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Rudeness and bad manners – and books about them – are on the rise. Technology clearly has much to do with this. Even “smart” technology has made many of us seem “less smart.” (That’s a polite way of putting it.) It’s certainly made people more distracted and self-centered, both of which breed bad manners.
Invading people’s personal spaces by talking loudly on cellphones, answering cell phones or texting during a meal, and being an anonymous Internet bully are just a few familiar examples of manners gone awry.
But technology isn’t the only thing contributing to bad

Prince
Song: Resolution
Album: Planet Earth
Genre: R&B/Pop
Buy: iTunes.com
Vitamin String Quartet
Song: Regret
Album: The String Quartet Tribute to New Order and Joy Division
Genre: Instrumental/Rock
Buy: iTunes.com
John Coltrane
Song: Pt. II – Resolution
Album: A Love Supreme
Genre: Jazz
Buy: iTunes.com
Talking Heads
Song: Memories Can’t Wait
Album: Fear of Music (Remastered)
Genre: Rock
Buy: iTunes.com
Mumford & Sons
Song: Hold On to What You Believe (Live)
Album: Deluxe Companion
Genre: Alternative
Buy: iTunes.com
Paul McCartney
Song: Dance Tonight
Album: Memory Almost Full (Deluxe Limited Edition)
Genre: Rock
Buy: iTunes.com
Billy Preston
Song: The Masquerade Is Over
Album: The Most Exciting Organ Ever
Genre: R&B/Soul
Buy: iTunes.com
David Bowie
Song: Changes
Album: ChangesBowie
Genre: Rock
Buy: iTunes.com
Bajofondo
Song: Fairly Right (feat.
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by guest blogger Maya Rodale,writer of historicaltales of true love and adventure.
Fill in the blank: When my mom said she was really into __________, I laughed at her.
country music
yoga
romance novels
all of the above.
The answer is d) all of the above. When my mom discovered the amazing songs of country music and the awesomeness of yoga and the cracking-good stories of romance novels, she told me all about it, and I laughed. Awful of me, I know.
But she has had the last laugh, as now I have been practicing yoga for years, I wear cowboy boots and listen to country music so much I speak with a faux twang, and I write romance novels for a living.
But where did that ignorant laughter come from? How did I know to laugh when I had never listened to country music or twisted into one asana or read a romance novel? I don’t have the answer for the first two, but I did my homework on the last one. In fact, I’ve spent two college degrees studying the matter of women and fiction and the often-derogatory attitude toward that combination.
The short answer: Because romance novels inspire and empower women to live and love to a higher

A true cougar is a woman who’s forty years old or older who exclusively pursues younger men for fun, flings, or relationships. Although an older woman chasing younger men has been around since history began, today we are seeing older women being deliberately hunted by younger men. Why? Younger men are enthralled, intrigued, and turned on by being with an older “hot” woman.
These younger men are typically fed up with the drama, insecurities, and games of their

Now that I’m home in Austin for the remainder of the year, I feel a strong duty to step up and do what someone in Texas should have done months ago: apologize for Governor Rick Perry. It seemed presumptuous to do so from Washington, DC, but it definitely needs doing and it just can’t wait a moment longer.
So I hereby apologize that the man who constantly talks about the constitutional preeminence of the 50 states over the national government, as if that little disagreement in 1861 had not finally settled the issue; and who promises to make Congress a part-time institution and the federal courts subservient to just about everything, has now found it necessary to file a lawsuit against one of those states, and in one of those federal courts.
It is clearly unreasonable and arbitrary that Virginia insists on enforcing its state election law and won’t let Perry on the Republican primary ballot simply because his campaign couldn’t get the required number of people to sign his petition. That violates his 1st Amendment right to make a damned fool of himself.
I apologize that the unshakable moral courage of the Governor of Texas has now led him to decide, after viewing a Mike Huckabee video, that the broadly accepted political definition of anti-abortion is simply not conservative enough. He now opposes abortion, even in the case of rape or

It’s not that I don’t think David Fincher is a solid director.
But I don’t think he’s the Second Coming either, though some of the reviews he tends to get would have you believe otherwise.
What finally tore it was his version of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo that opened Dec. 21. If this had been the first version of Stieg Larsson’s book to hit the big screen, it might have been impressive. But, coming in the wake of Niels Arden Oplev’s Swedish version, released here in 2010, it looked like what it was: second best, too little too late.
So, David Fincher, welcome to my Overrated Hall of Fame.
Yes, I know – I’ve tended to give his films positive

