State & Lake

I certainly hope so because the last days of 2008 were a bit hectic.  Why?  I hate accounting but I need to do it so there you have it.
NYE and Parties
So, what did I do New Year’s Eve?  Absolutely nothing.  One, I had to work and that always puts a damper on things.  Two, though [...]

I saw my doctors recently, the Rheumatologist and the Nephrologist, and soon I will see my GP for even more fun with specialists.  It seems, according to her, I’m at that age where I need to have eye spy take a look up the . . . well, I’ll leave that one alone.  Bottom line, [...]

A friend of mine has this curious little response after exchanging greetings over the phone.  She always asks me “What’s been doing?”  I’ve never asked her where she got that or what it means.  What I do know is every time I hear her say it I find comfort.  So, what’s been doing with me?
December [...]

I have not been too interested in the Internets or Interwebs lately.  Don’t know why exactly just have not been interested.  I think I have reached critical mass.
Except for a little look on Saturday, I have not been too interested in Twitter, paid very little attention to Facebook, have not been on MySpace in months [...]

Yes, it was one of those weeks.  Last weekend I had two full days of a headache that would not quit and since I am the type that keeps moving forward, I had to keep moving in spite of the incredible headache.  Fortunately, something within said go sit in the sauna and I did.  Mysteriously, [...]

Yeah, that was the question posed to me by a friend who wanted to know why I haven’t called, haven’t posted anything to my blog, and haven’t responded to any emails.  The answer:  I’ve been busy.
I embarked on a project that turned into a global collaboration.  I worked with others on a social networking site [...]

I love the DailyOM and today a friend sent me some very good reflections.  One has a lot to do with going with the flow or, as the post is entitled, Enjoying the Ride - The Flow of the Universe.
For me, it is important at this time in my life to just be which is [...]

I have been experiencing a strange phenomenon and I cannot say when these images began.  What I do know is I noticed them around April or May of this year and have found them very interesting.  The experience is something like a flashback only it is fleeting.  I will feel the emotion of it and [...]

I haven’t been too interested in blogging lately because I’ve been in a state of limbo.  My life changed drastically after losing my baby boo boo and as such, I guess I’ve been unwinding from the loss and responsibility.  I don’t know what to do with myself.
I still find myself making decisions based on how [...]

Today, while driving to Castaic, I kept hearing the words of a song by Lou Reed.  The name of the song is “What’s Good” and trust me, it’s kind of weird with even weirder words.  I believe it comes from an album he did on death and dying and maybe that’s why it was on [...]

I had every intention on making it to the Lupus Walk today but, as they say, the best laid plans . . .
Emotionally, I’ve been a little heavy since the loss of the Diva Dawg (pictured right above).  Yesterday, my mother came by to help me cut grass, do a little gardening, and then we [...]

It’s amazing how destiny arrives at your door.  In 1993 I lost a friend and her death foretold a future of twists and turns before Destiny finally arrived at my door.
Before leaving Chicago I had a series of dreams – one dream really with three distinct episodes.  The first dream showed me at the beach [...]

I’ve been battling anemia for a few weeks though I did not know about it until last week when my doctor informed me.  As long as I have suffered with anemia you would think I’d recognize the signs when it comes up.  I did not and this is why I had such difficulty at the [...]

World Trade Center: designed by architect Minoru Yamasaki with Antonio Brittiochi and Emery Roth & Sons as associate architects[/caption]
I have bittersweet memories of September 11.  On the bitter end of the spectrum is the tremendous loss of life.  On the sweet end are the memories I will always cherish of celebrating my partner’s birthday.  Unfortunately, [...]

I will never forget reading Ayn Rand’s book “The Virtue of Selfishness” where she wrote taking care of oneself is a virtue.  I believe I started the book in the airport waiting for my flight.  By the time I got to wherever I was going I had finished the book.  It was a quick read [...]

Turning White[/caption]
They started out kind of cute.  I was in my late twenties then and there were these little silver things weaving their way through my hair.  I called them “wisdom hairs” earned while in attendance at the school of hard knocks.  I was proud of them, wore them like a badge of honor and [...]

I was in the process of preparing a little article on social networking when I thought about an old Bulletin Board System (BBS) where I was once a member.  I found this BBS prior to leaving Chicago and after I arrived I learned it was founded and run by a teacher at El Camino College.  [...]

Flickr Photo Credit: ecstaticist.  Please check out his photo feed, he has some of the most beautiful images.

In a few weeks I will draw to a close my self-imposed mental exile.  As a gift to myself, I made a decision earlier in the year to not push myself too hard mentally and to lead a [...]

How nice is that?  I really can’t tell you how warm and fuzzy that has made me feel.  I suspected pleurisy but when I last experienced it some ten plus years ago, I did not remember it being sooooo painful.  This also comes with an interesting story.
I had this older doctor who must have known [...]

I don’t know what I had but it was a nasty little bug.  I believe I picked up this bug three weeks ago when I decided to purchase fruits and veggies from a store other than Whole Foods.  Within 24-hours after eating what I believe was a bad cantaloupe — don’t know why — I [...]

Thank God!  The kidney has finally stopped hurting but the muscle pain caused by all of the tenseness still lives.  That I can live with, the kidney pain was so miserable I really wanted to take myself out back and shoot me.
I got to see my doctor yesterday and he seemed to have a bad [...]

I found this image at SciencePunk.com and I loved the changed caption about tearing out your own kidney.  Today I seriously wanted to do just that.
Last week I talked about my lab test showing “mild inflammation”.  Today that mild inflammation turned into kidney on fire, blood pressure on the rise and Angela was not a [...]

My old ticker had a mess of a time earlier this week.  Every now and then it would go to missing beats, skipping a beat, or fluttering around in my chest while overall wreaking havoc on my system.  Of course it has a lot to do with lupus and every time this happens I’ll typically [...]

I turned on GPS for the first time on my first gen (or 2G) iPhone today.  I was absolutely blown away at what it could do.  I must admit it was not as lickity split on the EDGE network as I’m sure it would have been on the 3G network.  There were times I felt [...]

Recently added to my “Bucket List” were the words “go to Big Bear.” I’ve always said I would go, one day, when I’m not busy, or I’d plan a vacation. Nothing changed me like finding myself at Hotel Huntington, a hospital, a place I’d never been in my life, and seeing doctors scratch their [...]

First, I love knowing I can blog from anywhere with almost anything.  If only my iPod Classic had WiFi — and that just might be possible — I could transmit those images from my camera’s compact flash card to the iPod and then WiFi them onto the site.  I’ll have to look into that.
The reason [...]

When visiting the vampires for my monthly blood draw and protein check, I will typically see some fun and interesting things, like this sign for instance. How many times did our parents ask the question “did you wash your hands?” Well, here you cannot. You go in, you fill the cup, and [...]

I’m beginning to feel much stronger than I have felt in years.  It does not mean I do not have what I call my good and bad days, I still do, but overall I am feeling much stronger, healthier and in spite of the attempts by lupus to take my body down, I think I [...]

I’ve been dealing a lot with spirit, which has been taking up a lot of my time, and the journey has been most interesting.  In my past unconscious state, I would kind of hit and miss spirit’s small and quiet voice.  Today, I’m more conscious of its movements in my life and, as a result, [...]