what's up worley?

Where's my coffee shop?

2010-08-18T09:48:00.001-07:00

iphone scoop

2010-04-23T20:47:00.001-07:00

some new videos

2010-04-14T14:40:00.001-07:00

oakland hail: 7:45 Tuesday

2009-03-03T08:12:00.000-08:00

dtv

2009-02-13T00:07:00.000-08:00

New Gig- Podshow.com

2008-02-22T11:51:00.000-08:00

Watch the trailer to check out the new show launching this spring

Bigger News

2008-02-18T15:53:00.000-08:00

For those of you wondering why I haven't been hosting Cash and Treasures on the Travel Channel:

Emalia and Finn Worley Mitchell
Jan 5, 2008
Emalia: 6 pounds
Finn: 7 pounds 7 ounces

CES 2007: the stuff I liked, the video I shot

2007-01-17T16:34:00.000-08:00

It was a frantic 7 days of TV and technology.
Here are links to the video I did at the show

Yahoo! Tech
52 products covered in 4 days of shooting (ACK!)

Stretched out in front of the World's largest (108") LCD TV

Singing Elvis

Good Morning America
Noise cancelling cell phone headset, touch computing, red light camera detector, Singing Elvis

R2D2 Movie projector/DVD player

Making my own Intel commercial to explain multicore computing

Travel Channel Show Debuts

2006-12-01T10:48:00.000-08:00

The summer of 2006 was all about treasure hunting. From April to August I travelled around the country looking for gold, diamonds, and any other kind of treasure you could imagine. The show debuts on December 5th at 10pm Eastern, 7pm Pacific on the Travel Channel. They've put together a fun website, check it out if you get the chance.

Fish Fossils in Wyoming

2006-06-21T12:55:00.000-07:00

50 million years ago, Kemmerer Wyoming was a sub-tropical lakebed. Millions of fossils from that era still exist and can be worth big bucks. even the small ones are beutiful and I was lucky enough to find some.

GMA Father's Day Gifts 2006

2006-06-18T20:23:00.000-07:00

http://www.abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=2088190

Interview

2006-06-18T20:14:00.000-07:00

A friend from TechTV interviewed me for a website she created. I just saw this today, and aside from all the "ums" in the transcript, it was cool for me to see in writing the way that I actually talk.
http://www.otherthanthat.com/archives/2006/01/bucking_the_sys.html

More Travel Pics

2006-06-13T16:54:00.000-07:00

Luke (second Camera) and me in Montana

Our Amazing Photographer Brian in Key West

My Feet Sticking out of the Sapphire Washing Tub in Montana

Montana Sapphire Crew: Katie, Mark, Scott, me, Luke

Producer Chris Leavell, Cameraman Dave Corona, and our audio guy Matt
figuring out "Jimmy Rib" on the Mokulumne River while gold panning.

I'm back, if only temporarily

2006-06-12T13:24:00.000-07:00

I've been completely MIA from my Blog, but I have a good reason: I've been crazy busy! Aside from the occasional GMA tech segments, I'm also on the road about 5 out of 7 days each week hosting a show for the Travel Channel (debut Jan 2007). I'm also hosting a web show for Yahoo that has been a lot of fun.
So to let you see what I've been up to, here are some pics from recent Travel Channel gigs

Hunting For Meteorites in New Mexico

Searching for Prehistoric Shark Teeth in Florida

Panning For Gold In California

Diving for treasure in Florida

The Silver Coin I found with Kim and Sean Fisher

Faceting a Sunstone in Oregon

Digging for Gems in Oregon

GMA Pet Segment

2006-03-29T10:06:00.000-08:00

Today I show-cased the latest gadgets and products for cats, dogs, and even fish. That old line about working with kids and animals is true: it added another degre of difficulty to the live TV challenges.
In the end I think the segment turned out okay and the products were fantastic.
Here's a link to the article I wrote for abc.com. Two last minute additions that didn't make the article are the Catgenie and the Pawplunger.
Also one slight correction- Diane Sawyer said I was at the pet products show in San Diego, sadly I only got reports from the show.

