Stroke Boys Eclectic Journey

EWTN.com - Vatican Says Prohibition against Gays in Seminaries Is Universal

2008-05-19T14:20:00.001-06:00

Well no matter how correct this decision is, and it is 100% correct, it will not be taken well by the PC, gay lobby driven mass media.

EWTN.com - Vatican Says Prohibition against Gays in Seminaries Is Universal

Donohue and Obama advisors scuffle over Catholic identity, abortion

2008-05-14T12:06:00.001-06:00

Most people have never heard of this document Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship that Senator Obama's advisory board talks about. Additionally it is almost impossible to understand for most of us lay people. It is so vague and even contradictory that many people think almost any position can be supported by it.

When he was in the Illinois state senate he led the fight to deny health care to babies born alive who survived an abortion.

Donohue and Obama advisors scuffle over Catholic identity, abortion

ZENIT - Benedict XVI: "Humanae Vitae" as Relevant as Ever

2008-05-14T11:53:00.001-06:00

"The truth expressed in 'Humanae Vitae' does not change," the Holy Father affirmed.

ZENIT - Benedict XVI: "Humanae Vitae" as Relevant as Ever

MercatorNet - Consternation in Barad-dûr

2008-04-09T09:21:00.001-06:00

As this article implies it is often easy to vote for something when it is abstract and not fully understood. It is a different story when it affects you personally. People found it easy to vote for a bond issue to allow embryonic stem cell research. When it came time for women to sell their eggs and along with it their genetic identity, for possible destruction, it no longer sounded so great.

MercatorNet - Analogy between Lord of the Rings and the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine stem cell research

Technorati tags: Embryonic Stem Cells

For Rome it is Very Clear - Pro-Abortion Politicians 'Must' be Denied Communion

2008-04-07T06:38:00.002-06:00

For Rome it is Very Clear - Pro-Abortion Politicians 'Must' be Denied Communion

RORATE CÆLI: The continuing eradication of Christianity in Iraq

2008-04-05T09:07:00.000-06:00

RORATE CÆLI: The continuing eradication of Christianity in Iraq: "An Orthodox Christian priest was killed by unknown assassins on Saturday in the heart of Baghdad according to Iraqi security sources.

Several unidentified armed men traveling in a car opened fire on the priest as he left his home in the central district of Karrada, said the sources who requested anonymity.

The priest died instantly. The incident took place around 12:00 local time (9:00 GMT) and the assailants escaped according to the same source."

Having a baby is equivalent to having a sexually transmitted decease Mr. Obama?

2008-04-03T10:45:00.002-06:00

So when will be be able to just accept what a candidate says without waiting to hear what the "Spin Doctors" tell us he or she really meant?

TheHill.com - Obama’s ‘baby’ comment draws fire from conservatives

ZENIT - A Christless Christmas Is Senseless, Says Pope

2007-12-20T07:45:00.001-07:00

CLet's take time for Christ this Christmas. So often we here in the news about people trying to take Christmas from us, or a "War on Christmas". There is no way anybody can take it from us if we truly keep it as we should, with Christ and Christ alone at the center.

ZENIT - A Christless Christmas Is Senseless, Says Pope

JIMMY AKIN.ORG: The Nattering Nabobs of Know-Nothingism

2007-10-05T12:30:00.001-06:00

The reason this stuff (link below) is so harmful is that so many people get their "facts" from television and Hollywood movies. It seems there is no critical and objective thought out there anymore.

Link to JIMMY AKIN.ORG: The Nattering Nabobs of Know-Nothingism

I guess I'm giving up!

2007-05-21T14:10:00.001-06:00

I don't know if I have documented adequately the problems I've been having with my training for the MS-150. The entire thing can be paraphrased in one sentence; I have not been able to get on my bike since April 26th.

I may have mentioned pain in my left ankle, knee, hip and lower back in a previous post or two. Well it got so bad I couldn't even ride on my indoor trainer for more than 15 or 20 minutes!

I went to the guy who did my Lumbar Fusion in 2003. He thinks I have inflammation and possibly nerve damage in my Sacrum. He tells me that when the spine is fused as mine is at the lower Lumbar area it can no longer move in relation to the Sacrum as intended. He said even small changes in a persons gait can over time lead to inflammation and other damage. That could make sense. When I ride I usually ride at a cadence of 90 rpm. That means that in one 60 minute ride my legs revolve 5400 times.

Anyway I'm doing physical therapy now, taking anti inflammatory and using plenty of heat and ice. The bottom line though is I cannot get on my bike and I can only walk about 20 minutes per day. That is NOT where I needed to be by now in my training. I was shooting for 10 hours per week on my bike.

Facts are facts, I just have to accept the ones that tell me this is not going to be the victory I thought it was going to be in my recovery. As it turns out this is something else to recover from.

Catholic Culture : Library : A Closer Look at Centering Prayer

2007-05-21T13:54:00.001-06:00

"Pope John Paul II has pointed out to the whole Church the example and doctrine of St. Teresa of Avila who in her life had to reject the temptation of certain methods which proposed a leaving aside of the humanity of Christ in favor of a vague self-immersion in the abyss of divinity. In a homily given on November 1, 1982, he said that the call of St. Teresa of Jesus advocating a prayer completely centered on Christ "is valid even in our day, against some methods of prayer which are not inspired by the gospel and which in practice tend to set Christ aside in preference for a mental void which makes no sense in Christianity. Any method of prayer is valid insofar as it is inspired by Christ and leads to Christ who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life"

I have just finished a fairly short experience with Centering Prayer. I was guided by the book Open Mind, Open Heart by Thomas Keating. I have had this book for years and began reading it recently. I was intrigued by how easy Fr. Keating made it seem to achieve contemplation and/or union with our Lord. I was disconcerted however about how thoughts of our Lord were eliminated by this type of prayer.

When my son was home from college recently I talked briefly with him about it. He presented me with the article I have linked below. Needless to say that as soon as I read the article I discontinued my practice of Centering Prayer.

Fr. Keating and authors like him are able to entrap people like me by the promise of something for literally nothing. I'm seeking a deeper prayer life. In my current condition my cognitive abilities limit what I can understand when I read. I know the writings of Teresa of Avila and John of the Cross are correct. However, they are deeper than I can go on my own. It is too bad there are no teachers as anxious to take up teaching the way of these great saints as they are the false promise of Centering Prayer.

Source: Catholic Culture : Library : A Closer Look at Centering Prayer

Planned Parenthood Caught on Tape Covering Up Statutory Rape – Threatens Lawsuit to Hide Evidence

2007-05-18T12:55:00.001-06:00

91% of the facilities that admitted that a crime had been committed agreed to conceal it.

This is where millions upon millions of our tax dollars go every year. It seems to me that even pro-choice people would be disgusted that so much money goes to an organization that looks for ways to break and circumvent the law at every turn. Lets not also forget the number of young lives that are devastated by the encouragement to protect the predators that prey upon them and the torture of the rest of their lives dealing with the killing of a child. Rest assured that if Prolife organizations received that kind of tax support pro choicer's would be crawling all over them to look for behavior like this in order to stop the flow of money.

My heart goes out to the daughter of the PPLA worker that said she would have aborted her! How do you deal with something like that, the daughter and the mother. Oh yeah, by lying and hiding it.

Source: Planned Parenthood Caught on Tape Covering Up Statutory Rape – Threatens Lawsuit to Hide Evidence

Boulder Colorado: Kids should "balance" drug use and sex.

2007-05-18T11:50:00.001-06:00

Michelle Malkin: Another Great Moment in Public Education

“balance with having the fun and experimenting and enjoying what you’re doing, whether it’s learning, or sexually or with drugs or alcohol ... But keep focused.”

If you haven't read the piece by Vincent Carroll of the Rocky Mountain News about the disgusting events at Boulder High School you can find it here. Michelle Malkin has a lot more information about the background of this. Basically everyone can be assured that Boulder Colorado continues to show just how out of touch an entire city can become. Boulder High school is attempting to single handedly role back decades of say no to drugs and illicit sex programs. The reason is simple the Conference on World Affairs would do this. If there are no moral or ethical boundaries life becomes a lot easer and a lot more "fun"; in their minds. It also helps if they can draw others into their liberal, relativistic way of life. Misery and people who know they are promoting evil, love company. They get a feeling of justification by having a lot of people around them that are doing the same thing.

Training for the MS-150

2007-05-14T09:35:00.001-06:00

Or maybe this post should be titled 'Lack of Training for the MS-150'.

I have not been able to get on my bike since April 26th. On that day I began getting what can only be described as excruciating pain in my left ankle, knee, hip and my lower back while riding. It was so bad I could only pedal for a couple minutes then I would have to get off my bike or if I could coast unclip my left foot and let it hang.

I went to my Doctor and had x-rays of my lower back to make sure my fusion was still intact. Those were OK. I then had a bike fit done at the shop where I bought my bike. Even after that I still couldn't ride. So... I now have an appointment at the Boulder Center for Sports Medicine with the famous Andy Pruitt. It is a medical evaluation but I can't get in until May 30th. That does not leave me a lot of time to get ready for the MS-150 on July 7 and 8.

Stay tuned....

This is NOT a Private Blog

2007-05-14T09:24:00.001-06:00

I really don't think anybody looks at my blog. But if somebody did in the past week or so they would have received the message that it is a private blog. This is no longer the case.

You see there are unscrupulous people out there that Spam blogs with unwanted (to be nice) comments. The blog was hit so I made it private until I could at least clean things up.

Basso Said Admits Role in Doping Scandal

2007-05-09T15:52:00.001-06:00

Why is it that all crooks, when they get caught, claim they want to crusade against other crooks committing the same crime they did. Basso is on the same level as a street gang banger that finally gets caught and then claims he wants to help "kids" stay out of gangs. In some instances these jail house conversions may be genuine but the vast majority of the time they are conversions of convenience; appeasing prosecutors, judges and in this case fans and sponsors who have paid him millions.

On a sad note it is getting harder and harder for me to stay committed that Lance Armstrong was the only clean guy out there. It's my understanding that Lance Armstrong has urine samples dating back years. I think it is time for the guy at the top to stand up and prove himself. He owes it to millions who have bought into his story.

'Basso said, 'The moment has come for me to assume my responsibilities. I only hope that I will be understood,'' Martelli said, adding the rider would 'plan his future around the fight against doping.'

Source: Basso Said Admits Role in Doping Scandal

Technorati tags: Ivan Basso

Selective Relativism

2007-04-27T15:08:00.001-06:00

This is a very interesting article on Relativism, Duh!

The problem I have with the philosophy of Relativism is that it denies any universal truths, except that is, the universal truth they believe... that everything is relative. I know it's simplistic but I can't get past the logical error that they make. They try to prove there is no universal truth by declaring a universal truth.

Link to OpinionJournal - Best of the Web Today

Pope to pay visit to UN | The Daily Telegraph

2007-04-27T10:42:00.001-06:00

So, Benedict XVI is going to the UN. This will be a fun event to follow. Let's get ready because the Holy Father and the Church are going to be blamed for everything from the spread of AIDS to global warming. This visit should bring out some of the most entertaining protestors and special interest groups that we have seen in... well since John Paul II visited.

UN Secretary-General said Pope Benedict XVI has accepted his invitation to visit UN headquarters "at a mutually convenient time".

Technorati tags: Ban Ki-moon, Benedict XVI

Source: Pope to pay visit to UN | The Daily Telegraph

Brain Wave Activity

2007-04-27T10:33:00.001-06:00

Today I had an EEG to check out the ole brain waves. The lines were squiggly and not flat so in my book I passed the test.

All this stems from my episode last Easter weekend when I lost memory completely of almost three days. This is the second time it has happened and last time there was nothing physically wrong just like I'm sure is the case this time. Since I have the seizures so frequently they wanted to mainly make sure the medication was holding them in check. Oh well, I lose a nights sleep but I get some peace of mind. That should keep my brainwaves mellow like they are sipping a Pina Colada on a Caribbean beach!

Training Setback

2007-04-26T13:46:00.001-06:00

I don't know what is up the last several days but I can't ride my bike more than 25 minutes without getting excruciating pain in my left ankle, knee and hip. I end up having to "limp" home either getting off the bike every few minutes or if I can coast I can unclip my left foot and let my left leg hang.

This is not good as I was hoping to increase my training days by 1 each week and start increasing my time on the bike to. I'm set up for a bike fit a week from this Saturday. We'll see if that helps but if it was something in the fit of the bike I don't think it would come on so suddenly.

