I'm surprised to see that it is now recommended for grades 3-5, so ages 9 to 11 ... by that age we were reading the classics like Dickens, the Bronte sisters and Captain Maryatt, in original versions, not paraphrased. It's only when I think back, like this, that I realise how much "less" is expected of children in primary education these days.
Just as I have always said, that a good teacher can make the worst of subjects palatable, and a bad teacher can make the best dull and boring, so can an author make a book, a journey of pleasure or a struggle to enjoy. Such it is with the book Empire of the Summer Moon, by S C Gwynne.
I had been so looking forward to reading this book about Quanah Parker, who has gone down in history books as the greatest Comanche chief of them all, but was disappointed that I found it very heavy going, fact after fact about Comanche history (albeit well researched) but with no "personality" in how the knowledge was imparted. I would read a page or two and be tired, the dull presentation forcing me to put the book down and driving away my interest, instead of making me crave more.
Finally, I gave up and dipped a few times into later segments, but am left with a sadness that a book I'd looked forward to reading turned out to be so dull and uninteresting. It's also odd as apparently all who reviewed it found it a wonderful book, so they obviously found more to it than I did.
***
It's raining outside, and with the ac on, I missed hearing it. It was only a particularly loud roll of thunder, that made me aware, and Mystery's plaintive whining. We have a deluge though, for now, but it hasn't really brought the temperature down, just made it even muggier, I think.
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I've had another AVON customer ask why we no longer have our fragranced talcs, and had to explain that the company stopped making them over the controversy of talc supposedly causing cervical cancer, and my thoughts that they were trying to avoid getting caught up in a spurious lawsuit like Johnson & Johnson.
Every time I see the lawyers on tv begging for clients to claim against them, it irks me so much. I realise that juries can be swayed by tearful victims and smarmy "experts" but I also fault J & J for not having someone give a basic biology lesson that the jurists could understand. Then they might have been able to disprove the allegations that it was their talc that caused cervical cancer.
I'm 63 years old and have used talc for most of those years. Now, the fragrance I like is in a cornstarch "talc" which is actually not a "real" talcum powder.
I remember being taught "Health" in school, at age 11, and learning about the cervix, learning about sex, learning about drugs (and the chemical make up of them!), toxic shock, menstruation, and a whole lot of other info.
Although not being unheard of, cervical cancer has a very low incidence among nuns and, this ties in with what we were taught years ago, that it is "activity" on and around the cervix that aggravates the cells to become cancerous. Things that may "bruise" the neck of the womb. The fact that married women, and those having (or who may previously have had) regular sex, are more than twice as likely to get it than those who are single, has been found in various studies. We had been told that there was something in a man's semen that aggravated the cervix. However, human papilloma virus can also do the same, as can bacteria, or "mechanical" actions such as the insertion of a tampon, use of a douche or of a vibrator.
Although not being unheard of, cervical cancer has a very low incidence among nuns and, this ties in with what we were taught years ago, that it is "activity" on and around the cervix that aggravates the cells to become cancerous. Things that may "bruise" the neck of the womb. The fact that married women, and those having (or who may previously have had) regular sex, are more than twice as likely to get it than those who are single, has been found in various studies. We had been told that there was something in a man's semen that aggravated the cervix. However, human papilloma virus can also do the same, as can bacteria, or "mechanical" actions such as the insertion of a tampon, use of a douche or of a vibrator.
The idea of talc being inserted into the vaginal tract is rather odd to me, I do not understand why somebody would do that. Somebody tried to school me that, no, it wasn't inserted, it was used in the genital area ... to which I ask, then how did it reach the cervix? Bacteria, viruses and sperm are all live and can move in the natural lubrication of the vagina, so yes, I understand how they can reach there but talc is inanimate, a powder. So it cannot "swim" upwards, rather natural gravity would wash it away from the vagina in natural secretions. And whilst acknowledging that some talc does contain some cancer-causing agents, the American Cancer Society states that it sees only a very small chance of talc being a factor in cervical cancer.
My take is that it's yet another lawyer contrived scam, as I cannot believe that, in this lawsuit, in this day and age, every claimant had never had sex, used a tampon, douche or vibrator, and I bet J & J never asked each of those claimants whether they had or not.
***
I am thankful that last night I had a good night's sleep. figuring the connotation between my BP meds, body temp, heart rate, blood pressure and everything, I tried something last night which I'll repeat tonight and tomorrow, and if all remains well, will let my doctor know of, on Monday.
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I'm actually looking forward to my cardiologist appointment in 10 days, as I only weigh myself at doctor visits, so have been without a weight loss update for quite a few weeks now, but my tape measure was very friendly and showed me 4" and 5" losses on thighs, under bust and bust, so I'm hoping the scales will tell a similar tale.
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So those are my morning musings on this wet, grey Saturday. nonetheless, have a great day and don't let it rain on your parade!
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