Does item x bring me joy? Does its energy weigh me down, or is the chi trapped in the room? If so, get rid of it. Box it for a while some say, then get rid of it.
Simplicity. Clarity. Think of what you need, not what you want. What could be wrong with it?Read more
I wish… …you were clean, all the time. I would happily pay a quarter every time just to have that assurance. I am not even asking for a self-cleaning toilet. Alas, I am taking clorox wipes with me wherever I go. … stalls were sound and smell proof. Seriously, what is this metal wall in between business? It’s bad enough for me to know that I can make these sounds, does the world need to know? …if you don’t haveRead more
I hate going to the dentist. Not because of the pain (not a fan of it, but it’s not awful), but because of the air of moral superiority I encounter every damn time. Through a miracle, I have had fairly good teeth throughout my life. No root canals, a few fillings, two wisdom teeth pulled. So I have been lucky. IBD can manifest orally as well: Mouth ulcers and swelling of the lips, often due to malabsorption of nutrients andRead more
why don’t you want kids? (none of your beeswax) oh, one day, you’ll change your mind (one day I may just kick you) if you don’t want kids, why are you teaching kids? (I am their teacher, not their mom!) is it because of your health? (no, there are plenty of women with IBD who have kids) I guess you don’t want to burden a child with that kind of genetics (err, who are you? the head of the eugenicsRead more
I already told you about the Spoonie Essentials Box, and lo and behold, my first box arrived yesterday! Check out the color combo and the fonts! Uplifting and dynamic, looking like handwriting, yet professional! (that was the geek in me speaking!) I got the Small box, and here’s what was in it: A super sweet note on the importance of self- care a heart shaped bath bomb a spoonie necklace a pair of xo socks bag of candy aRead more
I have been going back to exercise classes after Thanksgiving. During my childhood and youth and well into my twenties, I hated any form of exercise with passion. One, I was shit at it, and very often just too sick to do anything. Second, German PE teachers are assholes. #notallgermanpeteachers you want to say? No, all of them. One of my favorite writers, Arnold Stadler once wrote that there were two types of PE teachers at his High school. ThoseRead more
DISCLAIMER: I am NOT being paid by anyone to review this. I love getting packages. Whether it is books, farm to table, Sunbasket meals, or even wines (I stopped that one since it was a bit too decadent to me), I am excited by it. It makes my life easier. Apparently others thought about this too, and connected the dots for chronic pain patients. It’s called “The Spoonie Essentials Box”. Here’s what their media kit says: I am intrigued byRead more
Over the Holidays, I traveled to Germany again, this time with Lee. We visited my family for a week, and then met up with friends from London in Munich for five days. The four of us rented an apartment using AirBnB. I was hesitant at first- aside from the fact that I feel uneasy about the “sharing economy”, I was also worried as an IBD patient. Would we find a place where I didn’t have to share the bathroom withRead more
Even though I am a lapsed, non-practicing Catholic, there are certain ways that this belief system has shaped the way I think. I associate my grandfather with Catholicism, and how his fierce beliefs in justice often brought him pretty close to liberation theology. The whole flipping tables and whipping people thing that Jesus did? Tots okay in my grandpa’s book. If there was an injustice, he called it out, and it was a way to articulate his catholic identity toRead more
This is another one of my Mississippi Street Fair pics, you can see the artist in the right corner! I love Marcus Aurelius, the philosopher king (actually Emperor). He is a stoic, and his work is mostly about the philosophy of service and duty, describing how to find and preserve equanimity in the midst of conflict by following nature as a source of guidance and inspiration. Lee always says I would be the worst spy in the world, because myRead more
