a food critic i met in orlando two years ago was headed back to florida after a week in the city just as joe and i made our way out to texas late this afternoon; he and his wife did their damndest to meet us for a drink before our respective departures until we realized we were not actually at the same airport. does one get credit for weathering the la guardia / JFK switcheroo if one doesn't actually miss one's flight? our flight is running at least two hours late and is so packed with inconsolable babies that those of us who aren't responsible for said babies actually laughed with something like delight when their cries of rage nearly harmonized.
i revisited the ob/gyn who talked me into an IUD instead of sterilization nearly a decade ago. her office told me they keep records for three years and box them up after five or so. i was a new patient again, essentially, and had to explain that we'd met before. this time she pushed vasectomy, as it's reversible; when men turn 40, she said, they go crazy for babies. she took my blood pressure—high, for the first time in my life—and noted that i should consider exercising to bring it down. i'd considered bringing my magazine essay about sterilizing childless women with me to our appointment, but concluded at the last minute that showing her an article which opened with a story about how terrible she herself was would compromise our working relationship. i stuffed her referrals in my bag and left.
Showing posts with label fisticuffs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fisticuffs. Show all posts
12.22.16
'Do you hear the snow against the window-panes, Kitty? How nice and soft it sounds! Just as if some one was kissing the window all over outside. I wonder if the snow loves the trees and fields, that it kisses them so gently? And then it covers them up snug, you know, with a white quilt; and perhaps it says "Go to sleep, darlings, till the summer comes again."'
(lewis carroll, from through the looking-glass, and what alice found there)
Along with many other members of the Standing Rock community, [tribal chair David] Archambault has steered the encampment in a nonviolent direction. The camp’s direct-action group, Red Warrior, has maintained a discipline and humility that still speaks powerfully to people all over the world. A recently published photo of a person from that night of November 20th, covered in ice and praying, illustrates the deep resolve that comes from a philosophy based on generosity of spirit.
(louise erdich, from "holy rage: lessons from standing rock")
Although a common pain response, whether swearing alters individuals' experience of pain has not been investigated. This study investigated whether swearing affects cold-pressor pain tolerance (the ability to withstand immersing the hand in icy water), pain perception and heart rate. In a repeated measures design, pain outcomes were assessed in participants asked to repeat a swear word versus a neutral word. In addition, sex differences and the roles of pain catastrophising, fear of pain and trait anxiety were explored. Swearing increased pain tolerance, increased heart rate and decreased perceived pain compared with not swearing. However, swearing did not increase pain tolerance in males with a tendency to catastrophise. The observed pain-lessening (hypoalgesic) effect may occur because swearing induces a fight-or-flight response and nullifies the link between fear of pain and pain perception.
(r stephens et al, from swearing as a response to pain, neuroreport, 2009)
11.02.15
the dirty dozen {notes from my hometown police blotter, as reported by the oc register*}
Keep the peace. 9:26 a.m. The caller with the homeowners association reported trying to return items to a resident from a storage pod, but said the resident is refusing to open the door.
Illegal peddling. 8:23 p.m. The caller reported a man soliciting for a teen challenge.
Suspicious person in vehicle. 10:09 p.m. A caller said a person vomited outside a parked black car.
Stolen vehicle. 2:30 p.m. The caller reported her car stolen last night. When asked why she didn’t report it sooner, she said she thought they would return it or come back because she knows who took it.
Citizen assist. 7:35 a.m. A woman said she found a nude photograph of herself posted on her car and she believed her ex-husband placed the picture on there.
Disturbance. 7:38 a.m. The caller said her 16-year-old daughter refused to go to school.
Citizen assist. 12:36 a.m. The caller said his neighbor is yelling at his dogs to stop barking.
Suspicious person/circumstances. 9:48 a.m. The caller reported a purse with a gold emblem on the bus bench.
Disturbance. 2:17 a.m. The caller reported several people fighting in the bike lane area.
