Another Dark Little Corner

Hot enough for you?

2009-11-24T11:17:00.000+11:00

Today was a blastfurnace wind, from just before dawn, when I looked out on my severalth trip to the bathroom to pat myself down with cold water on a face washer, and the eastern sky was a glaring bright hazy white. And I had to spend considerable time out in it stocking up for my trip (opaque, heat-reflective umbrella didn't help, cos most heat was in the air). Brain a touch touched. In Sydney &

Burial & other bodily solutions

2009-11-21T04:36:00.002+11:00

BTW, can anyone help, or point me towards help, with information on the usefulness of bodies with metastatic cancer for assorted organ transplants. Would cornea or skin be possible, if nothing else?Alternatively, should I try contacting various medical schools or anatomy museums to find if they'd be interested in a massively-surgically-altered specimen as an example? Not sure about 'plastination

Fade away or gradually die …

2009-11-18T14:58:00.007+11:00

Some more sad news Edward Woodward's BBC ObituaryI mentioned Breaker Morant just recently elsewhere. Callan seems to have branded itself into a generation, too. Glad now have DVD releases. The Wicker Man has left quite an impact as well. Saw him only a couple of weeks ago, doing a good job in a recent Britcrime TV drama. Only one I can see in IMDB list is Jonnie Johnson in The Bill – which I

Contemplating yesterday

2009-11-13T17:00:00.008+11:00

Don't really like that word "palliative", when it's used in my direction. "Curative" or "healing" would be much nicer. Doctors say most important thing is to make my quality of life as good on possible for as long as possible.OTOH, not having something to "make me more comfortable" is an even worse thought. Much medical treatment is a lot like torture with good intentions (even with pain

A different 9/11 remembrance

2009-11-09T04:18:00.003+11:00

Since the start of this blog, usually on this day, running up to Remembrance/Armistice Day on 11/11, I commemorate the 9/11/1938 Night of Broken Glass (Kristallnacht), also called the State Pogrom Night. Especially since, not only due remembrance for itself, it has examples of political and propaganda uses, twisted mendacity in language, an interlocking step-by-step spiral of violence and

Chemotherapy + Gripe update

2009-11-08T21:16:00.005+11:00

Wherein Much Tedious Matter is RelatedHoo boy, whatta *fun* few weeks! Last gripe was a few days after start. Survived a week or so more on water, peppermint tea, watered juice, watered stock, crystallized ginger, barley sugar & some mints. (Don't know why I forgot Gatorade powder I keep to make up into drink for just such emergencies.) Seemed to stabilize, so l tried adding jelly, plain rice,

One Month on

2009-10-23T16:09:00.005+11:00

Dustday + 30Previous Dustday entry (Dust Day (23rd September, 2009) in Sydney)It used to be a nine-days' wonder. Everything's faster now.

Chemotherapy + Gripe

2009-10-16T09:21:00.000+11:00

NOTE: Skip this to avoid whinging, complaining & yukkiness.Think I've washed most of the cytotoxins and their accompanying protective drugs out, as far as possible, so started on the new drug from specialist.Eating as healthily as I can manage, with fresh fruit & juices, vegies, fish, organic meats & milk, nice bread, etc. Have the best emergency low-prep foods I can manage — low-processed

Friend's Stroke: some wonderful news

2009-10-14T15:36:00.006+11:00

I haven't been too well, so haven't written much, and, worse, haven't been to see my friend as much. So it was great first to see him with a new tracheotomy that meant he could put a finger over the tube and speak, and in a separate room. Then they removed the trachie and the nasogastric tube altogether! Talking! Started him on fluids; soup, yoghurt, etc; then puree/mashed meals. Now he's

Health in the USA - Words Fail (Repeated from Earlier)

2009-10-13T03:50:00.006+11:00

Health Care Horror post, from 2006, though original story is 1998. I'm worried this lady isn't around any moreCONSUMER WATCHHome » Protecting Patients » Patient Told To Reuse Colostomy Bag For 5 DaysPERMALINK: www.consumerwatchdog.org/ patients/ articles/ ?storyId=16193Repeating the whole story here, because the link's changed at least once already, and might get lost. As a fellow colostomate,

Chemotherapy: 3rd cycle (2009)

2009-10-07T20:20:00.002+11:00

So this is the start of the third cycle of this set of chemotherapy. This time haven't had much of an upswing at the end of the last cycle. Feeling tired. Apart from that, everything went without problems. Also saw specialist for results of tests and scans. They couldn't find any problems, which is sort of good, though it means we can't pinpoint any cause for my symptoms. Normally they'd do

Yes, the world does revolve around me — Nero

2009-10-02T10:47:00.012+10:00

Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus aka Nero Claudius Caesar Drusus Germanicus, born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, only son of Agrippina the Younger, sister of emperor Caligula and daughter of Germanicus, who was grandson to Augustus's wife, Livia, on one side and to Mark Antony and Octavia on the other. Right in the most prominent aristocratic circles of Imperial Rome. When Caligula and his

