As you see below, you can now subscribe to the blog. Simply choose the particular feed
you prefer or would like to use. Subscribing to a feed is very easy and once you pick up one that you like, you're likely to find others. Doing so will entitle you to leave responses to the posts in this or other blogs. If you do not HAVE a feed, and don't want one, simply e-mail me and I'll figure out a way for you to have the same privileges or help you with a feed.
If you have any responses you do not wish to have published, or if you have a note or question you feel is personal, on any topic whatsoever, on the blog or not, please write me directly at drmelanieallen@gmail.com. Please do not use my personal e-mail address as I am trying to keep blog business separate.
Google Mail has some quirks to it. One of them is a feature called "dialogues" wherein the history of a transaction can be continued on forever. When you write to me directly,
please try to start a NEW e-mail each time. Otherwise, if you are responding on a mailing which is lengthy, it may be easy for me to miss. Similarly, if you reply to an e-mail that was a mass announcement, your reply may go to someone else as well as to me! This can sometimes be fun, but often is not!
Most of the items in this blog will allow at least a limited number of responses on the
blog site. Some will not; usually those will be work that is very personal to another au- thor or out of my deciding to respect the material as is out of its very nature. Please trust me on this. I don't want to leave out your input but there are times I might decide it isn't appropriate. If you disagree with any such decisions, let me know!
If you decide you are not interested in receiving any notices regarding this blog and want to be dropped from the list, please let me know. You will NOT be receiving the blog dir- ectly unless you subscribe to a feed.
For those of you who have reappeared from out of the past, or who came via referral and have written me some very kind, encouraging and intelligent letters, thank you. This means a great deal to me.
Special weekly news:
***If your pocketbook, as is true of many these days, lacks an entertainment budget, and you can see only one movie, try to see "Slumdog Millionaire". If you can catch two, add "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" which, if you don't know, is adapted from a long-lost short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald. It bears a great resemblance, in style and feeling, to "Forrest Gump". One key reason for this is likely the fact that Eric Roth, one very positive and untainted baby-boomer, wrote both! Both of these are beautiful as film, perhaps along with black music, our most American art-form and highly relevant to the current state of our society and our country, though the first begins years ago and the second takes place in anOTher culture.
***In Southern Oregon and Northern California, not only have we had some unusual wea ther conditions but, particularly in Oregon, many giant viruses have hit us since Septem- ber. It is really too late to get a flu shot with any real odds that it will "take" in time. How- ever, there are other viruses to come as soldiers are coming and going from Iran and, if you will recall the aftermath of other wars, you will remember that following Korea and Viet- Nam, for instance, major viruses followed. Viruses to which we had or have no immunity whatsoever. Therefore, if your doctor suggests that you have a flu shot, ask him whether it covers viruses that have already hit or if the shot will be preventative over the months to come.
Why winter viruses? Most medical literature shows that the major reason viruses reign in the winter season more than in summer is the fact that winter brings stagnant and dry conditions, along with low humidity indoors. Germs proliferate in such conditions. It is not really the COLD that brings the viruses but, going in and out between variant temper- atures and humidity can exacerbate a static indoor condition. Suggestions for combating this are to raise the humidity indoors through the utilization of humidifiers, steamers, etc; Humidifiers will protect your precious wood cabinets and furniture, also, while the old- time cure of running a steamer in your bedroom at night will protect YOU and yours. NOTE: A particularly strong g.i. virus is just hitting Oregon. Please do not underestimate or laugh at the concept of washing your hands or disinfecting items you touch. This specific flu IS spread by touch so, if you're at the gym or grocery store, use a product to cleanse bars, rails, etc; during the time you're out and about. You can also carry dry or liquid washes that will allow you to wash your hands absent a rest-room.
***In answer to questions from some of you, yes, the controversy continues regarding the use of theraflu and other such over-the-counter medications as treatment for your children. Please consult with your pediatricians or family doctors before using these "quick cures".
***Although each of us is trying to save money right now, unless we have professional experience, it may be impossible to determine whether you or a family member is carrying a virus or a bacterial infection. Usually, a temperature lower than your usual temperature (which may be something OTHER than 98.6) indicates a virus, wherein a temperature over your norm is indicative of a possible bacterial infection. You can't depend on this easy manner of diagnosis, however. Other conditions may be occurring such as allergies, sinus infections, etc; One sure fact is that treating an ordinary virus with anti-biotics is not an appropriate treatment and may lower your immunity. Please let your physician sort this out with you. If you don't have a primary caretaker, shop for one. One that you know through friends or family, not the Yellow Pages, or who has been recommended by other professionals you trust. Depending on your beliefs, you may have a homeopathically-oriented consultant or more than one for that matter. Whoever guides you and whatever manner of treatment(s) you prefer, it's important you're aware of your body and its changes, and what is happening in your region and in our country. Then YOU can be in charge of your choices and the choices can be educated ones.
Many of us are more vulnerable now due to emotional concerns and/or depression caused by the financial crisis in our country. Anxiety and depression exacerbate our chance of acquiring a physical illness. In turn, if you have even a simple virus, don't be surprised if this brings depression with it. Mind exists withIN body despite our sometimes
primitive feeling that anything below the body is cut off from the head at the chin! For any of you who are offended by this concept for religious reasons, I understand. This is a scientific principle and, if it is not one you embrace, you are not alone.
If you begin to see a pattern, however, wherein illness and depression, or illness and stress come at the same time for you over and over again, perhaps you can give this fact some more attention.
As we "go to Post", an Appeals Judge has just ruled that there is not enough evidence
to support parents and medical personnel who insist that various vaccinations are behind
the clear pandemic of "autistic spectrum diagnoses" that have promulgated across the world over the last ten years. This is an important finding.
***I will return to the series on "Loss" following a posting on some of the top films of the year, major motifs and recommendations.
Posts
