Book Review - Angel on My Handlebars

About the Book 
67 year old beauty queen bicycles across the US to raise money for music scholarship

 

 She may seem “old” by young people’s standards and even considered “mature” by others, but she isn’t over the hill by any means. And now turning 72, she’s a remarkable model of what a person can aim at and achieve for all of us.

 Patricia Starr, a Santa Barbara, CA and Wahoo, NE trombone teacher, a concert pianist and a former beauty queen, amazed everyone when at the age of 67 she decided to do the unthinkable and bicycle across America to raise money for a music scholarship. This past year, at age 71, she pedaled 1,400 miles to Atlantic City, New Jersey, to represent the State of Nebraska in the Ms. Senior America pageant.

 This beautiful remarkable woman shares her story and experiences in her new book, Angel on My Handlebars.

 In 50 days this untrained woman in short shorts and Hanes Pantyhose rode a bicycle with a fuzzy seat cover 3,622 miles. All odds were certainly against her, and some seasoned cyclists scoffed at what they thought was a frivolous attempt to com­plete this noteworthy journey.

Start in Astoria OregonStart in Astoria Oregon

Many of the days during the ride stretched between 100-120 miles. The excitement swung from angel experiences to heartbreak to excruciating pain.

Riding up the Columbia Gorge

Patricia had to overcome many obstacles along the way – ominous electrical storms, rain, heat, wind, fatigue, hunger, a broken toe, screaming muscles, a nasty crash, panic at be­ing lost and alone, sharing the interstate with 18-wheelers, a bear scare and her follow-up van being stolen.

   Day 15 Jackson Wyoming

 Day 30 Sioux falls, South Dakota

Angel on My Handlebars is an adventure story about the survival of the human spirit. Through this book, Patricia and her husband want to inspire others to never give up. Whatever your dream happens to be, go for it!

 Day 50 Arrival in Portsmouth, New Hampshire

She never gave up. Her strong desire, along with a husband willing to do anything to help his wife succeed and endure the rigors of the road, allowed her to accomplish this feat to raise funds for a music scholarship at Santa Barbara City College.

Angel on My Handlebars

By Patricia Starr

US $19.95

ISBN: 978-0-9795444-8-4

Published December 2009

Published by Summerland Publishing

 Available in bookstores nationwide and online. 

 For more information visit www.angelonmyhandlebars.com

My Take on the Book 

Persistence, persistence, persistence. This book makes me think of the childrens book Little Train That Could. Patricia is an amazing woman that is an inspiration to anyone. I mean, how many 67 year old individuals would take a 3,622 mile bike journey across the United States, I don't know that I know many, and on top of this, the list of other accomplishments that she has done in her life made me start thinking of my own accomplishments. From being a concert pianist and trombone teacher to winning the Mrs. Senior California and Mrs. Senior Nebraska beauty pageants, she is living her life the way that she wants to and inspiting others as she does.

If you are looking for a book that will inspire you to be and do more with your life, I would encourage you to check out this book. You can find it on Amazon!  

All opinions expressed in this review are my own and not influenced in any way by the company.  Any product claim, statistic, quote or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer or provider. Please refer to this site's Terms of Use  for more information. I have been compensated or given a product free of charge, but that does not impact my views or opinions.

Elmers Unveils a New Glue!

Elmer’s^® Products Inc., an industry leader in adhesives, arts and crafts, office and educational products, re-introduced today the company’s first multi-purpose household glue, Elmer’s Glue-All^®. The iconic glue, first introduced to the marketplace in 1948, is shedding its reputation as an arts and crafts-only glue and taking on bigger projects around the house with its new, stronger formula.

According to Mary Beth Cowardin, senior marketing manager for Elmer’s Products, “A common misperception of Glue-All is that it is interchangeable with Elmer’s School Glue^®. The strength, versatility and durability of Glue-All makes it ideal for quick-fixes and projects from the entire house yet it remains non-toxic and safe for children.” 

The new Glue-All is formulated to bond a wide variety of materials including paper, fabric, wood, ceramic, cork and leather. To showcase the many uses of Glue-All, Elmer’s today launched a series of how-to videos. The videos feature a wide variety of household repair projects from the kitchen, bathroom, living room and garage and will be available at www.Elmers.com and on YouTube.  

