This Verse Could Save Your Life

The new advice for modern masses:
On your feet, and off your asses!
The hours you’re spending on your rears
Can cost your lifespan several years!
The sofa, couch, or beanbag chair
On which you rest your derriere
Is slowly, surely, killing you.
And so, of course, what you must do
Is walk. Or run. Or, simply, stand—
It’s really not a big demand—
There’s just one thing you have to quit;
The thing you cannot do… is sit.

So… get pissed off! Or get angry! Frown!
But do not take this sitting down.

[Read more…]

Goodbye, Levon

Levon Helm has died. On PBS.org’s “Sound Tracks”, there is an interview and a couple of videos from earlier this year. Makes me happy to see such music, and such happiness, so close to the end of his life; I have seen people his age (and younger) who seemingly lost any sort of enjoyment many years before death caught up with them.

Video of The Weight, after the jump, so you can see what I mean: [Read more…]

Preserve Your Memories; They’re All That’s Left You

Strange. I just heard of the death of a high school classmate, someone I have not thought about in over 30 years. I have moved on from there, and have not been back to that town in… 29 years, if not a bit more. And this person was never a close friend (in truth, I was terribly jealous, because the person from whom I heard this news today, had a crush on this person 35 years ago).

I always thought, even back then, that the people I would miss most would be that “not my best friends, but friends nonetheless” category. Because I would keep in touch with my best friends, of course, but I would likely not keep in touch with this second tier.

Turns out I did not even keep in touch with my best friends from High School. Or many from college. I moved on. Not everyone did; Cuttlespouse keeps in touch with high school and college friends, and most people I know do the same. I am the odd one. I don’t think I actually miss this person, about whose death I just heard. I do, though, miss the person from whom I heard the news.

Anyway, this will take a mere 4 minutes of your life, and is worth far more. If you can’t spare that, jump ahead to the three minute mark; either way, you’re welcome.

Ear Worms At NPR!

There’s a tune in my brain
Which will drive me insane
Cos I can’t seem to rein
in my thinking
And it’s solace I seek
Cos it’s been there all week
Like my head’s sprung a leak
and it’s sinking
It’s just musical fluff
Though it’s catchy enough,
And an ear-worm is tough
to dismember
But I’d love to take aim
Cos it isn’t a game
And it burns like a flame
or an ember
I’ve been thinking it through
And I know what I’ll do—
I’ll just share them with you
in my writing
And I hope you’re inclined
Not to think me unkind,
Cos I hope that you find
them exciting
So I tell you, my child,
Here’s a list I’ve compiled—
Though my thoughts have gone wild,
this will tame me
My relief is my goal—
If these songs hurt your soul
They’re not mine to control…
so don’t blame me!

More, after the jump!) [Read more…]

Car Troubles

Just dodged a bit of a bullet, and repairs to the car (which was sounding simply ghastly) were considerably less expensive than I feared. In honor of the old dear, a verse from quite a while ago, that a total of maybe six people read at the time. Which is too bad, cos I really liked this one. After the jump: [Read more…]

Visual Migraine Questions

Cos I know I have some knowledgeable readers.

So right now I am sitting in a darkened office, with brilliant jagged geometric shapes floating in my right visual hemisphere. Having just taken my Maxalt, I am hopeful that they will disappear soon, and that they will not be replaced by an exploding horrific headache.

But the questions…

This time, the colors are different from earlier visual migraines. Less bright colors, sometimes appearing to be a palate of grays. It also appears more melty than usual. Oh, and this one is confined to my right visual hemisphere.

So, does that mean vascular activity in left occipital lobe? Or could it be elsewhere in the various visual pathways? More generally, could one conceivably map the location in the brain where the migraine activity is happening by attending to the visual phenomena? (Has this been done?)

The NYTimes had (has?) a blog on migraine art; there is quite a lot of variation. I tend to get the current effect (location varies, as does color scheme now), and occasionally a different sort where it looks like I am viewing the world through a cracked stained-glass window. Would different sorts of visual experiences imply different, and specifiable, brain areas of vascular weirdness.

Signing off now–my right eye is beginning to throb, which is not a good sign.