Stroke

Sometimes symptoms of a stroke are difficult to identify. Unfortunately, the lack of awareness spells disaster. The stroke victim may suffer brain damage when people nearby fail to recognize the symptoms of a stroke. Now doctors say a bystander can recognize a stroke by asking three simple questions:

*Ask the individual to SMILE.

*Ask him or her to RAISE BOTH ARMS.

*Ask the person to SPEAK A SIMPLE SENTENCE.

If he or she has trouble with any of these tasks, call 9-1-1 immediately and describe the symptoms to the dispatcher.

After discovering that a group of nonmedical volunteers could identify facial weakness, arm weakness and speech problems, researchers urged the general public to learn the three questions. They presented their conclusions at the American Stroke Association's annual meeting last February. Widespread use of this test could result in prompt diagnosis and treatment of the stroke and prevent brain damage.

A Dog's Life

I'm housesitting right now. The house includes a slightly spoiled only dog; fairly large, as Rottweilers are, and such a sweetheart.

One of the neighbors has a NewFoundland. This dog makes Sage (my Rottweiler friend) look small. "He's the only dog she likes," says Floss (dogmom). Sage doesn't like the Boxer who lives across from the country club- they have a "thing", she informs me.

Sorta tangential: I'm taking Sage for a walk earlier, and as we pass a fenced yard she suddenly starts pulling at the leash, barks a bit. I crane my neck to see what she's worked up about. ..It's a little dog, barely taller then the grass of the lawn. And now it's barking. Except that dogs that small don't really bark. It's a little yippy dog.
These dogs have the same coloring, black and tan; I think the other is a miniature daschund. It's the funniest thing; this yippydog is about the size of Sage's head, yet they're barking at each other through the fence. Ah, the world of Dogs.

Guard Rabbits

Yesterday afternoon I saw a rabbit in the yard of the people I'm house-sitting for. It was sitting upright, ears pricked, stock still. The only movement I could see was the twitch of its nose, detectable even from my position over 10 feet away.

At my own home, my mother has placed little white wooden bunnies by the gate on our driveway. Cute as they are, I much prefer the living Guard Rabbits that show up every year. You see them for a couple seconds when you turn into the driveway, before they hurry away into the treeline.

Luckily, or perhaps not, these rabbits are not like those in the Monty Python Universe. Alas, they are not Trojan, nor do they kill people with "little sharp pointy teeth".

I wish I had an Attack Rabbit.

To wed

So one of my best friends, Maria, got engaged earlier this year, and is now planning the wedding, reception, etc. And I get to hear all about it, because I'm good to vent to.

She called me up the other day, very excited because they've decided on a place for the reception, and her father is going to pay for it. Woohoo! This is a very bright spot in a sea of parental opinions.

Maria says that all her already-married co-workers have told her, at one time or another, to elope. 'Trust me,' they say. 'Just do it. Now.' Cuz its just too much hassle.

I let her vent to me about whatever may be frustrating her, then say, "This is why I never want to have a wedding." It was determined long ago that I could very well show up one day and say, "By the way, I got married over the weekend," very nonchalant.
They also think I'm the most likely to marry for money. Strangely, I'm not offended by this assessment. What's the saying?
Chocolate, cheesecake, men- some things are just better rich.

Happy Birthday to Me!

Happy birthday to me!

Today also marks the two year aniversary of my first livejournal entry.

Thanks to Dini, aka, libralyte, who forced this blog upon me,

To forrest_930, who stopped by yesterday to give me my gift, despite her verytired state,

To Youngest Brother, who made me breakfast this morning,

And to Whatever Weather Gods/Goddesses There May Be, for this lovely day, on which it is neither snowing nor raining (unlike certain past April 5ths).

Suspended

Offbeat News
Tuesday, April 5, 2005
Whatever You Do, Don't Read This...

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (Reuters) - Tony Troiano grimaced as he was lifted off the floor by giant fishhooks pierced through the skin on his shoulders.

Within minutes, he started to spin, swing his feet and declare the painful experience "the greatest thing" ever.

"I was on Cloud Nine," the Wethersfield, Connecticut teenager said as he joined fellow body suspension practitioners at an annual convention over the weekend. "It was euphoric. It was spiritual. I'd do it again today if I wasn't so sore."

From tentative first-timers to the well practiced, more than a hundred aficionados celebrated their passion for body suspension at the three-day gathering, held in an old textile mill in Providence, Rhode Island.

To hang cost $100; just to watch cost $15 at what many say is the best such gathering for the hundreds, if not thousands, of people they estimate practice suspension across America.

"Ever stand up too fast and feel like you're about to pass out?" said Dave Post, of Albany, New York explaining why he liked hanging from hooks. "It's like you're stuck at that point."

The practice requires three-inch (7.6-cm) steel deep sea fishing hooks freshly inserted under the skin for each suspension.

A basic "suicide" hang uses hooks in the back, a chest suspension requires hooks in front, a knee suspension puts the body upside down, and the "Superman" pose requires hooks along the back and upper thighs. The hooks are attached to ropes, and pulleys slowly lift the body off the floor.

Some people spin like acrobats, some play like children on a swing and others hang solemnly. Some giggle, some cry.

"Some people have a spiritual experience, some people just have fun and some people don't like it and come right down," said Mike Giossi, a local mechanic and fan of the practice.

Jess Robins, a student from Canada, hung almost motionless from hooks inserted through the tops of her breasts. Blood poured down her belly, and her legs trembled.

Nearby, two men played a game of tug-of-war, pulling at each other with wire cables attached through their elbows.

"When I first got off the ground, I never felt pain like that in my life. But afterward, I was just filled with empowerment," said Giossi. "I've never been happier than when I came down."

SEARCH FOR INTENSITY?

Practitioners may seek the power and intensity suspension offers, said Karen Conterio, co-author of "Bodily Harm," a book about self-mutilation. Suspension also could be a rite of passage.

"It's a conquest of some sort. People are pushing the envelope more and more to attain some kind of separation and identification from society, and this is one way of doing it," she said. "Most people who probably are pretty healthy are not going to go to that extreme."

Many practitioners say suspension is somehow therapeutic.

"Look at his face. He's so serene," said Rosemary Curtis, watching her boyfriend swing slowly in the "Superman" pose. "We've had some really rough times this year, and he needed this really bad."

Not everyone was convinced. Colin Vanalstine watched but was not about to try it. "I'm afraid of needles," he said.

For such an off-beat practice, the convention is remarkably well-run, with sanitary precautions, surgical tools and almost military efficiency in preparing people for their suspension.

Some hang for a few minutes, others for an hour or more.

The biggest danger is cross-contamination, organizers said, due to so much open flesh and blood. Other dangers involve people passing out or suffering seizures, they said.

"The first couple of times, I didn't enjoy it," said Canadian Warren Hiller. "The first time I blacked out, and one time I was convulsing. But the third time I got better. I wasn't blacking out anymore."

It's not masochism, said Allen Falkner of Dallas, who has practiced suspension for 13 years. "Suspension is not about pain, it's about getting past the pain."

Advocates say suspension has been practiced since ancient times in many societies.

"It's searching for answers, trying new things," Hiller said. "You can only get pierced and tattooed so many times."