GMA Oscars- High Tech Swag in the Gift Bags

2006-03-06T11:46:00.000-08:00

I spent Saturday at Grauman's Chinese Theatre doing Good Morning America's lead-up to the Oscar's show. My job was to unveil the Oscar presenter's gift bag: all I can say is - it doesn't suck to be a star. Presenters raked in $100K and nominees took home $75K in travel, spa, clothing, and food gift certificates. Plus the celebs received jewelery, wine, and a ton of gadgets. Here's a link to my ABCnews.com column highlighting all the gadgetry inthe gift baskets.
The most fun for me was closing the show with host, Bill Weir and ABC movie critic Joel Siegel: we had the little souvenir cement plaques from the theatre and put our handprints in them. After the show my dad called to tell me how excited my mom was: she thought I was really putting my handprints in the sidewalk at the theatre - CUTE.

Superbowl XL

2006-02-05T11:14:00.000-08:00

Saturday Feb 4, 2006. Ford Field, Detroit MI
GMA asked me to come to Detroit for a segment showing off Superbowl technology for the home. Here's a link to my column that details all the products.
I didn't see much of Detroit, but I had a really cool morning cruising around Ford Field. It was amazing to see the facility all decked out for Sunday. We created our set on the sidelines just off the 30 yard line.

Steve Young was supposed to do the segment with us, but Security wouldn't let him in. The guy was a Superbowl MVP and had press passes up the wazoo, but he was detained and didn't make our segment. We did end up hanging out after the segment taped. MarySol Castro, GMA's weather person, told him that the two of us are ex-rugby players and he didn't believe it. We had to start listing our injuries before he realized we weren't pulling his leg. MarySol is seven months pregnant, so when she offered to show off her tackling technique as proof, we were all a little concerned. Steve Young was in Detroit for ESPN and also to promote a charity he supports- the Sharpie Autographs for Education campaign.

GO SEAHAWKS! (check out the cookies the NFL put out for us at the field).

CES Sneak Peek GMA

2006-01-04T11:28:00.000-08:00

The Consumer Electronics Show is upon us. I'm in Vegas for a week working for MS, Yahoo and GMA. Here's my first look at some of the early release products.
Favorites were the emergency cell phone charger,

A 71" LG HDTV plasma

The Fighting Android sparring robot

Read the GMA article for more info and I'll be reporting more from CES through the week.

GMA Holiday Articles

2005-12-01T09:58:00.000-08:00

Online Gift Buying Advice
Holiday Gift Guide
The Alive Chimpanzee that I used for the November 26th GMA segment can be purchased through The Sharper Image

Warner Studios

2005-11-09T11:28:00.000-08:00

I felt like a little kid yesterday. I had a meeting with a producer who works on the Warner Brothers studio lot in Hollywood. He took me on the all-access Golf cart tour, and I couldn't believe how big the place is. We cruised by the exterior of E.R. as they shot a scene in the "ambulance bay" complete with fake snow on the ground in the 70 degree California weather. We saw the miles of costumes housed on set including an entire rack of gladiator costumes. I knocked on the plastic facade of the Whitehouse exterior from West Wing, walked onto a live rehearsal for Joey (no Matt LeBlanc sightings), and I even got to see the top-secret hidden set from Friends, and sit on the couch from the Central Perk coffee shop (ergo the pic here).
I've been in the television business for 12 years, but it's so different when you go behind the scenes of a series you grew up with.

