Random Thinking

Last night we dropped Mikey off at sleep away camp for the weekend. This is the same camp Mikey went to during the summer. They are running weekend camps throughout the off-season so we signed Mikey up for two weekends, this one and again in March. He seemed very excited to be there running around and playing with the other kids. He discovered how to set the door alarm off so that should be fun during the night. He also seemed a bit tired as he wanted to lie down in his bed. He didn’t have any problem with us leaving. We gave him a kiss and it was goodbye.

So we got to sleep in today without Mikey coming in at 5 AM to wake us up. Yes, he hasn’t been sleeping well for the last couple of weeks. He wakes us up and then goes back to sleep. I got to sit in bed and read the NY Times. The house is very quiet without him, even with the two new dogs. Oh, didn’t I mention the dogs? I’ll post about them soon.

I’ve been very busy so I’m running a little late today. But here is the song of the week off my iPod.

Armor For Sleep is an alternative rock band from New Jersey. The group was founded by Ben Jorgensen who recorded the first songs for the group by himself, playing all the instruments. The current lineup of the group is Ben Jorgensen (Vocals, Guitar), PJ DeCicco (Guitar), Anthony DiIonno (Bass), and Nash Breen (Drums). The group has released three albums but has not had much success. They toured with Linkin Park on Projekt Revolution this year.

“What to Do When You Are Dead” was the group’s second album. It is a concept album with each song telling a part of a larger story spanning the length of the album. In this case, the album tells the story of the protagonist’s apparent suicide, as well as his journey through the afterlife as a result. The song “The Truth About Heaven” deals with the pain of death and the regret for having committed suicide.

The Truth About Heaven
Walked past my grave in the dark tonight
Saw the stone and the note you left for me
To answer your question,
I just had to leave, I just had to leave

But that’s not why I’m here
I came down here to tell you
It rains in heaven all day long
I wanna find you so bad and let you know
I’m miserable up here without you
Miserable up here with out you

Found my way back in the dark tonight.
Couldn’t wake up not right next to you
I’d trade in forever to just hear you say
The sound of my name

But that’s not why I’m here
I came down here to tell you
It rains in heaven all day long
I wanna find you so bad and let you know
I’m miserable up here without you
Miserable up here without you

Don’t believe that it’s better
When you leave everything behind
Don’t believe that the weather
Is perfect the day that you die
Don’t believe that the weather
Is perfect the day that you die

I came down here to tell you
It rains in heaven all day long (All day long)
I wanna find you so bad and let you know
I’m miserable up here without you (Miserable up here without you)

Written by Ben Jorgensen

Update: Embedding has been disabled so click here for the video.

The mother of Kareem Rashad Sultan Khan, a decorated American soldier of the Islamic faith who died fighting in Iraq.

Today is Veteran’s Day, the 11th day of the 11th month. It is the 90th anniversary of the end of World War I. In France at Verdun, the site of one of the deadliest battles of that war, French President Nicolas Sarkozy laid flowers on a war memorial. Prince Charles attended the ceremony to represent Great Britain. Also attending were Australia’s Governor-General Quentin Bryce and Peter Mueller, president of the German Bundesrat.

In Britain, at the Cenotaph, a memorial dedicated to the World War I dead, two minutes of silence were held to remember the millions who died fighting in that terrible war. Three of the four surviving British veterans of the war were able to attend the ceremony. These men are Henry Allingham, 112, Harry Patch, 110, and Bill Stone, 108. There are no French or German surviving veterans from the war. There is one surviving American World War I veteran.

In Australia, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd called for peace in a speech at the War Memorial in Canberra. “We have all endured a most bloody century. Let us resolve afresh at the dawn of this new century… that this might be a truly pacific peaceful century.”

A Veteran’s Day ceremony will also be held at Arlington Cemetery at 11 AM.

Elliott Bustamante is an American citizen. He was born at University Medical Center in Tucson on March 14, 2007. Elliott has Down syndrome and was born with a heart defect. But Elliott made two mistakes. First, he was born to parents who are not citizens, although they are legal immigrants. Second, he had no insurance. Within two days of his birth, the hospital made plans to send Elliott to “his community of residence” in Mexico in spite of the fact that he is a US citizen and that his parents had been living in the US for more than a year before he was born and in spite of the fact that Elliott was in the neonatal intensive care unit and required heart surgery to survive.

The hospital told the parents they had no rights and Elliott was leaving with or without them. When Elliott was two weeks old, the hospital loaded him up and sent him to the airport to be transported to Mexico. A lawyer for the Mexican consulate called the police who called the hospital. The police ordered the hospital to return Elliott to the hospital. At the hearing, the hospital asked the judge to send Elliott to Mexico because he was trespassing by being in the hospital. Eventually the Arizona Medicaid system agreed to pay for Elliott’s care and suddenly the University Medical Center decided that it was best for Elliott to stay. As the lawyer from the consulate said, “The medical pretext for the transfer disappeared once they found the money.”

