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What Dreams May Come
“…and then a whole bunch of us were gathered in what looked like a laundry room and it was weird, but I could stand up on my own, without a walker or a wheelchair. And my sister was standing next to me, but she wasn’t really my sister. She kind of looked like that girl…
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Potato Meetings
I’d like to start today by talking about the potato. It is most often associated with Ireland. The Irish were first to adopt it as a staple of their diet in the 18th century, and by the mid-19th century, “reports describing the appearance of a mysterious disease on the potato crops in various parts of…
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Tacos
Now I’m all about a good steak, and pairing it with a lobster tail for surf and turf is delicious. If I’m feeling like pasta, it’s gotta be carbonara, and I’ll jump at anything with peanut sauce on a Thai menu. I have made my affection for the French Dip sandwich known, as well as…
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Eavesdropping
Right now, everyone who sits at my table in the dining room is sick. There’s a bug going around. I had it last week. So, sitting at a table that seats four alone, I found myself eavesdropping on the conversation at the table next to me which, believe it or not, in an LGBTQ+ assisted…
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The Canadian Plan
As we brace ourselves for four more years of racist white supremacists like Stephen Miller, a man who always looks like he just ate a baby, occupying senior un-elected positions in the White House advising the man we did elect in probably the greatest act of self-harm imaginable for our country in its history, our…
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Time Will Tell
Ever since I was old enough to think thoughts deeper than “I want a candy bar,” I have had this very unscientific, wholly subjective feeling (notion, inkling) that most things, on the whole, are just getting better. And nowhere is that more obvious than the area of medicine. As early as 1592, parish officials in…
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Medieval Humor
Imagine yourself inside a Medieval scriptorium. In the Middle Ages (roughly 500–1500 CE) books were written and copied by hand, as Johannes Gutenberg wouldn’t invent the printing press till around 1440. Scriptorium is a Latin word meaning “place for writing;” a scriptorium was most often found in a monastery where manuscripts (handmade books) were written…
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Consider the Anus Radish
Now at first blush, it may seem I chose this topic for its shock value, for its “ewwww” factor, or just because it is silly and intriguing at the same time, so it made me laugh out loud and say quietly to myself “hmmmm.” On reflection, I think all of those things are true. It…
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Philosophus hortulanus esset
Two things animate me. The first actually came second, and the second first. As an undergraduate, I studied philosophy, and that remains to this day my keenest interest. But before that, when I was a teenager, I worked after classes let out for the day at the Armstrong Garden Centers on San Fernando Boulevard in my hometown…
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Catsup vs. Ketchup
As we prepare to celebrate our nation’s birthday tomorrow with hot dogs and fireworks – there is something that is gnawing at me. And that something is ketchup. I mean, am I the only one who is bothered by it sometimes being presented as ketchup and other times as catsup? Is there a difference between…
Your mileage may vary.