Easier to find than Waldo, I suspect--tuches firmly planted on new couch or at one of what seems numberless branches of the hospital's cancer center.
The holiday season was pleasant, quiet with several visits from out-of-town friends. We missed the ice storm that paralyzed so much of Kansas, but it's been gray and often rainy, so somewhat depressing as winter worms its way slowly through. We gave ourselves a nice present for the new year. We both spend a lot of time on the couch facing the TV. We eat there, read there, write blogs there--and that's when I'm alert. We had a sofa with a chaise longue on Mohamed's end, and it was nice looking and fairly comfortable, but it was too low to the ground to get out of easily, so we decided to replace it. I could manage one furniture store a day, which turned out to be exactly one week's worth of venturing out. Eventually we settled on one that represented everything I'd always been snobbishly condescending to: it's a reclining loveseat, and a power recliner at that. It's got cup holders. We stopped just short of the precipice and didn't get the most comfortable one that had noticeable stitching. It is dark blue leather, and much to my surprise, it's not only comfortable (that's not the surprising part), but rather handsome. It makes staying awake even more difficult.
Healthwise, while Dr, Hashmi may be focused on the big picture, more small problems at different levels arose, so we were back to visiting specialist after specialist, all of whom seemed to lack a gestalt, each of whom had a vested interest in his'her specialty. The ear ache had continued unabated, so we went off to the hospital's ENT to see a new doctor. The doctors for all of the last six years, have never had a problem with our relationship and have always treated us as a married couple, even before we were legally married. They may have been curious, but they were also discreet. Dr. Barnes was more direct: "Just what is the nature of your relationship?" I said that Mohamed was my husband, and he seemed confirmed in his assumption, but added that he had been uncertain because of the "large disparity" in our ages. He gave me an antibiotic, but I had tried that before with no success. The problem, he said, wss that the ear wasn't draining, so the fluid would build up again. His solution was to insert a drain in my ear ("the Bold Look of Kohler"); he drilled a small hole in the ear drum, put in the teeny drain, and watched the fluid run out. It was only a little painful. The drain should fall out on its own after a year or so, and then things should be fine. In the meantime, the ear feels much better.
The next problem is that I've been having a lot of trouble swallowing. I've been losing weight, and though it's not been too hard to find soft foods, they're still not completely satisfying. I can just chew and chew, it seems,, and the bolus, instead of diminishing, just increases. Chewing is difficult, and I have hard time initiating swallowing. So off to another division of the ENT, where I had x-rays of me eating. The tech would give me food laced with barium, and we would watch me chew on the x-ray machine. I mean, we'd watch on the machine; I wasn't actually chewing on the machine. It was very very strange. The suggestions seemed common sense (eat ground meat, drink a lot while eating) but there was no hint of a cause.
Finally, in a temporary answer to which muscle will hurt next, it's one in my neck. I've been wearing a neck brace for the last several days, and we went to a physical therapist who has scheduled some meetings and a few mild exercises. What he doesn't want to do, he says,--and who am I to disagree?--is to fire up too much muscle activity in the areas where the tumors reside.
I think that's a pretty comprehensive look and what's going on. The constant fatigue is like the basso continuo in the background--always there, droning on. I've used up my energy writing this, and I'm sure it's full of typos. I'll fix it tomorrow, so you can suffer through today and give yourself a break and wait for a more polished version.
Sunday, January 22, 2017
Thursday, January 5, 2017
Mohamed Gets His Green Card
What? Is rhis a holiday repeat? Didn't Mohamed get his green card a year ago? Two years ago? Nope. Not a permanent one. I thought I had explained all of this in blogs when the events--applications, acceptances--occurred, but lots of readers seemed confused, and I decided to wait till all was official to try to clarify matters. I also discovered that despite all of the talk of immigration during the election, few people really understood many of the twists of the immigration/visa process.