Exciting Picture News

2009-09-27T12:53:00.002+10:00

Wheeeee!! Not only am I getting an acknowledged* publication (small, down the back) of that photograph from the previous post (informally titled Dust Day Laundry) in a Quick & Dirty, but pretty, MagCloud occasional issue of pix from the Great Sydney Dust Day called Strange Light: Photos from the Great Australian Dust Storm (very entrepreneurial of Mr Powazek), but made my very first public photo

Dust Day (23rd September, 2009) in Sydney

2009-09-26T09:34:00.013+10:00

I raced up & took some photos from my flats' roof, trying to match some of the views I've taken on clear days, plus a few more that I thought looked good. It did have this strange effect — the feeling that "either there's so much stuff in the air it can't get into my lungs, or there's something missing from what is getting in" on my ventures outthat kept them brief.Here's the link to the Flickr

Another Stroke

2009-09-20T20:46:00.012+10:00

The youngest and last of my mother's brothers & sisters died suddenly this week. If my calculations are right, he would have been the same age father was when he died, but it sounds like he was spared the slow, suffering, decline in hospital. Of course his family are devastated. This leaves only one aunt on my father's side alive of my parents' generation.Not much to add when it comes to either

Rolling on in Earth's diurnal course: Chemotherapy; Friend's stroke

2009-09-11T21:09:00.000+10:00

Health Update:My chemotherapy continues; unpleasant but not very horrible, so far surviving. Around the peak of immune suppression was keeping kitchen and bathroom stuff and hands rather neurotically clean, away from crowds and other people. Using drugs to suppress some of nausea, diarrhoea — able to go to opera (Graeme Murphy production of Aida) — but very tired. Drinking lots of fluids (

Friend's Stroke: fortnight report

2009-08-29T23:37:00.000+10:00

Two weeks on, he's half-opened one, then both, eyes, and shown some more responses. Still has a nasogastric feed tube, lots less IV stuff though. Breathing 'spontaeously', if through tubes into a tracheostomy, means they will soon move him out of Intensive Care so the machines he's not needing can be used by someone in direr need. So, progress! Small and slow, but some. We push for more.Thanks

Friend's Stroke: flickers of hope

2009-08-27T20:44:00.000+10:00

Yesterday evening A half-opened his eye on the non-stroke side! I was there.I wasn't up to getting out today, but it's reported that he opened *both* eyes and seems to be somewhat aware and responsive. I've followed other young people's slow, difficult recoveries in my online acquaintances, so this gives me hope, though also a dread of how hard it will be. (Different to mother's series of

Metastasis: Chemotherapy 2009, first cycle

2009-08-25T21:09:00.001+10:00

First Carboplatin treatment this morning. Tired beforehand, so I slept through some of the infusion, though the form-filling kept me awake more than I wanted.After it finished, I went up to the Intensive Care Unit to see if I could visit A in the half hour before they close to visitors 1 - 3 pm, but they were busy with him. It may have been doing or preparing for his tracheotomy. Most times

Friend's Stroke: waiting, hoping, fearing

2009-08-24T01:34:00.000+10:00

Eight or nine days now since friend A. had cerebral haemmorrhage (on right, don't know details). Aneurism evacuated, tube now on left to relieve pressure by draining fluid. He's some spontaneous breathing & body movements, but no eye reaction yet. They're balancing morphia and hypertension. We talk and touch and massage him, but I just don't know what the odds are.He's only in his mid-forties and

Friend's Stroke: shock, horror, confusion

2009-08-18T15:50:00.002+10:00

A very good friend is ill. For years he's known of and been treated for idiopathic hypertension. Seems to run in the family. Sometimes crazily high BP; rather drug-resistant,

A Birthday Sonnet (Even Keats made this thought seem a little whiny)

2009-08-03T01:01:00.001+10:00

Sonnet: "If I should die some night and never seeDawn's light, my email, and my morning tea,I face the thought with equanimity,In fact, it would be worse for you than me.Not that I want to die and turn to clay.I'm only half-way through, I want to stay, I want more years, more books, more chance to sayI love my life, my work, my friends, my day.But I would know for sure the mysteryPerhaps go on to

This comes under "We Told You So"

2009-07-04T01:15:00.000+10:00

Women stretched to snapping pointAdele HorinJuly 4, 2009The 1.5-earner family became the predominant form between 1997 and 2006, from 35 per cent of all couples with children under five to 46 per cent. But life for parents grew harder and less equal. By 2006, all parents were more likely to report feeling stressed"There was reduced gender equity and strikingly increased reported time pressure,"

Journeying

2009-06-21T04:06:00.000+10:00

From Trip to Minneapolis (June 2009)Philosophical observations (formatted as poetry)…Train views are like water,always the same, changing alwaysfleeting, glimpsed, gone.… — Jo Walton

Light & Colour in a Winter's Night

2009-06-06T23:10:00.000+10:00

Full moon in luminous dusk sky. "Vivid" winter light festival on. Walked & watched w others on fine cool clear evening. Lovely.1. IMG_1095 - Vivid: Lightbox city, 2. IMG_1085 - Vivid: Customs House, piano, lights, wires, 3. IMG_1060 - Vivid: cowled circle & outlier, 4. IMG_1041 - Vivid: Opera House

