The Oral History Review published my review of “Little Zion: A Church Baptized by Fire” (2006). Check it out here!

I’ve joined the intrepid legions of novelists for National Novel Writing Month. I heard about it from my best friend, then found out a friend from Interactive Theatre Carolina was organizing it in my area. So I jumped in.
You can find me at this link:
http://www.nanowrimo.org/eng/user/245051

I watched “Heroes” last night while babysitting. After all these years of reading X-Men, I thought I had my ideas about ideal superpowers all figured out — definitely flight with some super-strength and a little shape-shifting when handy. But then I saw the “Heroes” character who can mimic whatever she sees and knew I’d found the right power for me. I would be a pretty useless mutant in battle, though. Because, if I were her, I would have stopped watching Bruce Lee movies in about two minutes, switched to Country Music Television, and bought a guitar a.s.a.p. Then started watching PBS orchestra specials and Discovery’s “Man vs. Wild.”

Generations of novelists would be happy to hear that their romantic notions and suspicions have been scientifically verified. According to this Reuters article, it has been shown that “the stress and anxiety of hostile, angry relationships can boost the risk of developing heart disease.” And notably, the negative effects outweigh the positive effects of these relationships on the physical level because those involved continue to dwell on the pain.

On Sept. 20th, thousands of people have converged in Jena, Louisiana to ask for justice on behalf of six teenagers being treated unfairly in the local court system.
You can follow the story here.

You can sign a petition here.

Alright, so the Taliban released the last of the South Korean missionaries, and the Red Cross took them home. Happy for that! Not so happy that the Taliban says they plan to abduct more people now.

I was happy to read this report that the South Korean government reached consensus with the Taliban. The rest of the medical missionaries may be on their way home.

Here is an article about a retired couple who spent a year volunteering with rebuilding efforts in Waveland, Mississippi. Other volunteers reported in the Daily Tar Heel that this city is still “gone” — as in the beachfront part of town has simply ceased to exist. In two years, people still haven’t moved back.
I loved this quote from the retired couple:

“I’m not a Bible thumper, but this changes your outlook . . . The only real way most of us know to be obedient to God is to give back to others.”

The video game “Guitar Hero” seems to actually get kids interested in music (rock music in particular) while giving them a big head start to understanding rhythm. [see this article from “Machinist”]It provides confidence and a chance for fast improvement, which is much harder to achieve on a real guitar. Who knows? We may see interactive games meshed with music education in the future. A little “Karaoke Revolution” before choir practice? A little DDR before track?

My mom sent me this article about a baby who was left to die after anonymous gunmen killed her mom and uncle. She’s being cared for at a US military hospital by a friend of my parents.