for kids: Give a Dog a Bone: Stories, Poems, Jokes, and Riddles About Dogs see details http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=93 http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=93 Sat, 03 Apr 2010 11:44:19 -0400 Wordy phrases also make writing long and boring. For example, some people will write on a weekly basis rather than weekly. The long phrase rolls of the tongue easily and appears to carry the weight of scientific truth. But the humble weekly says the same thing more concisely. —Mike Markel in Technical Communication, Sixth Edition see details http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=92 http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=92 Fri, 26 Mar 2010 10:38:09 -0400 "We, the women of this country, have no ballot even if we wished to use it . . .but we have our labor. . . .Wherever wages are to be reduced the capitalist class uses women to reduce them." She [Lucy Parsons] said that women would have to learn not to buy scab made and shipped goods. "When we look around for cheap bargains . . . it simply means the robbery of our sisters, for we know that the things cannot be made for such prices and give the women who made them all fair wages." —Carolyn Ashbaugh in Lucy Parsons, American Revolutionary see details http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=91 http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=91 Mon, 22 Mar 2010 18:43:30 -0400 A dangling participial phrase occurs when the noun or pronoun the participial phrase it is meant to modify is not stated but only implied in the sentence. Change: Being unhappy with the job, his efficiency suffered. (His efficiency was not unhappy with the job; what the participial phrase really modifies—he—is not stated but merely implied.) To: Being unhappy with the job, he grew less efficient. (Now what the participial phrase modifies—he—is explicitly stated.) —Charles T. Brusaw, Gerald J. Alred, and Walter E. Oliu in Handbook of Technical Writing see details http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=90 http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=90 Sun, 21 Mar 2010 16:29:59 -0400 Ryan and Journey followed him along a tall, narrow corridor hung with portraits. The family tree, Ryan assumed, noting that each subject appeared to be extraordinarily handsome. Either the painters were expert flatterers or this clan had been bred for show. —Susan Wiggs in The Charm School see details http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=89 http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=89 Sat, 20 Mar 2010 19:19:32 -0400 Like that of Notre Dame de Paris, the plot of Les Miserables is fundamentally melodramatic; its events are often improbable and it moves in the realm of the socially and psychologically abnormal. But this melodrama is deliberate; Hugo has chosen an extreme example, the conversion of a convict into a saint, to illustrate a general truth: that man is perfectible. —Amy L. Marsland, Ph.D., and George Klin in Cliffs Notes on Hugo's Les Miserables see details http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=88 http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=88 Fri, 19 Mar 2010 18:23:48 -0400 Researchers have long suspected that stress suppresses the immune system, and emerging evidence supports that theory. How you ease stress is an individual choice, but for starters, you could play with your kids or pet, participate in a hobby like gardening or woodworking, do meditation or yoga, watch a funny movie or television program or just read an enjoyable book. —editors of Prevention Magazine Health Books in Age Erasers for Women: Actions You Can Take Right Now to Look Younger and Feel Great see details http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=87 http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=87 Thu, 11 Mar 2010 18:11:06 -0500 Pups play in the grass. The one in the foreground is stalking something—a leaf maybe? Or is it something more substantial like a fly? Wolves start to learn their hunting skills at this tender age, gradually moving up to real prey. —Patrick Hook in Wolves see details http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=86 http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=86 Wed, 10 Mar 2010 21:28:16 -0500 Enjoy the recipes, the tips we have about growing, storing, freezing, and eating raspberries, and the special menus that you'll find served at New Mexican events, from Tailgating at a UNM football game to dinner at the Governor's Mansion. —Donna Peck, Co-editor of The Very Special Raspberry Cookbook see details http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=85 http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=85 Mon, 08 Mar 2010 12:28:19 -0500 This book will help you decide whether the Internet and the Web can make your business more successful and more profitable. If the answer is yes, it will help you implement your electronic vision. Use this book as a reference. Read it with your own marketing plan in mind, and your own marketing staff involved. Most of all read it with one eye on the screen, and the other on your business; one hand on a mouse and the other on your financial statement. The Web is a great place to have fun—but it's more fun when it grows your bottom line. —Jan Zimmerman and Michael Mathiesen in Marketing on the Internet, third edition see details http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=84 http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=84 Sun, 07 Mar 2010 12:17:45 -0500 It is not a choice of either the city or the countryside: both are essential, but today it is nature, beleaguered in the country, too scarce in the city which has become precious. I sit at home overlooking the lovely Cresheim Valley, the heart of the city only twenty minutes away, alert to see a deer, familiar with the red-tailed hawk who rules the scene, enamored of the red squirrels, the titmouse and chickadees, the purple finches, nuthatches and cardinals. —Ian L. McHarg in Design with Nature see details http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=83 http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=83 Fri, 05 Mar 2010 10:23:28 -0500 So you're interested in learning how to juggle but it took you four years to learn how to tie your shoes, and besides, dropping things has always been second nature to you. When your class played softball, you were always last picked and then packed off to right field. You're the original klutz and you probably think juggling is only for the super-coordinated. Relax. Most people have got the moves down and are well on their way to juggling after only fifteen minutes, and even hard-core cases like you won't be far behind. —John Cassiday and B.C. Rimbeaux in Juggling for the Complete Klutz see details http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=82 http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=82 Thu, 04 Mar 2010 19:34:26 -0500 