Are You Ready?

Tyler Cowen at Marginal Revolution points to a Houston Chronicle Online article for his "Houston fact of the day":

Spanish titles or resources for learning English accounted for half of the top 20 most popular audio books [in Houston public libraries].

My favorite gem gleaned from the article is:

Among the least popular resources was FEMA's publication, Are You Ready? An In-Depth Guide to Citizen Preparedness. The book is one of more than 3,000 titles that have not been circulated during the past two years.

I also suspect that the conflated category "Spanish titles or resources for learning English" is more full of "novelas"-- Spanish-language pornographic comic books -- than ESL materials.

We Are Collective Pie

Our daughter has re-Christened my husband and me, no longer "Mama" and "Daddy," but both "Pie." I suppose we should have seen it coming, as I call him "Pookie Pie" and he calls me "Sweetie Pie."

I admire her syllabic economy, and note that she uses the interchangeable term for her collective parental units when she is being most rational and un-emotional: "Pie, what is that noise?" "Pie, where are we going?" "Pie, when are you going to turn off the computer and take me to the park?"

Of course, in the morning, after she wakes up alone in bed, she comes running into the living room to throw herself into my arms with a "Mama" sigh. And she hits her father's arms with torpedo speed after he comes home from work, screaming "Daddy home! Daddy home!" No gender-neutral term for the Biscuit when it comes to lovin'.

Good Stuff Out There

I am really, really uninteresting these days, but there are at least two other bloggers out there who aren't. Which is my convoluted way of saying I have found some nice blogs out there which have given me some pause and a chuckle or two. One is Flea's blog, who is an anonymous skeptical pediatrician. I have also found Monstera Deliciosa, a funny and insightful blog (via Mean Mr. Mustard) from a woman after my own heart.

MR's new logo

I dabble (barely) in graphic design. I would be the first to admit I am woefully ignorant, but at least I am learning to appreciate the importance of design and form (a difficult feat for an Aspie like me, who more naturally gravitates towards function, function, function).

Anyway, I just wanted to gush a bit over Marginal Revolution's new logo, as designed by Jacob Morse of Volo Creative. It is simple, elegant, eye-catching but not overwhelming. I love the clean lines and the perfect transmission of the concept of economics to a graphic. Well done, gents!