GMA: HDTV for Dummies

2005-11-09T11:23:00.000-08:00

Good Morning America went High Def last week, they are the first news program to do so. They asked me to explain High Definition Televisions, here's the article I wrote to accompany the segment

GMA- Video in China

2005-10-24T21:45:00.000-07:00

Funny, funny video: two architectural students in China reinterpret the Backsteet Boys
http://www.youtube.com/watch.php?v=Lb6eAnp0Yec

GMA: More than Mapping, The New GPS Devices

2005-10-16T10:31:00.000-07:00

October 15th I did a Good Morning America Segment on GPS devices. Not only did ABC post the article I wrote, but they also put up a picture of my pooch, Poi. He is the geekiest dog on TV: he's spotlighted pet technology on TechTV at least 20 times (regular segments on Fresh Gear, TechLive, and even a cameo on Call For Help with Leo), CNN Headline News 3-4 times, and now Good Morning America.
Here's the article from GMA.

Security Workshops

2005-09-23T08:01:00.000-07:00

I just taught a set of identity theft workshops at Stanford. I really enjoyed the experience. The students were great, very excited that they actually accomplished some of the identity theft prevention tasks right there in the workshop. I had an amazing classroom with 20 computers, a huge overhead projector showing my screen, and IT people hovering to deal with any tech issues the students experienced.
I created this page as a link site for all the tasks one should do if when trying to lock down their finances and identities. If you haven't taken steps to safeguard your privacy- go check the site out and send me your feedback.

Good Morning America Appearance ZOTOB Worm

2005-08-17T09:57:00.000-07:00

In the wake of the ZOTOB worm, I've fielded a lot of calls from media folks. I appeared on GMA this morning (8-17) and just did a phone (?) interview with Jeanne Moos at CNN.
Here's an article that I wrote for ABC with info on how to protect yourself and what to do if your Win 2000 machine is already infected.
Bottomline- If you are running automatic Windows updates on your computer, you are safe.

Teaching Stanford Security Seminar

2005-08-03T09:35:00.000-07:00

Personal Security in the digital age:
Fight spam, scams, identity theft, computer viruses and hackers

I’m teaching a workshop at Stanford about personal financial and digital security.

The goal is to show people how and then have them (in the seminar) actually pull up their credit reports, opt-out of pre-approved credit card offers (a major source of ID theft), opt out of direct mail(junk mail), and opt out of telemarketing calls.
There’s a section on what to do if your wallet is ever stolen, your checks forged, or your credit card number compromised by hackers.
http://www.beckyworley.com/workshop/

Father's Day Gifts

2005-06-09T16:24:00.000-07:00

I'm doing 2 segments for Father's Day:
San Francisco's KGO, Sunday June 12th
Good Morning America, Saturday June 18th

Here are my picks for Dad:
Lacrosse Technology Wireless Weather Station $80
Women love shoes, Men love WEATHER.
What other force of nature has its own TV channel? So let dad play meteorologist with this wireless weather forecaster (Also comes with handsome wood trim)

myKeyO Keyboard Organizer $25
Ingenious! Working computer keyboard flips up to double as pencil case. Wired and wireless keyboard options, no more desk clutter.

Sentimental Scanning $0- $15 (printing costs)
Collect your favorite pictures of dad- Scan the images and then use a photo program (Photoshop, Paint, Paintshop Pro) to create a montage. You can put your montage in a book, on a poster or calendar. You can either print these at home, or use an online service like Ofoto or Snapfish, or head down to Kinkos or your local camera shop.

Satellite Radio $99 + $13 monthly subscription
The Sirius Sportster is a small and relatively inexpensive satellite radio that can be used in the car or with a Sirius boom box in the home. 120 channels of radio (including 65 music channels and 55 channels of sports, news and talk) make satellite radio a great commercial free option for serious sports fans or people in rural areas who don’t have myriad radio choices. Satellite radio is subscription based, so expect to pay about 13 dollars a month for the radio service. Sirius boasts NFL, NHL, NBA, English Soccer, and collegiate sports on their channels.
XM radio has exclusive rights to Major League Baseball, so think about the XM SKYFi-2 if baseball is Dad’s passion.