The problem, of course, is the American medical system. What happened to Elliott is not actually unusual. People who come here and do hard work are treated like garbage the second they get sick or injured. The mind boggles.

h/t – NY Times – Getting Tough: Deported in a Coma

Today is my 50th birthday. If you are a regular reader you will recall that I have been passing out every once in awhile and that I passed out about a month ago. You might recall that the electrophysiologist was not convinced that it was related to my heart and he wanted me to follow up with the neurologist. The neurologist had me have a 24 hour EEG last Thursday. You might recall the lovely picture of me. The neurologist called me on Tuesday because she wanted me to come in the next day with Michel. You know that it is never good news when the neurologist tells you to bring your spouse in.

So Michel and I were sitting in the waiting room when I started to feel this strange aura. Everything seemed “off” and when Michel tried to talk to me her words made no sense. When they called us in to see the doctor I couldn’t understand what anyone wanted me to do. I just sat there. Finally they got me inside and the doctor recognized it immediately as a temporal lobe seizure. She said that she had never actually had a patient have one in her office and it fit in with my EEG. Yesterday I saw the specialist who had read my EEG and diagnosed a temporal lobe disturbance and he put me on some medication which should control it.

So what is a temporal lobe seizure? It is an epileptic seizure that is limited to one cerebral hemisphere and causes impairment of awareness or responsiveness.

Complex partial seizures are often preceded by a seizure aura. The seizure aura is a simple partial seizure. The seizure aura might occur as a feeling of déjà vu, jamais vu, fear, euphoria, or depersonalization. The seizure aura might occur as a visual disturbance, such as tunnel vision or a change in the size of objects (macropsia or micropsia). Once consciousness is impaired, the person may display automatisms such as lip smacking, chewing, or swallowing. There may also be loss of memory (amnesia) surrounding the seizure event. The person may still be able to perform routine tasks such as walking or shopping. Witnesses may not recognize that anything is wrong.

That describes fairly well what I have been going through for quite awhile. There is one good thing about this though. Some observations suggest that complex partial seizures might enhance creativity. Maybe that is why I am such a skilled computer programmer.

So Happy Birthday to me! Maybe after 20 years I finally know what has been causing me to pass out.

It’s Friday and it’s my birthday!!! Are you ready for the birthday song of the week?

In honor of our new president-elect, I have chosen a group from his adopted town. Kill Hannah is an alternative rock band formed in Chicago, Illinois in 1994. The group was named after the ex-girlfriend of the group’s founder, Mat Devine. Apparently Mat and Hannah had a rough break-up. The members of the group are Mat Devine (Vocals, Guitar), Jonathan Radtke (Guitars, Background Vocals), Dan Wiese (Guitars, Background Vocals), Greg Corner (Bass Guitar), Elias Mallin (Drums).

The group’s second album released in 2006, Until There’s Nothing Left of Us, debuted at #8 in the official Billboard Heatseeker’s chart. In spite of this, the group has not had much success yet. “Lips Like Morphine” has been the group’s most successful single, reaching #35 on the Billboard U.S. Modern Rock Chart

“They may have a sexually ambiguous nature, like me. They may sing in a high nasal voice, like me. But unlike me, they are the future of Chicago rock.” -Billy Corgan, Smashing Pumpkins

Lips Like Morphine
I want a girl with lips like morphine
Knock me out every time they touch me
I wanna feel that kiss just crush me
And break me down

Knock me out!
Knock me out!

Cuz I’ve waited for all my life
To be here with you tonight

I want a girl with lips like morphine
Blow a kiss that leaves me gasping
I want to feel that lightning strike me
And burn me down

Knock me out!
Knock me out!

Cuz I’ve waited for all my life
To be here with you tonight
Just put me on my back
Knock me out again

Oh, I want a girl with lips like morphine
Knock me out everytime they touch me
I want a girl with lips like morphine
To knock me out

See I’ve waited for all my life
To be here with you tonight
Just put me on my back
Knock me out again.

Written by Mat Devine

Oregon has been officially announced as going to the Democrat, Jeff Merkley. This brings up the Democratic total to 57 with 3 races still undecided. The three races are all deadlocked and going to recounts. They are Alaska, Minnesota, and Georgia. It’s fairly unlikely that Democrats will win all three.

The Alaska race is really the big surprise as this was polled to be an easy win for the Democrats. The fact that the Alaskans have voted for a convicted felon waiting to be sentenced to be their Senator is interesting. The word from the Senate is that he won’t be allowed to take his seat which will force a new election in Alaska. The rumor is that Sarah Palin will try for the seat.

Virginia, California, Oregon, Washington, and Hawaii have been declared for Obama. That pushes him to 297 electoral votes making Barack Obama the 44th President of the United States.

When I was a kid listening to the words of Martin Luther King, Jr., I wondered if an African-American would become president in my lifetime. I am thrilled that this has happened.

Beth just came down the stairs screaming. She is ecstatic and I am ecstatic for her and for all the kids of her generation. Now we have a chance to build an America that we can be proud of. Now we can build an America that looks to the future instead of draining the country dry and leaving nothing for the future.