If you want to come to the U.S., but do not plan to stay here, you'd apply for a non-immigrant visa. The most common ones are tourist visas, student visas, and business visas. As in all of what passes as the immigration process, the possibilities are often bizarre. If we believe Melania Trump's story and time line, she got a visa that enabled her to model in the U.S. because there weren't enough native models.
If you want eventually to immigrate to the U.S., the path leads through a green card or permanent residence. Again, there are several paths that enable you to apply for the green card, the one in question here, the one that we used, is family member (in this case, husband) of an American citizen. There are others, one of the oddest to me is the green card lottery. Every year, an immigration committee decides what nationalities are underrepresented in America. I perhaps oversimplify a bit, but they say, for example, "Hmmmm. There are plenty of Bulgarians in the U.S., so they don't need to be eligible for the lottery next year. But there aren't many Romanians proportionally, so we'll put them on the list." For the next year, then, people in Romania who want to come to America can apply to the lottery. As its name suggests, the lottery is totally arbitrary. There is no question of merit or of having relatives here or any other rationale. Many immigration attorneys are scam artists, and nowhere is this more true that with lottery attorneys. There is nothing an attorney can do to aid an applicant, but no matter how many times and in what large type the USCIS tries to assure people that all this is arbitrary, no one believes it, and corrupt lawyers make a fortune being paid for doing nothing. I taught in three relatively poor countries, and no student believed me when I said that s/he was throwing money away by paying a lawyer.
Mohamed came here on a student visa. Pre 9/11, it was fairly easy to convert a tourist visa to a student visa or a student visa to one with green card possibilities. It is much harder now, but marriage to an American is one way that remains (or being sponsored by other family members). In July, 2013, Mohamed and I got married, and shortly thereafter we began the green card application. This involves convincing immigration that the marriage is a real one, not a marriage of convenience. We had to provide health forms, many, many financial forms, notarized letters of support. This is the vetting--"extreme" or not--that exists today. The application form itself is a bizarre concatenation of questions from the 50s ("Are you now or have you ever been a member of communist party?" or questions that would baffle even the sharpest of applicants ("Do you have special experience with explosives?"). There is an interview. Gay friends who began the process at about the same time we did, had their interview first. They said it was low-key, definitely not the way I'd characterize our interview with someone who seemed to have a giant chip on his shoulder. His last words, not telling us whether we had passed or not, were, "Remember: 50% of all marriages end in divorce."
Still, we were given the green card--except that it is a conditional, two-year document. After two years, we had to go through basically the same process to have the conditions removed. So last February, we compiled all the same documents and waited for the acceptance. After a few weeks, we received a form letter, saying the conditional card had been extended automatically for one year, while Immigration reviewed our petition. It all seemed quite perfunctory, since we have been together over seven years and are together almost 24/7. Our gay friends were on the same schedule, or so it seemed, and in summer they received the lifting of conditions and permanent green card. We got nada.
Finally in October, we received a letter saying they needed more evidence. There was a list of what we might provide, but it was what he had provided originally and then again in this application. We filled out more forms and photocopied more documents. And then nothing. We were particularly worried about what would happen if the extra year expired. We could in theory follow our case online. For the original application, USCIS was very good at keeping the site and info updated. This time nothing changed. We called three times. There were 240 minute waits to talk to a human (they call you back). All three people that we talked to were non-native speakers, so it wasn't always clear what they were saying. But it became obvious that though they were very friendly and willing to talk about procedural matters, they wouldn't talk about anything substantive.
The year of grace is nearly up. What if the sheriff of a nearby county thought Mohamed was speeding? We're not exactly living in pro-Muslim atmosphere. And then suddenly, about a week ago, the online status was updated. And a couple of days later, it was updated again to say that on January 3rd, the new card had been issued. And then today, the new card arrived. A sigh of relief was heard throughout northeast Kansas. The green card is finally permanent. If Mohamed wants to become a citizen, he can start that procedure. But if not, he can live here as long as wants with most, but not all (he can't vote, for example) of the rights of any other resident. That may suffice.