Golf Swing Gaming- $229
The Golf Launchpad swing simulator lets you play the hottest golf video games with a club in your hand instead of a mouse. This USB device plugs into your computer and allows you to swing at an actual ball that’s tethered to a piece of artificial turf. Sensors under the ball determine if your swing was on target, whether your club face was open, or if you John Daly’d the ball over the pin.
The Launch Pad comes with the Tiger Woods EA Sports PC-based golf game.

‘Extreme’ Tapeless Video Camera- $600
Dads love to record video, dads love cool gadgets, and dads generally think they are cooler than they really are. So why not give dad an EXTREME video camera. Samsung’s tapeless MPEG4 Sports Camcorder weighs less than a pound and is about the size of a deck of cards. It records on 512 megabytes of internal memory and on removable media cards (Memory Stick PRO) that you have to buy separately. The really cool feature of this camera (besides the tiny size) is the external “lipstick”camera that you can plug into the camera. Dad can attach this camera to his bike helmet, to the dog, to anything he’d like for extreme POV shots that put all those other camcorder-fathers to shame.

Robomow: Robotic Lawn Mower $1800
If you could only give dad time; time to relax, time to play golf, time to hang out. If dad has a big lawn that nags at him every weekend, the Robomow may be the equivalent of the gift of time. This robotic lawn mower does a pretty good job cutting the grass. The set up is fairly involved, but if it means you don’t have to push or ride a mower for a few hours a week it’s completely worth it.

Set-up
The Robomow works off a perimeter wire that you stake into the ground. At first the green wire is noticeable in the yard, but after a while you could see how the grass would grow over it and it would be nearly impossible to see. My test area was only about 15 feet wide by 60 feet long, so the staking process took about 20 minutes. I assembled the perimeter fuse-box (5 minutes), put the pieces of the Robomow docking station together (5 minutes), and put the Robomow into the dock. Total set-up time, including the time to read the manual, about an hour.

How it works
Robomow has a manual control that allows you to drive the device almost like a remote car. The controls and commands are very intuitive. I used the remote to drive Robomow into the docking station and left it attached to the charging connectors. Once Robomow had charged up, I set it to work on my yard. Using a criss-cross pattern, Robomow works back and forth across the lawn, staying inside the perimeter wire and systematically mowing the grass. Big tread tires give it good traction in bumpy spots and it’s slow but steady pace didn’t threaten me in any way (I had visions of a HAL like robot with blades attached). Immediately I was struck by how quiet the Robomow was. I couldn’t give you an exact decibel count, but it seemed at least half as loud as my electric mower. After about 30 minutes, Robomow had done a comprehensive job on the 900 square foot plot I had staked out. Never once did I have to retrieve it or rescue it from terrain or obstacles it couldn’t handle.

Not too short
I am somewhat obsessive about my lawn, and I keep it at a relatively short clip all summer long. I’d let it grow to an average blade size of about 3-4 inches to test Robomow, and hoped the device would cut the grass to about 2 and a half inches. Despite the fact that I lowered both Robomow’s back and the front height adjustors to their minimum height, the robotic mower didn’t get the blades quite as short as I’d like. If you are hoping for a device to trim your lawn to putting green status, this is not the mower for you. But if you have acres of lawn that get unruly fast, the Robomow is ideal. It’s programmable to mow on a fixed schedule or you can launch it manually. It will return to its docking station when it completes an area and you can shuttle Robomow between unconnected lawns when you have to create multiple perimeter areas.

Bottomline
I really liked the Robomow. As of our print deadline, the lowest cost for the RL1000 is around $1800, the slightly older RL 850 can be found online in the more affordable $1100 area.
Bottomline- if Dad dreads mowing the lawn every week, the Robomow is a great gift that keeps on giving.

