Monthly Archives: February 2015

Day 769: Wait!

Posted on February 8, 2015 by Ann Koplow

Wait! Guess how many blog posts I’ve written with the title “Wait” over the last two years!

I’ll wait while you think of a number, between zero and seven hundred and sixty-eight.

Hmmmmm. I’m not sure how you feel about guessing games. Are you OK? And what number did you come up with?

Do you want me to tell you the answer now, or would you like to wait?*

I don’t know about you, but waiting is not one of my favorite activities.

For example, about ten days ago, after waiting for months to find out whether and when I’m going to need major heart surgery, I got this email from somebody on my vast team of heart specialists, spread out over several Boston-area hospitals ….

Wait! When I just checked my work emails, I found this new one, instead:

Current weather forecasts call for 12 – 18 inches of snow to fall throughout the Boston area beginning Saturday night and continuing through Monday evening, Feb. 9. The worst of the snow is expected during the day Monday.

Please give yourself extra time so you can travel and commute safely.

Although we have not yet been informed of a travel ban associated with this storm, please remember you must have your ID badge with you to show to authorities if there are any restrictions going forward.

Please also know that the most important factor for you to consider is the safety of you and your family during the storm. Please review and share with staff the information below about arrangements under way at the medical center.

Now you know what New England is waiting for, today and tomorrow. Please wait while I look for that heart-related email, again.

Wait! That email didn’t go to my work address.

Please wait while I check my home email.

Thanks for waiting. Here’s that email, dated 1/30/15:

We will get back to you next week after we have been able to review everything.

I waited. Nobody got back to me.

Other things got back to me last week. Those included:

the flu
my birthday
more snow

my son, with this birthday gift

Arnold Schwarzenegger, in this here blog post containing this video:

and many other things, but no word about my waiting and very unusual heart.

When I am waiting for others, here’s what I do (wait for it) ….

I distract myself. For example, guess how many times I listened to this video I posted yesterday!

I won’t make you wait for THAT answer, OK?

I lost count of how many times I played that yesterday, as a way to self-soothe and distract.

Wait! Why did I listen to Glee‘s version of Michael Jackson’s “Smooth Criminal” over and over again, yesterday, instead of something else?

Wait, please, while I figure that out.

Wait! I think I’ve found a good-enough answer to that.

Since I’ve been a child, dealing with my congenital heart condition, lots of people have been asking me, in verbal and non-verbal ways, “Ann(ie), are you OK?” After waiting my whole life, I finally found a song that somehow captures the essence of that life-long experience.

Wait! Did that make sense to you?

Wait! It makes sense to me.

Wait! A few more things, before I publish this post. After waiting for years (I assume), other people with congenital heart conditions convinced the powers-that-be to declare this coming week …

(If you don’t want to wait, you can find that image here, at another blog.)

Wait! That image, above, tells me that Congenital Heart Defect Awareness Week has been waiting for me to find out about it, for a while. My first awareness of it was yesterday, but now I know it’s been around at least since 2011.

I’m still waiting for a word I like better, though, instead of “Defect.”

Wait! I think I’ve seen some CHD images, where “D” stands for something else (like “Disease”) (which is also not one of my favorite words). Wait while I check Google Images for “CHD Awareness Week”:

Wait! The D-word there is slightly different (“Defects”), but I don’t like that word any better.

“Defect” is still the word, in that image found here.

Wait! When I read that last one (found here), I THOUGHT IT SAID “CONGENITAL HEART PERFECT AWARENESS WEEK!” I was going to write, just now:

That last image was worth waiting for.

I guess we see what we’ve been waiting to see, sometimes.

Anyway, I’m not going to wait for somebody else to replace the word “defect” in CHD with something else. Here are my suggestions:

Perfect (see above, but that’s not perfect because it should be a “D” word, for “CHD”).
Condition (see above, blah blah blah blah blah).

Wait. I can NOT, here and now, think of another D-word, that fits. Can you?

I’ll wait.

WAIT! How about this?!?!?

