Month: November 2007

Jane Rule, writer of lesbian fiction and non-fiction, died yesterday. (link to obituary)

If you never read another lesbian book, you should read Memory Board. It was written before Alzheimer’s became to the media attention.

My favorite quote:

I’ve never been resigned to ready-made ideas as I was to ready-made clothes, perhaps because although I couldn’t sew, I could think. Jane Rule

(from brainyquotes)

Her books:

Desert of the Heart (1964) (became the movie Desert Hearts in 1987)
This Is Not For You (1970)
Against the Season (1971)
Lesbian Images (1975)
Theme for Diverse Instruments (1975)
The Young in One Another’s Arms (1977)
Contract With the World (1980)
Outlander (1981)
Inland Passage and Other Stories (1982)
A Hot-Eyed Moderate (1985)
Memory Board (1987)
After the Fire (1989)

linkage:

Wikipedia – Jane Rule
Queer Theory – Jane Rule’s history entry
Rick Bebout.com – Marriage? The Cage of Coupledom

From BBCNews

Migraine brains ‘are different’

Scientists have discovered differences in the sensory areas of the brains of people who develop migraines.

They found a part of the cortex is thicker than in people who are free from the debilitating headaches.

What is not clear is whether the difference causes, or is the result of migraine attacks.

The Neurology study, by Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, suggests the changes may make patients hyper-sensitive to pain in general.

The researchers, from the hospital’s Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, compared 24 people who get migraines with 12 who do not suffer the condition.

They found the somatosensory cortex area of the brain was up to 21% thicker in the migraine sufferers.

later in the same article:

Previous research has shown that the cortex becomes thinner with neurological disorders such as multiple sclerosis and Alzheimer’s disease.

Part of the cortex, although not the somatosensory area, is also known to thicken with extensive motor training and learning.

Dr Andrew Dowson, medical advisor to the Migraine Action Association, said there was much international research currently under way using sophisticated imaging techniques to examine the impact of chronic pain on the central nervous system.

Evidence was emerging that it could lead to changes both in the connections made between brain cells, and in the hard-wiring of the brain.

“This study is with a small number of subjects but the findings might indicate an important result of or even cause of migraine.

“Who knows where this might lead with new diagnostic possibilities and therapeutic targets?”

link to article

Because I live with chronic pain, I can’t say I am hyper-sensitive to pain. If I were, I’d not get up out of bed ever again. Hell, I’d not take my next breath. There’s a lot of my pain I shuffle off to the back of my mind where it sits all day. It sits there all day, every day.

Although, when I have a migraine, I am more aware of the rest of my body’s pain. Is it because the migraine has made me hyper-sensitive or is it that the pain can’t go to the back of my mind like always?

Margaret O’Doggal, aka Maggie, was let go today.

We first found Maggie out in Leicester on a road that was part of Lorna’s mail route. She was our first “road rescue” and has been a part of our lives since 1994.

Maggie was a cool lady. She never really played with toys, but she hoarded them. Even Zeus, big mighty King Zeus, wouldn’t go get a ball if it rolled to close to her. She’d not play with it or really even look at it, but she dared him to come get it. What she loved to play with was small rocks and chunks of cardboard. Even then it wasn’t really playing as much as enjoying it.

She never really liked men. I explained this to my step-dad when they come down to visit once. He was sitting in the living room and she was staring at him. “Look, see? She likes me!” Jim said. “No, Jim, she’s telling you that you’re in her seat.”

Maggie has been getting slow from arthritis. It was hard for her to get up and it was to the point we were having to pick her up several times a day. She was getting stuck in dips out in the yard, too. Lorna and I had recently discussed where the line is for Maggie in terms of quality of life. So far, Maggie seemed to be mentally fine. She was home, responsive, and still stealing from the trashcan.

I had to run some errands today and came home at around 3ish. I opened the back door to let everyone in and Maggie was one of the first in line. Some dipshit in the neighborhood decided to start target practice which meant big brave Joella was under the desk. She came out at one point and got tangled up in the cords for one of the fish tanks.

After I got all that straightened out, that’s when I saw that Maggie had moved from the blankets and was further out in the living room. She looked like she was trying to get up. Her legs were kicking about but where several inches off the floor vs scraping and scratching to get up. I went over, calmed her down, and saw she was drooling pretty bad. I tried to pick her up and she was both stiff as a board and a sack of wet pasta at the same time. She couldn’t seem to figure out where her feet were and couldn’t walk. I let her lay back down.

I called Lorna (who is up in PA) and we talked about what might be wrong. Stroke. Internal rupture. Spine injury. We decided I’d call and get a vet appt for tomorrow. When I called, they said they actually had one this afternoon. So I took her in.

Maggie loved car rides. She loved sticking her head out the window and sniffing. But today, she never raised her head. At the vet’s office, they came out to carry her in and she never looked around then, either. The vet and I talked about what might be wrong, what they would do to find out, and what the treatment was for each possible scenario. We both knew we were just putting off the inevitable decision. Maggie was 14. She had bowel problems. She could barely walk before this. She was in a lot of pain.

The vet was thinking stroke or spinal injury. Her gums were very pale which meant she was bleeding somewhere. Could be in the brain.

So, I let Maggie go on. I told her to go to Zeus and Max. To find Jake and Bandit. I petted her head while the doc did her thing. Then the doc and I sat on the floor together and talked about Maggie, about her dogs, about the other dogs in our lives. And I got up and came home. Alone.

I will miss Maggie. I will miss her deep bark letting me know it is time to get up (Maggie was an alarm clock even I couldn’t ignore). I will miss her guarding whatever she thinks needs to be guarded (which often didn’t need to be nor wanted to be). I will miss her toothless snarl at Sam and big Sam backing up from it.

Maggie, Casey, and Joella

I am not a fan of Ford vehicles so it is fun to be able to add extra glee to pointing out this error.

Somewhere on Biltmore Ave, near Mission Hospital, is a new car dealer named, aptly, Asheville Ford. They have a TV commercial and at several points during the commercial, which airs in prime time such as football games, their website address is listed: ashvilleford.com. That’s right, no middle “e”.

That’s not an unusual thing around here, sadly enough. There’s even a sign up on the Blue Ridge Parkway with the same missing letter. At my first Gay Pride Parade here, there was some dumbass redneck holding a sign that said “Fagots leave Ashville”. He made the front page of the paper, though.

How did someone miss that site address? New business, new site, new commercial – there had to be a lot of people view it before it was released. No one saw that? Come on! I saw it the first time!

Today, during the sad Pittsburgh and Baltimore game, the commercial was on several times. Finally I had Lorna (who was hogging the computer) to look it up, using the bad spelling version, just to see if the dorks actually made that their website address. Kudos for them that they didn’t. But they’ve not bought the misspelled URL, which I think they should. So check out Asheville Ford’s website and tell them not only do Ford vehicles suck gas, but that their dealers need to use better copy editors. And remember, friends don’t let friends drive Fords!