Cancer Really Effin’ Sucks!

I’m going to take a moment to talk about something serious. Cancer.  I know this is about as pleasant a topic as you can come by, but I have something to say on this. So here it goes.

Cancer really effin’ sucks.

          Monday, my grandmother, Grandma Bunny as she is known to just about everyone who has ever met her, is heading to the hospital to have port put in so that she can start chemotherapy.  Also, that morning she is having a full body scan to determine if her cancer has spread, or is any where else in her body.  Simply put this sucks.  She is an amazing woman, who already survived colon cancer and last June put on a hell of a fight against an infection that most thought she wouldn’t survive.  Her convalescence was months long and she worked through it.  The fact that she has to do this disgusts me.  This disease disgusts me. 

          Two years ago, my Uncle Jon lost his battle to cancer.  He was a truly amazing man, whom I am proud to have been related to.  He was an amazing piano player, amazing baseball player, amazing tennis player, amazing friend, amazing son, amazing husband, amazing father…Are you seeing the pattern here?  He had an infectious laugh and a deep faith.  He also had a sneeze and nose blowing technique that scared me to death when I was little, but now brings a smile to my face every time I think of it. Cancer took him away too soon, like it has taken so many others. 

          In a phone conversation with my mother just before Christmas, she told me that a childhood friend of my bothers has been diagnosed with cancer.  At 24, the last thing one should be faced with is mortality and disease. And think about the all the children who have to overcome this disease.

          I don’t know a single person whose life hasn’t been affected by cancer, not a single person.  It’s outrageous and has made me feel reactionary.  I want to help put an end to this disease.  I pondered several days over how I wanted to tackle this, where I wanted to focus my attention.  What did I want to do?  Then it occurred to me that I currently have 3 friends who are actively raising money, and my first step in my new quest is to help them raise money.  So please if you can, help me, help them raise money to tackle this horrible disease.

          Amanda Johns is participating in the Philadelphia Susan G. Komen 3-day.  The link to donate money to her is here – http://www.the3day.org/goto/thismomiswalking

          My friends Kelly and Clark are participating in The American Cancer Society – Relay for Life of Temple Terrace.  Donate to Kelly here – http://bit.ly/8OsD17  Donate to Clark here – http://bit.ly/5kEbYe .

          We have to help put an end to this. Thank You.

          Now, my religious beliefs, or lack there of aren’t exactly a secret.  However, I’d like to ask all of you who do believe to say a prayer to whom or whatever you believe in for my grandmother.  If you don’t believe I’d like to request good thoughts and positive energy, they certainly can’t hurt.  If you would like to share with me the names of those you know struggling with this disease I’ll happily return the favor and send all the positive I can muster. 

Thank You.

          And lastly, I’d like to acknowledge, though not by name because I didn’t ask permission, 2 friends who are in testing, biopsying situations right now. You are most definitely in my thoughts and I hope there is a whole lot of hoopla for a whole lot of nothing.  Also, we can’t talk about cancer without talking about survivors, my grandmother Lillian Burnette a two time survivor and my mom are two that I know.  Please if you’d like share the names of survivors you know, I’d love to hear about and acknowledge them as well.  

Another Book Blog.

1) What author do you own the most books by?
It is probably a tie between Faulkner and Garcia-Marquez, although I do own the collected works of both Shakespeare and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. As they are compiled into 1 book each I don’t know if they qualify for the “most” of anything.  They are certainly the largest books I own and if separated into individual books I’d clearly own the most of one of them.

2) What book do you own the most copies of?
I believe that I have multiple copies of both The Sound and the Fury and Huckleberry Finn.

3) Did it bother you that both those questions ended with prepositions?
Not at all.  Will it bother you if I end this answer in one?  Below.

4) What fictional character are you secretly in love with?
Jay Gatsby (Gatz) openly. Humbert Humbert a little shamefully. Shut up he was funny.

5) What book have you read the most times in your life (excluding picture books read to children; i.e., Goodnight Moon does not count)?
Happily on my own Great Expectations or A Prayer for Owen Meany, unfortunately through schooling The Awakening (Don’t get me started.) Crap, I’ve also read Sphere and Jurassic Park multiple times.  Oh hell, I don’t know.

6) What was your favorite book when you were ten years old?
The Secret of NIMH or Watership Down, the only acceptable book about bunnies.

7) What is the worst book you’ve read in the past year?
The worst one I’ve finished was The Murder of King Tut by James Patterson. I’ve started and been unable to finish too may to count.

8 ) What is the best book you’ve read in the past year?

