Just the Journal @ shazzerspeak.blog-city.comhttp://shazzerspeak.blog-city.com/(Just the Journal) Copyright 2008 shazzerspeak.blog-city.comWed, 20 Aug 2008 21:48:00 GMTJust the Journal @ shazzerspeak.blog-city.comhttp://server1.blog-city.com/images/bc_v5_logo_small.gifhttp://shazzerspeak.blog-city.com/360http://backend.userland.com/rssDid you vote for Bush? Pay up!http://shazzerspeak.blog-city.com/did_you_vote_for_bush__pay_up.htmhttp://shazzerspeak.blog-city.com/did_you_vote_for_bush__pay_up.htmThu, 07 Aug 2008 18:51:00 GMThttp://shazzerspeak.blog-city.com/console/comments/popup/?f=did%5Fyou%5Fvote%5Ffor%5Fbush%5F%5Fpay%5FupShazzerMark Morford has a great column in the SF Gate that suggests some ways that Bush voters can begin to make amends for saddling the world with 8 years of dangerous incompetence in the White House.

Among the gems:

…the sooner you realize that the world is, in fact, not America’s bitch, that it’s actually a living, humming organism, interconnected and interdependent in ways and on levels no organized religion or fear-based neocon political agenda can possibly comprehend, much less bomb into submission, well, the sooner we can get our collective s— together and move the human experiment forward once again.

And after what you’ve put us all through, it’s the very least you could do.

The full column can be read here.

 

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]]>bush administrationdubyacorrupt republicansHoly crap! The Queen is ripped!http://shazzerspeak.blog-city.com/holy_crap_the_queen_is_ripped.htmhttp://shazzerspeak.blog-city.com/holy_crap_the_queen_is_ripped.htmThu, 17 Jul 2008 07:23:00 GMThttp://shazzerspeak.blog-city.com/console/comments/popup/?f=holy%5Fcrap%5Fthe%5Fqueen%5Fis%5FrippedShazzer

I've long admired British actress Helen Mirren for her acting chops, but today I'm admiring her for her washboard stomach.

Defamer has a couple more pics from Her Majesty's recent beach romp...as well as a bunch of irreverently admiring remarks from their usually snarky commenters. (I can say that with some authority as I'm one of them.)

Please God, let me look HALF this good when I'm 63.

 

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]]>helen mirrenthe queenanglophiliaMatt's dancing badly again!http://shazzerspeak.blog-city.com/matts_dancing_badly_again.htmhttp://shazzerspeak.blog-city.com/matts_dancing_badly_again.htmSat, 21 Jun 2008 18:26:00 GMThttp://shazzerspeak.blog-city.com/console/comments/popup/?f=matts%5Fdancing%5Fbadly%5FagainShazzer
Where the Hell is Matt? (2008) from Matthew Harding on Vimeo.

And this time, he has company!

I first blogged about Matt Harding 's mesmerizing bad-dancing world tour videos back in May of last year.  At that point I was about 12 months behind the rest of the internets in knowing who he was, but I'm making up for that by sharing his latest effort within 24 hours of it's release on YouTube. (It helps to be on his mailing list.) The verdict?  "I laughed, I cried,it was better than Cats!"

Enjoy!

UPDATE: This goofy yet remarkably inspiring video has garnered over a million views on YouTube already...so I thought I'd update the embed here to give Vimeo a little love.  Plus, that particular video-sharing site is blocked by the IT Dept. at my office...which is a real pity because if any place was in need of some remarkably goofy inspiration, it's the IT Dept. at my office.

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]]>international travelinternetmatt hardingdancingMidsummer in Swedenhttp://shazzerspeak.blog-city.com/midsummer_in_sweden.htmhttp://shazzerspeak.blog-city.com/midsummer_in_sweden.htmFri, 20 Jun 2008 20:45:00 GMThttp://shazzerspeak.blog-city.com/console/comments/popup/?f=midsummer%5Fin%5FswedenShazzerThere are three "red stars" on my calendar today.

