All the scintillating details of the last couple days — adventures with Crankenstein; more spray painting; how I can’t look at the cover of David L. Lander’s multiple sclerosis memoir without laughing (because the Squiggy photo reminds me of my sister’s default selfie face) — will have to wait, because there’s been movement on the […]

“Do you put your dogs in Halloween costumes?” I asked the physical therapist today as she cut and stretched pieces of tape for my foot. We weren’t discussing our dogs, or even Halloween for that matter, but I had a feeling it was a fertile subject that might successfully redirect our small talk from questions

What a nice way to kick off the weekend, donning a kitchen apron (lest my shirt get stained by anything but my own dinner) and shuffling out to the patio to besmirch our first spray paint booth (or large empty box) of the season. The purpose of this grimy quarter-scale structure will be revealed soon

I’m writing this in the afternoon, much earlier than usual, because Crankenstein and I stopped by the drugstore for our flu shots this morning and I got an annual Covid booster while I was at it. (She’ll get hers at work.) Since I’m not sure when, or if, the usual side effects might descend, this

Am I deranged enough to embark on another review project? While cleaning toilets and vacuuming radiator nooks and crannies this evening, I thought of how difficult the next few months will be.* This was Best Friend’s favorite time of year, starting with Halloween and continuing through Christmas. I grabbed some of his music and video

“I shoulder a burden you will never understand,” a woman scolds her daughter in Pearl, the 2022 horror movie Crankenstein half-watched last night while finishing some work. The character’s middle-aged husband is paralyzed and unable to speak, and the 1918 influenza pandemic has driven their small family deeper into isolation. “Spend my days feeding and

This evening I opened my browser to write something here but glanced first at the news and saw that Kris Kristofferson, despite seeming immortal, was dead at 88. Cranky readers might recall my fascination with his performance in A Star is Born, and excessive linking to “Watch Closely Now,” but his legend was infinitely larger

By the start of its fourth season in 1979, Eight is Enough was struggling with how to reorient itself. Most of the Bradford ‘kids’ were now adults and its dramedy formula, which previously favored comedy, began emphasizing turgidly dramatic plots and two-part episodes: Susan and Merle’s separation, Tom’s estrangement from his father, Mary’s doomed affair

In the words of either Lady Gaga or Deanna Durbin — it’s so easy to get them confused — I’m a free bitch, baby. LSVT is over, done, finito, and the SLP said it might be years before I need a formal refresher if I’m diligent about continuing my speech and respiratory exercises. Crankenstein brought

Consultative exams are ordered by DDS adjudicators when they want to know more about your condition and the limitations it causes. Often this is because your disability application or medical records were incomplete, outdated, or contained conflicting information. There’s nothing nefarious about a CE request, despite conspiracy theories to the contrary; it’s an opportunity to