Tour de France director Prudhomme praises Discovery team for suspending Basso

2007-04-26T08:26:00.001-06:00

There must be some standardization in how the rules of cycling are applied to each team when it comes to doping. Teams like Discovery that have the will to be ethical should be applauded. But I wonder if other teams don't take similar stands will the ethical ones simply be drummed out of the sport because they can't compete?

Link to Tour de France director Prudhomme praises Discovery team for suspending Basso - Cycling - Yahoo! Sports

St. Louis Archbishop Opposes Sheryl Crow's Appearance at Children's Charity Due to Abortion Stance

2007-04-25T22:10:00.001-06:00

Three cheers for Archbishop Raymond Burke! He gets it! It is more important to save souls than have a PC attitude that "This is about helping kids.". Come on, how can a person who claims to be working for kids accept a person who advocates for killing children. And how serious can Costas be taken when he claims to be for kids but wouldn't include a "litmus test" for somebody advocating killing kids. Are these people for real? Are they that ignorant and caught up in themselves that they cannot see the contradiction?

"It's very painful for me," Burke said during a news conference Wednesday. "But I have to answer to God for the responsibility I have as archbishop.

Source: FOXNews.com - St. Louis Archbishop Opposes Shery Crow's Appearance at Children's Charity Due to Abortion Stance - Celebrity Gossip | Entertainment News | Arts And Entertainment

Beethoven rolling in his grave!

2007-04-25T12:29:00.001-06:00

Well, as many may know in my never ending search to find fun and interesting substitutes for my boring and tedious cognitive therapy I took up learning to play the Recorder. Normally it is used with Elementary school kids to get them interested in learning music.

Well it has proved to be a very daunting task for me. I got a book for kids and it has taken me over three months to get to the point that kids get in a couple of weeks. BUT, yesterday was a milestone!

I made it through the first several bars of Beethoven's Ode to Joy. If a person listens carefully, in a abstract sort of way, I'm sure that at least 2 out of 10 listeners would recognize it as Ode to Joy. I'm even more sure that at least half of all listeners would even recognize some notes and a hint of rhythm.

On the serious side it is so cool to actually play something! It has been a long road getting hear but I've had fun and will continue on with my journey in music.

As far as the cognitive value of my learning it has been far greater than I expected. To learn to read music, keep time, finger the Recorder etc. has taxed my cognition greater than 100 of the word search and 'follow the instructions' therapies my therapists give me. I still attempt some every day, but to work on the Recorder and then have tangible results is incredibly gratifying.

In closing I would like to offer apologies to Ludwig. I promise to do better in time.

Ice Cream Headache

2007-04-25T11:42:00.001-06:00

This happened about three months ago...

I created the blog post but I never posted it. Awesome Chick and I were talking to some friends and they said I should post it. So here it is......

I love all kinds of hats, even hats that I'm too much of a stiff to actually wear. I recently bought myself an Australian Outback brand Wax Cloth hat that sort of looks like the one Indiana Jones wears. The only problem was that it was a bit too tight. The large was tight but the extra large was way to big. I came up with this idea to really soak it with water and wear it around and see if it would stretch.

So I'm wearing this hat around the house that I'm keeping so wet water is dripping down my face. I don't know why but I decided to go outside. After a while, I'm not sure how long, the strokes took my sense of time, I start to get a headache. It starts to get really bad like my head is in a vice, so bad I'm getting nauseous. I'm thinking "this is the worst ice cream headache I've ever had".

I literally stumbled into the house, feeling like I was going to throw up. I reached up to grab my hat off my head and the darn thing was not only frozen almost solid it was frozen to my head! As awesome Chick and I jokingly say now I had turned my head into an Australian Outback popcycle. I had to lay on the floor with my head in the sun wondering if I had killed more of what brain I have left.

Well just like when you eat ice cream to fast my head thawed out and I went to our computer and logged onto the 9 News web site to check the temperature. It was only 20 friggin degrees outside!

I usually have these "stroke moments" when I'm alone. I can tell Awesome Chick is a bit concerned about the time when the weather warms up and I trade my indoor trainer in for riding outside.

If thy scripture offend one of another faith, pluck it out-Comment-Faith-TimesOnline

2007-04-24T08:51:00.001-06:00

Yep Dr. Romain is are right, when things get tough to explain lets ignore and change them, even if they lead to the Truth. Come on that is spiritually and intellectually week. Dr. Romain has an ally in the Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams. He wants to change Holy Scripture so that people opposed to and for homosexuality can read the same verse and be happy with it. Boy when he is judged I will be interested to see how our Lord deals with him if his watering down and manipulation of Holy Scripture causes one person to lose their eternal soul. Of course Hell is a hard and unpleasant teaching to so maybe we should change that in the spirit of everybody feeling good about everything they do.

Are you serious Dr. Romain that "One of the great puzzles today is why there is so much turmoil associated with faith"? The reason is the rejection of faith and truth that you and many like you propose.

Link to If thy scripture offend one of another faith, pluck it out-Comment-Faith-TimesOnline

Gay marriage evil, abortion terrorism: Vatican - washingtonpost.com

2007-04-24T01:17:00.001-06:00

It's astounding to me how Pullella can make it sound as if it is Archbishop Amato and Pope Benedict "coming up" with these truths about evil. A true Catholic will understand that we must hate the sin and love the sinner (I now that sounds corny but it is true). But to not call a sin a sin is to not only endanger the eternal soul of the sinner but to endanger the soul of the person who is not educating the sinner. We cannot condemn our fellow man, only God can do that, but we will be held accountable for our actions, or inactions, that lead to God condemning our fellow man.

The Vatican's second-highest ranking doctrinal official on Monday forcefully branded homosexual marriage an evil and denounced abortion and euthanasia as forms of "terrorism with a human face."

Source: Gay marriage evil, abortion terrorism: Vatican - washingtonpost.com

Is my spell checker anti-Catholic?

2007-04-22T17:26:00.001-06:00

I noticed today that the spell checker on my email and blogging clients, both Microsoft products, do not recognize the words:

prolife and Magisterium

However it does recognize prochoice and protestant. Dictionary.com recognizes all these words.

Follow the bouncing doctrine

2007-04-22T17:20:00.001-06:00

Source: Rowan Williams says anti-gays misread Bible | Top News | Reuters

This is what happens when you reject a 2000 year old Magisterium, Tradition and Deposit of Faith and break up into 30,000 + denominations that get to make up their own meanings for Scripture.

In an effort to find a solution that is all things to every body involved, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, could be endangering the eternal souls of perhaps millions of people.

No Fear! (of getting lost)

2007-04-22T11:35:00.001-06:00

Yesterday I rode with a friend. It was my first ride that I was not alone on in a long time. I know that Awesome Chick was a bit relieved. She asked John to take me along the same route that ended with me in ' the hood' a few days ago. I think AC may be a bit nervous about me riding around there. I wonder why?

Anyway we couldn't identify the specific place that I made the wrong turn at but we found some candidates. The problem is I could only remember a few snapshots of the previous ride. I can only remember a few snapshots of the right with John. We plan on training together at least 1 day each weekend. That will be nice. I spend so much time alone I really get excited about seeing family and friends.

Vatican panel condemns limbo to eternal dustbin - Los Angeles Times

2007-04-21T20:53:00.001-06:00

Well I must read Dominus Iesus again but it seems to me that pope Benedict is being true to what he found as head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Jesus Christ is the only way to salvation that the Church knows of and therefore He is the only way that the Church can truthfully teach.

The Church recognizes better than any of us the infinite love and mercy of God. So the Church has hope that Got has provided a way to salvation that we don't not know of.

This is what the statement on Limbo has done. It states that the Church dose not know how unbaptised babies are saved but she hopes our merciful and loving God provides a way we do not know of.

The media is making a big hubub about this statement as a change in Roman Catholic teaching. What this is, is a statement of the consistency of Roman Catholic teaching; or for the media at large, a non-issue that they will make an issue of.

As a fellow blogger blogged, this really only deserves a TINNY COMMENT.

"Although it doesn't actually dismiss limbo altogether," Weinandy added, "it argues for other ways of dealing with salvation for infants who died unbaptized."

Source: Vatican panel condemns limbo to eternal dustbin - Los Angeles Times

Never follow strangers!

2007-04-20T15:32:00.001-06:00

My preparation for my ride is going average at best I have to say. I was supposed to start riding 5 days per week this week but I had to hold it at 4. My legs have felt like lead! I did have a good ride today though. I also learned something. Never follow a rider you don't know; expecting them to get you where you want to go.

I got a bit disoriented on today's ride so I started to follow a rider who seemed to be going in the direction I wanted to. When this happens, and it happens often, the rule is that I'm supposed to call my wife. The problem with me and rules though is remembering them. Well I lost my guide and I ended up in the projects', the hood, the barrio around downtown Denver!

As I rode through a group of 6 very large African American men (did I say VERY LARGE!) standing in the middle of the street, wearing blue 'doo rags' I realized that I didn't really blend in. Nobody else was riding a fancy, red Spanish racing bike, wearing a Helmet, gloves and goofy, skin tight, Lycra shorts. Let's please try to forget the image of the milk white legs sticking out of them. (A little honesty here is in order; even on Lance Armstrong cycling shorts look GOOFY! The more high tech they are the goofier they look.)

My wife, who is full blooded Mexican, lived part of her childhood in that neighborhood. Her Dad lived in that neighborhood. My older sister lived there for several years with her children. My Dad was brought up not in that neighborhood but just blocks to the north. Sometimes I have gone there with my wife and her family or my family. But only StrokeBoy would end up there alone, on a bike, wearing those damn skin tight Lycra cycling shorts and not having a clue how he got there or how to get home. Thank the Good Lord my shorts are black and not some silly color like pink that you see in the Tour De France. The only way I could have made this worse is if I had done it in the middle of the night. Stay tuned because I very quickly unlearn the lessons I learn.

Anyway it all ended fine because I ended up home and I'm writing this. The part that amuses me is that I almost never remember how I get home, I just end up here. I'm sure my wife Awesome Chick is just thrilled about that. I remember a few details of my ride, like today's visit the turf of the Crips, but very little else. Geese if a cop had seen me I would have probably been arrested for simply being clueless and out of my mind. No doubt I would have been guilty on all counts and sentenced to life I'm sure.

The Holy Father is Getting Tough

2007-04-19T18:00:00.001-06:00

I pray that "warning Catholic politicians" is not the last step. It does nothing but cause scandal and confusion when people see leaders living live that are contrary to the faith they profess. To be honest I consider that a serious personality flaw which leads me to think a politician is not being honest with me.

Christ never made any compromise. Holy Scripture has many places where even his disciples found a teaching hard. Jesus never once compromises His teaching but made it very clear that to follow Him meant accepting everything, even to the point of giving up all worldly attachments and relationships. Following Him should mean even if you have to give up some votes and risk the election.

He has warned Catholic politicians who must decide on such issues as abortion, euthanasia and marriage that the faith's values are "not negotiable." And he has closed the door on any relaxation of the celibacy requirement for priests.

Source: Papa Ratzi Post

Gonzales v. Carhart, 05-380 - FindLaw US Supreme Court Center

2007-04-18T22:27:00.001-06:00

Let the spin machines begin! Take a look at the link below to take a look at the volume of information that is already available concerning Gonzales v. Carhart.

I just wanted to print out today's US Supreme Court decision. Just the decision is 75 pages long.

I wonder, is the average, everyday guy in this country, let alone a brain damaged StrokeBoy, EVER going to be able to fully understand the laws we have to live by every day. The answer to that is a big fat NO with lawyers running everything.

Link to Gonzales v. Carhart, 05-380 - FindLaw US Supreme Court Center

Cardinal Hails Court's Abortion Ruling

2007-04-18T20:07:00.001-06:00

Cardinal Justin Rgali is sounding very optimistic about today's Supreme Court ruling. In this ZENIT article he quotes language in the decision that is surprisingly prolife which would give reason for prolife Americans to be optimistic.

I however believe that the opposition has just begun the fight. This is something too important for the Culture of Death to taking lying down.

The cardinal, who is archbishop of Philadelphia, added: "Especially welcome is the court's explicit recognition of certain key facts: that abortion is the taking of a human life, and that government has a legitimate interest in protecting and preserving this life at every stage."

In the quote below he is pleased that the court recognizes the devastating affect that abortion has on many facets of society. I'm sure that he was mindful of the absence of the mention of men and how being involved in the killing of their child may affect them. That may be too difficult of a leap for the court right now as it would strengthen the idea of a family having two parents, male and female.

He further praised the court's recognition "that 'respect for human life finds an ultimate expression in the bond of love the mother has for her child'; that abortion may also cause grief and sorrow for women, which is only made worse when the reality of the procedure has been withheld from them until it is too late; and that the ethical integrity of the medical profession, as well as the fabric of our society, is threatened by the acceptance of practices that are difficult to distinguish from infanticide."

