I suppose almost everyone goes through the grieving process at some point in their lives. In fact, I assume most people go through it several times in their lives, but what happens if you feel like you got stuck in one of the steps for far too long. Does that mean that you'll never move past that step or does it mean that you're just stuck in an incredibly long painful process? Just to remind everyone about the 5 stages of grief:
1. Denial: The "no, this can't be happening to me" phase.
2. Anger: The "Why me? It's not fair" stage.
3. Bargaining: The "I will give anything to have this person back" step.
4. Depression: The "I'm so sad because I miss them" stage.
5. Acceptance: The "It's going to be okay" phase.
According to Psych Central, the grieving process does not always go in this specific order, but it is a good baseline to go by.
Therefore, I ask you: what do you do when you feel like you've been stuck in one phase for way too long? Is there anything that can be done to get yourself unstuck? I have several instances of this exact phenomenon. There are three particular events for which I am perpetually stuck in the "Anger" phase: the 2000 Presidential election (really angry at the Supreme Court), the 2001 World Series (how could Mariano Rivera blow the final game?), and the 2004 ALCS playoffs (seriously, Yankees! Up 3 games to none and can't close it out!). Okay, okay, those examples are probably not the most serious, nor are they the ones that ruin my sleep and cause me to cry far too much.
There is one past relationship that I feel like I've been stuck in the "Depression" phase for approximately 3 years now. I went through the denial, anger, bargaining, and acceptance phases at various times, but I can't really seem to get out of the sadness phase when it comes to this specific relationship. I'm not saying that I'm in a deep depression, I'm not. I'm just generally sad whenever this person pops into my brain, which is far more often that I care to admit. At one point in my life, this person was extremely important and even though it's been years since we've had any sort of friendship, I still cannot get past the breakdown and loss of the relationship. I sincerely feel like I will never be able to move past this particular relationship and the sadness will hang around my neck like a dead albatross.
Therefore, I'm wondering if anyone else has this problem. Do you have relationships or events that just stick in your craw for far too long and takes up so much energy and time in dealing with the grieving process? Or am I just a unique individual? How do you handle the grieving process?
Of course the mention of an albatross makes me think of Monty Python:
Do you sit at home just wondering about season 4 of Downton Abbey and eagerly anticipating the start of the new season? There are several things you could do to offset your Downton Abbey withdrawal. You could read a book which reminds you of that era - Remains of the Day comes to mind. Or you could go back and watch seasons 1-3 while you're waiting for January 2014 to roll around. Or how about this: Downton Abbey parodies. I have come across some wonderfully funny parodies of this beloved show and thought I'd share them with my fellow Downton Abbey fans. A few of them are a little long, but well worth the time spent. Enjoy!
1. Downton Abbey at 54 below: Have you ever thought about Downton Abbey, the Musical? No! Well, then check out this video:
2. Jimmy Fallon's Downton Sixbey: Here's Jimmy Fallon's take on our favorite English aristocrats and their servants. This is episode 1, but you can see all 5 episodes on Late Night's YouTube channel.
3. Sesame Street's Upside Downton Abbey: This is really adorable! I mean you've got Muppets and Downton Abbey. Maybe it'll get our littlest ones interested in Downton.
5. "Downtown" Abbey with Sean Combs: This video is from Funny or Die and is just hilarious! Sean Combs talks about how he was the first black character on Downton Abbey and proves it with video. Check it out:
I hope these videos will help you get through the next few months until the return of Downton Abbey.
Just when you think chemotherapy can't get more glamorous, lo and behold, it does! I guess this time around with chemo, I'm going to get all the side effects, not just a few. Chaos has decided to throw a new side effect into the ring - mouth sores! Yeah, it's not like I have anything else to deal with right now.
For the past couple of days, I've been having some pain issues with the soft tissue in my mouth, but I figured it would pass. Yeah, not so much. All of a sudden, today, I felt like my lower lip had puffed up, so I went to take a look in the mirror. What did I see? My bottom lip looks like someone clocked me in the mouth! I decided to call the oncologist on call this weekend to discuss this new symptom. As I was speaking with the answering service, I noticed that I was sounding like Mike Tyson after going 10 rounds with Muhammed Ali. So yeah, as annoying as this side effect is, it's kind of hilarious at the same time.
Why does chemotherapy cause mouth sores?
