20 posts tagged “leukemia”
OK, it's almost been a year and back then this was my first post.
"So here it is. It's an attempt at a blog so it should begin with what I want to accomplish.
Like most bloggers, I think, and in no specific order, I want to share ideas, interests and vent a bit. I promise not too much on the Leukemia front but it is rather important to me these days.
Posting? Well I will do the best I can considering my fatigue and responsibilities."
Well, it has been quite a year and I've enjoyed blogging, Vox, and the Vox community very much. I've achieved my goals and I've "met" some very special people. Thanks so much!
Here are a few of the things that have made my days better recently...
- Last Saturday was the anniversary of my bone marrow transplant. It was great to be around family and friends (like Eric).
- Of course, this leads me to the incredible appreciation I have for my UK donor. Without her I would not be enjoying ANYTHING. Believe me, I have a firm grasp on my own mortality and truly, madly, deeply, appreciate this time I have.
- Today we had an incredible storm. It was an epic display of nature's power and the sky was alive with booming thunder and broad bolts of lightning. It went on for ages and had the old dog and I quite excited, probably for different reasons.
- The pleasures of those little patches of garden continue. Most of us have planted something and forgotten about it. These can be wonderful surprises like my crocusmia lucifer.
- Stories I have recently received about Akron and Cleveland. OK, they're not Mubai or Vienna but it nice to read the impressions of an old friend. Thanks Peter.
- Getting a call tonight from an Aunt and Uncle and just touching base.
These may not sound like much but they're grand things to me.
It's hard to believe it's been so long since I've posted on books. My reading abilities are still, somewhat, impaired but the enjoyment is there. Of course my friends know that I seem to alternate between "serious lit" and junk. I can't help it. I'll read just about anything if it's well done.
Here are some recent reads.
I have just finished rereading Michael Mallett's The Borgias: the Rise and Fall of a Renaissance Dynasty. Packed full of characters, dates and footnotes this is still quite easy to read and an excellent description of this fascinating period. You can certain believe that Machiavelli's inspiration was based on the Borgia politics he saw around himself.
I am just finishing John Burdett's Bangkok Tattoo. The "hero" of this novel is detective Sonchai Jitpleecheep who also helps manage his mother's brothel. Life and death, sex and the CIA, the East and West, all meet here and are interpreted through the eyes of our, usually, gentle Buddhist Sonchai.
"Rebirth ... You have been born into a human body hardwired with each and every transgression from the last time around, and now you must spend the next seventy years clawing your way back to the music. No wonder we cry."
Jonathan Kellerman's Rage brings back psychologist Alex Delaware. The story centers around a child murder and societal corruption. There's nothing deep here. It's just a well written, page turning, distraction. This is beach reading.
On deck is Bapsi Sidhwa's Cracking India. I have been deliberately avoiding knowing too much about this novel before I tackle it. Sidhwa, herself, I find quite interesting. She first came to my attention through her work with director Deepa Mehta. Cracking India was the basis for Mehta's film Earth. I've found I can enjoy, or not, a book and a film, based on a book, for different reasons.
Here are a few of the things that have made my days better recently...
- Having special visitors (Thanks C. and J.!!) who traveled here from the Emirates.
- Local neighbor's gardens and ponds.
- The great wildlife we've seen this Spring.
- Great plants all around.
- Strawberries. I finally could really taste a strawberry. It was fantastic. This also indicates my tastebuds have, indeed, continued to recover - to my surprise ...
- Terrific weather when we really needed it.
- Books I've been trying to read - will post more soon ...
- My upcoming visit from Eric.
- and Friends and Neighbors. I was AWOL from Vox what with guests and everything. Thanks for your notes - You know who you are!
Update
A few years have gone by since I've had roses. I thought I'd do some as part of my general "back in the garden" physical activity plan. Here are my first blooms. I am not sure what white roses are supposed to represent. I just love their delicacy. It's the little things ...
It's been quite the strange Spring. Heat followed by snow but all that seems to be behind us now.
Having missed the season of renewal last year, it's the little things I am really enjoying.
Tonight it was baked asparagus and chops on the Q. This was follwed by a little walk out back in the woods. There they were! The Trilliums are out. Jack in the Pulpits are soon to follow. Spring is here!