I have not read the text of the actual decision, but I plan on it.

In the mean time the best course of action is still to pray, fast and do penance.

Link to ZENIT News Agency--The World Seen from Rome

One and a Half Years

2007-04-18T17:05:00.001-06:00

Today is exactly 1 and 1/2 years since my first stroke. I also had an appointment with my neurologist.

This really has been an Eclectic Journey. One that continues. Along the road I've been able to find things that in spite of my disability I have been able to enjoy and even improve at. In fact one of those things has come directly from my cognitive therapy; writing!

In an effort to remember what goes on from one minute to the next my cognitive therapist has had me writing down EVERYTHING. So I kind of got into the habit of writing down not just my actions but my thoughts and emotions. I've written volumes (whatever a volume is) in the last 18 months. In fact, between my journal I write by hand, my PDA and computer I'd venture to say my life is probably one of the most documented ever. For some strange reason, even though when I talk or even think to my self my thoughts are broken and get confused, I can write and the thoughts are smooth and well, less confused. I have a theory that my writing, which is slow, causes my brain to work at the speed of my fingers and thus can do a better job of processing.

Then there is riding my bike. For some reason anaerobic exercise causes me to have nerve pain. Sometimes I have to stop and sit down after walking up the steps in our house to get the nerve pain to settle down. I found though that aerobic exercise does not cause me the same pain. I can ride my bike for a long time with no pain. In fact the longer I ride it, the more "in synch" my anaerobic and aerobic systems become and the longer I can then ride. This could be because I was riding a lot before my strokes.

My neurologist was happy with where I'm at. I have to say this. Considering what I thought my life was going to be when I first heard those words, "he has clots in his brain and is having a stroke" and everything going dark, I'm pretty happy with where I'm at. I have to do another EEG. That's because of an episode I had over Easter. I seem to have completely lost three days. He is going to check to see if perhaps my medicine that is supposed to stop my seizures isn't pulling its weight.

Legal victory for abortion opponents

2007-04-18T16:05:00.001-06:00

Celebrate, but only a little!

It should be painfully obvious to everybody now that a so called 'right' to kill an unborn child is never going to go away by depending upon legislation alone.

Until we change the hearts and minds of an entire nation we will be continually pulled from one extreme to another. As the winds constantly change from political conservatism to liberalism the volume of innocent lives taken and people ravaged with the aftermath will decrease or increase. Americans will change their value system based upon the last election or as in this case nine individual judges.

The 5-4 ruling, which upheld the federal Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003, marks a significant shift to the right by the US’s top court on one of the country’s most divisive issues.

All people who respect life should feel a cold chill in there blood when reading the quote below by Justice Ginsburg. What have we done as a society when we have made the taking of an innocent life so mundane that in her words it is a central part of a woman's life?! We must pray and fast for those that hold this as a "centrality" of their life.

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who wrote a dissent on behalf of the court’s liberal wing, called the decision “alarming”. She said it “cannot be understood as anything other than an effort to chip away at a right declared again and again by this court – and with increasing comprehension of its centrality to women’s lives”.

Never forget, the right to kill unborn children was brought to you via Roe v Wade in 1973 by the same institution that brought America Dred Scott v. Sandford in 1856. Both decisions have cost millions of lives and incalculable suffering and division. That is NOT something that more legislation can fix.

Pray, fast and do penance! The war is far from over.

Link to FT.com / World - Legal victory for abortion opponents

Fox Hollow Hill Goes Down!

2007-04-18T10:41:00.001-06:00

Yesterday I made it up a hill; I call it The Fox Hollow Hill. Let me explain. The last time I made it up that hill was roughly 19 months ago. It is a long steep hill and it comes at the mid-point in my ride so I was not real fresh. Nineteen months ago I spun up that hill with a cadence of 75 and in a mid-range gear! Yesterday I made it up in the tiniest gear my drive train has to offer with a cadence of roughly 30 rpm. (That can be decoded using the StrokeBoy Super Secret Decoder Ring as… WAY below 30)

The Fox Hollow Hill is important because a couple weeks after riding up that hill 19 months ago an artery in my neck broke and sent clots to just about every part of my brain, including the largest clot in my brain stem. Praise God that he guided those clots as He did and that He held me close as they went about doing their damage.

I started training again prior to September of 2006. I started out 10 minutes per day, three days per week on a stationary bike. That was almost TOO MUCH! I have tried The Fox Hollow Hill three previous times; only to be forced to turn back; once I think before the grade even started to increase. Is that possible?!

I'm not talking about victory over illness; I'm still StrokeBoy and will be for the rest of my life. I’m not talking about a great training goal attained.

I was riding at the foot of the Rocky Mountains. At the top of the hill I could see almost forever to the North, East and South. To the West were green, purple and brown snow capped mountains. The air was crisp at about 50 degrees but the sun was so warm I had to remove my wind shell. I just sat there experiencing the view, the temperature, the silence and feeling of being King of the Hill. As I peacefully sat there a coyote walked within 20 feet of me. He let me know I was more the Court Jester and he was the King of Fox Hollow Hill.

I love riding. Riding my bike takes me back to the time when things were different, simpler; not better mind you. The pain and monotony of training are only so I can capture moments like today. There was nothing heroic or strong in the moment; quite the opposite in fact. As reality set in and I contemplated the journey of me and my family this past nineteen months a lump formed in my throat and I couldn’t hold back the tears. More than anything my wife, son, daughter, all my family and friends gave me that moment. No, no feeling of victory, just profound thanks.

Lord grant peace and healing of all those touched by the shootings in Vermont.

StrikeBoy Strokes Again....

2007-04-16T16:08:00.001-06:00

Or maybe that was StrokeBoy Strikes again!

Awesome Chick and I are always looking for things that are constructive for me to do yet therapeutic. All the assigned therapy I do can be so tedious, boring and there isn't much of a feeling of accomplishment. Yesterday I was assigned long division and multiplication of two digit numbers. It turns out I have a long way to go to be able to do that. That's kind of depressing for a person whose favorite classes in college were 4th and 5th semester Calculus and Partial Differential Equations. Hey I couldn't do that stuff now anyway but common... give me a break will yah?!

Now for the topic of today's post. Awesome Chick and I try to come up with things around the house that I can do that have a detailed set of instructions. That's another thing my therapists are working with me on. It seems all my elementary school teachers were correct and I can't follow instructions. Well the task for the day was a set of instructions from the trusty Home Depot Home Maintenance book. Yep I was to unclog a drain in our bathroom. It went pretty well to start. Things took a turn for the worse when the instructions said do rinse out the trap I had just removed from underneath the clogged sink. Hey it didn't say to NOT rinse the trap in the sink that you just removed the trap from. I got that darn trap clean as a whistle but just about flooded out the cabinet and the rest of the bathroom. So my next assignment was drying out all the stuff from under the sink and letting the wood dry, and hopefully not mold. Details, details, I think those instructions were flawed.

Papa Ratzi Post: Pope says science too narrow to explain creation

2007-04-12T07:58:00.001-06:00

Another fact to keep in mind is that it has never been shown that one pieces can or ever has developed into another pieces. This is a huge hole in the theory of evolution.

Additionally I've seen other articles on the same topic titled things like 'Pope says evolution can't be proved'. Keep in mind there are many things in our daily life that we accept that cannot be proved.

The Pope also says the Darwinist theory of evolution is not completely provable because mutations over hundreds of thousands of years cannot be reproduced in a laboratory.

Technorati tags: Pope Benedict XVI, Creation, Evolution

Danny Dietz and Pericles of Athens

2007-04-09T21:46:00.000-06:00

Michelle Malkin: "Danny belongs to the nation"

Danny Dietz Memorial Coverage

“The secret of happiness is freedom and the secret of freedom is courage." ~ Pericles

Thank you Danny Dietz and thank you to your family and thank you to all those who have gone before you!

I live blocks from where the memorial will stand. I will be there when the monument is dedicated. I'll visit it often. If I could I would have it in my front yard. Danny personifies what Pericles reasoned almost 2,500 years ago. Courage, backed by action, not in-action, gives all of us a chance at the happiness and the freedom we desire.

Dietz has helped to ensure that in our great country; people who have ideas or agendas are not required to also have great courage; something Pericles could only dream of. He ensures that people are not required to be heroes simply because they have an idea. Indeed having an idea and getting it heard requires little more courage than to be a bit countercultural. Simple people with no outstanding courage, just ideas, can be heard and make a difference. Danny Dietz helped ensure that.

Don’t the people who would use a monument to Danny's efforts for their own agenda, see any irony in the fact that they perform their act on the shoulders of Danny Dietz? What they do is almost by virtue of the ‘permission’ granted to them by Danny and all the others that have gone before him. If this is about eliminating gun violence, which is a truly noble cause, don’t desecrate or attempt to whitewash from history the people who have given you the opportunity to speak out.

Thank you Danny; that for us to have an idea heard, we don’t have to fear the hail of bullets you endured. Thank you Danny that for us to have an idea heard, we don’t have to endure the bombs going off that you endured. Thank you Danny that to have an idea heard, we don’t have to endure crouching in the dirt in a far off wasteland. Thank you Danny that to have an idea heard, we don’t have to witness our friends bloodied and dying around us. Thank you Danny that in order to have an idea heard we don’t have to decide between our own lives and the lives of our friends and comrades. Thank you Danny that in order to have an idea heard we don’t have to have the courage that you had.

I guess, simply, what I’m trying to say to Danny Dietz and those that have gone before him; I offer you my simple, heartfelt, tear filled Thanks, well done and Gods speed.

Technorati tags: Danny Dietz, Navy Cross, Navy Seal

Award for President Clinton

2007-04-07T16:48:00.001-06:00

I was never a fan of President Clinton when he was in office. But it seems he has been doing some good since then. This seems to be the presidential pattern. A guy gets elected, then when he is out of office he does more good than when in office.

On thing I wonder though. Why do the rich and powerful seem to think that solving problems around the world are more important than solving the problems we have here at home? Granted, even the poor in our country live like kings compared to the ' real poor' in other countries but sometimes I suspect the actions of the rich and powerful are more for the publicity impact. I'm not thinking of president Clinton here, I'm thinking mostly of the entertainment people who think adopting a child in another country rather than one her is more selfless or something.

I do not accept

2007-04-06T11:48:00.001-06:00

I don't think I will ever accept that I had a stroke. In fact I make an effort to not accept it. I know some people say they only look forward and that they don't look back. I won’t do that. Just like when I was tired of being a butcher I didn’t accept that. I did something about it and got through school and became a Software Engineer. In life acceptance to often is an excuse for stagnation, for doing nothing.

I wasn't the only one there before the thief in the night, my first stroke, slithered into my life. So, so, so many people had helped me get to where I was in my life and helped me make my life what it had become. Everybody from my wife, my kids, and all the rest of my family and friends to teachers, counselors and even those people I I disliked or didn’t have a lot in common with. All were partly responsible for who I was.

For me to say, 'I accept what happened, the past is past and I'm only looking forward, never back' is a slap in the face to each and every one of those people that helped me become who I was before the thief came. It is like saying, 'thanks for the effort everybody, but oh well. Any future is equally as good as the last or the next’.

Hey I'm doing great. I have ups and downs. Sometimes I don’t think I can take another day and sometimes everything goes smooth as silk. I'm carving out a life for myself. I'm growing and continuing my life but my past is there. Without a past there is no present, no future. To simply look forward and try to build a future, disregarding your past, is like trying to grow a fruit tree for food that has not roots. You will quickly go hungry.

My strokes are there and they stole a lot from me and everybody around me. I will search for the reason like a hungry dog searching for a scrap of food. During that search; my life will continue to grow. It will become what I and the people who are once again here for me, make of it. But no, I will never stop asking why and sit back in a Zen like or contemplative ‘false peace’. I won’t get philosophical and giggly about “I don’t look back, always forward”. To be honest I don’t think a human person is really even capable of doing that. I think it is a lie for someone to claim it. The reason I stroked is out there and it is going to be pursued. Along the way my new life will rise out of my past by not denying my past.

Pelosi Visits Saudi Arabia's Council | World Latest | Guardian Unlimited

2007-04-05T16:40:00.000-06:00

It would be wise for Speaker Pelosi to not push the issue of the lack of women in politics in Saudi Arabia. In the U.S. all the rage to think all peoples, belief systems, forms of government, religions, whatever are all the same and have equal merit. However, in Islamic countries in general and those under Sharia Law in particular that clearly cannot the case.

