The Cost of Medication!

Due to the high cost of prescription drugs, 29 percent of adult aged 19-64 either asked their doctors for cheaper medication, stopped taking some medications, or skipped doses of their medication (data from 2017).  Below show the states with the highest and lowest percentages.  Oklahoma still ended up in the top half of the “worst” percentages, but they did not end up in the top ten.

Highest percentages
1. Utah (44.4%)
2. Alabama (42.8%)
3. Texas (41.9%)
4. Montana (38.9%)
5. Indiana (38.0%)
5. Colorado (38.0%)
7. Kansas (37.7%)
8. Louisiana (37.5%)
9. Idaho (36.9%)
10. Missouri (35.0%)

Lowest percentages
1. Massachusetts (13.1%)
2. Vermont (14.8%)
3. Connecticut (16.9%)
4. New York (20.2%)
5. Rhode Island (21.2%)
6. California (21.6%)
7. New Hampshire (21.9%)
8. Maryland (22.0%)
9. Pennsylvania (22.1%)
10. Oregon (22.2%)

Source: AARP Bulletin, December 2019, p. 40; State Health Access Data Assistance Center, University of Minnesota.

Commonly Misspelled and Confused – Letter U!

Here is a list of some of the more commonly misspelled/misused words (courtesy of the Internet Accuracy Project) beginning with the letter “U.”  Enjoy!

Commonly misspelled words

U – ukulele, unanimous, undoubtedly, unnecessary, until, usage, usually.

Commonly Confused Words

There are no words beginning with the letter “U” that are commonly confused.

Source: Internet Accuracy Project’s commonly misspelled, confused and misused words is a helpful collection of some of the most commonly misspelled, confused and misused words.

Fun Fact Friday, Number 181!

The category for today’s trivial imponderable is “science.”  Do you know . . . what causes tidal waves?

Hint: it is NOT the tides.  Tidal waves are generally caused by underwater disturbances (earthquakes, landslides, volcanic activity, etc.).  Scientists prefer the word tsunami over the phrase tidal wave.

Source: Sorry, Wrong Answer: Trivia Questions That Even Know-It-Alls Get Wrong, by Dr. Rod L. Evans.

Amazing Adjectives, Number Sixty-Eight!

Here is a word from the English qualm, meaning “compunction,” + -ish, meaning “inclined to.”  The source of qualm is unknown.  As exemplified in The Highly Selective Dictionary of Golden Adjectives for the Extraordinarily Literate.

“Her recent unfortunate experiences have left Eileen qualmish about doing anything to help our cause.”

qualmish

\ kwah-mish, kwaw–  \, adjective;

1.  tending to have, or having, qualms.

2.  nauseous; nauseated.

3.  of the nature of a qualm.

4.  likely to cause qualms.

Source: The Highly Selective Dictionary of Golden Adjectives for the Extraordinarily Literate by Eugene Ehrlich and http://www.dictionary.com.

A Hint of Greece!

Last summer, right before I left town on vacation, there was an art display at my college’s Visitors Center Gallery feature the photography of Sheryl McLain (from Edmond, Oklahoma).  Needless to say, I fell in love with many of her pieces.  Here is the one that I acquired for my collection (my photo of this photo doesn’t really do justice to the stark contrast of the colors (blue and white) from this photo taken during the photographer’s trip to the Greek islands.  Positively stunning! Perhaps someday I will make it to the Greek Isles to experience the views in person.

Movers & Shakers 2020!

Since its inaugural year in 2002, Library Journal has been putting together an annual list of people who will be shaping the future of libraries – the “Movers & Shakers.”  While several hundred get nominated each year, only a handful are awarded this honor (I was humbled and honored to have been named a Mover & Shaker back in 2005).

Here are this year’s selections.  Congratulations one and all!

