I am reluctant to call myself a “Writer”. I feel it’s a bit disingenuous to hang my whole identity on an activity I do less than 5% of the time – if that. I mean, I spend 33.3% of my time sleeping (or trying to sleep) and I don’t go around calling myself a Sleeper or even (more accurately) an Aspiring Sleeper.

Of course, one might argue that so much of what I do with the rest of my time informs my writing and I’m always thinking about it – thinking, thinking, thinking… But then, one might also argue that so much of what I eat informs my bowel output. ‘Nuff said.

My husband – who is currently working on his own Top Secret writing project – and I often accuse each other of writerly behaviour. 

“Oh, you’re such a Writer!” we say to each other.

When my husband complains about something trivial, I toss a casual “Go write me a sob story, Writer Boy!” his way.

And when I say I need to take some time out for my blog, his retort might be something along the lines of: ”Well, you’d better grab your beret and go find yourself a fucking street cafe.”

Of course, the time he said that to me, we were staying in Blinkton at my mother’s house, which is at least 50 km from the nearest street cafe – unless a cup of instant coffee in a polystyrene cup drunk while squatting outside the local truck stop counts. Is that behaviour befitting a Writer? I can’t remember Nicole Kidman doing it during her turn as Virginia Wolf in “The Hours” so I’d say not. (Note to self: must buy prosthetic nose). 

Anyway, it must be said my husband goes a bit strange when we’re in the country, and not just because he often does a lot of goddamn writing there. For one thing, he fancies himself as a bit of a Country Boy and starts offering to write “Spirit Of The Man On The Land” guest posts for my blog.

For another thing, he makes grand statements like “I understand The Land. Unlike you city writers. You’re like Vincent von Gogh staggering drunk around my sunflower plantation. OF COURSE the sunflowers are going to look all squiggly when you’ve drunk that much absynthe.”

And I’d say he has a good point if he wasn’t being such a goddamn writer about it. 

Anyway, if you’re wondering what has sparked all this writer talk, I’ll give you the lowdown.  I just got one step closer to being able (but perhaps not yet willing) to legitimately call myself a Writer. As of yesterday, I became a guest blogger on kidspot.com.au . There’s a retro-NDM piece up there now but there may be some freshly-baked posts up there one day soon. 

Oooh, look at me! I’m a guest blogger on a major Australian parenting site! La-di-dah!

(What a Writer.)

My best friend, otherwise known as My Mango has agreed to doing a guest post for me.  She is probably the funniest person I know!  Such a pity she’s probably also the laziest blogger I know as well. 

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During a typical telephone conversation with BFF, I was of course having a good moan and groan about my work place, which just happens to be a government Department, BFF pipes up and say something so ridiculous that it automatically sent me on one of my even more ridiculous tangents. 

NOTE: before I embark on detailing this conversation, I feel that I need to warn you about the content, it is not suitable for those that have a particular liking for the government or our very renowned, law-abiding, not so well-respected in Xhosa clans , Zulu leader or such parties lead by the leader or any members of the leaders leading parties young folk of which I will not mentioned names, but Julius for you Zuma to know, for those who take great pride in our GOVERNMENTAL education system and simple for those who suffer with a weak bladder but not including those you just don’t give a damn.

 Firstly let me give you some information on Alet, if you are an avid blog reader and twit (*snigger* Get it? Twit?) Follower, then you will have a fairly good idea of whom and WHAT Alet is. 

My conclusion has also been psycho, but she has come up with her own conclusions, Alet is the type of girl who had aspirations of becoming a show girl…no not pole dancer show girl, but the dramatic, airy flarey type that prides them self by reciting “How Now Brown Cow” is an accent that sounds as if something is lodged in your lowest cavity on the rear side. She LOVES Cats, the musical, The sound of Crap…I mean music , the King and I ETC ETC ETC… HAhaha ( Get it?) Just a note, she now refuses to watch the King and I , simple because the little boy in it is an actor in Harry Potter, which apparently irritates her. Need I say more? 

Anyway the conversation went something like this: 

A: I think we should get people to vote for me as President.

T: Sure…. The school curriculum will consist of, Grade 1 CATS, Grade 2 CATS, Grade 3 Sound of music.

A: “Laughs so that she chokes”

T: All Matric students will have to DO the FULL Cats play for their Finals.

A: “Stops laughing to cough her left lung out”

T: Ballet will be compulsory for all girls even in matric..it will be something like you failed ballet you can’t be a scientist and the girl will be crying saying that she is good with maths.

A; * still laughing” I get worried because the loo is FAAAR AWAY

A: That’s unfair…I will make the boys do ballet compulsory too.

T: Yeah and they will be like this: the tight don’t fit my Balls are to big…and you will go Balls? You don’t have balls…you do ballet!

A: Why don’t you do something useful and turn this into a blog for ME!!!!

T: Well there goes our democracy… what next? is our anthem going to be MEMORY?

T And then are you going to change the dictionary as well…Describe Beautiful… Yes Madam President it means everything!!!!

A: * still laughs , I think she has stop breathing*

A: Put it down, make it a blog post…I neeed it

T: so , what are your plans for Logan’s party? 

Talk about an anti climax…. Needless to say I think the white mayor of the Western Cape stands a better chance , albeit not a much bigger chance,at being President than Alet does.

Photo Credit

by Anand K. Pillai

I cannot recall a time, outside of the month-long World Cup and European Championships, with all its controversies and personalities, when football made the headlines so much in so short a period.

A tragic suicide, a small nation’s return from football oblivion, a legend charged for shameful behaviour, cheating of the highest order, “blind” referees and, as of last Friday, the biggest match-fixing scandal in European football history.

All of the above in a matter of 10 eventful days is more than the required dose of football news and excitement that one expects to hit the front pages around the world.

The death of Robert Enke was the tragedy which set off this chain of events. His mourning fans saw just how much more his loss will be felt when they witnessed the two alternative German number ones fumble and flop their way through the grief-stricken German side’s 2-2 draw against Ivory Coast in a friendly in Gelsenkirchen last Wednesday.

Both nations are already going to South Africa next June, and could now possibly be looking for easier opponents to gain some confidence in their preparation for the World Cup. None would come easier than New Zealand.

The Kiwis secured their place in World Cup 2010 when they defeated Bahrain 1-0 in front of a rapturous home crowd in Wellington on Nov 14. That Bahrain failed to gain an advantage with the penalty that was awarded them just makes the victory all the sweeter. All Bahrain needed was a score-draw and the away-goals rule would have given them their lucrative World Cup ticket.

But let’s be honest here, the only reason New Zealand made it is because Australia chose to leave their rightful Oceania grouping to join the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), prior to the start of the World Cup 2010 qualifying campaign three years back.

This has now created a scenario whereby, for the first time, two Oceania countries are in the same World Cup finals, albeit artificially . . . at the expense of a more deserving Asian nation, let alone the worthy European nations which have missed out this time around. But that debate is for another day.

New Zealand last appeared on the world stage some 27 years ago at the 1982 World Cup in Spain. Like that last tour of duty, the all-whites are going to be the whipping boys yet again I am sure. Incidentally, they lost to Brazil, (the former) Soviet Union and Scotland by 3-0, 4-0 and 5-2 margins respectively in their World Cup debut.

