Some time ago I wrote an essay on Clive Wearing, the British musician and conductor who contracted a disease twenty years ago that left him with only his short-term memory. His adjustment has been long and difficult, his disability profound—trapped … Continue reading →
Today’s a traveling day, so this will be quick. I’m driving down to NY to see my family and especially my elderly mother. Last night I called her at around 8:15 to see how she was doing. She sounded a … Continue reading →
When I was very young, safe in bed with the usual flu or the occasional chicken pox or other standard childhood disease, I would dread the doctor’s tread on the stairs and the opening of his little black bag, which … Continue reading →
This lengthy NY Times piece about the unexpected fallout from the ability to perform genetic testing and get information on susceptibility to certain diseases describes the dilemma faced by unmarried and childless 33-year-old Deborah Lindner in weighing her options after … Continue reading →
Well, of course. Scientists have discovered that certain people can eat anything and everything and not gain an ounce. Well, duh. I could have told them that years ago. In the early 70s I was blessed with three roommates of … Continue reading →
When the Europeans came to this continent, it was already inhabited by millions of indigenous peoples, originally and (erroneously) called “Indians” by the invaders, and later known by the more PC term “Native Americans” (although, just to confuse things even … Continue reading →
I don’t know about you, but this phenomenon doesn’t seem like much of an advance to me. For those of you who aren’t registered at the NY Times website, the article by Elizabeth Hayt is about the fact that middle-aged … Continue reading →
For years, hormones were touted as the panacea for the menopausal and post-menopausal (dare I say, “aging”?) woman. HRT (hormone replacement therapy) was seen to be a fountain of youth in all respects, and who wouldn’t want that? Skin benefits, … Continue reading →
Yesterday morning I was awakened by a phone call from my mother’s caretaker, the sort of phone call no one likes to get. She said my mother was having tingling and numbness in her left arm and left leg, which … Continue reading →
A few weeks ago I had a bout of laryngitis. It’s a funny thing, laryngitis; an excellent tool for making a person feel powerless. Something most of us ordinarily take for granted—the voice—mysteriously vanishes without a word of warning. Now … Continue reading →
I was watching TV the other night right before bed. I usually do a bunch of stretching exercises then, and I often turn on a cable news station to accompany the action (although, come to think of it, that may … Continue reading →
Dean Esmay has flung out a challenge to the female blogosphere, and I thought I’d take him up on it. In this post, he points out that the practice of female genital mutilation (known also as “female circumcision”) is neither … Continue reading →