A 4 fl oz bottle of Glue-All retails for around $1.99 and is currently available nationwide at major grocery stores, drug stores, big box retailers and craft stores.

About Elmer’s

Elmer’s^® Products, Inc., headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, has been a trusted brand and industry leader for more than 60 years. Elmer’s produces a variety of well-known adhesives, arts and crafts, educational and office products for use at home, school or business. Elmer’s branded products are developed to provide project solutions and to inspire people to create, build and learn for life.  Elmer’s also markets the number one instant adhesive in the U.S., Instant Krazy Glue^®, and X-ACTO^®, a leader in innovative cutting blades, knives and office supply products. For more information visit www.elmers.com.  

My Take on the ProductThis glue works! The girls and I had the opportunity to try out a few bottles and we were off. We built a few masterpieces and were impressed with how well the glue stuck everything that we made to the paper and other found substances that we were using!

I grew up on Elmers, and am happy to see that they continue to improve their products for this generation!

The Electronic Literature Organization Announces the Electronic Literature Directory 2.0

This June, ELO announces the Electronic Literature Directory 2.0, the latest version of its online directory of 21st-century electronic literature, full of novel interactive works, like: http://eld.eliterature.org/node/407

And that's just the beginning....

The Directory will officially launch at Brown University at the fourth International Conference and Festival (

http://ai.eliterature.org), June 3-6, 2010, hosted by professor and poet John Cayley.

"Print books on a Kindle are not electronic literature. E-lit uses computer processing to deliver new forms of story, poetry and drama," says ELO President and University of Illinois professor Joseph Tabbi. "And we're even seeing works that, while they're clearly literary, fit none of those settled genres inherited from print."
The works in the directory run the gamut from the first pieces of e-lit, such as Michael Joyce's "afternoon," to Jhave Johnston's 2009 "human-mind-machine." Authors include novelists, such as Kate Pullinger; poets, such as Stephanie Strickland; and literary scholars, such as N. Katherine Hayles of Duke University. The Directory includes international e-lit authors Young-Hae Chang Heavy Industries (South Korea) and Jaime Alejandro Rodríguez Ruiz (Colombia).

The latest version of the directory leaves behind the static layout of version one to take up the "Web 2.0" model of collaborative curation through a wiki structure. "However, unlike the just-about-anything-goes format of the Wikipedia, the Directory relies on the review and detailed annotations of an extensive directory review board," says Davin Heckman, who currently coordinates the working group and teaches English at Siena Heights University.

"The Directory is ready to serve you some outstanding 21st-century summer reading or novel novels for your Fall 2010 syllabus," says Heckman.

"Did you really buy that iPad just so you can read Sense and Sensibility? Reading print books on your iPad is like using your e-mail to send Morse Code," says Mark Marino, Director of Communications of ELO and writing professor at the University of Southern California College of Letters, Arts & Sciences.

Although just in its initial stages, the working group has vetted more than 150 works and has as many more in the pipeline of this ever-expanding collection. Along with artistic pieces readers will ultimately find critical essays on electronic literature and venues for publication.

At the June conference entitled "ELO Archive and Innovate," ELO will honor Robert Coover, whose New York Times essays ushered in and out the "golden age" of hypertext. Coover's son Roderick appears in the Directory with his work "Unknown Territories."

This year, ELO will also be publishing the second volume of its Electronic Literature Collection. To view the first volume, go to http://collection.eliterature.org/1/


More electronic literature is just a click away!

Inanimate Alice: Kate Pullinger and Chris Joseph
A multimedia online novel in four episodes set in China, Italy, Russia, and the protagonist's "Hometown," featuring a girl growing up in the 21st century. Reader participation and interactivity increase as the series progresses, reflecting Alice's engagement and influence in her environment as she grows older. http://eld.eliterature.org/node/514

Roulette: Daniel C. Howe and Bebe Molina
A language game for readers, a single work that can be read in roughly 64,000 ways. The lines of the poem shift every time readers interact with one of the three lines of the poem. http://eld.eliterature.org/node/511

