I think you’re right in large part—but I wasn’t just expressing a personal belief. Studies have demonstrated that reading literature can help develop empathy. No doubt early childhood experiences continue to loom large at every age, though.

Literature teaches empathy. Some can’t learn it; the rest of us can develop it.

My Canadian MIL brings me aero bars for my Christmas stocking. 🙂

It’s the opposite case of petted and pet. I know Benjamin Dreyer comes down firmly on the side of petted while lots of people say pet as the past tense. But they both sound right to me… 😄

I think this is true, if counterintuitive. Makes it hard to fight.

I guess the best we can do to fight the spread of propaganda is to say “I saw something nasty in the tool shed” and never reveal exactly what… 😄

I’m really a fantasy/science fiction reader. Mystery and historical novels are my change of pace reads. 🙂

My timeline is very LOTR heavy. 😄 Nice.

We had a cat named Elbereth once. Called her Elbe. 🙂

It’s the perfect mix of elements—water and sky and woods—and blue and white and green. All my pictures are desert and mountain—none of them look like this. 😎 (Here’s one of my Arizona dog-walking photos.)