So long as I don’t run a fever, this isn’t directly engaging any of my chemo risks. The obvious conclusion is a mild spring cold of the viral persuasion, which under normal circumstances would barely slow me down. As I have extremely limited physical reserves these days, simply sitting still is exhausting. My plan to do my taxes this weekend is zeroed out, and (much more frustratingly) I am also getting no writing done on “The Stars Do Not Lie”. Or the Sekrit Projekt. Or anything else.

It’s weird how I can write even through chemo, but a stupid cold slows my brain down enough to stop me. Friday as the infection built up (I think it started Thursday afternoon/evening) I could feel myself shedding both IQ and EQ. I got dumber and less perceptive as the day went by. This is not unlike what happens on chemo weekend during the infusion process.

And while I’m terribly frustrated to lose my “good” weekend to this cold, I suspect the consequences of going into the infusion center with a cold would be far worse. First of all, they wouldn’t want me in there for fear of infecting the other patients. Second, I’m pretty sure they wouldn’t hook me up while I’m fighting this. So even while I am unhappy about the timing, I recognize it could have been far worse.

Sigh.

shelly_rae and calendula_witch arrive this coming Thursday. Chemo infusion session six of twelve starts Friday. My job right now is to get well. But damn it, I want to write. (And blog, some topics backed up in my head.) Need my stoopid brain back from the grip of this virus.

Portrait of the author as a younger man. Me at 19, back in Austin. Photographer unknown.

Top 25 Most Ancient Historical Photographs — Some fascinating images here.

Why We Need to Dream — (Via @JESilverstein.)

For One Tiny Instant, Physicists May Have Broken a Law of Nature — (Thanks to danjite.)

Dark Matter is a nefarious liberal plot? — This is why people like me tend to assume conservatives are crazy, stupid or both. Because moronic crap like this gets spread.

Non Sequitur gets political again — In a very weird way. Also, note the portrait on the wall in the last panel. Heh.

Bernanke: Too big to fail a “pernicious” problem — Hmm. Bush administration. TARP. Bank bailout. Nope, must have imagined it. Can’t remember a damned thing about conservatives or market self-regulation myself. Can you? Nope. Good thing the Tea Party knows who’s responsible!

Menacing — Ah, opposition to HCR. If you’ve got nothing on the merits of the issue, personally threaten the opposition. Stay classy, conservative America. It’s what you do best.

Entitlements Are Never Repealed — Conservative commentator Daniel Larison on healthcare reform, and comparisons to the Civil Rights Act. He also makes some good observations about the ideological history of the two major parties, including connecting a few dots I hadn’t connected before. As usual, I don’t agree with everything he says, but it’s a good read.

Deep South calls in Iran to cure its health blues — In ground-breaking project, one of America’s poorest communities is turning to the Middle East to try to resolve its crisis. Iran’s healthcare outcomes are much better than Mississippi’s. As the article says, The southern state has the highest levels of child obesity, hypertension and teenage pregnancy in the US. More than 20% of its people have no health insurance. Both of Mississippi’s Senators and three of the state’s four Representatives oppose the healthcare reform measures in play now. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it? This is how conservatives define a working healthcare system, apparently. Are Mississippi’s outcomes what you want for your family, your friends, your state?

?otD: Do you really believe that having worse infant mortality outcomes than Iran is a success for market-based healthcare?

lillypond and me in front of the Changhua Buddha on Pink Lotus, in Taiwan. (We’re right of center in the lower portion of the photo.) © 1971, 2010 Joseph E. Lake.

This work by Joseph E. Lake. is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.

Zodiacal Light Vs. Milky Way — APOD does it again.

Jon Stewart on Glenn Beck — Wow. An amazing deconstruction of Beck’s insanity. Worth your fifteen minutes to watch. Politics as performance art. (He’s also making me realize how much Glenn Beck works like a televangelist.)

Why We Reform — Paul Krugman on HCR. Money shot. In every other advanced nation, insurance coverage is available to everyone regardless of medical history. Our system is unique in its cruelty. If you’re conservative, if you’re opposed to HCR, please explain to me why it is fine with you that other people sicken and die for your beliefs? That’s profoundly un-American and inhumane. Just pray you’re never in that position yourself.

Bart Stupak: I Don’t Listen To Nuns — Another conservative forced pregnancy enthusiast happy to dish out to women, can’t take it in his own life. Welcome, Mr. Stupak, to the daily life of reproductive health providers, who are subject to such harassment every day courtesy of your friends at Focus on the Family, National Right to Life, and the USCCB. Stupak may be a Democrat, but like most conservatives in public life he’s just as morally bankrupt and inhumane as the bulk of the GOP caucus. Try a little empathy, Congressman. You might be amazed.

?otD: Why do they call it a cold if I’m hot most of the time?

Slept 8.5 hours last night. This is cramping my style, but keeping me healthy. Shedding day has been a two-day affair. Otherwise, doing pretty well.

Go congratulate calendula_witch!

the_child (at age 9) at Glacier National Park. © 2006, 2010 Joseph E. Lake, Jr.

This work by Joseph E. Lake, Jr. is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.

A rather nifty review of “To Raise a Mutiny Betwixt Yourselves” — The reviewer really got what I was on about.

Four Publishers Struggle to Strike Amazon eBook Deal; Buy Buttons Threatened — Hmm.

Book Marketing Awesomeness — I’m not a big fan of ‘book trailers’, but this one is for the win. (Thanks to Scrivener’s Error.)

With Cancer, Let’s Face It: Words Are Inadequate — Interesting. Need to consider my response to this. (Thanks to criada.)

My old man — Rogert Ebert about his father. Read this slowly, and whem you have a moment to weep.

Black Tie: 1943 — Shorpy takes us down to the tie plant.

Passing Stars and Interstellar Speculations — Instellar travel, the (eltively) slow way, from Centauri Dreams.

Quotes Uncovered: The Full Monty — …when you hear a quote attributed to Lincoln or Jefferson, and it sounds too modern, and it accords with some political agenda, usually a conservative one, you can take it to the bank that it’s phony. What? Wait? Does this means our friends on the Right make shit up to meet their political ends? I though they were the ethical ones, banner carriers of principled consistency and moral standards! Say it ain’t so!

America May Truly Be In Decline — Or not. Amazing how much damage the “America first”, “small government”, “fiscally prudent” party has done to our country and our future.

?otD: How much chuck could woodchuck upchuck if a woodchuck could upchuck chuck?