"Chemotherapy...can cause mouth sores...because [chemo is] intended to kill rapidly growing cells - such as cancer cells. Some healthy cells in the body also divide and grow rapidly, including the cells that line the inside of the mouth. Unfortunately these healthy cells are also damaged by chemotherapy...Damage to the cells in the mouth makes it difficult for the mouth to heal itself and to fend off germs, leading to sores and infections." (MayoClinic.com)
After a consult with the on call oncologist and a chat with the super nice pharmacist at my local CVS, I came home with a prescription for oral lidocaine (an anesthetic) and Biotene dry mouth oral rinse, which should help with the symptoms and pain. Additionally, I'm starting to think that I've got one in my esophagus, which should make for an interesting time when eating.
I'm a little bummed this happened because today is my school's homecoming dance and, as the Freshman class faculty advisor, I was committed to attending the dance as a chaperone. Due to this new side effect and the fact that talking is a chore, I am forced to stay home. Strangely enough, I was kind of looking forward to attending the dance. Oh well, there's always next year... unless... well... you know.
Everyone knows the names of what many consider to be some of the top famous female vocalists; names like Aretha Franklin (truly love!), Etta James (love!), Adele (like), Christina Aguilera (indifferent), Whitney Houston (dislike), Celine Dion (truly dislike with a red hot fiery passion), and a whole host of other all-star singers. But who are the best "little known" female vocalists? I was thinking about this question as I was driving today listening one of my favorite female vocalists (Nancy LaMott). I decided to come up with my list of favorite little known or underrated female singers. For me, what constitutes a great female singer is less about how great the voice is (which the ladies on my list all have fabulous voices), but it's also about their commitment to their lyrics. It's not just about "how big and beautiful is my voice" (Celine!) but about the nuances of what their songs are saying!
Here are my top 5 singers in no particular order:
1. Eva Cassidy: I can't remember who exactly introduced me to this woman, but I am so glad they did. Eva was an extremely talented singer - an "American vocalist and guitarist known for her interpretations of jazz, blues, folk, gospel, country and pop classics". Sadly she passed away in 1996 from melanoma at the young age of 33. Most of her albums have been released posthumously and my favorite album is Songbird. I just adore her cover of Sting's "Fields of Gold".
2. Liz Callaway: This singer comes from my musical theatre background. Liz "is an American actress and singer, famous for providing the singing voices of many female characters in films" and has performed in many of Stephen Sondheim's must famous musicals. She has the voice of an angel. I have two of her albums, The Beat Goes On and The Story Goes On. My favorite song is one that I loved so much that I used it in my own cabaret show - "You There in the Back Row".
3. Idina Menzel: Another vocalist from my musical theatre background, Idina has an amazingly powerful and rich voice. "She rose to prominence for her performance as Maureen Johnson in the Broadway musical Rent, a role which she reprised for the 2005 feature film adaptation. In 2004, she won the Tony Award for originating the role of Elphaba in the Broadway blockbuster Wicked." Idina released a solo album, I Stand, in 2008 which has such beautiful music. My favorite song from that album: "Brave".
4. Katherine Jenkins: I first learned about this vocalist through her guest appearance on The Graham Norton Show. Popular in the UK, Katherine "is a Welsh lyric mezzo-soprano. She is a popular classical-crossover singer who performs across a spectrum of operatic arias, popular songs, musical theatre and hymns." Arguably the best technical singer on my list, I am completely jealous of this singer's voice and abilities! I only have one of her albums, Believe. The music is just stunning and hers is a voice that comes around very rarely. My favorite song of hers is "Bring Me To Life".
5. Nancy LaMott: This singer comes from my cabaret years. Considered by many to be one of the best cabaret singers of all time, Nancy "was a singer, popular on the New York City cabaret circuit in the 1990s. LaMott performed twice at the White House for President Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton." Sadly, Nancy passed away in 1995 from uterine cancer at the age of 43. On December 13, 1995, a little more than an hour before she died, Nancy and her boyfriend married - with Nancy in her hospital bed. Killer story! LaMott released 5 albums before she passed away and my favorite is Listen to My Heart. I have a hard time choosing my favorite song from this album, but there are two that are very close to my heart for personal reasons and make me weep every time I hear them, so I decided to post both videos:
"Listen to my Heart":
"Out of This World/So in Love":
Do you have a favorite lesser known/underrated female vocalist? Let me know!
Why do people consistently settle for less? This question just boggles my mind! People settle into the less than perfect career, the less than perfect relationship, the less than perfect life! Well, I say no more! There's a conclusion I've come to over the past few months of cancer treatment - DO NOT SETTLE FOR LESS! We all have a finite time on this Earth so why must we be less than happy in our choices? That's the key to this whole discussion - it's our choices that make us who we are. Obviously, we don't have control over all the events of our lives, but I believe that we do exert much more influence than we think because we have the power of choice.