The first is because it's the official date of Sweden's "midsommar" holiday, second only to Christmas in terms of preparation and partying. It floats around a bit because the ever-practical Swedes always move it to the Friday closest to the actual summer solstice to create a guaranteed 3-day weekend.

The second star is because today is the actual summer solstice for 2008...which means the number of hours of visible daylight (over 20 at the moment) will begin to recede and I'm that much closer to a decent night's sleep.

Finally, today is the 6th anniversary of my move to Sweden. It's a holiday hat-trick!

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]]>swedish holidaysmidsummerBessie arrives in Sweden!http://shazzerspeak.blog-city.com/bessie_arrives_in_sweden.htmhttp://shazzerspeak.blog-city.com/bessie_arrives_in_sweden.htmTue, 03 Jun 2008 03:38:00 GMThttp://shazzerspeak.blog-city.com/console/comments/popup/?f=bessie%5Farrives%5Fin%5FswedenShazzerutterz-image
Folks reading this on utterz.com know exactly who I’m talking about! But for those reading it on my blog(s), this adorable plush cow talking on a cellphone is the mascot for a fantastic mobile multi-media micro-blogging service called Utterz that’s changing the way I interact with the web.

Basically, Utterz makes it simple to get your voice, pictures, videos and text on the web…either via their website or my favorite way…directly from your mobile phone. And by ‘the web,’ I mean your blog, flickr photostream, twitter timeline, yahoo groups or youtube account, plus about a dozen other social media services…with more being added all the time.

There’s also a terrific community building up around the service, and the people who created and continue to develop it are among its most avid users so they’re super responsive.

So if you’re looking for a fun and easy way to get media into your blog, consolidate your social network posting, or podcast on-the-fly, surf by utterz.com and check it out. Bessie will be really glad to see you!

Mobile post sent by Shazzer using Utterz. reply-count Replies.

 

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]]>online lifebloggingutterzThe pic that turned Jezebel commenters into a warm puddle of goohttp://shazzerspeak.blog-city.com/pic_that_turned_jezebel_commenters_into_a_warm_puddle.htmhttp://shazzerspeak.blog-city.com/pic_that_turned_jezebel_commenters_into_a_warm_puddle.htmWed, 21 May 2008 12:11:00 GMThttp://shazzerspeak.blog-city.com/console/comments/popup/?f=pic%5Fthat%5Fturned%5Fjezebel%5Fcommenters%5Finto%5Fa%5Fwarm%5FpuddleShazzer
This photo of a spectacularly pregnant Angelina Jolie and partner Brad Pitt (in Cannes) turned the routine snark-fest perpetuated by the incredibly clever commenters at Gawker Media's Jezebel blog into a virtual admiration society. (And I'm not saying that just because I happen to be one of them.)

As a long-time and unabashed fan of the fair AJ, I think this reaction from commenter Sybann was my favorite:

"No words. Well, other than: no other woman should ever wear stained glass windows. It's been done perfectly. shit."

I couldn't agree more.

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]]>brangelinaangelina joliebrad pittjezebelColour me miserable, matey.http://shazzerspeak.blog-city.com/colour_me_miserable_matey.htmhttp://shazzerspeak.blog-city.com/colour_me_miserable_matey.htmMon, 28 Apr 2008 14:13:00 GMThttp://shazzerspeak.blog-city.com/console/comments/popup/?f=colour%5Fme%5Fmiserable%5FmateyShazzerIs there anything quite as annoying as a spring cold?  Especially after one has gone "cold-free" all winter long? I don't think so!

I knew something was up in the middle of last week when I starting waking up each morning to find my right eye socket glued shut (and Dr. Darling claiming to have had nothing to do with it). I had been told when I was getting fitted for my prosthetic eye earlier this year that it would likely give me the first indication that I was catching a cold or about to get hammered with allergies. Turns out that was not an exaggeration.