I don’t have a Congenital Heart Defect. I have a Congenital Heart Distraction.

Wait! Have you been waiting for songs about waiting?

(“Waiting on the World to Change” by John Mayer found here on YouTube.)

(“She’s Waiting” by Eric Clapton found here on YouTube.)

(“Wait” by the Beatles found here on YouTube.)

I can’t wait any more! I have to publish this post!

Many thanks to all who have ever waited for anything in their lives, including you (of course!).

* Thanks for waiting. The number of posts I’ve written with the word “Wait” in the title is exactly

zero (according to WordPress).**

** Wait! I don’t want WordPress to get the last word!

Categories: personal growth | Tags: "She's Waiting" by Eric Clapton, "Wait" by the Beatles, "Waiting on the World to Change" by John Mayer, acceptance, CHD Awareness Week, Congenital heart condition, dealing with impatience, distraction as a coping strategy, self soothing, Too much friggin' snow in Boston 2015, waiting for things we cannot control | 38 Comments

Day 768: Are you OK?

Posted on February 7, 2015 by Ann Koplow

A few days ago, at the hospital where I work, it became obvious that it was OK for me to cancel some conference room bookings for my therapy groups. These OK conference rooms had been booked several months ago by Chris, a much-more-than-just-OK administrator in the Social Work Office. Last week, I realized it would be OK to hold the groups in my office instead of the conference rooms, and I didn’t want to take those OK-ed rooms away from someone who might want to OK them for a different purpose.

I cancelled the bookings by emailing the people at my hospital who OK and un-OK room bookings, and who have the OK title “Service Response.” To make sure this cancellation went OK with no complications, I copied/cc’ed Chris on that email, because I thought Service Response might not OK cancellations without the OK of the person who had booked the room to begin with.

Are you OK with this explanation, so far?

After I cc’ed Chris, I decided that wasn’t OK enough, because I realized Chris might be confused by my email (which I didn’t think was OK) and she also might get KO‘ed by other emails from Service Response. So the OK course of action, I decided, was to write Chris an OK email explaining the situation.

First, I composed a long email. Then, I decided that was NOT OK to send, because wasting Chris’s time would not be OK, since she and everybody else who works at our hospital has too much to do and not enough time to do it. So, instead, I came up with what I thought was an OK solution. I sent Chris an email with this subject heading:

subject: in case you were wondering about that Service Response email I cc:ed you on …

The email itself was very short, an OK three words:

… let me know.

I didn’t hear back from Chris, and I thought:

That was a very OK solution! I didn’t bother Chris too much and I took care of the possibility of a confusing communication between Chris and Service Response. OK FOR ME!!

Yesterday, I got an equally short email back from Chris:

Are you OK?

I thought that was OK AND hilarious, because:

I had spent so much time and energy over-thinking an OK-enough resolution for this trivial situation,
It obviously would have been OK for me to do NOTHING (saving Chris and myself some OK time and trouble), and
I wasn’t sure how to answer Chris’s question.

Why do you think Chris asked me that OK question? And, what do you think would have been an OK answer back from me, as a serviceable response?

Here’s the email I wrote back to Chris:

I think so.

Do you think that was OK?

Yesterday, I was feeling OK AND not-so-OK because:

The outdoor temperature was a non-OK 7 degrees, Fahrenheit.
I felt OK enough after walking for more than 30 minutes through that cold, yesterday morning.
The weather report OKed a forecast of MORE SNOW over this entire weekend.
I feel more OK every day, as I recover from the flu.
Jackie — who has helped me feel OK at work for the last three years — wasn’t at the front desk when I walked into work.
Two other more-than-OK people WERE at the front desk, and they greeted me with very OK smiles.
I’m still waiting for the OK from several different Boston-area cardiologists, regarding lots of recent tests on my I-hope-OK-and-very-unusual heart.
I tried my OK best to help people feel more OK about themselves, through my work as a psychotherapist.
After another OK week here in MA, my much-more-than-OK son, Aaron, and I will be flying westward to CA, probably over OK, USA:

Here are some photos I took yesterday, which I hope are OK:

Judging from all those photos, do you think I’m OK?

