Not Sure About This Stuff

Would you want to know if you are predisposed to rheumatoid arthritis? Or if the Plavix your mother has been taking for 2 years is actually working.... or is it inhibited by some gene mutation?

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Or maybe you want to know your risk for certain cancers, or how your body best metabolizes food?

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All this knowledge is out there. All you have to do is get a kit at Walgreen's and send in your saliva. Send a company a couple hundred dollars and you can get your results online.

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Just like that.

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I've spent entirely too much time reading up about this. Not that I wanted to, but we got a call from a company doing just such a test. After a series of phone calls and verifications it was determined that our doctor didn't initiate it, the insurance company did. Faxed a note to doctors who have patients on certain drugs...said they would pay for the test.... just sign off on it and there ya go.

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In this particular instance it was a gene test to see if a certain drug metabolized properly. Gee,

how nice of them to wonder, I thought at first. How caring. Really?

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Well.... as I always say, follow the money. So I tried. I put them off. I honestly didn't know what to do.

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It was a long strange trip, but somehow, cost savings was tied into these genetic results. Plavix is going generic next year and it will shake up that class of drug. Other drugs are trying to fill the void. Position themselves as the NEXT BIG THING. Providers are looking for ways to save money and they really want people on the generics. Limit any market hoggers with big costs.

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I don't understand a lot of it yet. There is a lot of talk about preserving market share....yet results are results. If your genes don't process a drug right, it is what it is. Inevitably a percentage of people will have to go another drug.

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Makes me nervous, all this genetics stuff in general. So many issues. Confidentiality.... future denial of coverage...the stigma of knowing what may be ahead. Just the issue of handing over all that information to a big, impersonal company of faceless people with power.

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I don't know the future of all this, but it most definately ahead. It's already in Walgreens.

Coco Defends Porch

It's been a scary past few days, but I am so happy to report that Coco Kitty is doing much better.
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The little cat was in the breezeway awaiting her supper when she was viciously attacked by two dogs on Sunday. She is a very fortunate kitty...as she sustained only soft tissue injuries and no broken bones or worse. She and I both used up a few lives that day defending the porch. I wasn't hurt, but I thought my heart would explode when I chased after those dogs swearing at the top of my lungs.
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Riki Tiki Tavi

Congrats to Donovan for his nomination into the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame!!

The Sunday Morning Muse, September 25, 2011

Someone sent me this link of 1940's photographs, many taken from color slides, that depict the lifestyle of the men, women and children of that era. Having seen so many photos in black and white from that time period, it is striking to see the colors of real life...long ago.

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This week Facebook announced big changes. Something called a Timeline. The gist of it is that Facebook wants to stay relevant to you. Keep your memories. Become a 'home' to you on the internet. Posting pictures on Facebook and sharing day to day observations is a way of life for a lot of people. I enjoy it myself. But I think it is a huge step to say I want to post my baby pictures on there...keep a journal of my life, or let it pop up snippets of my conversational posts at whim.

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I don't know what Facebook will look like in 20 years from now, but I guarantee you there are a lot of stupid things people post with no thought in mind that it may come back to haunt them. Why take the risk? And why let some huge company have access to, let alone keep control of, all that information? A lot of hard questions need to be asked.

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Food for Thought

So there was this Polish take out place, and it finally opened. No joke here, really. They had Polish food. Stuffed cabbage, pierogis, haluski, etc. You just don't see that anywhere.

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I once learned that if you are trying a Chinese restaurant for the first time, order Moo Goo Gai Pan. If they screw that up, don't go back because it is probably the easiest thing to make.

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Along those lines, my corollary to that is, in a Polish take out place, start with the stuffed cabbage. I'm sorry to report it was awful. So bad, that if I myself made stuffed cabbage, which I don't, like on the first try, I'm sure mine would be better because I have eaten so many good stuffed cabbage rolls that I would at least have a target to shoot for. I know this is petty, especially since the people really are from Poland, but the cabbage shouldn't be green and tough. I mean like escarole-green. The cabbage needs to be cooked so much with grease that it falls apart with a fork and turns into a washed out non-color.

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Next... tomato soup is the sauce of choice. Not an ala-vodka orangish type heavy sauce. And I do like a lot of rice. Rice is not only a good filler, but it gives a meaning to the dish. Not just stuffed with meat with a little bit of rice. The rice helps it to fall apart nicely and make a big mess on your plate. That is part of the experience of eating a stuffed cabbage. It shouldn't be perfectly uniform and firm and packed to the point you have to get up from the table and get a knife to cut it and then really spend time chewing it. You eat much less that way.

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That's just a start.

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I feel bad. These people need someone to let them know that we all have had grandmothers and aunts who made/still make this stuff. And we like it our way.

