Carnival of MS Bloggers #21

Welcome to the Carnival of MS Bloggers, a bi-weekly compendium of thoughts and experiences shared by those living with multiple sclerosis.

Daily OM 
by Herrad

You may jump to conclusions today when interacting with others,

especially if you are assessing your exchanges from an emotional or biased point of view.

Perhaps you are feeling suspicious of other people's motives

or are making assumptions about how you're being received.

If this is the case for you today, it may be because your mind

is busy referencing the past and compelling you to get stuck in projections.

Consider focusing your attention on the present moment instead.

Paying attention to what's really happening, rather than getting mired in mind chatter,

can help you to think clearly and rationally so you can form appropriate conclusions.

Staying present allows us to process information rationally

during our interactions with people.

Being in the moment frees us of the mind's tendency

to dip into the past or jump ahead into an unknown future.

We can listen attentively and take what we see and hear for what it is in its own context.

The objectivity this affords us allows us to come to more pertinent conclusions.

We can also respond to what's in front of us rather than

react from past experiences, our fears, or conditioning.

Stay present and absorb what is happening to you right now,

and you will be able to honestly assess your situation

and draw more accurate conclusions.

In a post which made me laugh outloud, Mandi of Anatomy of Restlessness shares  
An open letter to Acme Syringe.

Dear Acme Syringe Company:

I am writing to tell you that I have used your syringes for years, and I would like to ask you for a syringe sponsorship. I believe that I have excellent qualifications, and I will be a good representative of your company. A far better representative than the folks who abuse your syringes and use them multiple times to inject illegal substances. Attached is my syringe resume:

Allergies
One round of allergy shots 1x a week for 3 years
One round of 2 allergy shots 2x a week for another 3 years
4 skin tests, with about 60 needle pricks each (back and forearms)

Multiple Sclerosis (this is where it gets exciting)
Innumerable blood draws
almost 25 days of infusion with Solu-Medrol and IVIG
spinal tap (this one requires several little needles for numbing and a few BIG needles for drawing cerebro-spinal fluid)
injections of interferon every other day forever and ever
B12 shot

Thyroid
biopsy with several needles
more blood draw

Diabetes
I don't have diabetes, but I would definitely use your syringes if I were to get it.

Thank you so much for your time to consider my request. Please feel free to contact me with any questions or comments.

Sincerely,
Mandi

ps: I can definitely get you lots of photos of me wearing a sports bra in extreme locations using your syringes.

Hey - DID YOU KNOW MONTEL WILLAMS HAS THAT? asks Bald Ben.

Would the real Bald Ben please stand up......

I never much thought of myself as a "blog person". Sitting here writing some sort of blather about myself for others to read never really seemed of much interest to me. Then my wife got pregnant. One might ask, "Hmm, how does your wife getting pregnant lead you to blogging? I would think you would have a lot more to think about?"

Your question would be a good one, albeit a little short sided, but a good one nonetheless.
You see, my wife wasn't only pregnant with one baby, but she was pregnant with two babies! Yep twins. This as I have been known to say is proof there is a God and he has a very dark and wicked sense of humor.

Picture it: It's a lovely day in heaven. Large white billowy clouds, soft harp music in the air, well manicured lawns, you know....heaven. Standing by the pearly white gates, God, calls all his buddies around, "Buddha, Moses, Vishnu, Jesus get over here." As they gather they realize that God has got a real rip snorter and He can barely hold back his laughter.
Now, God has been known to tell a good yuke from time to time, (i.e.=2 0floods, pestilence, duck billed platypus) but if he already can't contain himself this has got to be good. "Wait till you see this," almost bursting in hilarity, "See that Bald guy down there?"
"Yeah" They reply choir like.

God bellows out," allakazam!"

ZAP!

Bald Ben's got MS.

God is rolling. He almost starts a thunder storm he is laughing so hard.

The other deities look at each other a bit confused. You see, Buddha never understood this whole incurable disease bit. He's more of a knock, knock joke guy.

Knock, knock…
Who's there?
Buddha.
Buddha who?
Don't cry, it's just me the Enlightened One…..

And Moses was still trying to figure out how the Jews, after thousands of years of persecution, were supposed to be the chosen people. Jesus, being the savior and all, meekly taps God on his great big omnipresent shoulder and says, "Dad, ummm, that wasn't really that funny." God, still laughing, eyes his eternal Son and says, "Wait for it, wait for it...."

Another allakazam!

ZAP! Bald Ben is now the father of twin boys. All the deities break down in uncontrollable laughter at the great cosmic joke that was just played on the poor kid who lost his hair when he was 16. If you listen real close, you can still hear their eternal mirth.

But I digress, I started the family blog (It's linked to on the left20there. Two babies, one Bald guy, and a woman who can't tell the difference: a love story.) Simply because I was feeling a bit lazy and antisocial. "Hold the phone," I hear you say, "Lazy and Antisocial? Blogging can be a tough hobbie, and it ostensibly connects you to thousands of people at one time."

Ahh, you are right. If done with a little bit of heart and elbow grease blogging can be a full time job. However I am not looking for anything permanent thanks, just a little part time thing on the side will do just fine. The laziness and antisocial behavior came out of the fact that I didn't feel like having to call every person we knew with every detail of every doctor appointment, answering the same questions ad nauseum. Oddly enough despite the blog, I had to call every person we knew with every detail of every doctor appointment, answering the same questions ad nauseum.

However something odd happened along the way,

"Did you step in Dog poop?"

For the answer to this question AND MUCH MORE, visit Bald Ben who says, "...I will not hide. I am Bald Ben. My view points, my thoughts, my opinions are all free for the taking. I stand behind what I say, that's why I say it. Otherwise this would all be a colossal waste of time."

This concludes the 21st edition of the Carnival.

The next Carnival of MS Bloggers will be hosted here on October 23, 2008. Please remember to submit a post (via email) from your blog of which you are particularly proud, or which you simply want to share, by noon on Tuesday, October 21, 2008.

Thank you.

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