Global Citizen Year is a global bridge year program designed to unleash the potential of high school students as leaders and effective agents of change.
Sex: Female.
Age: 29.
Children: 3.
Status: Married.
Income: $600 per month.
Primary/Subsequent: Primary.
Diagnosis: Tentative. Breast Cancer, Stage 4.
Recommendation: Immediate visit to oncologist, Hospital of Tena.
Filling this chart leaves me empty. My pen drops.
Because how much can you see in the statistics, even when the notes are well-enough detailed? How much does it tell you about her face crumpling and shoulders sagging when she hears the word “cancer” being whispered to me by the attending physician? Facts don’t cover the pain that welled up in thick tears as she removed her blouse and indicated the contorted, malignant bump that is growing in her right breast. And none of the notes I took are going to give her children their mother back, come one year’s time.
How painful it is, when not only are the notes useless, but one must also face the fact that there is so little medication that will help her, and even less that she will ever be able to

It is time to have a clear-headed, hard look at reality: the two-state solution is dead.
Early in this fateful year 2011, leading Palestinian intellectual and President of Al Kuds University Sari Nousseibeh published his deeply disturbing book What is a Palestinian State Worth?. Nousseibeh, who has been a peace activist for decades, takes stock of the conflict. With rare empathy, he says that he doesn’t believe that after the Holocaust Jews would be capable of relinquishing the West Bank or full military control over the whole area west of the

Dec. 31 may be all about the New Year’s kiss, but by New Year’s Day, most people are thinking about what comes after the kiss. This can be a good metaphor for our dating habits in general. The person we look to for instant passion, an immediate spark or even a New Year’s kiss is not always the same person we would be happy sharing our lives with

The way I see it, it all depends on how these sites, like Facebook or Twitter, are being used. Social media itself can be abused, overused, and taken advantage of. However, the power of social media itself is probably greater than the power of any person, any novel, any ruler, or even any country. But, whether that incredible power is a blessing or a curse is also one matter to question.
The power of social media can be something extremely

After an extended period of travel, I’m heading home to Winterlake Lodge, where I live in the backcountry of Alaska. Most of my family will be there when the skiplane circles the house and flies low over the frozen lake in preparation to land. A couple of snow machines will fire up and head out towards the packed-ice runway and my black Labrador, Willow, will follow close behind. We’ll unload hundreds of pounds of provisions brought in from

Photographer Jeff Brouws, whose book, Approaching Nowhere, has been a touchstone for photographers and those interested in the New Topographics Movement, has been photographing and studying the plight of America’s inner cities for the past 15 years. Brouws’ inner-city images acutely document the economic, social and environmental transition that has taken place in the years that have passed since America’s manufacturing peak.
What we now seem to have in many of our inner cities is a largely forgotten population of people, attempting to eke out an existence in a neglected environment. Addressing this issue, Brouws states:
Discarded Landscape # 35, Detroit, Michigan
Discarded Landscape #1, Ravenswood neighborhood, Detroit, Michigan
The sad thing is that “poverty” and “the impoverished” are not sexy buzz terms this election season, nor have they been in the last few presidential contests. The modus operandi seems to now be out-of-sight-out-of-mind for much of this struggling inner city-based

A lover of Asia and all of her bounty, I recently had the opportunity to visit the small island of Taiwan, once known as Formosa, the literal translation of which is “beautiful island.” A varied land that holds fast to tradition while embracing democracy and change, the more I explored, the more I found myself delighted and intrigued by each layer, especially with respect to the many delicious tastes native to Taiwan’s main cities: Taipei, Tainan and Taichung.
In August, the Taipei Culinary Exhibition took place at the Taipei International Convention Center and highlighted the many different kinds of food found throughout the country. With Chinese and Japanese influences throughout the centuries, it follows that there is rich food tradition in Taiwan and dishes like Chinese-inspired beef noodle soups sit comfortably next to Japanese teppanyaki-style cooking and sushi.
This year, Taiwan (formerly known as the Republic of China) celebrated its centennial as a republic, dating back to the ROC’s birth during the 1911 Xinhai Revolution. As 2011 comes to a close, it feels appropriate to call attention to not only Taiwan’s political story but also her

Kim Jong Il’s funeral on Wednesday was the latest spectacle in a regime well-versed in totalitarian theater. The death of the Dear Leader, with all of the pomp and histrionics of a Kim family event, marks the third act in North Korea’s 60-year tragedy. It is also a reminder that the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) is a seriously funny place.
In the final days of Kim Jong Il’s reign, I stood in a freezing cave in North Korea. My government guide pointed up at the stunning stalagmites winding their way down from the cavern