New Episodes of Mother of All

2005-05-16T15:23:00.000-07:00

National Geographic Channel:
The Mother of All - All times Eastern

NEW Tricked Out Tailgater airs:
Wednesday, June 15, 2005, at 8P
Wednesday, June 15, 11P
Wednesday, June 22, 4:00P

NEW Blazin' Backdraft BBQ airs:
Thursday, June 16, 2005, at 8P
Thursday, June 16, 11P
Wednesday, June 22, 5:00P

Repeats: Fantastic Frat Fridge airs:
Wednesday, June 15, 2005, at 7P
Thursday, June 16, 2:00A
Thursday, June 23, 4:00P

Repeats: Radical River Raft airs:
Thursday, June 16, 2005, at 7P
Friday, June 17, 2:00A
Thursday, June 23, 5:00P

For more info:
National Geographic Channel

Master's Project DONE!

2005-05-14T16:43:00.000-07:00

Finally! After 5 years, I'm wrapping up my Master's degree in the Learning Design and Technology program at Stanford.
A huge step in getting this done has been completing my final Master's Project.
I presented it yesterday in Wallenberg Hall, with the rest of the 2005 class. Then watched people interact with it during the LDT Expo.
For my project I built a prototype learning tool called Safe Computing that brings customized security tutorials to the learner when they need it most. Check it out and tell me what you think.
P.S. I reprised two TechTV characters for the project.

Aunty Virus

Yan, the virus writer.

Big News!!

2005-04-28T10:26:00.000-07:00

WAY TO GO MOM!

Kathy Worley's first (official) hole in one:

Emerald Course, Wailea Maui

GMA Spam Fighting Tips

2005-04-09T22:33:00.000-07:00

On a recent Good Morning America segment, I was asked to list my top spam-fighting tips, here they are:

Guard your email address with your life
*Treat it like phone number.
*Have a private and a public account- the public for all newsletters, online purchases, and sign-ups.
*Never post on a website or if you do use the word ‘at’ instead of the @ symbol.

Turn off HTML graphics in your email
*Spammers plant graphics in their emails that load from the spammer’s server- sounds complicated but it’s basically an alert to the spammers that the email has been opened and the graphic has been viewed. The options feature in your email client or web based email will guide you through the process of turning off graphics in email.
*Turning off graphics also prevents those shocking pictures that load when you get a porn spam.
*Never try to unsubscribe- It’s just another way spammers know that they have a live one.

Use an email blocking program like Mail-Washer http://www.mailwasher.net/ or Qurb http://www.qurb.com/ or use an email service like Yahoo, that blocks and filters spam before it ever get to your Inbox.

Help stop Spam for every one-
*Use an up to date antivirus program: 1/3 of all spam is sent from zombie machines that are infected with a virus. These viruses help the real spammers hide their identities and use your bandwidth to send out spam
*Never ever buy from spammers. Jeremy Jaynes, the spammer recently sentenced to 9 years in a Virginia prison was making $750,000 A MONTH selling to people through spam. If it weren’t a lucrative career, spammers would have to do something else.

CTIA 2005

2005-03-14T10:45:00.000-08:00

The Cellular Telecommunications show in New Orleans kicked off today. Coolest phone I saw- the Samsung 7 megapixel Camera phone.

SAMSUNG 7 Mega Pixel Cam-Phone
The optics on the Samsung Camera Phone are fantastic- a 3x optical zoom! Not out yet in the US, but Samsung did show off a very small 1.3 megapixel phone that's tied into the EDGE high-speed data network. Connection to the internet at speeds in the DSL range- yes please!

I see the future and know what I want in my next phone: High-speed data network, at least a 3 megapixel camera with a 3X-5X optical zoom, a gig of internal storage, a functional web browser, email client, and pull out thumb typing keyboard. Is that so much to ask?

I've never been much of a thumb typing fan, the Treo type keyboard always felt too small for my paws. But I saw a keyboard I do really like on the new LG/Cingular phone ... AKA the American Idol phone that Ryan Seacrest is promoting.
The keyboard slides out from the phone. It's about 3 inches long and the letters are spaced wide enonught hat you wouldn't have that '2-keys at a time' problem that plagues the smaller thumb keyboards.