I stood in the nondescript front yard gulping in air for a moment, then climbed in the Bronco and drove fast. Speeding clears my mind, sort of. I should have called ahead, but to hell with it. I slowed down on the levee road, the stopped and got out where I could watch the river eddying and flowing, throw stones and watch them sink. And wonder why life wasn't fair. I was walking on eggs now and I knew it. One of them, at least, was already cracked. —Karen Kijewski in Kat's Cradle see details http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=81 http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=81 Wed, 03 Mar 2010 13:27:11 -0500 A traveler through the West encounters a diverse array of forest types. Some contain some of the world's tallest trees: Redwood, Giant Sequoia, Common Douglas-fir, and Ponderosa Pine, all giants capable of exceeding 200 feet in height. Other forests are composed mostly of small trees, junipers and pines that rarely grow taller than 30 feet. —John C. Kricher and Gordon Morrison in Ecology of Western Forests see details http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=80 http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=80 Tue, 02 Mar 2010 15:15:33 -0500 The historic docks of Liverpool's Mersey waterfront had long been silent, the armies of tall cranes dismantled, the warehouses converted or pulled down. Part of the city's heart had stopped beating. There had been bypass surgery of sorts, but past muscle would never return. The city had a vast red-brick cathedral, but faith, as in much of Britain, had dimmed. —Dick Francis in Come to Grief see details http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=79 http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=79 Thu, 25 Feb 2010 12:05:52 -0500 The governing board of directors must be a board that represents no one except the basic long-term interests of the enterprise. It must be capable of discharging its function as the review organ and as the supervisor of top-management performance. —Peter F. Drucker in Management: Tasks, Responsibilities, Practices see details http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=78 http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=78 Wed, 24 Feb 2010 14:15:10 -0500 When washing vegetables and fruits, don't just let the tap run. Instead, fill a bowl with water. After you're done, use this water for potted plants. —Randall Schultz in How to Save Water at Home: A Step-By-Step Manual for the Do-It-Yourselfer see details http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=77 http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=77 Mon, 01 Feb 2010 20:30:50 -0500 Soup plays an important role in the cuisine of most countries. I can't imagine a time when men did not take pleasure from a good bowl of soup. It is a dish associated with warmth and comfort. We are soothed and cheered by the smell and sight of a stockpot brewing on the stove. —Michele Evans in Recipes for Beautiful Soup see details http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=76 http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=76 Sun, 31 Jan 2010 18:32:33 -0500 They drove to the end of the good part of town or the beginning of the bad, it was hard to tell which. There was a chainlink fence around a small brown yard, running alongside a pale blue wooden house. The fence, Ray thought, was the nicest thing about the whole place. It looked strong and shiny where everything else looked scraped and torn. —by Daniel Wallace (author of Big Fish) in Ray in Reverse see details http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=75 http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=75 Sat, 30 Jan 2010 19:06:05 -0500 I been ridin' fer cattle the most of my life. I ain't got no family, I ain't got no wife, I ain't got no kith, I ain't got no kin, I allus will finish what ere I begin. I rode down in Texas where the cowboys are tall, The State's pretty big but the hosses er small. Fer singin' to cattle, I'm hard to outdo; I'm a high-lopin' cowboy, an a wild buckeroo. —one verse of Curley Fletcher's cowboy ballad from T.H. Watkins The West: A Treasury of Art and Literature see details http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=74 http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=74 Fri, 29 Jan 2010 09:59:03 -0500 Albert Porta, an expert seismographer and meteorologist, predicted that a conjunction of six planets on December 17, 1919 would "cause a magnetic current that would pierce the sun, cause great explosions of flaming gas and eventually engulf the earth." When the cataclysm did not occur, Porta lost all his credibility and reputation. He became a newspaperman for the rest of his professional life. For the more moderate meteorologist, Weather & Weather Forecasting provides great introductory information. see details http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=72 http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=72 Thu, 17 Dec 2009 23:27:53 -0500 December 14, 1903 – Orville and Wilbur Wright make their first attempt to fly in their powered Wright Flyer I at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.The attempted flight stalled at take-off. Wilbur was in the airplane after winning a coin toss. An interesting look at the early days of airplane is contained in Aces of the Air published in 1930. Essays include: Apollo Soucek, holder of the world's altitude record at the time; Henry Ford, on engines; F.H. LaGuardia, Where does Congress stand?; and many more. see details http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=71 http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=71 Mon, 14 Dec 2009 23:03:45 -0500 Happy birthday to actor and comedian Dick van Dyke born on December 13, 1925. He taught an entire generation who loved Disney's Mary Poppins how to speak with a "Cockney" accent. He also starred as Rob Petrie in the Dick Van Dyke Show and as the wacky father in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and has had lots of roles on TV and in movies since. Speaking of humor, you might want to look at Comedy Classics see details http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=70 http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=70 Sun, 13 Dec 2009 19:10:38 -0500 The old log and stucco house would smell like Christmas, like fresh-cut pine, like cinnamon and vanilla and ginger, and would look like a magazine photo, with greens draping every window and doorway. . . . On Christmas Eve, they would all gather in front of the fireplace, and whoever's turn it was that year would read "The Night Before Christmas" to the rest of the family. The beloved faces would glow in the firelight, and for a while, even the sibling bickering and baiting inevitable in a large family would cease. --by Mariah Stewart in the collection of holiday stories Upon a Midnight Clear. see details http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=69 