Also at that 1982 World Cup, a young Argentinian made his World Cup debut as the next great hope of world football since Pele retired. His name was Diego Armando Maradona. His 22-years-young mind, full of desire and heart, failed him as he reacted to the rough tactics of the Italians and kicked out at his opponent. He earned a red card and a ban as his nation was knocked out by the eventual champions.

Scan forward 27 years and little seems to have changed as Maradona was slapped with a two-month ban and a 25,000 Swiss francs fine. He earned this sentence for mouthing off in a vulgar fashion, demeaning both men and women of the press, as well as setting a bad example for children, in a much-publicised press conference after Argentina gained the final automatic qualification place for the World Cup in the South American grouping.

Honestly, the punishment is just a slight tap on the knuckles for the kind of language and behaviour which would have earned him proper touchline bans for more than a few matches, if it happened in a league competition. Over the next two months, there is likely to be nothing significant scheduled for the Argentina team to be needing his services.

He is just lucky, one could say. After all, here is a man who literally rose from the depths of shame in 1982, to come back to the same world stage and end up a hero, becoming the greatest player of his generation by helping Argentina win their third World Cup in 1986 in Mexico.

Yes, the “Hand of God” played a part in robbing England that year, but seriously folks, he only took every chance he had. Besides, with one mesmerising run past a few defenders and scoring against the great Peter Shilton in goal for England, Maradona made amends for that “goal that should never have been”.

Who would’ve thought that history would repeat itself in similar circumstances with a player, whom many had considered the world’s best player just a few years ago.

In an unexpected and dramatic climax to a series of sordid events engineered by the Swiss-German Sepp Blatter (as Fifa president), supported by the Frenchman Michel Platini (UEFA president) and dubiously completed by a couple of Swedish referees, Thierry Henry became the cause célèbre for the introduction of video replays in football, let alone a whole new level of anti-France rhetoric across the British isles.

This was the final disgusting act in this shameful round of play-off matches to determine the last of the European qualifiers for the 2010 World Cup.

To say I am very disappointed is an understatement. Even as an Arsenal supporter, I am left speechless at Henry’s cheating to help France through over the Republic of Ireland.

I am always reminded of Robbie Fowler and Paolo Di Canio when recalling heroic acts of selfless honesty in football. Both were incidents in the English Premier League.

Fowler had gone down in the penalty area when David Seaman blocked his path in a match between Liverpool and Arsenal at Highbury in March 1997. The referee blew for a penalty but Fowler immediately got up and gestured to the referee that it wasn’t a penalty. But the referee called it as he saw it.

The former England striker was given the task of taking the penalty and he was duty-bound as a professional paid by Liverpool football club to put the ball into the net as best he could, and he did. But I have never forgotten that incident, which earned Fowler the UEFA Fair Play award for 1997.

Similarly, Di Canio was presented with the same award for his great act of sportsmanship in a match between his West Ham United side and Everton at Goodison Park in December 2000.

He had a clear-cut scoring opportunity deep into injury time, with the score at 1-1. Then he saw that Everton goalie Paul Gerrard was helpless, lying injured a few yards away. So, instead of putting the ball into the net, Di Canio simply picked up the ball and pointed to the injured goalie. What could any teammate of his do but tell him that it was the dumbest yet noblest thing any human can do.

It all boils down to honesty and keeping one’s integrity at the height of the passion that comes with playing top-level football. Henry demonstrated little, if any, of such integrity.

His name is forever stained no matter how much one may argue that the game is already so tainted with diving cheats, violent footballers, shirt-pulling tactics and other incidents of intentional handball which did get caught.

That the referee may have had his view impeded is one thing, but the linesman’s job is to exactly spot these incidents and ensure that justice prevails. He had the better view and there is no excuse for such gross negligence on his part.

It kinda reminds me of the goal which was not given in the match between Manchester United and Spurs in January 2005. The linesman failed in his duty by not watching the ball being fumbled by Roy Carroll and dropping over the goal-line, thereby denying Spurs a winning goal in the 90th minute. Anything can happen when these linesmen take their eye of the ball (pun unintended) even for a second.

Still, last Wednesday’s turn of events had the massive reward of a World Cup place at stake. Was Henry just playing into the script that Fifa and UEFA had written in the first place?

The whole seeding debacle for the play-off round was scandalous in itself without the France vs Ireland match ending up being a symbol of the bourgeoise-favouring methods of football’s governing body. Fifa’s decision to have seedings for the play-offs was borne out of concern that not only France and Portugal, but Germany too, might miss out on automatic qualification from their respective groups.

Most tellingly, UEFA president Platini, who criticised and penalised Croatia’s Eduardo for so-called deception when he won a penalty for Arsenal against Celtic in the Champions League qualifiers last August, has not spoken a word against the greater act of deception by his fellow Frenchman. This totally smacks of double standards.

Ironically, news of a major scandal involving match-fixing in Europe was revealed to the media last Friday.

UEFA and German public prosecutors announced that more than 200 people were under investigation over a racket that fixed or tried to fix around 200 matches across Europe and spanned nine domestic leagues, as well as the Champions League and new Europa League.

But like in the title of my favourite “Star Trek: The Next Generation” episode ‘Who’s watching the watchers”, I wonder who is watching the inner goings-on at Fifa and UEFA, the so-called authorities on football, and the wheeling and dealing that ensure teams like France and Portugal are given an unfair advantage in advancing to the World Cup finals.

Though associated mainly with aerospace innovations, NASA holds a significant influence over daily life as well. Many people do not realize that everything from toys to sunglasses and even horseshoes have benefitted from technologies originally intended for astronauts, shuttle flights, and other elements of space exploration. While some inventions stem directly from NASA and its collaborations, others simply involve vast improvements to existing designs. ….

Dear Readers.This came as an email. I found it interesting and informative so i am passing it on to you all.You can read rest of  the article here.

Happy Turkey Week!  Jov and Seri are traveling, spending time with friends and family, and preparing for a serious case of food coma.  Special thanks for the guest posts for taking wow posting off our plates, and leaving us with more room for sides…

So you want to run some battlegrounds as a . . . *gasp* PRIEST?  What are you nuts?  Seriously, people can have this reaction.  Our class doesn’t have a great reputation for survivability and that deters many of us from running battleground or ever trying them for that matter.  Fear not!  I am here to guide you through these death mazes and give you some tools to bring the pain to your foes.

The first thing you should expect in Battlegrounds is to die . . . a lot.  How much is a lot?  Picture the Horde and Alliance lined up in the field of strife in Alterac Valley and the enemy all pressed tab at the same time, they would all target you.  Yes it CAN be that bad but it rarely IS that bad.  Battlegrounds (BGs) are not raids or heroics or arenas or even quests.  They are their own unique slice of WoW and it involves dying. A lot. Everyone dies at least once in a BG, release, let go of it, and move on to the next victim.

You got Talent

Many people talk about pvp talent builds but be warned not all of these will benefit you in a BG, most of them are designed for arenas.  You have a great deal more flexibility in your spec for BGs but a dedicated BG spec will make your life a lot easier.  As Priests we have a lot of options for good pvp talents but we will stick mainly with one tree and this decision will rest mostly on your play style.