"Mother of All" Premiere

2005-02-23T11:46:00.000-08:00

National Geographic Channel is Debuting "Mother of All" Wednesday, February 23rd. (Repeat March 2nd, 3 pm and 4pm Eastern)

Michael Hoff Productions and Producer, Josh Gingold asked me to host this series of four specials . The premise: build the mother of all device/contraption for a different community every show.
Check out Tim Goodman's review of the show in the San Francisco Chronicle.

LA Sevens Rugby

2005-02-15T16:12:00.000-08:00

Spent last weekend in LA watching the IRB sevens tournament. Sevens is a type of rugby that is fast, pure athleticism, and a lot of fun to watch. If you've ever wondered why people would put themselves through the agony that is rugby, just watch sevens.
Sevens is named because only 7 players are out on the field for each team (normally it's 15 a side). The game is played on a regular field ("pitch"- 100 meters by 70 meters) so the amount of space (and thus, sprinting to get into space) is outrageous. Each half is only 7 minutes long, so the pace is fast and furious: sprint hit, sprint hit, etc.
The tournament will air on Fox Sports World (AKA the Soccer Channel) on Sat., Feb. 19, at 5 p.m. ET.
Check it out, oh and for the ladies- added incentive: you get to see the New Zealand players take off their shirts for the traditional Haka- Yummy!

Sundance 2005

2005-01-29T17:29:00.000-08:00

Just back from Park City, UT
Sundance is a serious spectacle: 45,000 people descend on a ski-town to watch movies, swap scripts, and watch the beautiful people. You can feel the locals cringe as the LA set buys Ugg boots and fur coats to be worn twice, then live in a Santa Monica closet for the rest of the year.
WORKING
I was there covering Intel's launch of a WIMAX antenna that broadcasts movies wirelessly. Between the debut of a movie called RIZE and a VW Toureg tricked out as a wireless theatre, the Intel guys did a really good job showing that this tech could make a run at supplementing wired broadband options in the future. Click here to see an example of the live shots.
PLAYING
The celeb watching was pretty amazing, I walked past Glenn Close within 5 minutes of arriving on Main Street, I saw Mario Von Peebles and mentioned as we passed in the street how much I liked his movie Badassss! I only got to see one movie Rory O'Shea Was Here, it was good, but not the action/thriller type of flick: more like a feel good, think a little, wierd dialog, cry a little movie.
The best part about the trip was the skiing- nobody was on the mountain. We skied The Canyons and Deer Valley. I snuck in a couple of X-country outings too, but I'd go back to Utah for the skiing anytime.

What is up Worley?

2005-01-14T19:09:00.000-08:00

First post on my blog. I've resisted the urge to create a blog because I fear the egomania it implies. Plus my typos are legendary.

But as I get ready to take the "under construction" label (how 1995) off of my site www.beckyworley.com , I wanted to have a place where people could leave comments and post pictures of me in embarrasing situations... er... not too embarrassing!

Feel free to vent on TechTV issues, post about tech news, or offer feedback on the site.

thanks
B
PS- thanks to Andy Jordan for the "What's up Worley" idea.

Books

2005-01-04T17:29:00.000-08:00

Just thought I'd keep a running list of books I've read and a few thoughts for each:
most recent reads are at the top.

On Beauty , Zadie Smith
It starts slow- character development for 150 pages, but then the story gets interesting. What is the value of family? How do relationships stay alive? What about that sexual instinct to pursue the most beautiful, vital people we in our lives? Who ends up happy and who pays? It’s not exactly a-plot-twist-a-minute, but On Beauty is a good read that asks some tough questions.

Freakonomics, Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner
So much has been written about this book: a common-sense approach to society’s problems, the application of quantitative analysis to seemingly qualitative issues, and a sense of humor to boot. One thing that struck me was the courage of these two men: to factually address problems in society of race, class, and socio-economic standing. There was no softening of a message because it dealt with abortion, black poverty, or poor schools.