I have decided that I'm tired of settling for less. Through a recent conversation with a friend, I was reminded that I am an amazing, thoughtful, caring, intelligent person who wants and, quite frankly, deserves more out of her life. I want that relationship to be what I want it to be, not what someone else wants it to be. I want my career to be what I want it to be, not what others believe it should be. My life should be as I want it to be. I deserve no less than perfection in my life - or at least what is my definition of perfection. Therefore, I have come to the following decision: if it's not up to the standards of what I believe I deserve, then I will not have it at all. I'd rather have nothing than settle for less that I want and deserve. Half a relationship is no relationship. A third of a career is a career not worth saving.
I believe that everyone should take this same stance. Will it be easy? Perhaps! I suppose it depends on what you're looking for out of this world. All I know, is that whether I have a year, ten years, or fifty years left on the pretty blue and green planet, I want them to be amazing - so settling is not an option!
I'm certain that I've talked about this issue before, but I just need to get something off my mind. Okay, I get it. I'm a throw back to days long gone. I actually believe that people should be honest, good, and kind to each other and I'm often shocked and saddened when people aren't.
I'll give you a recent example that kills my soul. I was getting ready to teach a class the other day, when a student (not one of mine) decides to disrupt my class in order to say "hello" to his friend. When I explained to this student that he needed to stop interrupting my class and leave, he called me a "f***-ing bitch"!! I naturally had to bring this matter up to the Vice Principal and the student ended up with in-house detention for 2 days. Now, I didn't know this student but it just boggles the mind that he thought that was an acceptable response.
This kind of behavior has become the norm and it makes me sad for the future of the world. I would like to go back anywhere from 60 to 200 years when people were good, honest, kind, nice, and genteel - or at least they seemed to be. I'm tired fighting and clawing my way through this world. What do I want? I want Sir Walter Raleigh. I want Gandhi. I want Joe DiMaggio. I want Gene Kelly - singing in the rain. I'll even take Santa Claus right now! I want people to stop being mean to each other. I want people to be courteous and respectfully honest with each other.
Yeah, okay, I know - I also want the sun, the moon, and the stars. I'm not going to get any of these things, because the world doesn't seem to care about niceties anymore. So I will just go along and hope for the best in people, but fully expect the worse! Okay, I've had my say.
Here's what I would like: for everyone to take 2 minutes out of your hectic day to say something really nice to another person - even if it's a complete stranger!
I admit it - I'm a huge fan of MasterChef, the competitive cooking reality series. I don't much care for most reality TV, but, being a huge fan of Gordon Ramsay, when MasterChef debuted in 2010, I knew it was a "must see" for me. Toward the end of this past season's series, Fox kept showing premiers for MasterChef Junior, a children's version of MasterChef, and I was hesitant about watching this new permutation of the series. I wasn't concerned that Gordon, Graham Elliot, and Joe Bastianich would be as vicious to these little urchins as they are to the adult contestants - they are parents themselves after all. No, my concern was that these kids would turn out to be little monsters and have some of the bad behaviors that the adults exhibit in the regular series. During this past season, I wanted to gouge out the eyes of Season 4 contestant, Krissi who was the most obnoxious, foul-mouthed bully ever to disgrace a television show.
Happily, I was wrong. This show is a sheer delight! Yes, there is one little girl who I find to be a bit annoying when she gets excited and starts screaming with this freakishly high pitched voice, but otherwise, I am pleasantly surprised by this series. For one thing, these kids are cooking some of the most amazing looking dishes which as an adult, I couldn't even pull off. The contestants' ages range from 9-13 and often impress me (and the three judges) with their culinary skills. Two, the judges are the most supportive of these little chefs and give them solid and complementary critiques. They never debase the kids. Lastly, the kids are just really, really cute, respectful, and polite.
All in all, I am so glad that I decided to watch this show. I amazed at these kids and I am looking forward to the final few weeks and seeing who is crowned the winner of MasterChef Junior.
Update on 11/9/13: A big congratulations to Alexander - the 13 year old MasterChef Junior winner. It did not come as a big surprise as "Big Al" was probably the strongest contestant throughout the competition. Really impressive finale and season.
