The Official Blog of the Grateful Web

Living Frisbee's Story

In a blog world full of ego's on parade, including mine, its humbling and refreshing to land on writers who, instead of proving why they are cool, share life experience to hopefully help others. Like Living Frisbee.

Here we reprint a portion of his The Day I Lost My Invincibility Post:

Sunday, January 18, 2004
Richmond Park, Grand Rapids, Michigan
Some time between two and and three in the afternoon, I can't clearly recall the time.

Lots of kids on sleds and tubes sliding down the big hill.

Another hill farther up into the trees, populated by kids on snowboards.

A steep hill. An icy hill.
Seemed like a more exciting prospect considering my love of speed when it comes to sledding.
I had a big toboggan style sled that could fit two people sitting, or my entire body lying down.
The snow was especially deep as I trudged along the tree lined hill up toward the top of the hill.
Knee deep and slow.



I was wearing two pairs of pants, three pairs of socks, a couple shirts, an thick heavy coat, knee high Sorel Boots laced up tight, goggles, gloves and a hat like what you see the Russians wearing in spy movies.
Between carrying the sled and the clothing and the general trudging, I was more than a little winded by the time I reached the top of the hill. The kids on snowboards were only traveling half way down the steep incline before loosing their balance and needing to come back up for another run. I casually asked one of them if it was safe to go down. I was half joking, and only 1/10th really concerned. The rest was my general lack of attention to my surroundings as I am usually thinking of something other than where I am physically.
As the hill cleared, I surveyed the positions of the trees and the angle of the slope. It was very icy. The sun shone bright off the surface. Most of the trees were far off to the side and of no concern. Near the bottom of the hill there was one formidable tree that needed to be avoided, but with a true aim I did not see this as much of an issue to worry about.
I sat the sled down and placed my feet at the front where two indentations allowed my heels to be secured. I dug my hands into the hard, icy top layer of the snow, pushed back as far as my arms would reach and pulled hard forward as the sled launched over the edge of the hill. I grabbed the handles at the side of the sled, keeping me head up to insure I had the correct trajectory.

I was good to go.
The sound of plastic screaming over ice filled my ears.
I was moving fast! Very fast! It was a very tall and steep hill.
There was a dip and a bump three quarters of the way down.
There was no way I could have seen this from the top given the sun and the sheer whiteness of the ground.

You know that silent sound that they always use in movies right before two cars crash together? That was the sound as I launched into the air at what I could only judge at exceeding thirty miles per hour. The bump surprised me and had caused my sled to leave my body.

I was a 215 pound bullet!
The sled went off somewhere to the right.
I ejected leftward toward the very tree I had aimed away from.
Still feet first and airborne.
My left leg was the only part of my body that I couldn't pull away in time.
I was directly lined up so when I collided with the wooden giant the entirety of my foot from the toes to the heel collided. As the force of my body came behind my leg I collapsed up against my knee. I pushed off the best I could manage.
I collapsed to the right of the tree as the momentum of my ride ended.

Have you ever jumped from a reasonably high surface and landed feet first?
You know that shaky feeling it gives in your heel and bones?
That's what my leg felt like, right up into my left hip.
It didn't hurt too badly.
I tried to stand up.
No dice.
I fell right over.

I was told later that a cracking sound could be heard throughout the whole area. A park worker was inside a building nearby heard the impact and came out to investigate.

Read the full story and recovery at Living Frisbee. Reprinted by permission from Living Frisbee.

'Whole Life' Brick and Mortar Review: BodyWork Bistro

We do a lot of Blog reviews, forgetting there are real places, "Whole Life" they call them, where real people do real things.

Grateful Web has been based in Boulder since we moved the Apple SE/30 from New Jersey in the mid 1990's, and as real people using real muscles to type these tiny letters, we get real muscle aches.

We tried out the new BodyWork Bistro on 11^th and Spruce in Boulder, CO for a massage. They offer both chair and table massage on a walk in basis. Tim Clair, the owner, also runs the BodyWork Bistro inside Whole Foods in Boulder, CO, however there is a massage inside an organic supermarket, and then there's a massage in a quiet street store, the Spruce location is a more relaxing atmosphere.

Boulder is a great town for massage, there is the Massage School of Therapy, and there are many good masseuses’s to choose from. Tim's genius is allowing independent practioners to showcase their work at BodyWork Bistro. You can use BodyWork to find a good masseuse for you, and you can’t beat the convenience of just walking in when you’re around and have time. My random massage was top form. I often have to ask for more pressure, but during my 50 minutes at BodyWork Bistro, I had to hold back asking for less pressure, which is what I personally want. Almost to the edge, to really get out the kinks. I will be going back to BodyWork, and if you're intown in Boulder, and have 10 minutes or an hour, its only going to make your life just that much better.

http://www.bodyworkbistro.com/

 

Barney Moran
Grateful Web

Testosterone: What Every Man Should Know

ASK A MAN his cholesterol level, and you’re going to get an answer. That’s a good thing. The incidence of heart disease has fallen sharply in recent years precisely because so many of us, especially men over 40, have become hyperaware of hypercholesterolemia and the danger it poses.