Confessions of Max Tivoli, Andrew Sean Greer
This book gripped me from page one, sentence one. “We are both the loves of someone’s life.” The premise here is that Max is born an old man and ages physically backwards. His mind starts as a baby, progresses to a boy and then onward normally, but his body works in reverse. It confronts our issues of mortality and our culture’s veneration of youth and beauty. More than that- this is a love story, maybe two or three love stories. Read it and find out.

2005 reads
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Mark Haddon
Quick read- a mystery as solved by a boy with Asperger's Syndrome. It's compelling, well-written and ... curious.

Winner of the National Book Award, Jincy Willett
The subtitle pretty much sums it up "A Novel of Fame, Honor, and Really Bad Weather." Funny prose, interesting characters, weird story.

Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini
A Powerful book, I almost stopped reading it after the first 30 pages. The plot was brutal, but the rest of the story kept me glued to the page.

A Short History of Nearly Everything, Bill Bryson
Having read Bryson's Notes From a Big Country, I expected witty observations, but I didn't expect to learn so much natural history. Bryson uses his story telling acumen to paint a picture of the great scientific discoveries AND of the discoverers. He is also the ultimate 'bottom-line man.' Nobody summarizes better than Bryson.

Interpreter of Maladies, Juhmpa Lahiri
A great collection of short stories about expatriate Indians, immigrants, and second generation Indians living in America. I usually don't like short stories because they are either light on character development or all character development and no plot. Interpreter of Maladies created individual characters who were enriched by the characters in the preceding stories even though they were unrelated- so you got a nice mix of both plot and character.

The Namesake, Jhumpa Lahiri
It didn't live up to her Pulitzer Prize winning short stories, but a compelling portrayal of one man's struggle to accept his name. Makes you realize we all get self-conscious recording a greeting on our answering machine.

Running with Scissors, Augusten Burroughs
A scatological memoir of a crazy childhood. Written in the voice of the author as a teen; I initially thought of him as a younger David Sedaris. But Burroughs has his own wit, the edge is sharper, and the familial situations more insane.

The Master, Colm Toibin
A fictionalization of the life of author, Henry James would not be my normal book selection, but I liked the cover. Despite the beautiful prose, exquisite landscapes, and anguished sense of the artist’s inner struggle, nothing happens. A noted plot-junkie, I enjoyed the read as a change of pace, but couldn’t recommend it to any one except lit-majors and Daisy Miller fans.

Lady Chatterley's Lover, D.H. Lawrence
As a kid I thought Judy Bloom’s “Blubber” was as steamy as you could get. WHY didn’t anyone ever give me a copy of Lady Chatterley’s Lover. Okay, it’s racy, but in a good way: embracing sexuality as an important part of the mind, heart, body spectrum. Without revealing too much, the fate of the two people in love seems destined for disaster, but Lawrence lets the reader apply their own interpretation of love, sex and the possibility of domestic bliss.

All I did Was Ask, Terry Gross
As a huge fan of the NPR radio show, Fresh Air, I couldn't wait to read host Terry Gross's book. It was a series of interview transcripts from the show with brief introductions by Gross. I loved the interviews and the few comments she put in were delicious. I have tremendous respect for Terry Gross; her research, style, and casually calculated questions, but I wanted more info about HER. She admits that she is painfully private, so I'm sure what she did release in the book was traumatic for her, but I wanted more of her glorious insights.

Native Speaker , Chang Rae Lee
I was at the Goodwill store in Sacramento for a job and I saw Native Speaker. I'd heard of it, bought it, and thought it would be a tough read. It wasn't. I loved this book and recommend it as a thoughtful but compelling work that's even better when you find it next to some old shoes for 75 cents.