I truly loved Fight Club, except of course for the fact that we can’t talk about that. 

9) If you could force everyone you tagged to read one book, what would it be?
A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving or Sula by Toni Morrison.

10) Who deserves to win the next Nobel Prize for Literature?
Salman Rushdie, Joyce Carol Oates, Don Delillo – none of them will win because the committee doesn’t like controversy and thinks Americans are writing rubbish.

11) What book would you most like to see made into a movie?
Probably Joyce’s Ulysses, just because it would be funny to watch someone try.

12) What book would you least like to see made into a movie?
I don’t know, I’d be pretty happy if they stopped making those Twilight things.

13) Describe your weirdest dream involving a writer, book, or literary character.
No idea on this one, unless LL Cool J is an author.  And I can’t tell you about those dreams.

14) What is the most lowbrow book you’ve read as an adult?
No idea, probably Beam Me Up, Jesus, which was hilarious by the way.

15) What is the most difficult book you’ve ever read?
Hands down, Ulysses by James Joyce. 

16) What is the most obscure Shakespeare play you’ve seen?
I’ve seen? No idea, probably As You Like It.

17) Do you prefer the French or the Russians?
This is hard because I’m not a fan of the Russians, but the French have Madame Bovary, which is horrible. However, the Russians have Ivan Iliych which was also horrible, but at least it was short.  Simply because I love The Count of Monte Cristo (and the sandwich come to think of it) I’ll go with the French.

18) Roth or Updike?
Can I choose to shoot myself in the foot instead? No? Really? Then Roth, simply because I’ve read less and there were no bunnies.

19) David Sedaris or Dave Eggers?
Not too fond of either, can I go with Jim Gerard instead? How about Dave Barry?

20) Shakespeare, Milton, or Chaucer?
Shakespeare I adore. Milton I respect and appreciate. Chaucer I want to dig up and shoot in the face, perhaps solely because of the Lit class where I had to read that crap in Middle English.  Either that or I just found it incomplete and not enjoyable. 

21) Austen or Eliot
I’m going to assume that this is George Eliot, only because a T.S. Eliot comparison would be a little strange.  I will admit the T.S was the first Eliot I thought of.  Not that it really matters; I’d pick just about everything over Austen, except Vanity Fair.

 
22) What is the biggest or most embarrassing gap in your reading?
It is definitely the biggest but I don’t really find it embarrassing, The Bible.

23) What is your favorite novel?
The Sound and the Fury, The Great Gatsby, Great Expectations, A Prayer for Owen Meany.  That’s all you get I refuse to choose between them. 

24) Play?
Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf and The Tempest. 

25) Poem?
“The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost, but that sounds so cliché that I feel compelled to include “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” by T.S. Eliot.

26) Essay?
No idea what the name of it is but it was written by Mark Twain and he’s criticizing James Fennimore Cooper.  And just for kicks sake I’m going to include my least favorite which is “Sinner’s in the Hand of an Angry God”, just because I had a professor who said I wasn’t an educated English major until I’d read it. I read it. It sucked.

27) Short story?
“The Mist” and “The Langolier’s” by Stephen King. “Hills like White Elephants” by Hemingway. “The Cold Equation” by Tom Godwin was a pretty good one too.

28) Work of nonfiction?
Theodore Rex by Edmund Morris.

29) Who is your favorite writer?
Faulkner, Dickens, Fitzgerald, Crichton…Once again I won’t choose.

30) Who is the most overrated writer alive today?
I’d like to say the Twilight lady, but as I haven’t read them that would not be proper.  So, from what I’ve read, V.S. Naipaul, Mitch Albom, Nicholas Sparks, and James Patterson. Is that enough? Crap I have to choose again? Nicholas Sparks.

31) What is your desert island book?
UM, I don’t know.  How to Survive and How to Build a Boat with Palm Trees, Sand, and Salt Water.

32) And… what are you reading right now?
The new James Rollins that I don’t know the title of.

The meme I stole from Janey.

Stole this from Janey…Thanks for the inspiration my soul sister.

1. You can press a button that will make any one person explode. Who would you blow up?
Without a doubt, Ann Coulter the world could do with one less hater. (I guess my wanting to blow her up makes me a hater that could be a problem. Ok, I officially vote it is ok to hate haters.)

2. You can flip a switch that will wipe any band or musical artist out of existence. Which one will it be?
This one is a tie, John Tesh or Yanni. (More hating, I officially vote it is also ok to hate John Tesh and Yanni.)

