Friday Round Up

Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter was one of my favorite books when I was a teenager. There was just something about all of that angst and guilt that appealed to me. I never gave much thought to Hester Prynne having to wear the letter "A" because after all, A was for adultery-or was it.

According to the November/December 2004 issue of Mental Floss (okay I'm a bit behind in my leisure reading) "A" could also have been for Antarctica. Apparently Hawthorne wanted to visit Antarctica, but his application was rejected when he applied to be part of an expedition. A few years later The Scarlet Letter was published. A story about a woman that was rejected from society and forced to wear the letter "A". Hmmm.

I have always thought that National Geographic is the cat's pajamas. (that means good or great). I have been badgering my cable company to offer the National Geographic Channel in their Basic package, but alas they stil have not. This cam is wonderful. Give it a minute to load and then feast your eyes.

Would you like to have access to over 7,000 scholarly journals? Free Full Text does just that. Free Full Text allows either some or all of the journals content to be viewed, you guessed it, for free.

If you have ever wondered who the voice is behind AOL's "You've Got Mail" utterances his name is Elwood Edwards. Mr. Edwards has his own web page and there's also a photo.

For those in the Washington, DC area you might want to catch the Solar Decathalon. Eighteen teams of college students from around the world are constructing energy-efficient, solar-powered homes on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. Homes in the temporary solar village will be open for public tours October 7 to 16. If you aren't in the DC area check out their website.

This is the 10th anniversary of the Million Man March. On Saturday, Oct. 15, 2005 the Millions More Movement will be commemorating that historic day. For more information on the festivities visit their site.

I have little to no interest in cars. I could very easily live some place where the main mode of transportation was feet, horse or bike. As I have stated numerous times before I am incensed by how much vehicles cost, and the cost keeps climbing and I am constantly irate at how many SUV's are on the road. Then why oh why am I so crazy about this show? One of the parts of the show that I love is when they read the credits. There's a listing on their site so get ready to chuckle.


Have a wistful weekend. I for one have been enjoying this wet, gloomy weather. I love it.

"Be who you are, say what you feel, because those that matter don't mind, and those that mind don't matter". Theodor Geisel (Dr. Seuss)