I got nothing in that spent yesterday in the gray area of numb.

I did the usual reading and practicing. But by evening I felt that I had not really done anything and didn’t feel like it had been a day off, more like the first day of a needed vacation. 

The good news is that I just checked my calendar and there’s not much on for today. I plan to try to coax my father into attending day care to give my mom some time off. This probably won’t work. But speaking of caretaking, the NYT New Old Age Blog has an interesting entry today: “10 Things to Know About Assisted Living.”

I liked this:

The goal of medical care for the elderly, in Dr. Woodson’s view and the view of every geriatrician I’ve ever interviewed, is to make day-to-day life more comfortable, not to cure illness or extend longevity…

“Why draw a map to someplace we know we’re not going?” Dr. Woodson asked.

Speaking of articles in the news, for you people who still like books:”Acclaimed Colombian Institution Has 4,800 Books and 10 Legs” by Simon Romero. Columbian primary school teacher Luis Soriano has a “Biblioburro” instead of a bookmobile.  Thank God there are people like him in the world.

And don’t forget bubblewrap.

If you are in the 5th or 8th grade or you know someone who is, take a look at this contest to win 10K with a clever idea about how to use bubble wrap in an invention. Details here.