3. Who would you really like to just punch in the face?
Ann Coulter, John Tesh, Yanni, or several dozen customers who are idiotic jerks on a daily basis. I could name like 15 right now. (Wanting to punch somebody in the face doesn’t make you a hater. I just voted on this one too.)

4. What is your favorite cheese?
Generally speaking it’s Colby Jack, right now it’s Baby Swiss.

5. You can only have one kind of sandwich. Every sandwich ingredient known to humankind is at your immediate disposal. What kind will you make?
Boar’s Head Cajun Turkey and Baby Swiss.

6. You have the opportunity to sleep with the movie celebrity of your choice. We are talking no-strings-attached sex and it can only happen once. Who is the lucky celebrity of your choice?
This week L.L. Cool J. Next week, who knows?

7. You have the opportunity to sleep with the music-celebrity of your choice. Who do you pick?
Sweet, L.L. Cool J fits here too. Woo Hoo.

8. Now that you’ve slept with two different people in a row, you seem to be having an excellent day because you just came across a hundred-dollar bill on the sidewalk. Holy shit, a hundred bucks! How are you gonna spend it?
First off, not a slut I only slept with L.L. Second, with 100 bucks I have no idea, probably buy some shoes.

9. You just got a free plane ticket to anywhere. You have to depart right now. Where are you gonna go?
Right this very second someplace warm, Cabo probably, any other time I’d pick London.

10. Upon arrival to the aforementioned location, you get off the plane and discover another hundred-dollar bill. Shit! Now that you are in the new location, what are you gonna do?
After either being ecstatic or pissed about the exchange rate, I’d be at the bar or the pub.

11. An angel appears out of Heaven and offers you a lifetime supply of the alcoholic beverage of your choice. It is…?
Jack Daniels, hopefully she’ll leave some Ginger Ale too. (Angels endorsing alcoholism, isn’t that kind of weird?)

12. Rufus appears out of nowhere with a time-traveling phone booth. You can go anytime in the PAST. What time are you traveling to and what are you going to do when you get there?
I’d love to be in Paris with Hemingway, Fitzgerald, and Picasso just talking. (Yeah, I know, we’d probably drink too.)

13. You discover a beautiful island upon which you may build your own society. You make the rules. What is the first rule you put into place?
1. You do not talk about Fight Club. 2. At no point in time should Crystal’s glass be empty.

14. You have been given the opportunity to create the half-hour TV show of your own design. What is it called and what’s the premise?
This is not something I’m in to, but I can’t believe I’d be the only who’d watch L.L. Cool J Stares Back at You or Cary Grant Reads the Phone Book.

15.What is your favorite curse word?
This is hilarious. Fuck, obviously.

16.One night you wake up because you heard a noise. You turn on the light to find that you are surrounded by MUMMIES. The mummies aren’t really doing anything, they’re just standing around your bed. What do you do?
I tend to be reactionary so I’d probably hit them. (It is not hater to hit mummies. They clearly fit into the monster category. It isn’t hater to hate monsters, everybody knows this.)

17. Your house is on fire, holy shit! You have just enough time to run in there and grab ONE inanimate object. Don’t worry, your loved ones and pets have already made it out safely. So what’s the item?
Chester (He’s a stuffed dog.), I’ve had him since my first Christmas….or my Great-Grandma’s pearls. Yikes, I don’t know.

18. The Angel of Death has descended upon you. Fortunately, the Angel of Death is pretty cool and in a good mood, and it offers you a half-hour to do whatever you want before you bite it. Whatcha gonna do in that half-hour?
Probably blow up Ann Coulter, or maybe challenge him to a game of Battleship.

19. You accidentally eat some radioactive vegetables. They were good, and what’s even cooler is that they endow you with the super-power of your choice! What’s it gonna be?
I am all about invisibility.

20. You can re-live any point of time in your life. The time-span can only be a half-hour, though. What half-hour of your past would you like to experience again?
I don’t know. There have been lots of great moments with friends, sitting in Café du Monde for example. And hundreds of family moments that were awesome. I’d probably choose any moment from my childhood where I was completely without worry, sitting on the green box or riding bikes, pure euphoria.

21.You can erase any horrible experience from your past. What will it be?
I don’t know that I’d actually erase, but there was a evening a few years ago that I’d like to just tell myself to have a couple less drinks.

22. You got kicked out of the country for being a time-traveling heathen who sleeps with celebrities and has super-powers. But check out this cool shit… you can move to anywhere else in the world! Bitchin’! What country are you going to live in now?
I’d pick the U.K. in London, probably the Earl’s Court area, or Greenwich. I could live in Cambridge if I had to. I’d like to say France, but I’ve never actually been there so I don’t know if I’d like it or not.