http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=69 Sat, 12 Dec 2009 17:49:24 -0500 December 12 is the feast day of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the patron saint of the Americas. In 1531 she appeared to Juan Diego in rural Mexico with miracles of roses blooming in the wilderness, curing illness, and her image appearing on Juan's cloak. Eugenia Price in her book, Woman to Woman, shares lessons she has learned from Christ. see details http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=68 http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=68 Sat, 12 Dec 2009 17:09:28 -0500 In 2003, the United Nations General Assembly declared December 11 of each year to be International Mountain Day. This day is to be used as "an opportunity to create awareness about the importance of mountains to life, to highlight the opportunities and constraints in mountain development and to build partnerships that will bring positive change to the world's mountains and highlands." For more information, see their website. The landscape of the western United States is dominated by the Rocky Mountains. Photographer David Muench has captured the many moods of the Rockies in this beautiful coffee table book. see details http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=67 http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=67 Fri, 11 Dec 2009 22:32:58 -0500 On December 10, 1901, the first Nobel Prizes were awarded. In 1895, Alfred Nobel willed most of his wealth (from his invention and subsequent patent on dynamite) to establish the award. Nobel died of a stroke on December 10, 1896. The first Nobel Prize for Literature was given to Rene F. A. Sully Prudhomme. More recently Gabriel Garcia Marquez (in 1982) and Gao Xingjian (in 2000) have won Nobel Prizes for Literature. Copies of some of their work are available here! In Evil Hour by Garcia Marquez and Soul Mountain by Xingjian http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=66 http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=66 Thu, 10 Dec 2009 22:21:48 -0500 Actress Dame Judi Dench was born December 9, 1934 in Heworth, York, Great Britain. She has played a variety of roles including M in the most recent James Bond movies, Queen Victoria in Mrs. Brown, and Jean in the BBC comedy As Time Goes By. She has also acted on the stage in many of Shakespeare's plays: as Juliet in Romeo and Juliet, as Lady Macbeth in Macbeth, and as Ophelia in Hamlet. Renew your acquaintance with Hamlet and his buddies Rosencrantz and Guildenstern and the much quoted text from one of Shakespeare's most revered plays. "To be, or not to be, that is the question." "What a piece of work is a man!" "Something is rotten in the state of Denmark." "Frailty, thy name is woman!" "Neither a borrower nor a lender be: For loan oft loses both itself and friend." "This above all — to thine own self be true." We have a very clean, nice copy of the Signet paperback available. see details http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=65 http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=65 Wed, 09 Dec 2009 22:17:25 -0500 On November 24, 1859 Charles Darwin published On the Origin of Species. His ideas about natural selection and well-written, detailed accounts of his observations changed the scientific world. John D. Barrow's book Pi in the Sky: Counting, Thinking, and Being quotes everyone from Lao-Tse to Robert Pirsig, to Charles Darwin and Stephen Leacock, Kurt Godel and Umberto Eco, Pi in the Sky is a profound—and profoundly different—exploration of the world of mathematics: where it comes from, what it is, and where it's going to take us if we follow it to the limit in our search for the ultimate meaning of the Universe. see details http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=64 http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=64 Tue, 24 Nov 2009 10:20:15 -0500 On November 23, 1979, Pink Floyd released their album The Wall. It sold 6 million copies in two weeks. That's a lot of vinyl! "Hey! Teachers! Leave them kids alone!" Good books for kids: see details http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=63 http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=63 Mon, 23 Nov 2009 10:17:48 -0500 On Friday, November 22, 1963, President John F. Kennedy was fatally shot while riding in a motorcade in Dallas, Texas. After being sworn in as President, Lyndon Johnson said, "This is a sad time for all people. We have suffered a loss that cannot be weighed. For me it is a deep personal tragedy. I know the world shares the sorrow that Mrs. Kennedy and her family bear. I will do my best. That is all I can do. I ask for your help - and God's." A Thousand Days: John F. Kennedy in the White House by Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. is a personal memoir by one who served in the White House during the Kennedy years. . . . This work is based on papers as well as on interviews and recollections. see details http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=62 http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=62 Sun, 22 Nov 2009 14:16:31 -0500 November 21, 2009 is the 37th annual World Hello Day. "World Hello Day was begun in response to the conflict between Egypt and Israel in the Fall of 1973. Since then, World Hello Day has been observed by people in 180 countries. "People around the world use the occasion of World Hello Day as an opportunity to express their concern for world peace. Beginning with a simple greeting on World Hello Day, their activities send a message to leaders, encouraging them to use communication rather than force to settle conflicts. For more information visit their website. If you find you have more to say after "hello," you might enjoy Turning Memories into Memoirs: A Handbook for Writing Lifestories see details http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=61 http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=61 Sat, 21 Nov 2009 12:11:27 -0500 There's as much art as science in bread making because you're dealing with living things, such as yeast, that need warmth and moisture—and tender loving care. by Jean Hewitt in The New York Times New Natural Foods Cookbook. see details http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=60 http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=60 Fri, 20 Nov 2009 13:28:28 -0500 November 20 commemorates the beginning of the revolution to overthrow Mexican dictator Porfirio Diaz. The uprising was led by Francisco Madero and began a time of turmoil in Mexico that spilled over into southern New Mexico and Arizona. In spring of 1916, Francisco "Pancho" Villa crossed the New Mexico border and raided the small town of Columbus (three miles north of the border). He looted and burned most of the commercial district while many residents fled to the desert to hide. President Wilson sent General John J. Pershing and 10,000 troops to capture Villa. This was the first time the U.S. had