It's kind of weird to say that chemotherapy treatment was good today, so you will have to give me a moment to explain. It's not that I love having toxins filling my body, but the last treatment was so heinous that I did not want to go back! Today was a very long day, but ultimately a good one. This was my day today:
I arrived at the oncologist's office around 8:15 for an 8:30 appointment and went immediately to have some blood drawn to check my numbers (all good!). Then I went to have my vitals taken by one of the nurses - blood pressure a little high (because I was feeling stressed when I got there), but pulse and temperature were normal and I've lost 10 pounds to boot. Next up: the meeting with the oncologist. After a brief exam, we spoke some regarding how many more treatments that I'll be having and I didn't get a solid answer. (The initial timeline called for 6-8.) He wants to have a consult with another oncologist and then let me know. What do I want? In 2 weeks, I would like another CT scan to see if the tumors have shrunk or are gone. Then, depending on the results of the scan, we should decide on further treatment - yay or nay.
After that, I moved onto the Cancer Care center, where I took my regular spot in the corner by the window. Today, the nurse who installed my IV got it done in one (pretty painful) shot. Woot! That's a first! (I have really tiny veins.) Next came the pre-meds. Due to the amount of nausea that I had nearly immediately last time, the nurses made a recommendation to the doctor to give me a stronger anti-nausea med than the one I had been taking. The new medication (Emend), theoretically, should control my nausea for the next 5 days. Only time will tell its efficacy. The bad thing about this new drug - it adds an additional 30 minutes to my treatment time. Then it was time for the toxins. Bring on the Taxol and the Carboplatin. Yeah, now that's the good stuff.
The nurses would routinely check my blood pressure, which were all normal after my initially slightly high BP rate. In fact, at one point it dropped to 90/64, which I got a little nervous about but the next reading was higher and eventually was back to normal. The nurse mentioned that it was the Benadryl they gave me which caused that severe drop.
The bulk of my day was spent either reading a book, chatting with my amazing nurses (who give great advice), or napping. All in all, another uneventful day in the infusion chair. Today was almost a hour longer than usual, which makes for a very, very, very long day. Even so, I'm thinking I might celebrate a good chemo day by going out for dinner before the side effects hit me! What do you think: Pizza? Chinese? Indian? Burger?? Mexican??? Hmmm..... Decisions, decisions, decisions......
Update at 7:36 pm: Nausea has hit - around 6pm and is steadily worsening. Strike One for Emend. But a slice of pizza and a salad for dinner hit the spot!
A friend of mine sent me a link to the most amazing article and I just had to share an overview of what the article contained!
We've all been down this road: You are in the middle of some crisis: medical, legal, etc. and someone says something that is rude and/or completely insensitive about the crisis you are going through. While most of us recognize that the offender probably doesn't mean anything malicious by their crass and careless comment, it's still hurtful and annoying.
A clinical psychologist, Susan Silk, had this experience after having surgery to remove a cancerous tumor in her breast about 15 years ago. One of her colleagues wanted to visit her in the hospital, and Ms. Silk, not feeling well, explained that she wasn't up to receive visitors. The colleague responded, "This isn't just about you." "It's not?" Susan wondered. "My breast cancer is not about me? It's about you?" [Been there!]
The comment stuck with Ms. Silk for years, but it wasn't until her niece, Emily developed Hodgkin's lymphoma, that she gave some serious thought about protecting a person who is facing a crisis from such behavior. Therefore, Ms. Silk develop The 'Ring Theory' of Kvetching and I think it's genius! What does 'kvetching' mean? It's a Yiddish word which translates as "to complain persistently and whiningly".
Here's how it works:
Step 1:
Draw a circle and in it put them name of the person at the center of crisis.
Step 2:
Draw a larger circle around the first one. In that ring, put the name of the person next most affected by the problem.
Step 3:
Repeat the process as many times as you need. In each larger ring, put the people next most affected by the crisis. (Parents, children, and close friends go in the smaller rings; distant relatives, colleagues, and casual friends go in larger ones.)
When you are finished, you have a Kvetching Order.
Now for the rules - the rules can be summed up with the following: Comfort IN, Dump OUT! Here's how that works:
Rule 1:
Comfort in. When you are talking to a person in a ring smaller than yours, someone closer to the center of the crisis, the goal is to help. Listen. Tell him/her "This must be really hard for you" or "Can I bring you a pot roast?"
Rule 2:
Dump out. When you are talking to a person in a ring larger than yours, someone further away from the crisis, you can complain, gripe, and moan all you want. Curse the heavens and say, "Life is unfair" or "Why me?" The person in the center of the ring can say whatever they want, whenever they want!
