A View On Cities

While researching one of my novels, I came across a wonderful website called "A View on Cities" that is perfect for travelers as the summer season rolls around.

Eiffel Tower, Paris, France

How I wish I had this one to check earlier on in my life. It's great! 

The City Index has the list of cities included in the site. Each City has top attractions, and these attractions are further rated in popularity. Did you know that the top world attraction is the Colosseum in Rome, followed by the Eiffel Tower in Paris? 

Times Square is most popular square. Most popular streets in the world, parks,  churches, opera houses, railway stations and Towers are listed. Next, a tab has a hotel booking site (untested, please let me know). There is a tab for "Activities" with regions and dates to input to "Find things to do." 

There are city maps and facts at one's fingertips, such as maps, most popular photos and poster pictures (dynamite!). Finally, there are landmark and geography quizzes in the back for know-it-alls, or even those of us who don't mind learning by doing and want to be challenged.

At the end of the site is a line saying "Don't despair, more cities are in the works"...I can't believe they added Pittsburgh before they added Ottawa, which is a capital city, and has far more attractions.

Try it out, it's a wonderful site. I found it as I was searching for traffic around the world. It's amazing how many webcams of traffic are now online.

New Names For Canadian Indians: Inuk, Innu and Inuit

The Globe and Mail wins awards as Canada's best newspaper, despite being a day late with the news very often. Yet, when it comes to news of Northern Canadians, it's close to, and perhaps is, the most reliable source of general news there is in Canada today.

It was with some interest, therefore, I noticed in an article today, the Governmental Department that used to be  "Indian Affairs" has been renamed. So have the Indians!  They're now Aboriginals.

When I was in high school in the seventies (gasp!) we learned in school that Aboriginals lived in Australia. Indians and Eskimos lived in northern Canada.

Since then, Canadian Eskimos have changed their name to Inuit, and Eskimos are American and inhabit American land.

Today's article brings this issue up to a whole new level.

The Canadian Government Department of Indian and Northern Affairs is now called "Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development." It includes all First Nations Indians, Inuits, Metis, and non-status Indians.

The article says the new term for Inuit Canadians is "Inuk." In addition, Canada's Inuit Organization, ITK, "issued a pre-emptive news release Wednesday...Innu and Inuit are two different people....Innu are First Nations (Indian) group located in northeastern Quebec and southern Labrador...represented by the Innu Nation." 

Now we've been told. Lesson learned. Wonder who Inuks are, if there are Innu and Inuit - according to the ITK? Just asking.

Come to think of it, the father of my high school friend was head of that government department back then. The article says, "The new working title has no impact on the Minister's responsibilities with respect to First Nations, and the Government remains committed to making progress on issues that are important to First Nations" and are represented in the new Cabinet leading the country with Stephen Harper, the recently re-elected head, the Prime Minister.

The government insists "there are no legal implications to the name change," and yet there are treaties and the Constitution to consider.  Interesting.

This Crime Often Goes Unpunished

This isn't about me. My experiences don't matter and I'm not going to discuss them.

When I hear about a high official getting away with rape, it makes me angry. When I hear that the victim's own mother asked her to keep quiet about it, I can't stay quiet. If we women won't talk about this problem as if it is a big problem no one will believe us. It is a problem, a huge problem and it's happening quietly, unreported all over the world every day.

Why am I talking about it?

It's a human rights issue for all women. If men don't believe it is happening because they don't hear about it, then that is an excuse or a philosophical outlook. They may not hear a tree fall because they aren't there, but it does happen...flying squirrels fly, too, whether anyone believes me. I've seen them...

And rape happens whether or not it gets discussed, talked about, punished, reported on, and so on. It happens. 

I have not ever heard of a woman (with the exception of the one-in-twenty-million oddball  at Duke University) who would say they have been physically invaded unless they actually have been. Why?

Maybe people cannot understand rape if they have not experienced anything like it. Mainly that's because rape is an embarrassing experience. It's shameful, dirty, and humiliating. Victims loathed the experience by definition, and want to put it into the past and move on to a better future.

Men get raped, too, and I'm not trying to minimize that, either. Perhaps more should be made of that, and then it will help women get relief, too. 

People who have been raped need to be believed, and that is the number one reason they do not discuss it. Better to keep it quiet and forget about it  (like a bad dream) than tell someone one who refuses to believe it ever happened, and doesn't care, either.  It happens even by the powerful and the mighty, and that's how a crime goes unpunished. Enough said, for now.