used aircraft and motorized vehicles in a combat situation. At the time, the entire air force (eight planes) was stationed in Columbus. After nearly one year, the unsuccessful pursuit was called off due to the beginning of World War I. Pancho Villa is one of the many interesting entries in Dictionary of American History. see details http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=59 http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=59 Fri, 20 Nov 2009 12:40:53 -0500 The noise isn't a pterodactyl, but close. On the other side of the cord grass a great blue heron patiently sits. I stand still and study it. Mussed hair, pale face, gray with black streaks, black shoulder patch. It finally unfolds its neck into a muscular question mark and slowly looks about, turning like a weather vane in a light breeze. --by David Gessner in A Wild, Rank Place: One Year on Cape Cod see details http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=58 http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=58 Tue, 25 Aug 2009 19:49:32 -0400 On August 18, 1952 Elayne Boosler was born. She is a comedian, writer, and animal activist. On her http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=57 http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=57 Tue, 18 Aug 2009 11:45:39 -0400 Because of the First Law of Thermodynamics we cannot get something for nothing and because of the Second Law of Thermodynamics, almost every action of man has some undesirable impact on our environment or life-support system. As a result, there is ultimately no completely technological solution to pollution on a spaceship [earth]---although technology can help. A continued increase in the number of passengers and their levels and wasteful patterns of the use of energy and materials must insure a continuing decline in the quality of life and threaten survival for a large number of the passengers. -G. Tyler Miller, Jr. in Replenish the Earth: A Primer in Human Ecology from 1972 see details http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=56 http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=56 Tue, 18 Aug 2009 11:29:37 -0400 On August 9, 1930, Betty Boop made her debut in the cartoon Dizzy Dishes. She was created by Grim Natwick and was popular in animated shorts throughout the 1930s. She lives on today in a variety of collectibles and appeared in a cameo performance in Who Framed Roger Rabbit in 1993. Betty is a brunette, but we recommend our book Gentlemen Prefer Blondes & But Gentlemen Marry Brunettes. Two novels in one volume, these comic masterpieces of the 1920s by Anita Loos of the 1920s are a fun read. see details http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=55 http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=55 Sun, 09 Aug 2009 18:24:21 -0400 Happy 37th birthday to Wil Wheaton born July 29, 1972. Known for his role as Wesley Crusher on Star Trek: The Next Generation. He also has a blog and has published several books. Although earthlings have not yet mastered long-distance space travel, you can read about some of the people who have studied space in The Astronomers see details http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=54 http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=54 Wed, 29 Jul 2009 13:45:02 -0400 That bridge led Anne's dancing feet up over a wooded hill beyond, where perpetual twilight reigned under the straight, thick-growing firs and spruce; the only flowers there were myriads of delicate "June bells," those shyest and sweetest of woodland blooms, and a few pale, aerial starflowers, like the spirits of last year's blossoms. Gossamers glimmered like threads of silver among the trees and the fir boughs and tassels seemed to utter friendly speech. - by L.M. Montgomery in Anne of Green Gables see details http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=53 http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=53 Wed, 15 Jul 2009 12:16:48 -0400 On July 15, 1919 Iris Murdoch was born in Dublin, Ireland. She was a writer and philosophy professor at St. Anne's College, Oxford. She is perhaps best known for her struggle with Alzheimer's and for her 1978 novel The Sea, The Sea. The 2001 movie, Iris, with Kate Winslet and Judi Dench told the story of her life with Alzheimer's. We suggest a book specifically about women's health: Every Woman's Health: The Complete Guide to Body and Mind see details http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=52 http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=52 Wed, 15 Jul 2009 11:53:59 -0400 Certain of the hound breeds, such as the Afghan Hound, Saluki, Greyhound, Deerhound and cross-breeds of these, are sometimes called "long dogs," "gaze hounds" or "sight hounds." These are breeds which hunt by sight, and their long legs make them capable of great speed. The flexibility of their bodies makes them seem closer to the cheetah than to some of their fellow dogs. These dogs can reach speeds of up to 35-40 mph; a cheetah can run at 55-60 mph. Speed relates partly to how a dog places its feet. Although these sight hounds have long backs, they also have long legs, and at full speed the hind legs land ahead of the point that the forelegs are leaving. - by David Taylor from You and Your Dog: A Complete Guide to the Health, Care and Behavior of Dogs see details http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=51 http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=51 Tue, 14 Jul 2009 10:16:46 -0400 July 14 is celebrated in France (and other places with large French populations) as Bastille Day to commemorate the storming of the Bastille in Paris in 1789. The storming of the Bastille, a fortress and prison, and then the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen set the stage for the French revolution. To translate from French to several other languages, may we suggest: Capitol's Concise Dictionary: From and to: English, Swedish, Dutch, German, French, Italian, Spanish see details http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=50 http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=50 Tue, 14 Jul 2009 10:04:10 -0400 The respect necessary to use and work wood well and beautifully is developed more readily by the close contact obtained through the use of handtools than by the more impersonal sense of omnipotence which the use of power tools imparts. To sit on a piece of wood and work a moulding with a hand plane is to come to know that piece of wood almost as if it were a person. - Graham Blackburn in Illustrated Basic Carpentry see details http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=49 http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=49 Mon, 06 Jul 2009 20:38:32 -0400 On July 6, 1998, Roy Rogers, King of the Cowboys died at age 86. He and his wife Dale Evans starred in over 100 movies and had a popular radio show that moved to television in the 1950s. Their theme song was "Happy Trails to You" and his