tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15785040758762936522012-01-09T01:46:23.563-05:00I write. I draw. I'm sick.Priscillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04417812260334969884noreply@blogger.comBlogger1661100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1578504075876293652.post-79531788380537118192011-09-26T19:18:00.001-04:002011-09-26T19:20:57.459-04:00

Obviously, I've fallen off blogging.  I'm popping my head up momentarily to say I intend to be back, but not for a while.  I'm taking a sabbatical from blogging to work on two things: traveling to a new doctor, and writing for print. I'm sure there's something clever I could say, but I just can't think of it right now . . . Love to all you good folks, Priscilla PS.  If you haven't already, "

Priscillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04417812260334969884noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1578504075876293652.post-77266593245658646752011-08-16T19:37:00.002-04:002011-08-16T19:39:41.756-04:00

Click to enlarge: This was some weeks ago, and since I have become an expert on all oral-hygiene alternatives, thanks to suggestions from everybody.  The day after my appointment, I had to sleep for three hours after flossing — which was not encouraging.  But I think I was still exhausted from the outing, and I can report that I’ve been doing my duty since.  I have decided simple tools are best

Priscillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04417812260334969884noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1578504075876293652.post-73444716907714070462011-07-24T15:03:00.004-04:002011-07-24T15:07:59.980-04:00

Lately I’ve been lying in bed thinking of things to get rid of.  I can’t recommend it enough.  Great way to let go of the person you were going to be but have turned out not to be.  Not to mention the person you were but are no more.  Also, the person you thought you ought to be, but never really wanted to be. In the evening, when Larry is available to obey my commands, I use him to make my

Priscillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04417812260334969884noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1578504075876293652.post-34305317785575754672011-07-13T09:46:00.005-04:002011-07-13T16:28:21.151-04:00

Priscillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04417812260334969884noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1578504075876293652.post-38170297849000042062011-06-28T10:16:00.001-04:002011-06-28T10:18:17.658-04:00

Nine weeks ago, my friend Alan went to the doctor for the second time with symptoms of numbness in the left side of his body and a dropped foot.  The doctor, who had previously said he wasn’t worried, now sent him to the hospital for an MRI.  Alan has been there ever since. The images showed a mass in his brain, and a few days later biopsy confirmed it to be a malignant tumor.  The biopsy also

Priscillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04417812260334969884noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1578504075876293652.post-38570510365558160062011-05-15T08:36:00.000-04:002011-05-15T08:36:17.904-04:00

I.e., like this. (With love to all my friends and readers Down Under.)

Priscillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04417812260334969884noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1578504075876293652.post-11491531683488560512011-05-09T19:12:00.009-04:002011-05-11T11:01:41.874-04:00

When Courtney Miller asked President Obama about the abysmal state of funding for ME/CFS research, he said,  “Now, I will confess to you that, although I’ve heard of chronic fatigue syndrome, I don’t have expertise in it. But based on the story that you told me, what I promise I will do when I get back is I will have the National Institute of Health explain to me what they’re currently doing and

Priscillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04417812260334969884noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1578504075876293652.post-84559555222719180272011-05-01T07:26:00.001-04:002011-05-01T07:26:00.278-04:00

Priscillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04417812260334969884noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1578504075876293652.post-48976402973175882432011-04-27T19:09:00.004-04:002011-04-27T19:11:12.650-04:00

Priscillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04417812260334969884noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1578504075876293652.post-40099086755494914762011-04-19T09:37:00.004-04:002011-04-19T09:40:32.936-04:00

Priscillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04417812260334969884noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1578504075876293652.post-88635858727322340222011-04-10T12:27:00.000-04:002011-04-10T12:27:45.659-04:00

Priscillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04417812260334969884noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1578504075876293652.post-59090821819563351872011-04-04T20:03:00.003-04:002011-04-04T20:07:41.921-04:00

“Mud season” is the period every Spring in Vermont when the dirt roads melt, turning temporarily to soup.  It came early this year, then disappeared again under fresh snow.  We await the Second Coming . . . any day now . . . These are from right in front of our house.  (Double-click to enlarge.)

Priscillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04417812260334969884noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1578504075876293652.post-28102288890940947882011-03-27T20:08:00.001-04:002011-03-27T20:09:11.781-04:00

Nuclear reactors come to mind.  Also chronic, politically embroiled diseases.

Priscillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04417812260334969884noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1578504075876293652.post-79874963047785281002011-03-21T11:03:00.000-04:002011-03-21T11:03:08.609-04:00

Priscillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04417812260334969884noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1578504075876293652.post-64894827207836162872011-03-07T09:47:00.008-05:002011-03-08T13:01:21.043-05:00

I haven’t been posting much writing on Heaven in My Foot for some time (boo hoo), but I have a good excuse (yay!)—always a great comfort in this life of desires and demands.  I’ve been writing for print.  And guess what?  My first publication came in the mail last week and should now be available at more complete newsstands.  Titled “Wine for Those Who Faint,” the piece was about 6 years in the

Priscillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04417812260334969884noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1578504075876293652.post-66579802955915280332011-02-28T10:33:00.001-05:002011-02-28T10:34:12.736-05:00

I'll be spotty on posting until I get them done.

Priscillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04417812260334969884noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1578504075876293652.post-43860253791705672782011-02-14T18:08:00.002-05:002011-02-14T18:12:44.204-05:00

Among the zillion things I miss from my healthier days is the rhythm of alternating activity and stillness, social engagement and solitude, work and rest.  I don’t long for stillness and quiet like I used to; I’ve had an awful lot of both in the last two decades.  But I miss that longing, if you can imagine what I mean, and the satisfying of it.  Paradoxically, I can be rather busy in my

Priscillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04417812260334969884noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1578504075876293652.post-26312983562101017492011-02-07T19:53:00.001-05:002011-02-07T19:53:39.053-05:00

People often assume that winter must be hard on me.  They’re wrong.  I love it.  Thermometer-watching is very entertaining.  It’s cozy by the wood stove.  Cold nights under my thick down comforter are much better for sleep.  And winter makes beautiful, often-changing visions outside my windows.  Besides, everyone spends a lot of time inside in the winter, so the contrast between me and Them is

Priscillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04417812260334969884noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1578504075876293652.post-90395841879567060262011-01-31T09:00:00.003-05:002011-01-31T09:37:53.898-05:00

The ME/CFS activist community is working nobly on Many Fronts.  One of the numerous big needs is getting more and better press coverage, both for XMRV and ME/CFS.  I think part of that effort should be seeking the interest of individual journalists.  Larry and I are focusing on Amy Goodman, host of Democracy Now! because we know and love the show and because Amy gives substantial coverage to

Priscillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04417812260334969884noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1578504075876293652.post-47395282761981468352011-01-24T09:41:00.000-05:002011-01-24T09:41:14.076-05:00

Priscillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04417812260334969884noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1578504075876293652.post-45142482666219460322011-01-18T19:20:00.002-05:002011-01-18T19:24:57.205-05:00

When I tell people I’ve been faxing cartoons to Francis Collins, Director of the NIH, they usually ask, “Have you gotten any reply?  How do you know they're getting through?”  And I say, “I just send them off, I don’t know if they're getting there!”  But, some weeks ago I got an e-mail reply to one of my cartoons —from Dr. Mangan, Chair of the Trans-NIH ME/CFS Research Working Group.  It was a

Priscillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04417812260334969884noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1578504075876293652.post-15063152666704374072011-01-02T11:35:00.002-05:002011-01-02T11:36:06.087-05:00

Priscillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04417812260334969884noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1578504075876293652.post-54558835640953280062010-12-26T17:26:00.003-05:002010-12-26T19:02:19.179-05:00

I am feeling a little better.  I managed to sit outside and watch Larry split wood for a bit today.  Ambient temperature, about 20 degrees F (–7 deg C).  In addition to long underwear, corduroys, snow pants, shirt, wool sweater, hat, scarf, and miscellaneous, I have on my down coat and Larry’s down coat.  I lasted about twenty minutes.

Priscillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04417812260334969884noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1578504075876293652.post-41714003797202181702010-12-21T07:11:00.000-05:002010-12-21T07:11:27.335-05:00

Peace be with you in these darkest/lightest days.

Priscillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04417812260334969884noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1578504075876293652.post-47468319840502445852010-12-13T09:24:00.000-05:002010-12-13T09:24:30.086-05:00

A two and a half minute audio on the pleasure of hearing a machine say my name:

Priscillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04417812260334969884noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1578504075876293652.post-81433450660279159992010-12-05T09:00:00.002-05:002010-12-26T19:19:06.384-05:00

Here's my latest activist cartoon faxed to Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health.  Click on image to enlarge.

Priscillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04417812260334969884noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1578504075876293652.post-83766936410670012072010-11-28T19:23:00.006-05:002011-05-28T13:13:37.167-04:00

Well, you’ve convinced me.  The positive comments on my first activist cartoons faxed to Francis Collins, director of the NIH, turned me around and decided me on sending more. Click on image to see larger; click again on image that comes up to see nice and large. I know I’ve had a lot of ME/CFS/XMRV activism posts lately, which may not be as interesting to some people, but it feels like we’re

Priscillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04417812260334969884noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1578504075876293652.post-81283031829931252852010-11-21T19:29:00.003-05:002011-05-28T12:52:47.266-04:00

Image reposted May 28, 2011

Priscillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04417812260334969884noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1578504075876293652.post-30861738475266919862010-11-19T10:30:00.002-05:002010-12-22T13:46:36.968-05:00

I imagined much happy, self-generated fanfare accompanying the opening of my little print-on-demand store, including some clever cartoon to announce its existence.  But, the effort to get the thing up and running has squashed me.  And though I think I could shop all day in my own incredibly cute little store if I had the energy, I’m also getting desperate to return to other occupations.  So, now

Priscillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04417812260334969884noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1578504075876293652.post-52329016860519227762010-11-13T16:10:00.009-05:002010-11-13T17:09:25.579-05:00

Another guest post by Larry Gilman.  (Don’t worry, the next one will be by Priscilla!)Democracy Now! is a superb, 1-hour, daily news program that typically gives substantial coverage to stories and lets people talk at length about their knowledge, rather than deliver a few soundbites.  What follows is the text of a story idea Priscilla and I just sent to the staff.  It would probably help if

Priscillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04417812260334969884noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1578504075876293652.post-19902056975825412782010-11-05T11:34:00.006-04:002010-11-05T12:08:47.676-04:00

Guest post by Larry Gilman. In the latest issue of The Journal of Infectious Diseases, Drs. M. Kearney and F. Maldarelli (K&M) have “strong words,” as Paul Sax puts it, for doctors prescribing antiretrovirals for XMRV/MLV-positive ME/CFS patients.  K&M write:At this time, such an approach is premature and medically indefensible outside the secure oversight of a well‐controlled clinical trial. “

Priscillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04417812260334969884noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1578504075876293652.post-40376795100532997882010-10-30T18:53:00.001-04:002010-12-26T19:09:47.324-05:00

Priscillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04417812260334969884noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1578504075876293652.post-68964607830846453442010-10-24T17:32:00.002-04:002010-10-24T17:34:31.834-04:00

Here’s the cartoon I faxed to Francis Collins, Director of the NIH, as part of the Time for Action campaign to get public officials serious about ME/CFS: (Click once on each image to view larger.) Based on the response, the organizers deemed the campaign a rapid success and called it off, asking everyone to send one final Thank You.   I may draw those cartoons yet, though; this is just

Priscillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04417812260334969884noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1578504075876293652.post-50032800508576014102010-10-17T20:21:00.000-04:002010-10-17T20:21:15.186-04:00

Priscillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04417812260334969884noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1578504075876293652.post-78470903404899281362010-10-11T18:58:00.007-04:002010-10-12T06:51:05.569-04:00

This audio runs a little over three minutes.

Priscillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04417812260334969884noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1578504075876293652.post-23724619268576269352010-10-04T09:12:00.001-04:002010-10-04T09:15:09.517-04:00

Priscillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04417812260334969884noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1578504075876293652.post-39363590435228177742010-09-27T08:17:00.000-04:002010-09-27T08:17:18.075-04:00

Priscillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04417812260334969884noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1578504075876293652.post-64923233506847420452010-09-20T09:58:00.001-04:002010-12-26T19:19:06.385-05:00

Priscillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04417812260334969884noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1578504075876293652.post-32573474324994221172010-08-27T20:26:00.005-04:002010-12-26T19:19:06.386-05:00

I took a quick break from my blogging break for this one . . . Monday was a heady, exhausting day, with the long-awaited NIH/FDA study coming out mid-afternoon.  I cartooned all afternoon in my head, then managed to get this one out on Tuesday:  [click on image to enlarge] Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, blogs of my fellow invalids were notably quiet, with a few putting up a notice of the new

Priscillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04417812260334969884noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1578504075876293652.post-40032873700872527092010-08-22T15:33:00.000-04:002010-08-22T15:33:55.041-04:00

I'm taking a little blogging vacation to concentrate on other things.  I'll be back on September 20.

Priscillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04417812260334969884noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1578504075876293652.post-844901001851099212010-08-15T18:13:00.002-04:002010-08-15T18:28:03.327-04:00

“We country people do a very strange thing . . .”  (Audio is approx. 3 minutes, 15 seconds of highlights from a 20-minute experience in Vermont living.) (Click image to enlarge.)

Priscillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04417812260334969884noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1578504075876293652.post-25374470648122479072010-08-09T08:51:00.004-04:002010-12-26T19:19:06.387-05:00

NOTE:  If you don’t know what this is about, follow this link for a rundown. End of June, word was that scientists at NIH had confirmed the Science study linking XMRV with CFS.  I was eager but cautious. Then Health and Human Services decided to hold the paper, along with a CDC paper which had come to the opposite conclusion, because the two did not agree.  I was mad. Soon the CDC paper

Priscillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04417812260334969884noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1578504075876293652.post-74442630413291579932010-08-02T06:29:00.000-04:002010-08-02T06:29:39.575-04:00

I love to see even a single snapshot of the people I read online.  But then, I would love it even more if I could see a bunch of pictures—people have many guises.  So here are a few of mine on a new page to accompany my "about this blog" page.  Special highlight: included is one of the ugliest pictures ever taken of me; you shan't be disappointed.  Check it out.

Priscillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04417812260334969884noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1578504075876293652.post-50689062507747606802010-07-26T19:33:00.005-04:002010-07-26T19:37:28.844-04:00

 Some thoughts on the difference between disabilities caused by systemic impairments and body-part-specific impairments. This audio runs 10:29. Click here if you want to download the mp3.

Priscillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04417812260334969884noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1578504075876293652.post-22149211365189899192010-07-18T19:47:00.003-04:002010-07-19T05:11:43.467-04:00

I’m not much inclined any more to regret the large movements of my life and the decisions I’ve made to shape them.  This is my life; I love it.  I grieve much, regret little.  But some choices, mostly small ones, do linger and stab.   I lived with my mother’s mother my last semester of high school, or rather she and a gay 25ish gentleman of approximately 6’7” lived with me, after my mom and

Priscillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04417812260334969884noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1578504075876293652.post-25591754379729067042010-07-13T08:38:00.000-04:002010-07-13T08:38:06.212-04:00

Maybe later today, maybe not.  My recent cartoons have been lame, and I've been feeling a little pissy toward my writing.  I'll get over it.

Priscillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04417812260334969884noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1578504075876293652.post-73565311182347188332010-07-06T07:12:00.002-04:002010-07-06T07:13:15.508-04:00

Priscillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04417812260334969884noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1578504075876293652.post-39902787133799982572010-06-29T10:21:00.002-04:002010-12-26T19:19:06.388-05:00

In case you haven't heard, word is that NIH and the FDA have confirmed the original Science article which found an association between chronic fatigue syndrome and the newly identified retrovirus called XMRV. But, alas, the news is not really out until it's out.  And so far it isn't really out.

Priscillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04417812260334969884noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1578504075876293652.post-6618344317641974952010-06-19T10:27:00.003-04:002010-06-21T06:44:08.678-04:00

A guest post by Mesha Thomas I remember riding and waving as a fresh-faced teen, Queen Elizabeth-style, with my fellow young hopeful peers in the back of a pink-and-green streamer adorned truck turned parade float.  We were the Pearlettes, and we were mentored by the local chapter of a historically black sorority.  We were one of many contingents along the route.  Several local school bands

Priscillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04417812260334969884noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1578504075876293652.post-12441610509269823412010-06-12T14:48:00.000-04:002010-06-12T14:48:50.723-04:00

The following audio experience runs approximately eleven and half mellow minutes.

Priscillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04417812260334969884noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1578504075876293652.post-56334301664933319352010-06-06T09:50:00.001-04:002010-11-04T17:28:18.261-04:00

Priscillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04417812260334969884noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1578504075876293652.post-18406305673248324132010-05-31T17:56:00.013-04:002010-05-31T19:03:00.525-04:00

Grab a bit of paper, big or small—a grocery list or a post-it note, the back of an envelope or fresh drawing paper—and draw something, anything, as elaborate as you want, as simple as you want.  Do it every day.  If you miss a day, forgive yourself.  If you miss a bunch of days, forgive yourself.  If your cartoons suck, hate yourself, but forgive yourself.  And get back to it.  That’s what I do.

Priscillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04417812260334969884noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1578504075876293652.post-52392970057042816252010-05-26T06:21:00.006-04:002010-05-26T06:35:18.545-04:00

Spring peepers (frogs particular to New England) and Larry help me over my shyness about posting audio. 4min. 45sec.  I'm a dork; listen and laugh.

Priscillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04417812260334969884noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1578504075876293652.post-43990747924879194022010-05-23T09:27:00.001-04:002010-05-23T09:28:49.558-04:00

Finally, I have a new About-This-Blog page up. Among other things, it explains my blog title and features a belligerent stick-figure.

Priscillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04417812260334969884noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1578504075876293652.post-48459662376378438982010-05-16T09:18:00.001-04:002010-11-04T17:28:18.261-04:00

Priscillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04417812260334969884noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1578504075876293652.post-65082462045946412362010-05-10T09:01:00.001-04:002010-11-04T17:28:18.262-04:00

Priscillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04417812260334969884noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1578504075876293652.post-13963892622489330752010-05-03T10:11:00.001-04:002010-11-04T17:28:18.263-04:00

Click image to enlarge.

Priscillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04417812260334969884noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1578504075876293652.post-23607629571156381882010-04-26T08:24:00.006-04:002010-04-26T15:39:11.493-04:00

I don’t believe in God.   At least I don’t believe I do.  Which is to say that for the most part I travel through my days reasonably contented in the idea that the world of rocks and plants and beings, and the vast universe besides, is what there is.   This isn’t to say that I think that there is only the physical, the tangible; rather that the world of the not-tangible, the universe of mystery

Priscillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04417812260334969884noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1578504075876293652.post-21590184996190800842010-04-18T12:51:00.011-04:002010-11-04T17:28:18.264-04:00

(Click to enlarge.)

Priscillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04417812260334969884noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1578504075876293652.post-43294342631745004432010-04-12T17:11:00.001-04:002010-04-12T18:55:49.931-04:00

April 27. I walked our small lawn to the edge of the woods this morning feeling calm and tired, hurting enough to make me slow and careful but not enough to stop me from making the journey. There on the border I placed my hands on the bark of a young tree, possibly an ash or a beech—too young for me to tell without its leaves. Then, looking farther into the woods, I startled: What is that?

Priscillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04417812260334969884noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1578504075876293652.post-45281520931407259782010-04-04T20:33:00.002-04:002010-04-04T20:34:20.322-04:00

Larry does all our cooking, kitchen cleaning and dishes, grocery shopping, errands, house maintenance, earning.  At times the asymmetry between us—compelled constant activity for him and compelled inactivity for me—has been much greater.  At my worst I couldn’t put my clothes in the laundry, get myself a snack or a glass of water, even adjust my blankets or move a pillow.  I couldn’t scoot my

Priscillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04417812260334969884noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1578504075876293652.post-67876034219933024352010-03-29T07:00:00.002-04:002010-11-04T17:28:18.264-04:00

    Rabindranath Tagore was a Bengali poet and polymath.  He won the Nobel prize for literature in 1913.  This quote is from Gitanjali.

Priscillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04417812260334969884noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1578504075876293652.post-73886380332675325042010-03-23T06:06:00.002-04:002010-03-23T06:08:09.128-04:00

(This is a short little re-post from the earliest days of this blog.  Most of my readers won't have seen it.  Any interesting anagrams for your name?)    Crap is ill; that’s me, and I craps ill, or at least I used to.  G, I am nil ill scrap, in my fullness; and I limp in slag, Carl.   Larry says he doesn’t want to know who Carl is. I say he’s my back-door man.  Poor Carl.  Well, we don’t

Priscillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04417812260334969884noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1578504075876293652.post-91923739705279526982010-03-15T10:20:00.001-04:002010-03-15T10:22:10.433-04:00

(More cartoon scraps from the last few months) Benign perversity: Occasionally: Feeling a little traumatized by my own writing: Random: The future:

Priscillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04417812260334969884noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1578504075876293652.post-47447323390481450102010-03-10T07:58:00.001-05:002010-03-10T08:00:02.613-05:00

When I first started posting cartoons, I felt I had to post a bunch at once to make up for their slightness and inadequacies.  I'm over that.  But I also kinda miss that format.  And many of my cartoons aren't really stand-alones; they're little experiments or quick records of what I was thinking or feeling that day.   So here's the first of several posts pulling together cartoon scraps from the

Priscillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04417812260334969884noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1578504075876293652.post-85111176693638451922010-02-28T10:08:00.002-05:002010-11-04T17:28:18.265-04:00

Click on image to enlarge.

Priscillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04417812260334969884noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1578504075876293652.post-88298351993509198802010-02-21T18:55:00.002-05:002010-02-22T06:29:33.443-05:00

From my journal this summer, when we traveled to Maine: Old age has never seemed a horrible thing to me, because I’ve always liked what a lot of time can make of a person.  Today, for example, after church, I turned around and saw a small, spry, elderly woman with few teeth and many wrinkles, alone in the pew behind me.  With one leg swung up on the seat, she sat looking around at the others

Priscillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04417812260334969884noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1578504075876293652.post-19949907952291987612010-02-08T08:53:00.000-05:002010-02-08T08:53:11.565-05:00

I've misplaced my post for this week (dammit), I'm crawling toward the finish line of a major writing project, and, alas, I'm coming down with a cold.  Boo hoo.  Something more, hopefully, next week.

Priscillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04417812260334969884noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1578504075876293652.post-53283394658419665832010-02-01T15:07:00.001-05:002010-02-01T15:07:58.218-05:00

Priscillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04417812260334969884noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1578504075876293652.post-51081187400794061052010-01-24T15:53:00.007-05:002010-01-25T09:30:28.154-05:00

NOTE:  This is a guest post by my husband, Larry Gilman, and also appears on his blog, No Longer by Thinking. The now-famous 2009 Science paper by Lombardi and colleagues [1] showing a strong correlation between the human retrovirus XMRV and chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) did not parachute into the middle of nowhere. As Hilary Johnson’s Osler’s Web recounts, feelings have been running high on

Priscillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04417812260334969884noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1578504075876293652.post-23657551652002398812010-01-20T19:37:00.002-05:002010-01-21T02:58:11.920-05:00

Larry and I and our friends Kathryn and Don have set up a personal campaign page at the Partners in Health website.  We're aiming to raise $10,000 for medical care for Haitians affected by the earthquake.  Partners in Health is probably the most effective medical organization on the ground right now in Haiti.  Click here: http://www.standwithhaiti.org/page/outreach/view/haitiearthquake/PLKD

Priscillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04417812260334969884noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1578504075876293652.post-14235858713751915572010-01-20T05:19:00.009-05:002010-01-20T07:03:57.146-05:00

Let me be blunt. The militarized response of the US and UN to the disaster in Haiti is racist.  People who need food, water, shelter, and medical care are being treated as a security threat.  If you are seeing media coverage that emphasizes security, crime, and “looting” step back and think about it.  Remember Katrina.  It is not a crime to take what you need to survive under such circumstances.

Priscillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04417812260334969884noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1578504075876293652.post-84838920103137520932010-01-10T09:52:00.003-05:002010-01-10T09:55:23.142-05:00

     

Priscillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04417812260334969884noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1578504075876293652.post-1540451821806000202010-01-04T07:00:00.002-05:002010-01-04T07:00:03.414-05:00

Priscillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04417812260334969884noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1578504075876293652.post-12475413605816202132009-12-28T18:48:00.002-05:002009-12-28T18:50:50.100-05:00

 

Priscillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04417812260334969884noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1578504075876293652.post-78425373636347213272009-12-23T10:18:00.004-05:002009-12-23T10:23:11.741-05:00

(Me on my third birthday.)

Priscillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04417812260334969884noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1578504075876293652.post-29442658345369666042009-12-14T06:31:00.003-05:002009-12-14T06:45:02.867-05:00

The XMRV and other research of the Whittemore Peterson Institute is creating the possibility of radical change for lots of people like me.   There really needs to be substantial, well-administered funding from the feds for study of XMRV and of the neuroimmune disease now absurdly called "chronic fatigue syndrome".  So far that isn't happening.  So, friends, family, passersby: Donate if you can!

Priscillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04417812260334969884noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1578504075876293652.post-56448955867969332712009-12-01T09:03:00.024-05:002010-12-26T19:11:24.574-05:00

           

Priscillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04417812260334969884noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1578504075876293652.post-75852789664601176222009-12-01T08:55:00.001-05:002009-12-01T08:56:10.742-05:00

Priscillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04417812260334969884noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1578504075876293652.post-20865988953332124542009-11-22T07:01:00.001-05:002009-12-02T15:57:13.866-05:00

March 18, 2009. L: Last week when I was sitting in the doctor’s office waiting for the doctor I looked at Woman’s Day. It’s so bizarre! There was this article about this stuff that women have for thickening their eyelashes. There’s this special little brush and you brush it on to those few little hairs on your eyelids, and it thickens them. It makes them stand out more. P: Uh...are you...

Priscillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04417812260334969884noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1578504075876293652.post-82956976439770227032009-11-15T17:32:00.001-05:002009-11-15T17:33:51.823-05:00

A subset of sick people round the globe are in an odd state just now.  We have this tantalizing bit of new information, that a newly-identified retrovirus is showing up in a high percentage of very sick people with ME/CFS (myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome).  But it is just one published study (Lombardi et al., "Detection of an Infectious Retrovirus, XMRV, in Blood Cells of

Priscillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04417812260334969884noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1578504075876293652.post-25692097286041672009-11-09T07:04:00.003-05:002009-11-09T07:27:08.326-05:00

I wake up one morning, right myself in bed, and see an earwig wriggling across the tan linoleum floor.  Eew.  I don’t like earwigs.  I could let it continue on its way—or I could kill it.  I look around me and imagine it crawling where it will—the bed, the shelves of clothes, the bin of socks and underwear.   The vision is convincing.  But, on the edge of action I hesitate with this sudden

Priscillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04417812260334969884noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1578504075876293652.post-79190603349329964772009-11-02T08:22:00.001-05:002009-11-02T08:23:41.650-05:00

In the flesh (as opposed to with Sharpie on paper) I went for realism this Halloween: I played a sick person.  I think it was quite convincing.  I’m a good actor.  My costume was very easy—I just stayed in my pajamas all day. I had a cold a few weeks ago, and it seems to have precipitated a significant setback.  So, October has been a tad difficult.  November probably will be too.  I’m trying

Priscillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04417812260334969884noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1578504075876293652.post-44697984733179948022009-10-25T16:56:00.000-04:002010-12-26T19:11:24.575-05:00

Priscillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04417812260334969884noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1578504075876293652.post-58920626024015380542009-10-19T10:20:00.003-04:002009-11-14T16:34:23.260-05:00

So, wow—I mean, wow!  So, there’s this virus, a retrovirus to be specific, called XMRV—“xenotropic murine leukemia virus-related virus”—that was only identified in the last few years, and just super-recently, researchers with the Whittemore Peterson Institute for Neuroimmune Disease (my new heart-throb) have detected this virus in—well, lots of people with myalgic encephalomyelitis/

Priscillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04417812260334969884noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1578504075876293652.post-30492438693112438932009-10-12T08:00:00.002-04:002009-10-12T08:39:29.519-04:00

Of the Arawak Indians that greeted Columbus he wrote in his journal that they, "brought us parrots and balls of cotton and spears and many other things, which they exchanged for the glass beads and hawks’ bells.  They willingly traded everything they owned . . . They were well-built, with good bodies and handsome features. . . . They do not bear arms, and do not know them, for I showed them a

Priscillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04417812260334969884noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1578504075876293652.post-66539415444221623852009-10-03T14:30:00.002-04:002009-10-04T08:57:07.905-04:00

 An older woman, serving as official guardian of order on the beach, tells us she will intervene with negligent dog owners. “We don’t want you to get knocked down,” she says.  “Thank you,” I tell her.  I could easily envy all the healthy, running-about people, but I don’t.  Today they are ambiance and scenery, and my heart feels another pull.  I look past the figures in random motion to the

Priscillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04417812260334969884noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1578504075876293652.post-54054265908894322372009-09-27T18:41:00.003-04:002010-12-26T19:11:24.576-05:00

Priscillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04417812260334969884noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1578504075876293652.post-80994341558049720532009-09-21T09:49:00.002-04:002009-09-21T10:16:47.248-04:00

One of my basic survival resources is BBC radio.  There is nothing in the US to compare.  So let me just take a moment here to thank the people of Great Britain for funding such excellent listening.  Maybe in return we can do something other than get you into needless wars.  For anybody homebound, housebound, or with otherwise available ears, I highly recommend it.  All accessible over the web.

Priscillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04417812260334969884noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1578504075876293652.post-36149177801140349042009-09-13T17:21:00.000-04:002009-09-13T17:21:44.280-04:00

Priscillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04417812260334969884noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1578504075876293652.post-23694636307435542252009-09-07T05:30:00.003-04:002009-09-07T05:47:11.153-04:00

CALLER: Hello, may I please speak with Larry Gilman? ME: No, I’m sorry, he’s not here right now. CALLER: OK, well, could you take a message for me? ME: Yeah, sure [getting up out of bed, getting to the desk, getting paper and pen] CALLER: Well, wait—is this Mrs. Gilman? ME: Yes. CALLER: Oh—well, maybe then you can help me. ME: Sure. CALLER: Hi, Mrs. Gilman, my name is Mike. I’m

Priscillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04417812260334969884noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1578504075876293652.post-57179799250170227292009-08-31T07:00:00.000-04:002010-12-26T19:11:24.577-05:00

Priscillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04417812260334969884noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1578504075876293652.post-33503116994751076262009-08-28T09:22:00.011-04:002009-08-28T11:46:42.553-04:00

A few weeks ago I had Larry cut off all my hair and buzz it with clippers—something I've long wanted to try.  I hearby give myself permission to keep using older pics with long hair for my blogs because it is just way too hard for me to always be getting fresh ones lined up.

Priscillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04417812260334969884noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1578504075876293652.post-5304915083848343932009-08-20T07:23:00.048-04:002009-08-25T19:21:53.125-04:00

“Larry,” I ventured, “what would you think about, if someone was going to paint your portrait?”I’d been squirreling around in my head for days trying to decide whether or not to participate in the Private Portraits/Public Conversations project commissioned by the Hood Museum of Art at Dartmouth College. Spanish painter Felix de la Concha was painting fifty-one portraits of community members who

Priscillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04417812260334969884noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1578504075876293652.post-65825847830965954112009-08-17T07:00:00.004-04:002009-08-17T08:25:09.650-04:00

The picture on Facebook is, I decide, a reasonable approximation of the Russell Rathbun I know only by voice: Homiletic jazzman, trickster preacher. He delivers sermons like an actor tripping, dropping things, falling out of a chair. I’ve never heard someone make such good use of “yeah,” “ya know,” “I don’t know,” “I mean,” “uh,” “um,” and “like.” He plays up his own fumbling, repeating

Priscillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04417812260334969884noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1578504075876293652.post-78862171609398578432009-08-10T07:00:00.008-04:002009-08-10T07:15:43.212-04:00

My beloved tag. I hadn’t thought of it for some long time. I suppose I haven’t needed it. I made it five and a half years ago—part of putting to rest my feelings that my illness was a personal failure. Somehow, so many of us think we ought to be invulnerable. And we’re just not.I wore my tag in public a bit back then, and I’ve done it again recently. I’m out so little—and move around so

Priscillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04417812260334969884noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1578504075876293652.post-86574532121806817862009-08-05T08:44:00.008-04:002009-08-05T13:35:10.946-04:00

Some Vermonty people have started an on-line thingamy called Open Museum. "Open Museum is a participatory, non-commercial exhibit space open to all." It's well designed overall and, I think, has much potential—though so far participation is small. I'm guessing they have wanted it that way since they seem to be just coming out of development. It did take a bit of digging for me to find out how

Priscillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04417812260334969884noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1578504075876293652.post-30788765671914109922009-08-02T15:30:00.003-04:002010-12-26T19:11:24.578-05:00

I was resting in bed from our big outing that day. Larry bounced in looking very pleased with himself. “I’ve just performed a miracle,” he said.“Really?” I replied. “What did you do?”“I ate one potato chip,” he said.“And you’re not going to eat any more?” I asked.“Nope, I closed the bag and put it away.”“Wow-w-w,” I said. “That is a miracle.”Adapt as necessary to your situation or

Priscillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04417812260334969884noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1578504075876293652.post-80497079990367939712009-07-27T06:21:00.003-04:002010-12-26T19:13:52.161-05:00

Priscillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04417812260334969884noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1578504075876293652.post-80634103115865946582009-07-20T13:50:00.001-04:002009-07-20T14:05:40.524-04:00

Three years old, at the most.

Priscillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04417812260334969884noreply@blogger.com2