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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 22 of 22. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Clearskies on March 14, 2018, at 3:44:16
If anybody is watching, hello from me. I still live on my own in Spokane, WA with my gorgeous and quite mad cat Amelie. Im seeing a guy who isnt an alcoholic, a rarity for me. Wish me luck! Im still stumbling along in my depression and anxiety... they wax and wane. I take advantage of the better days and curse the worse of them. Im developing a relationship with my Alexa Dot. She has scant musical knowledge. How weird is that, Alexandra, eh? Funny name.
I ran away from the mental health pages on FB. I found that multiple pages had the same cliques of members who pretty much decided who was allowed to post, no matter the requirements. I felt so judged, what a surprise, and so withdrew rather than have a foam noodle fight in a wading pool with a couple of 4 year olds. So to speak. Moderation, HA! what a lovely idea. What an impossible ideal.
I hope Babble keeps plugging along. I have had med changes since my time spent in the psych unit in October, Ill post on the main board for that.
I love you Babblers!
cs
Posted by baseball55 on March 14, 2018, at 17:34:05
In reply to Hi there friends, posted by Clearskies on March 14, 2018, at 3:44:16
Well, I'm still here, checking the boards every few days, though there's not much posting. I'm glad you're out of the psych ward. I have been there far too many times, but not in 3 years now (fingers crossed). As I had written a while back, I left my husband 4 years ago and have done fairly well. But lately I've been feeling freaked out being alone in the apartment. I'm not sure what to do about this. I wake up with this feeling of dread every day. I try to get out as much as possible, but we had a few major storms in the last couple of weeks which kept me indoors.
I felt so unsettled this morning, that I called my therapist (who I have been checking in with only 3-4 times a year) for an appointment. I'm seeing her tomorrow. Hope she can offer some advice. She's big on DBT, which emphasizes practical solutions. I don't know Maybe meditation, though I'm very bad at that.
> If anybody is watching, hello from me. I still live on my own in Spokane, WA with my gorgeous and quite mad cat Amelie. Im seeing a guy who isnt an alcoholic, a rarity for me. Wish me luck! Im still stumbling along in my depression and anxiety... they wax and wane. I take advantage of the better days and curse the worse of them. Im developing a relationship with my Alexa Dot. She has scant musical knowledge. How weird is that, Alexandra, eh? Funny name.
>
> I ran away from the mental health pages on FB. I found that multiple pages had the same cliques of members who pretty much decided who was allowed to post, no matter the requirements. I felt so judged, what a surprise, and so withdrew rather than have a foam noodle fight in a wading pool with a couple of 4 year olds. So to speak. Moderation, HA! what a lovely idea. What an impossible ideal.
>
> I hope Babble keeps plugging along. I have had med changes since my time spent in the psych unit in October, Ill post on the main board for that.
>
> I love you Babblers!
> cs
>
>
Posted by sigismund on March 14, 2018, at 19:08:47
In reply to Re: Hi there friends, posted by baseball55 on March 14, 2018, at 17:34:05
Neither of you can get sufficient comfort from your interest in what you know?
Let's emphasise interest rather than comfort.
I get a lot of pleasure out of trying to understand the world. It is a bleak kind of pleasure but the interest is real.
I don't get lonely. I enjoy my brief encounters with ordinary people, at the fish shop or at the supermarket.
I've been trying to understand Mark Blyth and read the usual suspects. And I've never read James Baldwin. Got a great bio of "Stalin Waiting for Hitler" by Stephen Kotkin. It reminded me of how anglo oriented our perspective is, just leaving our judgement to one side for the moment.
Posted by baseball55 on March 15, 2018, at 18:03:03
In reply to Re: Hi there friends, posted by sigismund on March 14, 2018, at 19:08:47
Good for you! I also like to read. The problem with interest is that I'm a professor and learning new stuff is my job. I did, however, start learning piano about a year ago and practicing is a pleasure - little by little I can see progress. Getting together with friends is very important to me also.
I think part of my malaise recently is that I was cut off from a group of sort-of friends after one of them (who has an out-of-control temper) freaked out on me. Even though she was clearly at fault, the other women were really more her friends than mine and just took sides with her. It was weird. Like some bad mean girls middle-school scenario, except that all these women are in their 50s.
Posted by sigismund on March 16, 2018, at 19:19:20
In reply to Re: Hi there friends, posted by baseball55 on March 15, 2018, at 18:03:03
> I'm a professor
I knew you taught, and I assumed economics.
My son and I have tried reading Varoufakis and now Mark Blyth together, with only modest success. My niece was studying economics in Sydney and had Varoufakis as a lecturer. He booted them off the trendy stuff and made them go back to the beginning.
Recently my son bought a house in Wellington, NZ, and I assumed the enormous price was a consequence of asset price inflation from QE and therefore a tax on the bailout. It is interesting how things can disappear. I recall a graph of house prices where the adjusted value did not change much between the high of the 1920s until the late 50s. We assume what is happening now is permanent.
