Book Review: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

Henrietta Lacks was a poor farmer who is better known as HeLa in the science community. She was diagnosed with cervical cancer in 1951. During a procedure to treat her cancer, cells were taken without her knowledge and became the first "immortal" human cells to grow in culture. Though she died not long after her diagnosis, her cells continue to live and have helped scientists make huge discoveries.

I thought Henrietta's story was well told by Skloot. She balanced the story behind the woman and the story of the science. I was concerned that the science part would be dull and dry. But that was not the case. Skloot talked about the science and the discoveries in a way that was interesting.

What I think made the book great was not just how evenly Skloot told the story about the science and about Henrietta and her family and how the cells affected them but how Skloot inserted her own story in the book. The story of her journey to discover the woman behind the first immortal human cells and her family. Some may find the inclusion of Skloot's story unnecessary but I thought it made the book more personable. Without it, the book would have been more clinical and not nearly as interesting.

It is a very interesting read.

Disclosure: No one paid me in any way, form or fashion for this review.

Next month - Mudbound by Hillary Jordan

Hump Day Humor: Excuse You

ANSWER - Tuesday Trivia: Mythology

In Greek mythology, how many times does the river Styx circle Hades?

Nine

Tuesday Trivia: Mythology

Tuesday Trivia is a weekly post of interesting trivia questions. Leave a comment with your answer - or best guess - and come back tomorrow to see if you were right. Happy guessing!

<><><>

In Greek mythology, how many times does the river Styx circle Hades?

March

The wind has begun to pick up. The sun has begun to warm the air. The sky has turned to that perfect shade of blue. Which means it's March. And time for new goals.

Stuff has been accumulating around here for a few years now. So in trying to get rid of the unnecessary, I'm going to throw out or give away something every day for the month of March. Seems like it might be hard to do. But so far, it's been really easy.

Let go of what I can't control. I have a bad habit of making plans and trying to control things that are out of my control. So this month, if it's something I can't control, I'm not going to worry about it. Instead I'm going to focus on what I can control and enjoying Life.

 

As far as home improvement, I only have one goal. And you can probably guess what it is. Paint the cabinets in our bathroom. It's what I've been trying to do the last two months and haven't gotten to it. So by not trying to accomplish anything else home improvement wise I'm hoping I'll actually get it done this month.

Elfa For Life!

Welp. February has officially ended. And once again I didn't meet all of my goals. But dammit. I missed it by only half of one.

February Goals:

- Install a new water heater. Check.

- Paint the master closet. Check.

- Install elfa in the master closet. Check.

- Paint the trim and cabinets in the master bathroom. Half a check.

Now the water heater and elfa we didn't install ourselves. But they were projects on our list so I considered them goals.

And there just wasn't time to get to the trim and the cabinets in our bathroom. But I did get the trim done. Forward progress always makes me feel happy in the pants so I don't feel bad at all about not getting to the cabinets.

The original plan for the closet was to paint the ceiling and walls before the guy came to install the elfa last weekend. Only with the sudden passing of John's grandmother we were out of town for much of the time I was counting on for painting. So we only managed to get one coat of paint on the walls prior to the elfa. 

After it was installed we finished painting and are officially [mostly] moved back into our closet.

You guys. If I loved elfa before, I must be obsessed now. Because my closet is AH-MAH-ZING.

Before:

During the painting:

Installed:

Moved back in:

AH-MAH-ZING

Hump Day Humor: Battlestar Galactica RPG

This will probably only be funny if you've watched Battlestar Gallactica.

    See more at CollegeHumor

ANSWER - Tuesday Trivia: World War II

During World War II, what was Operation Sauerkraut?

It was the code name of a successful Office of Strategic Services project in which disaffected Germans (aka sour krauts) were recruited in prisoner-of-war camps to slip behind enemy lines to spread rumors and distribute Allied propaganda.

Tuesday Trivia: World War II

Tuesday Trivia is a weekly post of interesting trivia questions. Leave a comment with your answer - or best guess - and come back tomorrow to see if you were right. Happy guessing!

<><><>

During World War II, what was Operation Sauerkraut?

Travel Luck

I took last week off from blogging. I even skipped my Tuesday Trivia and Hump Day Humor posts. It started off being because we were at the funeral for John's grandmother and transitioned into a week bloggy vacation because I just didn't want to put more pressure on myself in an already pressure-filled week with having been out for several days.

There was the frantic rush to make travel arrangements, traveling, the  rites and rituals of a funeral for a very special lady, catching up with extended family, getting back into the daily routine and then trying to get the closet painted before it was installed (didn't quite make it).

Before I get too far, we flew Spirit Airlines because the ticket prices were incredibly reasonable given we were buying our tickets three days before the flight. We learned why the prices were so cheap when we got to the airport. They want a fee for just about everything, including to carry on luggage. It was so bad that John and I would joke about the different fees they would charge... one to use the restroom, one to get out of the restroom, one to get your bag back at your destination, one to get off the plane. While the flight itself wasn't bad (other than the less than usual leg space).

Funny story... when John was booking our flight, he made the reservation using my maiden name. I had to laugh, but the poor thing was stressed out. Luckily, I took our marriage license to the airport with me, and we had no trouble getting the agent to change my name on the reservation. And then he wanted $10 to print out our boarding passes. $5 each. (See above regarding fees.)

And when we were picking up our rental car, we learned John's driver's license was expired. Which made us nervous that he would have trouble going through security coming home. Lucky for us, the TSA agent who scrutinized his license either didn't notice or didn't say anything. I am sure if I think about it, makes me feel a little less confident in airport security, but really I'm just damn grateful we didn't have any trouble.

It was definitely not the smoothest trip we've ever taken. But hey. We made it there and back.

Firecracker

John's grandmother passed away this past Wednesday. I've thought about the amazing woman she was as we made travel plans and arranged for time off work.

The best description I can come up with is that she was a firecracker.

I've since added to my bucket list that I want to be called a firecracker when I'm old and gray. I want people to say, "That Becky Mochaface. She was a firecracker."

But how do you become a firecracker?

I'm not entirely sure.

Hump Day Humor: Valentine's Day Writer's Room

I know Valentine's Day was yesterday, but I couldn't pass up posting this.

Valentine's Day Writer's Room - watch more funny videos