Another busy day that leaves me little time to write (although there is so much to write about).  This morning, I went to a talk (at my church) by Bill Baker.  Baker is the founder and president of CAMP (Christians and Muslims for Peace) and author of More In Common Than You Think: The Bridge Between Islam and Christianity, a book that has received favorable reviews and endorsement on the Web. (I did find one page that was critical    He did a fine job about laying out the commonalities between Islam and Christianity as seen through their respective holy books.  Baker encouraged everyone there to read the Koran for him or herself -- good advice for anyone who is serious about bridging the gaps between the two faiths.  Many in attendance, however, wanted to understand more about how Islam is worked out in practice (and not just in its purest forms).  I hope that we will have follow-up discussions soon on this important topic.

Tonight I was at a celebration of Finding Faith, my friend Sharon Gallagher's new book. Sharon is the editor of Radix Magazine.  Finding Faith is a collection real-life stories of adult converts to Christianity. Sharon read some of these stories; some of the people profiled in Finding Faith spoke about their stories. It's was an incredibly moving time. 

A friend and I were wondering why these stories were so gripping.  There's a rawness to them, she concluded, a statement with which I agreed.  I look forward to reading the book, which is not yet in bookstores. 

Interestingly enough, amazon currently shows an entirely different cover for this book. 

Chris pointed to The New Yorker today, which made me sad since I let my subscription lapse. I have the toll-free number lined up to call but wanted to see whether I could get an academic discount. 

I've been considering getting a subscription to the Times Literary Supplement. I quite love the New York Review but am looking for a non-American publication to supplement the NYRB. The TLS publishes shorter articles over a broader range of topics but at a greater depth than the New York Times Book Review. But can I keep up with the TLS and the NYRB and The New Yorker?  (Is keeping up the name of the game?) 

Oh yes...work:  Chris, David, and I are planning to attend the IMS Open Technical Forum next Thursday.  Anyone else going?  I'm looking forward to meeting with people at the MIT OKI project and MERLOT and hob knobbing with other folks working on learning objects, learning management systems, etc.

One more item for today (it's already way past my bedtime):  I learned about the American Friends Service Committee, a Quaker humanitarian organization, from an article about school children sending blankets to Afghanistan in Saturday's SF Chronicle.  I'm looking to donate money to organizations best able to help the reportedly five million men, women, and children on the verge of starvation in Afghanistan in a humanitarian nightmare exacerbated by the war.  "The American Friends Service Committee, which won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1947 on behalf of Quaker work opposing war, does occasionally hear grumblings about its international aid campaigns, McNeil said."  (Time also to revisit the suggestions from Jon Carroll.)