Spoke too soon - RIP, Harvey Pekar

About that living well into your eighth decade? Sadly, comics great Harvey Pekar didn't make it too far. He died today in Cleveland at age 70.

(One of my Facebook friends blames Pekar's death on Lebron.)

You're 70! Live it up!

Both Lit Lounge parents hit the big 7-0 this year, and they're in good company: Ringo Starr, Pele, Alex Trebek, Chuck Norris, and Nancy Pelosi enter their eighth decade in 2010. This NY Times article explores what septuagenarians can expect:

The eighth decade, said Dr. Anne Basting, is “now seen as an active time of life: you’re just past retirement, that’s your time to explore and play mentally.” But while many will be healthy, others will not. “There will be an increase in frailty and disability because people are living longer,” said S. Jay Olshansky, a demographer at the University of Illinois at Chicago who studies aging. For some people, an increased risk of stroke and Alzheimer’s “is going to be the price they pay for extended longevity,” he said.

The risk, gerontologists say, is that in celebrating the remarkable stories, we make those not playing Radio City, and certainly those suffering the diseases that often accompany old age, feel inadequate.

No need for the elder Larsens to feel inadequate - they're still crazy after all these years. 

I blame the pubic schools

Seems that most of y'all can't figger out basic English grammar, even if y'all been speakin' it yer whole life.

Clearly, I've failed in my efforts to educate the masses. I shall leave education and find gainful employment where empirical vacuums are welcome: Fox News.

My Summer Reading List: The First Three Weeks

In addition to the 1250 AP Lit essays scored in Louisville, I spend summers away from required reading to plow through a dozen or so books I've acquired since the last summer break. Here's what I've read so far:

•  The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks (Kindle edition) - If you've been treated for a major disease in the past thirty years, you owe a debt of gratitude to Henrietta, whose killer cancer cells continued to grow after her death. These HeLa cells are cultivated around the world, but her family never knew the truth about what happened to Henrietta's cells until author Rebecca Skloot entered their lives.


• Faceless Killers - Turns out that Stieg Larsson isn't the only Swedish mystery novelist. Henning Mankel's been doing it for years. Faceless Killers is the first of ten novels to feature the work of detective Kurt Wallender


• The Shallows: What The Internet Is Doing To Our Brains - If you teach, you need to read this book. Nicholas Carr explores the science behind neuroplasticity - how our brains change based on what we "feed" them. Long story short: If you've read up to this sentence, you're doing much better than the average web reader.


• Tinkers - Paul Harding won the Pulitzer Prize for his debut novel, and it is easy to see why. As an old man lies dying, he drifts in and out of consciousness, recalling his life as well as the lives of his father and grandfather. Harding does not employ a traditional narrative, so don't expect to be pulled in a la The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. Instead, be patient. Savor the poetic prose, especially Harding's attention to the wonder of the natural world. 

Back to my reading. Next up: Wesley Stace's by George, a story about a boy, his grandfather, and his grandfather's ventriloquist dummy. The dummy "narrates" much of the story.

Here's Nicholas Carr to explain The Shallows on The Colbert Report:

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