Images of Me (14)

 

Back when the MGM Grand still had lions

Images of Me (13)

 

Detroit Zoo - 2015

Images of Me (12)

 

 

Kalamazoo College yearbook photo - 1969

 

Images of Me (11)

 

At the cat shelter in Las Vegas. 

Images of Me (10)

 

Antarctica 1980

Images of Me (9)

Me & Midnight

 

Images of Me (8)

 

My Buddha/Dalai Lama pose. Mira's favorite photo.

Images of Me (7)

 

From the early 80s, Chris claims to still have that dress. I do not have the chapeau nor the tie.

Images of Me (6)

 

Yes, that is me with one of my nieces or nephews. 

I'm sure the appropriate mother will ID the infant in the comment section. 

Images of Me (5)

 

One of many images of the Poker Boyz at Binion's in downtown Las Vegas. This one is circa 2010.

Images of Me (4)

 

I used this image as my social media face for several years.

Images of Me (3)

 

Let's call this the "up-north" January edition from a few Michigan winters ago. Me and my buddy Opus, before my cataract surgery and apparently after his shower. The red jacket is from a 1980 trip to Antarctica (picture of that adventure to follow).

This is the "down-south" January photo, also from several winters ago.

Images of Me (2)

 

Back in January I posted an old picture of myself and some friends. I did that at the prompting of one of those friends and I promised more old file photos of yours truly. I have been remiss. The picture above is from this year, this month even. I am setting to cool the first few batches of my now annual holiday mass of peanut blossom cookies.

Caricatures

I stumbled upon a caricature the other day which got me thinking about well, caricatures. A few minutes of surfing the net got me these representations. Enjoy, there's nothing more to this than just some images that caught my eye.

- don't blame me for the gender imbalance, female caricatures are either cute, cartoonish or wildly sexist.

Prolotherapy #2

I had my second prolotherapy treatment this past week. With this series of injections I can now begin to look for signs of improvement in my back problems. A full assessment is still three or more months away. For those who have asked for information, here is a well researched article from the New York Times (2007). The physician quoted in the piece is my doctor. 

This is not a new or alternative therapy at all. But 'tis not well known or widely practiced because, unfortunately, there's no money in it for Big Pharma, so the long-term clinical studies are not being done. If you have lower back, shoulder, neck or knee pain you might want to do some research on prolotherapy. My reports will continue here with any and all results. Just as with my series of articles on medical marijuana for back pain, if it works I'll tell you, if it doesn't that too. Negative data is still data.

While I am experiencing some side effects, they are not unanticipated and if I get relief I'll take the increased libido and hair growth on my feet. I'll just be a big, horny hobbit.

22 Years Ago

I am not one who believes time flies. I don't think everyone at the reunion looks old. Each day follows the last and yes they do build up into years and eventually decades. I guess you could say I am just not attached to calendar. However, there is one segment in my life that does give me twinges of "where has it all gone."

Twenty-two years ago this week I landed in San Francisco with two cats and my condo on the Panhandle of Golden Gate Park. I spent the next nine years getting a Ph.D. and changing my consciousness forever once again.

I have been back in the Bay Area for nearly four years now but it isn't the same. Well, of course it is, I'm clearly the entity that has changed. For all my equanimity and general aura of peace, I am troubled by what time and I have done with ourselves these last couple of decades.

Clearly more pondering is called for.

Romantic Fatalism

Fatalism has gotten a bad rap in our lexicon. Literally it suggests the belief that events are predetermined. All events - good and bad. But since we all like to believe in free will, fatalism has come to be identified with the sense that bad things will happen.

Romantic fatalism then is the looming predestination of your relationship to crash and burn. Nothing lasts especially not love. All less than interesting from a Harlequin romance point of view but not my point. 

Romantic fatalism also refers to the sense of self-righteousness that comes over some people when they take on a support role to the fatally ill. I encountered this strange mindset back in the late 80s when I was heavily involved in the AIDS epidemic in Los Angeles. Some people seemed to glow with pride while helping a dying friend or relative. I don't really want to complain or castigate because romantic fatalism swells the pool of potential volunteers to support those with terminal diagnoses. I simply marvel at the seemingly reverse reaction to making a voluntary commitment to be with the dying.

Personally I never got any sense of 'lift' or 'joy' from my participation in the care of several AIDS patients. I struggled as did many with the random fatal virus striking down our family and friends. I wonder if a sense of romantic fatalism supports some of those medical professionals who work in hospice, if so then let it be. Such individuals have my greatest respect for their daily commitment to terminal patients.

For me I will continue to grapple with romance and fatalism as well as romantic fatalism.

I'm Back Again

After two months of random pictures and kitty kats, I'm back. As usual I have lots to say and a whole bunch of it is political.

But I intend to register some restraint. Two posts and a couple of pictures a week. Look for political ranting on Monday and something completely different on Thursday. Except this week when my flaming cup doth overflow.

The book is going well. Got some great feedback recently and am currently shuffling the main characters around a bit. Should be back to good solid churning out of words by late this week.

May pleasant fall (or spring) weather descend upon you soon.

Some Writin' To Do

I have mentioned recently that I have a writing project to concentrate on and because of that I was going to back off on my blog posts. In fact, I am writing this post nearly three weeks ahead and spending the rest of today stocking my queue for the remainder of the summer. I really hope to resist the urge to comment on the current twists & turns of the society and the planet until at least September.


Be assured this little grey blog space will not be blank, I am going to crawl through my image folders and toss you a visual every day for the next two months. A random collage for July and a special month of far flung felines for August.


And yes for those who know which projects I have been struggling with, the picture above is a blatant hint at my decision.

I Have Seen My Future ...