I went to church this morning. A big, welcoming, friendly, music-playing, hip-swaying, hands-on laying church. You just don't realize how uptight you are until you're in a crowd of Christians feeling the spirit. And in Hawaii, the church is filled with Portuguese, Hawaiian, Vietnamese, Filipino, Chin… Read full post »

"Okay Mr. Young. Today we'll be preparing you for your Gamma Knife. We'll be doing a CT scan and an MRI. There will be injections, very similar to the ones you receive at the dentist, to the 4 spots on your head where we will screw on the head cage. I… Read full post »

Almost 30 years ago I worked full-time at an alternative newspaper in Santa Barbara. I wrote articles and helped keep the community events section organized as well. Men and women worked there, there was smoking inside while working, pot smoking in the back, beer drinking at night while working late… Read full post »

This article in MONEY magazines November 2009 issue caught my attention.

What to do with $1000?

They suggest: Top off your Emergency Fund! You need fully six months worth of expenses set aside in a liquid account.

I respond: Of what Emergency Fund do you speak ? How about START… Read full post »

Bad judgement. Poor choices. Delusions of grandeur.

Annie and Goldman Sachs are two peas in a pod.

Spending above your means. Throwing good money after bad. Arrogance in the face of poor financial choices. Asking to be bailed out.

As the bible says: "What has been is what will be, and… Read full post »

                              Throwing bible creeds

               … Read full post »

I know. When you're sick it's all about you, you, you. I get that. When I'm sick it's all about me [unless my child or spouse is sick at the same time, then suddenly it's not about me.]

How do I cross this great divide? How do I maneuver over this… Read full post »

Well we cut off Joes balls.

Don't judge me.

Joe had turned into a frantic, hysterical, adolescent male animal when our 7 year old heeler who we thought was menopausal went into heat.

Oh my God.

Our little guy who had been doing so well in his training, who… Read full post »

Lately I've been snorting forgiveness. Literally.

I buy essential oils that come in single oils or blends. The blends are named things like "Peace and Calming", "Joy", "Trauma Life" [there's a popular one] and "Forgiveness."

I've been snorting Forgiveness. Daily.

During my husbands fight for his life… Read full post »

It took 10 male nurses to restrain my husband and tie him to his bed like a scene from One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. There was blood everywhere.

Two nights ago my husband looked at me wild-eyed. It was day 7 of being in the hospital which has no… Read full post »

The night the neurologist threw a tantrum and stormed out of the hospital with me crying after her to come back was one of the worst experiences of my life. Until my husband almost stopped breathing due to too much narcotic pain medication and almost pulled a "Michael Jackson" as the… Read full post »

I managed to get to a bookstore yesterday. I was looking for anything Carolyn Myss to carry me through the next couple of weeks. They didn't have anything I didn't already have. Must I re-read her?

Took the time to check out the new books. On Amazon.com today I will buy:… Read full post »

"Hey brother! Got any B-12 on you?"

In America today we can get a 90 day mail order supply of tegratol, neurontin, baclofen, klonopin, xanax, ambien. Naproxen and even steroids. What we cannot get easily is Vitamin B-12. Which you cannot overdose on. Which stores any overages in your liver and… Read full post »

UPDATE 9/11: He started B-12 injections but they want to give him one a week which isn't enough [we're begging for B-12] so we have to supplement with a naturopath. He is still having breakthrough face pain even with the maximum amount of meds. We've applied to the Mayo clinic for… Read full post »

"Life is suffering." Gautama Siddharta (Buddha)

Okay, we all walk a similar path. I don't care how different we are.

We will age, get sick and die. Some of us will die violent deaths - car accidents, murders - while others will die quickly - massive heart attacks, aneurysms.… Read full post »

When my teenage son wanted to get a lip pierced we went around and around until it was decided, yes, he could do this but it would be the only one. End of subject. And that lasted for one month. The lip piercing almost got infected, got complicated, rings went… Read full post »

I asked for a defibrillator for Christmas.

I wanted to hang it in the kitchen so when I go into cardiac arrest somebody could grab it, apply it to my chest and shock me back into life so I can live to enjoy another New Years. Unfortunately I just read that… Read full post »

21st Century Teenage-hood. I wonder what they were like in caveman days? 800 B.C.? 14th century? Before they had a cellphone, a computer, a pierced lip [or is that just mine?], an ipod and lots of fresh air, free food and a room of their own? Never in the history of… Read full post »

Now that Paula Abdul is stepping down from her place in Idol royalty, the best woman to replace her is Courtney Love.

Courtney, lead singer and lyricist for the band "Hole" is perfect for the role. She's an anorexic, recovering drug addict, 45 year old alternative rocker who plays guitar and… Read full post »

As a first-worlder, I embrace technology with open arms. I love refrigeration and the fact it means my oreo's last longer than a week! Glorious! I can keep meat and fish chilled and won't die of some horrible food poisoning - unless I eat at a fancy restaurant, and… Read full post »

So it's my turn to pick something fun to do on Sunday cause we never do ANYTHING fun at all, it's just work, work, work all week and then guess what? Work some more on the weekend. So we always say we'll take Sundays off and do something fun and it… Read full post »

Driving around the bend today - a mongoose,

In the middle of the road, bowed in prayerful pose

His mongoose wife: roadkill.

He bends over her, I sit in my car, waiting for his

Eulogy to end. He looks up at me, our eyes meet,

He turns and runs into… Read full post »

I meet people all of the time who swear that if they had been alive in Nazi Germany, what courageous things they would have done.

Or Stalinist Russia. Or during the underground railroad for slaves.

But now, when they have a chance to help America and add their voice to the… Read full post »

Well here I am in California enjoying the earthy smells and gorgeous vistas. It's bringing back so many memories of living here years ago. I'm in the Middle of Nowhere, CA, near Yosemite and spent the day there yesterday. But along with the beautiful geographical eye-candy comes the inevitable family… Read full post »

"A nation can survive it's fools, and even the ambitious. But it cannot survive treason from within. An enemy at the gates is less formidable, for he is known and carries his banner openly. But the traitor moves amongst those within the gate freely, his sly whispers rustling through all the… Read full post »