Actually, are YOU OK enough, right now, to realize what’s NOT OK about this photo, from yesterday’s post?

There’s a word missing, on that white board. I’m OK to wait, while you look again.

Are you OK, right now? If you saw that photo in yesterday’s post and missed the missing word, are you OK with that? Was I OK when I wrote “There’s something with me” on that whiteboard, two days ago in my office? Is it OK or not OK that I left out the word “wrong”? Nobody in the therapy group mentioned it. Were they OK?

Whether you think all these questions and the rest of this post is OK, here’s another OK song on YouTube.

This Annie is OK with that version of “Smooth Criminal” performed by cast members from Glee. And here‘s the original Smooth Criminal, MJ, performing that OK song live from Munich:

What is OK and not OK with you, in this OK post? Annie will be OK with whatever you write, below.

And one more OK thought, before I end this post:

Last night, my soon-to-be-17-year-old son, Aaron, looked at yesterday’s post AND the draft of this post and told me that my blog is … OK!!!

More-than-OK thanks to Aaron, to Chris, to OK OK, and to every person, place and thing that contributed to ME being OK with this post today … including YOU, for reading it!

Categories: blogging, personal growth | Tags: 2015 New England winter, Aaron read my blog!, acceptance, Annie are you OK?, California here we come!, Glee's "Smooth Criminal", Hugh Jackman's Oklahoma!, living with congenital cardiac issues, Michael Jackson's "Smooth Criminal", OK enough, Very few people call me "Annie" | 40 Comments

Day 767: Obvious

Posted on February 6, 2015 by Ann Koplow

Let’s start this Obvious Post by stating the obvious:

This post is in English.
The Northeast USA is experiencing a cold, snowy winter in 2015.
I like lists.
I publish a post here at WordPress every day.
Thank goodness it’s Friday!

Some things are more obvious than others. For example, I saw this on my way to work yesterday morning:

That is obviously an auto.

I was obviously following that automobile. If you’ve read yesterday’s post, I was obviously on my way to my co-worker Jackie’s goodbye party at work.

If you saw yesterday’s post, it was obvious that I do NOT like saying goodbye to people I love. I hope it was also obvious that I hope and wish all the best for Jackie.

Was it obvious to anyone I was going to take photos at Jackie’s goodbye party?

In that first obvious photo, Jackie is obviously wearing a t-shirt (which she made herself) that obviously shows she realizes what’s obvious to everybody else (including my readers yesterday): Jackie has GREAT hair. (If the words on that t-shirt aren’t obvious to you, they say “Don’t ask to touch my hair.”)

The other obvious t-shirt — “The Queen of Absolutely Everything” — was an obvious going-away gift for Jackie.

I’m obviously spontaneous, because at the last minute, I also gave Jackie this obvious gift:

If it’s not obvious to you what those are — they are, well, gee, I obviously don’t know the official name for those sticky things you attach to other things at work. Obviously, I need to call them something, so I’ll try this: sticky memos.

Whatever you call those things, I have a bunch of different ones I use at work. Obviously, I’ve exchanged these with Jackie before.

Is it obvious there that Jackie sent my own sticky memo back at me, to welcome me when I returned to work after a vacation, quite a while ago? I’ve obviously kept that sticky memo tacked up in my office since then, as an obvious reminder of how much fun Jackie is.

If you know me, it’s obvious I can lose things, temporarily and permanently. Yesterday, after Jackie’s party, I dropped my pager, and couldn’t find it. It was obvious, to me, that the pager was somewhere in my office. As late and great comedian George Carlin said, in his routine about losing things:

I’ve looked EVERYWHERE!

Well, obviously not.

Yesterday, I thought of an obvious way to find my lost pager, after I had “looked everywhere” in my office: I paged myself.

Obviously, that worked.

