Book Review: The Hunger Games
For a while now, I’ve had my eye on The Hunger Games, a sci-fi YA book by Suzanne Collins. Read some reviews that made it sound promising, but other books had jumped the queue until a few months ago, when I finally took the plunge. Still, it took a while to get to it, but…
11 Things You Should Know about RA
This month, we’re going back to basics on MyRACentral: “1. We Don’t Know What Causes Rheumatoid ArthritisThese days, much more is known about RA, especially the process that leads to developing the disease – a combination of a genetic predisposition, abnormally autoimmune response and environmental or biologic triggers. However, how it all comes together and…
Book Review: Under the Dome
It took me almost 4 weeks, but I’ve finished Stephen King’s doorstep latest novel Under the Dome: A Novel (and then it took me an additional four weeks to get around to writing a review – what can I say, December was a little nuts). A whopper at 1,100 pages – which translates into 34.5…
The Skinny on the New Comment Box
As you may have noticed, my comment box no longer looks like the comment box I used to have. Earlier this week, I got a notice from Haloscan (my comment provider) that it had been bought out by Echo and that users would gradually be moved over to the new system, for which I get…
What A Difference A Voice Makes
Before I get going, I need to say how much I’ve enjoyed the comment section of my last post. There were quite a few groans and I almost spurted tea on my keyboard more than once – absolutely made my day(s)! And now to something completely different… There’s a handful of authors who I’ll read…
Autobiographical Book Collection
One of Laurie’s recent posts was a transfer meme from Facebook in which you list 15 books that’ll always stick with you and in a grand gesture, she tagged everyone who read it. And it made me think about the books I have left on my shelves. For years now, miscellaneous neck issues have prevented…
Good Idea in Theory
It all started with Bridget Jones’s Diary. The messing with Jane Austen, I mean. Well, I’m sure that there have been people messing with Austen before that, but if you’re looking at the most recent tendency to mess with her, Bridget started it. And did it well. It’s a fantastic book, turned into a fantastic…
A Beginners Guide to RA: Alternative Medicine
This week’s HealthCentral post is about alternative medicine: “Have you ever tried acupuncture? Massage therapy? Do you take supplements? Chances are you’re not relying exclusively on allopathic – i.e., Western-based – medicine, but are supplementing the care and prescriptions you receive from the medical system with other techniques and treatments. And if you aren’t, you’ve…
Like Glass
Hold out your hand. Now tighten the muscles in your forearm – not a lot, just enough to be aware that it’s tensed. Hold it. Permanently. This is fibromyalgia pain. Well, one of them anyway. The bloody thing is forever surprising me with new and “interesting” qualities of pain it can invent. You don’t notice…
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…