For those about to debate ...

Someone posted in epileptics that a friend was going to be making bracelets similar to the Livestrong bracelets that are dark purple and say Seize The Cure. (I *wish* I were making that slogan up.)

Well, talk about stirring up a maelstrom (that's French for "shitstorm") in an otherwise day-to-day community!

Seize The Debate!

There are people that *cannot* stand the Livestrong bracelets and what they stand for. There are people that don't think that epilepsy necessitates a cure - and how would you cure it, anyways? And there are some that feel a little burned out by the whole bracelet-for-a-cause idea.


Personally, I think it could be quite confusing. Autism, Pro-Choice and The Humane Society have already taken up purple as their color of choice for their cause bracelets.

(A) It's a fine idea - but use a different color. Everyone is doing purple. Don't even go near red - that's Multiple Sclerosis, and maybe even AIDS, for all I know.

(B) Change the slogan - "Seize The Cure" feels schlocky, and almost like it's poking fun at epilepsy and seizures.

(C) Realize that not everyone with epilepsy feels the need to be "cured" of it. Or even sees it as being a "curable" disorder - just something that can be treated and kept under control. Something that is manageable, and lived with, but cannot be permanently altered - like our eye color, handedness, or tendency to burn easily in the sun.

As someone whose chronic conditions are largely internal - except for the rare moments that they like to rear their ugly heads - I do hear that statement a lot.

What is someone with high blood pressure "supposed to" look like?

What is a person living with severe depression "supposed to" look like?

What is an asthmatic "supposed to" look like?

What is an epileptic "supposed to" look like?


Should I be *harrumphing* around town under the burden of the occasionally overwhelming despondency?

Should I be wearing a crash helmet and a padded bodysuit in case I have a seizure?

Should I be weak and vulnerable, like Mikey Walsh in The Goonies because I have asthma?

Should I be 65 years old with blue hair and arthritis before I deal with the bad genetic hand of high blood pressure?

( Instead, my friends and lovelies, *this* is what the face of hidden disabilities looks like: )

"Next time I'll raise dogs. They are more loyal and more excited to see you." - Mrs. Black

I also managed to get my hot little hands on his book, Nothing's Sacred. Interspersed with his life story (up to age 27), are some incredibly witty, incisive rants - about politics, in support of gay marriage, about how the Government can get us all worked up over flu shots.

After reading his piece in favor of gay marriage - as well as his displeasure with authority figures - I wanted to have curmudgeony Jewish Mormon Pagan Babies with him. Although, considering that he's old enough to be my father (really), and I'm on medications that have rendered me better off adopting ... it's just my fangirl silliness talking.


But, I love him. He's wickedly funny - someone that Dennis Miller could've evolved into, had he not sold out so badly. He does have kind of a wry, intelligent sense of humor - but he's not so obscure that he goes over people's heads. It never goes into condescending "look at my big words" territory.

He manages to be topical and timely, sticking it to the politicians and talking heads du jour - yet we can still hear the famous "IHOP" bit, ten years after it was originally done, and laugh our asses off. Sure, the reference to Dan Quayle nominated as Veep may be outdated, but "If it weren't for my horse, I wouldn't have spent that year in college" will always be the dumbest thing that *anyone* could say.

And that sort of idiotic statement will haunt you for days and weeks to come if you happened to hear it from some mindless jackass - and you can't find out what the hell that jackass meant!

I've forgotten a couple of birthdays - because I'm a slacker in that regard.

So, belated birthday greetings to my lovelies:

Happy Birthday yokie and docwebster

Wishing you happiness in the years to come! :-)

I hope that you both had great birthdays - even if I was late with the wishes. ;)

It's been a while since I've done this - so I thought I'd welcome some of my most recent LJ Friends: rockfic, ctr_forever, stevensatlga, kraken13 and chrissycam.

If I've forgotten anyone - I'm sorry!

And welcome to anyone else that has joined recently - glad you're around! :-)

I see so many people wearing them - among other bracelets, for other charities/causes (although some are merely to line 7-11's pockets) - I wonder, would it be rude of me to ask random people about their motivation behind wearing their respective bracelet(s)?


I have a Livestrong bracelet (finally), and I wear it as a tribute to my stepdad - he's a cancer survivor, going on 2 years in April. My whole family has (and wears) the bracelet for this reason. It reminds us that someone we know and love has kicked cancer's ass. It reminds me that there have been others before him that haven't been as fortunate - and many that will follow, and also kick cancer's ass.

Sure, it may seem simple, but it reminds me to be thankful, and to count my blessings whenever possible. Because, somewhere, someone else's family may not be as fortunate as mine has been.

Apparently dpaul007 and rockfic are both experiencing their own versions of the Martian Death Flu^TM today in their respective Fair Cities, so here's wishing you both quick recoveries! :-) If nothing else, you at least get a good excuse to stay in bed and sleep all day, right?


And also, there's a birthday in LJ-Land! Hope it's a great day for you!

Happy Birthday jeniviolet!

I got that friendly reminder from people on my friends list - the geeks and friends of geeks.

Since today is indeed 3.14, it is "Pi Day" so to speak. :-D

So have some pie, compute pi to however many places your little heart desires ... hunt up a copy of the Sunday New York Times Magazine and read the excellent article on Lewis Black ... watch the film PI (or even American Pie, hehe). Celebrate however you wish - just do something to celebrate this fun little non-sequitur day!


{P.S., I may be listening to the Rolling Stones - but "Lolly, Lolly, Lolly, Get Your Adverbs Here" from Schoolhouse Rock! is currently going through my head. Go figure.}

Maybe my dreams are partially influenced by what I watch on TV before going to bed ... or perhaps I'm just slowly going insane. Very slowly, but surely.

Last night, I dreamt that James Hetfield (Metallica's lead vocalist/guitarist, for those that don't know) had opened an un-named bodega in St. Louis - in a neighborhood that I grew up in. It was peculiar, because in the context of the dream, I was on a first-name basis with James, and also, the bodega was in a small building, yet the inside was huge. I mean, massive. There were some parts that had hills reminiscent of the streets in San Francisco (possibly a remnant from watching Mythbusters last night?).

As I walked through the store, I saw a few people that I'd recognized from church. People that I'd gone to church with - and hadn't seen in many years. They didn't seem to age at all, looking about the same as they did when I'd last seen them, however long ago that was.

The most disconcerting part of the dream came in the part where I encountered the bishop's wife - only she looked exactly like her daughter. She essentially told me that I was persona non grata at the church, and that I wasn't the only one. I burst into tears, and said that I wanted to talk to some people about this. Suddenly, the bodega changed into the church building, and I was walking around, looking for a couple of people to talk with - to get some answers.

Once I found someone that was willing to talk, I found out that two people - a mother and her middle daughter - that I'd gone to church with previously (who have since moved their holy rolling asses to Utah, thank G*d) were going through the church rolls, and looking for the names of women of a "certain age" that had never been married, to be singled out (no pun intended) as "bad influences" and "menaces to society" in the church. Therefore, we were to be excluded because we were thought to be gay, or of some other unsavory character because we were single.

I declared that it was "pink-listing" and said it was like McCarthyism redux. They looked at me like I was crazy, and then, before the dream continued from there, I woke up.


As if that wasn't strange enough, in the dream, I was about 2 1/2 months pregnant as well. That's truly freaky, because I'm in no capacity to have children - and not just due to my relationship status, either.