Ribbit
It all started with the shower curtain. When I moved into my own apartment (after years and years of waiting for one with attendant care attached to become available), AB sent me a fantastic shower curtain with a frog on it. Charming, whimsical, doesn’t matter what you call it, it makes me smile in the…
5 Things to Look for in a Rheumatologist
My latest HealthCentral post is up: “A common piece of advice to those who have just been diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is to “find a good rheumatologist,” but what makes a specialist “good”? Do they give frequent flyer points at every appointment that you can redeem for gift certificates to the store of your…
Feminist Empowerment My Arse
On Friday, I read an article in the Toronto Star about Beyoncé’s new single called “Single Ladies”. The article pronounced it “a shout-out to sisterhood,” “a strong song of female empowerment” and claims that it has “a powerful feminist message”. Naturally, this made me want to check it out, especially since just the night before,…
Dear Winter. Again.
Winter, Last year, I asked nicely. I’ve even asked nicely this year. In December, when you showed a remarkable degree of commitment to your image of being cold and snowy, I rolled with it, asking only that you keep it to a dull roar in the week before Christmas so I could get all my…
5 Things to do for the Newly Diagnosed
I’m back to basics in my latest HealthCentral post: “Living well with RA needs a box full of tools addressing different aspects of life with a chronic illness and together, take you where you want to go. If you’ve just been diagnosed, the following are five important items for your toolbox:” The rest of the…
Letters from the Past
During one of the latest excursions into my landfill of accumulated crap – why am I such a packrat? – we found, buried in the back of a shelf somewhere, a harmonica folder stuffed with letters and cards from the early 80s to the mid-90s. As nothing is safe from my attempts to minimize aforementioned…
Dignity Schmignity
I used to have short hair. Really, really short hair. Then my neck got hurt and I couldn’t go to the hairdresser for a while, which meant my hair grew and grew some more and after 25 years or so with a coiffure shorter than 1 1/2 inches, I was enjoying being able to feel…
A Job Opportunity: Solving the Challenges of Writer Overwhelm
Updated November 30, 2021 The impossibility of juggling chronic illness, everyday tasks and writing good books at a decent pace pops up on a regular basis in my life. Every time, I look at my list — or List — and despair at ever catching up or being even vaguely proactive and organized. Did I…
All Dressed Up & Nowhere to Go
What I need to go outside my immediate neighborhood, I call WheelTrans. WheelTrans is Toronto’s paratransit service, run by the TTC (our public transportation system) and it is designed to provide transportation for people with disabilities who can’t use public transit so they can participate in the community on an equal basis with everyone else….
You Gotta Have Faith
The holiday ponderings proliferate, not just here, but in my latest post on HealthCentral, too: “Midwinter is upon us and with it, the New Year and celebrations of the coming of the light. We sing and set flame to candles in the dark, symbolizing our faith in goodness and our hope for tomorrow. We know…
Sidestepping into Happiness
I was talking to a friend the other day about how this particular set of holidays used to be my annual experience of manic depression. Well, not the actual disease, but perhaps a little bit of insight into what it feels like. Christmas is my favorite holiday of the year and there is nothing about…
Holiday Stream-of-Consciousness
Sometime late yesterday evening, it occurred to me that it was Sunday. Which means that it would very soon be Monday. Which is one of the days I traditionally post. And I had nothing. Because sometime on Saturday afternoon, I remember being unsure about what day it was and it was officially the moment where…