At this point in time, it’s probably obvious to some and not obvious to others that I’ve lost track of Penny the Pen. Here’s a photo of Penny’s last appearance in this blog:

In case it’s not obvious where Penny and I are, in that photo from over a week ago, we were waiting to have a new cardiac test, called a CT scan, at Boston Children’s Hospital.

Here’s an exchange — from the comments section in this here recent post about my recovering from the flu — with obviously wonderful blogger Val Boyko:

Val: So glad your temp is being itself again. You are a sight for sore eyes Ann! How is Penny’s eye by the way?…

Me: Val! I hope this doesn’t make you or your eyes too sore. I actually have not seen hide nor hair of Penny, since I got sick. I fear the worst but hope for the best.

Val: She’s a survivor 🙂

Me: No matter where she is!

Val: Yep!

Obviously wonderful, Val.

What other obvious things should I include here, before I obviously publish this post? Obviously, I have to finish every post, some time (is it obvious that’s usually during the morning?). Today, I have to go into work early to make up the time I obviously missed being sick and also due to

LOTS OF FREAKIN SNOW. Obviously.

Are there any other obvious photos I’d obviously like to include here, obviously from yesterday?

It’s obvious to me that it’s not immediately obvious what’s going on in all of those photos I took yesterday. The last two obvious photos are from therapy groups I facilitated. The final obvious one shows some results of a group exercise about replacing obviously automatic and painful negative labels (like “fool,” “lazy,” “unworthy,” “stupid,” “weird,” “unlovable,”) with positive ones. If it’s not obvious what I’m describing, here‘s a link to a more obvious description of that group exercise.

I hope it’s obvious to those who obviously read this blog that I like to include obvious and also HELPFUL things here. Is it obvious I’m going to do that, today?

How about this obvious thought:

Since each of us only truly knows our own personal experience, what’s obvious to us might not be obvious to others.

Obviously, I need to include some obvious music in this obvious post.

The obviously great Paul Simon is obviously singing “The Obvious Child” here on YouTube.

Here’s one final obvious thought, from Captain Obvious, your humble blogger:

Does Paul Simon mean “Why deny the obvious child” and/or “Why deny the obvious, child”?

What’s obvious to you, here and now?

Many obviously grateful thanks to everybody who appeared in this blog today and — OBVIOUSLY! — to you, for obviously being kind enough to visit here today.

Categories: gratitude, personal growth, photojournalism | Tags: acceptance, accepting all feelings, group therapy, letting go of cognitive distortions, losing things, Paul Simon's "The Obvious Child", Val Boyko, waiting for cardiac test results | 46 Comments

Day 766: The Terminator

Posted on February 5, 2015 by Ann Koplow

As you may have found out from this recent post, I love making up tests for people.

So why wait?

Today’s Terminator Test

by Ann

1. “The Terminator” is:

a. The name of a movie starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Michael Biehn, and Linda Hamilton, directed by James Cameron and written by Gale Anne Hurd and Cameron.

b. One of my favorite movies.

c. A nickname I’ve given myself, on the job.

d. All of the above.

2. Now that you’ve read this post so far, you’re curious about why:

a. “The Terminator” is one of my favorite movies.

b. James Cameron.

c. I’m starting my post this way.

d. I’ve given myself the nickname of “The Terminator.

e. Some of the above.

f. All of the above.

g. None of the above.

Time’s up!

The answer to #1 is d.

Only you, dear reader, know the answer to #2.

No matter what you’re curious about right now, I shall tell you why I’ve given myself the nickname of “The Terminator.”

It’s because:

“Termination” is the term, in the psychotherapy biz, for saying goodbye to a relationship.
I am RELENTLESS about facilitating goodbyes, when I’m on the job.
I’m in the psychotherapy biz.

Here are some things I’ve learned, in my years of being “The Terminator”:

Most people have trouble with goodbyes.
Human beings tend to deal with goodbyes with some measure of denial.
Goodbyes can evoke a lot of reactions, including sadness, anger, and numbness.
People can get better at goodbyes, especially with practice.
A better goodbye often involves allowing room for (a) appreciation for specifics and (b) unexpressed feelings that are getting in the way of connecting authentically.
I do goodbyes in psychotherapy by inviting people to identify and discuss (a) what they got out of therapy (which includes the relationship with me) and (b) what they did NOT get out of therapy.

