After almost seventy two hours in the city, my brother and his friends have managed to do more than I in six months. Guggenheim, Central Park, Coney Island, aquarium, Times Square, off-Broadway show, Chinatown, Strand Bookstore...don't think I'm entirely derelict: I've made it to at least a slice of those things. But I remain in my pajamas, my brain muddled by working ineffectively and sllllooooowwlllly. This is not how I intend to spend my days, but this is what happens to me when trying to decide exactly what to say about education, or farmers markets, or whatever the writing topic may be. My body grows restless, but at least my mind runs all about.
Thank goodness oh best beloved and spring break are arriving soon. I do vacation heartily. At least that is the consolation.
2/26/2008
2/14/2008
I have five jewels...
A poem my mother wrote about us years ago. She sends it for our Valentine wishes.
Jewels
The ocher sun spreads glitter everywhere.
The turquoise sea provides a priceless mine.
I have five jewels in a family chest.
They sparkle sapphire eyes and topaz hair.
So beautiful and valuable--I'm blest.
They form a precious crown for me to wear.
These children ornament a mother queen.
I watch them glisten, shimmer, shine. I know
This wealth grows richer, fuller though unseen.
True treasure lies in lives that give and grow.
Such gems come from a Jeweler above
Who cherishes and treasures stones with love.
--J.E.V.
Jewels
The ocher sun spreads glitter everywhere.
The turquoise sea provides a priceless mine.
I have five jewels in a family chest.
They sparkle sapphire eyes and topaz hair.
So beautiful and valuable--I'm blest.
They form a precious crown for me to wear.
These children ornament a mother queen.
I watch them glisten, shimmer, shine. I know
This wealth grows richer, fuller though unseen.
True treasure lies in lives that give and grow.
Such gems come from a Jeweler above
Who cherishes and treasures stones with love.
--J.E.V.
2/03/2008
one giant leap...
10:02 p.m. I do believe, thanks to the loud roar from someone's apartment down the street and the ringing churchbell, that the Giants have just won the Superbrawl. Oh thank you, thank you. My fellow New Yorkers will not be so grumpy tomorrow.
1/15/2008
Landed gentry...
The only problem is we all want to be Miss Elizabeth Bennett.
The "head cook" operates under a ruse. Potato rolls and cookies are merely a cover; the brunette slaved hard for Christmas dinner while the blond sat pretty.
7/21/2007
A Spoonful of Sugar...
Just finished reading The Truth About Drug Companies: How They Deceive Us and What to Do About It, by Dr. Marcia Angell (2005). She is a former editor of the New England Journal of Medicine, and packs a stringent attack against the pharmaceutical industry. After reading this and How Doctors Think (Dr. Jerome Groopman), I've decided the best method is to stay as healthy as possible. If you can avoid going to doctors and hospitals, do so. (Coincidentally, I've remembered to take my vitamins again).
Readers may have various responses to the above books--the negative reviews I've found come from The Wall Street Journal and National Review, and are decidedly predictable in their judgement. How uncreative we become when we fall into our biases and political preferences (all of us, not just those with predilections to the right).
Politics sometimes seem to fall away when things hit us individually, and so despite our political leanings, here are some questions Dr. Angell encourages patients to ask their doctors when they recieve a new prescription:
"What is the evidence that this drug is better than an alternative or some other approach to treatment? Has the evidence been published in a peer-reviewed medical journal? Or are you relying on info from drug company reps? If needed, ask for a specific reference to a journal or textbook.
Is this drug better only because it is given at a higher dose? Would a cheaper drug be just as effective if it were given at an equivalent does?
Are the benefits worth the side effects, the expense, and the risk of interactions with other drugs I take?
Is this a free sample? If so, is there a generic drug or an equivalent drug I can use that is cheaper with the free samples run out?
Do you have financial ties with the company that makes this drug? For example, do you consult for the company? Other than free samples, do you receive gifts from drug companies? Are you being paid to put me on this drug and enroll me in a drug company study? Do you make time for visits from drug company reps?"
If the answer doesn't seem right, your doctor probably isn't right for you either.
Readers may have various responses to the above books--the negative reviews I've found come from The Wall Street Journal and National Review, and are decidedly predictable in their judgement. How uncreative we become when we fall into our biases and political preferences (all of us, not just those with predilections to the right).
Politics sometimes seem to fall away when things hit us individually, and so despite our political leanings, here are some questions Dr. Angell encourages patients to ask their doctors when they recieve a new prescription:
"What is the evidence that this drug is better than an alternative or some other approach to treatment? Has the evidence been published in a peer-reviewed medical journal? Or are you relying on info from drug company reps? If needed, ask for a specific reference to a journal or textbook.
