elle est belle la seine la seine elle est belle

postoperative poopy-doops, and so on, and so, forth!

2012-01-27T23:11:00.000-05:00

dear kind reader[s], here's a [very] rough breakdown of Things Since Surgery, as composed earlier today [friday]: one of the first things i heard while coming around was some news broadcaster calling newt gingrich "a nimble politician," so i knew i was either in hell or awake. here's a quick summary: the prosthesis was very infected, confirmed by frozen section during surgery but whether it

Nesting 1

2012-01-20T22:23:00.000-05:00

I am having major surgery Monday, and the usual pre-op jitters have set in, full force. In other news, my kidney function decided that *now* would be the ideal time to decline. The great thing is that I've no symptoms, unless this Edema From Hell is related. If Dr. ShoulderMan's SideKick had not called, I'd never have known... which would have been infinitely better, don't you think? I

Soft Paw* Perils

2012-01-20T18:32:00.001-05:00

[*If you are unfamiliar with the feline command "Soft Paw," please read up on the subject HERE. A short video on Soft Paw Training is included.] We recently bought a 16 pound bag of Friskies cat kibble. The price sealed the deal, although the promise of an enclosed cat toy sweetened the pot, let me tell you. It's impossible to litter the floor with enough small, squeaky playthings. The

sunday night check-in

2012-01-15T23:03:00.001-05:00

i apologize for not "checking in" before now -- and hope to post something worth a read tomorrow or tuesday. my legs are giving me fits, and the pain/fevers/chills from the infected shoulder make me a very uninteresting person, indeed. saw the surgeon thursday, and remembered why he and his staff will always be heros to me. what they are attempting to do for me is technically and medically

"Love, Fa": Nothing good gets away

2012-01-12T18:31:00.001-05:00

In her review of Steinbeck: A Life in Letters, Maria Popova of Brain Pickings sells the book in the best way, by giving us a taste of Steinbeck unadorned and earnest, answering in the afternoon a letter he received from his son that morning. Brain Pickings is one of a hectic day's joys, by the way. How could it not be, for it promises -- and often delivers, "[i]nterestingness, curated –

My love is like a red damn rose: Pot pourri

2012-01-12T01:24:00.002-05:00

Did you know that the Soap Opera is in decline? I suppose that its plummeting ratings mirror the dizzying ascent of the reality show, but who has time to ponder such mysteries? Especially in this particular climate, where La Bonne et Belle Bianca and her dalliances with both Sven Feingold and his [biological] son, Marlinspike Hall's own Cabana Boy, lend every morning an air of mystery. Not

Happy Birthday, Stephen Hawking, and How Goes the Universe Today?

2012-01-08T10:13:00.001-05:00

University of Cambridge, Research News Professor Stephen Hawking’s 70th birthday public symposium To coincide with Professor Stephen Hawking’s 70th birthday, the University of Cambridge’s Centre for Theoretical Cosmology, in conjunction with Intel, is hosting a public symposium on Sunday, 08 January entitled ‘The State of the Universe’. Speakers will include Professor Hawking, the Astronomer

The Republican Debate: "An exchange reminiscent of Abbott and Costello's Who's on First routine"

2012-01-07T23:42:00.000-05:00

GOP debate: Mitt Romney grows foggy on contraception By Robin Abcarian January 7, 2012, 7:25 p.m. It was an exchange reminiscent of Abbott and Costello’s famous Who’s on First routine. George Stephanopoulos repeatedly asked Mitt Romney about whether he thinks that states have the right to ban contraception, and Romney repeatedly replied that he had no idea why Stephanopoulos would ask such a

The Drexel Crowd Strikes Again (Yay, Drexel!)

2012-01-07T23:00:00.001-05:00

The Journal of Pain Volume 13, Issue 1 , Pages 10-20, January 2012 Changes in Plasma Cytokines and Their Soluble Receptors in Complex Regional Pain Syndrome Guillermo M. Alexander, B. Lee Peterlin, Marielle J. Perreault, John R. Grothusen, Robert J. Schwartzman (All from the Dept of Neurology at Drexel, except for Peterlin from the Dept of Neurology at Hopkins) Abstract Complex Regional

sharks: more journalistic bad faith

2012-01-05T23:58:00.001-05:00

i was trying to wind down, get to bed, and one of the last things i wanted to check up on was the story about the hybrid shark species found down australia way, you know -- the one that prompted my weirdness with an evolutionary theme the other day. sad to say, there has been a great deal written, most of it dealing with the journalist author, one amy coopes. she apparently has something of a

Directed Dreaming: Elephant Teeth and Roller-Coasters

2012-01-05T20:41:00.001-05:00

Enchanted Kingdom, Sta. Rosa, Philippines, photo by pattyequalsawesome (Patty Lagera) Without meaning to, this blog has become a chart of sorts, plotting the course of the infection in my bones, and the always amusing neurological affliction that is CRPS. As I approach a new surgery date for the removal of my left shoulder prosthesis and a good old-fashioned washout of the joint, the

groggy and unwashed

2012-01-03T22:44:00.002-05:00

look up groggy and unwashed in the dictionary and i'm the illustration. my last cogent memory of anything done intentionally dates from early this morning, and even then, was incomplete. staring at the computer screen (as it sucks my brains out through my eyes), i began ogling an article about the discovery of a shark hybrid species off the coast of australia. i suppose the article might have

God's Thorny Donations (With Obligatory Cat Video)