faithful palomino horse's name was Trigger. Before he changed his name from Leonard Slye, he formed the Sons of the Pioneers music group known for their classic harmonies of cowboy songs ( e.g., "Cool Water," "Tumbling Tumbleweeds"). We suggest a wonderful over-sized book about the West: The West: Treasury of Art and Literatue see details http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=48 http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=48 Mon, 06 Jul 2009 20:17:28 -0400 Schedule "quiet hours" at work. Many managers contrive to spend either the first or the last hour of each day alone, with insturctions that they are not to be disturbed. If the only way you can relax is to create time to do so, this method might be best for you. - by Alfred Goodloe, Jane Bensahel, and John Kelly in Managing Yourself: How to Control Emotion, Stress, and Time see details http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=47 http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=47 Sun, 05 Jul 2009 22:47:22 -0400 On July 5, 1935 President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the National Labor Relations Act, which allowed labor to organize for the purpose of collective bargaining. Suggested fiction titles concerning earlier union activity: Julie see details Sea Glass see details http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=46 http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=46 Sun, 05 Jul 2009 22:41:21 -0400 He let his cigarette burn at his side for a moment or two, while they stood, all three, in a tense, waiting silence, rocking with the train. Finally, he took a deep puff, dropped the butt, said: "Now, tell me what happened. What made her do that?" The redhead stared at him strangely, then averted her face. "I wouldn't know. I never spoke one single word to her. None of us did." - by Zelda Popkin in The Journey Home see details http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=45 http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=45 Wed, 01 Jul 2009 22:35:44 -0400 On July 1, 1916, Dwight D. Eisenhower married Mary "Mamie" Geneva Doud in Denver. They were married in a simple ceremony in Mamie's parents home and honeymooned at a resort in Eldorado Springs near Denver. More about President Eisenhower in his autobiography: In Review: Pictures I've Kept A Concise Pictorial Autobiography see details http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=44 http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=44 Wed, 01 Jul 2009 22:16:39 -0400 Herbs were, first and foremost, grown primarily for healing and flavouring and, as such, were grown in a place reserved for them, whether it was part of a monastery garden, or part of the vegetable patch of peasant or yeoman farmer. - by Ann Bonar in The Macmillan Treasury of Herbs: A Complete Guide to the Cultivation and Use of Wild and Domesticated Herbs see details http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=43 http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=43 Tue, 30 Jun 2009 20:12:37 -0400 Born on June 30, 1817, Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker was a British botanist, traveler, physician, and author. At the age of 7, Hooker began attending his father’s botany lectures at Glasgow University. He graduated with his M.D. in 1839. Hooker traveled aboard HMS Erebus as ship's assistant surgeon into the southern oceans and the Antarctic region. He published writings about his travels and later became a friend of Charles Darwin. His interest in the geographical distribution of plants connected him with many plant collectors of the time. In 1865, he succeeded his father as the director of the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew. Book suggestions for plant lovers: Taylor's Guide to Perennials: More Than 600 Flowering and Foliage Plants, Including Ferns and Ornamental Grasses see details Orchid Fever: A Horticultural Tale of Love, Lust, and Lunacy see details The Macmillan Treasury of Herbs: A Complete Guide to the Cultivation and Use of Wild and Domesticated Herbs see details http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=42 http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=42 Tue, 30 Jun 2009 19:34:44 -0400 Gates needed hip boots to wade through the crap he'd gotten himself into. Slamming his pencil down on the desk, he leaned back and massaged his temples, hoping to head off an oncoming headache. He rarely had one, but when he did, it was a dilly. - by Mary Lynn Baxter in Lone Star Heat see details http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=41 http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=41 Mon, 29 Jun 2009 20:37:22 -0400 On June 29, 1613, the Globe Theatre (built around 1598 by Shakespeare's company) burned down during a performance of Shakespeare's Henry VIII. Sparks from a cannon used in the play lit fire to a thatched roof. The Theatre was rebuilt. In 1642, the Puritans closed all London theaters and the building was destroyed in 1644. The foundation of the building was discovered in 1989 and a reproduction of the theater was built and opened in 1997. From Shakespeare's work we recommend: The Tempest see details The Tragedy of Hamlet see details http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=40 http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=40 Mon, 29 Jun 2009 20:09:24 -0400 Skim through a dictionary until you find a word with definitions that strike you as interesting, surprising, or unusual. . . . copy the parts of the definition that you like. Copy them as a poem, starting a new line whenever it seems natural. -by Stephen Dunning, M. Joe Eaton, and Malcolm Glass in For Poets: Poetry 2 see details http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=39 http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=39 Sun, 28 Jun 2009 21:25:54 -0400 On June 28, 1491, England's King Henry VIII was born in Greenwich Palace. At age 17, Henry married his late brother's widow, Catherine of Aragon and was crowned king several days later. His five other wives were: Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour, Anne of Cleves, Catherine Howard, and Catherine Parr. For details of British history, we recommend Illustrated History of Britain see details http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=38 http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=38 Sun, 28 Jun 2009 21:14:55 -0400 Be patient with everyone, but above all with thyself. I mean, do not be disheartened by your imperfections, but always rise up with fresh courage. - Frances de Sales, quoted in Light for My Path: Illuminating Selections from the Bible see details http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=37 http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=37 Sat, 27 Jun 2009 11:17:43 -0400 Born June 27, 1880, Helen Keller was a prolific author, a dedicated political activist, and a popular lecturer. She championed workers' rights, women's