UPDATE: Hilary Clinton is truly a saint for flying the Libyan law student who agitated about her mistreatment. Anyone who doesn't believe her wouldn't believe his own sister if it happened to her.  I also believe it would be the lowest of the low not to believe her story.
 6.5.11

UPDATE: On the DSK case, I think the police did the right thing. Unfortunately, the maid has hurt others in her position (if she was not raped and has indeed fabricated the story). Now lawyers will automatically seek injunctions if any wealthy person is accused of rape, according to Alan Dershowitz, and that hurts all women. Ouch. 7.4.11

Revise, Revise, Revise Your Writing

In case you are thinking of self-publishing, or hoping to publish one way or another, please do yourself - and your future readers - a favor and find an editor to correct your slip-ups. 

Every writer has slip-ups. The blogs of prolific writers freshly available online prove that point very well.

A good editor, as is the brilliant one I have found for my novel, might have read your novel before meeting you. In my case, my editor requested permission to allow a second reader to read it. 

At first, you might sit down and get to know each other better. You should feel comfortable enough to discuss every detail about your manuscript: the concepts and ideas, the characters, and the episodes and whether they push the story forward and make it exciting. Your book will get better because of the outside influence, trust me. Most of the corrections are ones you know you should have done, some are minor slip-ups previously overlooked, and other ideas are insights that will make your book sell better, and be more interesting to readers. Sometimes "more is more"....more corrective action makes a much better product.

While I am happy I revised my own manuscript as thoroughly as possible before the offical editing and felt confident of having written a viable story, there is still usually a lot of editing to do before setting your work in front of everyone. There are episodes to polish, characters to round out, even plots to extend. Writing can almost always be improved.  Be humble, dear Writers, and revise, revise, revise.

Here's a humorous cartoon, and what's not to like?

Look Around And Dig Deep

“The idea that Scandinavian crime writers have something in common is a myth." 

Jo Nesbo, writer

That idea is clearly true in many professions besides writing. Anyone can write. Not every writer can write well.

Mathematicians, too, I would say, have nothing in common except their knowledge and interest in mathematics, at least until they discover their similarities.

Members of the same family can grow up and be very different. As we mature, we gradually express uniquely individual strengths. It has ever been thus.

As we celebrate our diversity today on Mother's Day, we need to embrace the idea we are more alike than we are different.

It's good and useful that we enjoy our various specialities, however narrow. By pursuing a variety of several strong interests, we can diversify our inner capabilities and strengths.  Only by trying new skills can we achieve our potential as human beings. Keep busy doing anything, almost, and you will find it can provide the motivation to keep living.

click to enlarge

Spring Scene in Lawrence Township, New Jersey

Look around and dig deep. Here in my home state of New Jersey, this month is a heavy month for gardeners, and all around the northeastern part of the United States for that matter.  Vines, weeds, and perennials thrive in abundance. Bushes, trees and grass are greening up, and the sun is shining warmly and telling us to venture outside. 

Life is precious. As you go out and enjoy yourself, remember you have been loved.  Incredible attention has been invested in each and every one of you beginning at your birth and earliest days! Isn't that amazingly miraculous? 

A List of the Most and Least Stressful Jobs in America, 2011

These slideshows show a list of the most and least stressful jobs, and here they are listed in one spot:

Most Stressful:

1. Commercial Pilot
2. Public Relations Officer
3. Corporate Executives (Senior)
4. Photojournalist
5. Newscaster
6. Advertising Account Executive
7. Architect
8. Stockbroker
9. Emergency Medical Technician (EMT)
10. Real Estate Agent


Least Stressful:

1. Audiologist
2. Dietitian
3. Software Engineer
4.Computer Programmer
5. Dental Hygienist
6. Speech Pathologist
7. Philosopher
8. Mathematician
9. Occupational Therapist
10. Chiropractor


For further information, salaries and more figures, see here.

While these lists make the point that some jobs carry more stress than others by general agreement, personally, I think jobs do not change in stress that much from year to year  (in five years, maybe).

Also, jobs vary in composition. Real estate agents and teachers, as examples, are sometimes more busy and stressed at different times of years, of the week, and responsibilities vary from school to school and office to office (with which I have firsthand experience).

Furthermore, most people envision air traffic controllers having extremely intense workplaces, and yet that occupation didn't make the official list.

Do any of these surprise you? Do you agree?