If you want to come to the U.S., but do not plan to stay here, you'd apply for a non-immigrant visa. The most common ones are tourist visas, student visas, and business visas. As in all of what passes as the immigration process, the possibilities are often bizarre. If we believe Melania Trump's story and time line, she got a visa that enabled her to model in the U.S. because there weren't enough native models.
If you want eventually to immigrate to the U.S., the path leads through a green card or permanent residence. Again, there are several paths that enable you to apply for the green card, the one in question here, the one that we used, is family member (in this case, husband) of an American citizen. There are others, one of the oddest to me is the green card lottery. Every year, an immigration committee decides what nationalities are underrepresented in America. I perhaps oversimplify a bit, but they say, for example, "Hmmmm. There are plenty of Bulgarians in the U.S., so they don't need to be eligible for the lottery next year. But there aren't many Romanians proportionally, so we'll put them on the list." For the next year, then, people in Romania who want to come to America can apply to the lottery. As its name suggests, the lottery is totally arbitrary. There is no question of merit or of having relatives here or any other rationale. Many immigration attorneys are scam artists, and nowhere is this more true that with lottery attorneys. There is nothing an attorney can do to aid an applicant, but no matter how many times and in what large type the USCIS tries to assure people that all this is arbitrary, no one believes it, and corrupt lawyers make a fortune being paid for doing nothing. I taught in three relatively poor countries, and no student believed me when I said that s/he was throwing money away by paying a lawyer.
Mohamed came here on a student visa. Pre 9/11, it was fairly easy to convert a tourist visa to a student visa or a student visa to one with green card possibilities. It is much harder now, but marriage to an American is one way that remains (or being sponsored by other family members). In July, 2013, Mohamed and I got married, and shortly thereafter we began the green card application. This involves convincing immigration that the marriage is a real one, not a marriage of convenience. We had to provide health forms, many, many financial forms, notarized letters of support. This is the vetting--"extreme" or not--that exists today. The application form itself is a bizarre concatenation of questions from the 50s ("Are you now or have you ever been a member of communist party?" or questions that would baffle even the sharpest of applicants ("Do you have special experience with explosives?"). There is an interview. Gay friends who began the process at about the same time we did, had their interview first. They said it was low-key, definitely not the way I'd characterize our interview with someone who seemed to have a giant chip on his shoulder. His last words, not telling us whether we had passed or not, were, "Remember: 50% of all marriages end in divorce."
Still, we were given the green card--except that it is a conditional, two-year document. After two years, we had to go through basically the same process to have the conditions removed. So last February, we compiled all the same documents and waited for the acceptance. After a few weeks, we received a form letter, saying the conditional card had been extended automatically for one year, while Immigration reviewed our petition. It all seemed quite perfunctory, since we have been together over seven years and are together almost 24/7. Our gay friends were on the same schedule, or so it seemed, and in summer they received the lifting of conditions and permanent green card. We got nada.
Finally in October, we received a letter saying they needed more evidence. There was a list of what we might provide, but it was what he had provided originally and then again in this application. We filled out more forms and photocopied more documents. And then nothing. We were particularly worried about what would happen if the extra year expired. We could in theory follow our case online. For the original application, USCIS was very good at keeping the site and info updated. This time nothing changed. We called three times. There were 240 minute waits to talk to a human (they call you back). All three people that we talked to were non-native speakers, so it wasn't always clear what they were saying. But it became obvious that though they were very friendly and willing to talk about procedural matters, they wouldn't talk about anything substantive.
The year of grace is nearly up. What if the sheriff of a nearby county thought Mohamed was speeding? We're not exactly living in pro-Muslim atmosphere. And then suddenly, about a week ago, the online status was updated. And a couple of days later, it was updated again to say that on January 3rd, the new card had been issued. And then today, the new card arrived. A sigh of relief was heard throughout northeast Kansas. The green card is finally permanent. If Mohamed wants to become a citizen, he can start that procedure. But if not, he can live here as long as wants with most, but not all (he can't vote, for example) of the rights of any other resident. That may suffice.