23. This question still counts, even for those of you who are under age. Check it out. You have been eternally banned from every single bar in the world except for ONE. Which one is it gonna be?
Fergs or my bar at Longhorn.

24. Hopefully you didn’t mention this in the super-powers question…. If you did, then we’ll just expand on that. Check it out… Suddenly, you have gained the ability to FLOAT!!! Whose house are you going to float to first, and be like “Dude, check it out…I can FLOAT!”?
Float as in I’m bloated like a balloon, or float as in fly? Completely changes the way I’d answer this question. In one I’d be soaring in one I’d be panicking.

25. The constant absorption of magical moonbeams mixed with the radioactive vegetables you consumed earlier has given you the ability to resurrect the dead famous-person of your choice. So which celebrity will you bring back to life?
Faulkner, I’d like to talk to him or Fitzgerald, I’d like to party with him.

26. The Celestial Gates of Beyond have opened, much to your surprise because you didn’t think such a thing existed. Death appears. As it turns out, Death is actually a pretty cool entity, and happens to be in a fantastic mood. Death offers to return the friend/family-member/person, etc. of your choice to the living world. Who will you bring back?

Probably my Grandpa Joe (He gave me Chester.), simply because I’d like to know him as a tangible person, instead of the larger than life being I’ve made him out to be and I’d like to know what he thinks of how I turned out.

27. What’s your theme song?
Southern Cross by Crosby, Stills, and Nash or Raspberry Beret by Prince or La Vie en Rose by Edith Piaf, depends entirely on the day.

And there you have it…

The Epcot Food and Wine Festival 2009

Food and Wine

After my second trip to the Epcot Food and Wine Festival this year I’m will no provide a quick review of what was great and what was a big skip-a-roo.
On my first visit I had the pleasure of being able to drink the wine and consume the alcohol. The second trip my antibiotics messed up that game plan, so it was just food. However, the Cosmopolitan Slush at the France stand was to die for. A must drink for those who drink. Also, it is never a bad idea to drink some Champagne, especially the rose varieties they offer. Sadly this is the only alcoholic insight I can provide from this years festival.
Now we will shift gears to the food. As always, the escargot in France is always a win. I took Michelle to experience her first Festival this weekend and she had her first tasting of the snails. She liked them too. Also, particularly good was the Nuremberg sausage roll in Munich. Sausage, pretzel roll, and mustard were delicious awesomeness. And while we were talking about sausage, the perogies and kielbasa was easily the best thing there, purchased easily at the Krakow stand near Norway. And finally as a huge fan of lamb, the lamb slider in New Zealand was very good. And the lamb chop at Melbourne was damn near orgasmic.
As always, I’m not a fan of the fish and chips in England. However, that is a personal preference, not a huge fan of fish. And the only other skip I found was the lobster au gratin thing in Cork, Ireland.
Overall the experience was as wonderful as expected. I want to give a credit to Jennifer for taking me to my first festival all those years ago. And I want all the festival hogs out there to welcome my roommate Michelle to the club. She, too, will become a yearly devotee.

London Part Deux

Tate Modern

Bob and Ashley as we escape.

Now on with less political but no less serious blogging, In London Part One I told everyone about the coolest thing we did in London.  Today I will be sharing with you all the worst.  I will be sharing this less than pleasant experience with all of you good people in hopes that you will be able to avoid the same horrors that we experienced.  Perhaps, you will be able to completely avoid the nightmare and enjoy every aspect of you trip to London.  What was so horrible you ask?  Simply put, The Tate Modern.

 

Now, every guide book about going to the UK, and I mean every one, will put the Tate Modern in the Top 3 places you must go while in London.  Trust me when I say this, it is a big skip.  The building it self is awesome to see.  The architecture is amazing and even the non-exhibit space inside is very cool.  It’s kind of like a big open warehouse layout, with huge towering ceilings and wide open spaces.  The actually exhibit space in the museum is actually pretty small in comparison to the overall size of the building.  I think it is this beauty and architecture alone that is the driving force that gets this building recommended.  Other than that and some cool, yet very pricy stuff in the stores I didn’t find it too appealing. 

