Mental Health Day

Today I took a mental health day. I'm aggressively trying to fight off the debilitating effects constant traveling is having on my body. In the month of July, I've slept in my apt. 6 days (Chicago, Philadelphia, New York, New Mexico, etc.). Before July, "I ain't heard of that" kind of traveling. In celebration of my rejuvination day, I wanted to point out three television shows that you may not be watching that you should be:

• 30 Days - Suprisingly smart look at folks who put themselves in uncomfortable situations for a month. The season finale showcases a "binge Drinking Mom, a parent who so desperately wants her college freshmen, beer guzzling daughter to understand the ramifications of her actions that she (mom) transforms into a party girl overnight to try to teach her kid the errors of her ways. To do this, she decides to drink for 30 days straight. Sweet.
• Guns, Germs, and Steel - I've just seen the first episode, so I reserve the right to change my mind about this one. The show is an adaptation of Jared Diamond's popular book (which is sitting on my book shelf unread, sorry Rosy) which tries to outline the enviornmental circumstances necessary for a strong society, and then retrofits the theory to describe the eveolution of world culture.
  
• Brat Camp - The guilty pleasure of the list. Desperate parents ship their bad ass kids to the mountains so they can get their act together. Where are all the black folks? Oh yeah, it costs $20,000 to fix em. Tune in to find out if hiking can turn 17 years of acting up around....
  

• Honorable Mention: Scholar - It was just a matter of time before smart people got their own reality show. Now lets see if it gets renewed (odds: 40-1)
  

Finally, I finished Development as Freedom by Sen. Good stuff if your'e interested in policy implications for development in non-industrialized countries.