OK, I played with my banner today. OK, I'm writing on this damn blog instaed of doing my own "serious" writing. OK, I have an April 30th deadline to get a significant number of pages to a friendly editor. My level of concentration stinks. Can I count these words? I better check my email again. Will I ever get back down to it? Arrrgh!
What a weekend. The local ski hill hosted its' final races for the kids. Saturday was slalom and GS. Sunday was Nordic and jumping. Forecasters had predicted temperatures well above zero C and rain. The weather held off. Oh, it was mild. There were patches of mud everywhere but Saturday night there was even a bit of snow. The weather held for the kids and the events were great. Spring could now begin in earnest.
I had helped to arrange a surprise birthday party on Saturday and it was actually a surprise and enjoyed by everyone. It's nice it was for a good person, too.
This morning the rains came and at times they have been torrential. Looking out the window I saw my first Robin of 2007. I am wiped out but it really feels like Spring. Fantastic!
Happy Spring, smiles, and rejuvenation to all my friends in the northern hemisphere.
Some of you probably know I missed the end of last Winter and all of Spring what with being in the hospital and all.
This morning I was taking a break from trying to build a page in Squidoo and I heard the distinctive calls. There were ducks flying by!
It was a great treat and confirmed spring is really here. It's the little things ...
Right after Christmas one of the burners on the stove died. A quick trip to the local DIY and the replacement was installed. Even I could do that.
What I had forgotten was this new burner is considerably hotter than it's older mates. To make a long story short I kinda burned the broccoli soup I'd created. "Have you noticed the soup has a bit of a smoky taste?" Yes, well, I'll try to do better later in the week.
Today humbled by broccoli. Thursday I will, perhaps, torture minestrone.
Tuesday's clinic visit had some good news and some not so good news. The good news is that I no longer have any dietary restrictions. This means that formerly ''banned' things are back on the menu. The kitchen is open! Man, I have missed salad and I'm planning on celebrating with a big Greek salad this weekend. Let's hope my taste buds cooperate.
I have been simply amazed by the responses that have come into my previous post on Friendship. Most of this has gone on in private emails but it was the post that got it going. It has been a lot of fun tossing about ideas and theories. It has also been very cool (yes, I say cool) to have neighbors share personal experiences and listen to some of mine.
Wednesday I went and got a haircut. It is over a year since this has happened, unless you count having my head shaved in the hospital - thanks Joe. Now when I say haircut I mean a trip to a traditional barber. When I was a kid I didn't enjoy getting my haircut but I liked going to the shop with my Dad. The men complained about politicians, debated the pros and cons of various hockey and baseball players and spoke of the next season's fishing trips. I loved the smells of lotions, creams, disinfectants and cigars. The cigars are gone, of course, and the strops are generally silent. Where two barbers shared a shop one chair now is empty but I am drawn back. My trips to a spa will be limited. I do not need a massage let alone a shampoo. A crisp, clean, cut and a chat about the day's affairs. The walk outside into a spring-like breeze ... it's almost instant refreshment. $15 with a generous tip.
Another nice thing is that I am now able to read and only get functionally drowsy rather than falling immediately to sleep. This has allowed me the opportunity to return with satisfaction to an old "friend" author Michael Connelly.
In The Closers Detective Hieronymus "Harry" Bosch returns to the LAPD after a three year retirement. He's assigned to the newly re-formed Open-Unsolved ("cold case") Unit and his former partner Kizmin Rider. Together they must resolve the 17-year-old murder of a mixed-race teenager.
I am, obviously to fans, behind in this series. The prose may not be Connelly's most descriptive as a lot of time is spent dealing with the changes in Departmental politics during his absence. It's still a very good read for crime fans. I suspect the time spent on background gives Connelly more freedom to wax darkly poetic in the subsequent Bosch novels.
I am now about half way through Carl Sagan's The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark.
Most of what I have come across so far has involved Sagan rejecting beliefs in alien abduction or Atlantis on the basis that they are ignorant. This doesn't mean he puts down the believers, necessarily, but rather he shows how many "New Age" ideas (and some old ones, too) do not stand up to scientific scrutiny and/or fact. He could see and appreciate the desire for belief in something else. He felt, however, that somehow society had let these people down by not allowing them to direct the same positive energy towards science and its' own marvels.
Sagan was a good scientist. He remains, in his legacy of film and books, an excellent communicator.
Food, a haircut, discussion and books ... so for today it's the little things that make life good.