I WANT TO SURVIVE!: DISC
I WANT TO KILL’EM ALL!: SHADOW
I’M A LUNATIC!: HOLY

All types of priest are viable in a BG and have talents that designed for pvp activity.  You can make your own choices and don’t have to stick with what you raid in.  I am a Holy priest but I run BGs as shadow exclusively because I spend enough stressful time healing dungeons and pvp is a way to blow off steam and melt some Alli faces.  I will not go into great detail about every useful talent for each built but I will point out a few crucial ones.

The Mandatory Disc talents are important here but there are some key differences.  You will want to pick up Unbreakable Will if you find yourself getting snared or stunned a lot.  Imp Inner Fire and Imp PW:F are VERY helpful. Meditation and Inner Focus are less mandatory. The reason being that BGs require a lot of chain casting (healing or killing or both) and I find mana regen impacts my performance since I am usually dead before I run out and I rarely find Inner focus to be worth the point except specific BG scenarios.  Better spent points are Imp PW:S and Soul Warding to enhance protection.  Further in DISC are some pvp essentials like Reflective Shield, Power Infusion, Rapture, Aspiration, Pain Suppression, and all the way to Penance the all purpose heal/nuke.

Shadow has a lot of great pvp talents too.  Mandatory ones for pvp are Imp SW:P, Imp Mind Blast, Mind Flay, Imp Psychic Scream and down to Silence, Shadow Reach, Focused Mind,  and pick up every talent in the Vampiric/Shadow form segments. Take up the all important Imp Devouring Plague(DP) not only because it is increased damage but also it gives DP instant damage which our class lacks a lot of in pvp.  Optionally you can pick up Psychic Horror and I would grab it because there is a use for it and I will tell you shortly. Take Dispersion even if someone tells you it suck, it does but its all we got *sigh*. Its main use is mana regen and a very last ditch escape mechanism. (PRO TIP:You can Disperse even while mounted!)

Holy . . . well it kinda sucks.  You CAN heal a LOT of people VERY effectively in BGs with this spec, but you can’t heal yourself very well with it.  Survivability is key to pvp, the longer you live the less the enemy does.  However, we do get some nice spells here.  Healing Focus (stops pushback), Divine Fury (extra holy damage/healing), Desperate Prayer (instant full health heal or near it), and Body and Soul (an escape mechanism combined with shielding). You could argue there are more important talents in holy but for pvp these are the must haves.

The Tools of DESTRUCTION (mwahahahahaaa . . . ha)

You got the talents and the spells now what do you do when you want to kill someone. Typically you mostly spam SW:P and DP.  I know it’s really sad and you are probably saying “Wow Nic you make BGs sound sooooo exciting!” Firstly, hey shut up!  Sarcasm will not help you kill faster. Secondly, there are two reasons why you will spam your DoTs.  1) Almost no healer will ever remove your DoTs in the BG and 2) They are exceptionally potent and quick cast DoTs.  Seriously, nothing will make you happier to watch a Rogue get DoT’ed up and run around as they desperately try to escape their ever shrinking health bar until they die.  In fact I have yet to meet the rogue that can survive the SW:P and DP combo, even if no one else is attacking them (Sorry Seri). The key to topping the damage charts is getting in damage as quickly as possible before the target dies from other combatants and unfortunately our class dps is more of a steam roller. Takes forever to get moving but can crush anything, assuming it doesn’t quickly step to the side XD. Speaking of DoTs, Vampiric touch is very good too, except the slightly long cast.  If you can get it up do it, but don’t start with it and don’t follow up with MB, its just not worth it (time wise or mana wise).

Our other useful spells are our trusty nuke, Mind Blast. IF you get the chance cast it. Another staple is SW: DEATH!  I know it seems risky as you can actually kill yourself with this spell and probably will several times till you get the hang of it. However, it does crazy instant damage, crits very high, and glyphs can reduce the damage you take.  Mind Flay is great in that it does a decent stream of damage AND cripples your opponent’s movement to a crawl.  It’s bad in that it is basically a giant glowing sign pointing out to your enemy who is killing them slowly and can probably die easily. It’s good to use when others are around to finish off someone. Fear, Horrify, and Silence are all amazingly effective interrupters of casters and can help put distance between you and a charging horde of enemies. It also can be effective in chain silencing/interrupting Warlocks who are the current pvp champs and particularly difficult for priests. Horrify is particularly useful against the dreaded hunter.  While two seconds of doing nothing doesn’t seem like a lot the key is the 10 sec of dropping your main hand and ranged weapon. You can essentially turn a hunter into a gimpy one-handed sucky rogue and own them. (See?  I told you there was a reason for Horrify!)

If you go disc the power of bubbling and Penance cannot be overstated.  Have you ever tried to kill a disc priest? They are, in my opinion, among the hardest to kill in a BG right after Trees and Pallies.  If you are good no single player will be able to kill you, sometimes not even two or three. If you are disc the world of spells is open to you, if you are shadow you will neglect any holy spell as the cost to drop shadow form will be too costly to mana and inevitably health.

Tactics and Closing thoughts

Your job as a shadow priest in a BG changes depending on what you are running.  In IoC sometimes you are most effective running seaforium bombs to the keep walls, in AV you are useful in defending a tower, or sometimes it just comes down to bringing the pain.  In general we have some basic purposes depending on your end goal.  If you want honor run where the action is and cause as much damage as humanly possible from afar and heal/passively heal whenever you get a chance.  The more honorable kills you get and the more objectives you defend the better.  If you want to win BGs, cause as much chaos as you can by slowing down hippity hoppity rogues with mindflay, silencing mages/healers, or sacrificing yourself to plunge into a crowd of enemies and cast fear.  If your goal is to have fun I highly suggest you accomplish the first two goals with a friend or guildy in a party.  Communication is survival and a partner can drive you to the top of the honor chart, damage chart, and heal chart in any BG.  Finally, experience is the best advice I can give.   Learn the layout of each BG, see where the enemy on your Battlegroup likes to attack and counter it.  The goal is to have fun while dying, something you can’t accomplish in any raid or heroic. Happy hunting!

~Nicoran

People often assume that because I work in a library I must be an avid reader. I am really not. I read about 12 books a year. Instead of reading, I prefer to use my leisure time painting, traveling, and researching. I like gathering facts and keeping them in order; that is what really draws me to the library. But I do read!! Of course I read!

If you asked most people what their favorite books are, I speculate that the replies would be novels or favorite childhood storybooks. Me, I’m drawn more to biographies, memoirs, non-fiction, and historical fiction; books that contain some factual information.

My favorite book is The Day the World Came to Town: 9/11 in Gander, Newfoundland by Jim DeFede.

I picked the book up back in 2003 because of the last word in the title, Newfoundland. You don’t often hear much about the small island province of Canada but it was the birthplace of my great-grandfather, Abram Thomas Earle; so this title jumped out at me.