So let's use someone as an example. There's a woman, let's call her Sandi - who happens to be going through chemotherapy for metastatic endometrial cancer. :-) Sandi is allowed to kvetch and moan and bitch and cry about her current medical woes to her heart's content. The next circle out might be her brother, who is only allowed to ask Sandi if she needs help and give her support. But the brother can kvetch and moan and bitch and cry to the next person in Sandi's Kvetching Order - perhaps her very close friend who lives in NYC. And the cycle continues.
This is a pretty ingenious way for people to get through their crises - whatever they might be: medical, legal, financial, romantic, even existential. The nice thing about this theory is that sooner or later, everyone will be in the center circle!
I honor of the upcoming holiday season, I thought I'd highlight some other holidays that are celebrated. While everyone is familiar with Christmas, Easter, Halloween, and New Years, there are a bunch of less than famous holidays celebrated every single day in some part of the world. As you may expect, most of the time the celebration is relatively straight forward. People eat, drink, have a parade, dance, etc. Sometimes however, things get a little... erm... hmm... strange, shall we say? There are dozens of really odd holidays out there, for instance feeding starving monkeys in Thailand or drenching yourself with smashed tomatoes in Spain. Below are what I believe to be the 3 strangest holidays that people actually celebrate:
#3 Tinku Festival
Where: Andes Mountains (Bolivia and Peru)
What: Each May, high up in the Andes mountains, thousands descend on the small city of Macha to partake in the traditional Tinku Festival. "Tinku" is a Quechua word meaning an encounter or a meeting, though when you take into account what actually happens at the festival, it should translate to "batter the crap out of someone".
During this ritual, men and women from different communities will meet and begin the festivities by dancing. The women will then form circles and begin chanting while the men proceed to fight each other; on rare occasions, the women will join in the fighting as well. During the brawl itself, men will often carry rocks in their hands to have greater force in their punches, or they will just throw them at opponents, which seems a little like cheating to me, but what do I know. Sometimes, men will wrap strips of cloth with shards of glass stuck to them around their fists to cause greater damage. Slingshots and whips are also used, though not as much as hand-to-hand combat. The last day of the fight is considered the most violent and police almost always have to separate the mass of bloody men and women.
Oh for futz sake, why? The Tinku Festivals aren't just people beating other people into a mushy pulp for fun. Instead it's an old religious festival based in pre-Hispanic times whereby the earth Goddess Pachamama demands blood to ensure a good harvest. The more blood, the better harvest. And Andeans, being a simple honest folk, could see no better way to get blood than to pummel the living snot out of their neighbors.
In the past, the fights frequently ended in death, as if one village had a poor harvest, the only way to guarantee a better one next year was to spill all the blood from your neighbors. Nowadays though, the festivals are policed, albeit lightly, and the police try and stop fights being more than one on one, and also to stop when the first blood has been shed.
#2 Battle of the Oranges
Where: Ivrea in Northern Italy
What: The Battle of the Oranges is a festival in the Northern Italian city of Ivrea, which includes a tradition of throwing of oranges between organized groups. It is the largest food fight in Italy. This rather bizarre holiday involves thousands of townspeople (up to 10,000), divided into nine combat teams, who throw oranges at each other – with considerable violence – during the traditional carnival days: Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. The carnival takes place in February: it ends on the night of "Fat Tuesday" with a solemn funeral.
Oh for futz sake, why? This festival celebrates a famous moment in Ivrea's history: a twelfth century revolt against a local tyrannical Count. In 1194, the fight for liberty consisted of a load of pissed off villagers throwing rocks at the henchmen of said local Count.
The exact story of what happened in 1194 is lost to time, but the legend is that the local Count, Conte Rainieri di Biandrate, made a law which allowed the horny bastard to have first crack at any newly-wed girl in the town. The Conte Rainieri di Biandrate's actions resulted in a load of pissed off Italians throwing first rocks at the count's guards and then oranges at each other.
#1 Antzar Eguan (Day of the Geese)
Where: Lekeitio, in the Basque region of Spain
What: Antzar Eguna or "Goose Day" has its roots in at least 350 years of Spanish insanity. Antzar Eguna involves a group of young Spaniards trying to decapitate a dead goose hanging from a rope in the middle of the town's harbor, which just goes to show how a nice party can get out of hand.
The tradition used to be celebrated all over Spain until people realized that it was just too weird and they should just go back to doing normal stuff, like irritating a bull weighing half a ton. But, for some reason, the inhabitants of Lekeitio have hung on. Literally.
