(Roughly) Daily

Miss Ethel Philip Reading — James McNeill Whistler

Central Connecticut State University’s “America’s Most Literate Cities” study takes stock of the largest cities in the United States.

This study attempts to capture one critical index of our nation’s social health—the literacy of its major cities (population of 250,000 and above). This study focuses on six key indicators of literacy: number of bookstores, educational attainment, Internet resources, library resources, periodical publishing resources,and newspaper circulation.

This set of factors measures people’s use of their literacy and thus presents a large-scale portrait of our nation’s cultural vitality.  From this data we can better perceive the extent and quality of the long-term literacy essential to individual economic success, civic participation, and the quality of life in a community and a nation.

The winner?  Washington, D.C., closely followed by Seattle and Minneapolis-St. Paul.  The loser?  Well, readers in Stockton, Corpus Christi, and Bakersfield can check the full ranking of the 76 qualifying metros here…  or not.

Woman Reading — Georges Braque

* “Outside of a dog, a book is man’s best friend. Inside of a dog it’s too dark to read.” – Groucho Marx

[Paintings via Biblioklept]

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As we polish our glasses, we might send prehistoric birthday greetings to the red-headed pride and joy of Fred and Wilma Flintstone; according to the February 22, 1963 edition of TV Guide, their daughter Pebbles was born at the Bedrock Rockapedic Hospital on this date in 10,000 B.C.

Pebbles (left) with her buddy, Bamm-Bamm Rubble

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