It’s different with testosterone. Ask a man his testosterone level, and he’s apt to give you a funny look. You know the fish-eyed expression guys on the TV news have upon hearing that the nice chap down the block was caught with kiddie porn on his laptop? That kind of look. Most guys, even smart guys, are in the dark about their hormone levels—and a bit uncomfortable talking about the matter. Ditto for doctors. When was the last time your internist said anything about testosterone?

Some in the medical profession believe that this situation may soon change. In part, this is due to recent studies, including one from Cambridge University that is the largest-ever study of testosterone. The study, which involved more than 11,600 men between the ages of 40 and 79, found that guys with testosterone levels on the low side die younger than men with higher levels.

Intrigued, I got in touch with one of the country’s leading authorities on testosterone, Houston-based endocrinologist Steven M. Petak, M.D., who is the immediate past president of the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists. I was full of questions: How is a guy to know if his testosterone level is low? What are the symptoms? Should he be tested? If the level is low, what then?

Read David Freeman's full Article at Smart Man Daily

Cant Touch This: Bay Area Kicks Sneaker Blog

BAK, Bay Area Kicks, is another great example of the evolution of the Blog. Started as a .com in 2003 to leverage the web as an online sneaker business, BAK staff realized TALKING and SHARING information about sneakers was a critical component of the online sneaker experience. Ba-Da-Bing, the Bay Area Kicks Blog.

This is no IBM commercial about 'just talk', this is another hard example of how Blogs are redefining information as a component of intelligent, thoughtful, customer oriented marketing. Going are the days an investor rented the store, stocked the goods, and paid people minimum wage to sell. We are moving to  the 'fully/multi/expecting to be' informed consumer; only the informing retailer will survive the wave.

Oh yeah. You cant touch this sneaker. Unless you fly to Asia. Do'h!

http://www.bayareakicks.com/

The Best Prepared Toilet Ever

I was recently invited to an anniversary party of an agency (I won't say which). I used the toilet as you do, only to find it the best prepared toilet I've ever seen.

There was a lot of toilet rolls a lot of hand towels, a book, a static air freshener a spray air freshener, several cleaning liquids and a gas mask if things get really bad.

Amazing!

Charlie Gower, Tantramar

-- For reviews of Public Restrooms, check out Lavatory Lady's Blog
[ http://www.lavatorylady.blogspot.com/ ]
-- GW Editors

Double check that toy before you buy it with your CELL PHONE!

Editors Note: A concerned mom
forwarded Grateful Web this
 email from Kristin  
of MomsRising.org. 

They have teamed up 
with HealthyToys.org 
to allow us to check 
a toy AT THE STORE, 
using our CELL PHONE.

Don't support ToyMakers 
who make dangerous toys, AND protect
your family. Here is the email from Kristin she 
sent us. We checked this out and recommend you use 
this service-- Grateful Web Editors

***

Hi, I just wanted to let you know that some new toys
have been tested for toxic chemicals and added to 
the database that we told about last
Saturday.

You can search for a particular toy from
your cell phone by texting:
"healthytoys [toy name]" to 41411. 
Or, you can search the full test
results online at HealthyToys.org. 
Details below. And to make sure we don't
 have a repeat of this crisis next 
year, be sure to sign our No Toxic Toys
petition:

http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/1768/signUp.jsp?key=2827


Happy and safe holidays,

-- Kristin

-- Kristin P.S. Never sent a text message before?
I hadn't, either, before a colleague suggested 
we offer this service. 
If you have the capability on your phone,
why not try it? 
(Note that it may cost you a few pennies 
if you don't have text messaging in your plan.) 
Once I did, I immediately saw what  
a wonderful service this would be to offer 
MomsRising.org members -- so here it is!

Oh, yes, Fatherhood

I teach "Daddy Boot Camp" at Foothills Hospital, in Boulder, CO. I have 3-4 hours to cover a mandatory curriculum on: living with a pregnant spouse; the delivery day(s) of the baby; the first three (3) months of life with baby(ies) and post delivery spouse for the new, expectant father, to expect.

Near the end of the class, the expectant father's eyes glazed over, if I am lucky, I remember the most important item. I tell them. Being a father is heaven on earth. The love of your child, time together, is priceless. To repose on the sofa with your child sleeping on you is among the greatest joy's available to us on this earth. When we raise our own children, we may, when necessary, if necessary, unwrinkle kinks from our childhood, 'right' some wrongs.