Hand-Foot Syndrome – cont. Another side-effect

2009-05-28T07:07:00.004+10:00

Cancer drug erases fingerprintsTravel warning with capecitabine (Annals of Oncology: Vol 20, No 7, p. 1281)A patient who took a drug for cancer lost his fingerprints, which caused him to be detained for hours when he tried to visit the United States, according to an unusual case reported on Wednesday. The patient was unaware the treatment had wiped out his fingerprints.The 62-year-old patient had

Neil Gaiman's wedding poem

2009-05-25T21:47:00.001+10:00

A Wedding PoemThis for you, for both of you,a small poem of happinessfilled with small glories and little triumphsa fragile, short cheerful songfilled with hope and all sorts of futuresBecause at weddings we imagine the futureBecause it's all about 'what happened next?'all the work and negotiation and building and talkthat makes even the tiniest happily ever aftersomething to be proud of for a

And we thought they just made those stories up

2009-05-21T15:58:00.002+10:00

Art imitates Life imitates Art?A New Zealand couple from Roturua are reportedly on the run after $NZ10 million – instead of $NZ10,000 – was mistakenly deposited in their Westpac bank account.(Assorted news stories abound; comments (some context, especially on the comments).)

Magpie Dishonour

2009-05-07T17:44:00.001+10:00

Trying to resist the Pretty, Pretty, Shiny Things!How cruel is this lioness, tempting, teasing, playing with her prey? Go thou, & save me from temptation. Take them away!Repeating my earlier entry on the same subject:Magpie Telegraph Alert My Tormenting Temptress, Elysian One, has had a bit of an unpleasant time and setback recently. She's started a special sudden June Shiny Sale of her

Science & Technology, destroying Wonder, Beauty, Art & History

2009-05-06T20:06:00.006+10:00

Religion & History through ScienceHave you seen the new comprehensive interactive three-dimensional image/model of the Saint Domitilla catacombs, made using laser scanners & digital images by a team lead by Dr Norbert Zimmerman of the Vienna Academy of Sciences (Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften — ÖAW on Totenstadt )? (BBC story; START-Projekt site. I find Fig. 9 particularly

Man alone of animals plays the ape to his dreams

2009-04-30T21:30:00.003+10:00

Between ANZAC Day and Mother's Day, as April turns over into May, Sydney feels the breath of winter approaching. There are birthdays and anniversaries important to me in the first week of May, immovably connected with the memory of walking out in the chill of dawn, watching puffs of breath mist out into the air. Daylight saving's ended; dark closes in earlier & earlier; thoughts can turn

For Easter

2009-04-12T03:34:00.002+10:00

Opening WordsI believe the earth exists, and in each minim mote of its dust the holy glow of thy candle. Thou unknown I know, thou spirit, giver, lover of making, of the wrought letter, wrought flower, iron, deed, dream. Dust of the earth, help thou my unbelief. Drift gray become gold, in the beam of vision. I believe with doubt. I doubt and interrupt my doubt with belief. Be, beloved, threatened

On QueryFAIL: Responding to part of the discussion

2009-04-11T16:20:00.007+10:00

[This is still too long, but I can't get blogger's code to use "expanding posts", so you only see the full entry if you go to its separate page, to work on my blogs.]From Making Light: On QueryFAILnielsenhayden.com/ makinglight/ archives/ 011160.htmlA summarised summary by Jim Macdonald, Making Light moderatorApparently a group of agents designated Thursday, the 5th of March, 2009, as official

One of my favourite book titles:

2009-03-31T23:58:00.003+11:00

Things you see when you haven't got a gun by Harry (Henry Arthur) Hooton | National Library of Australia catalogue entry for this 1943 self-published poetry book by one of Oz's turbulent poets.Things you see when you haven't got a gun by Harry (Henry Arthur) Hooton | National Library of Australia catalogue entry for this 1943 self-published poetry book by one of Oz's turbulent poets.Review in '

అం Anniversary Villanelle

2009-03-29T02:44:00.001+11:00

One ArtThe art of losing isn’t hard to master; so many things seem filled with the intent to be lost that their loss is no disaster. Lose something every day. Accept the fluster of lost door keys, the hour badly spent. The art of losing isn’t hard to master. Then practice losing farther, losing faster: places, and names, and where it was you meant to travel

Bucolia in Tasmania; Bliss in Luna

2009-03-18T14:10:00.006+11:00

Seeing the set (see links below) about the 'reality' of the Windows XP default wallpaper screen background reminded me of my small project in Tasmania. Bucolia Backgrounds – Tasmania 2005Most of the Australian mainland had been in drought for some years & was fairly brown or straw-coloured where it had been green. Tassie, OTOH, had so much rain the potato harvest was in difficulty because the

Connexions

2009-03-17T13:26:00.001+11:00

thinking on the traveling lifeelisem.livejournal.com/ 1426047.html(I'm not sure where this is going to go, but I have to write it right now. Guess we'll find out when we get there.)... Part of being suited to it is something I love, and part was something I feared for a long time. The part I loved is something I got to enjoy years later when I took my Great North American Railroad Expotition.