In previous posts, I’ve mentioned serious fiscal problems that need to be addressed at state and local levels. This varies by region and some issues are potentially solvable.
I live in llinois ground zero for fraud, corruption, underfunded pension funds and general fiscal mismanagement. It’s an example of one of the first fiscal messes in the United

I first learned about Kwanzaa in 1977. I was 37 years old, and my then-wife and I were raising a son together in Harlem. He attended an alternative school focused on African heritage and culture, and the school hosted a Kwanzaa celebration. This event opened the door to a new way of life for me: the Nguzo Saba, the Seven Principles, of this week-long celebration resonated with me, given their focus on culture, family, and

Jan. 2: The indulgences of the winter feasts are at an end, and I have arrived at Everest Base Camp along with my Life Fitness Elliptical Cross Trainer.
My Sherpa guide, Dorjee, joined by his extended clan, gaze in wonder as I mount the apparatus and bring the instrument panel to life. Dorjee points at the “calories burned” meter, which reads a dismal “zero,” and shakes his

This just in: the Baby New Year is gay. After a battery of tests, doctors have confirmed that the newborn is, in fact, homosexual. “Statistically, it was bound to happen,” states the former Baby New Year of 2011. “After 2,011 heterosexual years, a gay one had to come along eventually.” Santa Claus could not be reached for comment.
Experts are not sure what will result from this

Swede turned California resident Viktor Sjberg is not your typical wedding DJ. First of all, he has only deejay-ed two weddings. Secondly, his repertoire is not chock-full of wedding party staples that have permeated dance floors since the 1980s.
Viktor started deejay-ing weddings last year — initially in Chicago for a couple that hired him because the bride “liked the way he danced,” and then months later in Colorado for LA-based couple Amelia and Danny. The betrothed had already hired indie pop musician Jens Lekman (on the Secretly Canadian label) to play at their

Happy New Year, Bride to Be! Chances are, in addition to being happy, you are likely a little overwhelmed as planning a wedding adds a whole lot of new tasks to your plate that is probably already pretty full.
As you start a new year as the future Mrs. So-and-So, here are some Bridolutions for you to consider adopting in 2012 to keep wedding planning fun in those moments of stress. These don’t involve losing weight or cleaning your apartment, they involve promises to avoid losing your mind as you head towards the

You’re getting married! It’s exciting. Wonderful! To keep it fun and easygoing follow the advice below from brides and grooms. Take the stress out of the planning and execution of your big day. Here is the first thing brides say they wish they knew while planning their wedding:
Hire a wedding planner! (If you can afford it.) What a stress reliever and time

Isn’t it interesting that the top Oscar contenders, The Artist and Midnight in Paris, want what the other has? The Artist is made by French filmmakers who long for Hollywood’s yesteryear and made the film in Los Angeles. They don’t send it up. They love it and breathe it. The movie is so flawless in its execution by Michel Hazanavicius that you feel that all of them, the actors and the characters, have stepped into the world of silent film in Hollywood in the late 1920s.
And then there’s the Woody Allen film, made by Hollywood people in

Ten days after the 10th anniversary of 9/11, a show premiered on CBS. Scripted by Jonathan Nolan and produced by J.J. Abrams, Person of Interest is a show that attempts to chronicle the paranoia of a post-9/11 world. A mysterious billionaire named

After joining the Universal Unitarian Church this past year, one of the major questions for me was, “What is my holiday going to look like, with my Catholic background meshed with my own beliefs?” I lucked out in having very supportive parents who understand that I respect their beliefs and that I simply want them to respect my beliefs, as well.
For about a week I celebrated all the different aspects of what the holidays mean to me. I enjoyed a wonderful Yule celebration with a very close friend whom I’ve had the pleasure of getting to know in the past few months, a Light Ride (i.e., driving around to look at pretty Christmas lights) with my sister and some friends, a Christmas Eve mass with one of my childhood friends and her family, and latkes on Christmas morning, followed by Chinese food later that day, reassuring me once more that my family puts the “fun” in dysfunction, and at the same time putting knowledge from my personal meditative and Buddhist journey into play to make the holiday flow smoothly for me.
Overall? It’s a toss-up between whether this Christmas was actually one of my better ones or just about as bizarre as they come.
Winter Solstice Sabbat
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Being Universal Unitarian, I am on my own spiritual path, which includes Wicca. My friends and I rotate places where we hold sabbats, and it was my turn this time. A few days before the “official” winter solstice (or Yule), we gathered to give attention not only to the darkest day of the year but also to bringing in more light in the coming six months as that days grow