 

I must also include in my warning, that on first glance you will think I’m wrong.  Especially if you are a fan of Modern Art, which sadly I thought I was before this.  This museum has several paintings that deceive one into believing that it will be a pleasant place including a couple Jackson Pollack’s and Claude Monet’s.  And while most of the rest of the art looks like stuff you’d buy at Pier 1, it wasn’t unpleasant.  I mean the giant kidney bean thing was a little weird, but hey to each their own.  And to the guy who painted the canvas black and called it art, more power to you bud, you got more balls than me.  However, the problem we encountered came in the room labeled, “Warning, Contents of an Explicit Sexual Nature are Beyond.”  Now, I am not a prude, by any stretch of the imagination.  I’m not offended by nudity or sex.  Trust me, I could have walked into that room seen 18 people having an orgy with toys, masks and whips and not batted an eye.  

 

My cousin Ashley walked in front of me, and the look on her face should have clued me in, but no.  I continued down the hall, turned the corner and that was it.  There was a huge white wall and there were 3 films being projected onto the wall.  One of them, as I vaguely remember had some little people doing something.  I didn’t really pay much attention to that one.  I instead focused on the man, naked, jumping up and down, covered in red paint, flaunting his business all over the place.  My initial reaction was what the hell.  I turned, and looked at my cousin Bobby and he summed it up best.  “I’m done with this.”  But Bobby and I, being brilliant beyond brilliant, didn’t learn the lesson the first time and we chose to enter the next room which was labeled in a similar fashion.  The only thing I remember in that room was the TV set.  It showed a close up of a man’s face, his eyes were closed and he had cloths pins all over his ears.  Upon staring at it further I came to a realization that I was looking at a dead man’s face, or at least someone who was very dead like.  And also, in addition to the cloths pins, there were safety pins poking all over him. Um, not for me. 

After that we aimless wondered for a several minutes, seeing the giant table and chair set that was cool.  The flattened silver tea sets that were indifferent.  And the room with the giant pieces of pooh that were typical of the museum overall.  Needless to say our visit was cut fairly short.  The worst thing is that we donated the suggested 3 pounds upon entering, instead of waiting until the end.  I do anything to have those 3 pounds back, but at least we learned that lesson.  The best things, the building itself is cool.  It’s located right across the Millennium Bridge from St. Paul’s and right down the street from Shakespeare’s Globe.

Why I support Universal Healthcare.

              Now anyone who knows me well knows that I’m not one to hold back an opinion or belief.  However, I really do make an effort not to push my thoughts and or beliefs onto others who aren’t interested.  I firmly believe that everyone is entitled to what they believe, even if I think it’s stupid, because to them my beliefs are probably just as stupid.  And I understand that among intelligent people it is quite possible to look at an issue or idea, completely understand it, and still feel differently about it.  It is what makes all of the world’s free societies great, of which we are one. 

             

              That said, I have a topic I feel compelled to express myself on because I’m tired of hearing some of the arguments against it.  The topic as you can see from the title is universal health care and why I support it.  Consider yourself forewarned. 

                           

              I am a partial owner in a small business.  Because we don’t have enough people to qualify for group health care, we no longer offer health insurance.  When we did the cost analysis on whether or not to continue paying it, it was actually cheaper for everyone involved, not just for the business, that the employees seek their own insurance.  So that is what happened, and I too got to seek out insurance on my own.

             

              Now, as many of you know I had a very interesting beginning of the year, health wise.  Before January, I had never been diagnosed with anything more serious than a kidney infection.   However, in January I was diagnosed with a dreaded syndrome, Poly-cystic Ovarian Syndrome to be exact.  Also tied into this I had uterine polyps that had to be removed.   I understand that this is more information than most people want to know, but it’s important to the story. 

             

              Neither of these are life threatening disorders at this time.  The polyps can become cancerous, but mine were removed.  And this time they were all benign.  And the PCOS can contribute to diabetes, but right now I am not diabetic so all is well.  It is, however, the leading cause of infertility in women.  Fortunately treatment of both of these things is exactly the same, birth control, which helps prevent formation of new polyps and also helps counteract the effects of the PCOS.  All should be right with the world, right?  Wrong. 

             

             As a patient, I didn’t react well to the regular birth control, so I can’t take it.  There is another treatment that would be just as effective, is widely available, and has none of the side effects that the pills caused me.  So, sign me up, let’s go with that option.  Done Deal, right?  Nope. 