The Sunday Morning Muse, September 18, 2011

Summer is waning, and the flower garden has been in better shape. But I like it anyway. The weeds are winning, but overall at a glance you can't tell because of so many sunflowers and giant marigolds bursting in yellow. The hardy red colored marigolds drape over the rock wall and my late season asters are like colorful pom-poms above them in pink, purple and white.

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The huge castor beans, so mighty and leafy will die with the first frost...but for now they look they belong here...like rubber tree plants that never die. The amaranthys drape over some recycled yard sign holders...the wires are great for that. And last but not least the mini dalias are blooming along with a few stray roses that came back twice this year.

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My gardens are hodgepodges of flowers.... mini zinnias and snapdragons, impatiens and cleome... it's always been that way here. Sometimes we just throw seeds in and see what grows. Last year we had sea of blue bachelor buttons that came up in late spring that no one remembers planting.

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Tulip bulbs get planted and forgotten, and until they open in the spring it's anyone's guess as to what color they will be. Years of hoarding bulbs and getting them mixed up with other bulbs caused this. Labeling things isn't a strong point. Martha Stewart wouldn't be happy here, but we could certainly use her help.

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There is a difference between landscaping and gardening. Driving around I see these perfect little beds of dianthus or petunias, sticking up prettily surrounded by nice colored mulch. Pre-made baskets of various flowers draping on side porches. . . Yeah, it's all pretty. But there is something magic about a garden. It changes everyday. Something long forgotten pops up...like this years black holly hock... Black? Well....it looked black. But maybe it was really really dark purple. A conversation piece.

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Or the Magic Lily that pops up the first week of August. Out of nowhere. One day nothing is

there...then the next there is a stalk....and right on time...the first week of August it bursts into a lily, lasts a week and is gone.

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There is joy in a garden. Even today, when I really do need to get out there and deadhead and tackle some of those weeds.

Christmas in September

It's Christmas in September...I saw it at the Dollar Store. There's Santa and there's Frosty in the aisle near the door. Stockings and placemats and trinkets, galore, It's Christmas in September... I saw it at the Dollar Store.

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Sounds like a Country Western song to me. You can steal it if you want to. It's too depressing for me. I bet it is depressing for Santa, too. Staring across the aisle at a skeleton head on a stick and assorted foam "tombstones." The Halloween colors really clash with the Christmas colors, and it looks like a mixup of some sort. Especially when the next aisle still has birdhouses and garden tools. Even a lawn chair on sale.

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Christmas isn't special anymore. There is no time to look forward to it. It's not that I don't love ya, Santa. But I have to stare at your face on a platter every time I come in here for three and a half more months. We've got Halloween to get through. Thanksgiving, for Pete's Sake.

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I'm just gonna buy a plastic turkey and some Halloween Candy for now. And the garden gloves, on sale. That's MY Christmas in September.

Strange Days, Indeed

This is my second stream of consciousness attempt...so stand back it could get scary. So many things going on. I was about to sit down with my nice arsenic flavored apple juice, but I figured I better not take a chance and reached for the Peter Straub's Special Dark instead.

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That's better. And no sugar, no salt or preservatives in it.

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Okay. One of the best quotes that came across my desk this week was something like, "Don't be so quick to diagnose yourself with depression or low self esteem...it could be you are just surrounded by butt holes." (only it was't 'butt')

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Funny. I hadn't heard that one before. But it does seem like there are more and more out there.

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The whole Spongebob study thing this week made news. I got a kick out of Reg's column on it. I like him more and more. He is a good reality check sometimes. Great humor. Personally I feel slower paced programming is more age appropriate for four year olds. Hell, it's probably better for me, too. Maybe I'm getting old, but I have a hard time keeping up with some of the fast paced movies...you know what I mean... the action scenes that flip from one thing to another in quick succession....varying points of view...three D for Chrissakes... I see why kids have ADD. And I don't even play the wild video games they have now.

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Let the little ones stay with Mr. Rogers for awhile...learn to put their sweater on. Tie their shoes.

Play with dolls. Use their imagination. Their world will take on a fast pace soon enough.

Today, as we mark the tenth anniversary of the September 11th 2001 attacks on New York and Washington DC, let us remember all the innocent lives lost and ponder the continuing impact of that tragic day. September 11th reminds us of the horror we human beings can unleash on ourselves when we allow our human intelligence and powerful technology to be overtaken by hatred.

We need to learn from our painful memories of September 11th and become more aware of the destructive consequences that arise when we give in to feelings of hatred. This tragedy in particular has reinforced my belief that fostering a spirit of peaceful co-existence and mutual understanding among the world’s peoples and faith traditions is an urgent matter of importance to us all. We must therefore make every effort to ensure that our various faith traditions contribute to build a more caring, peaceful world.

