Archive for February, 2015
Enjoy Art is Education Events all Month Long!
Posted in Adult, Alameda County, Children, Events, Teens, Uncategorized, tagged art is education, crafts, Events on Saturday, February 28, 2015| Leave a Comment »
“Being Mortal”
Posted in Adult, Alameda County, Books, Information, Older Adults, Uncategorized on Monday, February 23, 2015| Leave a Comment »
Here’s a book we should all read: “Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End” by Atul Gawande, surgeon, New York Magazine contributor, and Harvard professor.
Some informative quotes:
“Beautifully written . . . In his newest and best book, Gawande . . . has provided us with a moving and clear-eyed look at aging and death in our society, and at the harms we do in turning it into a medical problem, rather than a human one.”
—The New York Review of Books
“Dr. Gawande’s book is not of the kind that some doctors write, reminding us how grim the fact of death can be. Rather, he shows how patients in the terminal phase of their illness can maintain important qualities of life.”
—Wall Street Journal (Best Books of 2014)
“Being Mortal left me tearful, angry, and unable to stop talking about it for a week. . . . A surgeon himself, Gawande is eloquent about the inadequacy of medical school in preparing doctors to confront the subject of death with their patients. . . . it is rare to read a book that sparks with so much hard thinking.”
—Nature
“We have come to medicalize aging, frailty, and death, treating them as if they were just one more clinical problem to overcome. However it is not only medicine that is needed in one’s declining years but life—a life with meaning, a life as rich and full as possible under the circumstances. Being Mortal is not only wise and deeply moving, it is an essential and insightful book for our times, as one would expect from Atul Gawande, one of our finest physician writers.”
—Oliver Sacks
“A great read that leaves you better equipped to face the future, and without making you feel like you just took your medicine.”
—Mother Jones (Best Books of 2014)
“A needed call to action, a cautionary tale of what can go wrong, and often does, when a society fails to engage in a sustained discussion about aging and dying.”
—San Francisco Chronicle
The Alameda County Library has 27 copies; however there are currently 57 holds. It will be worth the wait.
Nowruz Program @ Fremont Library
Posted in Alameda County, Community, Events, Uncategorized, tagged Nowruz 2015 on Tuesday, February 17, 2015| Leave a Comment »
Please join us to celebrate Nowruz with dance performance by Shahrzad dance
academy and Persian music by Mohammad Ibrahimi .
Nowruz is the celebration of the New Year (Spring Equinox) in Afghanistan, Iran and Tajikistan.
2:30 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.
Fremont Library
Fukaya Room
Sunday book review
Posted in Adult, Books on Sunday, February 15, 2015| 1 Comment »
Looking for a little inspiration on the road to a healthier life? Read Drop Dead Healthy by AJ Jacobs
Summary
“Having sanctified himself in The Year of Living Biblically and sharpened his mind in The Know-It-All, A. J. Jacobs had one feat left in the self-improvement trinity: to become the healthiest man in the world. He didn’t want just to lose weight, or finish a triathlon, or lower his cholesterol. His ambitions were far, far greater: Maximal health from head to toe.The task was massive. He had to tackle a complicated web of diet and exercise advice, much of which was nonsensical, unproven, and contradictory. He had to consult a team of medical advisers. And he had to subject himself to a grueling regimen of exercises, a range of diets, and an array of practices to improve everything from his hearing to his sleep to his sex life all the while testing the patience of his long-suffering wife. He left nothing untested, from the caveman workout to veganism, from the treadmill desk to extreme chewing. Drop Dead Healthy teems with hilarity and warmth and pushes our cultures assumptions about and obsessions with what makes good health, allowing the reader to reflect on his or her own health, body, and eventual mortality”–Provided by publisher
“One mans comedic journey to discover how to live as healthfully as possible”–Provided by publisher
The book was very engaging and despite some of the extreme things the author tried, a useful book as well. There are ideas woth paying attention to – especially the concept of balance.
Chinese New Year 2015
Posted in Alameda County, Children, Community, Events, Fremont, Information, Links, tagged Chinese New Year, Chinese New Year 2015, Year of Goat, Year of Sheep on Monday, February 9, 2015| 2 Comments »
Chinese New Year is just 10 days away; have you been wondering which animal’s turn it is this year? It will be the Year of Goat – bah, bah, bah …… 🙂
Our annual celebration is scheduled on Saturday, Feb 21st from 1 to 4 pm. It is usually a full blast at the library with thousands, yes, thousands, of people enjoying abundant beautiful performances, and cultural craft booths. If you haven’t experienced this big event in the past, make sure you do not miss it again this year!
Mark your calendar and we’ll see you there!
For more info about Chinese New Year, click here.
February Reading
Posted in Fremont on Tuesday, February 3, 2015| Leave a Comment »
Once again, my thoughts turn to books I’d like to read, or at least consider. February is a month when many students are assigned a biography of a famous person, perhaps of someone significant in history (Washington, Lincoln, Martin Luther King, Malcolm X), perhaps someone involved in the civil rights movement, or who made innovations in the arts, politics, science or sports.

I hope you find these biographies or other interesting true stories this month!
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