i like ...

Every now and then some sweeping fad hits the internet. I, ever quick to jump on the Useless-Crap-That's-Fun-Anyway bandwagon, have become rather fond the latest, most ridiculous cyber novelty.

It's called 'Cornify' and all it does is add sparkly unicorns, rainbows and glitter to otherwise boring and plain websites. Basically, it's the fantasy of an eight year and a queeny gay man all mixed up into one little internet package.


Try it out by clicking on the cornify button below:






Remember, the more times you click, the cornier this webspace will get.

a new york pictorial

Two days ago, on the New York Times website, an interesting piece ran that truly summarized life in the Big Apple. With a series of poignant images, Christoph Niemann boiled down the essence of what it means to be a New Yorker.

I was completely charmed, and I think you might be too if you take a look.

Here is a link to the article: http://niemann.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/02/02/i-lego-ny/

appendix in revolt

I do not recommend having a medical emergency.

At all.

It should be pretty obvious why I feel this way. There's the whole pain factor. The expense. The stress, time and worry. The fear. And, of course, the not-so-minor issue of spending time in the hospital.

Not good things.

The reason I bring this topic up is because I had a medical malady of my own last week. And yes, it involved great expense, time, pain and, of course, worry.

It all began last Tuesday evening. I had been fine all day, but shortly after dinner, I found myself with a belly full of fire. Literally. A raging and internal fire. The area around my belly button was burning so badly that I eventually had to curl up in a fetal position. It was the absolute worst pain I've ever experienced, and very similar to the torturous feeling I had felt previously before heading over to the Emergency Room. (I've had two previous visits with the same symptoms.)

Then I started throwing up.

And I didn't stop.

And then there started to be a little blood in the vomit, and I couldn't take the pain anymore ...

anyway, enough of the gory details. Let's just say I wound up in the hospital, and the doctors there decided to keep me overnight. The very next morning, at 6am, a surgeon strolled in to my semi-private hospital room to politely inform me I was lined up for surgery ASAP. In fact, would I be willing to go under the knife that very morning?

To make a long story short, my appendix was removed. (Thanks a lot, appendix, for malfunctioning and causing me a lot of grief. I'm glad we got a divorce.)

Three ugly incisions later, some more time spent in the hospital, and after enough morphine to knock out a horse, I was discharged and shipped home.

Which is where I have been ever since, recovering from the very uncomfortable feeling of having had my belly region sliced up three times and pumped full of air.

Not good things.

I've finally started feeling well enough to start complaining and getting irritable, which means I must be on the mend. While lounging all day in bed does have its benefits, they are largely outweighed by the pain factor and the fact that I don't have a choice in the matter -- I have to be doing this.

So, anyway. That's the latest news in my life. I do have a big piece of info about my academic career, but I'll save that for another post. It's worthy of its own blog entry.

Be well, and don't explode your appendix if you can at all avoid it.