great book

A few years ago, I read a book that changed the way I look at literature from Southern writers.

It's title: One Foot in Eden. It's author: Ron Rash.

I love the book because I can picture exactly how it happened. What makes it stand out is the fact that he wrote the book from several peoples' points of view. The reader advances through the story by seeing it from those different perspectives. It's my favorite book, which means that it has to stand up against other great American novels like The Color Purple, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The Last of the Mohicans, Gone With the Wind, To Kill a Mockingbird and The Catcher in the Rye.

Rash's repertoire doesn't stop there. He's published several other books, including two novels, short stories and volumes of poetry.

I'm also a little biased toward him because (like me) he's a Gardner-Webb graduate.

We received media copies in the mail about a week ago for his newest book of short stories, "Chemistry and Other Stories." After reading it, I decided wholeheartedly that it lives up to my (extremely high) expectations of Rash's work.

I read it in several sittings because it's like fine chocolate - you want to savor it and make it last.

I don't want to give away too much of it, but the first story about the old men is one of my favorites.

The other advantage to these short stories (and his other work) is that it has a local setting. He actually mentions Shelby in one of the stories in the book.

Here's the link to his publisher.

Here's a link to some of his poetry.

Notably, Rash will be in the area on tour in the next few months. Read my column on Thursday's Spot calendar page to find out when and where.

Have you read Rash's other work? Did you like it? Hate it?

If so, leave comments.

Happy Birthday

With a little more than a week before the Cleveland County courthouse's centennial birthday celebration, I'm trying to put together some of the final pieces of The Star's coverage for the event. It's a big undertaking for us, and a monumental project for the Destination Cleveland County people like Brownie Plaster and Marta Holden (and many more) behind it. As I've worked on the project, I've come across scores of interesting historical photos. Hopefully, I can post one or two here every now and then. These first two images are postcards that were circulated during the last century. The one on the top has people looking at the confederate monument and courthouse on the square. The other is unusual because it's the view of the historic courthouse from a corner. Normally, postcards are looking straight-on at a building.

Do you have memories of the historic courthouse or courtsquare? If so, please share your stories in the comments section.

NYC trip photos and more

I think this man was a little delusional.

The Chrysler building (you can see the storm clouds rolling in)

The top of the Empire State Building (the conference I went to was held in one of the building's below-ground levels)

What good journalist could go to New York City and not take a photo of the New York Times?

Rockefeller Center

My trip to New York City this weekend went well. I attended a conference for journalists and was able to meet up with several people I met a few years ago at a similar conference. The group sponsoring the event was the World Journalism Institute. The conference itself was great - I took home a lot of great information and made a few friends.

There were a lot of excellent speakers, including three guys who were at the New York Times from the 1950s until recently. One point I took home from their comments was that the Jason Blair scandal never would have happened if people took the time for face-to-face personal interaction, as opposed to simply sending an e-mail. They also said that because there's so much privacy in the Times' newsroom of today (with voice mail, cubicles, etc.) that it's much harder to detect when something is going wrong. That makes me at least a little thankful that the newsroom at The Star is cubicle and voice mail free. I happen to like the face-to-face interaction and the accountability it affords.

I also got to do some sightseeing Saturday night and had planned to do so all day on Sunday.

Nature, however, blew away that plan.

My flight out was originally scheduled to leave the city at 7 p.m. Sunday (so I could spend as much time as possible sightseeing), but everyone said a nor'easter was blowing. Rumor had it that officials were preparing for severe flooding and that there may be widespread power outages in the New York City area because of high winds.

The more worrisome rumor for me was that scores of flights would be cancelled.

Armed with that information, I called the airline and had my flight changed to one of the first ones out - my goal was to get out before flights started being seriously delayed and/or cancelled. I did not, without a doubt, want to get stuck in LaGuardia for hours (and maybe days) if the storm plays out the way it was predicted.

On the Fox news ticker outside its building Saturday night, the main story was that the storm was to be the largest one to hit the city in about 25 years.

It was a good thing I left at 11:30 a.m. as a standby passenger. Winds slammed into the plane for the first 45 minutes of the flight and for the last 15. That only left 30 minutes of peaceful flying. I think I took the whole situation rather well, but another woman sitting near me went into a panic as the plane pitched around. I was glad the pilot made everyone leave on their seat belts for almost the entire flight, because if we hadn't, I think some people would have been jostled out of their seats.

Here's one news report about the storm.

Here's what an AP story said about it:

"Airlines canceled more than 400 flights at the New York area's three major airports, said Steve Coleman, a spokesman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. Kennedy Airport, on the wind-exposed south side of Long Island, had sustained wind of 30 to 35 mph with gusts to 48 mph, Conte said."

In any case, I'm glad I'm on solid ground again, and after attending the conference, I'm feeling a lot more refreshed about my profession.

travel

I'm taking a trip to New York City later this week, and I'm getting a little worried about flying to and from there, and also transportation while I'm in the city.

I've never been a big fan of flying and I'm terrified of getting lost in the airport and missing my flight.

The first time I flew anywhere, my mother dropped me off at the airport door and basically told me "Good luck."