Thursday, December 22, 2016
Back to the cancer center,
this time for results of last week's blood work and CT scan. The facility looked more crowded than usual, and our wait was longer, but we assumed it was because of doubling up from the coming two weeks of holidays. In our case, though, the wait was special. A couple of weeks ago, we had the worst winter weather of the past semester years, and Dr. Hashmi,, working his way tenderly over the snow, had fallen and broken his right arm. So his Physician Assistant was working her shift and then in charge of the computer on his shift.
Mohamed and I are focused on the many problems and pains. Dr. Hashmi was focused on the big picture. Although there's nothing new here, he was wide-eyed over the fact that I am well into my sixth years with the stage four cancer and the chemotherapy. "It's not that I'm minimizing your pain," he said, though it was exactly that that it felt as if he were doing, "but after all this time, the results are stable. There's absolutely no growth in the cancers. Most of the people I treat with Votrient, are 'miserable' after a short period of time, and we have to move on to something else." So that was the good news: concerning the cancer, much has remained the same for all this time.
That's good news, of course,, but I still couldn't help worrying about the symptoms that remain. I had lost 10# since the last visit. That doesn't bother me too much, since the nausea has generally subsided. I don't have a huge appetite, true, but I eat rather consistently. The most serious for me, though, aren't the constant pains and the debilitating fatigue. So we're adjusting the morphine (doubling the dosage0 and will continue with the Percocet. We'll see how that works out. And of course, there are two further side effects. The increase in opioids means an increase in constipation. And second, does this mean that there will be an increase in fatigue? Yes certainly to the latter. Is there nothing we can do about fatigue. Those discussions have always centered on transfusions. With a low hemoglobin and/or or, fatigue follows, and transfusions can do a lot to supply energy. This time, however, without a second thought, both Dr. Hasmi and Ginger said "Ritalin." So Ritalin us used to provide energy, a logical solution, though we'd never thought of it. If after all these years something a common as Ritalin helps significantly, I'm going to be plenty pissed (and relieved).
Looking forward to:
Portland friends Joanne and Darrell sent two dozen oysters, which arrived yesterday and which I'm looking forward to eat tonight. I never was very good at sharing oysters.
L.A. friend Jill sent a lovely gift basket of wine, cheese, crackers, soup--all ready for exploration.
K.C. friend T.J., whom we haven't seen in some time is coming in for lunch today, and tomorrow it's Scott, also from KC.
Our social life is improving.
Happy Hanukkah. Merry Christmas! And all the best of 2017!!
Love,
Howard and Mohamed
Mohamed and I are focused on the many problems and pains. Dr. Hashmi was focused on the big picture. Although there's nothing new here, he was wide-eyed over the fact that I am well into my sixth years with the stage four cancer and the chemotherapy. "It's not that I'm minimizing your pain," he said, though it was exactly that that it felt as if he were doing, "but after all this time, the results are stable. There's absolutely no growth in the cancers. Most of the people I treat with Votrient, are 'miserable' after a short period of time, and we have to move on to something else." So that was the good news: concerning the cancer, much has remained the same for all this time.
That's good news, of course,, but I still couldn't help worrying about the symptoms that remain. I had lost 10# since the last visit. That doesn't bother me too much, since the nausea has generally subsided. I don't have a huge appetite, true, but I eat rather consistently. The most serious for me, though, aren't the constant pains and the debilitating fatigue. So we're adjusting the morphine (doubling the dosage0 and will continue with the Percocet. We'll see how that works out. And of course, there are two further side effects. The increase in opioids means an increase in constipation. And second, does this mean that there will be an increase in fatigue? Yes certainly to the latter. Is there nothing we can do about fatigue. Those discussions have always centered on transfusions. With a low hemoglobin and/or or, fatigue follows, and transfusions can do a lot to supply energy. This time, however, without a second thought, both Dr. Hasmi and Ginger said "Ritalin." So Ritalin us used to provide energy, a logical solution, though we'd never thought of it. If after all these years something a common as Ritalin helps significantly, I'm going to be plenty pissed (and relieved).