Posted by Clearskies on March 17, 2018, at 2:14:06
In reply to Re: Hi there friends, posted by sigismund on March 16, 2018, at 19:19:20
I have only just regained the capability to read and comprehend anything longer than the back of a tissue box. My life was truly miserable without the friendship of my non-judgmental book.
(I realize my post is entirely OT from the preceding one, who cares.)
Posted by sigismund on March 17, 2018, at 19:28:02
In reply to Re: Hi there friends, posted by Clearskies on March 17, 2018, at 2:14:06
I don't think you should worry about being OT. That's not the way conversations work, by which I mean the unpredictable is interesting.
Sometimes I can't read. I have all sorts of things I need to read before I can no longer do so.
When I was in Da Lat I'd go to this lovely cafe with a view, order a 'rum' but it was something else but anyway it worked, or two, and I read "The Crossing" twice. I'd sit there all afternoon, the tears rolling down my cheeks at times.
Posted by Clearskies on March 17, 2018, at 23:49:26
In reply to Re: Hi there friends, posted by sigismund on March 17, 2018, at 19:28:02
> I don't think you should worry about being OT. That's not the way conversations work, by which I mean the unpredictable is interesting.
>
> Sometimes I can't read. I have all sorts of things I need to read before I can no longer do so.
>
> When I was in Da Lat I'd go to this lovely cafe with a view, order a 'rum' but it was something else but anyway it worked, or two, and I read "The Crossing" twice. I'd sit there all afternoon, the tears rolling down my cheeks at times.When you were teaching ESL?
Posted by beckett2 on March 18, 2018, at 2:15:54
In reply to Re: Hi there friends, posted by Clearskies on March 17, 2018, at 2:14:06
> I have only just regained the capability to read and comprehend anything longer than the back of a tissue box. My life was truly miserable without the friendship of my non-judgmental book.
>
> (I realize my post is entirely OT from the preceding one, who cares.)The back of a tissue box, and sometimes not even that. There are blank gaps. I wish I had read more or differently so I could read in-depth what interests me and comprehend.
But I'm hard on myself or not enough at all the wrong times. I have started reading like a thirsty person looking for water--that is, with desperation. Life is short, and I feel there is so much to understand it hurts my head.
Posted by Clearskies on March 18, 2018, at 2:55:40
In reply to Re: Hi there friends » Clearskies, posted by beckett2 on March 18, 2018, at 2:15:54
> > I have only just regained the capability to read and comprehend anything longer than the back of a tissue box. My life was truly miserable without the friendship of my non-judgmental book.
> >
> > (I realize my post is entirely OT from the preceding one, who cares.)
>
> The back of a tissue box, and sometimes not even that. There are blank gaps. I wish I had read more or differently so I could read in-depth what interests me and comprehend.
>
> But I'm hard on myself or not enough at all the wrong times. I have started reading like a thirsty person looking for water--that is, with desperation. Life is short, and I feel there is so much to understand it hurts my head.
>
Oh, I do so hear you. I used to be a one book at a time reader, now I find Ive got or three at once. It feels extravagant.
Posted by beckett2 on March 18, 2018, at 3:19:04
In reply to Re: Hi there friends, posted by sigismund on March 14, 2018, at 19:08:47
> Neither of you can get sufficient comfort from your interest in what you know?
>
> Let's emphasise interest rather than comfort.
>
> I get a lot of pleasure out of trying to understand the world. It is a bleak kind of pleasure but the interest is real.
>
> I don't get lonely. I enjoy my brief encounters with ordinary people, at the fish shop or at the supermarket.
>
> I've been trying to understand Mark Blyth and read the usual suspects. And I've never read James Baldwin. Got a great bio of "Stalin Waiting for Hitler" by Stephen Kotkin. It reminded me of how anglo oriented our perspective is, just leaving our judgement to one side for the moment.Lithuania is prepared for conflict with Russia. It's just accepted. The expulsion of diplomats and my first thought was of Archduke Franz Ferdinand.
How did you make a hyperlink of a title?
I've just finished Nothing Is True and Everything Is Possible https://tinyurl.com/y8e9hdsu. Before that, and unfortunately timely, A Very Expensive Poison https://tinyurl.com/y9n2l2ge. My approach is to start in the Nineties and work backwards and forwards, otherwise I lack context. The Future Is History https://tinyurl.com/ycan3f7h is in the queue.
Posted by Clearskies on March 18, 2018, at 3:24:09
In reply to Re: Hi there friends » sigismund, posted by beckett2 on March 18, 2018, at 3:19:04
Im forcing my way through Ready, Player One. I didnt grow up with video games, this is alien to me.
Then on to The Book of Dust
Posted by Clearskies on March 18, 2018, at 3:27:06
In reply to Re: Hi there friends » beckett2, posted by Clearskies on March 18, 2018, at 3:24:09
> Im forcing my way through Ready, Player One. I didnt grow up with video games, this is alien to me.
> Then on to The Book of Dust....and even though I selected the correct publications from Amazon, the hyperlinks dont show up.
Hmm.