At the point at which I picked this book up in 2003, I had my fill of hearing about 9/11. It was a horrible day that I did not want to be reminded of again and again. I had enough of watching collapsing buildings, pointing fingers, seeking vengeance, hearing conspiracy theories, sending soldiers overseas, and most of all mourning. I was sick and tired of being sad. Actually, though, this book really lifted my spirits and gave me a different perspective on the world and that awful, awful day.

When we talk about 9/11/2001, we usually talk about New York, Washington, D.C., and Shanksville, Pa. However, the events that transpired that day effected the world. And sure, we saw that on the news; countries around the world mourning the victims of the terrorist attacks but I didn’t think much about it. I thought a lot about those traveler who lost their lives aboard those four flights that day, and rightly so. I didn’t give that much thought, though, to the other 4,546 civilian aircrafts over the U.S. that day or the nearly 400 others international flights en route to the U.S.; not until I read this book.

On September 11, 2001 over 250 flights were grounded at various airports throughout Canada. Thirty-eight of the flight landed in Gander, Newfoundland carrying 6,595 passenger and crew members. Gander, one of the larger cities in Newfoundland, has a population of about 10,000 residents. Ten thousand residents who opened their community centers, places of worship and homes to the 6,000 + wayward travelers.

This book tells the story of some of the passengers and residents and their experiences during those few days in September 2001 when nobody flew. It gave me an a perspective on the culture from which my great-grandfather came; one that gave me a little understand as to where his generosity, consistent support, and good-natured humor may have originated. But more than anything else, this book reaffirmed for me that the goodness of humankind still existed at a time when I had serious doubts.

Have a happy Thanksgiving!

Abram Thomas Earle and son, Allen Preston Earle, taken Thanksgiving 1917 – Freeport, NY

A photo of Gander Airport on September 11, 2001. (Thanks, Ben! -April)

I’m a writer, a writer of fiction. Fiction contains dialogue. People talk to each other in stories. We all know that. What took me some time to realize is that the conversations going on in my head about my own life were holding me back—as a writer and in my business.

About 10 years ago, I began to transition out of college teaching jobs and into my own coaching and consulting business. And all too often in the last 10 years, the Writer in me has been in conflict with the Businessman.

Many artists are in a business directly related to the art they produce. My business has nothing to do with who I am as a writer. I love my business, and I love working on this new novella. And yet these two energies still sometimes work against one another.

I went from the academic world, which promised a marginally safe living for writers and artists, into what we call the Private Sector—a kind of free fall into the market economy. Many of my first coaching clients were in my tribe: writers, painters, actors …. I loved working with them. I still do. They understand coaching principles right away. They know they’re naturally creative, resourceful, and whole. They consistently make powerful changes in their lives and work in three to six months. And they can sustain these changes. They’re some of my favorite clients.

Again and again, I hear these artists describe the conflict between the part of them that created the work and the part of them that needs to “get the work out there.”

While still teaching English at the Maine College of Art, I began running seminars for visual artists about “marketing” but which were much more about tapping the energy of what most inspired them and speaking about what they did from that place. Here’s what I noticed. In my clients and then for myself. Or I should say selves. For there are a lot of aspects to me: painter, writer, executive leadership coach, organizational change facilitator, son, brother, lover, friend. It’s easiest to think of them as roles we play in the world and to ourselves. In every marketing seminar, I heard the lament: “But I’m an ARTIST! I hate marketing.” So I began to play THERE. How to enroll the artist in the marketing department? How to recognize the creativity in marketing? How to call it something else? Sort of like putting the castor oil in chocolate milk. It kept working—but not so well.

I began to realize that these were very different functions, needing, at times, a similar kind of energy. Marketers and sales folk ARE incredibly creative. I work with sales teams all the time, and they’re inventive beyond belief, willing to take all kinds of risks.  It’s the same kind of energy we need in the studio or the rehearsal hall. But the energy is expressed in two very different roles. So I had to hold the Writer in me as distinct from the Businessman (the guy who suits up for networking events and gets on planes and talks to other guys and women in suits)—people whom the Writer part of me sometimes mocks and disdains.

You get the picture.

And that’s how we often are with ourselves. The Artist won’t condescend to speak to anyone in the Marketing Department. The Marketers dismiss the Artist as a flake. And the Accountant isn’t even allowed in the room. The inside of our heads begins to sound like a terrible episode of the Office—without any jokes at all.

So I say invite them all onto an imaginary stage and see what they have to say to one another—see how they relate to each other or choose not to. Get curious about the unconscious agreements they seem to have made with one another. Actually have them engage in dialogue—with each other, and—most important—with you. You’ve the one in charge. What kind of agreements do you want to make with these aspects of yourself now? How might they begin to work as a team? What does the Artist need from the Marketer? And vice versa? What’s at stake? Why is it important for them to work together? What can they count on from each other and from you? And how do you want to hold each other accountable?

Take some time with this. Listen. Make some notes. And most important: follow through on the agreements you make with these figures. Do what you say you’re going to do. And see what happens when the Artist part of you and the Business part of you get the chance to collaborate.

Alfred DePew is a writer, painter, and a Life Coach. His weekly column in the Vancouver Observer is called  Just Between Us (Notes of a Migrant Cultural Worker).

Relationship Matters (Alfred’s blog)

And Twitters at:@alfreddepew

For information about facilitating inner collaborations, contact Alfred at adepew@earthlink.net or call (604) 568-3621.

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I have the (admittedly annoying) tendency to judge people based on their grammar and spelling habits, even over informal channels such as gchat and texting.  Some have complained that this practice is unfair; but until recently, I thought it was a fair testament to a person’s overall worth.

I admit, I was wrong (at least in one instance).

I’d like to introduce you all to Max (a real NYC friend!).  Not the most grammatically correct gchat or texter (or best Scrabble-er), but good at fixing things and entertaining over a beer.  Fed up with my correcting him and assuming he’s incapable of writing, Max recently decided to prove me wrong, with the following that he wrote on his lunch break from solving white collar crimes.  Please welcome Max and I’d love to hear your thoughts:

From the desk of Max

It is the dead of winter and I am behind enemy lines in Nazi occupied Russia, 60 kilometers from Leningrad. Bundled up in my Red Army issue parka I have taken up position in a stand of trees, perched high above a clearing on the edge of the enemies’ base.

I can faintly hear what I imagine are the punch lines to jokes about killing Jews,
Something like, “eichenschleimenheimer” or “heishdenjewdemkillier.”

Looking through the scope of my Kalashnikov sniper rifle, I’ve identified six Nazi soldiers standing in a circle, huddled together for warmth. I’ve zeroed in on the Swastika emblazoned on the hat of the soldier whose voice I heard right before the group burst in laughter.

I glance at my watch – only eight minutes left before they report back to their posts among the trees. If I don’t move quickly enough I will surely be discovered and killed. I prepare to fire, switching off the safety while carefully positioning myself to kill all six of them in one burst.

Five minutes.

My heart is pounding. My hand trembles. My vision goes in and out of focus. I am exhausted from the long nights in the trees, but there is no room for error.

Three minutes.

Adrenaline takes over, and I go to work.

THWAP. THWAP…THWAP. THWAP. THWAP…

“Shit” I whisper. The sole survivor of my barrage dove to the ground after seeing his companions fall dead in front of him. He scrambled into the wooded area and has sought cover behind a large oak. Precious time ticks away, but he hasn’t discovered my position. 30 seconds left. He peaks his head out from behind the tree. THWAP.