Looking forward to:
Portland friends Joanne and Darrell sent two dozen oysters, which arrived yesterday and which I'm looking forward to eat tonight. I never was very good at sharing oysters.
L.A. friend Jill sent a lovely gift basket of wine, cheese, crackers, soup--all ready for exploration.
K.C. friend T.J., whom we haven't seen in some time is coming in for lunch today, and tomorrow it's Scott, also from KC.
Our social life is improving.
Happy Hanukkah. Merry Christmas! And all the best of 2017!!
Love,
Howard and Mohamed
Friday, December 16, 2016
politics and prose--proofread finally
So much has happened over the last two months, so much left without commentary. Surely I can do better than that.
Clinton Comey
Cozy Bear
Conway Bannon
A snuggling pair.
An homage to what seemed like high art and wit 60 years ago:
Trump Trump
The magical suit
The more you listen
The more you toot.
Goldman Sachs
225K a pop
Advice benign
Why should she stop?
Over our head
Whatever she said
It's something we've heard
I'm so reassured.
Perhaps we'd be better off with Mike Pence:
First agenda item defund planned parenthood
That'll teach them it's no errant good
Reparative therapy for sinful gays
We can turn them from their awful ways.
No beautiful wall with President Pence
Just a pretty but restrictive fence.
Several months ago, I heard President Carter say that between Ted Cruz and Donald Trump, he'd rather the Democratic candidate ran again Trump because Cruz is an ideologue and Trump is more "malleable." It was a dear, sweet, half-formed thought. It would be nice if only those influencing Trump were progressive, though Lewandowski, Manafort,, Conway, and Bannon were hardly promising). And now the malleable Trump has surrounded himself with one advisor more frightening than the rest.. In the short-run, conspiracy theorist Gen Michael Flynn is probably the scariest. In the longer run, Energy Secretary-nominee Rick Perrry (let's just hope he forgets to remember which agency he wants to eliminate) and all the anti-Environmentalists at EPA are even more alarming. As someone who spent his entire life in public education, I can't help but cringe at Amway heiress Betsy DeVos,, who has never spent a day in public education and who hates neighborhood schools, as Secretary of Education.
I can't help but enjoy the parade of self-deluded "moderate" Republicans making fools of themselves--Mitt Romney, Rudy Giuliani, Chris Christie (aka, the Whore of Trenton). But what was with Al Gore, who was practically schoolgirl giddy after his meeting, as if he had gotten major concessions from Trump--just before Trump nominated his let's abolish the EPA candidate to head the EPA.
The last few weeks have been rather bumpy health-wise. There've been a couple of previously unscheduled doctors' visits. For three weeks, I've had a severe earache. The first nurse practitioner said that it was the Eustachian tube, and we'd have to treat it through the nose, a treatment that causes nose bleeds, something I don't want since it leads to the ER and balloon or tampon up the nose for several days. A week later, another suggested treating it as a nasal infection. We're tr\ying that without much success. And then there was a pinched nerve in the neck--also very painful. We took two weeks off from chemo, trying not very successfully to balance constipation from the opioids and diarrhea from the chemo. We had blood work and CT scans this week, and next week there is a consultation with Dr. Hashmi.
And so it goes.
Clinton Comey
Cozy Bear
Conway Bannon
A snuggling pair.
An homage to what seemed like high art and wit 60 years ago:
Trump Trump
The magical suit
The more you listen
The more you toot.
Goldman Sachs
225K a pop
Advice benign
Why should she stop?
Over our head
Whatever she said
It's something we've heard
I'm so reassured.
Perhaps we'd be better off with Mike Pence:
First agenda item defund planned parenthood
That'll teach them it's no errant good
Reparative therapy for sinful gays
We can turn them from their awful ways.
No beautiful wall with President Pence
Just a pretty but restrictive fence.
