Sunday, February 26, 2012
Rob Ford Radio Personality
The term Agitprop immediately sprung to mind as I listened to a report of the latest buffoonery from the Fords. The term agitprop originated as a result of a department in the old Soviet Union; namely The Department for Agitation and Propaganda. Only a regime clearly not for the people or perhaps George Orwell (in irony) could have come up with such a blatantly obvious name for a government department.
While in it's original form the Department for Agitation and Propaganda did not have any unpleasant connotations, it was later changed to Ideological Department....another autocratic brain wave. Agitpro changed meaning later to mean any artistic or dramatic means of carrying a message to the audience.
While I don't expect the brothers Ford to know any of this, they do know what to do in order to win support for their transit program -- flood the airwaves, distract people, cajole and bully, until you get your way. Men's men they are.
And while i'm at it, why do tyrannical governments always come up with the most grandiose and convoluted names for their governmental deparments? Is it an attempt to cover up the real work of the departments concerned with baffle gab? Or is it an indication of how out of touch most tyrannies are with the pavement and the people? If any of this is the case, then all the brothers need is a catchy, and at the same time, convoluted name for their new show.
Friday, February 17, 2012
February Update
What am I up to? Let's see: I am swamped at work. This is the result of two things....the first, a rookie's mistake. In order to be the helpful new guy, I have taken cases from clinicians on the Adult Division Team. A lot of horse trading goes on in the hallways - "I have a client that would respond really well with you." - Then, instead of saying, "No." I slowly begin to think that just one more client won't make or break me.
So now I have over 24 active clients and with three of them very involved with everybody and their brother in on the action -- hospital, parents, other agencies, in-house clinicians...
I easily have 13 to 19 voice messages each day and the flow of e-mail, junky and real, is endless. I am trying a to-do list app for my ipad and iphone. I try to prioritize. But, having an ADHD brain does not help. Sometimes, the last call or e-mail I read gets done first, and the first thing I should have done gets left behind. I find spending an hour (ok, or a little more) at night helps to keep the clutter of voice and mail messages down to a manageable amount. Closing the door at the office and putting some music on in the background also helps. Most of all, you just keep swimming.
Home: The kids are doing well and we are working on bettering their involvement at school. Tarah is taking piano lessons and Broadway dancing lessons at Seneca College. Seth is still semi-interested in his Tae Kwon Do. And I spend the latter part of each evening (when possible) watching fabulous TV that aired on premier channels and or, that I totally missed. Firefly and The Big C are two great TV series that come to mind.
The wife is still working on her Masters and we continue to do the parent thing as well as we can.
I drive to work. The winter has been un-seasonably warm. The sun was out most of the week. I've dropped two inches off my waist and am on day 70-something of not smoking. Hurray for me!
Getting physically close to the kids involves, besides the usual hugs and kisses, pretending to be a puppy who is all excited to see the kids and is jumping and snuffling and yelping at their necks and arms. Tickly fun.
Friday, February 10, 2012
Thursday, February 09, 2012
Walking
Walking in my shoes is such hard work sometimes. I tire and resort to sitting, shuffling on my ass, rolling or sometimes, undulating across the floor. I like it. It gives me a whole new point of view....oh, I say to myself, so this is what it's like to be three feet tall! Sometimes, when the locomoting gets to be too much, I take a chance and try walking a mile in my own shoes again, only to find that they are sooo uncomfortable.
The leather is soft, worn in and a perfect rust-brown hue; but somehow, by the end of my short walk, I end up writhing again from the inevitable, undeniable truth: Walking in my shoes is such hard work.
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Know Thy Self
I know that this is a bold statement, but I have always suffered, like most people I believe, from a certain amount of anxiety around how I was presenting myself and was being perceived. I've always worried and thus spent a lot of energy pulling my punches around others. I no longer feel the need to do this anymore. It's incredibly freeing; a whole new perspective on my life.
I know that many people in the world come, through various circumstances, to have this same sense of self very early on comparatively. I have come to this place of comfort now.
