Mid-Shore Life

By Dwayne Eutsey

With all the snow we’ve had to dig out from lately, it’s easy to forget that February is Black History Month. http://www.history.com/content/blackhistory

This observance originally began as Negro History Week in 1926 when historian Carter G. Woodson, the largely self-educated son of former slaves who went on to receive a PhD from Harvard, wanted to establish a time for remembering and celebrating the significant contributions African Americans have made to our national history.

Woodson initially set this observance during the second week in February because two major figures in African American history were born during that week: Frederick Douglass, the former slave and outspoken abolitionist who escaped from Talbot County, was born on February 14; Abraham Lincoln, the president who signed the Emancipation Proclamation ending chattel slavery in the United States, was born February 12.

The week became a month-long observance in 1976 and is also known as African American Heritage Month. In addition to Frederick Douglass, the Eastern Shore has made a few other noteworthy contributions to that heritage.

There is Harriet Tubman, of course. Growing up in Dorchester County back in the ‘70s, I remember learning a lot about how she bravely helped hundreds of slaves escape from the Shore through the Underground Railroad. http://www.midshorelife.com/content/harriet-tubman%E2%80%99s-legacy-lives

However, one piece of history I didn’t learn much about when I was school kid on the Shore was the important role Cambridge played in the civil rights movement in the 1960s. Maybe that history was too recent and too raw for teachers to make sense of and to teach at the time, but I don’t remember learning anything about it in school. I did overhear, occasionally, vague references adults made about that time, and I even remember when I was almost 4 years old that my grandfather made me scrunch down in the backseat of his car as he drove me and my mom through a riot-torn section of Cambridge.

by Cyndi Paxton Johnson

I am ALWAYS striving to be more organized and efficient. (and yes, I hear Yoda's voice: Do or do not... there is no try !) And, as a self-proclaimed bibliophile (aka: book slut) I read a lot about ways to organize - starting with decluttering. The books say pretty much the same thing: pare down, find a home for everything, put everything away. (and yes - it IS the same thing my mother always told me)

This week I'm reading The Life Organizer: A Woman's Guide to a Mindful Year by Jennifer Louden. This one's different, folks. There's no files and plastic boxes and printed labels. Rather, it's about getting in tune with your heart, your dreams, your passion - and listening to yourself and your body about what the next step should be. Since it's meant to be experienced over a year - I have no idea if it actually works (though the reviews were fantastic!). Still, I do feel more centered - and even more patient about interruptions. I feel like something's changing - hopefully for the better.

Unfortunately, I haven't been as compulsive about making my "to-do" lists. I wonder if Allstate will understand I was listening to my heart and not sweating the small stuff???

I think there's a middle road here somewhere.....lost in the fog.  I'm open to advice - and will let you know what I eventually figure out!

In the meantime...where's that Allstate bill?

By Dwayne Eutsey

Someone I admired very much, activist historian Howard Zinn, died recently at age 87.

You may know Zinn from a book he wrote in 1980 called A People’s History of the United States. With over 1 million copies sold since its publication, this landmark (and controversial) volume retells American history from the point of view of “common people” often not included in our official historical narrative—Native Americans, slaves, workers, the poor, women, pacifists, anarchists, unionizers.

Last month, the History Channel broadcast “The People Speak”, a documentary co-produced, incidentally, by Easton native Chris Moore and his friend, actor Matt Damon. With Zinn narrating, the film featured the likes of Morgan Freeman, Marisa Tormei, and Bruce Springsteen reading and singing words from the original letters, songs, diaries, and speeches that Zinn used to write A People’s History and other works. (http://www.history.com/content/people-speak)

Coming from a working-class background myself, I am forever in debt to Zinn for showing me how this often marginalized group is actually an integral strand among many other strands that together make up our national history. His inclusive view of American identity is true to our country’s unofficial motto, E pluribus unum: “Out of many, one.”

by Larry Johnson

What is my life story? What is there worth remembering? How will my children or grandchildren describe my life?

These questions and many others swirled through my mind as I finished Donald Miller's new book, "A Million Miles in a Thousand Years." Consider what your life is telling is important to you. Is there anything memorable? Are you taking any risks? Have you been out on any limbs lately?

In the book, Miller uses the backdrop of turning his memoirs into a movie screenplay to reexamine his life. What he discovers about the elements of a really memorable movie are what makes up a really memorable life. He shares a very personal metamorphosis that takes him through territory familiar to most people: family, relationships, contributions to society, and others.

The book was excellent! Not only does Don take us into his life, but I closed the book challenged about who I really am and excited about what the possibilities are! His background as a writer makes this book especially interesting to those who use the business end of a pen but equally interesting to anyone! I highly recommend it! I reviewed the book as a book review blogger for Thomas Nelson Publishers! http://brb.thomasnelson.com/

by Erin Mawn "The Mysterious Private Thompson: The Double Life of Sarah Emma Edmonds, Civil War Soldier" I recently finished reading the biography of Sarah Emma Edmonds, one of the women who, during the Civil War, disguised herself as a man and fought in the conflict. It was a fascinating book- and I don’t think that’s just because I’m a “History geek”. I think anyone who is interested in women’s history, American history, the Civil War, or likes stories about spies would enjoy this book as well. The book is a fairly easy read; it explains ideas such as the ‘Cult of Domesticity’ which is well known to history scholars, but may not be familiar to other readers. The narrative of the book focuses mainly on the life of ‘Emma’, but in the chapters which deal heavily with the war and the military campaigns during it, the author includes much information about George McClellan. This is meant to help the reader understand the battles the Army of the Potomac fought in and the outcomes of these battles. ‘Emma’, or Frank Thompson as she was called, served in the Michigan regiment of the Potomac as a nurse, mail carrier, and a spy.

Adult Non-Fiction:
Outliers – The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell (Hardcover, $27.99)

Outliers is Gladwell’s third book to rise on the Bestseller lists. In this book, Gladwell grapples with the question of what creates success. It is enough to be a “genius” or are there other factors involved? Gladwell divides his discussion into two parts – opportunity and legacy. He puts forth historical case examples of studies of “genius” as well as anecdotal and biographical data of notable success figures of our time. At the end of the discussion, the reader realizes that to be a “genius” is simply not enough. Nurture, opportunity, timing and other life factors contribute to one’s success (or lack thereof). An interesting read.

Political commentary by Jim Hightower

Review by: John K Johnson

Thieves in High Places

ISBN-10: 0452285658

If the Gods Had Meant Us to Vote, They Would Have Given Us Candidates

ISBN-10: 0060932090

Jim Hightower is the former Agriculture Commissioner of Texas and displays great disdain for most politicians and for the entire system in which they currently operate.

Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons
Siegfried Engelmann, Phyllis Haddox, Elaine Bruner
Simon & Schuster, New York, 1986

Reviewed by: Angela Bourassa

What it is:

The Gamemaker's Apprentice: Game Development for Beginners

Jacob Habgood and Mark Overmars

ISBN 1-59059-615-3

Reviewed by: John K Johnson

This book will not teach you how to write your on version of Doom, Quake or any of the other incredibly rich, detailed 3D games that are the market, but it is a great first step on the path that will get you there.

The software that comes with this book (also available as a free download at http://www.yoyogames.com/make ) takes most, if not all, of the technical hurdles away and lets you create simple to complex 2D games of your very own, without having to write code (unless you want to).