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)

12.07.16

my friend melissa invited me to something called church of the infinite you, held in the basement beneath union hall (a park slope bar with bocce courts and a fireplace), this past sunday. she'd heard about it from john hodgman. "nondenominational," the tag line read, "...only motivational." "we invite you to SAVE YOURSELF." i was reminded of an oxford house party i attended with a couple of friends that turned out to be some sort of cult recruitment meeting; it took us nearly an hour to leave once we figured out what was going on, as their plan to ensnare us involved hiding our shoes. this was more of an uplifting variety show about the importance of self-care, helmed by jean grae, a hip hop artist, writer, actress, and ferociously charismatic person. she told a story about going to puerto rico and shopping and cooking dinner for an old woman in a bikini who was probably dead; she led a surprisingly effective guided meditation (i have an extremely low tolerance for guided meditations, which tend to make me feel like the little prince) accompanied by a guy playing radiohead's "everything in its right place" on the keyboard. after talking about reports that a muslim woman was attacked on the subway (and that no one helped her), she chatted with the most athletic member of her choir about her women and trans kickboxing class, how it had gone from like six people before the election to about 35 now, and how you should hit people in the eyes, kidneys, and crotch with your elbows and knees, not your fists. it sounded like someone in the row behind us was crying pretty hard. and let the church say FUCK YEAH, she bade us. melissa and i agreed that we'd come back for the next session in two weeks, and that we'd try to find a krav maga class together.

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:

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: "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.

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.

12.02.09

brief interview with a glamorous x-ray technician ruling out pneumonia

(with apologies to david foster wallace)

A. i asked for you specially.

Q.
A. that's how it is in the busy places, with all of the scratching of the doors.

Q.
A. no one hears me the first time.

Q.
A. i don't think, baby. i just take pictures.