Gnôthi seauton -- The Greek maxim often meditated on my poets and philosophers, puts it very succinctly -- Know Thyself! I don't claim to have reached this point and I hope I am never arrogant enough to claim this. No, this feeling -- sense of comfort -- I feel is different: It is a form of feeling grounded, a sense of living in the present fully, with no thought of worrying.
Except in the many instances when I am careful about treading lightly in order to avoid hurting peoples feelings or for the sake of simple human politics to achieve a greater goal; only then, do I now feel the urge to hold back my opinion or choose to simply say nothing.
Derek Walcott's poem, "Love After Love," which I placed in my wedding program thirteen years ago and have hung on the wall of my bedroom since, speaks about ones love for self:
The time will come when, with elationyou will greet yourself arriving
at your own door, in your own mirror
and each will smile at the other's welcome,
and say, sit here. Eat.
You will love again the stranger who was your self.
Give wine. Give bread. Give back your heart
to itself, to the stranger who has loved you
all your life, whom you ignored
for another, who knows you by heart.
Take down the love letters from the bookshelf,
the photographs, the desperate notes,
peel your own image from the mirror.
Sit. Feast on your life.
It is by no means complete: this process. But it feels like I have reached a plateau. I have arrived. I have finally found a comfortable seat and am ready to feast.
Alanis Morissette's song, " " comes to mind. Here are the last three stanzas from that song:
the moment I let go of it was the momentI got more than I could handle
the moment I jumped off of it
was the moment I touched down
how bout no longer being masochistic
how bout remembering your divinity
how bout unabashedly bawling your eyes out
how bout not equating death with stopping
thank you india
thank you providence
thank you disillusionment
thank you nothingness
thank you clarity
thank you thank you silence
Thursday, January 19, 2012
One of the Minarets at the Taj Mahal
Click on the pic for an enlarged view.
Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Location:Agra, India
Friday, January 13, 2012
Thursday, January 12, 2012
Tarah Update and Other Stuff
Smoking Cessation: I am on day 38 (I think). Which is a good sign, that I am no longer counting.
Surrey Place Centre: Love working at Surrey Place...the atmosphere is adult and professional. Managed to snag an office of my own thanks to my manager for pushing for me. I have made it home and have had many jealous visitors come by. Plan on having an office warming party with delicate little finger foods that require lobster forks to eat and ginger ale in plastic wine glasses from the dollar store. Classy, no?
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Monday, January 09, 2012
Tarah's Scopes at Sick Kids
Sunday, January 01, 2012
Bananas and Monkeys
Inside the cage, hang a banana on a string and place a set of stairs under it. Before long, a monkey will go to the stairs and start to climb towards the banana. As soon as he touches the stairs, spray all of the other monkeys with cold water.
After a while, another monkey makes an attempt with the same result - all the other monkeys are sprayed with cold water. Pretty soon, when another monkey tries to climb the stairs, the other monkeys will try to prevent it.
Now, put away the cold water. Remove one monkey from the cage and replace it with a new one. The new monkey sees the banana and wants to climb the stairs. To his surprise and horror, all of the other monkeys attack him.
After another attempt and attack, he knows that if he tries to climb the stairs, he will be assaulted.
Next, remove another of the original five monkeys and replace it with a new one. The newcomer goes to the stairs and is attacked. The previous newcomer takes part in the punishment with enthusiasm! Likewise, replace a third original monkey with a new one, then a fourth, then the fifth. Every time the newest monkey takes to the stairs, he is attacked.
Most of the monkeys that are beating him have no idea why they were not permitted to climb the stairs or why they are participating in the beating of the newest monkey.
After replacing all the original monkeys, none of the remaining monkeys have ever been sprayed with cold water. Nevertheless, no monkey ever again approaches the stairs to try for the banana. Why not? Because as far as they know that's the way it's always been done round here.
And that, my friends, is how company policies are made.
Source of article: and here's an interesting link
Monday, December 26, 2011
Philips Sonic Care Gives Good Service!
Last week, our rechargeable toothbrush for kids by Philips began vibrating very loudly and the shaft, which connects to the toothbrush heads, was coming loose.Now I know this is not earth-shattering news, but, I figure when you encounter good service that you should acknowledge it in any way you can. It is why I have an account with TripAdvisor, Yelp and I always send a quick e-mail when I receive particularly good or bad service.