Change Agents
Dorothy Berry
Leslie Cartier
Janet Damon
Fobazi Ettarh
Alex Gil
Haley K. Holmes
Rebecca Millerjohn
Samuel J. Northern

Innovators
Jarred Amato
Ron Block
Christy James
kYmberly Keeton
Brian L. Mortimore
J. Caroline Smith

Digital Developers
Rosalyn P. Dean
Michael Hibben
Maisam Nouh
Thomas Padilla
Emily Sherwood
Tim Smith
Nicholas Weber

Educators
Will Cross
Nate Gass
Kristin Grabarek
Tom Jorgenson
Maggie Murphy
Maria Fernanda Pardo
Haley Samuelson
Julia Torres

Advocates
Matthew Bollerman
Tamara Cox
Shauna Edson
Nancy Liliana Godoy
Aileen Luppert
JJ Pionke
Jessica Ralli

Community Builders
Anna Avalos
Lina Bertinelli
Glenna Godinsky
Madeline Jarvis
Stephanie Katz
Kathy Kosinski
Edward Kristan
Leslie Mason
Tess Wilson
Pang Yang

Happy Birthday, Copyright!

230 years ago today U.S. Copyright Law was enacted by Congress.  This was for the “encouragement of learning by securing the copies of maps, charts, and books to the authors and proprietors of such copies during the times therein.”   Originally the protection was extended for a 14-year period and renewal rights were only  granted if the author were still alive.

Some other famous “firsts” that occurred on May 25th throughout history include:

• the first fire insurance agent (John Copson, Philadelphia, PA, 1921)
• the first Catholic priest in the U.S. (Father Steven Theodore Badin, Baltimore, MD, 1793)
• the first typewritten letter (1829)
• the first news dispatched by telegraph (1844)
• the first gas engine (1844)
• the first golf book (Golf in America, by James Parrish Lee, 1895)
• the first military expeditionary force to be sent beyond the Western Hemisphere (sent to Manilla, 1898)
• the first railroad operated by an electric third-rail system (Scranton, PA, 1903)
• the first Army nursing school (1918)
• the first church to become a Catholic basilica (Sanctuary of our Lady of Victory, Lackawanna, Buffalo, NY, 1926)
• the first educational television station (KUHT, University of Houston, 1953)
• the first nuclear cannon (1953)
• the first postage stamp issued in the U.S. and canceled by a foreign country (5-cent stamp commemorating Canada’s achievement of federation, 1967)
• the first fly-by-wire aircraft (1972)
• the first physician to practice as an astronaut in space (1973)
• the first space station launched by the United States (1973)

Source: Famous First Facts, by Joseph Nathan Kane, Steven Anzovin, and Janet Podell.

Artist Documentary: Gary Cupp!

“Trains, Pens, and Automobiles.”  Here is the next installment of the artist documentaries that were produced by students from the Jenks High School Documentary Film Class under the tutelage of their instructor, Clifton Raphael, in partnership with artists from both the Tulsa Artists Guild and Tulsa’s Alpha Rho Tau (a civic art association).  This posts features the artist Gary Cupp.  Enjoy!

Source: https://youtu.be/iuloD3tkUlI

You Gotta Laugh!

Here are a few jokes to help you get through the weekend.  Enjoy!

Benny: “I’m a mind reader.”
Jenny: “Prove it.”
Benny: “Right now, you think I’m lying.”

Beth: “The defibrillator’s broken!”
Seth: “I can’t say that I’m shocked.”

Tim: “At times like this, I wish I’d listened to what my mother always said.”
Jim: “What did she say?”
Tim: “I don’t know, I never listened.”

Jerry: “What are you doing?”
Terry: “I’m heading out to buy some glasses.”
Jerry: “And then what?”
Terry: “I’ll see.”

Source: AARP Bulletin, December 2019, p. 46

 

Fun Fact Friday, Number 180!

Today’s real facts (courtesy of http://www.snapple.com) are all breath/breathing.  Did you know that . . .

• beavers can hold their breath for 45 minutes underwater? (Real Fact #3)
• a snail breathes through its foot? (Real Fact #37)
• your breathing rate increases when you start to type?  (Real Fact #264)
• you breathe in about 13 pints of air every minute?  (Real Fact #446)
• the average person takes 23,000 breaths per day?  (Real Facts #791)
• adult humans are the only mammal that can’t breathe and swallow at the same time?  (Real Fact #1238)
• 85% of people only breathe out of one nostril at a time?  (Real Fact #1465)

Source: http://www.snapple.com/real-facts