oliver sacks

"Music can lift us out of depression or move us to tears--it is a remedy, a tonic, orange juice for the ear. But for many of my nuerological patients, music is even more--it can provide access, even when no medication can, to movement, to speech, to life. For them, music is not a luxury, but a necessity."

--Oliver Sacks, most likely from "Musicophilia, Tales of Music and the Brain." found on a Starbucks cup.

I finished Oliver Sacks' An Anthropologist on Mars. It was fascinating to read about how the brain works, and the strange things that can happen to humans when our brains get tweaked in even the smallest ways. I'm looking forward to some day reading his most famous book: The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat. He also wrote a book called Awakenings, which I think was the basis of the Robin Williams movie.

I also finished Almost French by Sarah Turnbull, the best "English-speaking-expat-adjusting-to-life-in-France" book I've read. I'd really recommend it to those of you living in Europe, if you can find it.

Jen told me I needed to post again, but I don't think book reviews is what she meant. But, a "real" post is brewing, and probably is soon in coming. Probably.