>
Posted by baseball55 on March 18, 2018, at 18:57:24
In reply to Re: Hi there friends, posted by sigismund on March 17, 2018, at 19:28:02
> When I was in Da Lat I'd go to this lovely cafe with a view, order a 'rum' but it was something else but anyway it worked, or two, and I read "The Crossing" twice. I'd sit there all afternoon, the tears rolling down my cheeks at times.
What's "The Crossing"?
Posted by beckett2 on March 19, 2018, at 1:55:12
In reply to Re: Hi there friends » beckett2, posted by Clearskies on March 18, 2018, at 3:24:09
> Im forcing my way through Ready, Player One. I didnt grow up with video games, this is alien to me.
>
> Then on to The Book of DustReally? Those are literally the two fiction books in my queue. Actually, I started them, but put them aside for some nonfiction. I'm really picky about fiction which is unfortunate because I love to lose myself.
Ready Player One is much better than I thought. On Book of Dust I'm less than 100%. His Dark Materials-- I've spent a lot of time in that universe, and so far Dust hasn't captivated me.
Have you read Let the Right One In?
Posted by beckett2 on March 19, 2018, at 1:58:34
In reply to Re: Hi there friends, posted by sigismund on March 14, 2018, at 19:08:47
There's this: https://theintercept.com/2018/03/17/the-hilarious-terrifying-british-death-of-stalin-shows-how-american-comedys-gone-wrong/
Posted by sigismund on March 19, 2018, at 19:22:39
In reply to Re: Hi there friends » sigismund, posted by beckett2 on March 18, 2018, at 3:19:04
>I've just finished Nothing Is True and Everything Is Possible https://tinyurl.com/y8e9hdsu. Before that, and unfortunately timely, A Very Expensive Poison https://tinyurl.com/y9n2l2ge. My approach is to start in the Nineties and work backwards and forwards, otherwise I lack context. The Future Is History https://tinyurl.com/ycan3f7h is in the queue.
It could easily have been so much better. Eastern Europe and especially the former Tsarist Empire was obviously going to be sensitive to Russia. They swallowed the unification of Germany. Trying to put Georgia in NATO must have been the last straw. They are ringed by US bases. In Uzbekistan as well? I read that was where the soviet poisons were developed. I don't know why governments don't practice more restraint and care in their actions. Most of our (whatever that means) problems are of our own devising. Russia has never had competent democratic non-authoritarian leadership.
Posted by sigismund on March 19, 2018, at 19:33:44
In reply to Re: Hi there friends » sigismund, posted by Clearskies on March 17, 2018, at 23:49:26
>When you were teaching ESL?
I've never done it formally. Since I have learned intermediate level Spanish (newspapers are fine) I have a better understanding of English grammar. The friends who have helped me with my Spanish I help with their English. Very fortunately my Spanish is better than their English so we do not default to English. I just had this strong desire to learn a second language.
I was reading "The Gospel According to Jesus Christ" in Spanish because I like Saramago and Portuguese is so close to Spanish I thought I would have more sense of the original. In one chapter Joseph doesn't protest enough when he gets rounded up by mistake and is then crucified due to institutional inertia. It was only at the end of the chapter, 30 pages alter, that I realised. It's a different way of reading, with lots of attention to verb endings.
Posted by sigismund on March 19, 2018, at 19:52:35
In reply to Re: Hi there friends » sigismund, posted by Clearskies on March 17, 2018, at 23:49:26
This made it somewhat harder
>There is no punctuation, or demarcation of any kind to differentiate dialogue from description, omniscient narration, or internal ruminations.
Posted by sigismund on March 19, 2018, at 20:03:39
In reply to Re: Hi there friends, posted by baseball55 on March 18, 2018, at 18:57:24
Well, it's about a lot of things I guess, including a meditation on the US and what is has become and life on the border, in Texas at least 50 years ago. I recall the line that went something like 'In those days you could ride a horse clear all the way to Mexico'. These 2 brothers in their late teens who live there on a farm do so in the aftermath of the Mexican Revolution (whenever that was). There are long cinematic conversations between one of these young men and priests in churches ruined by revolution and earthquake on the meaning of life and generally skeptical and despairing women. He has a Biblical style with a minimum of adjectives and adverbs.
One of my all time favourite books.
Posted by baseball55 on March 20, 2018, at 19:18:19
In reply to Re: Hi there friends » baseball55, posted by sigismund on March 19, 2018, at 20:03:39
> One of my all time favourite books.
Checked out the title on amazon. Is this the book by Cormac McCarthy? Somehow, I've never read any of his stuff.
Posted by sigismund on March 21, 2018, at 15:14:18
In reply to Re: Hi there friends, posted by baseball55 on March 20, 2018, at 19:18:19
Yes, it's no 2 in a trilogy. The very last, the least good, has the cowboy as an old man sitting on the steps of an overpass on the road at El Paso next to the wall drinking himself to death.
The first 60 pages of the Crossing has a lot of detailed information on wolf traps. I had to push through that.
This is the end of the thread.
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