Seizures, Potato Chips and Us

Two nights ago, I was in the kitchen making dinner while Henry sat at the table doing his homework. Oliver was playing in his room, setting up all of his cars to make an airport parking lot. I had been to a luncheon, earlier that day and was munching on some gourmet chips that came in the swag bag one receives at these affairs. (Aren't I fancy?)

Anyway, I was literally munching these chips, or crunching these chips and evidently the sound was so loud in my head that I only SAW Henry leap up and run toward the door. I swallowed, hastily, and simultaneously heard and realized that I'd missed something and that something was probably Sophie who was in her room and had probably fallen because she had probably had a seizure and Oliver was yelling, Mom! Sophie fell! And Henry was already out the door, looking back at me, saying Didn't you hear that Mom? Sophie is having a seizure! 

And what could I say? Sorry! I was eating potato chips!

I mean, really, what does one say in situations like these?

Christmas, 2005

Diagnosis

By the time I was six months old, she knew something
was wrong with me. I got looks on my face
she had not seen on any child
in the family, or the extended family,
or the neighborhood. My mother took me in
to the pediatrician with the kind hands,
a doctor with a name like a suit size for a wheel:
Hub Long. My mom did not tell him
what she thought in truth, that I was Possessed.
It was just these strange looks on my face—
he held me, and conversed with me,
chatting as one does with a baby, and my mother
said, She’s doing it now! Look!
She’s doing it now! and the doctor said,
What your daughter has
is called a sense
of humor. Ohhh, she said, and took me
back to the house where that sense would be tested
and found to be incurable.

"Diagnosis" by Sharon Olds, from One Secret Thing.

Corner View - CELL PHONE MADNESS

This week's Corner View was supposed to be wordless. But I just can't resist. I went to the Lupus Bag Lady Luncheon this morning in Beverly Hills. One of my dearest friends, C, invites me every year. And while the cause is a worthy one and I'd do anything for dear, dear C, the luncheon is so over-the-top Hollywood, Beverly Hills stereotype that it's worth going just to gawk. The top picture is my dining room, right before I left. Someone called me and I snapped what I saw in that moment.

The next photo is a bunch of paparazzi inside the hotel snapping the few celebrities that were attending.

The third photo, my favorite, is one of the bags that was auctioned. It was a chartreuse silk evening bag with a gold serpent clutch and was donated by Elizabeth Taylor. Last time I looked, it was up to $1200. Oy.

The next photo is one of the godawful ceiling fixtures at the hotel. Very Beverly Hills.

The final photo is my favorite. The front of a stretch Rolls that Jermaine Jackson got into.

Sometimes, I can't believe I live here, it's so ridiculous.

For more Corner Views, see JANE or La Ninja, our host.

Thank You

Cecilia Beaux (American, 1855-1942)

A Little Girl

A while back I got an email from someone who reads my blog and has one of her own. She wondered whether Sophie enjoyed music and told me about her own daughter who is evidently a musical wonder, singing and recording at a very young age. She wondered if Sophie would like to hear her daughter's music and gave me the links. The music is beautiful, as is this woman's blog which you can read HERE.  She asked me whether I would give her my address so that she could send me something. I said yes.

Yesterday, I opened an envelope in the mail and a cascade of dried flowers dropped onto the table with a tiny ziploc bag of a gray, powdery substance. The cover of the card was a copy of the above painting which I had never seen before. The girl resembles Sophie a bit, especially in the intensity of her eyes. Inside the card was this note:

For Sophie

Ash, also known as vibhuti,

blessed by Amma.

Dried flower petals blessed by Amma.

I had heard of Amma, the Indian spiritual teacher who is known for her smiles and hugs and unconditional love and humanitarian efforts. I believe that when she came to Los Angeles recently, she received an incredibly long line of people to embrace and just, well, love.

Thank you, T, for this beautiful gift to a stranger. It means more to me than you know.

Blogging has been an incredible experience for me -- opening my world up to a wealth of information, to people from many different cultures and countries. The people whom I've met -- YOU -- have wowed me with your writing, your photography, your advice, your wisdom, your children, your troubles, your beauty, your humor. Many of you have sent me gifts, books, cards, crafts.

I'm nowhere near Amma but I sort of see you all as this long line of people for whom I feel gratitude and even love.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.

Bravo

In true Bill Maher style, I found this piece to be brilliant -- and not because it echoes my own views (recently published HERE)  but because it's sensible, practical and well-written. Above all, it intimates that the immune system is a powerful thing and that bolstering its power through nutrition and supplements and common sense from birth onward might be a better prevention tool than vaccines and antibiotics.

Read it HERE.             

Social Security Office - Applying for Replacement Card

Sacred Sunday

Hilton Head Island August 2007

Listen while viewing the photo!