This morning I started in on the "exercise more" part of my new lifestyle plan, and rode my bike 8 miles after walking 2 miles with the dogs. Walking the dogs is really not much exercise since we stop every 3 feet to sniff and/or pee, except for the upper body work out I get trying to keep Hanna away from every discarded piece of food and trash. Hanna prefers to ignore the role I play in scooping food into her bowl, and instead seems to think that she survives solely on her own wits and ability to scavenge tire-flattened candy bars and french fries lurking in the grass.

Last night I started reading "The Plot Against America" by Philip Roth. The premise of the book is that the anti-semitic/Hitler friendly/isolationist Charles Lindbergh was elected president in 1940 on the Republican ticket, (instead of FDR being re-elected), and the different path the country took as a result. Since I am not happy with the path we are on since W was elected, and it scares me to think where it may lead after the next election, I find the book to be very thought provoking.

And today I found this snippet on the 'net:

One in four adults say they read no books at all in the past year, according to an Associated Press-Ipsos poll released Tuesday. Of those who did read, women and seniors were most avid, and religious works and popular fiction were the top choices.

People from the South read a bit more than those from other regions, mostly religious books and romance novels. Whites read more than blacks and Hispanics, and those who said they never attend religious services read nearly twice as many as those who attend frequently.

There was even some political variety evident, with Democrats and liberals typically reading slightly more books than Republicans and conservatives.

To borrow a quote from Mark Twain off of Maggie's blog:

"A person who won't read has no advantage over one who can't read." ~ Mark Twain

My cool discovery for the afternoon is Tom’s Shoes. For each pair of shoes purchased (they are sold through alot of different retailers), Tom's donates a pair of shoes to a needy child. In 2006, they donated and delivered 10,000 to children in Argentina, and are preparing to deliver 50,000 pairs to needy children in South Africa.

And they look comfy!