 

              My diagnosis and surgery happened before my insurance change.  So I got to shop for individual health insurance with a pre-existing condition.  It involved answering almost 200 questions about my uterus, ovaries, vagina, and Pap Smears.  I was automatically disqualified because of these conditions from the first 3 companies that I was quoted through.  I was initially approved by the fourth company, and then they came back and denied me later after reviewing the application.  Now, I was approved by the 5^th company, however it was almost $500 a month with a reasonable deductible.  Now, maybe somebody out there has an extra $500 a month ($6,000 a year) for health insurance, but I am not one of them.  So to make it something I could afford I had to have a high deductible. For those with great insurance knowledge I did purchase a deductible buy back that would pay the deductible for any major hospital stays.  However, my treatment does not require a hospital stay, so it doesn’t qualify. The total for both the insurance and the buy back is about $217.00 a month, which is pretty reasonable. 

 

              The knowledge that the regular birth control pills weren’t working and I’d therefore be in need of a the widely available treatment came after the insurance change.  Since I haven’t met my high deductible, I get to pay for the treatment myself, however, even if I had met the deductible (or had a low deductible) the treatment would have been denied as part of my pre-existing condition.  The problem lies in that since I can’t afford the treatment, I can’t get it.  Therefore, they will both go untreated.  I may not develop diabetes for the next 40 years and I may not ever have uterine cancer.  However, it is likely that untreated, and since I’m already having some problems, that I might not be able to have children.  This, while not life threatening, is heartbreaking. 

 

              Now, I’ll explain why I wrote up this blog and made everyone suffer through a fairly concise yet accurate portrait of my health care.  I am the face of someone who would benefit from universal health care.  I am the face of someone who has a disease that I cannot treat because I can’t afford it.  I am a white, middle-class, hard-working American.  I graduated high school and college.  I have a job.  I pay my taxes.  I’ve never been arrested.  I’ve never collected welfare. 

 

              I wanted to point out that not everyone who would benefit from health care is in the lower echelon of society.  I’m not looking for a way to milk my government or seek a free hand out.  I’d like to be able to seek treatment for a disease that I have, not because of anything I did, but because of my chromosomes.  There is nothing I could have done to prevent this.  It is simply my genetic make up.  If I pay for this treatment out of pocket it will cost me several thousand dollars.  If I lived in Canada it would cost me between $65 and $365 total.  So what if I have to wait a few weeks or months for the treatment, like I said, it isn’t immediately life threatening.

 

    I’m so tired of the criticism of poor people being lazy and therefore unworthy.  Just because somebody isn’t working doesn’t mean they aren’t looking.  And just because somebody is poor, doesn’t mean that they are worthless.  There will always be those who take advantage of the system, but there are also those who really need it and would really benefit from it.  Just because someone is on welfare doesn’t mean that they want to be.  But that is a whole different blog. 

 

So, I’m stepping off my soap box and will quietly leave it at this.  Medicine shouldn’t be a privilege limited only to those who can afford it.

London Part 1

             Ok, I forgot that I had a blog.  Oops.  So I’m going to do a series of blogs about my trip to London.   It is easily one of the coolest places I’ve ever been.  What surprised me though is that I expected it to feel different, a little more old world or sophisticated.  Guess I’m just a stupid American because it was a great deal like NYC just with funny accents and older buildings. 

             I’ll start with what I felt was the best apart about the trip, The Tower of London.  It was one of the pricier things that we did, but well worth every pence.  The tours are lead by Beefeaters and provided a great oversight of the history and buildings.  They are sarcastic and hilarious.  And whatever you do, do not try and video tape the tour.  It was cool to walk around buildings where Sir Thomas More and Anne Boleyn were held and killed.  It was cool to hear the story of all the different men named Simon who were killed.  Overall it was very informative and interesting and I highly recommend it.  And even if you don’t enjoy it as much as I did it is right in the shadows of the Tower Bridge so you can get two sights out of the way in one shot. 

             Also, there is now a female Beefeater.  She is the first one in the long history of the Tower, so hats off to her.  I didn’t get to see her, but it is cool to know that she is there.

                       Also at the Tower are the Crowned Jewels, which will satisfy any sense of opulence that you might have, especially the last one.   It was commissioned for a trip to India, since the “actual” crown isn’t allowed to leave the country they made a new one just for the King when he travelled as the Emperor of India. It was only worn once and only for about half an hour.  It made the King’s head itch and he took it off.  Ridiculous.  And as they take donations for preservation purposes it is a great place to dump loads of American change that you’ll have no use for while in London.  There was more American money in the bin that Pounds and Euros. And I felt good about donating to them unlike some other places we’ll get to later in the blogs. 

             I also want to thank my cousins, Bob and Ashley for inviting me to join them in the first place.  They were great travel companions and I had an amazing  time with them.   I hope we can do it again sometime.  I’ll post some photos with my next blog and I’ll have them up on Facebook soon for anyone who is interested.

