Treating my Bell's Palsy

I have Bell's Palsy. The left half of my face is paralyzed. It is why one of my eyes is wide open and only one side of my mouth moves when I talk or smile. I am getting the feel of what it is like to be disfigured or handicapped. People have been looking at me with alarm, revulsion and concern.
Despite it's peculiarness, it is a relatively benign condition. According to the to Medline Plus and Mayo Clinic websites, it starts to get better in a couple of weeks and is pretty much gone in 3 to 6 months. There's not much that doctors do to treat the disease--possibly prescribing anti-viral medications or steroids. I've treated mine by reading about it on the Internet.
This doesn't sit well with some people. My brother--who first tipped me off that I might have Bell's said, "Do you want to go to the Emergency Room? It's right across the street." My co-worker, Norma, said, "Maybe you should go to the clinic." One patron asked "What doctor did you go to?" Others have expressed incredulousness that I haven't "gone to the doctor."
I'm not sure why I have avoided medical care. I don't have health insurance, but I don't think that's the only reason. As my husband says, "We can afford it if you want to go to the doctor." At my stage of life, I have grown leary of the authority of doctors. I have been to them enough to know that they are human and fallible. I trust my own knowledge and I know that doctors do not have any magical powers. I trust mostly in the human body to heal itself.
Americans may have to come to grips with this as they go about reforming their health care system. Too often we believe that more is always better and that doctors must do something. It is the great faith and value that we place on doctors and their tools--surgery, drugs, physical therapy--that have spent us into these excesses. Being "under a doctor's care" has such status to us that those of us who opt out of this system are shamed and pitied. The uninsured are even blamed for the high costs of health care. I just wish that the stakes weren't so high with health care. I wish I could go into a clinic and not wait for hours and spend hundreds of dollars on treatments and tests. Although I know modern medicine has something to offer, I also know that our ancestors lived long and healthy lives without it. For now I'm treating my Bell's with rest and aspirin.

Books are Life's Inspiration

I just finished reading Julie and Julia--now a popular movie--about a woman who decides to cook every recipe in the book Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julie Child. It got me thinking about how much a book can be a life inspiration. Another example is an article I'm reading by Ian Frazier (The New Yorker) and his travel across Siberia. Several times in his narrative, he refers to writers who have traveled across Siberia before him. How could these people have undertaken such wonderful and difficult life journeys without the help of a book?
Books are like time travel--they can take you to places you'll never go on your own and introduce you to people--to the point where you feel an affection and closeness to them even though you've never met them. The real Julia Child didn't think much of Julie Powell or her blog about cooking her recipes, but never mind, it was the book itself that was the guide and impetus. They whole experience also changed Julie's life in positive ways, giving her fame and (presumably) fortune.
Next time you are looking for a way to change your life, look in a book. Or write one.

How to Find out the Books in a Series

I am learning how to make screencasts. This one shows how to use Novelist--one of the ECRL databases. I apologize for the last few seconds.

Screencasts and videos online

Be an Artist

With a summer reading theme called"Be Creative" we had to have a day of doing art projects. Fortunately we had Gail Dahlgren--budding art teacher--volunteer to show Mille Lacs Lake readers how to imitate the art of Henri Matisse and Claude Monet. Carolyn Avaire read a story called "Bonjour, Mr. Satie" by Tomie dePaola about Picasso and Matisse. Maybe because it was a rainy day we had a good turn out of 13 children on Friday, July 17th.

Reader's Theater

Reader's theater was a concept that I wasn't familiar with until this summer. It was an idea in the big book of summer reading materials. Luckily one of our patrons--Margaret Vos has had some experience with Reader's Theater. She came to our little group on June 26th and put together a cast for two little skits. She gave good advise to the children as we read through the scripts. The Baker's Dozen and Three Little Fishes and the Big Bad Shark were performed on Tuesday June 30th to admiring parents and storytime preschoolers.

Thing 43 - On-line TV and Video

I got a chance to join HULU yesterday afternoon. I looked at a little of the Daily Show and also the Office--two of my favorite shows, but I guess everyone else's too. They were readily available. I know that on-line TV is already changing people's habits. I have patrons who come into the library to watch the shows they missed the previous night--like Grey's Anatomy. For some people, going to a movie or even watching one is sort of social, but for others who just want to see the movie--the computer avenue may be the best route. It also could be a good way to find movies that are no longer available through their satellite dish. Television is already becoming more individualized with niche programming, but on-line viewing choices will make tv less of a shared experience. I can see the new way of watching tv affecting my daughters and their eventual children and families, but my husband and I will probably still watch TV together. I might start to catch up with The Daily Show and the Office now that I know how to through HULU though.

Thing 41 and 42 -- Mash up and Music

I am listening to Pandora music--like John Mayer--so far so good. I've liked the first three songs. My daughter Alice has been telling me that I ought to try this site, so now I finally have. I have also put a jazz station widget on my blog--at leat I hope that I have. I have used radio on-line previously. My other daughter, Livia, was a d.j. on a college radio station so I listened to her a few times. It was hit and miss as far as whether I could get her or not, but the last few times I was able to get her through Quicktime--have a Mac at home. I think this on-line radio and music is certainly the wave of the future. Both my daughters have their laptops with them constantly, so that seems to be one of their modes of listening to music, along with their i-pods of course. Not sure how this will affect libraries, except maybe that people will be listening to the radio while they are doing Internet business. Most of the kids who come in request headphones. We've gone through many pairs in the past few years.

I also signed on for Livestream.fm, but not sure how it will affect my life--didn't have too many things to put on it--Twitter, blog, facebook and delicious. I don't know anyone who uses this service, so that will affect my usage also. Trying to rush through the last few things--definitely wanted to try the music and it has been fun, but I could do more experimenting with radio stations.