According to the the teaching of the Prophet Muhammad, as found in the Koran and Sharia Law which is enshrined in the Saudi Arabian Constitution, Speaker Pelosi has only half the worth of a man in society and since she is Catholic and a Kufar she should be killed. I have no doubt most of the Saudi men around her were thinking should keep her eyes down and mind her own business. (Qur'an 24:31)

"Asked if she raised the issue [of the lack no women in government] at Thursday's meeting with the council members, she said: ``The issue has been brought up in our discussions with the Saudis on
this trip.'' "

(Court testimony) "And call to witness, from among your men, two witnesses. And if two men be not found then a man and two women" Qur'an 2:82 [You see only the testimony of two women could take the place of the one man that could not be found.]
(Kufar - Unbelievers) "Now when ye meet in battle those who disbelieve [Kufar], then it is smiting of the necks until, when ye have routed them, then making fast of bonds" (Qur'an 47:4)

Pelosi Visits Saudi Arabia's Council World Latest Guardian Unlimited

Technorati tags: Nancy Pelosi

ADAM'S ALE: OF CROWN, MITERS, AND HOT DOGS

2007-04-05T11:11:00.000-06:00

While not exactly denying His kingship, they instead ridicule His claim to kingship; make light of it, denying that it has any meaning. They do not listen or debate His ideas, they make fun of the man and destroy His message.

That is exactly what our Legislatures try do do here in Colorado every chance they get. Currently SB 124 is being pushed through our State Legislature and it will redefine what marriage in our state means. This is in direct conflict with Amendment 43 passed by the voters last November. In one of her typically elitist statements House Majority Leader Alice Madden, D-Boulder stated that Representative Kevin Lundberg, R-Larimer "did not live in the real world" because he opposed changing what marriage means and respecting the will of the people as expressed in the overwhelming passage of Amendment 43. I often wonder what "real world" Ms Madden lives in that allows her to change the will of the people simply at her whim and the with the support of her special interests.

Alice Von Hildebrand stated, “(Ridicule) was, for example, the poison tool used
against Danish philosopher Soren Kierkegaard, making him the butt of cruel
jokes. His noble message was doomed.”

I think Alice Madden would have been right at home with the soldiers as they crowned our Lord with thorns and destroyed His message.

ADAM'S ALE: OF CROWN, MITERS, AND HOT DOGS

Heavy Heart

2007-04-05T09:22:00.001-06:00

A couple days ago I received an invitation to the Ordination of a very good friend of mine to the order of Catholic Deacon!

For Bill this is one of the greatest times and days of his life. It will rank up there with his marriage and the birth of his children. A new and exciting chapter is opening up in his and his family's life. It will be the culmination of over four years of intensive study and formation and a life time of preparation.

Here is the rub, why am I so sad, almost broken hearted?

Because I feel I spent the first 40 years of my life being called to be a Deacon for the Lord, in service to His Church. I spent two years going through a intense selection process just to be allowed into a 4 year formation program. I started the program with my heart full of confidence, commitment and love of the Lord and all his people.

I struggled the first year of formation mostly because my sister became gravely sick, I became her Guardian and Conservator and her teenage came came to live with us. A son that was heavily involved in drugs and gangs. A son that was kicked out of his school for threatening another teenager with a shotgun. A son that time after time brought drugs and gang bangers into our home. That is until we finally could take no more and when he snuck out of the house one night we literally barricaded the doors and windows to our home and then had all the locks changed.

Through all that my employer had me commuting between Phoenix Arizona and my home in Denver Colorado. But still I kept up my studies, did not miss classes and worked at my spiritual life. I went through every evaluation that the Diaconate Formation Board had and I scored top scores for every one.

Then after the first year, just before a retreat all the candidates were going to go on, I received a letter telling me not to go on the retreat and that I would not be asked back to continue the following year. No explanation, no thank you for attempting to give my life to the Church; just a don't show up now or in the future basically.

My heart and my faith have been ravaged by that for years. Now men that had become like brothers to me in a short period of time are about to be Ordained.

Since being told to leave formation I had my strokes, and lost the career I trained for for 9 years. Everything has become so hard. Tasks that used to take me minutes now take me hours if I can do them at all. At one time I looked forward to attempting formation again but I can barely learn at the pace of an elementary school student. There is no way I will ever be able to keep up with graduate level work.

Maybe my weakened and damaged faith is just committing the sins of jealousy, envy and pride. I was preparing to serve my God and His Church for the rest of my life. Right now I'm going to do therapy which includes tasks I haven't done since Elementary School. But yet I can't master them!

Technorati tags: Stroke Recovery, Stroke

Why I Ride

2007-04-03T13:15:00.001-06:00

For me riding isn't about the pain like it is for a lot of cycling fanatics. Sure I feel it and it is a part of my riding. If at the end of a ride I have not felt at least some pain I feel like I should have ridden farther or harder. But I also feel it is a great accomplishment if I can finish a long ride at a good pace and a few minutes later I feel like I could do it all over again. To me that is a thrill.

Riding for me has also become about freedom, victory and recapturing the former me while building up the new me.

Most importantly by riding and doing certain things I am beating to death that bastard stroke that 1 year, 5 months and 17 nights ago came like a low life 'thief in the night'. Little did the thief know that by calling on me, it had 'bought the whole can of whoop-ass', not just a free sample for the taking. It was not just taking me on; it had encountered an army of dedicated and fiercely loyal family, friends and medical professionals.

I can beat the crap out of the thief by doing things I did before it slithered into my life; before so much was stolen, for no reason at all. I whip the thief by simply doing things as well as I can and not worrying about how I used to do them.

Riding is about freedom for several reasons. One of those reasons is that I will probably never drive again. I hope I will but some things are just as they are. People whose mental processing is as slow as mine, have lost half their vision and whose brain has shifted the midline of the real world by many degrees, usually don't get licensed to drive a 2000 pound hunk of steel through neighborhood streets. I have to rely on family and friends to get me around. Someday when I want to do something simple like go to the grocery store I will simply get on my bike and go. That day is actually pretty close; one more stake in the heart of that thief.

The Thief took so much of my memory that I don't even recognize my own neighborhood and house. I have lived in my neighborhood for 46 years and I have gotten lost walking around in my home. Thank God after a time I recognized my beautiful, wonderful wife and the rest of my family and friends; POW another stake driven into the heart of the thief.

My wife helps me 'memorize' bike routes by riding them over and over and drilling landmarks into my memory. When I’m able to ride a memorized route alone, that is a victory over the thief. When I was able to follow a list of directions and put a computer on my bike, even though it took me several hours and a couple of re-starts; that was a victory over the thief. When I exercise and eat right so that chances of more strokes or heart decease are minimized that is a victory over the thief. When my loved ones and friends spend less time worrying about my health and well being and living their lives to the fullest that is a victory over the thief. POW, POW, POW and POW four more stakes and more to come.

Cycling encourages me and helps me do all those things. It is to the point where cycling affects everything from my diet and sleep to the cognitive therapy my therapists give me. Cycling affects what I can go do and when I can go do it. I have woven cycling into almost every aspect of my recovery and my life.

So now everyone has a bit of an idea of why I ride.

P.S. Don’t worry if you see a red flare off in the distance. It just means that StrokeBoy took a wrong turn and is temporarily lost. Awesome Chick will release the bloodhounds and I’ll be found in no time.

Technorati tags: Stroke Recovery, National Stroke Association

Musical Update

2007-03-30T12:44:00.001-06:00

I now can recognize the notes A, B, C, D, F and G on the musical staff and I know the fingerings and an alternate fingering for B. I've attempted to play ' When the Saints Go Marching In' with a small bit of success. I played it for Awesome Chick and when I was done I told her what it was. She quickly responded something like "Oh yeah it took me just a second but I knew what it was." She is such a kind person.

Today was the day I learned F. This is the first note that will require me to finger with both hands. Previously all notes I've played have been done with just the left hand.

I've noticed that repetition, repetition, repetition is the key to remembering my notes and fingering. I also find that if I practice two or three times per day for like 10 minutes it is more productive than one long 30 minute session. The biggest problem I face is that the "interface" between me, the music on the sheet and the fingers on the Recorder is VERY slow. Unfortunately that interface is my damaged brain. To see a note on the staff, recognize what that note is, remember what the fingering for that note is and get my fingers into position is a very very loooooong time.

I am fortunate that I come from a VERY musically gifted family. Both of my parents have Bachelors Degrees in Music Theory and my Dad also has a Masters in Childhood Education. He was a teacher for 30 years. Several times I've been stuck on something and asking them gets me unstuck. One idea my dad had that was REALLY helpful was to start out by putting numbers for the number of fingers a note requires to be played below the note on the page. This helped me just concentrate on learning the fingering and I gradually started to recognize the notes and I could do away with the fingering hints.

Well I'm off to go practice "my music". Jingle Bells is the next song I get to massacre.

Information about Recorders

Intermediate Goals

2007-03-29T22:22:00.001-06:00

I'm beginning to seriously think of intermediate goals that I would like to meet on the way to my July 7-8 MS-150 attempt.

I first started on an indoor trainer 15 minutes per day, three days per week. When I started with CTS roughly 10 weeks ago I started training 4 days per week. I had to do all my rides on the indoor trainer as I wasn't conditioned enough to ride on the road. Then I began to ride the first "portion" of my rides outside and finished them up inside on the trainer. I gradually increased the amount of time outside and decreased the amount of time inside. My very first goal became to be able to ride outside 4 full workouts in one week.

This week I achieved that goal, or at least I expect to. It is only Thursday and I have 3 days left to get my 4th ride of the week in. So with that in mind I've come up with the following intermediate goals.

W/E Apr 1	4 rides 4.5 hours	Achieved
W/E Apr 8	4 rides, 4.5 hours	Stay here while I get used to new bike and gearing, I went from a triple to double chain ring.
W/E Apr 15	5 rides, 5 hours
W/E Apr 22	6 rides 5.5 hours
W/E Apr 29	6 rides 6 hours

This leaves me with the entire months of May and June to increase the number of hours that I ride each week using a 6 ride per week plan. As I've noted before, my goal is to be fit enough to finish the ride and enjoy the entire thing. I have more lofty goals in mind after this one.

House Heats Up Over Bill to Give Illegal Immigrants In-State Tuition - washingtonpost.com

2007-03-29T15:58:00.001-06:00

In this piece an irrational Democrat Melvin L. Stukes becomes irrational and compares refusing citizen rights to Illegal Aliens, to being a black slave in the 19th century. What a slap in the face to African Americans that can truly trace their ancestry to slaves. What a cowardly and back handed way to "play the race card" in a way it should not be played. It's interesting how "undocumented immigrants" as the article calls aliens who are here illegally have no problem documenting they have lived and worked in the state of Maryland for a time when it means getting discounted tuition rates.

"Do I need anyone to remind me of the mind-set that existed then and still exists today, that some people were considered three-fifths of a human being?" Stukes asked, his voice rising. "Are we still saying that some people are less than whole? I don't think so."

Source: House Heats Up Over Bill to Give Illegal Immigrants In-State Tuition - washingtonpost.com

del.icio.us tags: Illegal Immigration

Technorati tags: Illegal Immigration

Catholic Group Wants Marquette Prof. Reassigned

2007-03-29T12:13:00.001-06:00

I suppose Daniel Maguire would argue that the Holy Spirit couldn't pass a theology exam. It is the duty of the Churches Magisterium to faithfully and without error pass on and interpret Church doctrine in matters of faith and morals. (CCC 890) Mr. Maguire does not have any protection from error in his teachings. In fact his teachings can be completely false and come from the devil himself and he and no other theologian has any charism of protection from error or inspiration by the Holy Spirit. Come on Maguire, if you don't believe what Holy Mother Church teaches go shopping in the cafeteria and find something that better suits your current flavor of the day.

"I've always felt that candor was the better part of valor," he said. "The bishops are saying they are the only authentic teachers in the church and that all theologians are subordinate to them. But most bishops could not pass a graduate exam in theology."

Source: wfrv.com - Catholic Group Wants Marquette Prof. Reassigned

Technorati tags: Marquette University, Catechism of the Catholic Church

Tony Snow

2007-03-29T09:26:00.000-06:00

I've enjoyed watching this guy for years. He's smart and logical in his thinking. He's once again fighting cancer. You can go to the White House and leave a message for him. click It is on the upper right hand of the page.

Music to my ears.... Oh Really?

2007-03-28T12:01:00.000-06:00

This post is a follow up of my (click here earlier post). That post is dated yesterday but I posted it a couple weeks ago. Yesterday I realized it was posted as a draft though so I "undrafted" it.

Anyway the first song I play on my recorder was to be 'When the Saints Go Marching In'. Well according to the music notes and my fingering that is exactly what I did. It sure didn't sound like any version of that song I have ever heard. YUK! Our two Beagles started baying like the Hounds of the Baskerville. I thought I was Basil Rathbone in the old movie.

