Hello! I'm LoKackl - Welcome!

Housekeeping, the novel, is a shimmering portrayal of the impermanence of everything. Author Marilynne Robinson has received a Pulitzer Prize in literature for her book, "Gilead." Though it is my opinion that Housekeeping is the better work. Housekee...

Astrology may be mysterious, even hokey! to many, but I can't keep a secret, I am intrigued by books like David Berlinski's. There's a lot of history, including science, that I think would make a great book club discussion to look at the...

Dreams and Shadows, by Robin Wright, is a welcome counterpoint to the labyrinth of news about the Middle East. This book, and her earlier work, Sacred Rage, straightens some of the hairpin mental gymnastics usually encountered when I try to follow t...

History wrapped in a mystery novel makes Bitter Tide a real two-for. What I love about this book is its roiling mix of a good whodunit and genuine history as it was made by the thousands of immigrants early in the 20th Century. Immigration is a hot-...

My generation, the World War II Baby Boom era, was often introduced to reading by way of Little Golden Books. No book series had ever before made reading so accessible to so many children from all walks of life. Parents, children and grandparents c...

Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada is a gorgeous city. Quaint reminders of its Victorian heyday, along with many French and Scandinavian cultural influences, are on display throughout the city. As visitors from all over for a weekend/annual meeting of the...

Opinions I gather from reading the news, from Jerusalem to Beirut; from Washington to Palestine, seems to me a consensus that conflicts in the Middle East are as a giant puzzle that can never be put together. This leaves me thinking people in all the...

I picked up the book, Decoding The Heavens, by Jo Marchant, intriqued by its title. What I enjoyed reading begins with a 100-year old deep-sea discovery. An intricate mechanism, rescued from its 2,000 year nest in a Greek shipwreck, the Antikythera M...

Are computers "a better pencil?" Supposedly, this communication-inspired aphorism, like the better mousetrap, denotes benefit in life that is inescapable. That is, if cultural progress is to take hold. I can't read a newspaper, magazine...

Finally, the President's mother's work as an anthropologist makes it into print! A new book in bookstores at the close of 2009 is Surviving Against the Odds: Village Industry in Indonesia, by S. Ann Dunham, the mother of President Obama, their relati...

The ideas in The Dumbest Generation: How the Digital Age Stupefies Young Americans and Jeopardizes Our Future, a book by Mark Bauerlein, probably won't get much traction among the under 30 population. Then again, there are some pretty smart youn...

If Author Erin Sullivan is newer to you than reading anything at all based on astrology, get prepared for a double duty high-powered thrill of fun and learning. You've been waiting for this book whether you knew it or not! The "i" word, insight, get...

Want to plan a vacation during the 75th anniversary of the Great Smoky Mountain National Park? All through 2009, park rangers and other experts have pockets-full of special events and schedules to commemorate the occasion. Looking for lazy mountain...

In the novel, Home, by Marilynne Robinson, who won the Pulitzer Prize for Literature in 2005, Glory Boughton, a 38-year-old high-school teacher, has come home to care for her failing, elderly father. At least that's what she tries to tell herself whi...

The first time I came to Amherst in 2001 for a conference, every time someone suggested getting together outside the planned group schedule, it was "Let's just go to Black Sheep." That phrase is still repeated among friends when in need of a place t...

When an anthropologist goes digging there is no telling how many wrinkles will turn up. Nowadays, Little Red Riding Hood may be using that hood to hide behind for reasons other than that big bad wolf. A researcher looking into origins of folk tales...

When you and your grown child don't get along, a heap of hurt is going on. I've never seen anything quite like When Parents Hurt by Joshua Coleman. The author has plenty of practical, insightful tools-for-parents, workbook-like projects, and, yes, s...

The other Monday at 4pmEST I decided to tune into blog radio to hear conversations by people with whom I've corresponded; and, whose lenses and blogs I've read so often I feel that sense of community. This fantasy-community has become commonplace onl...

Headlines often call attention, not only to violence and mayhem abroad, but also emphasize Amnesty International's focus in foreign countries. In fact, the at-home work, Amnesty International USA, is vibrant and effective on your behalf and mine. Af...

This is a lens about fame. How it affects people and how men and women effect their own fame. This is not about how to become famous. I became interested in the subject of fame - what it is and what it is not - after seeing and listening to intervie...

So what if I wake one morning and my adult child has his own (very different) life. Any parent whose children are no longer children, occasionally marvels at the unique person they see in the person of their adult child. In the book, A Jewish Mother...

If you are convinced of the power of humans to overcome about any disaster and survive with meaning in life intact, you will find confirmation of that view of survivors in Joyce Carol Oates' recent novel, My Sister, My Love. If, on the other hand, yo...

Don't Bite Your Tongue, by Ruth Nemzoff, is a trailblazer for parents and their adult sons and daughters while we cope with the 21st century's shifting definitions of family. "Nemzoff focuses on the positive ways parents and adult children can add m...

When courtrooms erupt in laughs, howls and a judge has a hard time keeping his or her composure, what's a law-abiding citizen to do? Go with the flow? Leave through the nearest door before being "on the block" and in contempt? This is a topic on whi...

Many parents with adult sons and daughters will have spoken or at least thought the words, "walking on eggshells." That's because as the delicate relationships between parents and children change as a dependent child grows toward a gradually more res...

I sat in a small classroom at Salem College in North Carolina. It was the 1970s when the "Women's Movement," a term now so quaint, was off to the races. The first episode of Wonder Woman in March 1976 told anybody with doubts about acti...

