I used to keep a journal and then stopped at some point after I learned that my sister had dug up my fifth grade diary and took offense when my comment on hearing of her birth was without any excitement.  [I hadn’t met her yet.]  I began to think of journals as something others might read, and therefore not as safe for my mental health rants as I previously thought.  Still, I have not burned the box of journals in my closet, nor have I had the nerve to read them.  I am not sure I want to revisit my twenties!

It seems to me that if Estranged were completely comfortable in continuing the estrangement, she would not have written to Margo.  An estrangement begun when one is a child and living with the parent that is in conflict with the other parent, need not be continued in adulthood.  Perhaps that is all that Estranged father is trying to do, establish a relationship now that it is not so difficult for Mrs. Estranged.   I think it might be useful for Estranged to see a mental health professional to find out if her apathy is the result of a decision or the result of resignation.  It may well enrich her life to include her father in her life again.  Maybe it won’t.   Since she is asking, maybe she is interested in making the call.  I think it is interesting that she is curious about his motivation when she thinks she is apathetic.

Truly spectacular.  Since there are less than 200 in the wild, it was a rare privilege to see this one.  I will look for them again, next time I drive through Atascadero, maybe I will bring binoculars and stop for a while. 

Driving north in California from Santa Barbara in December, I saw an enormous bird lazily gliding on the air currents and I looked closer and recognized that it was a California Condor.   I was driving by a forest in Atascadero.  I was really stunned at how large it was.  The wingspan was at least eight feet.   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Condor

It crossed my mind that Alfred Hitchcock would have enjoyed seeing these birds in flight, and maybe he did.

It is worth considering that heart disease is the number one cause of death in this country.  Long before heart disease zaps the heart, it clogs up all those arteries that make arousal possible. 

Even so, a substantial number of older women find themselves on the other side of menopause with either no libido or a dramatically diminished one.  Maybe it is nature, maybe it is a problem to solve with hormones and ballroom dance lessons.  I don’t know.  I just know that this is well known, and sometimes one loses a mate one part at a time. 

Lack of exercise will also diminish libido.  I wonder if the couple in question are more sedentary than they used to be.

 The Berman sisters wrote a pretty good book on this issue a few years ago.   http://www.amazon.com/Women-Only-Revised-Revolutionary-Reclaiming/dp/0805078835/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1238365967&sr=8-6  But since it is not the lady writing, but the gentleman, that is not much help.

One would think after half a century of rule by a wonderful Queen, that someone would have thought of this and done this already.  But even late is better than never.

I once spent an entire afternoon at Musee D’Orsay watching the light dance across one of Claude Monet’s paintings.  I really do love his work, but it does not translate into posters at all, despite the perseverence of the poster industry.  I also find Salvador Dali fascinating, though I am not sure I would want one of his paintings in my bedroom.  Some of Leonardo da Vinci’s paintings are astonishing, though I find I am not nearly as drawn to the Mona Lisa as I am to other paintings of his.  I do not think I have a favorite artist.  There are so many amazing artists, alive and dead, and many of the best are those anonymous ones that just make you awestruck.  Who built the pyramids?  

So true!  It is comical that a forty year old would actually think she knows what it is like to be older these days!  I think of forty as pretty darn young.   It is fine to try and look one’s best, in fact I think it is a requisite of common courtesy to do so, but I don’t think most of us are fooling anyone about how long ago we were born.

High heels may look good, but they wreck your knees and can pitch you off balance.  Who needs to be competing with men in their sensible shoes when you can’t even run fast enough to catch a taxi?   I agree on most of the other things, but seriously, not even twenty five year old women should be wearing high heels on a regular basis.

Since I started taking more Vitamin D about ten years ago, my health has improved enormously.   I get fewer colds, and my bone density stopped declining.  I was surprised that it took so long for doctors to put Vitamin D and the various ailments that were impacted by latitude together.  Really, you can map the continent for incidence of say, colon cancer, and a clear pattern begins to emerge. 

 Anyway, I am happy to see that sunshine is being put back in place as a healthy pursuit, even though it is simply not possible for non tropical people to get enough in the winter.  

I remember going to a Mensa meeting back in the seventies and was told I could join, based on my SATs or GREs, I forget which.  It didn’t seem like that exceptional a group, actually.  The people were nice, but it seemed more like a dating group than anything else.  [Yes, there were puzzles everywhere, too!] And a large proportion of the people there were a bit shy of social skills.  Since I was dating someone already, it seemed silly to actually join and keep telling people, "I have a boyfriend," so I never did really join.  In retrospect, I think it makes no sense to form a social circle around an I.Q. test.  There are too many different types of intelligence, and many of them are difficult to test.  Testable intelligence is only one fragment of it. 

Lesley, did you notice that the White House is actually going to plant a vegetable garden?  They announced it yesterday.  I wonder if someone there watches 60 minutes?  No, they probably just like to eat.

There is so much verbal rioting on this issue.  The bailouts are meant to benefit the entire economy.  The government is created by the Constitution, which gives it limited powers, and that includes no power to impair contracts.   So the bonuses, put into contract form in April 2008, are required by law to be paid, the only exception being bankruptcy or if the employee in question renegotiates.  The Treasury Secretary may not like the bonuses, but he knows that he is required by law to pay them. 

No matter how much people talk about this issue, it is not going to get rid of the fact that the bonuses must be paid by law.  Are we no longer a nation ruled by law?  I feel sad that so many talented people are devoting energy to this issue, which in the scheme of things, is a relatively small issue.  Imagine if such energy were unleashed to create universal health care or to end poverty!  

Plus, it makes no particular sense to condition future loans on renegotiation of  particular contracts, because it sends the message loud and clear that the government is not going to follow the law.  That wil make business and credit freeze up faster!~ And the whole point of the bailout is to make the banks work and get credit unfrozen.   Sometimes you just have to take the long view.   If you stop and focus on every perceived injustice, you just end up standing in one spot.

Suzanne, it is nice to see you here.   Your story of your head injury moved me when you first shared it and it continues to make me marvel that you have the courage and wisdom to share your lessons from this difficult experience.   Head injury is so common and so little understood, I believe you are doing much good here. 

I am reminded of Warren Zevon’s admonition that we should "enjoy every sandwich."  I think she did. 

I am not sure that it is clear that her brain injury was caused by the fall.  In fact, it may well have been a cerebral hemorrhage or stroke that caused her to fall in the first place.   Even a small one could have disturbed her coordination enough to make her fall, and later give her a headache.  Whatever the cause, it does seem that people behaved quite reasonably in response to her fall. It is just such a tragedy.  She was enormously gifted in her work and her sons were too young to lose her.