Oh well that's the point of trying to find something fun and interesting as well as therapeutic. You don't mind going back to it as much when at first you don't succeed.

Feeling good today

2007-03-28T09:20:00.000-06:00

I feel pretty good today considering I had a hard ride yesterday. The adrenaline of being on a new bike I think caused me to push myself a bit hard. I rode all the way to Golf Course Hill at Fox Hollow Golf Course. I actually couldn't make it up the hill, I only got half way up. The reason is conditioning and the Opal only has two chain rings. Welcome to the big legues!

I was also a bit sore today, in a good way. I can tell my body isn't used to the new geometry of the Opal. I also heeded the WRC persons advice and concentrated on keeping my shoulders down, back flat, bend at the hips and elbows bent.

By the way, this is a picture of my new ride.

Unbeliculously Great Maiden Voyage

2007-03-27T16:49:00.000-06:00

This post actually begins last Friday morning or maybe even Thursday. You see all day Thursday I was PMS'ing, Pre-Migraine Syndrome. My strokes were kind enough to leave me with frequent migraines but I know when they are coming on because ahead of the big ones I have what they call non-specific seizures and sometimes I even see little Oompa Loompas. When the Oompa Loompas come to visit I know it's time to hunker down because most of the time a real head banger, brain searing migraine is about to come on. This time though Mr and Mrs Loompa were wrong. So, I woke up Friday morning to find I was feeling pretty good and my wife, Awesome Chick, who from now on will be known as THE Awesome Chick had stayed home from work. I thought it was because she was concerned about me. That was until she practically bulldozed me into getting showered and out the door. You see she knows the problems I've been having with my 10 year old bike that doesn't fit and I can't get replacement parts for.

She took the day off to take me around town looking at and test riding bikes I had been reading about and looking at in bike shops and generally drooling over for the past three years. What I didn't know is that she had received a nice bonus at work and she intended to use it to get her StrokeBoy a new ride!

The sales lady at the bike shop we ended up at was great. We had a fun time and laughed a lot because I could only go up and down the sidewalk in front of the store on my test rides or I'd get lost. On top of that my short term memory is so bad I couldn't remember one test ride from another. I can recreate a lot of things like this because I'm constantly writing in a journal and I have a small digital voice recorder I dictate my day into. So we worked out a system of the sales lady taking notes of exactly what I said when I got of the bike, I would use my recorder and Awesome Chick would take digital pictures of me riding for me to look at and jog my brain into remembering what the ride was like. Well anyway Friday extended into Saturday and Sunday but when it was all said and done I had my new ride. Awesome Chick got me an Orbea Opal, full Dura Ace, Mavic Ksyrium wheel set and new shoes.

Today was the Maiden Voyage. I feel like I went from driving a VW Bug to a Lambragini. I'm used to a triple so the double chain ring showed me I have some work to do on my strength. But hey I have a lot of time. Now maybe I'll be able to keep up with Awesome Chick when we ride. She got her bike a couple years ago.

Stroke Boy

P.S. Unbeliculous is a word my wife and I made up. We were always saying things like "that's unbelievable" or "that's ridiculous" so we combined the two. Unbeliculously Great translates to "unbelievably, ridiculously great".

Music to My Ears

2007-03-21T18:45:00.001-06:00

OK, anybody who has read more than one of my posts knows that I can't stand the exercises that my cognitive therapists give me. I do them because they have a purpose but I look, and I look very hard for things that I can do that I enjoy and will provide a theraputic component.Well I found one that is GRRRRrrrrreat; as Tony the Tiger would say.I went to a music store not 10 minutes from my house and purchased a Yamaha Baroque Recorder. That sounds fancy but it's not. Anybody who has kids in elementary school that take band may be familiar with it. The thing only cost $10 and I got a book called 'Fun with the Recorder' to teach me to play it. When I got it I didn't realize just how it would affect me congnitively. I have to memorize notes, the musical staff, fingering etc. It has been VERY slow going. The book is for elementary school kids. What is 1 lesson for them may take me two weeks to get through. It is so cool though. I haven't played a "song" but I'm playing notes. The first song I should be able to play in the book is 'When the Saints Go Marching In'. Anyway for an investment of $17 for a musical instrument and book I have hours of productive cognitive therapy that is interesting, fun and I can do something with. I hope to be able to play some Christmas Carrols for Christmas and there are tons of classical pieces and Celtic pieces.I'll keep everyone posted but for now, if anyone can do it this is GREAT therapy.

New start to cognitive therapy

2007-03-20T16:57:00.000-06:00

Today I started back at Cognitive Therapy. I haven't been for quite a while for various reasons. I like my therapist and I told her some of the things I've been doing on my own and she thought they were great. But, she gave me the same old basic word search, maps and other junk that I got before. She wants me to do this stuff and when I go back in two weeks she will hopefully have something more suited to me.

Barack Hussein Obama: Once a Muslim, Always A Muslim

2007-03-19T18:48:00.001-06:00

Link to Debbie Schlussel

It is very obvious why Barack Obama does not want to admit he is Muslim. It will cost him votes. The media is trying to make a villain Romney because he is Mormon, imagine if Obama admitted to being Muslim. There is also another reason. For a Muslim to leave the faith is a death sentence in traditional Islam.

"But whoever of you recants and dies an unbeliever, his works shall come to nothing in this world and the next, and they are the companions of the fire for ever" (Qur'an 2:217). This is interpreted by traditional Muslims as giving the death penalty to apostates. What would happen if we elect a President that millions of Muslims believe must be executed?

A down day

2007-03-19T18:15:00.000-06:00

Well not really a down day but I'm still wiped out from my class on Saturday. When I do a training ride on my bike two days in a row I'm always very tired the next day. It's amazing how much more mental work can wipe me out than physical work. All I wanted to do today was sit around, sleep and of course eat.Awesome Chick knew I was having a hard time and she knew I was supposed to ride my bike today and she also knew that if I just get on my bike and go I always feel better after a few minutes. So what did she do? She left work early and came home and encouraged me to get on my bike, she even rode with me. She was right, by the time I had ridden two blocks I was feeling like I wanted to ride for hours. I'm so blessed to have a great wife and also that I still have my physical abilities.

Liturgy of the Hours Class

2007-03-18T18:05:00.000-06:00

Yesterday, that was Saturday, I went to class on the Liturgy of the Hours (LOH) at my parents parish. It is also called The Divine Office or simply Christian Prayer. The LOH is a form a prayer that dates back to the first Christians. I started doing it about 8 years ago. There are a couple links below for anybody who wants to know more. I also went with my parents. It was a day long class and it was the first time I was in a "class" setting since my strokes. On the positive side I was able to last just past lunch before I had to leave. That was about 3 hours of class time. On the negative I didn't make it the entire day.

I noticed that a class and lecturer moving at a normal pace is too fast for me now days. I'm still wiped out today. We went to Mass and lunch and that is about all I could handle. I just got up from a 3 hour nap and I can hardly wait to get back to bed tonight.

Information
Encyclopedia

Field Test - Where's the O2 ?

2007-03-15T13:03:00.000-06:00

Today was the big day, my second Field Test! My big plans of doing it outside got shot down but that's only temporary. Once I have more practice and get off the blood thinners it's off the trainer and on the road full time for me; at least while the whether is good.

I was really happy with my results. I worked a lot harder this time but only because I was capable of working harder. If I had anything left to give I don't know where it was. When I got off the trainer each time I felt like I was trying suck every single molecule of oxygen out of the room and get it to my muscles before my legs collapsed.

I recovered real well. My stats on the second 8 minute interval were actually better than the first and both were far better than the last time I did a FT at the end of January.
Previous FT
Interval 1Elapsed Time : 00:08:00
Average BPM : 144
Maximum BPM : 158
Average Cadence : 94
Perceived Exertion: 8

Interval 2
Elapsed Time : 00:08:00
Average BPM : 141
Maximum BPM : 150
Average Cadence : 89
Perceived Exertion: 8

This FT
Interval 1
Elapsed Time : 00:08:00
Average BPM : 153
Maximum BPM : 173
Average Cadence : 95
Perceived Exertion: 9 - very difficult
Interval 2
Elapsed Time : 00:08:00
Average BPM : 158
Maximum BPM : 176
Average Cadence : 100
Perceived Exertion: 9 - very difficult

Cleaning Toilets

2007-03-15T10:52:00.000-06:00

OK, so I have trouble staying focused. If somebody isn't directing me all the time I will get distracted and end up who knows doing what. When Awesome chick comes home at night unless I keep careful notes about my day, or keep recording in a digital voice recorder she got me I won't remember anything. So, my therapists came up with a plan.Awesome Chick puts a list of things I'm to do every day on a white board. When that list is complete, then I get to do things just for fun, like get on the computer and blog. This is a good system for me because it gives me as much structure as I can get when I'm by myself and it helps out Awesome Chick because I'm more consistent about getting things done that help her out.So today I look at my list! Dust and vacuum our bedroom, OK. Sweep and mop the hardwood floors, CHECK. Clean 4 toilets... WHAT??? Hold everything! I'm sure I've seen somewhere in the Americans With Disabilities Act that toilet cleaning is strictly out of the question. I know I've seen the ACLU win case after case where disabled people did not have to clean toilets. I just know Congress passed a law about it. First my Neurologist refused to list doing dishes and housework as official restrictions for me and now this!Oh well, it guess I'll survive. By the way; since I'm writing this and I don't get to get on the computer unless my list is complete I can assure everyone that our bedroom is dusted and vacuumed, the hardwood floors have been swept and moped and yes we have four sparkling clean toilets.

Field Test

2007-03-14T18:52:00.000-06:00

Well I got taken down a notch! Awesome Chick who is always watching out for me made sure she checked with my doctors, I have kind of like an entire college of doctors, and I got some bad news.
My neurologist is fine with me doing training rides but wants me to stick to bike paths for now. This is for two reasons, one is that I'm still on big time blood thinners. I sort of forgot about that little detail. I have a beard now because when I shaved if I nicked myself I'd bleed all day. The other reason is that because I have lost most of my vision in my left eye the center line of "my world" is shifted quite a bit to the right. He wants me to get more practice riding and to be off the blood thinners before I do an all out effort outside, especially on a street.
So...I'll be busting a gut on my trainer in the morning.
I hate it when I have to give in to clear thinking and logic.

Workout 3/14/06

2007-03-14T14:04:00.000-06:00

Today was a good workout. I did it on the trainer because the instructions suggested doing the Power Intervals indoors. I'm happy with how my heart is responding. I can really control it and it gets back into zone quickly after an effort like a PI.

Legs of Lead

2007-03-14T10:13:00.000-06:00

I'm in the 10th week of my program. The first 4 were actually a bust because of health reasons so I consider this week 6. WOW, Mommy never told me it would be like this! I'm fatigued with heavy limbs and I can't get enough sleep. The good news is my RHR is as low as it has ever been. I'm really having to dig deap just to even look at my bike let alone get on it and ride.
Today's workout includes several Power Intervals and the instructions say it can be good to do those inside on the trainer. That will help me get going.

MS 150

2007-03-11T18:36:00.001-06:00

I took the step today. I actually registered for the MS 150. There's no turning back now. My best friend took me golfing. He is going to ride it with me. What a guy. He is teaching me to golf and he said he would train with me; no matter the length or speed.

Technorati tags: MS 150

Needed Rest Day

2007-03-08T11:30:00.001-07:00

Today is a day off from my cycling training. It is much needed. On one hand it is kind of a bummer that after only two days with one hour rides each day I need a day off. But a few weeks ago I was in much worse shape after only riding one day for a lot less time. I had to juggle my schedule so I didn't have two days in a row of training. I'd call that progress.

Kick in the Pants

2007-03-07T18:41:00.001-07:00

This learning of the Recorder is tough but fun. I'm really finding out how my brain doesn't work anymore. Just to learn four notes, A,B,C and G I had to make flash cards. I still forget about half the time. Then it is becoming obvious to me that in order to really play smoothly you have to read music ahead of the note you are playing on the Recorder. My eyes read ahead but my brain says "No way bud!".

Α&Ω

Feeling Freedom

2007-03-07T17:33:00.001-07:00

Today I think was the third time that I rode my bike outside. First I have to say that the Power Starts prescribed in my workout are much harder on the road than on a trainer; as everything else is. But today after I think five weeks of finally being able to get a fairly regular training schedule I felt that high that I get when my heart, lungs and legs are all working perfectly and I'm just cruising along in the zone. I had this feeling that I'm on the verge of becoming free, that my bike is my ticket to freedom.

