I love these videos like the one that accompanies this episode.
Its about the Hubble Deep Field Camera.
Talk about taking the long view.
I could have run with another which was about taking the odds of something bad happening, and odds are if you're listening to this you'd already beaten the odds and know full well crap happens and know it happened to you.
Its about the theory and practice of risk assessment that was never applied under the last administration.
We all know what that led to:
• global economic melt down,
• rancor at undeserved bonuses that equal the combined GPD of several small backward nations, like Belgium, Luxembourg, Monaco, Andorra, and the like,
• a deep recession that seems to be depression, I lost my job and that's enough to depress anybody, and punctuated by perfidy, (or do you like being screwed by Bernie Madoff and sociopaths of that ilk?)
• global terrorism from a small band of suicidal/homicidal psychopaths, one of which is still occasionally taking up broadcasting space and time, oh, and some angry shit from "Al Queda" too.
I told you, way back when, getting the first one was the toughest.
Now I have two and it didn't take another three years and several thousands more dollars of spending on my part.
The links are synchronized with the messages on the m4a right now.
It you're listening on this through iTunes or through a web browser, just click on the image for the sponsor and I'll take you right to the appropriate web page.
If you're on an iPhone or an iPod touch, you should be good to go too.
This episode starts with a question: "What's Happening?"
I think we all could/should/would ask he question far more assertively, given how slowly things really happen.
The pace is part of the problem, of course.
Once an episode or exacerbation is past, the human instinct is to blot the surreality of the temporary sensation, or the loss of sensation that was brought to our attention, or the loss of control, or the tremor or spasticity.
Human memory is very selective, or let me restate that another way, human recall of memory is very selective.
We may be able to recall the smooth complexion and freckled face of the red haired young doctor-to-be who admitted us to the hospital all those years ago, but we don't let the memory intrude upon every waking moment of our lives after that.
And the previous sentence is plural because I'm sure she admitted lots people during the same period. Each of us will carry his or her own memories of the event.
There are a great many ways that MS can express itself; as many ways as there are nerves for the disease to attack.
The problems come from the confusion that arises with attempting to cure the reported symptom, say in Montel Williams case "My feet are burning", which any physician worth his salt would treat with anti-fungal remedies, which would be entirely useless since the actual problem may be a patch of myelin scraped off the nerve anywhere along the path from the feet to the brain.
That is one of the problems with MS.
Its a disease that affects people in way that challenge the thinking capacity of most medical personnel.
Its a topological disease, affecting the transmission of signals throughout the central nervous system and the brain, when or while we are forced to report our symptoms topographically, on the surface of things.
Just to make things, we can't even describe the triggers to the causes of the effect we can actually report on to the doctors who ask us "Where does it hurt?"
It started with a moment of "What's Happening?" for me in Mr Miller's history class, lord, so many years ago... I wasn't even sixteen.
As I just got back from shuffling to the store to get us things to celebrate Memorial Day with, I heave an inner sigh at memories of how fast and effortlessly I used to dance around life.
If I could take a single lesson back to my younger self, it would be it would be to relax.
Stress causes a weakening of the immune system to disease, but it them comes back with a friggin' vengeance, and that sucks.
And to eat more duck.
I hate ducks.
Specially since I love the taste.
All, and I do mean ALL, flue viruses are bred in the gut of Chinese ducks and my MS triggers seem to revolve around strains of flue.
Comments (0)
You don't have permission to comment on this page.