You know how I was sick last week? I was all responsible and stuff, drinking lots of green tea and getting to sleep early and all, and over the weekend I actually felt reasonably healthy for like a day and a half. And now? I seem to have caught another nasty cold.
Which is to explain that this post may reflect my current state of not partaking as fully of consciousness as I generally like to. Also, in the interests of your own health, you should avoid licking the screen while reading this.
*Belle Waring has been sick, too, and it sounds like her bug is nastier than the one I have now, although reminiscent of the flu I had last Chrismukkah, when I went about a week where I could only keep down carbonated juice drinks and a handful of Cheerios — and then I had to get on a plane to NYC to talk to job candidates at the Eastern APA. Good times. So, as she tries to recover in front of a very long flight from Singapore to the US, I’m very sympathetic to Belle’s plea:
Everybody send me good mojo so I get well soon. Weller. I’m going to suggest to my specialist that he load me up with a special 24-hour drug cocktail judiciously composed of anti-nausea medication, painkillers, and diazepam, with maybe a little something in the extra energy line, so I can get to the US in one piece, but foolish doctors often don’t trust my nigh-instinctual Rx powers. If only we lived in a libertarian utopia, I wouldn’t have all these guild-member types gatekeeping on me. Monopolists! Rent-seekers! Jim Henley and I shake our fists at you!
Maybe chicken soup could fix Belle up. (Not me, though, unless you can find me a chicken that is not itself made of meat.)
*If you’re already having trouble keeping food down, Amanda’s post on Big Agra is not going to send you running to your supermarket with glee. I wonder, actually, if part of the reason I hate being in grocery stores is that they feel so corporate, prepackaged, and far from the source of the actual food products. We’re working in the back yard at Casa Free-Ride to get raised garden beds built by spring, and I’m starting to suspect that my inclination to garden might have as much to do with a desire to ditch the supermarket and get out of the reach of the corporate overlords as it does with my enjoyment of actually digging and planting and harvesting. Should the U.S. system of corporate agriculture collapse this summer, you’re all invited over for grilled squash and tomato salad in the back yard.
*Or we could meet at the moon base and decry, with Sean, the lack of funding for serious astrophysics. Possibly Belle’s desired Rx could come in handy for that flight, too.
*Lindsay Beyerstein notes the new recommendation from the National Council of Teachers to streamline math curricula. Judging by the comments on this post, probably we think it’s a good idea to focus on fewer topics and have kids learn them well rather than having only cursory coverage of a gazillion topics. I’m not sure the shift in emphasis will be a magic bullet, though. You’ll still need teachers with the competence and the confidence to go deep on the streamlined set of topics. Also, if this just turns into extended drill on the selected topics, a lot of kids will get bored and tune out. So here’s hoping that the streamlined curricula are implemented wisely.
*Jo(e)’s list of favorite toys from childhood strikes me as a nice complement to the Brain-Friendly Giftables lists. You know, in case there are kids you might be shopping for soon.
*Henceforth, I’m only reading online movie reviews by Michael Berube. It’s not only because I love the multilayered analysis of sprog favorites like Babe. It’s because he gives incisive capsules like this one of Happy Feet:
The movie is not about pollution and global warming and bad humans. The movie is about the insidious correlation between immigrants and polyrhythms.
In the screening room in heaven, Pauline Kael is smiling.
Now, I need to sneeze out about 33% of the fluid content of my head.
I need to sneeze out about 33% of the fluid content of my head.
Oh. Ew.
You’re doing well when you give a biologist pause.
Get well soon!
This is a wonderful site.
My advice against flus/colds/bugs etc. is Cognac, Whiskey etc. A few drams or something under a Shot, (after the first real shot)every couple of hours, or more often if you like, is the most effective remedy. It is 40% alcohol as are most other fluid remedies, all natural and very satisfying. Buy quality; doesn’t have to be the most expensive.
If you have a respiratory flu or cold, you might also try and expensive good quality, mild and very fat cigar,ca. 10+$ a crack. They can last all day if you re-light them as you need. They don’t stink, contrary to bad press. It is just a leaf.Take a little draw and breathe it in gently, again once an hour or so, a couple of puffs. This aint no jive. Moderation is the by word. But in the end it is a lot cheaper than most remedies and gets you back to work sooner.
You have to also eat well, stay quiet (away from your television and work station for the first day), covered and warm and generally take care of yourself first and foremost.
Sounds wacky, but there you go.
All the best.
Chazz
I still us the remedy I learned from my boss when I worked in industry when you felt flu-like and had to be out the next morning for a customer presentation:
* Prepare bed with nice thick comforter/blankets
* Boil water.
* Put a shot of good whiskey into a heat-resistant glass.
* Add the juice of a lemon.
* A heaping spoonful of brown sugar will help the medicine go down.
* Fill glass with boiling water.
* Get into bed and drink.
* Sweat the flu out.
* Sleep.
If you are just starting to get sick, this works like a charm.