Really when you think about it I can take my bike 75% of the places I need to go 75% of the time or more here in Denver.

I'm ready to

fly!

Technorati tags: Stroke Recovery, Cycling

He's Back.....

2007-03-07T13:27:00.001-07:00

March 3 2007

Or at least he was.... Pain is back today. Just testing the waters really, but I feel him there I don't know what roused him, maybe it was my ride outside yesterday, maybe it was the fact I had some wine last night but I pray he goes back to sleep. Why would I feel pain inside my chest, legs, neck head, arms if he wasn't waking up, begriming to move within the nerves of my body?

March 7, 2007 - Today

Hey I'm loving this! I have felt great the last few days. After the 3rd things got better fast. I think it is because of my cycling. If I am moving around I'm doing good. I have to keep things in perspective though. I've been through this before. I can feel great for a few days and then I'm blasted for a week. We'll see, for now I'm going to go on as if I will never be sick again.

Α&Ω

St. Odd? by Amy Welborn

2007-03-07T12:21:00.001-07:00

Open Book

Dean Koontz used to be one of my favorite authors. Well I guess he could still be I haven't read one of his books in years. Amy, through and article written by Time Drake seem to indicate I was missing Koontz's' spirituality. As a matter of fact I probably stopped reading him because of a perceived LACK of spirituality. I guess I was as thick headed then as I am now.

Cycling Again!

2007-03-07T11:59:00.001-07:00

I've been working out on the bike again. FINALLY!! It's been about a month now. I started on the wind trainer, only three days per week, about a half an hour each time. I'm up to four days per week and I even have riden outside a couple times this week.

I signed up with Train Right. It is Chris Charmichael's system. I'm on the cheapest program but right now it has been a great help. It's great to know that I have a good program created for me and to get on the forums and actually communicate with fellow athletes. Did I call myself a athlete. Hmmm maybe the old self esteem is coming back a bit.

New Computer

2007-02-20T20:13:00.000-07:00

Well our new computer came today. It's a Dell of course. What a nice change from the Lenovo piece of crap we dealt with for three months. It is like going from a bicycle to a Ferrari.

ZENIT News Agency--The World Seen from Rome

2007-02-19T10:29:00.000-07:00

ZENIT News Agency--The World Seen from Rome

From being forced to offer contraception and abortions in hospitals to
placing innocent children with homosexual "couples" Christian values are being
threatened at every turn. I think those threats are also becoming more
powerful as people try to enforce anti -Christian thinking with laws. If
we don't begin to stand up for our beliefs they are going to be legislated away
from us.

Golf

2007-02-18T15:34:00.000-07:00

My friend took me to the driving range today. I guess I can use his name as long as I don't use last names. His name is John. What a great guy. We each hist a small bucket of balls. He is a great teacher. He has been taking me along in small steps. I was actually able to hit each ball. I really enjoyed the whole thing. Then we came back to my house and talked about Iraq and had coffee. It was a great morning.

OpinionJournal - Featured Article

2007-02-18T15:33:00.000-07:00

What people are missing is that Islam and democracy are not
compatible. They never have been and they never will be. Also, our
liberal politicians love to talk of a multicultural, pluralistic Iraq with
Western style freedoms. Do these liberals realize that in Islamic
societies that they are the very people that are killed because of they go
against Koranic law or the are exiled?

Driving

2007-02-17T19:33:00.000-07:00

I've been driving a bit more the last few days. My Neurologist said that I can drive around the neighborhood if I have a licensed driver with me. This is fine with me as I'd get lost if I drove to far away.

Anyway the idea is to get me competent enough that I can go through a certification program and hopefully make short trips by myself. Trips like to the store or even putting my bike in the car and driving to the start of a trail would really increase the quality of my life.

Iranian Force, Focus of U.S., Still a Mystery - New York Times

2007-02-17T12:20:00.000-07:00

Iranian Force, Focus of U.S., Still a Mystery - New York Times

Good article I think it would defy logic to think that Iran isn't doing
everything it can to disrupt what is going on in Iraq. Saddam Hussein via his
military killed millions of Iranians while at war with Iran and Iran hates the
U.S. I think they would like nothing better than to move into Iraq after a
humiliating defeat of the Americans. I also agree with Hooshan
Amirahmadi's statement. Bush wouldn't get away with saying that 'The CIA
is part of our government but we don't control what they do'. If these Qud
Forces are operating then the buck stops at the top of the rulers in Iran.
If they are inciting violence against and carrying out violence against
civilians those are war crimes and should be punished as such. Could you
imagine the senseless violence and death of innocence if an Ayatollah was held
and tried for war crimes at the Hague?

Debbie Schlussel - If only the Frank Family Lived Under Today's Visa System

2007-02-15T10:54:00.000-07:00

It is certainly not possible to completely form our actions based upon history. But, when we see things like this we need to ask are we even learning from the past? I know we want to be an open and pluralistic society but one cannot even make the argument that radical Islam is not a sworn and dangerous enemy of the U.S. specifically and Western society and culture in general. Thanks Debbie.

Ebay

2007-02-15T10:34:00.000-07:00

Well today I made my first post as a seller on Ebay. Yep I'm in business for myself now. Well not really. I'm just trying to get rid of some junk and make a few extra bucks for some fun stuff. It's amazing how simple Ebay and Pay Pal (now owned by Ebay) make online business now days.

Power Line: Obamanations

2007-02-13T10:47:00.000-07:00

Power Line: Obamanations

I love this Obamanations! Yep I agree with Scott.
We are going to hear a lot more of these. Talk about Cowboy
politics. Calling down one of Americas' closest allies, claiming they are
an ally of a single person, President Bush, demeaning the contribution an ally
has made to the war on terror as not enough to allow them to criticize
Obamanation policy. This guy barely announced running for the presidency
and he is isolating his foreign policy and all the people on the left are
falling all over themselves to get a look at him. I just don't understand
it.

Michelle Malkin: Obama tries to remove foot from mouth...

2007-02-13T10:38:00.000-07:00

Michelle Malkin: Obama tries to remove foot from mouth...

You would think that politicians, supposedly eloquent people, would be able to get their ideas across without constantly "botching jokes", "misspeaking" or worse yet "Even as I said it,” Mr. Obama said Monday, “I realized I had misspoken.” Hey here is a news flash for Mr. Obama. If you realize you are saying something that is not correct as you are saying it, CORRECT IT AS YOU SAY IT OR IMMEDIATELY AFTER! That is the way any parent would teach their child to behave, why is this so difficult for politicians? Do these people seriously believe that the American people are so stupid as to believe that the people we elect cannot go even a week without saying something offensive, stupid and ridiculous? That my friends is offensive, stupid and ridiculous. I think as Mr. Obama was realizing he had misspoken he was also thinking, "oh well, we'll see what the polls do and see if I can get away with offending and fooling the people, if not, we'll fix it later".

My First Recorder

2007-02-10T22:21:00.000-07:00

Today my awesome wife took me to a music store to get a Recorder so I could learn some music. I have read it is good for brain injury, both left and right brain. Anyway I had always wanted to learn the saxophone because my dad played it. But that is difficult so I thought I would try the Recorder. Wow, reading music is harder than I thought.

To Driving Range

2007-02-10T22:14:00.000-07:00

My best friend took me to the driving range today. Bummer it turned out that because of the snow they didn't have any balls. Anyway he showed me more of some golf technique. He has given me a few lessons. This guy is more in a friend that anyone could ask for. To try and write it here would be a disservice. He has been so much of my recovery. I hope he knows.

White House defends Pelosi in plane dispute - Politics - MSNBC.com

2007-02-08T12:49:00.000-07:00

I think what Rep Putnam is missing is that the taxpayers would love if our elected officials would get on with the peoples business. I don't get it. Speaker Pelosi is the third most powerful person in the U.S. Can we give her the plane and figure out what to do with Iraq, the broader war on terror, health care and so many other things of importance. Heck if congress could solve all the taxpayers that Rep. Putman are REALLY interested in I would be fore giving them ALL their own private plane.

White House defends Pelosi in plane dispute - Politics - MSNBC.com

Rep. Adam Putnam of Florida, the No. 3 Republican leader, called Pelosi’s desire
for a large transport plane “an extravagance of power that the taxpayers won’t
swallow.”

No visitors today

2007-02-07T17:33:00.000-07:00

Well it seems that Pain exhausted himself as much as he did me. Today was not too bad. I went to the Dr. yesterday. Of course the answer is more drugs. The drugs that work best are expensive and the insurance companies won't let me use, or use so sparingly it is almost a tease. Other drugs, like hard narcotics, are cheap and the insurance company will allow boat loads of those. I don't take them that much though; only 3 or 4 times per week; more than that and they tear up my insides as much as the pain tears up the rest of me.

More on My Friend Pain

2007-02-05T21:17:00.000-07:00

My friend was close by my side today. He was winding his way through my back, my neck, my head and my eyes. He was especially angry, and when he is he is efficient and merciless at what he provides to me. His offerings are so abundant that he, Pain, literally overflows and cannot be contained by me. When pain overflowed from within me today he became confusion and anxiety. How can I explain being so overwhelmed that I don't recognize familiar places, I am exhausted and wanting sleep but Pain keeps me between the sweetness and comfort of sleep and the full awareness that he is crawling through my body angrily setting nerves on fire.
Today Pain performed with such expertise he even struck fear into the heart of his accomplice, Nausea. Even the powerful and debilitating nausea dare not show his face when Pain, is slithering wild and unabated through the synopses of my body. Even Nausea, his dear and close companion dare not tread on the purity of Pains exquisite work. Pain is master, pain is king. Only the Lord of Hosts will he bow down to. Only the Lord of Hosts can turn him to the infinite nothingness that he will one day become when I am free of him. But today, today my sweet Lord and my God, the Lord of Hosts has chosen to allow the demon to run free.

Pain

2007-02-05T20:52:00.000-07:00

I guess I have to start writing about my Pain. I have my wife, kids, family and friends I can count on. But my Pain is my constant companion. It is the one that never leaves me alone even for a moment. I am never by myself thanks to my companion, my Pain. When my Pain needs company I cannot provide it overwhelms me like spoiled child demanding attention and gives birth to its sibling Nausea.
The last couple of days Pain has been demanding. He has surged as nerve pain from my head to my feet and back again. Sometimes he settles in my chest and moves along my esophagus and my collar bones and the back of my neck. He has called his sibling many times the last couple of days. Pain and Nausea have combined, faithful, constant and relentless companions of mine, my head ringing so bad it affects what I can hear.
Why these three companions have chosen to be so committed to me I don't know. And why does this commitment have so much determination to savage me.

OpinionJournal - from The Wall Street Journal Editorial Page

2007-02-05T16:54:00.000-07:00

Well I have to say that I think at least one wheel is off the cart. I agree with Peggy that the Presidency is too big now. I was talking with some friends last night and I was surprised how defeated I felt about the Middle East. My friends have such an Altruistic view. I pray I can have that view. I used to have it. But for me things have just gotten to big too fast. Through my whole life I have heard, 'do one thing, do it well, and then move on'. I have tried to live my life that way. But you can't live that way if you are a President. You have to fix everything for everybody under the allotted time and under budget. If you don't even your friends are not friends anymore. Everybody take a deep breath, step back and think, be honest now. Is it really possible for one President, one country, to solve all the problems that everybody wants solved and do it well all at the same time. I have to say no. I also don't think our country could even come to a consensus on what problem or even set of problems to solve first.

OpinionJournal - from The Wall Street Journal Editorial Page

PEGGY NOONAN

A Separate Peace
America is in trouble--and our elites are merely resigned.

Thursday, October 27, 2005 12:01 a.m. EDT

It is not so hard and can be a pleasure to tell people what you see. It's harder to speak of what you think you see, what you think is going on and can't prove or defend with data or numbers. That can get tricky. It involves hunches. But here goes.

I think there is an unspoken subtext in our national political culture right now. In fact I think it's a subtext to our society. I think that a lot of people are carrying around in their heads, unarticulated and even in some cases unnoticed, a sense that the wheels are coming off the trolley and the trolley off the tracks. That in some deep and fundamental way things have broken down and can't be fixed, or won't be fixed any time soon. That our pollsters are preoccupied with "right track" and "wrong track" but missing the number of people who think the answer to "How are things going in America?" is "Off the tracks and hurtling forward, toward an unknown destination."

