OMG!!

The depths of my technological ignorance never cease to amaze me.

The "error" that's been plaguing me all week was no more than some wierd HTML code that somehow ended up in my posting template.

For the life of me, I have no idea how that happened. Furthermore, had I bothered to, you know, READ the error message Blogger kept giving me (instead of closing the tab in a huff and bitching to myself for the next 10 minutes about Blogger being SO inept) I would have discovered in about 9 seconds that I could easily solve my problem. A simple navigation, some deleting of code and viola!

So, I'm back online. Apparently, I never left. I'm going to go lick my wounds now, and perhaps post later. I've got lots to talk about. ->

I Get It

I finally get it after almost 30 years.

I get the profound sadness that people of my father's generation felt when John Lennon was shot.

John Lennon was a mixed bag, after all: He was a drug user, likely an alcoholic, a terrible father to his first born, an awful partner to his first wife, and attracted to the likes of Yoko Ono. But he was musically brilliant. And had a wicked sense of humor. And ultimately a purveyor of peace.

And he helped provide the soundtrack to an entire generation. An excellent soundtrack. A soundtrack that can't be matched--it was the sound of a time, after all. The time of the 60's. Those wonderful, awful sixties with the deaths of JFK, MLK, RFK, Vietnam, Kent State...

But then came the 70's. The Boomers grew up. They married. They had kids. And they turned those Beatles disks for us so we wouldn't be deprived of the foursome's perfect harmonies, and slick pop arrangements and later, their experiments with acid pop and rock. They played those albums for us, perhaps so they could turn back their own clocks a bit. Those erosive clocks that force upon you responsibilities that aren't always so much fun. Jobs. Mortgages. Marriage. Kids.

And when John Lennon died, they collectively mourned. And they came and told us, maybe tearfully: Can you believe it? John Lennon was shot! So young. Such a tragedy.

And we agreed.

And then we went school and heard Michael Jackson.

We heard Michael Jackson on the bus. We heard him at the skating rink. We heard him in the gym at lunch break. We heard him in our cars and at our parties and at our school dances and on our dates and in the clubs.

Michael Jackson, along with Prince and Madonna. HE was the sound, the essence, the embodiment of the Gen Xers.

HE was the one that enthralled us with Off the Wall and later completely stunned us with Thriller, one of the most perfect pop albums ever produced. He was the one who made MTV his own and gave us those unbelievable visuals along with his astounding sound. He pushed the envelope every time with his videos. Every time. They were always good. We talked about those videos. They were as much a part of our existence as radio was for those who came before us.

And then....well. What can I say? The man was troubled. Addicted to plastic surgery. To pills. To little boys.

He was complex. Aren't we all? Aren't we all, after all, a mixed bag and a bundle of neuroses?

I offer to you mMy top 10 MJ songs/videos. Forgive me for the repetition, as I've posted two already. I ask again, what are your favorites? Who knows, I may have to change my mind when I hear from you.

10. Wanna Be Starting Something. The first track on Thriller, more of an Off the Wall sound and thus, good. Better than good.

9. Black or White. Only because of the wonderful face-melding scene at then end. See? Hard to separate the music from the video.

8. Smooth Criminal. What a song, with that beat and those repetitive lyrics. The video is also a masterpiece of performance--those smooth moves and that...that leaning thing he does. Plus, bonus! An unbelievable cover that I plastered on Facebook but will do here as well. Alien Ant Farm's rendition, which is spectacular. I almost like it better than the original.

7. Scream. With his equally gifted sister, a black and white bonanza of technology and talent.

6. Off the Wall. Title track from the 1979 album. I'm sure this one was played ad nauseum in the discos. But it's a great tune.

5. Billie Jean. Linked to the video yesterday. What an original concept for a video--the objects lighting up when he touched them. It still stands today as an amazing meld of visual and audio. The link here is his fantastic performance at Motown's televised 25th anniversary, where he introduced the world to the moon walk. And apparently, right before the music and lights went up, he lost his other (white, sequined) glove. The show must go on.