Citizen assist. 7:35 p.m. A man said he wanted to report his gardener’s poor work to sheriff’s deputies in case he started tearing out plants in retaliation for being fired.
Suspicious person/circumstances. 5:37 p.m. A caller complained about a woman walking through the neighborhood, filming herself.
Suspicious person/circumstances. 9:38 p.m. The caller said he thinks he’ll be hit by a car.
*previous installment here.
Keep the peace. 9:26 a.m. The caller with the homeowners association reported trying to return items to a resident from a storage pod, but said the resident is refusing to open the door.
Illegal peddling. 8:23 p.m. The caller reported a man soliciting for a teen challenge.
Suspicious person in vehicle. 10:09 p.m. A caller said a person vomited outside a parked black car.
Stolen vehicle. 2:30 p.m. The caller reported her car stolen last night. When asked why she didn’t report it sooner, she said she thought they would return it or come back because she knows who took it.
Citizen assist. 7:35 a.m. A woman said she found a nude photograph of herself posted on her car and she believed her ex-husband placed the picture on there.
Disturbance. 7:38 a.m. The caller said her 16-year-old daughter refused to go to school.
Citizen assist. 12:36 a.m. The caller said his neighbor is yelling at his dogs to stop barking.
Suspicious person/circumstances. 9:48 a.m. The caller reported a purse with a gold emblem on the bus bench.
Disturbance. 2:17 a.m. The caller reported several people fighting in the bike lane area.
Citizen assist. 7:35 p.m. A man said he wanted to report his gardener’s poor work to sheriff’s deputies in case he started tearing out plants in retaliation for being fired.
Suspicious person/circumstances. 5:37 p.m. A caller complained about a woman walking through the neighborhood, filming herself.
Suspicious person/circumstances. 9:38 p.m. The caller said he thinks he’ll be hit by a car.
*previous installment here.
07.13.12ii
conversations at the art supply store {II}
LMO: could you help me with some spray paint?
guy: sure! what color do you need?
LMO: black.
guy: that's easy!
guy: so...i got beat up last night.
LMO: god, i'm sorry!
guy: thanks.
LMO: what happened?
guy: this guy freaked out because some other guy drank his soda.
LMO: that's terrible. are you okay?
guy: yeah, i just got hit a couple of times here. [gestures at ribs] i'm pretty sore, though.
LMO: maybe you should get yourself checked out, to make sure your internal organs are okay.
guy: man, internal organs! well, it happened last night, so -
LMO: if you're still hurting in a couple of days, you should go see somebody. is this the black paint?
guy: no, it should be next to the white. here it is!
LMO: seriously, you don't mess around with that stuff.
LMO: and probably you shouldn't hang out with that guy any more.
guy: i'm the type of person that, when i see injustice, i have to speak up about it.
guy: and i think people appreciate that.
LMO: could you help me with some spray paint?
guy: sure! what color do you need?
LMO: black.
guy: that's easy!
guy: so...i got beat up last night.
LMO: god, i'm sorry!
guy: thanks.
LMO: what happened?
guy: this guy freaked out because some other guy drank his soda.
LMO: that's terrible. are you okay?
guy: yeah, i just got hit a couple of times here. [gestures at ribs] i'm pretty sore, though.
LMO: maybe you should get yourself checked out, to make sure your internal organs are okay.
guy: man, internal organs! well, it happened last night, so -
LMO: if you're still hurting in a couple of days, you should go see somebody. is this the black paint?
guy: no, it should be next to the white. here it is!
LMO: seriously, you don't mess around with that stuff.
LMO: and probably you shouldn't hang out with that guy any more.
guy: i'm the type of person that, when i see injustice, i have to speak up about it.
guy: and i think people appreciate that.
09.08.10
plans for the indie-coming-of-age-movie-shared-house-in-connecticut thing continue apace.
plans for the indie-coming-of-age-movie-shared-house-in-connecticut thing continue apace.