Real Estate Ruminations

2009-03-16T01:25:00.003+11:00

Real Estate Report: Sydney's cheapest inner city flat? On the 6th floor of an attractive, if slightly seedy, Art Deco building with rather wonky lifts, in a central, if also slightly seedy (sketchy?) precinct where I live (close to shops, transport, my hospital, nightclub strip, courts, homeless shelters, drug, alcohol & mental treatment centres). A single room maybe 10 foot by eight. Not too

Refreshment

2009-02-20T02:43:00.001+11:00

Last sennight or so, times have been troublous, myself tim'rous, difficult, despondent. Then friends dragged me out, we had tea & sandwiches with the pigeons at Pyrmont, spent several hours at Sydney Aquarium [long descriptive enthusing redacted], hot congee in Dixon St, walked home, watched a Monty Python episode (with more tea). Now well-fed, content, refreshed & quite tired out.

Interactive themes for Gmail

2009-02-12T12:54:00.001+11:00

For giggles and prettiness, I put a theme, Tea House, on my Gmail account with a landscape and sky background. Later I found it reflects the time in your account's time zone setting, showing dawn, day, dusk and night in the scene. Nice. Too nice! I enjoyed it so much I had to change it because it was distracting me from getting quickly in and out of mail, so tried a plainer one, Tree. Recently

Crumple Zone

2009-02-12T12:42:00.000+11:00

Protecting my limited time and mental energy, to help retain some fingernail-edge grasp on whatever shreds of sanity I try to gather 'round me, I've had to develop, inter alia, Pedantry Crumple Zones.I still feel shame and guilt when, seeing an error and a chance to teach and spread truth, I pass by the other side of the road. But there are so many other things to feel shame, guilt and anger

History Continues

2009-01-19T18:19:00.003+11:00

From Making Light: The true history of the Bush yearsnielsenhayden.com/ makinglight/ archives/ 010952.html "There will be histories written about the Bush administration. They’ll be privy to information we don’t have yet, because the future is like that. On the other hand, we have our own privileged knowledge: We know how the story looked like to people who didn’t know how it was going to come

Influence, plagiarism: myths, legends, folk stories, ఓరల్ history

2009-01-03T12:56:00.002+11:00

I think I've mentioned my theory/feeling about myths & folk stories & such traditions being mostly what we'd now call 'fanfic'. Here are two people dealing with some of the ideas in that. (Most of Jonathon's Harper's article isn't so sesquipedalian )The ecstasy of influence: A plagiarism,by Jonathan LethemHarper's Magazine, February 2007:www.harpers.org/ archive/ 2007/ 02/ 0081387LOVE AND

Christmas Light Shows (on YouTube)

2008-12-25T10:22:00.002+11:00

YouTube - El Paso Christmas Light Show 2007"Over 120,000 lights in synch to the music of The Trans-Siberian Orchestra." (adrianh1969)They say it's good to have a hobby. Hmmm. I'm amazed, but torn wondering if it'd be possible to put all this time, energy & expertise into something … "better"? … then, I guess it could have gone into something worse. And I suppose this is creating some kind of

Crystalline: ౯/౧౧ (9th November)

2008-11-09T19:55:00.000+11:00

Crystal Night, 1938www.thelooniverse.com/ books/ kastner.htmlWhen, on November 10 1938 at 3 o'clock in the morning, I drove up the Berlin Tauentzien in a taxi, I heard glass tinkling on both sides of the street. It sounded as if dozens of wagons full of glass were being turned over. I looked out and saw, on the left and right, a man standing in front of about every fifth house, each using an iron

33-Year-Old Memories of an Australian November

2008-11-05T11:16:00.000+11:00

What is happening in Canada, from Yarn Harlot (3-Dec-2008)www.yarnharlot.ca/ blog/ archives/ 2008/ 12/ 03/ what_is_happening_in_canada.htmlThere is confusion over what's happening in Canada's government. This is a primer for non-Canadians (and some Canadians) about this messI may, someday, put up some links about 'The Dismissal' of November 11, 1975, Gough Whitlam, Sir John Kerr, Malcolm Fraser

Living in a rectilinear Klein Bottle

2008-10-31T15:21:00.001+11:00

May I draw readers' attention to one of this year's winners of the Australian Institute of Architecture awards, the Klein Bottle beach house on the Mornington Peninsula, outside Melbourne (Victoria). It's described here [Sydney-Melbourne rivalry? Phfft! Nah. Doesn't happen these days.] as “some metallic fungi-form zeppelin flung from outer space” (I'd interpolate 'geometric' or 'rectilinear'

Songs of Love & Death

2008-10-15T12:32:00.003+11:00

From SubVerse, February 6, 2006St. James Infirmary Blueswww.subverse.org/ 2006/ 02/ 06/ st-james-infirmaryThis is a haunting song. … It’s a song about death. It’s about a man seeing the woman he loves stretched out dead on the hospital slab. But those horns rising and rising…. It’s a song about release. A song about acceptance. A song about drinking life in deeply, in all its pain and unfairness.