The rules say the contestants have to behead the goose using only their hands and arms. Are you ready for this? In a rowboat, young men approach the dangling goose (which has been coated in grease), grab its neck, then fall into the harbor waters. Bystanders then yank the rope on which the goose is tied, heaving both bird and man up into the air, before dropping them back into the water again. The idea is to tear the goose's head off using that jerking motion.
If the youth is jerked free from the bird and plops into the harbor, he fails and another person has a go. If he manages to hold on to the bird despite the best efforts to shake him off and also manages to wrench the head off, he wins. As a prize, the winner of the competition gets to keep the goose, and most likely, the prettiest girls in town flock into his goose blood-streaked arms.
Oh for futz sake, why? No one seems to know. Really, would any explanation suffice?
This is done as part of the festival of St. Antolin, but there appears to be no record of the saint decapitating geese at any time during his ecclesiastical career, or even sitting down and thinking it might just be a fun idea for a party game.
It appears they just do it for the hell of it, and that may be the best reason of all.
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And I thought that Groundhog's Day was strange. As I mentioned, these are just three of the weird and wacky holidays that people celebrate around the world. The video below has a total of 25 strange holidays.
Let's say you could predict the end of your life. Here's the scenario: after a hundred healthy years on this Earth, you know that on a certain date, after you've gone to bed, you would just pass on to your next life: what would your last supper be the night before?
Once I got my cancer diagnosis, I started thinking about this question. Yeah, okay, I admit it - I'm a foodie! So naturally, I started planning my last supper. Yes, my thoughts are to go out with a bang when it comes to my last meal - that is if I get the opportunity to plan it. I would like this final dinner to be a full course dinner and here's my wish menu:
Hopefully, this meal will take place in about 40 years. <fingers crossed> Is this decadent?? You betcha! If it's going to be my last meal, it got to be an over top gastrointestinal smorgasbord. Of course, if I couldn't get Gordon Ramsay's beef wellington, I would have to rethink my entree. Perhaps surf and turf instead, but I'm counting on the beef wellington. I've seen enough episodes of Hell's Kitchen and Gordon Ramsay's F Word to really want to try that wellington!
What would your last meal be?
Here's a video with Gordon instructing on how to cook his world famous beef wellington. Anyone willing to make it and invite me to dinner?? Or better yet, anyone know Gordon who might invite me to his house for dinner??? :-)
I've been racking my brain for the past couple of days to come up with a blog post, but I have been completely blocked on what to write. What to do, what to do?? Awhile ago, I stumbled upon a random topic generator and had bookmarked it - in case I ran into just this situation: writer's block. I generated a few different topics that didn't quite interest me before the following was generated: Unforgettable Quotes.
I love collecting quotes. On my Facebook page, I keep a running record of my favorites quotations. Additionally, I update the quote on this page (look to the right; under "my" photo) on a fairly regular basis. I find that when I occasionally can't quite express myself as would like, I turn to people smarter than me for their words of wisdom. The current tally of the number of sayings in my collection is 37. They are the words of the famous and semi-famous that I have found to be moving, on point, and unforgettable. I'm very picky on the quotes I choose as my favorites which is why I have such a low number out of the millions of statements out there. I won't bore everyone with listing all 37; therefore I will only be posting my top 5. Narrowing this list down to 5 was most difficult, but here they are:
"Do what you feel in your heart to be right - for you'll be criticized anyway. You'll be damned if you do, and damned if you don't." – Eleanor Roosevelt, American First Lady, diplomat and reformer (1884-1962)
"When one door closes another door opens; but we so often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door, that we do not see the ones which open for us." – Alexander Graham Bell, American (Scottish-born) inventor (1847-1922)
"We are so accustomed to disguise ourselves to others that in the end we become disguised to ourselves." – Francois de La Rochefoucauld, French author amd moralist (1613 - 1680)
"Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage." – Lao Tzu, Chinese philosopher (6th century BC)
"Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time." – Thomas Edison, American inventor and businessman (1847-1931)
Words to live by.
The Eleanor Roosevelt quotation is probably my favorite of the lot, particularly as I've long been an admirer of the late first lady! Of course, the above sayings do not include my top Shakespeare quotes which I have already written about before. Shakespeare always deserves to be in a class of his own. If you'd like to read all 37 (and counting) of my favorite quotes, feel free to check them out here.
