A Coupla Words to Heeb
1. Thank you, friend Jews, for having an item in your Summer 2008 about my high school homies, Kevin Krakower and Jon Shecter. Kevi-Kev and I shared many, uh, intimate moments that were sometimes uncomfortably combined with braces. And Jon and I were co-editors of The Record 1986, a fine yearbook, though I think Jon did a better job with The Source. I miss both those guys, and I especially miss Kevi-Kev’s mom, who I love.
2. Using the word “schvartzer” isn’t funny. Ever. Even next to a photo of Russell Simmons. Taken by Brett Ratner. Wait — especially in that context. It’s racist and disgusting. It was thus when my relatives used it to talk about blacks and Hispanics, and it is now even if you’re progressive and ironic and kickass, as you are. Drop it.
liz | 1:55 PM | Uncategorized
Cute Fix, and Funny New York Post Typo
An NJ animal shelter found a cat weighing in at 44 pounds. Good grief! But what’s really funny is if you go to the photo slide show, the headline is: “FAT CAN NEEDS A HOME.” Yeah, I guess her can is big too.
FAT CAT
liz | 12:43 PM | Uncategorized
This Is Why People Don’t Trust Doctors
Philip Dawdy has been emailing with a woman who went to a psychiatrist in Canada and had the most bizarre experience. I have heard of similar experiences, but only with cults.
liz | 12:50 PM | Uncategorized
Do You Trust Your Doctor?
There’s an interesting post on the New York Times‘ Well blog about the newly contentious relationship between doctors and patients. The video content is perhaps most revealing, as each person on the street answers the question, “Do you trust doctors?” The people were clearly talking about general practitioners or internists, for the most part, but I wonder what they would have said if they were asked about psychiatrists. The confidence level would be just as low, I think, if not lower.
Doctor and Patient, Now at Odds
liz | 9:37 AM | Uncategorized
Daniel Drinker
Through various channels, I found myself looking at the below videos, and then discovered they’re part of a larger documentary series that Will Drinker and his brother Daniel are doing about Dan’s life. I really like the series and I hope it continues to grow. Check it out. The below is just fun because it’s about my chosen candidate for president, but the other videos about Dan’s life are more contemplative.
liz | 3:31 PM | Uncategorized
Is the Recession Causing Depression?
U.S. News & World Report featured an interview with a behavioral economist yesterday, to try to figure out why consumers are feeling so blue. I never knew behavioral economists existed, but Dan Ariely (pictured) has some interesting things to say to Rick Newman about the psychology being somewhat broke.
Why are consumers so gloomy even though the economy, by traditional measures, isn’t all that bad? Is it $4 gas? Or falling home values? Or something else altogether?I think there are three reasons. First, cars are very important to the American psyche. Think about James Dean and his motorcycle, “On the Road Again,” and all that. The American psyche has associated freedom with cars, and now it costs a lot more just to use your car and get this feeling of freedom.
Second, bankers have told us for years, “Your house is your most important asset. You should stretch and buy as much house as you can.” Now, it looks like they lied to us in terms of how much we should borrow. And they personally made money in the process!
Third, I think the American people are really losing trust in our institutions. Think about all the meltdowns. First, it was the Internet. Then, Enron. Then, a banking crisis. Then, housing. Now, oil. All of these disasters are coming relatively close to each other. To people, it seems like there’s something incredibly wrong with the way markets and institutions operate. Bankers giving crazy loans to people who can’t pay them back, then they turn around and sell the same mortgages to people who know even less about them. It’s incredible. It’s a new version of the Wild West, and it’s causing incredible distrust in the markets and institutions.
So, is the gloomy outlook justified?
I think the psychology is justified. If you thought you lived in a world where you understood the forces at work, and all of a sudden you didn’t understand what’s going on, your trust in the system all of a sudden becomes pretty low. Bankers can give loans to people who don’t deserve them… It’s not a world we understand or can predict.
To read the rest of the interview, go here.
liz | 10:25 AM | Uncategorized
Computer Mended, Breakdown Averted
My beloved computer was sick this weekend and last, and therefore out my hands until later today. I was so nervous. What if my photographs disappeared? Je suis artiste! Images such as this Philly streetscape might never be seen again!
Anyway. I just feel vulnerable without it. I also feel vulnerable because I just spoke to a reporter about Seroquel and AstraZeneca. That always makes me crampy. I referred them to Philip, of course, as he knows all. But I had to tell my story–about how I take Seroquel, and it’s a lifesaver for me, but I’m unusual (suffering, as I do, from psychotic depressive episodes) in terms of bipolar disorder, and there’s no substantive science, as far as I know, to prove that Seroquel is an appropriate stand-alone treatment for bipolar disorder, or major depression, or for anything AT ALL in children.
AstraZeneca, as lawsuits and exposes show, is unethical in its approach to marketing and development, but before I knew that, yes, I did a few talks to AZ employees about how much I liked it. Unpaid, I’ll add. I severed my ties to AZ as soon as I learned of their unethical behavior, and I never promoted the medication to anyone who didn’t work for AZ. But it still makes me feel queasy to talk about it. I think I was a little naive.
liz | 3:28 PM | Uncategorized
Lurker? Guilty As Charged
Though I love the idea of online support groups, I never confide in them, ever. I don’t know why, but I just can’t seem to engage that way. I do, however, read them and read the dialogue that goes on — and I found that extremely helpful.
According to John Grohol, I’m not alone. Check out this post from PsychCentral for more:
Do Lurkers Benefit from Online Support Groups?
liz | 1:35 PM | Uncategorized
Cute Fix: Cagney
This cat is such a trip. After each meal, she makes these ridiculous noises that seem to be a deranged person speaking through the gates of hell. In this clip, she makes a couple of those noises, but she’s mainly preoccupied with getting every bit of crumb she can after her meal. The videos have to be taken secretly because she won’t display this behavior in the company of humans. It’s all very National Geographic (sort of). Cagney Smith is old — 18 years old. I keep trying to prepare my colleague/Cagney’s owner Tara Murtha for Cagney’s death, which is weird given the fact that Tara and I only met about four months ago. It’s a little freakish, but I worry about her. What’s she going to do? Oh dear. Anyway, enjoy Cagney now.
liz | 9:55 AM | Uncategorized
Not Funny, Just Offensive
One of the fave features here is Funny or Offensive? But sometimes there’s simply no question. Just a couple hours ago, someone calling his/herself Crazydelphia posted two videos of a heavyset African-American woman just released from a psych ward in the city. It looks like a cell phone video in which she’s seen wandering and yelling.
At first, I thought the YouTuber was commenting on the sorry state of the mental healthcare system. But then I noticed Crazydelphia had filed the clips under “comedy.”
What’s wrong with people?
liz | 1:44 PM | Uncategorized
