Osteogenesis Imperfecta

September 27th, 2011 → 7:51 am

    “Sweet are the uses of adversity,
    Which like the toad, ugly and venomous,
    Wears yet a precious jewel in his head.” – As You Like It

This morning the New York Times has a tear-jerking op-ed about a man named Energy Maburutse who was born with the bone disease Osteogenesis Imperfecta, but despite his handicap has made it all the way from a poor village in Zimbabwe to a decent college in America.  I love stories like this.  This one especially because I happen to have Osteogenesis Imperfecta myself.

Filed under: Blog & Other & Self/My Life

Cats

September 19th, 2011 → 8:35 am

“I could endure anything before but a cat.” – All’s Well that Ends Well

Apparently Shakespeare was not at all fond of cats, which is too bad, because I love them.  I guess this marks my second disagreement now with the great bard (though, like the first disagreement on economics, I can certainly come up with a twist that brings us closer together: think feral cats of the 16th century).  Since my husband and baby have been away all week, my cat NoMe and I have been comforting each other and cuddling at all hours of the day, in all rooms of the house.  We’re thick as thieves right now…

Filed under: Blog & Self/My Life

Separation

September 15th, 2011 → 7:23 am

    “This must my comfort be,
    That sun that warms you here shall shine on me.” – Richard II

My husband took my baby and flew off to Nevada to visit his brother.  So I’m home alone. 
It’s scary quiet in here…

Filed under: Blog & Self/My Life

Melancholy

September 9th, 2011 → 6:08 am

    “Canst thou not minister to a mind diseased,
    Pluck from the memory a rooted sorrow,
    Raze out the written troubles of the brain,
    And with some sweet oblivious antidote
    Cleanse the stuffed bosom of that perilous stuff
    Which weighs upon the heart?” – Macbeth

Sometimes life just gets to me and I feel blue.  I wish there were a way to minister to this heartache of the mind, except to simply wait and let time pass….

Filed under: Blog & Self/My Life

Sleeplessness II

September 2nd, 2011 → 5:25 am

    “…where care lodges, sleep will never lie;
    But where unbruised youth with unstuff’d brain
    Doth couch his limbs, there golden sleep doth reign.” – Romeo and Juliet

I’ve been having trouble sleeping again lately, though when I get up in the middle of the night and shuffle to my baby’s crib, at least he is sleeping soundly.  It seems that Shakespeare must have had some sleep issues as well because I can find a number of quotes from him about sleeplessness and tormented dreams.  Here’s to the insomniacs among us!

Filed under: Blog & Self/My Life

First Day of Classes

August 22nd, 2011 → 7:02 am

“The labour we delight in physics pain.” – Macbeth

Today is the first day of the new semester at UMSL.  Welcome back to school!  Hopefully teaching will bring me joy (as it usually does) and physics (i.e. cure) the pains in my hip and in my heart!!

Filed under: Blog & Self/My Life

Love

August 20th, 2011 → 12:12 am

“I know no ways to mince it in love but directly to say ‘I love you.'” – Henry V

I still miss you Grandma.  And I wish I could tell you, laughing over cappuccino at a cafe along Bagdat Caddesi, that I love you very much.  Seni cok seviyorum buyukanne.

Filed under: Blog & Self/My Life

Death

August 18th, 2011 → 7:41 am

“The private wound is deepest.” – Two Gentlemen of Verona

My grandmother passed away yesterday.  It’s hard not to have regrets, private thoughts deep in the darkest recesses of your heart.  When my mother lay supine in a coma, days before her own death, my grandmother bent over her body and cried “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, I’m so very sorry,” over and over again.  We each enter our own personal hell when someone we love dies, and I’m still looking for the anodyne that helps to draw out the pain…

Filed under: Blog & Self/My Life

Music

August 5th, 2011 → 7:13 am

“To know the cause why music was ordain’d!  Was it not to refresh the mind of man after his studies or his usual pain?” – The Taming of the Shrew

Recently I was given an H2O audio for my iPod shuffle.  It lets you listen to music underwater while you swim.  I notice the reviews of the product are hit or miss – some people give it a 5 star, some a 1 star, few a moderate rating inbetween – but my H2O audio is great.  Listening to music (or, sometimes, podcasts) somehow makes swimming laps lighter, faster, and easier.  What is the magic of music that makes this happen?

Filed under: Blog & Other & Self/My Life

Marriage

August 3rd, 2011 → 6:50 am

“O curse of marriage!” – Othello

It’s not as bad as all that, but my husband and I did have one of our rare, big fights last night.  Sigh.  Sometimes the one you love most is also the one who aggravates you the most.  Why is that???

Filed under: Blog & Self/My Life