Machinations
A long time ago – back when the hills were mountains – I was in graduate school, studying for my Masters in social work. There were classes in theory, classes about research methodology, classes to teach us community development, others that taught counseling skills and one of the common themes were client empowerment, the contract…
Not That I’m Biased
I’ve been thinking about bias. It all started with this article by David Gorski about the Oprah-fication of medicine (link fixed). Well, it started with the Newsweek article, followed by the other one and given that I’ve had loads of time to sit around and think while I attempted to heal this latest maiming of…
Visual Hold Music
Have managed to injure myself again – neck this time, just to keep things fresh – and staying away from the computer has become essential to my happiness. Imagine muzak and look at the pretty flower. And ant (or whatever that is).
A Beginners Guide to RA: How to Be a Self Advocate
The latest Beginner’s Guide to RA is up at HealthCentral: “In communities of people who have chronic illnesses like rheumatoid arthritis, you often hear advice about becoming a good advocate for yourself — how it is an essential part of navigating the health care system and contributes to living well with chronic health issues. Self…
Good Cripple
Not too long after Beth and I first became friends, we had a conversation about a meeting she’d had with an agency that were supposed to help her get equipment (possibly Dragon?). Beth explained how she’d started the meeting by outlining the goal of the conversation, setting an agenda of sorts to be that she…
Wonderful Woofstock
After last week’s extended detour into frustration, I decided to have a completely sybaritic weekend in which my activities would be entirely decided by my Id. Which twice led me to Woofstock (and I consider it a small miracle that I made it through two days of the largest dog festival in North America without…
Sitting in Judgement
The last couple of weeks have been ridiculously hectic – it seemed that Mercury retrograde moved smoothly and seamlessly into whatever astrological phenomena is responsible for a mass epidemic of idiocy. Truly. There were several days last week where the barrage of idiots (and their attendant emotional upset) took over every day, to the point…
Tink Weekend
My loves came by this weekend, along with their staff (Janne and John). It was the family celebration of John’s birthday – birthday boy here seen with cake, Janne and Liam’s arm. Liam had great fun with blueberries Morgan cuddled with a Schnauzer puppy (ed: plush, not real) gifted by Mormor (grandmother in Danish) Big…
Cold
This is completely ridiculous. We’ve had a cold spring up here in Toronto. When I say cold cold, I mean about 10° colder than the seasonal average and that’s in metric, not Fahrenheit. I heard a reliable report that last Monday, it snowed in Huntsville (which is about 150 km/100miles from Toronto). Snow, I ask…
Nightly Mayhem
I have a pretty lively nightlife. And not of the kind usually referred to when someone says a sentence like that. No, I am a creature of habit, usually staying at home in the evening, entertaining myself with bugging the cat, watching a movie or reading and occasionally hanging out with friends. I just read…
Reality Check
The search for balance continues in my latest HealthCentral post. And I may be on to something… “It had been another night of bad pain, of the kind that makes you rock back and forth in an attempt to block sensation with movement, even just a little. I’d had bad nights for weeks, each night…