4. Thriller. That 13 minute epic video, which was more like a cultural event when it came out. The scheduled playing it of on MTV. The "making of" TV special. Now we get married and do the dance at our weddings.

3. Beat it. Of course. The third single released off the Thriller album and the song that started the dance-in-the-video craze that went on for...well, did it ever stop?

2. Don't Stop Til You Get Enough. That little "whooooooo" at the beginning? I love that. And his falsetto? How can you not move to this one?

1. Can You Feel It. I embedded last night. I love, love, love this song. Love it. And I know I'm cheating because this is a Jackson 5 song, but he's front and center, right? ->

RIP MJ

This video rocked my world back in day....

Can't embed, must follow link. What's your favorite? ->

My Take on Health Care, Part I--Anecdotes

Interesting that I was getting all set to write and publish a lengthy entry on the sorry state of our health care system for today when I got sidetracked and then called out.

Because I met a foreigner last night, someone from India, and he had a few choice words about the way things work over here.

He was there with his brother and towards the end of my assessment he asked me this:

Him: Why is stuff over here so expensive? Over in India, you can get 100 Valiums for one American dollar. Here, a prescription of the generic stuff is much more expensive. Same thing with Tylenol.

He then proceeded to tell me that his wife needed a D and C last year. The hospital charged over $8,000 for the procedure and sent them a bill for half. Even after all the insurance wranglings, they were still stuck with a bill for over $400. Which seems relatively reasonable from our perspective. However, he called some doctor friends back home to see what the same procedure would have cost him had he been there. Without fail, all his contacts said the couple would have been out no more than about $40 or so. Not only that, the procedure would have cost the clinic in India no where near 8 grand...more like half of that.

He genuinely wanted my take on things.

So I went off--but I warned him I was stepping on my soapbox beforehand.

I told him, and I truly believe this, that our health care system is in the hands of lobbyists, and thus, corporations (read: pharmaceutical companies, insurance companies, privately owned hospitals). Our costs are so high because they CAN be. The private sector is at the helm, and has been for some time. Their concern is the bottom line. The company's in the black. CEO's are paid outrageous amounts of money. Stock holders are getting their share. Everyone is happy, right?

And then you have the AMA, which also has a powerful lobby. I think for the most part, doctors have a sense of entitlement about their paychecks because they went to school for SO long and they're SO smart. Fine. But bloated salaries for a select few mean the costs have to be recovered somewhere. And since hospitals are not public facilities (even the teaching hospital in my area is private. They have a lease with HCA--the state let go of it over a decade ago) there's no tax revenue. Technically. Hospitals will always accept Medicaid and Medicare, so there are still government subsidies going on. So where does the revenue come from? Well, from us, of course.

And who gets the biggest squeeze? The middle class. The cost of health insurance has risen at ridiculous rates over the years. The rich can take the hit. The poor and elderly can get on state insurance. The ones in the middle take the brunt and that hit is huge.

My guy pointed out that in India, higher education is free. FREE. Kids who show promise as physicians early in life are flagged and sent to undergrad and then medical school at no cost to themselves. I would make the argument that if you don't have to pay for school, you don't get it in your head that you'll get to instantly earn a six figure salary upon exiting school.

Think about this: people go bankrupt in this country from medical bills.

Bankrupt.

How is this just?

One of my own, a social worker in another part of the country is doing all the right stuff. She is educated. She has a job. Her husband had a job. They had great insurance. Until he lost his job. Now, even with her insurance coverage, she is looking at possibly forking over $500 a month (!) for her child's asthma prescriptions. That is a ton of money, I don't care who you are. The tragic irony for her is that she works for a hospital.

How is this just?

Another one of my own, a dear friend and another social worker, had to pick up and move to a different part of the country a couple of months ago. The economy tanked in her state and she literally could not find a job. She HAS to have a "real" job with health insurance because she's Type I diabetic. She literally can't afford to not have health insurance--insulin is expensive.