Re: CT trip updatealso i bought a backgammon set.
From: 1
BTW, as a side note, it seems like one of the bedrooms is an attic room--so maybe we shouldn't worry too much about an extra couple and just be happy no one has to sleep in the attic?
Re: CT trip update
From: 2
i propose we use the attic as a jail.
Re: CT trip update
From: 3
Discotheque?!
Re: CT trip update
From: 4
maybe one of us would LIKE the attic room. you know, theoretically.
Re: CT trip update
From: 5
i was just gonna say - broadly speaking, i like attics.
Re: CT trip update
From: 4
ATTIC FIGHT!
04.15.10: the dirty dozen, part I {making it}
boy, who knew vacationing while poor makes you really, really poor? we'll while away the weekend picking oakum and dreaming. dreaming is free.
01 alec wilkinson has a piece in this week's new yorker about s.a. andrée, a swedish engineer who tried to fly over the north pole in a hydrogen balloon in 1897. (the expedition failed, but as wilkinson blogged, a french explorer completed the trip just this weekend.) he calls a photo of andrée's downed balloon "desolate" - but it's utterly beautiful, i think. on the five-story "balloon house" the engineer built for his vessel:
02 from tara ariano, miami medical inspires our list of 10 other cities in which to set hospital shows. a local spinoff would be something like
Series Setting: Lower East Side, NY
Series Title:"Crossing Delancey" "LES ICU"
Location-Specific Medical Situations: A malfunctioning Shabbos elevator precipitates dozens of exhaustion episodes in a stairwell on the East River; a deadly riot at Doughnut Plant leaves tourists bruised, iced; I sucker-punch a dude in gladiator sandals.
03 on my walk to the office, the local wafel truck:
questionable fiction, to be sure, but the fates could summon something tasty to follow that conjunctive adverb. it is friday.
boy, who knew vacationing while poor makes you really, really poor? we'll while away the weekend picking oakum and dreaming. dreaming is free.
01 alec wilkinson has a piece in this week's new yorker about s.a. andrée, a swedish engineer who tried to fly over the north pole in a hydrogen balloon in 1897. (the expedition failed, but as wilkinson blogged, a french explorer completed the trip just this weekend.) he calls a photo of andrée's downed balloon "desolate" - but it's utterly beautiful, i think. on the five-story "balloon house" the engineer built for his vessel:
The front wall of the house could quickly be pulled down when the balloon was ready to lift off. The floor, as well as every part of the house that might touch the balloon, was covered with heavy felt. The windows were made from gelatin and the roof was cloth.this is how people turn steampunk.
02 from tara ariano, miami medical inspires our list of 10 other cities in which to set hospital shows. a local spinoff would be something like
Series Setting: Lower East Side, NY
Series Title:
Location-Specific Medical Situations: A malfunctioning Shabbos elevator precipitates dozens of exhaustion episodes in a stairwell on the East River; a deadly riot at Doughnut Plant leaves tourists bruised, iced; I sucker-punch a dude in gladiator sandals.
03 on my walk to the office, the local wafel truck:
questionable fiction, to be sure, but the fates could summon something tasty to follow that conjunctive adverb. it is friday.
imaginary reading group discussion questions
01 how does that balloon photo make you feel?
02 what location-specific medical situations would a hospital show in your town crank out?
03 a story made of comments sounds awfully involved, but how about a comment haiku? 5-7-5, to keep things orderly, and one word apiece. for a first word i give you astronauts; please to be adding a word if you so choose.
06.18.09: frank
i noted as i purchased frank (at the renegade craft fair a few weekends ago) that he was a mean little ring: you could really get things done with those ears if you got into a fight while wearing him. "if you wanted to," his designer said. he looked a little dismayed.
i noted as i purchased frank (at the renegade craft fair a few weekends ago) that he was a mean little ring: you could really get things done with those ears if you got into a fight while wearing him. "if you wanted to," his designer said. he looked a little dismayed.
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