A Birthday Poem for the Dead; Testament

2008-10-15T01:40:00.003+11:00

From Bluejo's Journal, 14th October 2008:She dances golden, in a drift of leaves,she dances stark, skeletal, in the dark,she dances in a cloud of solid green,she dances with her branch and leaf and bark.She dances with the birds, the wind, the street,with child in stroller, with a hurrying nun,with gardners, shoppers, lovers as they meet,she dances, as we dance, around the sun.>My late father's

In the Spiral of History

2008-10-06T13:25:00.004+11:00

From Lawyers, Guns & Money, on Israel, the USA and the Roman Republic:Simply because something must happen does not mean that it will happen. Settlements, Bailouts, and the Roman RepublicTUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2008lefarkins.blogspot.com/ 2008/ 09/ simply-because-something-must-happen.htmlThe Roman Republic faced a series of internal crises that were evident to all and that desperately required

Poem: Right there on edge on mountain lip see cloud

2008-10-06T12:39:00.001+11:00

From Making Light's anecdotal thread, Pearls of great price, not to be devalued #268: Right there on edge on mountain lip see cloudswift move through sky, through steady clearest blue,with every second become something new;voices within declare you have been cowednot knowing yet the force that is allowednor proper motion ready for its cue.On neither side is the eternal viewbut every sound right

Life in a Temperate Climate: Autumn

2008-10-04T13:17:00.000+10:00

From Little Blog In The Big Woods :The Last Dance (Wed, 24th Sep, 2008)littlebloginthebigwoods.blogspot.com/ 2008/ 09/ last-dance.htmlThe turn of the yearThere's a special autumn event I look for every year. It doesn't have a name.Actually, I've never met anyone else who has seen it, or heard of it. A fact that makes me think, and wonder if that should worry me. Us.It's quite a spectacular thing,

Best Pirate Event Evah

2008-09-21T08:00:00.009+10:00

Possibly the best use ever of ITLAP Day (Which I keep calling ISLAP* Day): from the Arkansas Times' Arkansas Blog.Way to go, matie!Posted by Leslie Newell Peacock on September 19, 2008 09:36 AMwww.arktimes.com/blogs/arkansasblog/ 2008/ 09/ way_to_go_matie.aspx"What do you do to make a bunch of soulless nutcases abandon their post at the Convention Center? Send in the pirates!Yep, the cuckoo

Nominative Non-Determinism

2008-09-19T16:29:00.005+10:00

My pirate name is: Mad Mez Rackham Every pirate is a little bit crazy. You, though, are more than just a little bit. You have the good fortune of having a good name, since Rackham (pronounced RACKem, not rack-ham) is one of the coolest sounding surnames for a pirate. Arr! Get your own pirate name from piratequiz.com.part of the fidius.org network

Premier Iemma, the Member for Lakemba

2008-09-05T13:07:00.006+10:00

I always liked saying that little tongue-twister, whether or not I agreed with the man's policies. Won't apply from today.NSW Premier Morris Iemma resigns"Alexandra Smith and Brian RobinsSeptember 5, 2008 - 11:45AMwww.smh.com.au/ axrticles/ 2008/ 09/ 05/ 1220121483704.htmlMorris Iemma has resigned as NSW Premier.It is understood Water Minister Nathan Rees will take over.Mr Iemma faced a caucus

I'm Ba-ack

2008-09-05T13:05:00.001+10:00

Spent a month in the hospice attached to the hospital, getting to walk and use my hands again. Among other things, this meant no internet connection. Even when I got back to the flat, due to a stuff-up with assorted phone companies, my home phone had been disconnected. It took quite a bit of work to get it reconnected.Took some photos, including ones of the Ward Cats. Will try and fill in

Aarrgh

2008-07-23T23:01:00.000+10:00

Not good news. I went downhill physically quite a bit last week. By the end of the week I virtually couldn't walk.Because of the raw tender skin flaking & peeling on my feet (as well as hands), these horrible 2"–3" blisters have spread over the sole of my right foot. I've borrowed a walking frame from the hospital so I can hobble to the bathroom & kitchen, but it can take minutes to get the 20

Urgh

2008-07-17T13:56:00.000+10:00

Haven't been able to do much of anything at all in the last week. Really badly affected. I've tried to at least get up & out of the flat — up on the roof is only 2 flights of steps, not 6 down to the ground — but just a walk down, across the road & 30-50 metres along to shop for milk/bread/etc, then back will leave me exhausted, sleeping for a couple of hours & with nasty pains in my feet. I'm

Bleh

2008-07-13T20:48:00.001+10:00

I'm in the third cycle of the Xeloda treatment — the one they changed to when the tests showed the first treatment protocol they tried wasn't working. Next week, at the end of this cycle they'll do another round of tests to see if this one has been doing better. I've been mostly able to control the nausea/diarrhoea, and it's nice to be getting hair back (except for the hair that's less popular,

PZ Myers: Darwin Year begins now

2008-07-01T21:54:00.004+10:00

Pharyngula The Darwin year begins…NOW!: It was on 1 July 1858, 150 years ago today, that the idea of natural selection was first presented to the public in a joint reading of Darwin's and Wallace's papers at the Linnean Society of LondonSome Darwin-related LinksDarwin Today - a joint initiative of Research Councils UK aimed at educating the public about evolutionThe Complete Work of Charles

A Century of Tunguska

2008-06-30T21:55:00.001+10:00

Monday, June 30, 2008 — One hundred years ago today, something exploded over SiberiaAt a little after seven in the morning, settlers near the north end of Lake Baikal saw something bright appear in the sky, crossing to the northwest leaving a trail behind it. As it touched the horizon, it was transformed into a column of black smoke in which flames could be seen. Soon after, they felt a thump in

Time: slow, slow, quick, quick, slow?