The Jew's Daughter: Judd Morrissey with Lori Talley
An interactive, non-linear, multivalent narrative. A hypertext, but one that transforms the text (rather than just linking from one stable text to another). As soon as the reader moves the mouse over highlighted keywords (links), segments of a page replace one another fluidly. http://eld.eliterature.org/node/509

JB Wock: Eugenio Tisselli
JB Wock is a self-described "English-speaking blogmachine" created by poet and programmer Eugenio Tisselli. JB Wock, a PHP script, searches the web for a phrase that it "likes" (from a site that publishes notable quotations), "twists" these phrases by substituting synonyms, and publishes the results daily on its blog (which also includes a comment feature, inviting readers to respond).

slippingglimpse: Stephanie Land and Cynthia Lawson Jaramillo
A 10-part generative Flash poem combining videos of ocean patterns with text. http://eld.eliterature.org/node/507

Sydney's Syberia: Jason Nelson
A poetic meditation on urban space presented through a Flash-based "infinite zoom" interface, which Nelson has repurposed and re-titled as "infinite click and read." http://eld.eliterature.org/node/487

Book Review - Just Don't Call Me Ma'am

About the Book
At a time when unprecedented opportunities are offered to women, many report lower levels of happiness and satisfaction. Have expectations become too high? Are we-in proposing these big opportunities-condemning young women to a life that may not be right for them?

In her memoir, Just Don't Call Me MA'AM: How I Ditched the South, Forgot My Manners, and Managed to Survive My Twenties with (Most of) My Dignity Still Intact (Seal Press, April 2010, $15.95), Anna Mitchael tackles the question of how to find your own path to happiness; a topic she learned much about during her twenty-something adventure-life filled with big jobs, big cities, big loves, and big disappointments. Through her trials, Anna realized that she would never find what she was looking for until she stopped to find herself.

Just Don't Call Me MA'AM is written with unmitigated honesty and disarming humor; it's a hilariously truthful tale about the cathartic embarrassments that we all go through as young women. From her first shaving experience to her first Brazilian; from her first crush, to her first heartbreak, Mitchael weaves a fine web of a story both entertaining and empowering urging that, even when all feels lost, we must pick ourselves up and go on.

My Take on the Book
Talk about funny! This book was an insightful, humorous book that kept me wrapped as I read through it. Though geared toward women, you are amazed that this author is only in her Twenties as it seems that her life experiences would portray someone older. Nevertheless as a reader you are drawn in and you find yourself not wanting to put the book down!

The story works to allay some of the stereotypes that are placed on southern women as well as acts somewhat to being a coming of age book. Overall, I would recommend this book, you will find that it is a page turner!

If this sounds like a book you would like to have in your own collection, you can find it on  Amazon!

Groupon+DonorsChoose.org deal to support public schools, a 1st for Groupon

Getting a great deal feels good, but helping students in need feels even better. Online education charity DonorsChoose.org and Groupon, a nationwide daily deal site, are partnering today, Monday, May 24 to offer Groupon’s first-ever charity deal, allowing subscribers to double their donation dollars for individual classroom project requests submitted by public school teachers. This partnership will dedicate a total of $1 million to provide critical resources and supplies to public and charter school classrooms around the country, highlighting a new and unique method of engaging individuals in philanthropy. 

Groupon, a site valued at more than $1 billion, will be offering the DonorsChoose.org deal beginning today as a system-wide side deal, which will also run throughout the rest of the week. The deal works like this: if you purchase $250 on Groupon, you’ll receive $500 credit to contribute to DonorsChoose.org, $100 for $200 and so on. Other levels listed will be:

·         $100 credit sold for $50

·         $50 credit sold for $25

·         $20 credit sold for $10

As with any DonorsChoose.org project, individuals will contribute the deal’s dollar amount to classroom projects of their choosing. Once a project is fully funded, DonorsChoose.org will purchase the requested materials and send them directly to the classroom. All donors will receive photos of the project taking place, a thank-you letter from the teacher, and a cost report showing how each dollar was spent. Donors who fund more than $100 will also receive hand-written thank-you letters from the students.

