HealthAngle: Share Your Story

I'm trying to help generate content for a website that a friend created called HealthAngle. The purpose of the site is to give people a place to read real stories about medical procedures, and write/vent about stuff they've experienced to guide others. For instance, last summer I had to get a CT scan (as part of the Frances kidney stone saga) and it would have been nice to know what to expect beyond the Wikipedia explanation of the test.

So if you've had surgery or any kind medical/dental procedure in the last year or so, I encourage you to write about it on this site. It only takes a few minutes and your full name won't be included, just a first name (and you don't have to use your real one if you're feeling creative). They are looking for write-ups on EVERYTHING, from totally routine stuff (teeth cleanings) to more unusual things (spinal taps, lobotomies). Well, maybe if you got a lobotomy, your assessment of the experience wouldn't be that helpful. I'm just saying.

Anyway, click here to start writing. It's for a good cause and the more people that contribute, the more the site can do what it was designed to do....so get to it!

In conversation with... me.

Finally reading through my building (but still VERY modest) pile of magazines*, I went through Elle Decoration UK October 2008.

I particularly enjoy reading witty "10 questions about some famous person" and enjoyed reading in that issue an interview with Arik Levy, designer for Living Divani, Molteni and Baleri Italia... so I thought I'd give the questions he was asked a go myself!
(This is not an exercise in self-promoting etc, but just to have some fun with myself!)

And besides... it's Saturday.



Tell me five words to describe yourself?
Comfortable. Efficient. Colour. Linen. Eclectic.

What words do you most overuse?
Hannah!!!!!!!??!?!?!?!?

What's your idea of a perfect day?
Left alone at home on an overcast 20°C with a car, left to potter around, to read, to have a long shower, to do a little gardening, to bake to some good music.

Do you have any regrets?
Only two weeks ago I read How to Live Without Regret by Charles Stanley and was so encouraged by it. Stanley clarifies that regret is rooted in unresolved guilt. I.e. regret is without forgiveness. (Forgiving yourself and the other person) One of the most important questions about regret is "Was there something more I could have done?"
In the light of the above, yes... I regret I did not say enough "I love yous" and "Thank yous" and "Sorry's" when I could have.

What's the quality you most admire in a man?
Strength of character and body without violence, strength enough to apologise, strength enough to love and strength enough to be sad.

If you could be any other nationality what would it be?
Free.

Are you religious?
Not in the traditional sense, but I am a Christian, living and breathing.

What is your favourite snack?
Green mango pickle (Chinese style)

What do you think you'd taste like?
Chicken.

What talent would you most like to possess?
To be able to make money to be able to give money.

If you were a vegetable, what would you be?
A cucumber: versatile in all sorts of dishes, a source of relaxation and a "cooling" agent.

And if you were an animal?
A dolphin: they are around water (which I love!) all the time, they smile perpetually and they're extremely clever.

What was your dream job as a child?
Newscaster. I loved that their job was to read aloud. (I've grown up to hate that now heheheh)

What do you consider to be your greatest achievement?
Hannah.

How do you define style?
Mature yet child-like outlook on life, quietly confident about yourself and what/who you believe in, and an ability to hone your home to reflect that quiet, confident space inside you.

If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
I'd love to be able to handle +25°C days better.

Do you have a motto?
Just get it done!

What would you do if you ruled the world?
Make beautiful furniture CHEAPER!



*Speaking of magazines I'm very very very disappointed that Domino Magazine is closing its doors due to the tough times in the USA economy :( I really enjoyed reading the issues... one of my absolute favourites!

Rearranging

It's been 35-45°C heat days recently and I don't like summer, much less, hothothotdays... so I try to stay indoors most of the time.

My entryway MCM cabinet was rather bare on the top and after oiling it, I thought it would be nice to start a small collection of pink vases/urns etc. I have a few already ... so after a harvesting of them, I set them on the top.



I like. Might change the colours now and then... blues... whites...

Hope I get more pinkly gorgeous vessels!

So You Think You Don't Like Poetry

(Part 3 in an ongoing series)

In my poetry workshop this week, we focused on blank verse (a.k.a. unrhymed iambic pentameter, e.g. what Shakespeare wrote his plays in). We discussed all the various substitutions for the weak-STRONG stress of iambs:

Trochees (STRONG-weak), as in "ASShole"
Spondees (STRONG-STRONG), as in "DOUCHEBAG"
Anapests (weak-weak-STRONG), as in "sonofaBITCH"
Dactyls (STRONG-weak-weak), as in "MASturbate"

Ok, I suppose it's kind of childish to use bad words to illustrate the types of accentual meter in English verse....what can I say, I have the mind of an 8th grade boy sometimes.

This week's poem I think you'll have trouble disliking is "Rock Polisher" by Chris Forhan, which appeared in the New England Review last year. Enjoy!

Rock Polisher

Your father bought it, brought it

to the basement utility closet, waited

while a test pebble tumbled in it.

One week: he’d willed it to brilliance.

The grit kit’s yours now, the silicon

carbide pack. Split it, have at it.

Jasper, agate, amethyst crystal,

it’ll churn to a luster. Listen

to small rocks grind the big one down.

