Do the languages we speak shape the way we think?

Do they merely express thoughts, or do the structures in languages (without our knowledge or consent) shape the very thoughts we wish to express?

New cognitive research suggests that language profoundly influences the way people see the world

http://bit.ly/bsXX6G

Read hundreds of digital comics online

For well over a century, comic books have been the stuff of childhood pastimes. Some people never grow tired of comics, and this website might be just the tonic they are looking for … hundreds of unique comics in their original format

http://bit.ly/9DbU5w

Interview with Ayn Rand – an amazing author

In this engaging 1959 interview, her first on television, Ayn Rand capsulizes her philosophy for CBS’s Mike Wallace. The discussion ranges from the nature of morality to the economic and historical distortions disseminated about the “robber barons.” She also comments on her relationship with Frank O’Connor, provides some autobiographical information and gives her perspective on the future of America.

Have you read Lunch in Paris yet?

Lunch in Paris: A Love Story, with Recipes

~ Elizabeth Bard

“As charming and coquettish as Paris itself, Lunch in Paris reawakens our tired hearts and palates with a deliciously passionate journey through the city of lights. Be prepared to be seduced by french kisses, the richest chocolate, and the sweet charm of Bard’s prose.”

Finding the best online literary criticism

[Via  The Scout Report, Copyright Internet Scout Project 1994-2010. http://bit.ly/9MLMKc]

Ipl2: Literary Criticism [pdf]

Discriminating between the proverbial “wheat” and “chaff” on the Internet presents a number of challenges, and when it comes to discussion about online literary criticism, it’s even more difficult. This helpful guide to the best of such resources is made possible via ipl2, which itself is the merger of the Internet Public Library (IPL) and the Librarians’ Internet Index (LII). These annotated suggestions are divided into sections that include “Best Starting Places” and “Starting Places for Particular Time Periods”. Each resource is profiled in a short paragraph, and the link is also offered for convenience. While some parties might find the suggestions a bit rudimentary, these sites can be quite helpful for persons just coming to this arena.

The internet is changing the way we talk

The Internet is hacking into our language. More and more, we hear onlinese words and phrases in day-to-day conversation — epic fail, full of win, newbs.

We are friending and de-friending each other. We are concerned about sexting. We speak of spamming and linking and blog blog blog. Meanwhile, we are tweeting away like a tiding of magpies.

The future of books

The future of books …Margaret Noble’s 12th-grade class at High Tech High Media Arts in San Diego.

Noble assigned her class to create interactive artworks around the theme of children’s books of the future,

and the results are amazing

Heart of Darkness – Watch the book trailer

HEART OF DARKNESS by Joseph Conrad – Trailer by Raquel Ramon, of Laredo, Texas

Amazon
has a copy for just $1.50 plus shipping, or you can spend $1.76 but no shipping at the Book Depository

Of all the places to read a good book ….!

Reading is wonderful – agree?

Reading is great escape from the worries of the world – agree?

Reading is wonderful and a great escape while you are driving …. hmmmm!

Using books to unlock a brain with a mind of its own.

Try to remember to forget


illustration by Okan Arabacioglu

Memory loss is like bad weather: You can complain, but there’s little you can do about it. Which is not to say people won’t try.

My wife’s father was a voracious reader, especially of detective stories and history. He had books by the hundreds stacked in his home. One day I noticed many were marked inside with the letter X.

They are “reminders,” my wife said.

“Of what?”

“That he had already read the book.”

I thought it a good strategy against a diminishing memory; nobody wants to travel the same road twice. But recently something happened that made me reconsider.