Skip to main content

New Year Resolutions in February

Evidently timeliness is not one of my New Year’s resolutions since it is nearly half way through February and I’m just now posting this blog entry! Perhaps a better resolution for me is to not beat myself up so much about all of the things I can’t do.

That’s getting to be a big one!

Honestly, 2016 didn’t come in with a bang. Rather it came in with a sniffle, cough, headache etc. I’ll blog more about that when I do a health update.

I didn’t do so great with my 2015 resolutions. My goal was to paint 12 paintings. Well, I did three.

Part of the problem is that my stamina just isn’t what it once was. I feel okay, but the number of productive hours in the average day is shrinking. I do the most urgent things first, and there isn’t always anything left for the things I enjoy or the things that just make me happy.

That is not a complaint, however. We have to make choices about how to spend our time, and while I’d love to do the things I just purely enjoy, I do feel like the work I am doing instead is important. It gives me meaning, not just pleasure. So, I’m content with the choice.

That being said, this year’s resolution is to blog more often. I’d like to blog at least once a week. I’d really like to blog every day, but that’s probably a bit too ambitious. Unlike painting, it doesn’t take a lot of set up to blog. If I just make myself do it, then it would only take maybe 10 minutes a day.

When I was still working, I’d sometimes blog while eating my lunch. It was just a few minutes, but it made my work day so much more productive. It was like a lunch time brain dump of all the stuff rattling around in my noggin. Once the decks were cleared, I concentrated so much better through the afternoon.



Right now in HPSland there is so much going on that there is just a lot of stuff floating around in the old noggin. Perhaps cleaning house up there a little more often wouldn’t just be enjoyable, but practical too.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Ratner's Cheesecake

Here's another recipe from Toby! Thanks Toby......and I'll get the others posted soon! Ratner's Cheesecake and plain cookies Ratner's was a Jewish dairy restaurant in the lower East Side of Manhattan. This recipe, from my disintegrating, no longer in print Ratner's cookbook, is the closest I've ever gotten to reproducing the rich, heavy cheesecake my mother made when I was a kid. It's worth the time it takes to prepare and every last calorie. Dough Can be prepared in advance. Makes enough for two cakes. Can be frozen or used to make cookies – see recipe below. 1 cup sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 cup shortening 1 teaspoon lemon extract 1 cup butter 2 eggs 3 cups sifted cake flour ½ teaspoon salt 2 cups all purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking powder 1. In a bowl, combine all ingredients with hands. Refrigerate 3 -4 hours, or preferably overnight. Filling (for...

Some good news about Pirfenidone

Below is a press release from Intermune, the company that makes Pirfenidone. They have essentially reviewed the various clinical trials going on, and decided that Pirfenidone is safe and well tolerated. That would pretty much go along with what we've observed in the HPS community as well. We have a few folks that have been on the drug since the late 90s and continue to do well. Of course, as a journalist, I do have to say consider the source - but at the same time, as someone in a Pirfenidone trial, it's good to know. Results of Comprehensive Safety Analysis of pirfenidone In IPF Patients Presented At European Respiratory Meeting - Analysis shows safety and tolerability of pirfenidone across four clinical trials - VIENNA, Sept. 14 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- InterMune, Inc. (Nasdaq: ITMN ) today announced that the results of a comprehensive review of safety data from four clinical studies were presented at the 2009 European Respiratory Society Annual Congress in Vienna, Austria...

The next generation with Hermansky-Pudlak Syndrome

I'm so behind on posting about the trip to Puerto Rico. Since the episode of Mystery Diagnosis on Hermansky-Pudlak Syndrome ran right after we got home, it's been a little busy. These, however, are my favorite pictures from Puerto Rico. I know, not pretty senery etc - but these little guys and gals inspire me. They are the next generation of folks with HPS, and if we keep up the hard work, they will live better lives because of it. They motivate me.