THE birthday.

                Well, come to find out 30 isn’t as bad as I anticipated.  I don’t feel older, which was definitely my biggest fear.  After all, being 30 is being a grown up.  Why don’t I feel like a grown-up yet?  According to my grandma I won’t feel that way until I hit 75, so I’m not too worried about that anymore.  And like my best friend, dearest Sarah said, this is where all the cool people are.  So hello 30, I love ya. 

                I love when my birthday falls on a weekend because that means instead of just my day I can spread the celebration out over the course of days.   And it was a great weekend.  On Friday, I took my dog to the vet and found out that she is recovering very well from her surgery and is overall very healthy.  Then enjoyed a good lunch with my Mom, Aunt, and Michelle and then headed to the casino.  I apparently had an abundance of funds because the Seminoles felt the need to take some of mine, but it was fun.  Michelle and I went to a car lot to examine some possibilities for her impending car purchase, where we got rained on.  Saw my Grandma, who is on the quick road to recovery.  Then went out for dinner at Carrabba’s, where I was finally able to order The Johnny which I’d been drooling over in all the commercials.  Also, I believe that the Sausage Lentil soup is probably the best restaurant soup out there.   Not too shabby as far as birthdays go. 

                For all those who have participated in past movie days, let me say this one was the most laid back ever and with the best food (Carrabba’s leftovers).  We watched Star Wars, just the good ones, because I hadn’t seen them in forever.  And let me say that they really are some of my favorite movies of all time.  Thank you George Lucas and Thanks to Michelle and Amber for watching with me.   Then on Sunday I saw Saltembanco and it was awesome.  I was a little nervous, because I figured it would be some people doing flips and hanging on ropes.  It was amazing though, great show.  And most importantly it was the perfect length, not too long and there by keeping your interest the whole time.  LOVED IT. 

                And just to expand on an idea I had earlier today, I absolutely think all future birthdays should be spent on trips.  As they are birthday’s though we should relaxing vacations, like Tahiti, Fiji, or Belize.  I’m all about the pool and the umbrella drink.  Fellow Cancers share your thoughts with me on this.

The Great Book Note.

Three Favorite Books (Classic) :

1. The Sound and the Fury – Faulkner
2. The Great Gatsby – Fitzgerald
3. Great Expectations – Dickens

Three Favorite Books (All Genres):

1. A Prayer for Owen Meany – Irving
2. The Sound and the Fury – Faulkner
3. Sphere – Crichton (scary)

Three Favorite Non-Fiction Books:

1. Theodore Rex – Morris
2. Coming of Age in Mississippi – Moody (worth the read, great tale of the civil rights movement)
3. 1776 – McCullough (When in the course of human events….some rebels get damn lucky)

Three Biggest Regret Reads:

1. Heart of Darkness – Conrad (Too long)
2. The Awakening – Chopin (Glad she died)
3. A Separate Peace – Knowles  (Bone marrow?)

Three want to Reads:

1. War and Peace – Tolstoy (want to say I did)
2. In Cold Blood – Capote (think I’d enjoy it)
3. U.S.A Trilogy – Dos Passos (supposed to be good)

Three I Think I Should Read:

1. Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man – Joyce  (well, because I should)
2. Remembrance of Things Past – Proust (Supposed to be life altering)
3. Middlemarch – Eliot (why not)

Three Never Will Reads:

1. Twilight – Meyer (I will not become one of those people)
2. The Bible – God . . . via Lots of Folks (or one of those people)
3. A Clockwork Orange – Burgess (the movie, horrible)

Three Books Everybody Should Read:

1. To Kill a Mockingbird – Lee (If you never had stop what you are doing and read it now)
2. Hamlet – Shakespeare (life is a stage after all)
3. The Great Gatsby – Fitzgerald (The Great American Novel)

 

Three Books No one Should Read:

1. A Separate Peace – Knowles (Bone Marrow, Really?)
2. Heart of Darkness – Conrad  (The Horror. The Horror. Yes it was)
3. The Last of the Mohicans – Cooper (I’d rather be stabbed in the face)

Three Started (more than once) And Never Finished:

1. Catch -22 – Heller (sadly, don’t know that I will)
2. Fahrenheit 451 – Bradbury (always think it will be a good idea)
3. Wuthering Heights – Bronte (come to find out, I’d rather die)

 

Three that it took you more than once to get through:

1. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn – Twain (worth it in the end, surprisingly)
2. The Scarlet Letter – Hawthorne  (definitely worth it in the end)
3. Moby Dick – Melville (not worth it, all about whales and revenge)