I breathe a sigh of relief and lay my #2 pencil down as I return to the reality of my fluorescently lit LSAT testing center in New York City.

“Please stop writing and lay your pencils down.” booms the proctor. “You will now have a fifteen minute break after which you will begin the final two sections of your exam.”

This is only a practice exam, but that was too close for comfort. You see, since reading David Benioff’s sophomore effort “City of Thieves“, I have developed a proprietary test taking strategy for the LSAT, for which I am currently studying despite my lack of desire to go to law school (long story for another post).

At the onset of my campaign towards LSAT domination, during breaks in my studies, I would read Benioff’s novel to break the monotony of the “Logic Games” section. The novel takes place during WWII, and follows the adventures of a trio of unlikely heroes, one of whom is a Russian sniper. I enjoyed these breaks, which made the LSAT study sessions somewhat bearable, but quickly finished the book, and was left with the emptiness that only multiple choice questions can provide. So rather than thinking of each question as a series of logical premises that lead to “the best possible answer”, I started imagining myself as Vika, the sniper, my pencil as my rifle, and the questions as Nazis. Haven’t missed a question since. December 5th, test day, will be a bloodbath.

As an aside. I would recommend the book highly. Like cotton candy, it’s light, fun, and will give you a little rush, like a sugar high. I haven’t read his first book, The 25th Hour, but Benioff’s screen play adaptation was turned into one of my all time favorite movies, it’s a Spike Lee joint starring Edward Norton. If you haven’t seen it, do so. Shhhhhhhhiiiiiiiiiiiit. (You’ll understand once you’ve seen the movie.)

“You will now have 35 minutes to complete this section. If you finish before time is called, you may check over your previous work from this section only. Do not work on any other section, and please do not disturb the other test takers. You may begin.”

I can see my breath again.

Maybe not the case…

“Ann”, a reader of WMRW.com since its inception, offers her take on the case:

I’ve been following this blog for almost one year. I have always been a “passive reader” because of the big effort I have to do to write in English (I’m not an English- speaker) and also because I have always thought that my theory would be automatically rejected by most of you.

But in view of the little public advances and new features in the investigation, I have decided to share and contrast with you my thoughts about this case.

1. Three years after Robert Wone’s murder, it’s a fact that there seem to be no evidences that Zarbosky, Ward and Price did it.

2. Even if they were at the house, even if they found the body, even if they had strange behavior when the emergency team arrived, even with all the circumstances that seem to point at them as the criminals, and even if they manipulated in some way the crime scene after finding their dead friend…if they haven’t been accused of murder it’s only because there is no irrefutable evidence that they killed Robert.

3. There have been many theories about how could it have happened and why (the reasons), all of them involving the three house mates of Swann street. None of them has been, until now, consistent enough to be brought to a Court. There are many more questions than answers: the lack of blood, the BlackBerry, the semen issue, the time line of the crime… just to mention some of them. And, in addition, I’m sure that the three guys have been put under pressure during the interrogations… But all of them have always insisted on their innocence.

4. So this unsolved crime looks more and more like a perfect crime.

5. Is it possible to make a perfect crime without having planned it?  Did they plan in advance to sexually assault their friend, then to kill him and make sure that they would not leave any crime evidence against them?

6. If they hadn’t planned it, but it happened, would they have been able to erase all the crime evidence under those circumstances?

7. I think the answer to both questions is NO. If they had planned it in advance, they would have also foreseen that everybody would point at them, and that the intruder theory would be very hard to believe.  And if they did it without having planned it in advance (under drug effects, uncontrolled sexual impulses and other things that I have read at the posts), could they have had the cruelty of attacking a close friend and the callousness to do it in such a way that nobody could prove what happened exactly? I don’t think so.

8. Maybe many of you will call me crazy, but I think more and more strongly about a conspiracy against Robert, planned perfectly to frame the three guys of Swann Street. This sounds more and more plausible to me than all the other theories that I’ve read until now.

9. Why do I think about a conspiracy?

• a. It looks like a perfectly premeditated and planned crime.

• b. Given the time line and the lack of clear evidences to explain the facts, it looks like it was committed with the means and resources to create confusion and sexual theories, maybe to cover the real reasons behind it.

• c. It looks more like the murder was committed by professional assassin(s). They did their job very quick, and very well. And they didn’t leave any trace evidence against them, just traces against the three house mates.

• d. I have been thinking often about Robert: He was a lawyer. He had recently left his former job. He had just started a new one. He was an activist. Did he have some dangerous and powerful enemy from one of  his cases at his former job? Maybe in the new job? Did he know something that someone didn’t want him to reveal? What do we know in reality about Rob’s professional and activist contacts and enemies? Has this been investigated? Rob was involved with powerful organizations that probably have powerful enemies (Radio Free Asia, for sure). I don’t think his environment was so smart and innocent. Yes, I’m thinking about mafias. Why not?

• e. So maybe someone wanted to murder Robert, and maybe someone had this horrible request. And they waited for the perfect occasion to avoid any suspicion. The killer or killers decided to simulate a sexually motivated crime when they knew, probably through Rob’s BlackBerry or emails, that he had an appointment with his “non-conventional” friends that night. That was the occasion: they had the potentially guilty parties, a devious motive and time enough (about two weeks) to prepare their operation very carefully.

So this is what I tend to think more and more strongly. That we are all looking at the wrong way. But maybe nobody will have the means to look into this possibility.

Thank you for letting me to share this theory with you.

Ann

Writing is such a diverse art form. One can report the news objectively and then write beautiful prose. I’m lucky to be a part of such a talented community of writers.

Speaking of which, Kyle is the author of our third guest post. Also a fellow journalism student, and now, a poet. Amazing.

Old Man With a Grey Beard

A long bearded man, who is well into his seventies, sits by himself in the corner of a dimly lit coffee shop. A newspaper is laid out in front of him. His lips move as he reads the words on the page. Occasionally his voice rises to a barely noticeable volume. After a moment he catches himself and his lips stop moving.

He takes a silver flask from the pocket of his trench coat and pours amber medicine into a disposable coffee cup.

He returns the flask to his pocket.

The old man takes a heavy swig of his liquor then wipes his beard with his forearm.

Outside the fall night is cool and dark.

The old man with the long grey beard sips whiskey from a coffee cup and mouths the words of the stories he reads in the daily news, unaware that outside it’s beginning to rain.

The old man in the coffee shop, the one with the grey beard that smells of cigarettes and whiskey, at one time, long ago, wanted to be a writer. He wanted recognition. He wanted writers to be jealous of his perfect sentences and the way he would breath life into his eccentric characters, giving them weight, making them real.

The old man in the coffee shop with crumbs in his beard and alcohol on his breath, the same old man who at one time longed to write modern epics in delicate verse, this same old man with the worn, weathered trench coat, who is so obviously the living embodiment of soul-starved loneliness, is a 26-year-old boy with a green hat and a reluctance to shave.

