Monday, April 18, 2011

TBR pile

Not nearly enough romance to be my nook, y'all...

The To-Be Read Pile is EPIC, y'all.

Forever Vampire, Michele Hauf

Sabine...and the Beast, Moira Rogers (totally psyched about this one. Hot Scot werewolf? Where can I get one of my own??)

Blood of the Maple, Dana Marie Bell (dryads and vampires, oh my!)

A Borrowed Scot, Karen Ranney (in progress!)

The Girl in the Steel Corset, Kady Cross

Silver Bound, Ella Drake

Finished, to Be Reviewed, soon!

Stone Kissed, Keri Stevens (t'was good, would like to do a tag team w/Katie on it)

The Twisted Tale of Stormy Gale, Christine Bell (let me tell you, this story was short, sweet and so good that I turned around and bought Naughty Godmother by her alter ego Chloe Cole. OMG.

Also, in a semi-related note, I am so totally pumped for the steampunk-a-palooza at Carina Press. Both the steampunk titles I've read from Carina were awesome and I am looking forward to trying some more. Y'all take the nook shop browser away from my hands until I get the backlist done though, all right?

Friday, April 15, 2011

Vote for Naomi!


Please vote for Naomi (one of my bestest friends and sis in law!) to get into the top 20 of this contest and she could be chosen to read for the American Gods audiobook! You can vote daily, but only for one person. To find her submission (nhouser) go to the very last page and she is the third submission back from the example submission. Please share the pertinent info along with the link on your wall, if you please.

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

How to Save a Life

I feel very blessed and lucky to live in the USA. No, I'm not going all jingoistic on you, I swear, but I am grateful for modern medicine. Healthcare here in the States is a sticky issue, and one I won't rant and rant about today, because I'm gonna talk about women who don't have access, even via the emergency room, to obstetric care. This one's near to me, because when I had my son, I hemorrhaged pretty severely. It's not fun, even if you don't die from it.

May 09, 2008
Simple Innovation Saves Women's Lives

Around the globe, 500,000 women die every year from complications related to giving birth. The most common cause is obstetrical hemorrhage, or heavy bleeding, which can cause death in two hours or less.

Consider that in many rural areas a hospital can be hours or even days away, and the urgency of medical attention becomes clear. Given this dire situation, some health researchers are working on promoting the adoption of less-invasive, evidenced-based medical practices to prevent excess bleeding from occurring during childbirth and simple innovations that can help stem the blood flow when there is a problem.

One low-tech device that can be used to help women who are hemorrhaging and who don't have immediate access to maternity care interventions is the LifeWrap. Also known as a non-pneumatic anti shock garment (NASG), the LifeWrap -- which resembles a partial wet suit -- is made of neoprene and Velcro, and it literally wraps around the lower body, using pressure to treat shock, resuscitate, stabilize and prevent further bleeding in women with obstetric hemorrhage.

Check out a video here to see how it works.

Dr. Suellen Miller, director of Safe Motherhood Programs at the UCSF BIxby Programs for Global Reproductive Health, is currently conducting foundation-funded studies of the LifeWrap to treat maternal hemorrhage in Nigeria, Mexico, Egypt, Zambia and Zimbabwe. She is also working with Pathfinder International on a postpartum hemorrhage project in India.

What has the research shown so far?

In 2004, Suellen Miller, Dr. Paul Hensleigh, and their Egyptian colleagues, conducted a pilot study at four large hospitals in Egypt. Study participants who suffered severe obstetrical hemorrhage and shock were treated according to standard management or standard management AND the LifeWrap.

There was a 50% decrease in bleeding for the women treated with standard care AND the LifeWrap. 75% fewer women in the LifeWrap died or had severe maternal morbidity.

That's super impressive, but as the LifeWrap website points out, larger studies are needed, especially for funding.

These studies would provide the scientific, clinical and statistical evidence required by donor and advisory agencies (World Health Organization, UNICEF, UNFPA, USAID) before they will contribute the funds necessary to distribute the LifeWrap globally.