2008-06-25T23:33:00.003+10:00

Have been thinking again — dangerous, that — Chris and I were together some 6 years (after knowing each other about a year); he's been dead a bit more than 6 years now. (I'll be coming up to being 'widowed' longer than knowing him pretty soon.) He's been one of the most important things in much of my life for coming up to 13 years. It seems a long time, getting close to a quarter of my life.And

elisem: the day after Fourth Street happens to be Mammalversary

2008-06-25T01:10:00.001+10:00

USA Presidential Election statistics

2008-06-24T23:57:00.000+10:00

Nixonland - Rick Perlstein - Book Review - New York TimesBring Us Apartby George F. WillPublished: May 11, 2008"Perlstein considers it significant that before the 1972 election, in which Nixon carried 49 states, James Reston wrote that “barely over one in four adult Americans will have voted for the winner in 1972. ... The consequences of that kind of a minority presidency are hard to foretell.”

Magpie Telegraph Alert System

2008-06-07T17:40:00.006+10:00

My Tormenting Temptress, Elysian One, has had a bit of an unpleasant time and setback recently. She's started a special sudden June Shiny Sale of her jewellery to help recover. It's fascinating, captivating, intriguing, sometimes glorious, stuff. Or pretty and shiny, if you will. Maybe you'll like it.The names of the pieces — are there many makers who give names to their jewels? — can send

Xeloda (Capecitabine) - Side Effects of Chemotherapy Drugs

2008-06-02T12:59:00.002+10:00

Xeloda and Capecitabine - Side Effects of Xeloda - Chemotherapy Drugs: "Xeloda �Generic Name:�Capecitabine"www.chemocare.com/ bio/ xeloda.aspHand-Foot SyndromeXeloda (Capecitabine) cancer treatment, side-effect: Hand -foot syndrome (Palmar-plantar erythrodysesthesia or PPE) Skin rash, swelling, redness, pain and/or peeling of the skin on the palms of hands and soles of feet.(see also

On Certainty, Fallibility, etc.

2008-05-30T13:26:00.001+10:00

The problem has been noted, sadly, for some timeThe whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, but wiser people so full of doubts. — Bertrand RussellThe best lack all conviction, while the worstAre full of passionate intensity. WB Yeats, The Second ComingIt is also put clearly, passionately, and with references to its possible effects in the '

Takin' a Trip

2008-05-23T02:31:00.004+10:00

My friends are looking out for me. They took me for a couple of days to the Southern Highlands of New South Wales — see Flickr set "Southern Highlands Visit, May 2008"Panorama(large image)

Milky Way panorama (APOD May 3rd)

2008-05-05T14:48:00.001+10:00

APOD: 2008 May 3 - Alborz Mountain Milky Way: Snow-capped stratovolcano Mt. Damavand climbs to 5,670 meters (18,598 feet) near the left edge in this panoramic view above the Alborz Mountain Range bordering the Caspian Sea.

May Day plus One

2008-05-03T22:55:00.002+10:00

Mother's Birthday.Anniversary at work. Went into work after doctor's appointment at lunchtime, where I felt sick and weak and had to lie down. Still didn't feel that good, but plugged on with a bit of trying to set up changed stuff following merger of company. My immediate boss had taken the day off for a long weekend, so I couldn't talk about leave & such. I guess they weren't expecting me —

For International Pixel-Stained Technopeasant Day 2008

2008-04-23T22:32:00.000+10:00

A link to its netplace, and a posting on this journal of the text of a eulogy for my late better half.EulogyThank you all -- or ‘grazie’ as Chris would say -- for gathering here today to remember Christopher's life, appreciate his achievements & mourn his loss.We usually hear here that no man is an island, but for Chris I'd rather draw out a much older metaphor & its current reflections. There

Fun & Fantasy in Bloomington, Minnesota

2008-04-19T19:33:00.003+10:00

Just In Case someone is reading this, here's some information about something you might enjoy, if you're able to be there. Fourth Street Fantasy Convention (see www.4thstreetfantasy.com)I’ve heard tales, … I know people who traveled to [it] … It is a place where conversations have depth, and plant seeds of thought, sometimes even seeds of creativity. A place with music which opens up vistas that

2008-04-09T21:40:00.003+10:00

Cackhandedhttp://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-cac1.htmNY Times - HealthA Disease That Allowed Torrents of Creativityhttp://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/08/health/08brai.htmlhttp://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/08/health/08brai.html?em&ex=1207886400&en=ea896328b745feea&ei=5087%0ABy SANDRA BLAKESLEEPublished: April 8, 2008New York Times - Art & Design - PHOTOGRAPHY REVIEWIn Atta Kim’s Long-Exposure