Sunday, December 25, 2011
Sunday, December 18, 2011
Dr. Duane Sewell
I have appended below an obituary that appeared in the Baltimore Sun recently:
Dr. Duane Anthony Sewell, a highly regarded head and neck surgeon and researcher who was also a member of the faculty of the University of Maryland School of Medicine, died Nov. 26 of gastric cancer at his Mount Washington home.
Dr. Sewell was 44.
"I can't think of anybody who better exemplified what it means to be a physician than Duane Sewell. He combined excellent surgical and research skills, and making his patients extraordinarily comfortable," said Dr. Kevin Cullen, director of the University of Maryland Greenebaum Cancer Center.
"His illness came as a complete shock because he had been so vibrant, and it went too fast," said Dr. Cullen. "He was part of a strong team, and Duane's death is like losing your quarterback. He was a critical and revered member of the team, and now it's going to be a real challenge for his patients, care and research."
"Duane was a brilliant physician, and his brilliance I'd argue was defined by his incredible passion for his patients and a burning passion to investigate the unknown things we didn't know about the biology of cancer and how it impacts us. He was excellent in both arenas," said Dr. Mohan Suntha, associate director of the Greenebaum Cancer Center and professor of radiation oncology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine.
"There has been an outpouring of emotional response to the impact of his death by his patients, colleagues and those he trained. … That will be his lasting legacy," said Dr. Suntha. "We've lost a tremendous colleague and friend. Duane's death has moved us all in a unique way. He was a man who was blessed with both intellect and curiosity."
Dr. Sewell, whose father, Dr. Trevor E. Sewell, was a psychologist and former dean of Temple University's School of Education, and whose mother, Fay Barbara Sewell, was professor of mathematics at Montgomery County Community College in Pennsylvania, was born in Milwaukee. He was 7 when he moved with his family to Abington, Pa.
After graduating from Abington High School in 1985, Dr. Sewell earned a bachelor's degree in biology in 1989 from Harvard University.
He briefly contemplated a legal career but decided to pursue medicine.
"I think Duane was driven by his desire to help people, especially underprivileged people. That was a big factor in his choosing medicine, plus he was good at science," said his wife of 15 years, Dr. Catherine Sewell, a gynecologist and faculty member at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, whom he met when both were students at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.
After graduating from medical school in 1994, Dr. Sewell completed a surgical internship at Union Memorial Hospital in 1995. He was a postdoctoral fellow in the department of otolaryngology at Johns Hopkins Hospital from 1995 to 1997.
He completed a residency in 2000 in the department of otolaryngology at Johns Hopkins Hospital and from 2000 to 2001 was a postdoctoral research fellow in the department of microbiology at the University of Pennsylvania.
From 2001 to 2002, he was a head and neck surgery fellow in the department of otolaryngology at Penn.
Before coming to the University of Maryland School of Medicine in 2007, Dr. Sewell was an assistant professor in the department of otorhinolaryngology at the University of Pennsylvania, and was also a staff surgeon at the Philadelphia Veterans Administration Medical Center.
"He was extremely soft-spoken and humble," said Dr. Cullen. "We all respected his thinking and his final word enormously. He was marvelous at unraveling extraordinarily difficult situations."
"Duane was able to balance his career and at the same time be an incredible family man. I'm willing to bet that his wife and children were the most important thing in his life, and he made his patients feel the same way," said Dr. Suntha.
"From the moment they were diagnosed with cancer, he understood the challenges of the diagnosis and wanted to make sure that the patient and their family were taken care of," he said.
"He was wonderful at calming them, and the bitter irony was that he had to deal with his own at the end of his life," said Dr. Cullen.
In an email Monday to staff members of the Greenebaum Cancer Center, Dr. Cullen wrote: "Duane's compassionate yet commanding demeanor instantly (and rightly) put all of his patients at ease, be they an ambassador with all possible privilege or a homeless person clinging to any hope. He saw them as equals and provided them the best care possible."