This piece comes courtesy of guest blogger, Paul Nash, still recovering from seeing a home win

Discussing the likely outcome before the game, one contributor offered “Win, lose or draw, Rodgers is still a dick” Bit harsh I thought at the time, and indeed throughout the match as Reading played some decent stuff against the sewagesiders. But then he was interviewed on the radio afterwards and came out with some guff about how he’d been telling the group his name meant ’skilled soldier.’ I wondered if they laughed as hard as I did. At least his opposite number Ian Holloway tries to be deliberately funny with his post-match thoughts, but Brendan’s brand of humour is entirely unconscious. So yes, he is still a dick.

The game itself was good entertainment as well. First half, Reading were on top with slick passing and great wing play courtesy of Kebe and man of the match MacAnuff but couldn’t find the net. Had Rasiak started, he might have been able to use his height to press home the Royals advantage. As it was Church and Siggy looked busy, but fruitless for the opening 45 minutes. The back four were looking as if they will play better the longer they can remain unchanged – Tabb was particularly impressive and there can be no way back for Cummings whilst Jay remains in this form.

In the second half Blackpool started the brighter, but eventually Reading got just reward for their dominance with Siggy coolly controlling MacAnuff’s cross and steering it past Gilks. One of these days, Reading are going to fulfill Adam Federici’s claim and spank a team five or six nil. It’ll have to be a less resilient side than Blackpool though, because they were soon back on level terms as they demonstrated their own capacity for incisive forward play; Ormerod finishing smartly to expose the raw nerves once more. Such has been the fragility of the Royals at home that you had to fear the natural order of things would be restored with fifth placed Blackpool kicking on to victory to leave Reading poised on the trapdoor to the third division.

However, Matejovsky pinged a fantastic crossfield ball into the box for substitute Rasiak to head home and retake the lead in the 83rd minute. It was no less than the Royals and their long-suffering home supporters deserved, but the drama wasn’t over yet. There followed an anxious weathering of the storm with the Tangerines thundering towards the south stand goal before the ref’s whistle consigned the seventeen game long winless run to history.

Only Newcastle and WBA are standing out this season in the championship. One might have hoped Reading would be there or thereabouts come the end of the season and our inability so far to rise above the herd of no-hopers has been frustrating when the impressive cv of our manager is considered. Still, he’s a self confessed slow starter, so perhaps he’s using the military knowledge he believes his name suggests he possesses to catch the enemy by surprise. A tortoise and hare approach may seem risky, but Rodgers is not short on self-confidence. If he can just restrict his more risible public proclamations, one day this cynic may even join his barmy army.

I met Rona in college. I had no idea until recently that she was hyper-organized. Read on for her grocery shopping strategy. If Grocery Shopping was a college course, hers would be taught at the graduate level.

Guest Post by: Rona Jobe

Since college, I have always planned out my meals – I even went as far as cooking only once or twice week, packing, and labeling the meals with dates of when they are to be consumed. Though it did not give me the freshest meals, it did save a lot of time and money, which is ideal for a poor college student.

Fast forward 5 years and my meal planning techniques have grown a bit, especially now that I no longer live along the cheap-and-fresh-produce-aisle that is called California.

I try not to spend more than $100-$150 on groceries each month – all while feeding myself, a husband, and a finicky 18-month-old boy. Planning begins with my calendar. I use Google calendar, and I have a separate calendar just for food/meals alone. It is marked with recurring events – Sunday is Pasta night (the baby loooves pasta), Monday is Chicken Night, Tuesday is Pork Night, Wednesday is Leftovers/Cereal Night, Thursday is Fish Night, Friday & Saturday are pretty much “Free for all” – I will explain more later.

This schedule ensures we eat different kinds of meat and in moderation. I know the calendar seems like there’s not much flexibility in there, but when there are days I don’t feel like eating pork, I will switch pork night with fish night, or a free for all, etc. I also incorporate vegetables in each day based on the season.

Meat
The beginning of the quarter is usually the most expensive month. This is when I buy meat in bulk (usually at Costco) and freeze it. I spend about $100 on meat alone which includes – pork, chicken, fish/seafood, beef, etc. When I get home I portion the meats into freezer bags (one portion is usually about 2-3lbs. it’s just enough to feed us dinner and take leftovers for lunch the next day). I’m slowly moving into using reusable containers instead of freezer bags to be more green.

Vegetables
I buy vegetables either every week or every two weeks, depending on the type of vegetables I’ll be buying. Root vegetables tend to last longer than leaf vegetables, mushrooms, green beans, and the like. Before driving to the grocery store, I research what’s in season to make my menus. In other cases, like when we make pork chops, I leave my list blank for that day until I arrive at the grocery store. I just keep in mind that I need a side vegetable dish for the pork chop and will find whatever is on sale at the grocery store. There are some dishes, like soups, that require you to really plan ahead for your vegetables.

Fruits
Fruits are the easiest. Most of the time I wait until I go to the grocery to find what’s on sale in the fruit aisle. I just need to make sure there’s enough fruit for each of us each day. My baby boy loves apple sauce, so when apples are in season, I buy in bulk, make apple sauce and freeze them in cubes.

Fruits and vegetables will usually run me between $30-$60/month depending on how complicated the menu is. Little things here and there like dressings, salad, nuts, cheese, etc. will run us an extra $20-$30/month. Still, at most, that would average around $120/month for groceries.

Free-for-All
These are days when we decide that day or that week what we’ll have. They’re usually at the end of the week, so whatever vegetables are left that week I just use for that day. Sometimes we end up going out to eat, and sometimes I end up planning for that day a few days in advance, or while I’m at the grocery store. There have also been times when I end up buying cooked Filipino food from the Filipino store – I just cook my own rice. An $8 large pork menudo feeds us for dinner and more.

A lot of thought goes in the initial planning process, usually at the beginning of a quarter, or the beginning of starting such a routine, but once you get used to it, it saves a lot of time. Once a week, I have my husband cook a meal, which gives me another extra day of not cooking. Generally, I cook about 3-4 times a week, my husband, once a week, and depending on what the free-for-all days turn into, maybe more.

The lovely Aparna from My Diverse Kitchen graciously asked me to write a guest post for her My Kitchen Cafe series. I can’t describe to you how delighted I was! If you haven’t seen it yet, feel free to pop on over, read the post (People from a Bus in London) and explore her wonderful site. Oh there is a recipe for Urad Dal, too. Enjoy!

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More Cooking, Food and Recipes:

First of all, we’d like to extend a big welcome to all our new readers! The past two days have been huge for our humble little blog, and we’re pretty much ecstatic about that. We hope you enjoy what you find here. And, to all our loyal followers, thank you, too! We love you more than Bella loves being a whiny little whore (so, you know, that’s a whole lot!).

Today’s the day folks — the big release of “New Moon” happened at 12:01 this morning. Did anyone go brave the midnight crowds last night? We sure didn’t. Spider Monkey drove past her local theater after work last night at about 1 a.m., though, and was appalled (and yet not really surprised) to find the parking lot overflowing. Those poor, poor theater employees.

In non-celebration of the unhappy day, we have another chapter for you today — Chapter 17, “Alliance.” Definitely go check that out.