Three Guilty Pleasure Reads:

1. Harry Potter Series – Rowling (I know what Avada Kadavra does.)
2. Valley of the Dolls – Suzanne (60’s porn)
3. Stephanie Plum Series – Evanovich (funny as hell)

Three you didn’t appreciate until you read it again:

1. Dracula – Stoker (Great Book)
2. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn – Twain (just stop at the junction in the rivers)
3. The Count of Monte Cristo – Dumas (also about revenge, but no whales. Better all around)

 

Three Books That Made You Think:

1. The Things They Carried – O’Brien (amazing read)
2. The Scarlet Letter – Hawthorne (down with Adultery)
3. Lolita – Nabokov (No it’s not about a pedophile. He’s lying to everyone.)

Three Most Over-Rated:

1. Pride and Prejudice – Austen (shoot me)
2. Jane Eyre – Bronte ( Except for the Jasper Fforde version)
3. The Portrait of a Lady – James (no really, shoot me)

 

Three Books you read the cliff notes on instead of the book (at least the first time):

1. The Sun Also Rises – Hemingway ( couldn’t fit the novel in, test and a paper due)
2. Don Quixote – Cervantes (it was like 2000 pages.  I read it later though)
3. The Canterbury Tales –Chaucer   (It wasn’t written in regular English)

My Weekend.

First of all let me emphasis the importance of hydration.  Dehydration sucks and fucks up your kidneys don’t let it happen to you.  Drink enough everyday. 

                Hospital EmergencyRooms suck, on the Lewinsky level.  (Also, I’d like to point out the spell check didn’t squiggly under Lewinsky.  Strange, but funny.)  The nurses don’t take their patients seriously and are not friendly.  I know that it is a difficult job and that there are too many patients and not enough help.  None of that is my fault.  We as a group aren’t there because we want to be, we aren’t crazy, we aren’t lying to you, and believe us when we tell you that SHE IS SICK.  This behavior isn’t normal for her.  OH wait, what was that…she really is sick.  She really is having a problem.  She has an infection, her kidneys aren’t working correctly.  Shocking. Now maybe if you’d treated it on Wednesday when we were there instead of sending her home it wouldn’t be so serious now.  Something to ponder over.

                That said, I would like to praise the entire staff of the ICU/Critical Care departments.  The nurses that I’ve encountered there over the last few days are friendly, informative, and knowledgeable.  They answered all the questions that we had and if they didn’t know they found out.  The Doctors also more friendly and ask pertinent questions.  Because I swear the next person who asked if she had a flu shot was going to get bitch slapped.  Now these nurses see a lot less patients and that makes everything easier.  Still, there is no excuse lack of courtesy no matter what your profession and even less so if you are trusted with the well being of another person. 

                Now, on to the less soap-boxy matters.  Really, could the Rays’ pitching be any worse.  It’s a game, how many times in a season can you loose because your freakin’ bull pen can through a god damn strike.   Jesus, you are getting paid gagillions of dollars, THROW A STRIKE.  And if you absolutely insist on walking in runs on bases loaded, you better start hitting some folks with balls.  I won’t be nearly as pissed about it if Johnny Damon has a bruise on his elbow. 

                Basketball.  I hate it.  I’m not going to lie.  Even with our “neighbors” team in the finals I don’t care.  I hate the Magic as much as I hate the rest of the freakin’ sport.  Now I don’t like the sport for lots of reason, but the main reason is worth mentioning.  I hate that noise.  You all know what I’m talking about.  The Squeaky.  For the love of all that is holy, can we really not put something either on the shoes or on the court to stop THAT NOISE?  It literally makes me want to Van Gogh my ears off.  Also, every time I see basketball I think of the OJ/White Bronco fiasco.  I was sitting in the living room watching the new events unfold.  OJ in one corner of the screen basketball in the other, basketball is not for me. 

                Also, I’d just like to take a moment to acknowledge the power of sense of humor and a smile.  On Saturday, a day we thought my grandma might die, I stood in an emergency room with my Mom, my Aunt Donna, and my cousin Ashley (it was her birthday by the way, Happy Birthday Ash.)  we all shared a laugh at the sheer absurdity of a situation.  It provided a momentary relief from the stress and fear and I want to thank my grandma for providing it, even though she has no memory of it.  And I would like to acknowledge what an amazing group of people my family is, I love you guys.  I can’t think of a better group to spend time with in a hospital waiting room and may we never have to do it again.