Termination is on my mind today, because there are several goodbyes going on around me. For example, there’s one going on at work, very early this morning, for Jackie:

Now, Jackie, if she reads this blog (and she does, some times), might get mad at me because I took one candid shot of her yesterday, when she wasn’t looking. I DON’T CARE! I’M MAD AT HER FOR LEAVING!

By the way, Jackie knows I’m mad at her. I’ve told her that every day I’ve seen her since she announced her termination, about two weeks ago. As a matter of fact, I told her I was mad at her right before I snapped those photos. As you can see, she doesn’t seem concerned.

Jackie’s lack of concern about what other people think is one of the many, many things I love about her and will miss, very much.

Well, after she’s gone, at least I’ll always have the posts she’s appeared in, so far (here, here, here, here, here, here, and here*).

Since I don’t expect my readers to say:

“I’ll be back” after returning from checking out ANY FRIGGIN’ LINKS I INCLUDE IN THESE POSTS, here are more photos of Jackie, from some of those previous posts.

One of those photos I’ve never posted before. Should I test people on which one that is?

Oh, forget it. I’ve got to terminate this post and go terminate with Jackie.

Many thanks to nice terminators of all kinds and to you — of course! — for temporarily terminating other things in order to read this, today.

* Jackie actually may not appear in all those posts. Those are the posts that WordPress returns in response to my searching on “Jackie.” I don’t have time to fix that, though. Why? I have to leave for a RIDICULOUSLY EARLY GOODBYE PARTY, PEOPLE (and be a terminator).

Categories: Uncategorized | 47 Comments

Day 765: White out

Posted on February 4, 2015 by Ann Koplow

It was white out and verrrry cold out yesterday, in Boston USA.

Just what I needed, as I returned to work after the flu.

That’s Winston, at the garage where I park for work, describing how they treat the flu in his home country of Trinidad and Tobago.

“First, some vodka. Make a tea from garlic, ginger, cloves, and spice. Drink that all down at once. Then, sweat the fevers out.”

No fevers, yesterday. Just frozens. While I waited for the work shuttle in New England’s world of white, Winston said some words about his world, which included “warm” “blue,” “ocean,” and “fish.” Some words today about Trinidad and Tobago, from Wikipedia:

Climate
The climate is tropical. There are two seasons annually: the dry season for the first six months of the year, and the rainy season in the second half of the year. Winds are predominantly from the northeast and are dominated by the northeast trade winds. Unlike most of the other Caribbean islands, both Trinidad and Tobago have frequently escaped the wrath of major devastating hurricanes, including Hurricane Ivan, the most powerful storm to have passed close to the islands in recent history, in September 2004.
Record temperatures for Trindad and Tobago are 39 °C (102 °F)[17] for the high in Port of Spain, and a low of 12 °C (54 °F).[18]

I’m going to leave some white space here, as I try to think of reasons why I might prefer my home over Winston’s, these days:

I’ve got nothing.

Yesterday, I saw white out everywhere, so far from Winston’s home.

In the light …

… and in the dark.

When I was home, I saw the white of the moon.

One more dark-and-light question, from the white board in my office:

How about a white song, to send this white-out out into the wide wide world of WordPress?

(Annie Lenox sings “A Whiter Shade of Pale,” dressed in white and black, here at YouTube.)

The original, by Procol Harum, is in white, black, and color here on YouTube:

Anything you want to declare here, in black and white?

Many white, black, blue, and other colorful thanks to Winston, to Annie Lenox, to Procol Harem, to all those who skip the light fandango, to people everywhere who leave or stay at home (for their own black-and-white or shades-of-grey reasons), and to everybody who helps me blog every day, no matter how white it is out there (including YOU, of course).