I've since learned that contact lenses serve as a similar "early warning system" for folks who wear them. Of course contact lens wearers can just switch to glasses when they're feeling poorly. I get switch to "Pirate Mode"...abandoning the fake eye in favor of a patch...which is exactly how I spent the weekend.

As this is the first and only cold I've had since cold & flu season began last fall, it's apparently decided to run the complete gamut of symptoms. Last week it was watery eyes, scratchy throat and morning laryngitis (much to Dr. Darling's delight). Over the weekend it was headache, sinus pain and sneezing, and today it's manifesting itself as a deep chest cough along with massive snot production. FUN!

I worked from home on Friday at the request of colleagues who did not want to catch the bug, but was back in the office today even though I actually feel worse now than I did last week. Normally I'm not quite this dedicated, but I had an oft-postponed meeting with our CEO scheduled for early this afternoon and I didn't want it to get pushed back again...especially on my account.

So I dosed myself with contraband U.S. cold medicine this morning and soldiered on...hopefully not infecting the CEO in the process. Because I don't think that would serve me very well in my next employee evaluation.

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]]>monocularnyquilpirate modeHow did I survive so long without an iPod?!http://shazzerspeak.blog-city.com/how_did_i_survive_so_long_without_an_ipod.htmhttp://shazzerspeak.blog-city.com/how_did_i_survive_so_long_without_an_ipod.htmThu, 24 Apr 2008 08:35:00 GMThttp://shazzerspeak.blog-city.com/console/comments/popup/?f=how%5Fdid%5Fi%5Fsurvive%5Fso%5Flong%5Fwithout%5Fan%5FipodShazzerDespite being both a dedicated Mac user and a gadget-addict all of my adult life, I have always (inexplicably, really) resisted the pull of the iPod. Part of my apathy toward the "game-changing" mp3 player that put Apple design artistry in the hands of pretty much everyone on the planet is that I've just never had an overwhelming need to carry my own music around with me.

Naturally I'm in plenty of situations where tunes could make life more pleasant: the daily commute to my office, the gym, the laundry room, etc.  But I worked in commercial radio for a lot of years and have always been pretty content to listen to that. And since moving to Sweden, radio ads and jingles have been great tools for learning the language. Besides, the last couple renditions of my mobile phone have had the ability to store and play mp3 files (though the process for getting them on the phone is kind of a pain-in-the-butt).

I further have never had the inclination to store a bunch of music on my iBook, and for that reason, iTunes was one of the most chronically underused programs on the machine. But then late last summer my good friend (and fellow Mac fan) Bex introduced me to the podcast section of Apple's iTunes Store. 

OMG let's just say I saw the light!

Turns out the iTunes Store offers thousands of free audio and video podcasts from both independent creators and major media outlets. You just subscribe to the ones that interest you, and iTunes (the software) downloads the latest episodes automatically. SWEET!

But I was kind of tethered to the iBook for listening to and/or watching them, and given that I already spend MORE than enough time in front of a computer each day, it wasn't long before I was contemplating my first iPod purchase. The only question was, which one to choose?  Unfortunately, that was also just about the time that my hinky eye drama started, and the shopping trip was postponed indefinitely.

Then last month my favorite AlphaGeek Sonny bought his lovely wife an iPhone, and suddenly her iPod Nano...which had been a Christmas gift...was kind of redundant.  Knowing I had been lusting after an iPod for quite some time...he offered me the opportunity to buy it from them at a "family discount", and now, just a few weeks later, I can barely remember what life was like before I got it.

Now, instead of doing sudoku puzzles on the train ride to work, I'm watching episodes of NBC's Meet the Press and highlights from The Ellen DeGeneres Show. Last night while cooking dinner I listened to parts of NPR's The Bryant Park Project and the first half of a recent episode of HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher. And earlier this week, instead of reading in bed, I watched five clips from The Best of YouTube without disturbing Dr. Darling...until I laughed outloud.

Perhaps I still have a few things to learn about iPod etiquette.