Several months ago, I heard President Carter say that between Ted Cruz and Donald Trump, he'd rather the Democratic candidate ran again Trump because Cruz is an ideologue and Trump is more "malleable." It was a dear, sweet, half-formed thought. It would be nice if only those influencing Trump were progressive, though Lewandowski, Manafort,, Conway, and Bannon were hardly promising). And now the malleable Trump has surrounded himself with one advisor more frightening than the rest.. In the short-run, conspiracy theorist Gen Michael Flynn is probably the scariest. In the longer run, Energy Secretary-nominee Rick Perrry (let's just hope he forgets to remember which agency he wants to eliminate) and all the anti-Environmentalists at EPA are even more alarming. As someone who spent his entire life in public education, I can't help but cringe at Amway heiress Betsy DeVos,, who has never spent a day in public education and who hates neighborhood schools, as Secretary of Education.
I can't help but enjoy the parade of self-deluded "moderate" Republicans making fools of themselves--Mitt Romney, Rudy Giuliani, Chris Christie (aka, the Whore of Trenton). But what was with Al Gore, who was practically schoolgirl giddy after his meeting, as if he had gotten major concessions from Trump--just before Trump nominated his let's abolish the EPA candidate to head the EPA.
The last few weeks have been rather bumpy health-wise. There've been a couple of previously unscheduled doctors' visits. For three weeks, I've had a severe earache. The first nurse practitioner said that it was the Eustachian tube, and we'd have to treat it through the nose, a treatment that causes nose bleeds, something I don't want since it leads to the ER and balloon or tampon up the nose for several days. A week later, another suggested treating it as a nasal infection. We're tr\ying that without much success. And then there was a pinched nerve in the neck--also very painful. We took two weeks off from chemo, trying not very successfully to balance constipation from the opioids and diarrhea from the chemo. We had blood work and CT scans this week, and next week there is a consultation with Dr. Hashmi.
And so it goes.
Thursday, November 10, 2016
80 prescient years ago
When I was growing up in Iowa, I was fascinated by one of my mother's books, always there on the living room book shelf. Written in 1936 by Sinclair Lewis, it was "It Can't Happen Here"--maybe in Europe where Fascism/Nazism were on the rise, but not here. Not here until "Buzz" Waldrip runs for and wins the Presidency on a nativist, populist platform. After an initial year or so of waning enthusiasm for Waldrip's series of failed promises, the country begins to disintegrate. Americans flee to Mexico which Waldrip has singled out for attack during his campaign, as well as to Canada. By the time the book ends, the country is in civil war.
Despite months of reservations, I had convinced myself by Tuesday night, that HRC was going to win. I didn't even think it would be close. And then I sat masochistically for four hours and watched as state after state went for Trump with pundits suggesting less and less realistic ways Hillary could still win the state. What has happened to America after 17 months of pathological lying, misogyny, insults, admission of not paying taxes for two decades, boasting of sexual assaults...the list is almost endless that we elect a man like Trump as President? What will happen with the Supreme Court, with the Paris climate agreement, with the nuclear treaty with Iran? It can't happen here, eh?
Yesterday was the regular six-week visit to see Dr. Hashmi. The cancer center was quite crowded and rather depressing. Nothing much had changed. Although I still have constant pain somewhat managed by the morphine and/or Percocet, his tack this visit was, "It's not ideal, but it's working." Yes, the treatment for six years of kidney cancer has been keeping everything stable. I wouldn't mind something a bit closer to the ideal--a little less pain, a few fewer grunts as I stand or sit. I think I'll have to continue, however, with the present regimen.
Despite months of reservations, I had convinced myself by Tuesday night, that HRC was going to win. I didn't even think it would be close. And then I sat masochistically for four hours and watched as state after state went for Trump with pundits suggesting less and less realistic ways Hillary could still win the state. What has happened to America after 17 months of pathological lying, misogyny, insults, admission of not paying taxes for two decades, boasting of sexual assaults...the list is almost endless that we elect a man like Trump as President? What will happen with the Supreme Court, with the Paris climate agreement, with the nuclear treaty with Iran? It can't happen here, eh?
