Wednesday March 5, 2008 6:20 am Lethbridge, Alberta

It is -11 C with a high forecast of +3 C. Sunrise 7:05 Sunset 18:20 Hours of daylight: 11:15

7:20 am

A. Morning Musings

This feels like a regular winter morning. The air has a bluish tinge to it in the early morning and the ground is white. I have read my morning Rumi, an activity that I look forward to, and am now sipping the first cup of the day.

My Mac has been acting up a little the last couple of days, which can be both aggravating and discouraging. Aggravating because one spends hours trying to figure out what is happening and discouraging because one still has no clue. One problem has been that I have been unable to install the latest Flash Player into the machine. This prevents me from viewing many video clips that are on various Web pages. Another problem has been a noticeable degredation in the video and audio transmissions while using iChat. I am not sure if the two problems are related. I am not even sure if the transmission difficulties are due to my machine or if they might be due to some problems with the Internet or my ISP.

I have selected Barbara Kingsolver's novel, "Prodigal Summer" as my next novel to read. Reviewing a list of the novels that I have bought, but not yet read, since 2002 this is one of two from that year that has been sitting patiently on a shelf waiting for its moment to be enjoyed. I recall reading her earlier novel, The Poisonwood Bible, which was stunning. I am pleased with my reading this year: I have read 9 books and bought only 3 (one of which has been read). Thus I am slowly whittling away at the pile of books that should be read. I am glad that I kept a list of these books. I still have many more to read!

Two other tasks should be tackled today as well. One is to make a large pot of chili. We still need to buy a couple of onions but I will handle that as soon as the store opens at 8 am.

The other is to make a complete set of notes, complete with numerous screen captures, of how to make a Web site using Dreamweaver that meets the recommendations of W3C for XHTML. I now have this under control, but have yet to write it up. The main problem is that Dreamweaver has many different ways of accomplishing the same task. This is usually an asset, but in this case many of the options result in code that fails to meet the W3C criteria.

I am not sure if I will find the time to continue reading the physics book on quantum theory.

Learning Category	Planned Activities for Today	Time
Literature	Begin morning with a Rumi reading
Literature	Make notes for "Swing Low. A Life" by Miriam Toews	1 hr
Science	Continue reading "Quantum: A Guide for the Perplexed" by Jim Al-Khalili	1 hr
Technology	Make notes on formatting text using CSS with Dreamweaver CS3	1 hr
Technology	Try to install Flash Player (without success)	1 hr
Literature	Begin reading "Prodigal Summer" by Barbara Kingsolver	1 hr

B. Actual Learning Activities

8:40 am

Swing Low: A Life (2005)

Miriam Toews

This is the third novel that I have read by Miriam Toews. I have thoroughly enjoyed all of them and will now buy a book by her as soon as I see it.

This is a very original book, one that must have been very difficult to write. Her father had committed suicide and she decided to write the story of his life as if he had written it. But in the process she has given us a vivid glimpse into the life of a person suffering from manic depression. One of the most striking features of this story is that he was a very successful classroom teacher for over 40 years. I would not have thought that was possible.

He was diagnosed with the disease when he was a teenager, yet against the advice of his psychiatrist he married, raised two daughters, had a very successful career, went to university and obtained a Master's degree.

The book is not sentimental and Toews does not fantasize about what it must have been like for her father. She keeps the story to what she could reasonably expect from what she observed while growing up. In spite of this factual telling one finished the book by realizing that he was an exceptional individual. One also realizes that his wife and family were also exceptional. This could not have been an easy life for any of them.

Tags: novel, Canada, manic depression, autobiography