About DonorsChoose.org

 Founded in 2000, DonorsChoose.org is a nonprofit website where public school teachers describe specific educational projects for their students, and donors can choose the projects they want to support.  After completing a project, the donor hears back from the classroom they supported in the form of photographs and student thank-you letters.

To date, 122,000 public and charter school teachers have used the site to secure funding for $45 million in books, art supplies, technology, and other resources that their students need to learn. Through www.donorschoose.org individuals from all walks of life have helped 3 million students from low-income families.

Laura Recovery Center Receives National Recognition

The Laura Recovery Center for missing children was awarded this year's US Department of Justice Missing Children Non-Profit Organization of the Year Award.  The award was presented to Gay Smither and Bob Walcutt at the annual Executive Director's Conference of AMECO (Association of Missing and Exploited Children’s Organizations) in Albuquerque, New Mexico.  The award recognizes "... outstanding contribution and commitment to missing and exploited children" and was presented by Katherine Darke Schmitt, an Associate Deputy Administrator with the US Department of Justice.

The Laura Recovery Center was nominated for the award by Captain Shari Burrows of the Friendswood Police Department.  In her nomination letter, Captain Burrows noted that "This organization has upheld high standards of professionalism and demonstrated noteworthy leadership in protecting children while forging positive relationships with local partners."  In addition Captain Burrows praised "the extraordinary effort they display contributing to the protection of children."

Gay Smither, co-founder and president of the Laura Recovery Center, stated "It is an honor to receive this prestigious award.  We are pleased to be recognized by the Justice Department for the work of our dedicated staff and volunteers.  Being a warrior for missing children is often difficult, but we know that one missing child is one too many!"

The Laura Recovery Center is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization, that was founded in Laura Smither's memory. The Center focuses on Education, Search, and Prevention in the area of missing children, has offered free abduction prevention programs to over 200,000 children throughout the greater Houston area, worked with approximately 1,450 families with missing loved ones, and has organized 95 community searches for abducted children nationwide. The Center trains law enforcement at the Houston Police Department training academy and other agencies in Texas, and distributes educational materials and child ID kits.

Invest On Your Health & Save Money (and Frustration!)

Imagine what you could have done with the money you spent on medicines and doctors last year.

That’s what John Khoury, CEO and founder of Liquic.com, a comprehensive online health and wellness resource suggests.  Health reforms and insurance plans apart, healthcare costs can be outrageous. A simple cold can result in hundreds of dollars and hours of frustration.

“The best way to reduce healthcare costs is to minimize the number of people getting sick,” Khoury explains.  According to him, thinking of your actions as health investments will ensure a longer (and better!) life to your body and your wallet.

Below are some ways you can start ‘investing’:

Choose organic and fresh foods 

Most of the time, “fat-free” and other “healthy” labels don’t mean much to your immune system. Organic and fresh vegetables and meats might be a bit pricey, but they will eliminate all herbal supplements and tasteless protein shakes from your cabinet.

Simply working out is not enough

Every type exercise is valuable, but there are ways to maximize your workout.  A personal trainer can examine and guide you through the exact steps to fulfill your body’s needs. Any chiropractor will agree that the right move has the power to kick out that back pain that has been bothering you for months.

Have all your exams done on time

Time and money can restrain you from getting that exam your insurance is not covering. Visit your doctor regularly, and make sure to have all preventive exams done accordingly. “Preventing a disease costs much less that treating it.” says Khoury.  It doesn’t matter how old you are, or how healthy your lifestyle is, having that annual checkup can save you thousands of dollar in the long run.

Don’t hesitate to speak with a professional

A good mental health will lead to good physical health.  Leaning on your peers for support can bring comfort; but will it lead you to an objective solution?  Talking to a professional about your personal anxieties can avoid an anti-depressant prescription.  Liquic offers online sessions, where speaking with a professional is a click way.

About Liquic.com:

Liquic.com is a comprehensive online health and wellness resource for individuals seeking a better quality of life, providing access to coaches, psychologists, yoga instructors, dieticians, fitness experts, relationship therapists, counselors and financial advisors regardless of physical location.  By merging the traditional world of psychology, the practical hands-on touch of the coaching and counseling industry, and the exciting techniques of alternative and holistic wellness, Liquic is able to serve as a gateway to improved overall well being.