suffrage, birth control, and other progressive ideas. She became both deaf and blind as the result of a childhood illness and was initially educated by Anne Sullivan who enabled Helen to communicate. Ms. Keller is also credited for having introduced the Akita dog breed to America after receiving an Akita as a gift when she traveled in Japan during the 1930s. She published her autobiography, The Story of My Life, at age 22. We have a copy available. see details http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=36 http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=36 Sat, 27 Jun 2009 10:53:16 -0400 People know me here. It wasn't always so. But living thirty-odd years in the same place begins to show on a man. In the course of such time, without even realizing it, one takes on the characteristics of the locality, the color and stamp of the prevailing dress and gait and even speech---those gentle bells of the sidewalk passersby, their How are yous and Good days and Hellos. And in kind, there is a gradual and accruing recognition of one's face, of being, as far as anyone can recall, from around here. - by Chag-rae Lee in A Gesture Life see details http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=35 http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=35 Tue, 23 Jun 2009 22:05:39 -0400 On June 23, 1868, U.S. Patent number 79,265 was issued to Christopher Latham Sholes for a type-writing machine. This became the first mass-produced typewriter. Recommended fiction: In the novel Sea Glass by Anita Shreve, the newly married husband is a traveling typewriter salesman. see details http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=34 http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=34 Tue, 23 Jun 2009 21:58:14 -0400 To prepare lettuce for use, remove and discard wilted outer leaves. . . .Rinse the greens in cold water. . . .Place leafy greens in a clean kitchen towel or paper toweling, and pat or toss gently to remove clinging water. Tear greens into bit-size pieces. - from Better Homes and Gardens All-Time Favorite Salad Recipes see details http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=33 http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=33 Fri, 19 Jun 2009 21:33:15 -0400 Juneteenth is celebrated on June 19th and remembers the announcement of the abolition of slavery in the U.S. State of Texas in 1865. The holiday was first celebrated in Galveston, Texas and is now observed as a state holiday in 31 states in the U.S. It is also know as Freedom Day or Emancipation Day. Reading suggestions:Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother see details I've Known Rivers: Lives of Loss and Liberation see details http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=32 http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=32 Fri, 19 Jun 2009 21:25:45 -0400 Good is the season of peaceful summer; The council of the trees gather together, A band unshaken by the whistling wind, A green gathering in the sheltered woods; Eddies swirl the stream, Good is the warm turf under us. - from Caitlin Matthews compilation The Little Book of Celtic Blessings see details http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=31 http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=31 Thu, 18 Jun 2009 21:37:21 -0400 June 18, 1913 is the birthday of Sylvia Porter, American economist and journalist. Originally studying in English at Hunter College of the City University of New York, she changed her major to economics and finance after the stock market crash in 1929. She earned a doctorate in literature from Bates College and wrote many well received books for the general public including Sylvia Porter's Money Book:How to Earn It, Spend It, Save It, Invest It, Borrow It and Use It to Better Your Life and Your Finances in the 1990s. She wrote a column in the New York Post for more than 40 years and in the 1980s she had a magazine, Sylvia Porter's Personal Finance. On the topic of finance, may we suggest: The Wall Street Journal Guide to Understanding Personal Finance see details http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=30 http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=30 Thu, 18 Jun 2009 21:23:15 -0400 An outline is simply a plan. By organizing your thoughts in an outline form, you can see clearly what direction your writing will take. The more detailed your outline, the easier your first draft will be because you will have the facts and ideas in the order in which you plan to present them. - by Phyllis Dutwin and Harriet Diamond in Writing the Easy Way, Second Edition, for School, Business, and Personal Situations see details http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=29 http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=29 Wed, 17 Jun 2009 22:38:37 -0400 On June 17, 1961, Soviet ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev defected to the West while his troupe was in Paris. Read more about this talented dancer and choreographer and about his legacy. Decide where to study dance by reading The Performing Arts Major's College Guide see details Read about dance in the mystery Loves Music, Loves to Dance see details http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=28 http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=28 Wed, 17 Jun 2009 22:23:28 -0400 In the early-morning light, moving fast down the Bitter Creek trail, she stopped for a minute to listen. Nothing, only silence. Or rather, every kind of sound except what she was listening for. Plenty of noise rustling up from the dry leaves around her feet---that would be a lizard making itself sound as big as a bear. She walked on. -by Barbara Kingsolver from Prodigal Summer: A Novel http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=27 http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=27 Tue, 16 Jun 2009 11:17:08 -0400 On June 16, 1902, Barbara McClintock was born in Hartford, Connecticut. She earned a Ph.D. in botany from Cornell University in 1927. She studied the genetics of maize---specifically genetic recombination by crossing-over during meiosis by which chromosomes exchange information. Dr. McClintock was awarded a Nobel Prize in 1983. We have several books for sale with genetic/evolutionary subject matter: Future Evolution: An Illuminated History of Life to Come see details The Ascent of Man see details The Ascent of man : Sources and Interpretations see details http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=26 http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=26 Tue, 16 Jun 2009 11:06:11 -0400 People intuitively understand that a good business enhances the lives of all who work within it, and enriches the lives of all those who are touched by it. -by Paul Hawken in Growing a Business see details http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=25 http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=25 Mon, 15 Jun 2009 21:52:46 -0400 On June 15, 1836 