Permission -
I gave myself permission to lie down and rest, then, ate a gentle breakfast and perused the Book Passage newsletter.
There, I learn of a new book by Laton McCartney, The Teapot Dome Scandal: How Big Oil Bought the Harding White House and Tried to Steal the Country.
Here is the blurb. I'm not sure if it will make you feel better or not.
"When you read Laton McCartney's book, you'll meet scoundrels who make today's bunch seem like amateurs. Woodrow Wilson had placed three major oil fields under control of the Navy - big oil wanted them. Paying off convention delegates, they managed to get Warren Harding into the White House. The events that followed included the murder of the nominee for Secretary of the Interior by his mistress and payoffs masquerading as losses during poker games. The result? You guessed it - big oil got everything it wanted."
And still does. I remember learning about the Teapot Dome Scandal in school but I don't remember this much intrigue.
The Book Passage newsletter also has a section called: Advice from Miss Paige Turner. Someone wrote in about how to choose and bring in new members to their already-established book group. Dare they bring in men?
Miss Paige Turner has a detailed response, and concludes that one can revive a stale book group by adding new members and diversifying. Of course, we all have a different idea of what that might mean.
Here is how she concludes:
"Diversity can promote more stimulating discussions and opportunities for expanding and exploring beyond one's own comfort zone. However, when I suggested this to one book club leader (the members of her 11 person group were all female, all Caucasian, all close to the same age and all lived in the same neighborhood) her retort was, "Why, our book club is already quite diverse - two of us are Catholics!"