Failure and Persistence of Memory

2008-03-22T22:06:00.003+11:00

[NB: If I could make Blogger's "expandable posts" work like LJ-cuts, I'd tuck this & other long posts away. Any advice?]Looking for something about the Gray Order of anti-Nazi liberal Catholics ..., mentioned in the Making Light thread 'Winning Hearts and Minds' (September 27, 2005, 12:19 AM:) by bellatrysA few weeks? months? back [see below] I posted the link on my blog to an "On This Day" from

The Brain Rummager

2008-03-15T13:08:00.001+11:00

The Brain Rummager – Brian Barratt's page(s)Herein find: "... word puzzles; quizzes; creative thinking; creative writing; anagrams; homophones & homonyms; crossword puzzles; weird pictures; Aesop's Fables; fractal thinking; an ET hamburger; weird creatures; the amazing Mandelbrot fractal; proverbs and sayings; dragons; the Unpeople behind the dark; curious words and spellings; 17th century books;

Rootedness & connection: where to లైవ్

2008-03-10T22:46:00.000+11:00

At the end of the block behind my house is a site that used to be, in the late 1920s, an orange juice bottling factory. My mother was born on the kitchen table, either of the house I'm in or one in the block behind which was demolished for a warehouse, since demolished while I lived here for a block of flats. She had to leave school at the age of 13 because she was the eldest girl and her mother

Possibly Good News

2008-03-08T20:25:00.001+11:00

I looked at a one-room flat in a nearby building before it was open for general public inspection — had to go to agent with money & ID, leave that and take keys to do my own inspection, then go back to agent with keys and reclaim money & ID. Very tired and slow-moving, and by the end of this I was pretty exhausted.Good: Flat was bigger than many I've seen, with a reasonable rent, and the

Yet more trouble

2008-03-08T20:18:00.000+11:00

Went into yet another tailspin on Wednesday when, after sending back some work by email, my boss sent me her calculations on how much leave I had. It worked out that there were about 3 weeks left before I went onto leave without pay, unless I worked some extra days, either at home or going in.I thought this meant that I couldn't afford to rent, and would have to move back to my own place, still

Sydney Mardi Gras

2008-03-01T23:22:00.001+11:00

Thirtieth Anniversay. Paranoid about immune suppression, as well as very tired and weak, so just had a quiet time. Very early on took some photos of crowd, caught a distant glimpse of the march, went & sat in pizza parlour to rest, home, then watched the aftermath from the roof; crowds moving up & down my street, and sitting in the local cafes. Not a night anyone living here can sleep early,

cleek: Tricksey – jewel

2008-03-01T17:44:00.001+11:00

cleek: Tricksey Monday Cat Blogging (February 26, 2007)

cleek: Monday Cat Blogging (April 23, 2007)

2008-03-01T17:41:00.000+11:00

cleek � Monday Cat Blogging (April 23, 2007)

The Day After

2008-02-24T21:22:00.000+11:00

Wiped flat physically, and probably mentally. In the morning I managed a tiny bit of tidying and cleaning ready for the "compacks" lady tomorrow. Got through the rest of the day without collapsing and kept temperature under control, unlike after previous chemotherapy dose. Friends came over in the evening (I barely held on to consciousness waiting) and buzzcut the last of my hair off. I dunno

Flat Inspection Day 1

2008-02-23T22:08:00.000+11:00

Oh my god.Very tired, especially after final inspection — had to stand for over 30 minutes in street with over 40 others as agent ran late. Yes, there's some very small, awkward places going for high prices, with lots of people looking for somewhere to live.Crawling back from far side of hospital (257 Darlinghurst Rd) I stopped off to have a late lunch of Filet Mignon upstairs at the Courthouse

Metastasis Chemotherapy: Cycle 2, Day 1

2008-02-22T21:11:00.000+11:00

Second chemotherapy cycle started, went quickly with pre-needled port from community nurse yesterday, who took blood for pre-chemo tests.Saw social worker about eviction, other issues, she didn't have much hope. Also saw breast cancer nurse, she found new compression sleeve still far too long — 45cm long where my arm is 37cm.Got salads on way home, sat in Batuta over a pot of tea. Did other

Still more excitement

2008-02-20T20:59:00.001+11:00

Spent quiet several hours sitting around while workman came in to do repairs on kitchen & balcony walls & ceiling. Innocently thought this was good. After he left, friend arrived and we went downstairs to do some shopping. There was a letter in my mailbox.It was an eviction notice. I have until just before Anzac Day (~60 days).Just what I need now.

Still Not Dead Yet

2008-02-19T10:20:00.001+11:00

OK. Back home after nearly 3 weeks in hospital. Sick, tired, PTSD from some procedures and experiences. Will try to fill in on what's happened as I'm able.Good to have my interconnectivity restored.