I enjoy reviewing past shows that I have discovered well after the show has either ended or is several seasons into their run. It's like finding new friends and then introducing those friends to others! I've written in the past about some these shows like Rescue Me, The West Wing, and Lost. Over the past couple of weeks I've been checking out some "new" old shows that I have found to be incredibly entertaining. Here are my thoughts:
Jekyll: is a 2007 British television drama serial produced by Hartswood Films and Stagescreen Productions for BBC One and is sheer genius. Coming from the mind of Steven Moffatt - creator of a few of my favorite shows: Coupling, Sherlock, and Doctor Who, this series is a brilliant adaptation of the Robert Louis Stevenson novella, Strange Case of Doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Actually, Moffatt calls it "asequel" to the novella rather than an adaptation. This 6 episode production stars Northern Irish comedian and actor, James Nesbitt, in the titular role, who absolutely shines throughout his performance with the contrasting shades of Dr. Jackman/Hyde's personalities. "Jackman" is the modern day Jekyll. The sheer intensity of Hyde left me aquiver, never quite knowing what was next. An absolute must-see for anyone who likes thrillers. Plenty of twists and turns which will keep you on the edge of your seat. Jekyll can be streamed on Netflix.
Once Upon a Time: is an American fairy tale drama series which premiered in 2011 and has just started its 3rd season. "The show takes place in the fictional seaside town of Storybrooke, Maine, in which its residents are actually characters from various fairy tales that were transported to the 'real world' town and robbed of their real memories by a powerful curse. Episodes typically feature a primary storyline in Storybrooke, as well as a secondary storyline usually from another point in a character's life before the curse was enacted." (Wikipedia). I grew up reading and watching fairy tales and always looking for my 'happily ever after'; therefore this series is right up my alley. No, this show is not Emmy-award winning. It's more in the "innocent family fun" genre and I love it. I'm halfway through the first season, and I am hooked. Once Upon a Time can be streamed on Netflix and the new season is on ABC on Sundays. There's also a new show, Once Upon a Time in Wonderland, a spinoff of Once Upon a Time, which begins tomorrow night that I intend to check out. I hope that it's as entertaining as the original.
Breaking Bad: Okay, my apologies to all Breaking Bad fans for my dissing of this fine show in a previous blog. (Although I still stick by my commentary that a meth lab toy set is in bad taste!) A friend insisted that I try watching the show from the first season and, because I trust this person's taste in shows, I went back and started watching season one. I have to admit it's a great show. For anyone who has lived under a rock for the past 5 years, Breaking Bad is "an American crime drama television series, which tells the story of Walter White (Emmy award winner Bryan Cranston), a struggling high school chemistry teacher who is diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer at the beginning of the series. He turns to a life of crime, producing and selling methamphetamine, in order to secure his family's financial future before he dies" (Wikipedia). As most people are aware, the Breaking Bad series finale just aired at the end of September. Fortunately, I am so far behind on viewing this show that even if someone tells me the ending, I'll probably have forgotten it before I actually watch it. But that being said - DON'T TELL ME THE ENDING!
It's been rather amusing in my house the past few days because I'll watch one episode of Once Upon a Time and then an episode of Breaking Bad. Talk about two completely different shows! Good times!!!
There is a sad, strange affliction that many men and women suffer with and I wanted to bring this problem to light. I feel horrified for those people who suffer from BRF or RAF but I'm not sure what I can do about it, other than make people aware of this tragic situation. This is not something that I suffer with so I can only sympathize with those sufferers. What is this bizarre misfortune that torments these people? Check out this PSA video for more information:
I first saw this video back in early July but completely forgot all about posting it, but it's one of the funniest videos I've ever seen. What brought this video to mind? I've been watching some episodes of Once Upon a Time which stars Jennifer Morrison (who also played Dr. Cameron on House) and I kept thinking, "She suffers with BRF. How unfortunate!" Then I remembered that she makes a obscene amount of money so who am I to feel sorry for her BRF problems. :-)
If you enjoyed this video, check out more from these performers at the Broken People channel on YouTube.
Usually when the new fall lineups come out, I'm pretty apathetic. In general, I don't rush to watch many of the new shows as I think most are probably pretty awful, but this year, I was a little more excited over a few new shows due to the actors starring in the shows. Alas, I discovered that there is a reason why I'm indifferent over fall lineups. Many of the hyped shows are pretty unwatchable. This fall, I've discovered only one new show that I like. Here are my thoughts on some of the "hot new" shows:
The Crazy Ones: I was so excited to see that Robin Williams was returning to television. Then I had the misfortune to watch the premier of his new show. Meh! I had high hopes and was so disappointed when, 10 minutes in, I had to force myself to keep watching, hoping beyond hope that it would improve. It didn't! The show is full of cheesy, obvious, and worn out jokes. Simply put, Robin Williams has succumbed to being a parody of himself. Why not just have a 20 minute Robin Williams stand-up routine? Clearly, the producers thought that putting him in as the star was enough to "make" the show. Additionally, Sarah Michelle Geller and Williams have no chemistry as father and daughter. Her comedic input not only falls flat but is also completely overwhelmed by Williams' shtick. The supporting cast adds nothing to enhance the experience - none of the relationships are properly introduced or embellished so everyone seems completely one dimensional from the get go. I was bored and uncomfortable and far from entertained.