Yesterday was the regular six-week visit to see Dr. Hashmi. The cancer center was quite crowded and rather depressing. Nothing much had changed. Although I still have constant pain somewhat managed by the morphine and/or Percocet, his tack this visit was, "It's not ideal, but it's working." Yes, the treatment for six years of kidney cancer has been keeping everything stable. I wouldn't mind something a bit closer to the ideal--a little less pain, a few fewer grunts as I stand or sit. I think I'll have to continue, however, with the present regimen.
Sunday, October 30, 2016
a Leonard Cohen excerpt
from "Anthem"
Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack in everything
That's how the light gets in.
Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack in everything
That's how the light gets in.
Saturday, October 29, 2016
10//30/16 (expanded)
A whole month of silence--mainly because everything has remained pretty much the same. The nausea comes and goes; the diarrhea comes and goes. Some days I have an appetite; others the look or smell of food is nauseating. Meanwhile, various parts of body scream out in pain, though there isn't any clear-cut pattern, and what hurts one day or refuses to function, is back in service the next. There haven't been any appointments with the doctor, and there aren't any scheduled till the 9th of November.
Today--and most of the week--my appetite has been virtually nil, a fact that scares Mohamed, who continues to do more for me than anyone could expect. Today the part of my body that isn't functioning is a muscle (I hope) on the right side of my lower back. I'm not twisting the night away.
My old friend from graduate school, Darrell, and his wife, Joanne, live in the Pacific Northwest and took pity on me, sending a couple of dozen of oysters, which always give me an appetite. Oysters are best when raw, of course, but given my compromised immune system, that's not a great idea, so we just steam them in some wine and shallots, and when they open, I start eating before Mohamed can keep up.
Have we ever been so eager (and anxious) to get an election over? It's partly that every time we think we have some breathing room, something new is divulged about Hillary. And it's also because there's been not a moment of pleasure in the course of the campaign. In Kansas, there is very little television advertising, since the Republicans are pretty much shoo-ins for most offices. The really scary advertising concerns the Kansas Supreme Court, which has been the bête noir of Governor Brownback, especially concerning his constant attempts to cut the budget for education. Most of the justices, left over from the Democrat Kathleen Sebelius and moderate Republican Bill Graves, refuse to cooperate with Brownback's shameful cuts. Now there is a much-played ad implying, falsely, that the five justices who are up for retention have taken the side of murderers and rapists in overturning their convictions. The Supreme Court is the last line of defense against Brownback's power grab and it would be a disaster if these five are turned out of office.
Today--and most of the week--my appetite has been virtually nil, a fact that scares Mohamed, who continues to do more for me than anyone could expect. Today the part of my body that isn't functioning is a muscle (I hope) on the right side of my lower back. I'm not twisting the night away.
My old friend from graduate school, Darrell, and his wife, Joanne, live in the Pacific Northwest and took pity on me, sending a couple of dozen of oysters, which always give me an appetite. Oysters are best when raw, of course, but given my compromised immune system, that's not a great idea, so we just steam them in some wine and shallots, and when they open, I start eating before Mohamed can keep up.
Have we ever been so eager (and anxious) to get an election over? It's partly that every time we think we have some breathing room, something new is divulged about Hillary. And it's also because there's been not a moment of pleasure in the course of the campaign. In Kansas, there is very little television advertising, since the Republicans are pretty much shoo-ins for most offices. The really scary advertising concerns the Kansas Supreme Court, which has been the bête noir of Governor Brownback, especially concerning his constant attempts to cut the budget for education. Most of the justices, left over from the Democrat Kathleen Sebelius and moderate Republican Bill Graves, refuse to cooperate with Brownback's shameful cuts. Now there is a much-played ad implying, falsely, that the five justices who are up for retention have taken the side of murderers and rapists in overturning their convictions. The Supreme Court is the last line of defense against Brownback's power grab and it would be a disaster if these five are turned out of office.
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