In looking to improve my writing skills I am thumbing through some of my books about writing. Chapter I of Brenda Ueland’s ’If You Want to Write’ [1] is entitled: ‘Everybody is talented, original and has something important to say.’ It struck me that this is equivalent to the statement in the Declaration of Independence, […]
Semi-conscious writing For a time I used to write down all my dreams. I would wake up in the middle of the night and write them down in my journal. Writing upside down was a problem. The ink would flow away from the ballpoint tip, and no ink would come out. Then I discovered the […]
For Immediate Release Contact: CDC Media Relations Monday, August 19, 2013 (404) 639-3286 CDC provides estimate of Americans diagnosed with Lyme disease each year Preliminary estimates […]
The art of waiting As I said the other day, waiting is an art form at which I excel. In fact, I was thinking of publishing a book of the drawings I did while waiting for my wife. I’ve gotten pretty good at drawing scenes through the windshield of the car. The dashboard and sun […]
Importance of importance Early in my career, I was in charge of a nascent computer department at a city medical center. Paper records ruled at that time and there was a natural reluctance among the older established docs, to implement computerization of their operations. There happened to be enough work in laying the groundwork of […]
The waiting room wasn’t too crowded when we got to the Emergency Room at 11AM. She was taken right in and given the appropriate tests for chest pain. Then we sat there in the waiting room: she in the wheelchair and I next to her, within plug-in length of the nearest power outlet. There weren’t […]
Different children have different reactions. My younger brother doesn’t remember much about our older brother, Michael. Michael is autistic, low functioning and nonverbal. Mom and Dad both said that they tried shielding us kids from the brunt of Mike’s influence. I suppose it worked, for one of us. Maybe there was a little magic thrown […]
Left and right halves of faces seem pretty much the same. I took portraits of my family in preparation for a little experiment. (My little brother does not appear here.) Experiment I reversed each portrait, cut the faces in half, and made portraits of left halves and right halves. The resulting faces are very strange […]
I wanted to write about vocalizations since these are the only sounds that my older brother has ever made. Mike has never spoken. He used to hum, but doesn’t do that too much any more, at least when I’m present. He sometimes sniffs rhythmically, and grunts. Who knows his motivations for doing this, if any? […]
There are other people from my brother Mike‘s group home that go to his day program. Mike is one of the lowest functioning individuals there. There are others like him that do not speak, but the staff is very good with them. I visited him there many times. He loved his slinky when he went […]