New Chemotherapy Regime: Cycle 1; Day 1

2008-01-25T22:44:00.002+11:00

A full day. The implanted port was 'undressed' and used to inject the different drugs, including not just the cytotoxic therapeutic ones, but the ones used to combat the side effects, like anti-nausea drugs, anti-allergy ones for the taxol, which can affect some people badly, and a final dose of heparin to 'lock' the catheter and help stop blood clotting in it.Attended at 9am, as the appointment

Port Implantation Day

2008-01-22T22:33:00.000+11:00

Under local anaesthetic only, in the 5th Level Day Procedure area of St Vincent's. Quite an experience. Will try to write in more detail when I feel up to it.For an explanation of this piece of medical equipment, check this Boston Scientific link to their Vaxcel® Implantable Ports, which also has photos of different models and a diagram of how it sits when implanted.

More Stabs in the Back (Lung Drained Again)

2008-01-15T23:45:00.000+11:00

Not the sort of experience one approaches with joy, even though you may be hoping that the procedure wiil help you feel quite a bit better. It would also be nice if they only needed one go. Both times now they've needed two stabs to get it right. Alarmingly, this time instead of a light straw-coloured fluid, it was a reddish, bloodstained colour. They also managed to get out quite a bit more

New Year's Eve Fireworks in Sydney 2007-2008

2007-12-31T21:54:00.001+11:00

Wal, that t'were right purdy. I'm back to eat dinner after watching the 'family fireworks' over Sydney Harbour. They start at 9pm AEST, just as the last colour deepens into a dark sky.There was talk about there being new '3D' pyrotechnic effects. I think they meant those ones that seemed to be in spiral or lozenge shapes, and some odd-looking ones that might have been the outlines of cubes.

Mediproblems continued: Not Good News (Metastisis)

2007-12-29T00:59:00.001+11:00

Thursday after Christmas I went into the Oncology Clinic to get the results of the tests, including the examination of the fluid drained from my lung. They found cancer cells in the fluid. In the chest & abdomen CT scan they could see some substantial infiltration of my liver with abnormal cells, as well as the fluid-filled lung and its collapsed structure.It's the breast cancer from 2006

continued: Not Good News (Lung Drainage)

2007-12-23T22:20:00.001+11:00

So after being faffed around on Monday, I was able to get an appointment at the Oncology Unit on Tuesday (1 week before Christmas) when I was supposed to be at work. Another bunch of blood tests, the doctor (registrar under the consultant) tried to get an appointment to get the fluid in my lung drained. Originally arranged for Wednesday, which meant I could be there for the last day of work

Catch-up on more recent medical news

2007-12-17T09:03:00.000+11:00

Arrgh! More mediproblems. Quick catch-up. Possibly lack of posting has something to do with the tiredness & lack of energy. After the exploratory operation at the end of November to check on a different problem, my breathlessness was getting worse, despite keeping up gym attendance.Finally got to a doctor. My (new) GP sent me off for a bunch of tests, because it could be any of several

Pocket Films Festival

2007-12-10T08:29:00.001+11:00

Pocket Films Festival: "Pocket Films Festival" a Japanese site for people who've made films on their mobile phone camera (www.pocketfilms.jp/en). Also available in French & Japanese. The mobile phone film festival started in France in 2005. Here's an article from Excite News about it: . I don't know how long these stories stay

Saying Yes to Mess?

2007-12-03T18:25:00.001+11:00

Saying Yes to Mess - by PENELOPE GREENPublished: December 21, 2006 New York TimesLast week David H. Freedman, another amiable mess analyst (and science journalist), stood bemused in front of the heathery tweed collapsible storage boxes with clear panels ($29.99) at the Container Store in Natick, Mass., and suggested that the main thing most people’s closets are brimming with is unused organizing

Federal Election 2007

2007-11-25T18:52:00.000+11:00

It was a wonderful, wonderful night. Started out watching SkyNews at gym, listened to radio coverage on the way home, almost crying with hope on the bus, surfed around the TV coverage while cooking 'n' stuff at home, then watched the concession & victory speeches "jointly" by phone with some nearly-hysterical friends. Greatly enjoyed the different stations' approaches. Did anyone else boggle

Big Day

2007-11-24T10:39:00.000+11:00

It's Election Day today.

Firestorm

2007-11-22T00:29:00.001+11:00

William Strutt, artist. Black Thursday, February 6th 1851. Oil on canvas, 106 x 343 cm. H280049. La Trobe Picture Collection - No 75 Autumn 2005 - La Trobe Journal: "William Strutt, artist. Black Thursday, February 6th 1851. Oil on canvas, 106 x 343 cm. H280049. La Trobe Picture Collection"

Room 101 ‘The Worst Thing‘

2007-11-19T16:21:00.003+11:00

I've recently read a couple of mentions of one's own personal ‘Room 101' — the worst torture of yourself you can imagine — and how you shouldn't ever reveal it. I've been building up courage to ask or discuss a point about that, which also ties in with earlier points about how torture affects the victim.What if some of the worst things you were afraid of did happen, but not as torture? Several

Boyer Lectures online

2007-11-12T11:09:00.000+11:00

I'm alerting y'all to the start of the 2007 Boyer Lectures. This series (the 48th) is called Restoring The Senses. It's available streaming, or as a podcast or transcript from www.abc.net.au/rn/boyerlectures (don't be put off by the short excursion into philosophy/theology near the beginning). Their summary:"Professor Graeme Clark, creator of the bionic ear, is ABC Radio National's Boyer