At the end of his life, Dr. Sewell, while technically on leave, maintained an interest in his work and research, said his wife.
He wrote many journal articles and abstracts. He also was section editor of "Comprehensive Overview of Otolaryngology," published in 2003, and was the author of several book chapters.
His professional memberships included the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, American Association of Cancer Research, American Head and Neck Society and the American Association of Immunologists.
A physically active person, Dr. Sewell was training for a triathlon when his cancer was diagnosed.
"He enjoyed camping, and reading African-American and sports history," his wife said.
He was an avid Eagles and Phillies fan.
A memorial service will be held
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Dr. Duane Anthony Sewell, a highly regarded head and neck surgeon and researcher who was also a member of the faculty of the University of Maryland School of Medicine, died Nov. 26 of gastric cancer at his Mount Washington home.
Dr. Sewell was 44.
"I can't think of anybody who better exemplified what it means to be a physician than Duane Sewell. He combined excellent surgical and research skills, and making his patients extraordinarily comfortable," said Dr. Kevin Cullen, director of the University of Maryland Greenebaum Cancer Center.
"His illness came as a complete shock because he had been so vibrant, and it went too fast," said Dr. Cullen. "He was part of a strong team, and Duane's death is like losing your quarterback. He was a critical and revered member of the team, and now it's going to be a real challenge for his patients, care and research."
"Duane was a brilliant physician, and his brilliance I'd argue was defined by his incredible passion for his patients and a burning passion to investigate the unknown things we didn't know about the biology of cancer and how it impacts us. He was excellent in both arenas," said Dr. Mohan Suntha, associate director of the Greenebaum Cancer Center and professor of radiation oncology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine.
"There has been an outpouring of emotional response to the impact of his death by his patients, colleagues and those he trained. … That will be his lasting legacy," said Dr. Suntha. "We've lost a tremendous colleague and friend. Duane's death has moved us all in a unique way. He was a man who was blessed with both intellect and curiosity."
Dr. Sewell, whose father, Dr. Trevor E. Sewell, was a psychologist and former dean of Temple University's School of Education, and whose mother, Fay Barbara Sewell, was professor of mathematics at Montgomery County Community College in Pennsylvania, was born in Milwaukee. He was 7 when he moved with his family to Abington, Pa.
After graduating from Abington High School in 1985, Dr. Sewell earned a bachelor's degree in biology in 1989 from Harvard University.
He briefly contemplated a legal career but decided to pursue medicine.
"I think Duane was driven by his desire to help people, especially underprivileged people. That was a big factor in his choosing medicine, plus he was good at science," said his wife of 15 years, Dr. Catherine Sewell, a gynecologist and faculty member at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, whom he met when both were students at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.
After graduating from medical school in 1994, Dr. Sewell completed a surgical internship at Union Memorial Hospital in 1995. He was a postdoctoral fellow in the department of otolaryngology at Johns Hopkins Hospital from 1995 to 1997.
He completed a residency in 2000 in the department of otolaryngology at Johns Hopkins Hospital and from 2000 to 2001 was a postdoctoral research fellow in the department of microbiology at the University of Pennsylvania.
From 2001 to 2002, he was a head and neck surgery fellow in the department of otolaryngology at Penn.
Before coming to the University of Maryland School of Medicine in 2007, Dr. Sewell was an assistant professor in the department of otorhinolaryngology at the University of Pennsylvania, and was also a staff surgeon at the Philadelphia Veterans Administration Medical Center.
"He was extremely soft-spoken and humble," said Dr. Cullen. "We all respected his thinking and his final word enormously. He was marvelous at unraveling extraordinarily difficult situations."
"Duane was able to balance his career and at the same time be an incredible family man. I'm willing to bet that his wife and children were the most important thing in his life, and he made his patients feel the same way," said Dr. Suntha.
"From the moment they were diagnosed with cancer, he understood the challenges of the diagnosis and wanted to make sure that the patient and their family were taken care of," he said.
"He was wonderful at calming them, and the bitter irony was that he had to deal with his own at the end of his life," said Dr. Cullen.
