Post Number Fourteen*

*Tidbits

• Blogging is therapeutic. One hospital dedicates web space to patient’s blogs. And I thought it was just cool. Washington Post.
  
• Jacqueline Wilson’s pre-teen books sound like just what American girls need, as opposed to say another Britney Spears book. To bad her books aren’t selling here.
  
• African American and New Orleans native jazz musicians speak out about the response to Hurricane Katrina and the future of an artform. Salon.
  
• From an essay on tobacco-information websites run by the Chinese government in Harpers Magazine:

  People often ascribe the inability to quit smoking to a weak will. In reality, it is well known that many great men smoked, like Churchill, Mao Zedong, etc. The smokers all around us now are also people of outstanding character. They have a great deal of determination and strength. The courage that they show in the face of unforeseen events—a courage that many nonsmokers are unable to muster—is unforgettable.

  I’ve sent this to everyone who scolded me when I relapsed in my struggle to quit smoking (I’ve quit again anyway).