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]]>technogadgetryipodapple computersMonday morning mindfulnesshttp://shazzerspeak.blog-city.com/monday_morning_mindfulness.htmhttp://shazzerspeak.blog-city.com/monday_morning_mindfulness.htmMon, 07 Apr 2008 09:50:00 GMThttp://shazzerspeak.blog-city.com/console/comments/popup/?f=monday%5Fmorning%5FmindfulnessShazzerFirst I left The Penthouse-Nordic for the gym without my keys, but (thankfully) realized it before Dr. Darling had left the building.

Then I left the gym without my insulated Starbucks coffee mug and had to double back for it. (Yes, I take coffee to the gym rather than a waterbottle…it’s 5:45 in the morning for cryin’ outloud!)

And then I left for work without the new iPod Nano I had just loaded up with podcasts to listen to on my commute. (The only item I didn’t go back after.)

It’s a good thing my head is attached to the rest of my body, even though it’s clearly out to lunch.

Mobile post sent by Shazzer using Utterz. Replies.

 

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]]>working outtechnogadgetrybrain fadeLittle brothers are for pounding!!!http://shazzerspeak.blog-city.com/little_brothers_are_for_pounding.htmhttp://shazzerspeak.blog-city.com/little_brothers_are_for_pounding.htmTue, 01 Apr 2008 15:38:00 GMThttp://shazzerspeak.blog-city.com/console/comments/popup/?f=little%5Fbrothers%5Fare%5Ffor%5FpoundingShazzerMy younger brother works in the School of Engineering at a major university in the midwestern US. The campus often hosts high profile figures in the arts, sciences, business and politics, etc.

So when I got this e-mail from him this afternoon, looking authentically dashed off in his usual rush and full of typos, I bought the first sentence hook, line and sinker:

Did you Angela jolie will be speaking at [the university] on her humanitarin efforts.  Engr will have a few free tix!!



April fools

I also got laid last night.

Still april fools damn!

It's now 8 hours later and I'm STILL laughing about it!
 

UPDATE: It's 24 hour later and I just thought of the PERFECT comeback for by brother's April Fool's Day message.  I should have replied with:

You work for an engineering school ... what the hell did you expect!

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]]>angelina joliesibling rivalryembarassing moments'Springing Forward' sorta suckshttp://shazzerspeak.blog-city.com/springing_forward_sorta_sucks.htmhttp://shazzerspeak.blog-city.com/springing_forward_sorta_sucks.htmSun, 30 Mar 2008 11:55:00 GMThttp://shazzerspeak.blog-city.com/console/comments/popup/?f=springing%5Fforward%5Fsorta%5FsucksShazzerI know the switch to Daylight Savings Time is a sure sign that summer is just around the corning (in fact, Swedes actually call it "Summer Time" rather than DST), but losing that hour on Saturday night is kind of a pain when you have the laundry room booked at 7 a.m. on Sunday morning.  So we will spend part of today resetting all the clocks in The Penthouse-Nordic, which is a much simpler job these days since virtually all of the digital clocks in our home electronics reset themselves.

Speaking of electronics, we took part in Earth Hour last night, a worldwide initiative to raise awareness of things the individual can do to fight global warming. It basically involved turning off our lights for 60 minutes, starting at 8 p.m. local time. It was a small sacrifice made even simpler for us by a last-minute invitation to dinner with friends.

But if we had been home, we definitely would have used candlelight from 8 to 9 p.m. Which, now that I think about it...could have potentially led to a very different kind of evening than the one we had. Granted, the Swede is probably the only person in the world who is less of a romantic than me, but we're both pretty passionate about the environment.

Damn. Maybe I can convince Dr. Darling that I confused the time-zones (it happens!) and Earth Hour is really tonight?  It's worth a try.