Stones in the driveway, pry them up, why not,

they’ll fit, glass knobs on your mother’s

bathroom cabinet, your baseball

and mitt, polish them, polish that

zero-win Peewee League season.

The thing your sister said and then

took back, you still have it, polish it,

polish the snowless Christmas

when all you’d hoped for was snow.

It’s way past lights out now, you’re crouched

above the barrel, feeding it

your school shoes, your haircut

in eighth grade—flat bangs

to the bridge of your nose—the moment

that girl on the track team touched

your wrist, then kept her fingers there,

the way you loved dumbly

and do. If the sun’s up, it’s nothing,

you’re polishing, you’re pouring in

the ocean rolling rocks into cobbles

too slowly, and the sky, it was

Mozart’s, was Christ’s sky,

no matter, dismantle it, drop it

into the tumbler, and you too, get in there

with your Dad and your Mom and the cat,

one by one, the whole family,

and God’s mercy, perfect at last.

Decor vignettes

Just a few shots taken at Christmas 2008 of the decor at my in laws and relatives' places. While not all my taste, it does show good personal taste :)

My mother in law's (MIL) small but growing vintage perfume collection on a Matson gold plated vanity tray with birds and flowers


A shot of the guest bedroom. MIL has always had a more Australian country-fied decor sense. I went through a shabby chic phase about 4 years ago which has triggered the same in hers lately so she's been trying to move towards that too... it's a nice blend, I think, showcased in this bedroom.


Another shot of same bedroom. The side table with the Avon green perfume decanter, green Sylvac terrier dog and vintage clock. I don't know if you can spot this, but there are doll ballet shoes on either side of the Avon. Very cute. (No place to put one's glasses or cup etc, but not many sleep overnight in this room anyway!)


A shot of the guest bed. It's only a single bed, my sister in law's old bed. With vintage eiderdown and vintage black and beige hat. The pink one's not vintage, it's just there because I didn't want the dog, cat and my daughter getting near it!


MIL's sewing corner. She made that noticeboard above the machine herself! I love the result. Will be getting her to do one for me when I find the perfect vintage frame!


A boudoir and vanity scene at my aunt-in-law's place. She's got a beautiful house, completely redone in shabby chic sensibilities in pale greens and white. It's the last time we'll see this place like this: she's rented the place out and when she moves back in, she is going to redo everything in French gray-blue. This is her collection of expensive perfume bottles on a vintage-to-die-for vanity tray, sitting on top of a Carrera marble top she had cut for a ornate sideboard she's placed in her bathroom.


A green cane and seagrass settee in the living room with a kitcsh green and gold mantel mirror above. Austrian green vase at the top with that shot of brilliant green punctuates the green in this area. Both pieces are for sale.


A shot of her bedroom with the blue and grey bedspread and the upholstered bedhead. She has her hands on the most beautiful of items but she's always been great at editing her own work. The gold vintage clock on her bedside table is... well.. gold... but it's alone, not flanked with more kitcshy stuff... which I really liked.




A shot of the entry into her tiny kitchen. Her kitchen boasts white subway tiles, white everything with an oversized clock. I love the edited plates she's hung on the kitchen cabinet. Nothing expensive... just pretty.


Her small but growing collection of Mackenzies Child enamelware. I LOVE this stuff. Wish I could afford them!


I hope you enjoyed those few decor vignettes of my in-law-family :) How do your family decorate?

Showering Is Not Sexy

In intimate relationships, it is only a matter of time before one person suggests, "Why don't we take a shower together?"

In case I'm ever in bed with you, let me just be upfront about this: I do not shower well with others.

I know this makes me a weirdo. But the truth is, I'm not someone who loves the shower in the first place. Don't get me wrong, I shower daily, but I've never been the type who loves being in the shower and looks forward to showering and showers for as long as possible. I'm all business in the shower -- the business of getting myself clean.

If I have to shower with another person, suddenly a whole new element is introduced. I might need to make conversation in the shower, even if it's just "Can you pass the shampoo?" I will have to think about how I look in the shower and more specifically, do I look attractive to you, i.e. the person I've just been in bed with. That's a lot of stress. I don't think many people look sexy in the shower -- I don't think I do and no offense, but I probably won't think you do, either.

Here's what happens when you shower in a normal-sized shower with another person. No one wants to hog the water so there's an awkward back-and-forth shuffling. And you feel obligated to try to wash each other and try to make it sexy and romantic. The result is that NO ONE ACTUALLY GETS CLEAN, i.e. the entire purpose of the shower is lost.

And trying to have sex in the shower? Please, that is a logistical nightmare wherein variables like height and weight must be carefully considered before attempting.

My solution is what I call the Tag-Team Shower. Person #1 gets in, showers, and leaves the water on for person #2. There is maybe a moment or two of overlap in the bathroom. Both people get clean and get some alone time in the shower. Everyone wins.

Am I alone in this or does anyone agree with me here? Comment if you want to weigh in on this very important issue.

Inspiration at my desk

I moved a few things around recently and just put these on my desk temporarily while re-arranging another spot..

I've left them there because I love the different shapes, textures, lines and finishes of white! (And that burst of yellow, a Christmas gift from MIL.)