Also in honor of today, we did a guest  post at professorbeej.com. Our post is basically all about how Edward Cullen is a terrible boyfriend. To read it (and maybe leave some comments?), go here. We’ll eventually post this anti-Edward treatise on our own blog, but for now you can go over there to read it.

We’ll try to continue updating as much as we can in the coming days. Hopefully we’ll get our review of “New Moon” up within the next week or so. We’d do it sooner, but living in two different cities kind of throws a wrench into things. So our goal is to see the movie next weekend, and try to get to review up soon after. We’re sure it’ll be full of extra snark.

And, don’t forget that you can now follow us on Twitter! Come on, you know you want to!

In the final installment of our series this week taking a closer look at the positive impact of foreign students on state economies and featuring real-life stories about their presence on campuses and communities around the country, we turn to the northeastern states. There, foreign students spent more than $5.2 billion during the 2008-2009 academic year across the region, according to NAFSA’s Economic Impact Statements released Monday. Overall, foreign students and their dependents contributed $17.6 billion to the U.S. economy in the same time period.

See how each state benefited in this chart (20kb ) and keep reading for a first-hand account of how international students have brought a refreshing sense of culture to one campus in New Hampshire.

Measuring the True Impact of International Education on Our Communities – One Hindi Rap Song at a Time

By Renee Capicchioni Vannata

This week, schools around the country are offering events to exhibit how international education advances learning, builds understanding and respect among different peoples, and enhances constructive leadership in the global community. And New Hampshire Governor John Lynch has declared this week to be International Education Week in the Granite State (13kb ).

On Sunday I attended Diwali at the University of New Hampshire (UNH). UNH has a small international student population compared with most other state universities, so these types of events don’t happen often on our rural campus. This year, I saw something I never thought I would witness in a small town near the New Hampshire seacoast. One of our Bulgarian students actually performed the lead in a Hindi rap song, while three other international students and one American student provided the backup vocals. The most remarkable thing is – the Bulgarian student didn’t know a word of Hindi, but was able to learn enough to rap in Hindi and the ecstatic crowd requested an encore! Even more remarkable were the Chinese students who performed traditional Indian folk dances. This is the beauty of our international students; they bond as friends, colleagues, cohorts and family while they are away from their homes.

Last spring, I was a participant in an incredible international education community event. The Moharimet Elementary school in Madbury, NH conducted a night of West African Drumming and Dance, where each kindergartner through 4th-grader performed. As part of UNH’s Office of International Students and Scholars, we were thrilled to help elevate the exposure of international education outside of the higher education community. We worked together to engage every student, and now these children have a better understanding of a culture they would have previously only known from books.

Providing dollar figures of the economic impact of international education is essential in proving the worth of international education for businesses as well as for academic and government entities. But these numbers aren’t the only measure of the true impact of international education on our communities. Each of the international and American students who performed at the West African Drumming and Dance, Diwali celebration, or any other International Education Week event has changed their learning experience and, therefore, has changed international education at UNH. As international educators, we are privileged to be part of that change.

Renee Capicchioni Vannata works in the Office of International Students & Scholars at the University of New Hampshire. These reflections are representative of her personal views only.

If you want to share your story, visit NAFSA’s Take Action Center today, and be sure to read the rest of this week’s series on the NAFSA blog.

It does. When you have doubts, look towards Bill Nye the Science Guy. Sangeeta, having a Bachelors in science, has more input on this subject matter. She is a major smarty pants and an awesome journalism buddy.

She Blinded Me With Science!

True, that’s a bit of a biased opinion seeing how I am an unabashed science nerd, but I am still convinced that everyone should find something that interests them in the wide realm of science.

When you were little, don’t you remember all the fun you had figuring out the world around you and asking the question that is the bane of all parents’ existence: why?

If you boil it down to its most basic elements, this is what draws most scientists to their professions: a strong curiosity about the things we encounter on a day to day basis.

Back before science became a big deal, naturalists were the first explorers of the world around them; people who in their spare time observed the world around them and attempted to understand its properties and principles.

Seems simple enough doesn’t it?

Sure, the science experiments we conduct today seem like hopelessly confusing code of terms and equations, but for the most part it’s just a veneer of jargon, and with a little help you too can learn how to crack it!

First, if you haven’t taken science beyond ninth grade, your best bet is to head to a science centre to brush up on some basics.

The best part of any science centre is the hands-on learning experience you get! None of the books, terms and math: just fun, simple displays that get you thinking, exploring and experimenting.

Next, poke through Simple English Wikipedia. Designed for non-native English speakers to understand, the Simple English Wikipedia breaks down subjects in an easy to follow format, with lots of internal hyperlinks to help you out with terminology!

Another great resource are kid-targeted learning channels. You may find them patronizing at first, and peopled with precocious child hosts, but you don’t need to stick with them for too long. Just enough to brush up on the current science topics and trends.

Then it’s a short hop to adult material. PBS’ Nova series is a great way to find a subject that engages you and is short enough to fit into a busy schedule. Plus they have an accompanying site for each show if you find something you want to know more about.

There you have it: the basics of modern scientific literacy, and not a textbook in sight!

Now the next time you come across terms like biodiversity, string theory or polymerization, you’ll know what they mean or where to look!

Here’s the monthly guest post from Wishpot! Thanks so much for this great advice!

This month Wishpot brings you creative and new ways to accessorize your wedding dress. As if finding a wedding dress isn’t hard enough, these days finding the perfect accessories to match can be even more difficult. Accessories are in this season, and they are bigger and bolder than ever. Our Wishpot Wedding Experts helped us out with ideas to help accessorize your wedding dress. So out with the plain white dress and in with the flashy fun accessories that will make you look like a modern chic bride!

This season is all about big statement necklaces. Our first item is a Sofia Pearl large pearl necklace recommended by wedding expert Ken & Barbie Events. This necklace could make any plain white dress look elegant and sophisticated.

Why not spice up your outfit by dressing up your feet? Adding a bright colored pair of heels to your wedding gown can help add a whole new level of modern style to your big day. Wedding expert Mara (Wedding Cabaret) suggests these gorgeous pink peep toe pumps which would make quite an impression going down the aisle.

In any wedding you can never go wrong with diamonds! Which is why the next item is a diamond brooch recommended by expert JunePlumm Events. A brooch traditionally has been worn by being pinned to the front of the dress, but today brides have found new creative ways to wear brooches. Many brides now tuck brooches into their hair. It is a great way to add a delicate touch to your ensemble.

A wedding ring is not the only ring that can be worn on this day. A cocktail ring is another way to add that extra WOW factor. Many different styles and sizes of cocktail rings can be found at Nordstrom.

Lastly, chandelier earrings can bring out the innate beauty in any bride. Wedding expert Couture Celebrations recommends these amazing Jessica Bridal chandelier earrings that will no doubt leave a lasting impression.

@gift_girl
Wishpot is a shop anywhere online wish list service. Find us on Twitter @wishpot and fan us on Facebook.

When I think of Funny, Smart and Witty- I think Steven. When I think of someone who said he would take over my blog- I think Steven. And when I think of UNIQUE and out of this world BRILLIANT- I think Steven from Human Explosion- who is literally “bursting with passion, expression and appreciation”.