I'm not talking about "Plamegate." As I write no indictments have come up. I'm not talking about "Miers." I mean . . . the whole ball of wax. Everything. Cloning, nuts with nukes, epidemics; the growing knowledge that there's no such thing as homeland security; the fact that we're leaving our kids with a bill no one can pay. A sense of unreality in our courts so deep that they think they can seize grandma's house to build a strip mall; our media institutions imploding--the spectacle of a great American newspaper, the New York Times, hurtling off its own tracks, as did CBS. The fear of parents that their children will wind up disturbed, and their souls actually imperiled, by the popular culture in which we are raising them. Senators who seem owned by someone, actually owned, by an interest group or a financial entity. Great churches that have lost all sense of mission, and all authority. Do you have confidence in the CIA? The FBI? I didn't think so.

But this recounting doesn't quite get me to what I mean. I mean I believe there's a general and amorphous sense that things are broken and tough history is coming.

Let me focus for a minute on the presidency, another institution in trouble. In the past I have been impatient with the idea that it's impossible now to be president, that it is impossible to run the government of the United States successfully or even competently. I always thought that was an excuse of losers. I'd seen a successful presidency up close. It can be done.
But since 9/11, in the four years after that catastrophe, I have wondered if it hasn't all gotten too big, too complicated, too crucial, too many-fronted, too . . . impossible.

I refer to the sheer scope, speed and urgency of the issues that go to a president's desk, to the impossibility of bureaucracy, to the array of impeding and antagonistic forces (the 50-50 nation, the mass media, the senators owned by the groups), to the need to have a fully informed understanding of and stand on the most exotic issues, from Avian flu to the domestic realities of Zimbabwe.

The special prosecutors, the scandals, the spin for the scandals, nuclear proliferation, wars and natural disasters, Iraq, stem cells, earthquakes, the background of the Supreme Court backup pick, how best to handle the security problems at the port of Newark, how to increase production of vaccines, tort reform, did Justice bungle the anthrax case, how is Cipro production going, did you see this morning's Raw Threat File? Our public schools don't work, and there's little refuge to be had in private schools, however pricey, in part because teachers there are embarrassed not to be working in the slums and make up for it by putting pictures of Frida Kalho where Abe Lincoln used to be. Where is Osama? What's up with trademark infringement and intellectual capital? We need an answer on an amendment on homosexual marriage! We face a revolt on immigration.

The range, depth, and complexity of these problems, the crucial nature of each of them, the speed with which they bombard the Oval Office, and the psychic and practical impossibility of meeting and answering even the most urgent of them, is overwhelming. And that doesn't even get us to Korea. And Russia. And China, and the Mideast. You say we don't understand Africa? We don't even understand Canada!

Roiling history, daily dangers, big demands; a government that is itself too big and rolling in too much money and ever needing more to do the latest important, necessary, crucial thing.

It's beyond, "The president is overwhelmed." The presidency is overwhelmed. The whole government is. And people sense when an institution is overwhelmed. Citizens know. If we had a major terrorist event tomorrow half the country--more than half--would not trust the federal government to do what it has to do, would not trust it to tell the truth, would not trust it, period.

It should be noted that all modern presidents face a slew of issues, and none of them have felt in control of events but have instead felt controlled by them. JFK in one week faced the Soviets, civil rights, the Berlin Wall, the southern Democratic mandarins of the U.S. Senate. He had to face Cuba, only 90 miles away, importing Russian missiles. But the difference now, 45 years later, is that there are a million little Cubas, a new Cuba every week. It's all so much more so. And all increasingly crucial. And it will be for the next president, too.

A few weeks ago I was chatting with friends about the sheer number of things parents now buy for teenage girls--bags and earrings and shoes. When I was young we didn't wear earrings, but if we had, everyone would have had a pair or two. I know a 12-year-old with dozens of pairs. They're thrown all over her desk and bureau. She's not rich, and they're inexpensive, but her parents buy her more when she wants them. Someone said, "It's affluence," and someone else nodded, but I said, "Yeah, but it's also the fear parents have that we're at the end of something, and they want their kids to have good memories. They're buying them good memories, in this case the joy a kid feels right down to her stomach when the earrings are taken out of the case."
This, as you can imagine, stopped the flow of conversation for a moment. Then it resumed, as delightful and free flowing as ever. Human beings are resilient. Or at least my friends are, and have to be.

Let me veer back to the president. One of the reasons some of us have felt discomfort regarding President Bush's leadership the past year or so is that he makes more than the usual number of decisions that seem to be looking for trouble. He makes startling choices, as in the Miers case. But you don't have to look for trouble in life, it will find you, especially when you're president. It knows your address. A White House is a castle surrounded by a moat, and the moat is called trouble, and the rain will come and the moat will rise. You should buy some boots, do your work, hope for the best.

Do people fear the wheels are coming off the trolley? Is this fear widespread? A few weeks ago I was reading Christopher Lawford's lovely, candid and affectionate remembrance of growing up in a particular time and place with a particular family, the Kennedys, circa roughly 1950-2000. It's called "Symptoms of Withdrawal." At the end he quotes his Uncle Teddy. Christopher, Ted Kennedy and a few family members had gathered one night and were having a drink in Mr. Lawford's mother's apartment in Manhattan. Teddy was expansive. If he hadn't gone into politics he would have been an opera singer, he told them, and visited small Italian villages and had pasta every day for lunch. "Singing at la Scala in front of three thousand people throwing flowers at you. Then going out for dinner and having more pasta." Everyone was laughing. Then, writes Mr. Lawford, Teddy "took a long, slow gulp of his vodka and tonic, thought for a moment, and changed tack. 'I'm glad I'm not going to be around when you guys are my age.' I asked him why, and he said, 'Because when you guys are my age, the whole thing is going to fall apart.' "
Mr. Lawford continued, "The statement hung there, suspended in the realm of 'maybe we shouldn't go there.' Nobody wanted to touch it. After a few moments of heavy silence, my uncle moved on."

Lawford thought his uncle might be referring to their family--that it might "fall apart." But reading, one gets the strong impression Teddy Kennedy was not talking about his family but about . . . the whole ball of wax, the impossible nature of everything, the realities so daunting it seems the very system is off the tracks.

And--forgive me--I thought: If even Teddy knows . . .

If I am right that trolley thoughts are out there, and even prevalent, how are people dealing with it on a daily basis?
I think those who haven't noticed we're living in a troubling time continue to operate each day with classic and constitutional American optimism intact. I think some of those who have a sense we're in trouble are going through the motions, dealing with their own daily challenges.

And some--well, I will mention and end with America's elites. Our recent debate about elites has had to do with whether opposition to Harriet Miers is elitist, but I don't think that's our elites' problem.

This is. Our elites, our educated and successful professionals, are the ones who are supposed to dig us out and lead us. I refer specifically to the elites of journalism and politics, the elites of the Hill and at Foggy Bottom and the agencies, the elites of our state capitals, the rich and accomplished and successful of Washington, and elsewhere. I have a nagging sense, and think I have accurately observed, that many of these people have made a separate peace. That they're living their lives and taking their pleasures and pursuing their agendas; that they're going forward each day with the knowledge, which they hold more securely and with greater reason than nonelites, that the wheels are off the trolley and the trolley's off the tracks, and with a conviction, a certainty, that there is nothing they can do about it.

I suspect that history, including great historical novelists of the future, will look back and see that many of our elites simply decided to enjoy their lives while they waited for the next chapter of trouble. And that they consciously, or unconsciously, took grim comfort in this thought: I got mine. Which is what the separate peace comes down to, "I got mine, you get yours."

You're a lobbyist or a senator or a cabinet chief, you're an editor at a paper or a green-room schmoozer, you're a doctor or lawyer or Indian chief, and you're making your life a little fortress. That's what I think a lot of the elites are up to.

Not all of course. There are a lot of people--I know them and so do you--trying to do work that helps, that will turn it around, that can make it better, that can save lives. They're trying to keep the boat afloat. Or, I should say, get the trolley back on the tracks.

That's what I think is going on with our elites. There are two groups. One has made a separate peace, and one is trying to keep the boat afloat. I suspect those in the latter group privately, in a place so private they don't even express it to themselves, wonder if they'll go down with the ship. Or into bad territory with the trolley.

Ms. Noonan is a contributing editor of The Wall Street Journal and author of "John Paul the Great: Remembering a Spiritual Father," forthcoming in November from Penguin, which you can preorder from the OpinionJournal bookstore. Her column appears Thursdays.

Do I accept - I do NOT

2007-02-05T13:34:00.001-07:00

For me I don't think I will ever accept that I had a stroke. I know some people can say they only look forward and that they don't look back. I can't do that. I wasn't the only one there before my first stroke on Oct. 17 2005 at 7:15 PM. So SO SO many people had helped me get to where I was in my life and helped me make my life what it had become; everybody from family, friends and my kids to teaches, instructors, counselors and yes even those people I don't thin I liked that much. For me to say, 'I accept what happened and I'm only looking forward, never back' is a slap in the face to each and every one of those people that helped me get to where I was before the thief came. It is like saying, 'thanks for the effort but oh well. I didn't really need it because I can do just as good no matter if you made an effort be there for me or not'.
Hey I'm doing great. I'm carving out a life for myself. I'm growing and continuing my life but my past is there. Without a past there is no present, no future. My strokes are there and they stole a lot from me. I will search for the reason like a hungry dog searching for a scrap of food. During that search; my my life is going to grow and become what I and the people who are once again here for me make it. But no, I will never stop asking why and sit back in a zhen like peace and get philosophical and giggly about it. The reason I stroked is out there and it is going to be pursued.....like a scrap of garbage by a hungry dog!

My Favorite Quotes

2007-01-22T06:58:00.001-07:00

"The secret of happiness is freedom and the secret of freedom is courage." ~ Pericles
"All that is required for evil to prevail is for good men to do nothing." ~ Edmund Burke
"Tis a common observation here that our cause is the cause of all mankind, and that we are fighting for their liberty in defending our own." ~ Benjamin Franklin
"Politically Correct nullities and mediocrities always deny merit. They always replace quality with quantity. But it's quantity that moves the world." ~ Oriana Fallaci

Technorati tags: Quotes, Oriana Fallaci, Edmund, Burke, Benjamin Franklin, Pericles

My Favorite Quotes

2007-01-20T13:29:00.001-07:00

"The secret of happiness is freedom and the secret of freedom is courage." ~ Pericles
"All that is required for evil to prevail is for good men to do nothing." ~ Edmund Burke
"Tis a common observation here that our cause is the cause of all mankind, and that we are fighting for their liberty in defending our own." ~ Benjamin Franklin
"Politically Correct nullities and mediocrities always deny merit. They always replace quality with quantity. But it's quantity that moves the world." ~ Oriana Fallaci

Technorati tags: Quotes, Oriana Fallaci, Edmund, Burke, Benjamin Franklin, Pericles

My Favorite Quotes

2007-01-18T13:07:00.001-07:00

"Television is where you watch people in your living room that you would not want near your house." ~ Groucho Marx
"All that is required for evil to prevail is for good men to do nothing." ~ Edmund Burke
"Tis a common observation here that our cause is the cause of all mankind, and that we are fighting for their liberty in defending our own." ~ Benjamin Franklin
"Politically Correct nullities and mediocrities always deny merit. They always replace quality with quantity. But it's quantity that moves the world." ~ Oriana Fallaci

Technorati tags: Quotes, Oriana Fallaci, Edmund, Burke, Benjamin Franklin, Groucho Marx

After abortion

2007-01-15T18:46:00.001-07:00

Link to After abortion

Absurd Ad Absurdum: Norman Mailer's New Hitler "Abusive Childhood" Apologist Book; Compares Bush to Hitler

2007-01-15T18:37:00.001-07:00

I just have to know. What degree of incestuary is Mailer? It sounds like third or fourth at least.

By Debbie Schlussel
I and many others often employ comparisons between the way the media and pop culture treat Islamic terrorists versus the way they treated the Nazis. I frequently write something like this:
Can you imagine them doing that with Hitler/the Nazis?

Well, now leftist novelist Norman Mailer has made that imagination a reality. Yes, the ultra-ludicrous continues to be realized--in this case with the publication of his "The Castle in the Forest," out next week.

