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buckeyes!

Kathy’s classes today will be special. Not just because her students haven’t seen her in person since she fell ill with influenza A Sunday before last, and not just because this will be her last class of the term. But today she’s bringing ‘em a treat, something she whipped up yesterday. No, it’s not aContinue reading “buckeyes!”

on ties

To church on a morning last year before the first shutdown, I wore a tie, the once daily obligation for work that is now a rare treat in retirement. Among the 240 or so of our still rather conservative congregation in attendance, only 8 guys sported neckwear, including me and the young visiting pastor. AllContinue reading “on ties”

o-no

So the latest player on the world coronavirus stage is B.1.1.529 (1). The B.1.1. traces its genetic lineage directly to the original Wuhan strain. The WHO, continuing its practice of assigning a Greek letter to the isolate had to go through some contortions. Delta had been followed by 8 variants, all of which fizzled out. Continue reading “o-no”

ADE

I haven’t written about coronavirus for quite a while. The sturm und drang over the vaxx has reached baroque levels. Ample evidence is out there that it’s not providing much protection against whatever strains are floating around now, all multiply mutated beyond the original Wuhan variant. Highest new infection rates are in states and countriesContinue reading “ADE”

flea in the O.R.

The manuscript of this recent musing about perhaps the most important component of my career in rheumatology was just accepted for publication in Clinical Medicine, after being rejected by a surgical journal. Sometimes those blades just can’t take a joke. For you outsiders: blades are surgeons, for obvious reasons, whereas we internists, with our focusContinue reading “flea in the O.R.”

taste of joy

It wasn’t our first, but yesterday’s evening with Rodney Crowell at the City Winery in Chicago was certainly one to relish. When the evening was over, I had a better understanding of what Rodney sings “Oh, what a beautiful world” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTsYHaOSXeY.  I didn’t write down my own setlist as I wanted to devote full attentionContinue reading “taste of joy”

London, ’79

My classmate friend and fellow author Sandy Northrop Jones asked if I got “college credit” for the 2 months I’d spent in London as a medical student. That begged a response, which I offered: Oh my, yes. U of C encouraged study abroad, and my favorite cardiology attending Dr. Resnekov had connections. He set meContinue reading “London, ’79”

from the ‘burg

I’m very fond of the little village in which I grew up: Vicksburg (pop’n 3,617). Between what my old VHS classmates tell me and what I read in my monthly South County News (1), I pretty much keep on top of what’s happening there. This month’s SCN featured stories of the good fortunes of twoContinue reading “from the ‘burg”

green new deal

I encountered this on Facebook. I shall surely try to follow suit

scorecards

I apologize for following the whole COVID thing like a sporting event. There are too many players here to call winners and losers. One site I’ve visited religiously through it all is that of Johns Hopkins. Pretty good school, rejected me for a rheumatology fellowship. But if you go to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus ResourceContinue reading “scorecards”