With Mother's Day around the corner, now's a great time to make a donation to LifeWrap to help speed up distribution -- $160 buys one LifeWrap, which can be used up to 50 times.

In other news this week, a University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Public Health study that was published in the New England Journal of Medicine found that relatively inexpensive interventions helped health care providers in Latin America improve the way they treat mothers during labor and delivery, especially when it came to reducing blood loss.

The teaching techniques focused on behavioral change strategies aimed at modifying practices. According to the study, researchers were able to reduce the number and severity of episiotomies at public hospitals in Argentina and Uruguay and increase the use of the hormone oxytocin – which is given to mothers to make their uterus shrink and bleed less during the third stage of labor.

"Both of these changes greatly reduced the amount of blood mothers lost during childbirth, with mothers in the intervention hospitals losing 44 percent less blood," said Marci Campbell, a professor in the UNC School of Public Health whose research focuses on health interventions.

"This randomized trial showed that knowledge alone does not change behavior," Campbell said. "It takes the combination of opinion leaders, personal visits, reminders, and support to change behavior. This change is especially important for developing countries where maternal hemorrhage is a major health threat. However, the intervention also could be beneficial in developed countries, including many parts of the United States, where rates of routine episiotomy are still above optimal."

Source: http://ourbodiesourblog.org/blog/2008/05/simple_innovation_saves_womens_lives.php

Sunday, May 18, 2008

Speed Racer: The Movie - What you need to know

John Goodman kicks a ninja's ass.

Speed Racer: The Movie - WYNTK (Ladies' Edition)
Matthew Fox (aka Jack from Lost) kicks a ninja's ass, SHIRTLESS.

Film viewing is enhanced by drinking a large margarita beforehand.

Sunday, May 11, 2008

Happy Mother's Day!


For my mom, who is awesome:


and my Grandma, from whom I get my curly locks and stubborn temperament:

Grandma & me 1987

I can hear you laughing at my hair. You just wish you'd had hair that fierce back in the 80s.

While we're discussing fab moms and flashbacks, here's my baby godmother, who scanned a pic of us back in the 90s: cut for unrepentant substance use frizz:



ETA: Baby godmother is the woman with the big grin and middle finger waving freely. *G*

Tuesday, April 29, 2008

good reads!

Hey Gloria!

I'm reading Son of the Morning right now and it's AWESOME! I hope the Naked Gentleman worked out as well for you! :D

Incidentally, gentle readers, I must mention just how fabulous Sally MacKensie's Naked series is - Kayleigh Jamison got me started on them and now we're going through the whole series! They are Regency through and through, and while more risque than a traditional Cartland, but it's appropriate for a Regency, if that makes sense. It's got the playful banter and underlying sexual tension and it's...like chocolate mousse - decadent and light as air.

I'll post more about Son of the Morning later, but for now I'm totally sucked into it. The hero's a hunky Scot, and there's time travel, and Grace, the heroine is awesome - intelligent and attractive, but not too much - not Mary Sue perfect.

Saturday, April 26, 2008

The simple things

As you all know, I just celebrated my birthday. Today my son's godmother (and one of my beffies since high school) came over, and brought me a couple gifts.

She got me a Diva Cup - not of interest to you gentlemen, I know, but I've been thinking about getting one cause it's more ecologically friendly.

She also bought me one of my most fave goodies - a Terra Nostra Rice Milk Choco bar. I know, a chocolate bar? But when you're vegan you eat a LOT of dark chocolate, and milk chocolate is verboten - and even if it weren't, it bothers my tummy. So the Terra Nostra bar is rice milk, and easy on my tum. And the kind she bought, they don't sell at my local health food stores. I can get the plain bar and then fight the Sithling for it. You know it's good cause Mr Picky loves it, LOL.

The final thing she got me, which I thought was very thoughtful and very her, was a National Geographic magazine, from April 1975. *G* I am reading it now. I'm gonna have to take some pics of the ads, omg. I wish my scanner wasn't dead, or I'd scan samples for you.