We may, ENJOY our children. We may, be dad.

Barney Moran
Grateful Word

World Aids Day - And The Beat Goes On

This is my post from last year on World AIDS day with a few changes. This will be the 20th World AIDS day, come Dec 1 2007. It seems fitting to deja vu a post on AIDS as more things seem to stay the same. As long as we moralize the disease and monetize the cure and treatment, this will never end. The only thing that might save us is if people of faith start acting like their Gods, rather than playing them.

December 1st is World AIDS day. As a Gen X'er I have pretty much grown up under the specter of this disease. No free love, or swinging, or love the one your with (or whoever keys you fish out of the bowl) for my peers and myself. I remember hearing about AIDS for the first time as "GRID." Dan Rather looked somber and they had one of the medical charts that shows a heart rate. The tie in on that was always a bit hazy for me, since the end all, be all, do all result of this disease seemed to be NO heart beat. I remember the gay bashing and the bigotry that came with it. I remember the hysteria over things like drinking fountains.

I remember Ryan White, I remember Rock Hudson, I remember Bobby Campbell. I remember the sick feeling I had watching people protesting with signs saying they were "dying of red tape." I remember being very proud of the people in Act Up for the Wall Street demonstrations. I remember a rather unpleasant dinner conversation with an uncle who worked for Burroughs Welcome.

And I remember the faces of the people I took care of who were dying of AIDS.

From 1989-1991 I worked in an inner city hospital on the medical floor as a CNA. The hospital was located in a trendy area popular with Gen X'ers, artists, young families with children looking for a more urban lifestyle, and the gay and lesbian community. It also had a large housebound geriatric population and a growing homeless population. I was 20 when I started working there. You could say it had a profound affect on me.

In 17 months, I saw faces from each of these groups die of AIDS. The drag queens, the artists, the elderly, and the children were all represented. I remember the grandmother who beat cancer but died a year later at 83 from the blood transfusions she received. I remember the street people who died. At times, we didn't even know their real names. I remember the hemophiliac kids who were still fighting the disease when I left. I remember the street kids - teenagers- and their combative attitudes when given their diagnosis. It seemed impossible to them that they were 16 and would probably die before they reached legal drinking age. Can you blame them?

I remember Tony, who's family would have nothing to do with him. In their minds, AIDS was gods punishments for gays. Tony was a sweetheart. He was a stylist. His last words to me were some heartfelt advice on my hair and it's complete lack of style. Had he been able to give me the "do" he had in mind, I am sure I would have conquered the world. We were the same age. He was 22 when he died. **Update - Kidlet just found me a picture of his quilt in the Names Project online. It has been nearly 20 years since he died and not enough has changed. But the numbers keep going up, and the tears keep falling, don't they?

I remember Ollie and his love of Haagen Daz blueberry and cream swirl ice cream. I remember his love of papaya. I remember nearly falling over when he came back to visit us before his final relapse. He was back from Hawaii with papayas in hand. He was gorgeous. The last time I saw him he weighed a bit over 90 pounds while standing over 6 feet tall. I could carry him like I did my daughter. When she was two.

I remember Robert and the amazing bead work he did despite the fact that AIDS left him blind. He made the most intricate Indian moccasins. I remember walking in the AIDS walk the year he died. It was dedicated to his memory.

Most of all I remember Neal. And his cigarettes and how he nearly burned his bed down trying to smoke one. I remember the bags of Hershey's kisses he'd have his SO bring me every time I was scheduled to work. I remember his love of clear high heel pumps with the goldfish in the heels. That man could make me laugh like no one else. I miss you, Neal.

I remember the 20+ funerals I attended. I remember holding the hands of men with no families present. I remember both comforting and being comforted by life partners when death finally came. I remember the kind woman who was volunteering at the Names Project who was there with a hug and a box of tissues when I found the quilts of three of my patients and burst into tears looking at the ordinary reminders of lives that were gone and people who were no more.

I remember when the AIDS death total finally exceeded that of the Vietnam War. Over 58,000 dead from the virus. That was then.

Today, AIDS has killed over 25 million people and there are over 33 million living with it. In developing nations people are dying for lack of medicines that cost less than the average candy bar. TWIX or death?

Our politicians are only as good as we make them be. Hold them accountable. If enough people stand up and demand they do something about AIDS and all the stupid poverty related deaths that could be avoided, they will. Remind them that it's not about charity, it's about justice.

The changes we need may not happen tomorrow, or next month, or next year. But if we keep making noise, they will happen, and maybe today's kids will not have to live in a world where a child dies every three seconds from AIDS and poverty. Make noise for these people. Make noise for my kid and her friends. Make noise for your kids or the children in your family.