Categories: personal growth, photojournalism | Tags: "Whiter Shade of Pale" by Annie Lennox, 2015 New England winter, 2015 snow in Boston, acceptance, I love the moon, it's very white out there, Procol Harum's "Whiter Shade of Pale", the beauty of snow, Trinidad and Tobago | 41 Comments

Day 764: What I needed

Posted on February 3, 2015 by Ann Koplow

Out of all Seven Hundred and Whats-it daily posts I’ve published here, yesterday’s post was one of the most difficult to write.

Why?

I needed to write a post about some cheery occasions — my 62nd birthday AND the home team’s Super Bowl victory AND a day off from work — BUT I wasn’t feeling very cheery.

Why wasn’t I feeling very cheery?

Don’t get me started!

Too late. I’m started. Now I need to show you this list:

I was very sleep deprived.
I was recovering from the flu.
Snow was piling up outside, in a major way.
Not to offend any snow-o-philes among you, but I’m at a point in my life when I am — despite my preference for non-judgmental living — HATING snow and cold (especially when I’m not feeling well).
There was very little appetizing food I could find.
I felt physically lousy.
I was “alone” when I was writing, because my son was with his father and my bf Michael, who also seemed to be coming down with the flu, was asleep upstairs.
Even though I am often praised for my “good and brave attitude in the face of difficult experiences,” I seem to be “primed”– in certain ways — to be disappointed on my birthday (and you can read here how this played out last year).
Let’s face it … just like anybody else, sometimes I’m just a

Debbie Downer

(I found this image I needed here)

Sad Sack

Cranky Yankee

Pissy Missy

Also, because authenticity is so friggin’ important to me, I needed to somehow write yesterday’s post from a real and authentic place.

So, yes, I had a particularly difficult post-writing assignment on my plate yesterday. And, even though that post, when I read it now, seems fairly simple, I know that it needed HOURS of slow and arduous slogging. (Much like what we New Englanders need to do, these days, to get through all the friggin’ snow there is.)

Now, I’m not complaining about the effort I needed to put into yesterday’s post, nor the result. As is true with every one of the Seven Hundred and Yikers daily posts I’ve written here, it HELPED me to write it.

So what post would it help me to write, today? What else do I need to do, here?

Above, when I linked “Cranky Yankee” and “Pissy Missy” to my post last year about “Stinky Pinkies” (the game I used to play in my family, growing up), I couldn’t help but notice the main title there: “Gratitude Attitude.”

Gratitude Attitude is always something we need, isn’t it?

So here’s the gratitude list I need, right now. I’m grateful that:

My childhood friend Deb, who now lives in California and reads this blog, took the time to call me yesterday, at a moment when I was feeling especially blue. It was just what I needed.
Many, many other people reached out to me with birthday wishes, through all sorts of media. It was just what I needed.
My sister called and we had a long, helpful talk about (a) our late parents and (b) why I so easily feel completely alone, powerless, unlovable and frightened even when I’m safe and loved. It was just what I needed.
Even when I was feeling at my lowest yesterday, my instincts for healing were there, and I composed this list:

Things I REALLY Needed to Hear When I was Young, But Didn’t

You have an amazing mind.
You are smart.
You are beautiful.
You do not deserve to suffer alone.
You are kind.
You are talented musically.
You are funny.
You are graceful.
Every part of you is welcome.
You do not have to be perfect to be loved.
It is okay to be angry.
It is okay to be sad.
It is okay to be afraid.
It’s okay to be impatient.
I will protect you.
I will fight for your rights.

I need to be clear, right now, that all of this is no indictment of my parents, who were wonderful people. As my sister pointed out in our conversation yesterday (and as I constantly need to re-discover, throughout my life), my congenital heart condition and time growing up in hospitals (without my parents presence) resulted in my “sensitivity” and tendency to feel like a

Debbie Downer

Sad Sack

Cranky Yankee

Pissy Missy.

I also have a tendency to repeat myself and to be easily distracted, and I’m distracted now.

Why?

I need to show you this:

Eeeeek! Snow!!! Not exactly what I needed.