While not exactly comforting at the time, I do realize that she did it in part because she wanted me to depend on myself and also because she was confident I could figure out on my own what I should do.

The weather for my first two flights was terrible, with heavy cloudcover and thunderstorms. The plane did a good bit of bucking around, which did not make me feel very safe. I'm hoping my flights this week will be much better.

Has anyone else had a terrible (or wonderful) flight experience? If so, share it in the comments section.

As for transportation in the city, my pal Jason once lived there. His advice Sunday on cabs: "Hold on." When I asked more questions about it, his response was simple. "It'll be an experience." That's comforting.

All in all, though, I'm sure I'll be fine when the time comes. I just have to convince myself of that.

Allergies

I read in a Reuters story today that a Mediterranean-style diet can help reduce allergies.

Well, bring on the grapes, olive oil and tomatoes.

While that may be (OK, it is) an oversimplification, it still has a grain of truth to it.

The article cited a study where Greek children don't suffer as much from wheezing and allergy symptoms. Researchers found that children who ate the most fresh fruits and nuts were the least likely to suffer from breathing allergies, and those who ate the most margarine were the most likely to.

That certainly makes sense to me. Eat healthy fresh foods and you'll have fewer allergies. That's certainly news I can stomach, especially with allergy season in full swing.

Does anyone else have any allergy-reducing tips? I'm definitely game to try a few home remedies. Post your suggestions in the comments section.

Pet food recall

As news of the massive pet food recall keeps surfacing and the recall itself continues to expand, I've started thinking more about the sheer number of people who will ultimately either lose pets or who will have to take care of an ailing pet because of the contaminated food.

I listened to part of a radio broadcast a few days ago on 107.9 (The Link's Cooper Lawrence show) where a vet was saying to take pets to the vet immediately if they had eaten any of the contaminated food. He was suggesting taking animals to emergency veterinary hospitals right away. Here's a link to the show.

It seems to me that a lot of the brands affected are either the super low-end foods or the high-end foods, but that's just my impression of the thing.

I also heard on the news tonight that cans of Alpo have been recalled.

That's where I get a little touchy. I give Gracie and Lulu one can each every Friday night for dinner. I figure it's the canine equivalent of my night out at Doc's or Joe's in uptown Shelby. While it may not be particularly healthy, it tastes great (at least that's how the dogs act).

Unfortunately, I haven't been able to check my cans because the girls and I are out of town this weekend, but it's first on my list of things to do.

I don't want to risk either of my dogs' health, so I'm going to call the vet immediately if I have fed some of the contaminated food to my dogs.

If you're like me, you've probably heard a lot of rumors, but don't know where to look for good information. Here's a site that seems to have its act together.

I'd also recommend going to your pet food manufacturer's Web site, the FDA's site and Menu Foods' site.

If you get overwhelmed or stumped, let me know and I'll try to get you some good information about it.

I'm still left with a lot of questions, though.

I wonder how people first figured out that the foods were making animals sick. Could this thing also extend to farm animals like pigs, chickens, cows and horses? If so, the contamination theoretically could ultimately make it into the human food supply. I don't even want to imagine the consequences of that. I'm also a little curious to see what will happen to the originating companies. Will any of them go out of business? How would that affect our economy, considering the pet industry is growing rapidly? I'm also a little curious about how Menu Foods' public relations and customer service departments are handling it all. Lastly, I wonder how long it will be before litigation begins. I have a strong feeling that it will be soon.

I guess only time (and maybe a few good vets, doctors and economists) will tell.

Doggie heimlich

I cruised around The Star's Web site for a while this afternoon and came across an AP national video about a dog that saved its owner's life in Maryland.

Toby, a 2-year-old golden retriever, knocked his owner down and jumped up and down on her chest to dislodge a piece of apple that was obstructing her airway.

The dog that she saved from a Dumpster ended up saving her life.

How cool is that?

Here's how you can watch it:
1. Go to shelbystar.com and click on national videos.
2. Go to http://www.ap.org/ovn/, scroll down and do a video search for Heimlich.

Road trips

I took a vacation day this week. Instead of spending my time vegged out on the sofa, I took a road trip to Raleigh and beyond.

The best parts:

• Plugging in my iPod in the car, turning it up and rolling the windows down
• Wearing big sunglasses
• Not being in a rush
• Going pottery shopping in Seagrove
• Passing through a town called Olivia on my sister, Olivia's 15th birthday

The worst parts:

• Getting lost somewhere near Asheboro
• Having dead camera batteries and not being able to send the birthday sister a picture of her town

Overall, though, it was a great trip and gave me lots of time to think about things and relax.

Have you taken a great (or not-so-great) roadtrip? If so, please share it in the comments section.

Statement of Purpose

Around The Star, there are a few things I'm known for: my cooking, talking about my dogs and being "the card lady." My parents see me as the daughter with the quick wit and sharp sense of sarcasm. To my sisters, I'm going to be the perpetually single, kid-hating older sibling. My friends know me as someone who is intensely loyal and someone who will always listen. I see myself as someone with a purpose.

But how do readers of The Star see me? Well, they probably don't.

That's one of the reasons for this blog. If all goes according to plan, each post should give you a glimpse of me.

I hope you like what you see.