Please visit One.org and sign the declaration.

HIV: Key Facts and Dates

1981 First documented case of AIDS (then referred to as GRID)
1982 AIDS first used as a term and is detected on five continents
1985 Rock Hudson first public figure to be known to have died of AIDS
1986 Needle exchanges first piloted in the UK
1987 Don’t Die of Ignorance campaign
1987 Photographs of Princess Diana holding the hand of an AIDS patient broadcast around the world
1987 First form of anti-retro viral treatment available (AZT) in the US
1987 National AIDS Trust founded
1987 First successful form of HIV ‘anti-body’ tests widely available in the UK
1988 First World AIDS Day held
1989 First HIV awareness materials targeted at gay men produced by Health Education Authority
1990 Mark Fowler diagnosed HIV positive on Eastenders
1991 Half of the 500,000 people living with HIV in the West had died
1991 Freddie Mercury died
1991 Red ribbon becomes the international symbol of HIV
1991 Princess Diana becomes patron of the National AIDS Trust
1991 Number of people infected with HIV worldwide reaches 10 million
1995 The film Philadelphia screened
1995 First combination therapy treatment available in the US dramatically improving the life chances of people living with HIV
1996 UNAIDS established
1999 90% of all people living with HIV are in the developing world
2001 Pharmaceutical companies abandon court case against South Africa’s Treatment Access Campaign, allowing generic production of anti-retrovirals for the first time
2002 Global Fund to fight AIDS, TB and Malaria set up to increase funding to fight the world’s biggest killer diseases. As of 2007 Only 28% of people with AIDS in developing countries are getting the medicines they need

Today 33.2 million people with AIDS worldwide. 25 million have died. There are 12 million AIDS orphans.

After 20 months, (RED) Products have funnelled over 50 million dollars into the Global Fund. Shop Smart. Shop RED Smart.

by Starrlight via Here Comes A Storm

--We Missed December 1 World Aids Day and are as guilty as many American's who have filed away AID's as last Centuries minor setback, no longer on our radar. Thanks to Starrlight and her Here Comes a Storm blog for this.-- Grateful Web Editors

Thomas Robey on the Dennis Lindberg Death

The Atheist and Religious communities are on fire in the Blog World.

Any topic from last century verboten for family get together’s to prevent fights is now on fire in the blog world. For in blogging, we don’t get spit on our faces as we yell at each other.

As a supporter for Lijit’s network search wijit for blogs, I work with many religious and atheist publishers. Some from both sides are virulent and angry. The exchanges between these two worlds are often heated and break down into angry stilettos instead of discourse. There is a lot of catching up to do, remember we could not talk about this stuff over stuffing and turkey last century. Now the walls are down and we are in one big buffet people.

When I come across Publishers who make sense, even if I personally do not agree with every perspective they have, I consider them gems. The more vitriolic the topic, the more valuable Publishers who moderate with reason and persuasive logic.

Thomas Robey, on his Hope for Pandora Blog, tackles the Dennis Lindberg story, 'Witnessing Evil?'. Fourteen year old Dennis,  child of Jehovah Witnesses and himself a proclaimed believer, died after he refused treatment for leukemia. Specifically, a blood transfusion. The Atheist Blog world is having a field day with this true story. Robey takes their points head on and delivers the best argument I have found for Dennis's decision. Read past Robey's post and the comments from Atheists and you see the value of Robey's writing. There is a coming  together and some finding of middle ground at Hope for Pandora.

I do not agree with Robey on all points. But it is possible we can ‘demand science’ too far, and in our demand become as fundamental as the fundamentalism we seek to end. We all live here together. Publishers like Robey make it all the more  possible to do it  in peace.

 

Barney Moran

Grateful Word

Image : AP

UPDATE: I got some emails from people who don't want to wade into the debate itself, but a common theme was "Where are these arguments?" Here is a good example running on Middle Aged Vampiress Atheist:

http://middle-aged-atheist.blogspot.com/2007/11/pope-benedict-and-crusade-against.html

 

Elsie's Yoga Kula: Free Online Yoga Classes

  On her site and via PodCast, Elsie provides free Yoga instruction. However the cost is not the issue, the quality of Elsie's instruction is, and we thank her for giving back.

http://elsieyogakula.wordpress.com/

"To be clear about who you are is truly a gift, it’s a gift that never ceases to be unwrapped, and as one unwraps one finds that the gift within also changes. If I had been asked even just a couple of years ago something about myself, the words that would have poured out would have been far, far different than those that come to my mind now. What I know is that what you do is a reflection of who you are, that always you must seek to find out all the things that you are before clearly choosing an action."