I have been a regular at his blog and I can say for sure-he will make you think, think to no end. And his stick men will invade your brain and you will start wondering how you ever lived without them for so long. I call Steven  MR. HOOT..cause he makes me laugh so so hard.

Today this Unique Genius who is amalgamating his comic genius with personal development on his blog Human Explosion is here Seriously Taking OVER my little blog….aaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh…..

HELP!!!….See his work, Go to his blog….cause if you dont…who knows he might just take over yours too

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Human Explosion is a blog that is designed to merge the two worlds of comic humor and personal development together. Steven strongly encourages the act of giving and does not like to take away from others. The author wishes to thank Zeenat for giving him the opportunity to steal some things from her, I mean uh…guest posting here and spreading the messages of living a good  life.

For more on what this comic genius can do be sure to stay tuned by subscribing to his blog feed or by emailing him{steven@humanexplosion.com} for more info.

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He takes over my poor little blog..and then thanks me…hmmm…

He’s considerate too Be sure to check out his awesome blog. You will not regret it.

And Mr. Hoot….your genius will be tapped by those big publishers soon. But please remember, even when you’re this big time author and comic genius, You can still invade my little blog anytime Just remember mine was your very First Invasion And dont forget us little people ok

Steven is my very first very very first guest blogger…awww…me all emotional now….;)

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I’ve done a guest post for Professor Beej’s Anti-Twilight Week over on his blog, Professor Beej – Blurring the Line Between Pop Culture and Academics. It’s about some of the main problems I have with the Twilight series, and why I don’t think it’s appropriate reading for anybody of any age, but especially not adolescents already dealing with so much confusion in their lives. Head over to the post to read the full article.

Don’t Touch That Book! or Why Twilight is Not for Girls

You can also check out my original review for the first Twilight Book. I was less than impressed.

The following was written by a woman whose husband died of a dementia similar to J’s.  It is reproduced here with her permission.

Did anyone see “60 Minutes” tonight where they addressed end-of-life care?  It was quite interesting and certainly appropriate for what many are going through.  They were discussing whether putting people in hospitals when they were at the end of life was more costly, and one woman told of the thousands of dollars worth of bills for her mother, who was terminal with heart and liver failure; yet they did a Pap smear on her, took all kinds of tests, called in a psychiatrist because she was “depressed.”  She told them that she, of course, was depressed because she was dying.

I assume it was a doctor speaking, and one of the things mentioned was that hospitals have to have beds filled and tests given to keep their profit level up.  They also have several doctors “looking after” the patient, mostly so that each can bill separately.

I can certainly relate to that.  When my husband first went to the hospital for a broken bone, he was immediately put on Hydrocodone, even after I told them he didn’t do well on strong pain meds.  Then, they called in a psychiatrist, because he was hallucinating – duh???  [ed:  This is a common feature of "our kind" of dementia -- though J mostly doesn't have it -- that can be exacerbated by medications.] Each doctor referred him to another doctor, and at the end of three days, I don’t know how many doctors had supposedly seen him.  Then, he was referred to the rehab hospital, where again, another psychiatrist was called and proceeded to give him several different antipsychotic drugs.  Again, he was referred to several doctors, when all that was supposed to be done was rehab on his injury.

They said that many patients never read their hospital bills, because Medicare of Medicaid is paying for it.  Believe me, every one of his bills was gone over by me, and I was appalled at the cost of things and the number of drugs that he had been prescribed in addition to his Aricept and antidepressant.   I counted the meds they gave him, and between the meds, supplements, etc., he was given 16 different types of pills.  I checked them on the drug interaction site and some of the ones he was taking should not have been used with others, and some it said not to be given to patients with dementia.

The bills from the nursing home were absolutely incomprehensible, and when I would question them, they couldn’t even answer the questions.  If you don’t think there is fraud in the system, just check things out.  While he was on a catheter for several weeks, they still billed for Depends.  I checked them each time I was there, and the package had the same amount in it every day.  When I asked about this, they told me that’s what was allowed.  When he was taken off food and water on the last day of the month, they still ordered his Aricept, Celexa, Seroquel, and other drugs when they knew he was dying and were expecting it any moment.  So, where did those drugs go?  He certainly didn’t receive them.  I could cite many more examples.

I continued to receive notices from Medicare and his secondary carrier for more than two years after his death.  Some were notifications of payment to doctors I didn’t even know he had seen.  One had even moved out of the area.

The hospital where he went now has hospitalists who direct hospital care rather than the patient’s own doctor.  Then, they refer different doctors for each thing.  So, he had psychologist, neurologist, urologist, physical therapist, and I don’t know what all referrals; each one billing separately.  If I recall, they even had a different doctor that billed for his dismissal.
When I figured up all his bills for the approximately last two years of his life, they were nearly $80,000, and that did not include the cost of the nursing home care.

Needless to say, I have a lot of pent-up feelings about the medical profession, and as long as we have greedy doctors, hospitals, and nursing homes, we are going to have fraud.

Have I stirred up a hornet’s nest?

Ed.:  The woman who tells this story says that she doesn’t blame Medicare or Medicaid for this state of affairs (her own experience, as I understand it, was solely with Medicare), but rather “the greedy medical profession,” “including insurance companies, doctors, hospitals, etc.,” and that her specific objection is to the unnecessary overtesting, overtreatment, overmedication, and overbilling, whether due to defensive medicine or profit-seeking.

How should sensible healthcare reform tackle this problem?  It is wasteful, costly, and as often as not, harmful to the patient.

UPDATE: Ed.: I asked my doctor sister to comment.  Here’s what she said:

I don’t know what to say. It’s hard to read about someone’s awful health care experience and be able to say anything meaningful. But the majority of Dr’s aren’t venal and evil or see awful end of life situations such as this as opportunities to make a buck. The hospitals I’m not so sure of.

The way medicine is practiced now is by individual specialists who take care of their little niche and don’t want to be bothered about anything else. Why? Many Dr’s avoid primary care because it’s hard to be the jack of all trades and the master of none.  And the reimbursement sucks. And the paperwork is unconscionable. And more. Plus if you’re a specialist and do procedures you get paid more the more of them you do. Duh. So no one is really taking care of the whole patient, they’re just shoving their tube in their orifice of expertise.

But I also have a serious problem with patients’ expectations. Everyone wants more health and more testing and more access. What happened to common sense?  When a dying demented person is admitted to the hospital the institution takes over to some degree.  The nurses want the patient to be quiet and not too much bother (sorry but it’s true). The Dr’s dread the sad and often angry family who wants their loved one not to suffer and it’s up to us to FIX IT. And it’s not unusual to have several family factions who want different things and we get caught in the middle. Hospitals are terrible places for the dying and one of these health bills will also have provisions for expanding hospice care.

That would be worth a lot.  I can attest that hospice is probably one of the most cost-effective, as well as compassionate, things you could do.  It only kicks in when there is a condition that is incurable and eventually fatal.  Heroic, expensive, and futile efforts are over or have been forsworn.  They will leave no stone unturned when it comes to physical and emotional comfort, but that is mostly low-tech and relatively low-cost.  SAVING is the word.  It won’t save your life, but it can save money and it can save your sanity.  It minimizes both expense and suffering.