How is this just?

I'm just getting started. More tomorrow. ->

My Brush with Fame

Most of my dear (dozen) readers know by now that my job is nothing if not interesting. There is lots of down time considering the nature of my job, but I find all of the assessments I do fascinating. Granted, I hear plenty of tragic stories, and some situations just want to make ME jump off a bridge, but occasionally* I talk to some geniunely intriguing characters.

Like a television star.

Say you: You lie.

Say me: It's absolutely true.

I even Googled the guy to verify he was telling me the truth, because you can't just blithely throw out that you're a STAR and not expect me to follow up on the matter the very moment I have access to a computer with high speed internet. I mean, come on! I'm not made of stone. (I'm fairly certain I removed the skid marks on the floor by the computer I use. I'd better double check, though. Those ER nurses can be....well.....persnickity.)

So, there I was, in the hospital room nodding and "hmm-mmmm-ing" and saying all the right things in all the right places (Oh, all right. I listened to him too. Geez.), when the guy throws out that he had been on a famous television series. I even got the whole back story. Just like a producer! I must say I felt quite important sauntering out of that ER room that day. And the dude waited to tell ME and not the doctor who came before me. I win!

Say you: Was he really on a famous TV show? Some lame show on local cable channel with a viewing audience of 784 doesn't count, either.

Say me: Indeed he was. Google Fact Finder verified in no uncertain terms that my guy was on Unsolved Mysteries. He was cured of a chronic illness after a strange event--but I can't go into any further details. Confidentiality and all. ->

*Self disclosure (this is one of those clinical tactics social workers use to make one feel comfortable so one will open up and share their feelings. In the blogging world this translates into: leave comments, damn it!): I'm over 40 years old and I just learned to spell that word this year. And I still screw it up half the time.

It Bears Repeating....

I know I've said this before.

I've said a lot of stuff before, actually, but this is for the younger ones.

Quite specifically, the 18 to 24 crowd.

Let me be more specific: This is for the 18 to 24 crowd who just got dumped by boyfriend/girlfriend.

OK, are you listening? Do I have your attention?

I don't think they're listening.

I think I'll yell, just to ensure you completely get it. Ready? OK, here goes:

TAKING A BUNCH OF PILLS WILL NOT BRING THE WAYWARD LOVER BACK!!! NOR IS IT THE ANSWER TO YOUR BROKEN HEART!!

And while I'm at it, let me just continue with my rant.

Quit texting him.

Stop stalking her on Facebook.

No more emails! No more IMs! No more Twitter feed!

And for the love of all that is holy in this world, don't get drunk and call her (or your friends, or both) crying at three in the morning. This, my friend, is how you end up with a nosy social worker at your bedside in an ER.

Whew. I feel so much better, how about you? ->

Playing Hooky

It's Friday! It's summer! Music! From the vault, one of my favorites as a kid.

A Bit of a Different Path Today

Take six minutes. You won't regret it, trust me. ->

Quotes from the Field

"I got diabetes after I was stuck by lightening." ->

Closet Issues

So.

It's tough being eighteen, right?

I mean, sure, you have youth and beauty on your side. On the other hand, you have young and dumb working against you more often than not.

It's a time when you're figuring things out. Revelations about yourself, about the world around, abound.

And when you have the revelation that you're gay, well...I think there are going to be some growing pains associated with that. Even in today's accepting times.

Especially when your family is religious. Like, attends church four times a week religious. Like Penecostal religious. Like fundamentalist Christian religious. To the point that women aren't allowed to cut their hair religious.

Imagine coming out to those kinds of parents.

Imagine their reaction. Their treatment of their child, who is a sinner, by the way.

I'd probably want to take a handful of pills too. ->

Update: In an episode of karmic timing, Talk of the Nation had a program about coming out today.