Norman Mailer & His New "Novel":
One Toy Short of a Happy Meal (Sorry, McDs)
In this absurdity on paper, Mailer writes a fiction book about how Hitler was abused as a child, molested, and was the son of an incestuous relationship. And it's not even true. Mailer made it up. But he uses this phony account to get us to understand the reason why Hitler turned out the way he is--to excuse it all.
And this is the novel Mailer says he's wanted to write for 50 years. Not sure if he's currently in a mental state to really remember the last 50 years accurately. But one thing's for certain: At age 84, he ain't all there. Clearly, dementia or Alzheimer's or some other sort of mental disability has set in.
As I previously wrote, during the Zacarias Moussaoui death penalty trial jurors were given a book by Moussaoui's brother, claiming that Moussaoui had an abusive childhood. Nine jurors said it influenced their decision to spare Moussaoui's life. I believe that book was a carefully crafted fiction written just for that purpose by his loving brother.
Now, Mailer is acting as Hitler's modern day Frere Zacarias Moussaoui, trying to absolve Hitler. And it's all made up--even though Mailer is now trying to claim there's some truth in it. Pop psychobabble absolves the Holocaust?! OY.
Here are some ridiculous excerpts from today's USA Today French kiss to Mailer and his absurd book:
In the novel, incest runs strong in Hitler's family. His mother is his father's daughter. "Adi" is beaten by his father, adored by his mother, treated cruelly by an older stepbrother. He doesn't do well in school. He excels only at playing war in the forest with other boys. He has no girlfriends and masturbates frequently.
The novel has a seven-page bibliography listing books that, as Mailer writes, "enriched many a fictional possibility."

Whatever that means.
He spent two years reading about Hitler because "you should know how someone turns out if you're writing about him as a child." . . .
What's true in Castle and what's made up? Mailer circles the question like a veteran prizefighter sizing up a younger opponent: "Look at it like this: I'm a novelist. I can take three facts and write a story. Is that story factual? No. But it's based on facts. It can get at the truth."
As for the incest in Hitler's family, Mailer says "that can't be proven, but the facts of his life suggest it. There's a great likelihood that Hitler was a 'first- or second-degree incestuary,' " a word Mailer made up for the novel. "It sounds good. It sounds German."
All of the novel's major characters actually existed, with one exception (a beekeeper with a passion for honey and young boys). Mailer says he finds it easier to "make up something about a person than to conceive the person." . . .
Mailer also may have contemporary political leaders in his sights.
In the novel, DT discusses wartime leaders "who have installed in themselves an ability not to suffer sleepless nights because of casualties on the other side. They now possess the mightiest of all social engines of psychic numbification - patriotism! That is still the most dependable instrument for guiding the masses, although it may yet be replaced by revealed religion. We love fundamentalists. Their faith offers us every promise of developing into the final weapon of mass destruction."
Is that a slap at President Bush, who Mailer has said has surpassed Ronald Reagan as "the most ignorant president we ever had"?
"To ask the question," he replies, "is to answer it."

Just one thing to say to all of this. PUH-LEEZE.
Remember, this guy is a two-time Pulitzer Prize winner for non-fiction. Which tells us all we need to know about Pulitzer Prize-winning "non-fiction."
Unfortunately, Mailer says he is already writing a sequel. USA Today calls him the "Devil's Advocate," but I say they can drop the "advocate" part.

Source: Absurd Ad Absurdum: Norman Mailer's New Hitler "Abusive Childhood" Apologist Book; Compares Bush to Hitler
Originally published on 1/15/2007 11:28 AM by Debbie

Court rules boy has dad and 2 moms

2007-01-13T23:24:00.001-07:00

I know this took place in Canada. We can and have seen similar things in the United States also. Here a judge legislates his/her values or interpretation of what societies values are on the rest of us.

Exactly how can the court justify acting "parents patriae" or "as a guardian" for the minor when the minor has two biological parents who from the tone of the article we are led to believe are competent and fully engaged in the minors life? Additionally the weak argument that the woman "partner" would have no rights must be as meaningless in Canada as it is here in the U.S.

In the 2006 Colorado elections we voted on whether to give gay and lesbian "marriages" the same legal status as traditional, normal marriages. The pro-gay side claimed that in the case of death of a gay or lesbian partner the surviving partner is denied the right to inherit. They claimed in the event of illness of a gay or lesbian partner the other is denied the right to even visit let alone make medical decisions. This was of course all lies. There are many legal avenues open to all people which allow a person to give the desired property and rights to anyone they want. When will we quit being bombarded with lies in order to convince us of the lie that all relationships are created equal?

Case believed to be first in Canada to give a child three legal parents

January 03, 2007
Tim Lai
Staff Reporter
Ontario's highest court has given legal parental status to the lesbian partner of a biological mother, essentially giving a young boy three parents.
The case is believed to be the first in Canada in which a child has more than two legal parents, said Peter Jervis, a lawyer for the partner. He said while there have been birth-registry cases in which lesbian couples sought parentage of their children, the fathers in those cases were not active or were unknown due to sperm donations.
In this case, the biological father, a friend of the lesbian couple, remains involved in the 5-year-old boy's life at the request of the two women. The father would have lost his parental rights if the lesbian partner had been able to adopt the boy under Ontario law.
The lesbian partner brought the case against the biological mother and father, seeking a declaration for parentage. They fully supported the legal action.
The Ontario Court of Appeal ruling released yesterday overturns a 2003 Superior Court of Justice decision not to give the female partner legal status as the child's mother. The judge said the court did not have jurisdiction to grant the title.
Justice Marc Rosenberg, writing on behalf of Chief Justice Roy McMurtry and Justice Jean-Marc Labrosse, found that due to a gap in legislation, the court in this case can exercise its "parens patriae" – the legal term for the state to act as the guardian for a minor – in declaring the partner a mother.
"Advances in our appreciation of the value of other types of relationships and in the science of reproductive technology have created gaps in the (Children's Law Reform Act's) legislative scheme," Rosenberg wrote. "Because of these changes, the parents of a child can be two women or two men."
The sudden death of the biological mother was the couple's main reason in asking for legal status, the court noted. If the woman did not receive the legal rights before her partner died, she would not be able to make decisions on behalf of their son.
"It's very good news for her, for her son and for her family," Jervis said. "She's been the mom of this child since he was born, but this grants legal recognition to her status."
Jervis said he was unable to reach the family over the phone, but he wrote an email with the subject line, "Congratulations, you're a mom."
Like any case at this level, it could create a precedent, he said. "I strongly suspect that if another case like this came forward, there would be a similar request for the courts to exercise its jurisdiction (of parens patriae)."
The "three-parents case" drew criticism from the Alliance for Marriage and Family. The umbrella group – comprising Focus on the Family, the Catholic Civil Rights League, REAL Women of Canada, the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada and the Christian Legal Fellowship – was an intervener in the case and opposed the declaration, saying it would go against the traditional family unit.
"This ruling concerns us," said David Quist, executive director of the Institute of Marriage and Family Canada, an organization started by Focus on the Family. "What about grandparents? If there's a divorce and a remarrying, how many parents do we get? Those are questions that are unanswered at this point."
Quist said it's too early to say whether the alliance will appeal the ruling, but he added there may be a need to call a royal commission on the future of the family.
"What we do know from social-science research right now is that children raised by their married biological mom and dad do best, but we also know that's not a fact of life for a lot of kids out there," he said. "Let's put in (some policy) that supports the outcomes for the children the best we can."

Technorati tags: Family Values, Gay Marriage, Gay Adoption

Source: TheStar.com - News - Court rules boy has dad and 2 moms

TIME.com: 50 Coolest Websites

2007-01-13T23:23:00.003-07:00

Hey the title says it all! I haven't been through all the site but make sure you have a lot of time when you start looking at this article. Not only can you find 50 sites from 2006 but you can link to the same article for 2005, 2004 and 2003. Enjoy.....

Technorati tags: Cool Web site

Link to TIME.com: 50 Coolest Websites

Tequila Christmas Cookies

2007-01-13T23:23:00.001-07:00

Now this is a cookie recipe! Thanks to one of my buddies on the Stroke Net.

Enjoy! Be sure and read to the end.
Christmas Tequila Cookies
1 cup dark brown sugar
1 cup (two sticks) butter
1 cup granulated sugar
4 large eggs
2 cups dried fruit (dried cranberries or raisins)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts or pecans
2 cups all purpose flour
1 bottle Jose Cuervo Tequila (silver or gold, as desired)
First, sample the Cuervo to check quality.
Take a large bowl. Check the Cuervo to be sure it is of the highest
quality.
Pour another 4 ounces in a measuring cup and drink.
Turn on the electric mixer.
Beat one cup of the butter in a large fluffy bowl.
Add one teaspoon sugar. Beat again.
At this point, it is best to make sure the Cuervo is still OK. Try
another 4 ounces, just in case.
Turn off the mixerer thingy. Break two leggs and add to the bowl and
chuck in the cup of dried fruit, picking the frigging fruit off the
floor.
Mix on the turner. If the fried druit gets stuck in the beaterers, just
pry it loose with a screwdriver.
Sample the Cuervo to check for tonsisticity.
Next, sift 2 cups of salt or something.
Check the Jose Cuervo.
Now shift the lemon juice and strain your nuts.
Add one table.
Add a spoon of sugar, or somefink. Whatever you can find.
Greash the oven. Turn the cake tin 360 degrees and try not to fall
over. Don’t forget to beat off the turner.
Finally, throw the bowl through the window, finish the Cose Juervo and
make sure to put the stove in the dishwasher.
Cherry Mistmas.

Source: Tequila Christmas Cookies - StrokeNet Message Board

Happy New Year

2007-01-13T23:22:00.001-07:00

I'm really looking forward to the New Year. Everything was so new in 2006. It seemed like I was just along for the ride; if somebody decided I should do something that is what I did. Lately I've been trying to take more control of my environment and life. This is good for me but sometimes I think it drives Awesome Chick nutty. It must be an adventure to be married to somebody who is charging through life one minute and sitting down the next with no clue what he was doing the minute before. Of course AC handles it great.

During the last half of 2006 I turned a major corner emotionally. I'm much more accepting of my cognitive disabilities and even enjoy working out those compensatory strategies on my own. I've been coming up with ways that work for me. I've even been doing that in the therapy area to. We found a therapist that listens to what Awesome Chick and I decide is important for us to work on. Then she helps us understand what will help us achieve the results we want. Then we figure out things that fit into our life, our way of doing things and quite frankly things that we enjoy doing that will help achieve the result. It has been over a year since my strokes. I know that the chance of actual healing of my brain is very very low at this point. I also know that the sky is the limit as far as how much the quality of my life can improve and the number of ways that can happen are countless.

My son came home from college for Christmas. Wow was I shocked. He had a beard!!! I wasn't even sure if he was able to shave that peach fuzz I thought he had on his chin. I was also shocked because I've been wearing a beard the last few months, almost the exact same style. The big difference is one of us has a mostly gray beard and one of us has a very dark beard with not a hint of gray. I will leave it to the reader to guess which is which. My daughter is in the process of starting a new business. She was in catering with her grandfathers’ food store. Now she is going to do interior decorating for people who just want to decorate their houses for a party. Wow, when AC and I have a party we budget how much we spend on beer and Doritos. I guess some people re-decorate their houses just for the party, then go back after.

That brings me to the next big event of the last part of the year. I was approved for SSDI. The long term disability insurance company I have required that I apply. That was no big deal because they also hired an attorney at their expense who did all the work. Awesome Chick and I just had a couple of phone conferences with the attorney and that was it, I got a letter that said I was approved. Wow, I've always wondered if Social Security would still be there when I retired so my wife and I have always really saved and invested. Now I'm on Social Security at 46 years old. Oh well, I'm dam lucky to have what I have.
On a solemn note I was watching some of the funeral for President Ford. Something occurred to me. We will probably never have a president again from the time of World War II. The people who fought that war, governed our country and kept our country going at home were my grandparents generation. I've always had huge respect for them. Tom Brokaw called them the Greatest Generation. I think he could be right. Although since 9/11/2001 I have seen many young people serving our country and their families that I have a feeling are made of the same stuff.

Technorati tags: Stroke Recovery, SSDI, Stroke

Source: StrokeNet Message Board -> The Journey Back

Talking about NBC: Darfur violence spreads to Chad - Today - MSNBC.com

2007-01-13T23:20:00.001-07:00

Quote

NBC: Darfur violence spreads to Chad - Today - MSNBC.com

Ice Cubes on the Brain

2007-01-13T23:19:00.001-07:00

A problem I have had for quite some time. Actually this feels kind of cool. I have been assured it is harmless.

More and more I have been having the ice cube sensation. I read it described like this on Stroke Net quite a while back and I couldn't describe it better. It is like ice cubes are melting in my head. Actually it is kind of a cool feeling. It is also one of those things that when you tell the Dr. about it they just shrug like they have no idea. It's a good thing it is a pleasant sensation.
I figured out that the bout of seizures I had over the weekend was because of a medication change last week. I should have felt it coming on but was caught off guard. Anyway it is good to know what the cause was. I hate "seizure days" though because they are even bigger holes in my memory than regular days. I also feel very lethargic and more easily confused for a couple of days.

Technorati tags: Stroke Recovery, Brain Injury

Source: StrokeNet Message Board -> Ice Cubes on the Brain