Going Nucular: Language, Politics, and Culture in Controversial Times, Geoff Nunberg
Nunberg is a professor at Stanford, a columnist for the New York Times and a commentator on NPR's Fresh Air. He was also gracious enough to let me interview him and his daughter for a TechTV story about teen's language while instant messaging. His publicist sent me this latest book and I really liked it. Geoff uses language as a jumping off point for social commentary- it's brilliant.

Caramello, Sandra Cisneros
Cisneros paints pictures of her faily life, their housing situations, and the history of her grandparents to string together an interesting and sometimes confusing narrative. The first 30 pages are a mishmash of greatgrandmothers, grandfathers, and aunts. But in the end, Cisneros creates a few moving storylines that actually feel like real family: confusing, vivid, and not easily defined through simple narratives.

Cry the Beloved Country, Alan Paton
My mother has been trying to get me to read this book forever, when I finally picked it up, I anticipated a tough read, but this book is surprisingly gripping. In the midst of it's plot, the language, sentiment, and ideology of it's author are conveyed with clarity, but they are not heavy-handed or preachy. Cry the Beloved Country is one of the most powerful books I have read in a long time.

Everything Is Illuminated Johnathon Safran Foer
Written in a refreshing style that seamlessly jumps from letters between friends to first person narrative, Everything is Illuminated caught me off guard. The beginning was a detailed and yet somehow confusing jumble of stories from a small Jewish town in Russia. Those stories never seemed to tie into the central narrative, but the names of the past came out tangentially in parts of the main plot. Eventually you realize that they were there to underscore the importance of the past and how it has influenced the main plot's "hero." The movie adaptation was such a even more of a surprise, I loved the way they changed the story-line to fit the big screen, how rare it is to say that. Both the book and movie are worth your time, but if I had to choose one, amazingly I'd recommend the movie.

The Known World Edward P. Jones
One hopes that a book will give you perspective, help you to see the world through someone else's eyes. The Known World lives up to that challenge with aplomb. Set in various generations in the antebellum South, this book chronicles the relationships between whites, free blacks and slaves. It revels in the complexities of those bonds unlike any other historical fiction I've read on the subject. The motives behind acts of cruelty are contrasted with the simplicity of certain tendernesses. A great book and a strong recommend.

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, J.K. Rowling
I am a fan and an addict. The books keep getting better and I find my moods frightningly altered when I'm reading the latest installment. What more can be said about Harry Potter books, but read them, read them, read them.

Blue Angel, Francine Prose
An english teacher in a Vermont college fights his own narcissism and maddening impulses. The politically correct climate and a dread fear of sexual harassment suits create an aura of Puritanical repression on campus that seems to be causing odd outbursts of behavior. As an American Literature major from a Vermont college, I found the Johnathon Edwards references fun and appropriate to this (sometimes painful) story of a middle aged man falling into a black hole.

Hawaii Books
Song of the Exile, Kiana Davenport
A saga of a Hawaiian family through WWII, amazing story of "comfort women" held captive by the Japanese.
West of Then, Tara Bray Smith
The memoir of a young woman's search to find and save her drug addicted mother. Tara was a classmate of mine in high school. The plot line of Tara's mother/daughter relationship is fascinating, but I have to admit the real joy for me was to read an eloquent portrayal of my own experiences growing up. What it was like to be a Haole in public school, the games we played (chinese jacks), the clothes we wore (Gloria Vanderbilt jeans and 'rubbah slippahs'), what it was like to watch the big hurricanes (Iwa and Iniki) hit the islands. To see your own childhood through someone elses's eyes is an incredible gift.

Shark Dialogues
The first of Kiana Davenports books about Hawaii, The characters in this novel are very vivid, but just alittle too melodramatic. There's a heavy dose of the supernatural in here and a lot of touching scenes, but I can't recommend this to anyone except Soap-opera fans.

Blackout dates

2004-03-05T12:37:00.000-08:00

July 1-4 (Upstate New York- flexible, reunion is on the 1st)
July 7-18 (Maui: tix booked)