Arkansas became the 25th State We have several books about President Bill Clinton who served as the governor of Arkansas two separate times: January 9, 1979 – January 19, 1981 and January 11, 1983 – December 12, 1992. My Life by Bill Clinton see details The Clinton Years: The Photographs of Robert McNeely see details http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=24 http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=24 Mon, 15 Jun 2009 21:41:31 -0400 It's not always a question of survival of the strongest. It's more likely to be survival of the thinkingest, for man's brain is his best survival tool. - by Bradford Angier in Survival With Style: In Trouble or In Fun . . . How to Keep Body and Soul Together in the Wilderness see details http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=23 http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=23 Sun, 14 Jun 2009 18:21:20 -0400 June 14 is Flag Day in the United States. The Second Continental Congress adopted the stars and stripes as the official flag in 1777 on this date. It was not until 1916, when President Woodrow Wilson issued a proclamation that June 14 was officially recognized as Flag Day.From our History section, we recommend Dictionary of American History with the Complete Text of the Constitution of the United States. see details http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=22 http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=22 Sun, 14 Jun 2009 17:49:52 -0400 On June 13, 1966, the Supreme Court issued its landmark Miranda vs. Arizona decision, ruling that criminal suspects must be informed of their constitutional rights prior to questioning by police. Although each U.S. jurisdiction has its own regulations concerning what, exactly, must be said, this is typically how the Miranda Rights reads: "You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney present during questioning. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed for you. Do you understand these rights?"Check out the crime scene in these titles pulled from our Mysteries section: Iron Orchid (Holly Barker Novels) see details Oh Danny Boy (a Molly Murphy Mystery) see details To the Nines see details Malice on the Moors see details Cat on the Scent (a Mrs. Murphy mystery) see details Mariner's Compass (a Benni Harper mystery) see details The Case Has Altered: A Richard Jury Mystery see details Silver Spire (a Nero Wolfe mystery) see details Alley Kat Blues (a Kat Colorado mystery) see details Red, White and Blue : A Novel see details Poisoned By Gilt: A Domestic Bliss Mystery see details Hard Truth (an Anna Pigeon mystery) see details Delectable Mountains (a Benni Harper mystery) see details Cat Who Went Underground see details Fresh Disasters (a Stone Barrington novel) see details http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=21 http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=21 Sat, 13 Jun 2009 12:25:26 -0400 Some women, it is said, like to cook. This book is not for them. This book is for those of us who hate to, who have learned, through hard experience, that some activities become no less painful through repetition: childbearing, paying taxes, cooking. This book is for those of us who want to fold our big dish-water hands around a dry Martini instead of a wet flounder, come the end of a long day.- Peg Bracken from The I Hate to Cook Book see details A classic mix of humor and recipes from 1960. http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=20 http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=20 Sat, 13 Jun 2009 12:06:51 -0400 As the philosopher Seneca observed in the first century: "Our universe is a sorry little affair unless it has in it something for every age to investigate . . . Nature does not reveal her mysteries once and for all."- from Reader's Digest Mysteries of the Unexplained http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=19 http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=19 Fri, 12 Jun 2009 20:56:25 -0400 Born June 12, 1924, George Herbert Walker Bush served as the 41st President of the United States from 1989 to 1993.Books we have for sale relating to the 41st President: My American Journey by General Colin Powell and Whose Rose Garden Is It Anyway? by Art Buchwald. http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=18 http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=18 Fri, 12 Jun 2009 20:45:38 -0400 It was as if a spring that had been wound too tightly had suddenly been released. Jeff exploded into action, pelting off full-speed toward the small patch of greenery at the far end of the street. There was a furious energy in his pounding legs and pumping arms. - Jayne Ann Krentz in Truth or Dare (signed copy available) http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=17 http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=17 Thu, 11 Jun 2009 21:32:36 -0400 On June 11, 1910, Jacques-Yves Cousteau was born. He made over 120 documentaries about the ocean and marine wildlife many of them made using his ship, Calypso, as the base. Cousteau along with Emile Gagnan developed the first commercially successful scuba gear—the Aqualung. This system uses open-circuit units in which compressed gas from a tank is inhaled and air exiting the lungs goes into the water. Today’s popular scuba gear derived its design from the Aqualung. He also founded The Cousteau Society in 1943 and it continues to explore ocean ecosystems throughout the world.Without the Calypso to explore the world of the fishes, many of us keep fish as pets. From our Pet section we highlight two titles: Your First Tropical Fish and Exotic Aquarium Fishes. http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=16 http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=16 Thu, 11 Jun 2009 21:24:36 -0400 The key components of good writing, the ones to remind yourself of whenever your writing goes off track, are clarity and honesty. Clarity is for your reader. . . . Honesty is for you.