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]]>technogadgetryearth hourSweden screws with yet another holiday traditionhttp://shazzerspeak.blog-city.com/sweden_screws_with_yet_another_holiday_tradition.htmhttp://shazzerspeak.blog-city.com/sweden_screws_with_yet_another_holiday_tradition.htmTue, 25 Mar 2008 11:38:00 GMThttp://shazzerspeak.blog-city.com/console/comments/popup/?f=sweden%5Fscrews%5Fwith%5Fyet%5Fanother%5Fholiday%5FtraditionShazzerEaster Weekend was a four-day affair here in Vikingland since both Good Friday and Easter Monday are official holidays. Dr. Darling had it even better because Maundy Thursday is a holiday in Denmark, begging the question, "At what point does a long holiday weekend become just a week of vacation?"

We are usually invited up to my in-laws for some portion of the Easter break, but the holiday kind of snuck up on everyone. And given that we'd just spent the previous weekend in Edinburgh, neither one of us was really game for a roadtrip. Besides that, the weather forecast was crap, and I had accepted a freelance job proof-reading a doctoral thesis, so we were pretty much resigned to spending the time off holed up in The Penthouse-Nordic.

But as is typical for me, it wasn't going to feel like a holiday unless there were a lot of people around. So I cajoled Dr. Darling into hosting some friends for Easter Dinner, which...in a nod to the Swedish habit of celebrating all holidays on the eve of their actual date, was scheduled for Saturday night. 

My initial menu plan included lamb and roasted potatoes, because that's what my Mom always served when I was a kid. But by Saturday morning I realized I just didn't want to work that hard...especially since I was going to have to prepare something separate for the non-lamb eating Swede anyway. And since the meal wasn't even going to take place on Easter Sunday, it was a pretty easy leap to abandon all recognizable tradition and go with one of the "Specialities of the House", spaghetti with meat sauce.

We served it with a big green salad, garlic bread and copious amounts of red wine, which helped everyone forget that it was Easter, let alone the original menu plan.

I suspect I was the only one who missed the lamb, which gives me a good excuse to have Dr. Darling take me to Fagan's for it...possibly as soon as next weekend. It's a local Irish pub that serves surprisingly good food and they always have lamb on the menu. Then again, I may have to throw caution to the wind and try the kangaroo. (Yes, you read that right.) Because nothing says traditional Irish pub grub like grilled kangaroo filet served with Calvados Cream Sauce and Golden Delicious & Red Onion Chutney.

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]]>easterswedish holidaysBette Porter drinks coffee...probably black, and lots of ithttp://shazzerspeak.blog-city.com/bette_porter_drinks_coffee.htmhttp://shazzerspeak.blog-city.com/bette_porter_drinks_coffee.htmWed, 12 Mar 2008 15:08:00 GMThttp://shazzerspeak.blog-city.com/console/comments/popup/?f=bette%5Fporter%5Fdrinks%5FcoffeeShazzerI've been hesitant to update this blog for the past couple days because I know doing so will push the  inspired photo of Jennifer Beals (as Bette Porter) in Monday's post further down the page. It's such a fantastic image that I want it greeting visitors for as long as I can possibly manage.  And I, myself, have found it nearly impossible to turn away from...which is strange given that it's probably just a generic publicity still or screen capture from "The L Word" in which Bette is sitting at a table at The Planet, the café-cum-nightclub where all the characters hang out.

In this case it's daytime, probably morning since Bette is clearly dressed-for-success in her position as the dean of a California art school. She looks a little wistful...kind of like how I feel about the news that the show will stop production after Season 6. I know I've been kind of hard on it in the past and complained that the characters don't much represent any of the real-life lesbians I know, but I still watch whenever I can catch it on Sweden's no-rhyme-nor-reason-to-scheduling-practices cable TV networks.

So I've been staring at this picture off-and-on for two days now, knowing that there was something about it that didn't quite ring true...just like the show itself...but not being able to put my finger on what it was until just now.

It's the teapot.

I mean, c'mon...everybody knows that hip LA power lesbians drink coffee!