The Dalai Lama

September 9, 2011

Originally published in the Washington Post on September 10, 2011.

The Sunday Morning Muse, September 11, 2011

I was sitting outside yesterday getting ready to take more pictures of the flowers when I heard a plane overhead. I started snapping the camera from my chair and ended up with this picture of a low flying, rather large lane (looking quite like it would crash into the dolphin chimes but not really.)

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It brought back to me that day 10 years ago when I was in this very driveway, shortly after the attacks on the Twin Towers, looking up at the sky, and yes, I was quite apprehensive, looking for planes of any sort....and even seeing some overhead. I'll never know what planes they were or what role they may or may not have played that day, but hearing about the one that went down in Shanksville, PA, turned a "far away" event like the Twin Towers...and later the Pentagon...into something too close to home. I thought a lot about what the passengers did that day to bring that plane down. I wondered what they felt in those last minutes knowing their fate. It was a truly horrible day for our country.

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Seeing planes in the sky that day, and for days and weeks afterward...was cause to stop what you were doing and take a nervous glance upward.

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After ten years, the nervousness faded back to just curiosity. Like yesterday. Why such a big plane? Why was it flying so low... where is it going? I never thought...could it be a terrorist?

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So maybe that's a good thing.

Somewhere Over the Rainbow

I never tire of this song. Wonderful.

Happy Birthday

A Trip Around the Sun

I'm celebrating a birthday today, yes, another trip around the sun, with a nod to Galileo who figured that out.
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Of course if you listened to Gov. Perry this week,"he got outvoted for a spell."
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Ahem. Imbecile.
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A special day...birthdays. A reason to be cheerful.
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That is all for now.

Here's that Rainy Day

As much as I love the sun, I love that occasional rainy,even dreary, day. I've got the blinds wide open to try to bring in any bit of daylight into this room and the sky looks like a muddy canvas. I remember in art class one day when the Prof. described my canvas in just the same way. Muddy. It stuck with me.
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It was an oil painting, and I was painting "sky." But it wasn't a sunny day.I looked at the sky and it had so many shades of color in it, but you couldn't call it blue...I starting mixing black with it to get a dark gray....then more white here and there. The sky looked muddy. It was awful. I needed a good lesson in "painting with a broad brush." Just go with it. Don't fuss over every nuance. Pick a color and go with it...look for lights and darks...squint if you have to in order to see it....but don't fuss.
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Rainy days are good days for old movies. Good days to clean the basement.Bake cinnamon rolls. Put on a good beef stew. Stuff you don't have time for when the sun is shining in early September.
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Enjoy the rainy day. And remember....don't fuss.

Year of the Cat

The Sunday Morning Muse, September 4, 2011

Labor Day weekend thoughts. Glad to have a job, thankful for unions.

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Sad for the older people who have to work at McDonald's and Wendy's and Walmart to supplement their Social Security. I see them in the driver-thrus, or in front of stores as greeters. Smiling. But I think most would rather be home with their grandchildren. Others with their savings dwindling,investments losing value, wondering if their money will last for the rest of their lives. Knowing they can't work at Walmart, because they face too many health challenges.

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These are people I see everyday.

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And the young people who have to work minimum wage jobs out of high school. No jobs of real potential to be had around here. Living at home, saving for college that might not ever happen.

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Words don't mean all that much. Recession, Depression call it what you want. America needs jobs. I hope we get some good ideas from our leaders this coming week. The talking heads are promoting Jobs Plans. I know there is no magic wand...but we have to turn back the tide of jobs leaving the country. Build things here again.

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Anything happy to report this Labor Day? Well, yeah. We're making hotdogs, baked beans, salad, apple pie, drinking beer. It's the last official weekend of summer. Things may look bleak out there, but damn it, you can't let it spoil a three day weekend.

Waiting for the Beer to Chill

I feel for the people in New England who have had no power for almost a week.

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I barely lasted 24 hours. I have power....but I first noticed the fridge was broken when I took some beer outside yesterday and noticed it didn't have quite the chill it should have for being in the fridge since last weekend.

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Nah...probably didn't shut the door tight enough....things are jammed in there. Got all those groceries...

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Thoughts of rotting food, spoiled weekend, no milk for coffee....Sheesh... better check closer.

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Went back in and sure enough. Fridge was broke, but freezer was working. Plenty of ice, too. Hmmm.

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100 dollars and a faulty defrost sensor later, I'm waiting for the beer to chill.

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The poor victims of the hurricane have a lot more than a fridge to do without. I feel guilty for just mentioning it now.