- Marcia Lerner in The Princeton Review Writing Smart: Your Guide to Great Writing http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=15 http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=15 Wed, 10 Jun 2009 21:27:27 -0400 She was born June 10, 1922 as Frances Ethel Gumm. Her career spanned 45 of her 47 years. She began performing as a child in vaudeville with her sisters. She is often remembered for her role as Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, but I’ve always really enjoyed her as Hannah Brown in Easter Parade made in 1948 with Fred Astaire and Peter Lawford. In addition to her film career, she was a Broadway performer, and an acclaimed singer. She won an Academy Award, a Tony, a Golden Globe, and several Grammys. Books selected from our Music section include: Young, Rich, and Dangerous: The Making of a Music Mogul by Jermaine Dupri =:= Nice Work If You Can Get It: My Life in Rhythm and Rhyme by Michael Feinstein =:= Listening to Music=:=The Performing Arts Major's College Guide=:= Fundamentals of Musicianship, Book 1 http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=14 http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=14 Wed, 10 Jun 2009 21:07:20 -0400 Any segment of land --- the moon, for example --- can be interesting of itself, but its greater significance must always lie in the life it sustains. - James A. Michener in Centennial http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=13 http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=13 Tue, 09 Jun 2009 10:31:08 -0400 June 9, 1836 is the birthday of Elizabeth Garrett Anderson, the first recognized female English physician beginning her medical practice in 1870. Throughout her life, Dr. Anderson opposed the ideas of her day, specifically that higher education overworked women and decreased their reproductive abilities, and that menstruation weakened women to such a degree that they could not participate in higher education. Dr. Anderson argued that education and exercise was healthful for women physically and mentally. In 1908, she was elected mayor of Aldeburgh and became the the first female mayor in England. She was a strong advocate for the admission of women to the profession of medicine and also worked in the suffrage movement. More on the web about Dr. Anderson. Selections from our Health and Fitness section: Women's Encyclopedia of Health & Emotional Healing: Top Women Doctors Share Their Unique Self-Help Advice on Your Body, Your Feelings and Your Life (-) Every Woman's Health: The Complete Guide to Body and Mind (-) Nutrition Almanac Recommended Dietary Allowances (-) What to Expect When You're Expecting http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=12 http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=12 Tue, 09 Jun 2009 10:01:58 -0400 Enchiladas --- flat or rolled corn tortillas filled with meat or cheese and covered with red or green chile sauce.from the "Gringo Glossary" of Savoring the Southwest, a beautifully done hardback cookbook by the Roswell Symphony Guild. A classic! http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=11 http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=11 Mon, 08 Jun 2009 12:23:52 -0400 Born June 8, 1867, Frank Lloyd Wright was one of the most influential and imaginative architects of the 20th Century. His architectural career lasted almost 70 years. He had a global impact on modern architecture, influencing design styles not only in America, but also in Europe and Asia. More information about him. In the vein of architecture, we have the 1981 Sierra Club book, More Other Homes and Garbage: Designs for Self-Sufficient Living, that deals with alternative architectures, solar heating, water supply, aquaculture, and renewable energy sources with facts, tables, examples. http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=10 http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=10 Mon, 08 Jun 2009 12:11:34 -0400 To be, or not to be: that is the question: Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, And by opposing end them? To die: to sleep; No more; and by a sleep to say we end The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks That flesh is heir to, 'tis a consummation Devoutly to be wish'd. To die, to sleep; To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there's the rub; For in that sleep of death what dreams may come When we have shuffled off this mortal coil, Must give us pause: there's the respect That makes calamity of so long life from Hamlet by William Shakespeare. http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=9 http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=9 Sun, 07 Jun 2009 09:26:29 -0400 On June 7, 1848, Post-impressionist painter Paul Gauguin was born in Paris. He lived and painted in Tahiti and Polynesia. He was acquainted with Van Gogh in Arles, France and some historians theorize that it was the accomplished fencer Gauguin who cut off Van Gogh's ear after an argument. Most historians believe Van Gogh cut his own ear off with a straight razor. The life of Gauguin inspired W. Somerset Maugham to write The Moon and Sixpence (we have a nice old hardback copy).Other art books of interest and currently on our shelves: Surrealist Art: The Lindy and Edwin Bergman Collection at the Art Institute of Chicago :::: Draw 50 Dinosaurs and Other Prehistoric Animals (summer fun for the young artist) :::: What is Art? And Essays on Art by Leo Tolstoy, a nice hardcover with jacket from Oxford Press in 1959. http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=8 http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=8 Sun, 07 Jun 2009 08:45:38 -0400 " I will do it tomorrow," said Toad. " Today I will take life easy."- Arnold Lobel Days With Frog and Toad - http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=7 http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=7 Sat, 06 Jun 2009 09:37:25 -0400 June 6, 1944, 160,000 Allied troops landed along a 50-mile stretch of heavily-fortified French coastline to fight Nazi Germany on the beaches of Normandy, France. General Dwight D. Eisenhower called the operation a crusade in which “we will accept nothing less than full victory.” More than 5,000 Ships and 13,000 aircraft supported the D-Day invasion, and by day’s end on June 6, the Allies gained a foot- hold in Normandy. The D-Day cost was high -more than 9,000 Allied Soldiers were killed or wounded -- but more than 100,000 Soldiers began the march across Europe to defeat Hitler. More details and photos at http://www.army.mil/d-day/ Books in stock about World War II: The Encyclopedia of World Air Power The Turn of the Tide: A History of the War Years Based on the Diaries of Field-Marshal Lord Alanbrooke, Chief of the Imperial General Staff Green Beach The Collapse of the Third Republic: An Inquiry into the Fall of France in 1940 Flyboys: A True Story of Courage In Review: Pictures I've Kept A Concise Pictorial Autobiography http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=6 http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=6 Sat, 06 Jun 2009 09:22:12 -0400 On this day in 1723, economist Adam Smith was born in Kirkcaldy, Scotland. He wrote about free market economies in his book The Wealth of Nations in 1776. Current reading about money matters can be found in our books. We suggest: Suze Orman's The 9 Steps to Financial Freedom: Practical and Spiritual Steps So You Can Stop Worrying OR The Book of Inside Information from Bottom Line OR The Wall Street Journal Guide to Understanding Personal Finance http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=5 http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=5 Fri, 05 Jun 2009 19:27:08 -0400 The practice of art isn't to make a living. It's to make your soul grow. - Kurt Vonnegut - http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=4 http://www.canyonoakbooks.com/blog.php?post_ID=4 Fri, 05 Jun 2009 16:15:42 -0400