This page is a directory of all my lenses/pages at Squidoo that relate to the poems of Emily Dickinson. As alot of people at Squidoo now know, I so enjoy writing about Emily Dickinson poetry. Almost as much as I like to promote the poems to people wh...

Need more than Twitter's 140 words to tell someone how you feel? If you've ever given someone a hug and they asked, "What was that for?" You can do the same thing with a handwritten verse. Often when people need us the most we get...

Looking for what to say when death or other loss occurs? It's hard to sort out feelings and what needs to be said. Family as well as neighbors no longer know what words will communicate the sorrow and love they feel. Sometimes increased tension...

I admit to being a bit squeemish about Emily Dickinson gifts other than books of the poems or letters, which are my favorites. In preparing this lens, I enjoyed taking books about Dickinson which I haven't looked at for a while off their shelves...

In another Squidoo lens I termed Emily Dickinson the "less is more poet." I meant that one of the traits that contribute to the popularity of The Belle of Amherst's poems is not just brevity. Dickinson uses very few words to say so much more than oth...

Lift your mood with no booze. Get exquisite self-hugs with no elicit drugs. Mood lamps and candles may improve digestion. A cocktail before dinner improves sociability after work. Poetics that tap my funny bone or generate a mood change improve quali...

America's greatest poet, Emily Dickinson, was born at the homestead that is now the primary feature of the Emily Dickinson Museum in Amherst, Massachusetts. The adjoining estate of the poet's brother, Austin, was included when in July 2003 th...

Keep pets out of laboratories Does my dog need to hide under the covers to avoid abduction by those who want to make money by selling her to a research laboratory? Love animals? You don't even have to own a pet to make a difference now to prot...

There comes a time in a woman's life when footiepj's.... No. No. That's not it. Let's see... Why should babies and toddlers have all the snuggly comfort of footie pj's? That's better. But, sort of misses the point. How about...

Women's History Month, and March 8 is Women's Day. Did you know International Women's Day is celebrated as a public holiday in some parts of the world? I will try to make your few moments here the best you've ever taken to find out h...

Halloween wouldn't be wicked without spooky recipes for party cookies, game prizes and treats for trick-or-treaters. My Halloween party will have a plate of Halloween cookies for the winner of the scariest Halloween poem or poster. There have b...

May you and yours be all you desire to be in your socks this Christmas!! We all want warm socks in winter and stylish ones for work, office or events. But, socks, like sticks in a Christmas Stocking, may not be appreciated by family or friends. But,...

What do men want when it's time to be lazy? FootiePJs, of course. Lazy loungewear for real men is comfortable, loosefitting.  Warm, comfortable, top to bottom ~ sounds like the best of the bunch ~ guys, that is. Footed pajamas and lazy snug...

BOO!! It's the season to scare, be scared and to confess to the thrill of causing a scream! Party with friends and relatives ~ A costume party ~ Turn down the lights ~ Play scary music ~ Read scary poems ~ Exchange gifts of scary posters ~ Wh...

I'm making this page about dog love to share the wealth of loyalty, entertainment and, of course, companionship that comes with owning a dog. The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), and the Delta Society are my two...

Halloween is just around the corner. Do you have your pet's costume, yet! I want you to see my costume that I wore for my first Spook Day last year in my new home in Massachusetts. My Auntie Chelle sent it to me so I would know she loves me even if...

This page shows to cool college students, parents and friends what's hot in dorm-room posters and more. When I went to college for the first time I roomed with a complete stranger. Nothing in common at first except deciding what to do to decorate th...

Does anyone remember the Calgon bath-crystals commercial? The one where a harried lady dreams herself into a Shangri-La to escape the demands of daily life? "Take me away..."the dreamy background male voice, accompanied by what-kind-of-music I cann...

I had some questions about blood pressure. And, blood pressure readings. What I found are answers everyone should know. 1. Blood pressure is a measurement of the propulsion against the inside of arteries that you have coming from your heart - as it...

I've always been too much of a bookworm to spend alot of my money on albums, downloads, or even concerts. I do, however, thoroughly get charged when a great song "stands up in my soup." Or, if you aren't Irish, or don't know someone who's Irish and h...

If I could, I would invite everyone over to my home simply to raise a toast to the women at Squidoo, especially Rocket Moms, who are so generous to me with their suggestions, how-tos and overall helpful attitude. This is the first time in over 25 ye...

I decided a long time ago that if I want to give myself the best chance for a great day, I'd have to make myself a few rules. The first rule: Be ahead of the sun. If only by a few minutes. Without that first Top 10 Morning Eye Opener, I'd have not b...

This easy meal-in-a-skillet has a unique taste nobody can resist. Only seven ingredients: ground beef (or, ground pork), celery, scallions, bell pepper, rice, beef bouillon (or, chicken bouillon if using pork), Worcestershire sauce. Brown meat, mix w...

I can always remember the fun times and full-tummy satisfaction of excursions to a small restaurant that served a secret cheese dip - or, Chili Con Queso - when I was growing up. My mom and my friends' moms were forever going crazy to uncover the...

Just as I made it through my 20s with three adorable children under 10, my marriage fell apart. I suddenly knew how it felt to want to give my two daughters and a son a good life, but with little more than church membership to recommend me! I knew I...

I am intrigued by communication - the underpinnings of positive people-to-people connections. And, how blogs, sharing poems of Emily Dickinson, novels, news and networks either improve or hinder our individual communication styles. Home is important...