surmising with aplomb and nary remorse
Life is all it is – joyful, sad, comprehensive, confusing, peaceful, violent, and on and on and on… Of course, regardless of what reality tries to tell one, it can only be what one – you, me, each unique individual making up the all of we – says it is. And no matter how hard … Read more
I’m told to live my life like There’s no tomorrow But truly There has to be a better way For if the morrow never comes And it’s my last breath I breathe today How will I know to appreciate it For won’t I be too enthralled, too focused, too busy with Living As much as … Read more
Seize hard the moment Right now before it passes by Seize it with all your might With all your purpose And don’t question why Or wonder where it’s been Or wonder where it’s going Or wonder anything at all Just hold on to it And don’t let go As it forever evolves And leads you … Read more
Very sorry to see that the great Rutger Hauer has passed. He was one badass mofo on the big screen and in life; and he killed it in Blade Runner, one of the most badassest films ever. Actually one of the roles of his I liked almost as much as Roy Blatty was his portrayal … Read more
just the dreamers
#notetoself
#sillysayingsmakemesmile
On this day five years ago, I received the news that a recent lung biopsy showed that my lungs were inflicted with a severe form of graft versus host disease (GVHD) called bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome (BOS). BOS, I came to find out, was a known but uncommon side-effect resulting from a bone marrow transplant (for leukemia) that I had had earlier in the year. And by severe I was told it meant the BOS was incurable, non-reversible, and, in most cases, aggressively fatal. I was also told — because I had asked and insisted on an answer — that, according to a National Institutes of Health (NIH) study of the time, BOS had only a 13%, five-year survival rate. In other words, there was an 87% chance that within five years I would be dead.
Well, it’s been five years and here I am – a newly minted Thirteen Percenter.
Can a brother get a “Hell yeah?”
Hell yeah!
Anyway… at my most recent appointment with my oncologist, in addition to his standard declaration whenever he sees me of, “So, I see you’re still alive,” he also declared that my present condition may just be a miracle of sorts because it appears that my incurable BOS may have actually been cured… somehow.
I don’t think I would be overstating if I said that, because of all my goings on these past five years – goings on such as leukemia, GVHD (and not just of the lungs, but also of the eyes, liver, and intestines), prednisone side-effects, cytomegalovirus (CMV), and heart failure to name a few – I think I’ve learned a thing or two about life in general and living it in particular.
Now, if you search around this site, I’m pretty sure you will find that much of my writing, mostly encapsulated in my haiku, reflects a lot of the insights and learning I’ve garnered from these goings on. However, just because I like you all so much and don’t want you to have try to sift through this site for days on end in an effort to discover these insights and learning, and because short, pithy lists are all the rage these days, I will identify for you the top thirteen things I learned about how to not only not die, but mostly about how to best live your life filled with happiness and meaning, regardless whether death is looking you directly in the face or not.
Cool?
Okay, so here we go…
Bound to Leave What a beautiful sunset, I thought. I used to hate people who enjoyed shit like this, but I didn’t realize there is beauty in distance and hope in somewhere else. roughtradeblog.wordpress.com You can share your experiences Relating to Humans by visiting here.
I have absolutely no idea why I wrote that as a title for this post… Tru dat. But since it is what it is, I guess we might as well just go with it. Just go with the Flow of the Is of the Now… Oh boy… Anyway, since you’re here I was wondering if … Read more
Within that old stash, I also found many of my old English lessons, and old worksheets, and old handouts. They all bring back fond and funny and fortunate memories. I miss all my — I hesitate to call them students because it seemed as if I ended up learning more from them than they did from me, so I’ll simply say, I miss all my friends from that period of my life.