Actually, those photos were taken earlier this morning. Here’s the reality outside, here and now:

Yay! I’m getting what I needed! I’ll be able to leave on time today, to return to my work as a group and individual psychotherapist at a Boston hospital.

Which reminds me of my gratitude list, which I had started, above.

Here are more things I need to add to that list, before I leave for work:

Things that rhyme.

The PERFECT birthday card, from Michael. It was just what I needed.

And also, thanks to Michael — I got the PERFECT birthday dinner:

TUNA NOODLE CASSEROLE!!!!!

Now, I need a tuna noodle tune to share with you all, but this is the best I can do:

(I found Hot Tuna performing “Somebody to Love” — just when I needed it — here, on YouTube.)

Thanks to Deb, to Michael, to my sister, to my parents, to everybody who reached out to me yesterday when I needed it, to hot tuna of all kinds, and to you — of course! — for all you might need, today.

Categories: personal growth | Tags: acceptance, accepting all feelings, expressing gratitude, helpful lists, living with congenital heart issues, New England gets way too much snow, tuna noodle casserole | 49 Comments

Day 763: And many more

Posted on February 2, 2015 by Ann Koplow

Today is Groundhog Day!*

Here are some things* I notice about that image* (which I found online, here):

There’s a misspelling in a newspaper.*
An animal can act at least three ways* that a human* might not expect.
That story* assumes the hero is a “he.”
I can’t tell what country that noozpaper is from, which reminds me that Groundhog Day is celebrated in the countries* of the USA (my home) AND Canada (the home of many of my readers).
G. is an abbreviation for the word “Ground.”*
Readers* of that noozpaper want to know “will he or won’t he.”

There are many more ways I could riff on that opening image,* but I think it’s time to do my job, on February 2, 2015.

What is my job, today? As I see it, to write a post somehow celebrating

Groundhog Day,
an exciting Super Bowl game here in the USA,
my birthday,
having my birthday off from work,
and many more.

Today, I considered other titles for this post, including:

“Don’t panic!“
“2/2/15,”
“Do Your Job,”
“Six more weeks* of what?!?!,“
“How to Train Your Draggin’,”
“I Love Michael,”
and many more.

So why did I choose “And many more” as the title for this post? The primary reason* is that “And many more” is what people say, in my neck of the woods, * after they wish somebody a Happy Birthday.

From the Wikipedia page about the song Happy Birthday to You:

It is traditional, among English-speakers, that at a birthday party, the song “Happy Birthday to You” be sung to the birthday person by the other guests celebrating the birthday. More specifically, the birthday person is traditionally presented with a birthday cake with lit candles, with the number of candles sometimes corresponding to the age of the person. After the song is sung (usually just once), party guests sometimes add wishes like “And many more!” expressing the hope that the birthday person will enjoy a long life.

Speaking of “the hope that a birthday person will enjoy a long life,” that’s a wish* that’s been expressed on this blog, especially lately.

Here’s a conversation* I had with Michael, my boyfriend, right before I sat down to write this post:*

Me: Michael, do you think I’m going to make it to my 63rd birthday next year?

Michael (incredulous pause): Of course!

Me: But, Michael! We were just talking about how you* think it’s likely I’m going to need heart surgery before the summer! There’s a part of me that’s afraid that heart surgery might kill me.

Michael: You’ll live a long life, baby (or words to that effect*).

Michael has been right about lots of things.* So, now I know.

I am very grateful for Michael.

I’ve got these photos* to show you, regarding “and many more”…

Here’s to many more chocolates (thanks to my friend, Jeanette).

Here’s to many more photos of Oscar staring at me while I’m blogging, every morning.

Here’s to many more snowstorms near Boston, USA (%$#!!@#!!*).

Here’s to other things I’m grateful for, on 2/2/2015*:

My son, Aaron, soon to turn 17.
My family of origin, including my sister and my late parents.
My other family members, including the members of my ex’s family.
My friends, including Jeanette.*
My upcoming trip with Aaron to California.*
My work doing therapy with individuals and groups.*
WordPress, as the platform for my blog.*
All those who have ever visited this blog.*
Music (whether it be jazz, blues, pop, or classical)*
And many more.