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]]>gay lifejennifer bealsthe l wordswedish tvOh MY. (Gratuitous Angelina shot)http://shazzerspeak.blog-city.com/oh_my.htmhttp://shazzerspeak.blog-city.com/oh_my.htmTue, 04 Mar 2008 08:55:00 GMThttp://shazzerspeak.blog-city.com/console/comments/popup/?f=oh%5FmyShazzer

That’s all I have to say, really.

 

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]]>angelina jolieChocolate lessons for Valentine's Dayhttp://shazzerspeak.blog-city.com/chocolate_lessons_for_valentines_day.htmhttp://shazzerspeak.blog-city.com/chocolate_lessons_for_valentines_day.htmThu, 14 Feb 2008 16:48:00 GMThttp://shazzerspeak.blog-city.com/console/comments/popup/?f=chocolate%5Flessons%5Ffor%5Fvalentines%5FdayShazzerBlogger Tim Ferriss recently took a serious look at my favorite food group.

Learn to Eat Chocolate with the Real Willy Wonka

 

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]]>chocolateMonday morning mammographyhttp://shazzerspeak.blog-city.com/monday_morning_mammography.htmhttp://shazzerspeak.blog-city.com/monday_morning_mammography.htmMon, 14 Jan 2008 21:41:00 GMThttp://shazzerspeak.blog-city.com/console/comments/popup/?f=monday%5Fmorning%5FmammographyShazzerOkay, so I can think of a lot better ways to start a week. But at least today's mammographical experience was a lot better than my first one, when a computer problem kept "the girls" clamped between the plates longer than should be allowed by law.

I also did not have to re-live the trauma of walking from the dressing room to the exam room (and back again) totally topless. But that might just be because the appointment was at a medical clinic downtown rather than the university hospital, and as it was a much smaller facility, patients disrobe in the same room where the x-rays are taken.

Tomorrow I have another medical chore...getting fitted for my permanent prosthetic right eye. (I got a temporary one just before I left for the U.S. for Christmas.) Hopefully, this appointment won't involve any nakedness at all. But then again, this is Sweden.

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]]>nakednessEntry extravaganza!http://shazzerspeak.blog-city.com/entry_extravaganza.htmhttp://shazzerspeak.blog-city.com/entry_extravaganza.htmMon, 17 Dec 2007 22:34:00 GMThttp://shazzerspeak.blog-city.com/console/comments/popup/?f=entry%5FextravaganzaShazzerMy 11 loyal readers, especially those who subscribe to these musings by RSS feed or e-mail, have probably noticed a bit of a jump in the number of posts over the last 24 hours.  That's because I'm test-driving a "blog mirroring" feature that streams content from my tumblelog directly into ShazzerSpeak.

If you're not familiar with tumblelogging...it's a relatively new online publishing format that's streamlined for multimedia posting and linking, rather than the longer editorial entries typical of blogging. Tumblr, the (free) service that hosts my tumblelog, offers the following analogy; "If blogs are journals, tumblelogs are scrapbooks." That's is why I call my tumblelog "Shazzer Surfing"...it's basically just a regularly updated list of what I'm reading, writing and laughing about online, with a little Twittering mixed in.

So for the time being, all my tumblelog posts are going to be turning up here as well, which will either liven this blog up considerably, or drive 11 semi-comatose people completely bonkers!

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]]>blogginginternettechnogadgetrytumbleloggingBuh-bye double visionhttp://shazzerspeak.blog-city.com/buhbye_double_vision.htmhttp://shazzerspeak.blog-city.com/buhbye_double_vision.htmTue, 20 Nov 2007 22:34:00 GMThttp://shazzerspeak.blog-city.com/console/comments/popup/?f=buhbye%5Fdouble%5FvisionShazzerGod willing and the creek don't rise, the evil tumor will be excised from my head tomorrow morning at 8 a.m. Sweden time.  Sadly, my right eye will have to go with it.  But given that I haven't been able to see much out of it since the middle of October, I don't think I'm going to miss it all that much.

