Wilder's French War Fantasy

My French Whore by Gene Wilder

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


This novelette started of quaint and sweet. The language was simple, but the characters had depth and charm. The story took a turn when the hero began playing himself off as a German spy. It was a little suspenseful, but ultimately still felt like a charming lark. Which is why the abrupt ending was so unnerving for me. I felt like I had been on a happy little carousel ride that ended in the steep drop of a roller coaster.


"My French Whore" was entertaining light reading. It would be a great beach/vacation book, or something to distract on the plane.



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Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers

Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers by Robert M. Sapolsky

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Robert Sapolsky is one of my favorite science writers. I generally find his work engaging, informative, and conversational, and “Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers” is no exception. This book is dense! It is jam packed with information on how your body reacts to and copes with stress. By the end of it, I found my self wondering if there was anything that glucocorticoids couldn't screw up. Though parts of it did drag a bit (for me), on the whole I found the chapters in this book to be interesting and full of useful information. I was a bit disappointed with the last chapter, however. I was hoping for more concrete suggestions on how to deal with and lessen stress. But perhaps that was an impractical expectation on my part.



I would recommend this book to anyone who worries about what effect their stressful life might be having on their mind and body. This book will clearly lay out those effects in detail, and knowing what's going on (why you aren't sleeping, why you are gaining weight, for example) is the first step to stopping it.



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"A Long Way Down" Felt Like a Long Way To Nowhere

A Long Way Down by Nick Hornby

My rating: 1 of 5 stars


This book was a struggle to get through from the beginning. Generally, I consider myself a fan of Nick Hornby. I don't think he's God's gift to literature or anything, but his novels are usually entertaining and satisfying like a particularly well constructed romantic comedy movie.



"A Long Way Down" however lacked charm, substance, and narrative arc. It went nowhere, slowly. I kept waiting for the characters to develop into people I could give a shit about, but that never happened. In fact, I found them so boring and unlikeable that I hoped that they would all just jump off of that rooftop and end the misery for all of us.



Only my dogged tenacity and hope that Hornby would somehow redeem the story in the end kept me reading. It turns ou, that there was no payoff in finishing this mind-numbing, nose-picking, navel-gazing slop. I would not recommend it to anyone.



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The Big Day!

Friday, September 24, 2010, will be a big day for the Dannika White Fund, as it is the day that we will hold our wine-tasting and silent auction event at the Wine Warehouse of St. Augustine. Planning this event has been an extraordinary experience for Kaurie and me. We have witnessed an outpouring of love from so many members of our community. With their help, this event is going to be a night to remember for everyone who participates.

So save the date! Join us at the Wine Warehouse on A1A in St. Augustine (about a block south of the Oasis) on Friday, September 24th at 5:30. The Wine Warehouse will be providing a variety of international wines to enjoy; there will be a live band, a prize raffle, and best of all, the silent auction.

All of the arts and services up for auction have been generously donated by the talented members of our community. We will have gorgeous works of art by renowned artists, Rachel Thompson and Louise Austin; we will have spa packages, vacation packages, and even pet packages in the auction! There will be something for everyone, and it will be a great opportunity to pick up something special for a loved one.

Five dollars of each ticket and all of the proceeds from the prize raffle and the auction will go directly toward providing Dannika with the life-saving surgery she requires. Tickets are $15 at the door and space is limited, so come early!

And before I close, I would like to personally thank all of our donators to this event:

The Wine Warehouse
The Print Shop
Old Towne Trolley Tours
Park Avenue Paws
The Rachel Thompson Gallery
Louise Austin
Book Warehouse
Panache Aveda Salon and Spa
La Cocina Restaurant
Discount Grocery: Scratch and Dent
Paradise Poochie
Putnam State Bank
The Pet Camp
Small Indulgences European Day Spa and Salon
Robert’s Feed
Hot Shot Bakery
Ripley’s Believe It or Not
The Alligator Farm

Without these generous individuals, this event would not be possible. Thank you so much for your generosity.