Hostages: Any show starring Toni Collette and Dylan McDermott and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer should be a hit show and yet... The premise of the show (an elite surgeon who is supposed to kill the President during surgery while her family is held hostage by a rogue FBI agent) works for a 2 hour movie but I don't see how this plot can be sustained over an entire season. Add in the fact that everyone in the family has some secret: the pregnant daughter, the drug dealing son, and the cheating husband makes the show feel entirely too contrived. I was looking forward to watching Toni Collette on the small screen, but this show is a waste of time for an actress of her calibre.
Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: I did not have any intention of watching this show, but stumbled upon it by accident. So far it's been a happy accident. The show is about the missions of the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division (S.H.I.E.L.D.). It is two episodes in and I think it started well and am hopeful that it will continue to impress. I'm not a Marvel comics fan so I am not coming into the show with any preconceived notions other than I enjoy the movies which are based on the comics: X-Men, The Avengers, Iron Man, etc. This is the lone new show that I have seen that I think might be worth the time to watch. Unfortunately, due to low ratings, I have a sneaky suspicion it will not be around for long.
Also, The Big Bang Theory is back and as funny as ever! Thank goodness for that! Elementary and NCIS are both back and still going strong. Although I am sad over the departure of Ziva David (Cote de Pablo) from NCIS, it was handled really well.
There's been something that's been bugging me for the past week. It's a conversation I had with an oncology nurse during treatment last Friday. I was regaling her with a story about a random student from another campus who stopped me in the hall to ask me if I was a cancer survivor. I told the student that no, I was a cancer patient. The student then told me that her mother had just finished breast cancer treatment and that she hoped that I would be better soon. The nurse then said "You're wrong. You are a cancer survivor." She then went on to explain that apparently sometime in the past 6 years (from when I last went through cancer treatment), the medical field considers anyone who gets a cancer diagnosis is considered a cancer survivor from the time of diagnosis until end of life. I came home and did a little research and discovered that is the current definition.
Okay, I know I'm nitpicking here, but as I've mentioned I'm a crazy word/grammar Nazi and this change annoys me beyond belief. I decided to look up the definition of "survivor" in a reputable dictionary. (After the whole "literal" debacle, I don't entirely trust every dictionary.) Therefore, I checked both the Oxford English Dictionary and Dictionary.com and they both had a similar definition of survivor and survive:
Survivor: a person or thing that survives.
Survive: to get along or remain healthy, happy, and unaffected in spite of some occurrence.
The definition of survive is the perfect indication of how battling cancer is not surviving cancer! Can anyone going through cancer treatment remain healthy, happy, and unaffected?? Erm, nope! So while I get why the medical community has decided to put a positive spin for those patients going through treatment, it is imprecise and I don't like it. Therefore, I don't care how much a nurse tells me that I'm a survivor, I will continue to disagree.
Truth is: I suppose I could be called both. I technically survived breast cancer, but currently am an endometrial cancer patient.
Yesterday morning, I was watching the local news, which reported on a couple who had just recently married near Seattle, WA. What made this story unique? It was the couple: 90-year old Gladys Salley wed 93-year old Andy Nilles. Awwwww. The two lovebirds married at their favorite doughnut shop - Cock-A-Doodle Doughnuts, where they spent a considerable amount of time during their courtship.
Something about this story has stayed with me for two days. I just think it's one of the nicest stories that I have heard of in a really long time. According to this news article: "Friends say they knew the two were getting serious when they ditched their walker and cane and began leaning on each other." So adorable. When they return from their honeymoon, Andy will move two floors up to
Gladys place because as he said her place is "closer to heaven". I could almost weep or go into diabetic shock at the sweetness of it.
While I know that I will spend whatever time I've got left on this planet all alone, this story makes my romantic heart soar knowing that true love can come whenever you least expect it. I guess it's never too late to find love - even when you're 90 years old. You go, Gladys and Andy!