For a few minutes this afternoon, I actually thought the surgery was going to be postponed again. My Mom and I had been at the hospital for nearly five hours of pre-op exams, waiting, instructions from the nursing staff, more waiting, a consult with the anesthesiologist followed by even more waiting, when we learned that the other anesthesiologist was home ill and uncertain for tomorrow.  This means there's a chance that only one OR will be fully staffed instead of the usual two, and that will certainly delay and likely bump some patients off the schedule.

Evidently my case was a high enough priority to be scheduled into the day's first slot, so even if it doesn't happen at 8 a.m., it will happen sometime before the morning is out.  And as long as they've given me some happy drugs, I doubt I'll mind the wait.

Thanks again to everyone who has contacted me with their offers of prayers and good wishes.  All are sincerely appreciated.  In fact, feel free to keep them coming!

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]]>the c wordThe Mothership Returnshttp://shazzerspeak.blog-city.com/the_mothership_returns.htmhttp://shazzerspeak.blog-city.com/the_mothership_returns.htmFri, 16 Nov 2007 17:36:00 GMThttp://shazzerspeak.blog-city.com/console/comments/popup/?f=the%5Fmothership%5FreturnsShazzerMy Mom arrived from the U.S. yesterday afternoon to help see me through my upcoming surgery and convalescence. Sound like a fun trip, or what?!

Initially we thought her getting here on Thursday might be cutting it a little close in terms of giving her time to get over the jetlag before we go to the hospital.  But we needn't have worried, because my procedure has already been bumped to Wednesday the 21st, something I was told would not happen unless an emergency  surgical case materialized on 19th. (Evidently the person who schedules the OR is psychic.)

So now I'm scrambling to inform all of the wonderful folks who are planning to direct a chorus of prayers, good thoughts and positive vibes my way on E-Day to reschedule that effort to the 21st. (I'm sure the American contingent doesn't have anything better to do the day before Thanksgiving!)

We're having a remarkably good visit so far, considering the circumstances.  I actually feel more confident and positive about my long-term prognosis since she arrived, and it's really nice to get a break from being scared. At one point I even asked her if she'd consider staying for the next five years. (She's willing, but suspects (correctly) that Dr. Darling wouldn't be too thrilled with the idea.)

Tonight we made her watch the first half of Swedish Idol (an entire program would have qualified as "cruel and unusual punishment") to see if I had been too harsh in my earlier critique of the show.  Her verdict: "Pretty lame." I feel totally vindicated.

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]]>familyswedish tvamerican idolE-Day is November 19http://shazzerspeak.blog-city.com/eday_is_november_19.htmhttp://shazzerspeak.blog-city.com/eday_is_november_19.htmFri, 09 Nov 2007 19:39:00 GMThttp://shazzerspeak.blog-city.com/console/comments/popup/?f=eday%5Fis%5Fnovember%5F19ShazzerI spoke to my local eye doctor yesterday and she put me on her surgical schedule for November 19, which will give my Mom enough time to get here from the U.S. and re-set her body clock before I go under the knife.

Surprisingly, the doc had yet to receive the results of my consult with the ocular oncologists in Stockholm...which explains why I hadn't heard from her earlier in the week.  Evidently I will be summoned for a pre-surgical consult with the anesthesiologist sometime next week, and then we're good to go.

I'm feeling fairly calm about the surgery itself, which I understand is a relatively simple procedure as far as operations go.  And the physical recovery time is really short compared to the abdominal surgeries I've been through before.  I am a little nervous about the short hospital stay, but only because of the potential language gap. (Note to self: memorize the phrase "I need more painkillers, stat!" in Swedish.)

All the doctors I've talked to have said the mental and emotional recovery is the tougher part.  My brain is going to need some time to adjust to the reduced visual input, and I'm going to have to learned to operate with severely limited depth-perception. Then there's the whole eye patch/prosthetic eye thing to get used to...which may actually be a bigger adjustment for Dr. Darling, who has to look at me a lot more often than I ever do.

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