Is this drug better only because it is given at a higher dose? Would a cheaper drug be just as effective if it were given at an equivalent does?
Are the benefits worth the side effects, the expense, and the risk of interactions with other drugs I take?
Is this a free sample? If so, is there a generic drug or an equivalent drug I can use that is cheaper with the free samples run out?
Do you have financial ties with the company that makes this drug? For example, do you consult for the company? Other than free samples, do you receive gifts from drug companies? Are you being paid to put me on this drug and enroll me in a drug company study? Do you make time for visits from drug company reps?"
If the answer doesn't seem right, your doctor probably isn't right for you either.
6/16/2007
Something there is that doesn't love a wall...
An interesting piece on the border wall by NPR. While the Rio is not the most beautiful river in the world (only a bit more than a brown trickle when it passes through Brownsville), it is more than a bit absurd to wall it up. Perhaps if we just keep poisoning it more illegal aliens will avoid this path. From what I can tell, its somewhat swift construction is due to the fact that the government can reach consensus on the matter, a somewhat frightening prospect when you realize the extent of the illogical decisions made by these same persons in the past. If they can ALL agree on this matter, the river isn't the only thing that smells fishy.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=11118125
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=11118125
6/14/2007
Dog Daze
Taking two dogs to the Grand Canyon is a bit like when my little sister visited Niagra Falls as a toddler. "Rachel, look at the waterfall," we urged, but her round blue eyes were fixated on the sky, fingers pointing upward towards the seagulls screeching above. "Ooh ooh!" she cried--christening our family name for those swacking nusiances.
Indie and Walter, the newest addition, are thusly distracted by the ooh ooh birds at the ocean. And at the Grand Canyon, they are all about people, scat, and shade. Walter, who at one year is enthusiastically all puppy, threatens once or twice to leap off the edge. Crisis is averted for the time being, but the summer has only just begun.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DffcDoNabTM
5/02/2007
Gross
T decides she is not going to research "Why do girls get their periods?" because it is too gross. Friend and ICU nurse E vows to find pamphlets to give to her.
Later in the day, O comes in announcing that she had lettuce for lunch. It's part of her weight loss plan. Not only has she started running, but she has started eating less as well, thinking that it is the only way to lose weight. I run to the chalkboard to give her a quick summary of how the body uses calories. Yes, you CAN still eat chocolate.
Later in the day, O comes in announcing that she had lettuce for lunch. It's part of her weight loss plan. Not only has she started running, but she has started eating less as well, thinking that it is the only way to lose weight. I run to the chalkboard to give her a quick summary of how the body uses calories. Yes, you CAN still eat chocolate.
4/18/2007
Vow of Silence
L comes into 1st period and shoves a $5 bill in my face. He flutters his hand.
"What?" I ask.
He continues motioning, pointing to his mouth and back to the bill. He wants to buy chips [they are bane of my life, by the way]. His friend walks in and informs me that he has taken a vow of silence, and also lets me know L wants Hot Cheetos.
A few minutes later L grabs my chalk and writes "gay rights" on the board. "I can't break the vow," he writes.
L has posted two questions on the board: "Are the products that hair stylists use harmful?" and "Are gay people born unique, or do they chose to be that way?"
Earlier this year, L submited a story about his first kiss with a boy. He almost didn't turn it in, afraid of my judgement about him. For once, the uncanny sense that I'm only beginning to develop as a teacher told me what it was about even before I read it. "It's okay," I reassured him. "I can probably handle whatever you're writing about."
After school, L stopped by my room to say hello, as he does nearly every day. The vow of silence had lasted until 7th period.
Yes, L. Unique. We must choose it every day.
"What?" I ask.
He continues motioning, pointing to his mouth and back to the bill. He wants to buy chips [they are bane of my life, by the way]. His friend walks in and informs me that he has taken a vow of silence, and also lets me know L wants Hot Cheetos.
A few minutes later L grabs my chalk and writes "gay rights" on the board. "I can't break the vow," he writes.
L has posted two questions on the board: "Are the products that hair stylists use harmful?" and "Are gay people born unique, or do they chose to be that way?"
Earlier this year, L submited a story about his first kiss with a boy. He almost didn't turn it in, afraid of my judgement about him. For once, the uncanny sense that I'm only beginning to develop as a teacher told me what it was about even before I read it. "It's okay," I reassured him. "I can probably handle whatever you're writing about."
After school, L stopped by my room to say hello, as he does nearly every day. The vow of silence had lasted until 7th period.
Yes, L. Unique. We must choose it every day.
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