2011-12-31T19:35:00.008-05:00

Blood-red, ruby-red, cherry-red, my chipmunk cheeks are crimson. Stippled and florid, these spotted swollen legs -- so violently inflamed -- are vehement, are ruddy. "Ruddy is closer to red than to rose," intones one who ought to know. My bolshy red ink comes to mind.The synonym-driven blurb above is what greeted me when I popped open the spare laptop balanced on my belly, my first reflex upon

Ruthie's Christmas Wish 2011

2011-12-23T21:30:00.001-05:00

I ran across a blog tonight, as one does. I highly recommend that you read it. It's called Ruthie in the Sky. You know how, on Blogger, when you click on a blog's "About Me"/"View My Complete Profile" section, you are taken to the blog writer's profile? Right! And you know how, once there, part of Blogger Fun is being asked a nonsensical (or terribly, awfully sensible) question, to which

The Christmas Post: Glad Tidings, Good Yule

2011-12-23T12:27:00.001-05:00

It's a Christmas tradition ("Holidays, we celebrate them all at Marlinspike Hall!") that some intimate and integral bit of The Manor shall fail right when we believe ourselves through the punishing gauntlet for the year. Christmas 2011 will be remembered as the year we sent all the plumber's children to college. Fred and I will be installing one final faucet and mopping up the standing water

Free Access: Predictors of Pain Relieving Response to Sympathetic Blockade in CRPS Type 1

2011-12-22T21:22:00.002-05:00

Good Thursday, Dear Readers. Happy Solstice! I almost passed over the notice I received about this article's publication, irritated by what seemed a blithe acceptance of sympathetic blocks as an always appropriate first-line response in treating CRPS. If you're a regular here, you know I'm a tad touchy about medicos who don't update their knowledge, who continue old ways based on old

Magic Movie: Treats In A Ball, A Ball In A Box

2011-12-22T09:36:00.005-05:00

I put treats in their Slimcat Food and Treat Dispenser Ball, placed the ball in an empty cardboard drink box, then tossed the whole IQ Test on the floor. As it had not been long since they'd eaten, the majority response was an underwhelmed feline "meh." Still, there we were, y'know? First up, Dobby. Dobby is scary smart -- also, we think, elven (hence the name). The confused and confusing

It's gonna be a Rockin' Birthday Eve

2011-12-20T11:28:00.001-05:00

After a response time delay that successfully separated my stomach lining from its mother-organ, the assistant to Dr. ShoulderMan called last Tuesday evening with a date for surgery. It's gonna be a Rockin' Birthday Eve Event on 23 January. I was able to refrain from asking her to specify the year. I was, as they say, fit to be tied from the rush to wait. [I pity the fool who tries to get

How I Learned That Mother Teresa's Nobel Acceptance Speech Was A Hate Crime

2011-12-18T11:35:00.000-05:00

While I enjoyed Hitchens, he lost his way. Or found it. Whatever. We diverged when it came to Iraq, and man, O man, has it not come down to Iraq, in the determination of so many things (things in the right now of so many things)? That has to be said, given the smallness of this honorific, given that I don't drink anymore, though I daydream about single malt scotch, given that Hitchens up and

the virtuosity of his goofiness, i miss it

2011-12-10T15:34:00.000-05:00

The old admonition is whining at me again today, the Stones, being all truth-telling and such. You can't always get what you want You can't always get what you want You can't always get what you want But if you try sometimes well you just might find You get what you needOh, why not? Take a moment for the music. Uploaded to YouTube by mariule2 on Apr 21, 2010 The uploader notes:

Coach K and Pat Summitt: Sportspeople of the Year

2011-12-07T21:51:00.001-05:00

Pat Summitt of Tennessee and Coach K of Duke -- the winningest women's and men's basketball coaches in the history of the NCAA -- are the 2011 sportspeople of the year, courtesy of Sports Illustrated. Krzyzewski joins former UCLA coach John Wooden (1972) and former North Carolina coach Dean Smith (1997) as the only other men’s college basketball coaches to win the award. Summitt, the all-time

Passing the Duck Test

2011-12-07T20:57:00.001-05:00

Late last week, I opened a blog post with those impossible to live down words: "i'm sitting here weeping." Those words don't cause me shame, that's not the problem. The lack of capitalization? No, that could be readily fixed (I'm told). Once again, it's the absence of heart, or as some WizKid might recast it all: my hopelessness. Between you and me, I've been sitting around weeping a lot

Pineapple Valances

2011-12-07T18:14:00.002-05:00

Am I the same person who recently claimed to be eerily non-responsive to discussions about abortion and the death penalty? You know, someone "too cool for school," above it all, so right that there just is no point in engaging in discussions that continue to entertain differing (i.e., wrong) points of view? My reactions to some news stories are surprising me, their author, their source. I

"...in support of libraries, books, words, ideas...(& against their exit)."

2011-12-05T08:56:00.000-05:00

The mystery of the paper sculptures left in Edinburgh's libraries, at book festivals, and even tucked away in book shops, has apparently been solved by Mr. Garry Gale, the former music librarian to The Edinburgh Evening News ("Sculpture whodunnit solved"). Solved -- but not revealed. Readers were asked whether or not they wanted to know the name of the artist... and the readers said "no." You

butter knife, garden hose, thread, neosporin, organic cotton sling...

2011-12-01T09:59:00.000-05:00

i'm sitting here weeping. the appointment with my surgeon was canceled because the results from the cultures "look great," as in, nothing is growing. of course nothing is growing, they weren't able to aspirate anything from my shoulder joimt -- just like the other SEVEN joint aspirations we have done in the last three years, none of which grew a darned thing, despite both shoulders being