And lastly, if you’d like to keep up with the latest news from the Dannika White Fund, follow me on Twitter. I’m @AWriteWord and I tweet updates on the latest items going into the auction and a whole host of other news items, musings, and thank yous.

See you on the 24TH!

Save the Date (Sept. 24th) and a Call for Goods and Services

The Dannika White Fund has been busy over the last month planning a fun-filled community fundraising event, and we are finally ready to make it official. The Dannika White Fund has partnered with the Wine Warehouse in Saint Augustine Beach to hold a wine-tasting and silent auction on the evening of Friday, September 24th. We will have live music, hors d’oeuvres, and a prize-filled raffle, in addition to the Wine-Warehouse’s superior selection of world wines and a silent auction that features the arts and services of our extremely gifted community.

This is where the request comes in. I know that all of our friends are tremendously generous and have excellent goods and services that they provide our community. If any of you would like to donate a service or item for our raffle or auction, please contact us at DannikaWhiteFund@gmail.com. To help to thank you all for your donations we would like to advertise your business on our flyers, posters, press-releases, blog articles, tweets, etc. And the sooner you make a donation, the more we will be able to advertise your awesomeness to all of North Florida.

Please help us make this vital event a success. Invite all of your friends to attend and help us get the word out about it. All proceeds will go directly to the fund and toward Dannika’s surgeries. We need to raise about $10,000 just to get her healthy and out of danger. Anything you can donate will help us reach this goal. Thank you all again for your support,

Erin Wiedemer
The Dannika White Fund

Update on Dannika and a Request

The Dannika White Fund has been busy exploring new and interesting avenues of fundraising. We've joined Chip In! (http://dannikawhitefund.chipin.com/the-dannika-white-fund) on the web, and have been collecting amazingly generous donations through our collection jars that are placed in local St. Augustine businesses. Our Modest Needs campaign has been steadily growing toward the goal, but we are running out of time to fund it. If we don't reach the goal in time, we will have to reapply and try again. Lastly, we also have some amazing collectibles up for auction on our Ebay store: http://stores.ebay.com/Dannika-White-Fund.

Dannika had a health set-back over the Memorial Day weekend. An abscess burst and nearly sent her to the hospital. Luckily, her dentist was able to order her antibiotics and pain killers right away. It took nearly a week for her health to improve enough for Dr. Oxford to consider taking out the infected teeth, but in the end she had two teeth removed and the fund had collected enough money to cover this small surgery.

Removing these two teeth should provide us a little more time to tackle raising the necessary 6K. We are hoping to be able to get Dannika into surgery by the end of the summer. So here's our request: please help us with our fundraising campaign by posting our Chip In! widget on your blogs, Facebook page, and any other online community to which you belong. Simply copy the script and paste it where you'd like it placed. This widget will facilitate the placement of funds into the Dannika White Fund Paypal account and is 100% secure.



Thanks for helping us spread the word. I'll write again soon with some more good news about our progress!

A Quick Thank You and a Call to Bid

I wanted to send out a quick thank you to Diane’s Natural Market (http://www.dianesnaturalfoods.com/) on SR 312. They have generously agreed to help us collect donations for the Dannika White Fund. Diane’s has been a St. Augustine fixture for many years (winning St. Augustine Best Health Food Store 11 years in a row!). They are a true gem of the community and we are so grateful for their help.

The Dannika White Fund now has collection containers placed in Roberts Feed (Master’s Drive), Discount Groceries Scratch and Dent (on SR 16), Coffee Creations in the Cobblestone Plaza (on SR 312), and now Diane’s Natural Market. Please patronize these businesses to help us thank them for placing our containers.

Lastly, the Dannika White Fund Ebay store has two new auctions listed. Up for bidding this week is an original watercolor painting by renowned Florida artist, Leah Wiedemer, and a unique, beaded, clutch-style purse. The painting is a one-of-a-kind floral piece that is matted and framed – ready for hanging. The purse is a beautiful, intricately beaded accessory that would be a boon to any couture collection. Go to http://stores.ebay.com/Dannika-White-Fund to bid.