Here’s today’s song:

From Arizona, it’s several classical renditions of “Happy Birthday” (found here, among many more videos on YouTube.)

As Nicole Pesce says, at the end of that video, “I need a break after that one.” So, I’m going back to bed to keep recovering from the flu.

Many thanks to every person, animal, and thing that helped me compose this post.* And thank YOU — of course! — for visiting here today*.

* … and many more (?)

Categories: Happy Birthday!, personal growth | Tags: accepting all feelings, classical renditions of Happy Birthday, gratitude, it's my birthday, letting go of fear, living with an unusual heart, Nicole Pesce, The New England Patriots won the Super Bowl!, writing a good enough post | 59 Comments

Day 762: Sights for sore eyes

Posted on February 1, 2015 by Ann Koplow

From Cambridge Dictionaries Online:

a sight for sore eyes
informal
a way of saying that you are very pleased to see someone or that you think someone is very attractive:
“You’re a sight for sore eyes!”
Translations of “a sight for sore eyes”
in Chinese (Traditional) 樂於看到的人, 極有吸引力的人…
(Definition of a sight for sore eyes from the Cambridge Advanced Learners Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

From Urban Dictionary:

sight for sore eyes
A sight for sore eyes translates into “the sight of you makes my eyes all better”, and means that you like looking at that sight.
“Woah, that babe over there is a sight for sore eyes.”
by Samantha Esposito March 31, 2007

From The Free Dictionary:

sight for sore eyes
Fig. a welcome sight. “Oh, am I glad to see you here! You’re a sight for sore eyes.” “I’m sure hungry. This meal is a sight for sore eyes.”
See also: eye, sight, sore

From phrases.org.uk:

A sight for sore eyes

A welcome sight; someone or something you are glad to see.

Origin

This phrase was first recorded by Jonathan Swift, in A complete collection of genteel and ingenious conversation, 1738:

“The Sight of you is good for sore Eyes.”

The title of the work suggests that it was in use prior to his writing it down. The currently used version of the phrase was first recorded by William Hazlitt, in New Monthly Magazine, 1826:

“Garrick’s name was proposed on condition he should act in tragedy and comedy… What a sight for sore eyes that would be!”

That’s all pretty straightforward. The rise of the World Wide Web has given this phrase a new lease of life. ‘Sight’, ‘site’ and ‘cite’ form one of the small number of three-word homophone groups, that is, words that sound the same but are spelled differently. Another three-word example is ‘you’, ‘yew’ and ‘ewe’.

A quick scan of the Web courtesy of Google (Feb 2012) shows these hits:

“sight for sore eyes” – 1,550,000
“site for sore eyes” – 681,000
“cite for sore eyes” – 88,700

Top of the list for the latter two are web sites selling optical supplies and literary citations respectively, so they have some excuse. Many of the others are just mis-spellings.

My eyes tell me that I’ve cited enough definitions of “Sight for Sore Eyes” from other sites. I shall now cite my own swift definition, in this here site:

Sights for sore eyes

Images that gladden the heart, mind, and soul, particularly precious after experiences of pain, illness, or other negative experiences.

Yesterday, after I published this flu-ish post, my fever went up and my eyes, muscles, appetite, and mind felt sore. Very sore.

Throughout the last 24 hours, encouraging comments here at WordPress (and other sites, like Facebook) have been sights for my sore eyes.

I shall now cite three recently seen sights for sore eyes, from this Boston USA site:

To celebrate my being “normal” (at least temporarily), here are some sounds for sore ears:

(Mozart’s “The Magic Flute Overture” is here at this YouTube site.)

To conclude these sights for sore eyes, many thanks to all the sites I cited above, to Mozart and other creators of sounds for sore ears, and to all those who have given me sights for sore eyes — including you (of course!) for seeing this site, today.