Monthly Archives: April 2023

Day 3762: Salmagundi

Posted on April 20, 2023 by Ann Koplow

This is titled “Salmagundi” because today is Big Word Day* and this blog is my salmagundi of thoughts, feelings, and images.

After experiencing a salmagundi of veterinarians over my long life, I can say that Dr. Jeffrey Evans of Boston Animal Hospital is one of the best I’ve ever met. Yesterday, while Harley was hiding in a corner and Joan was exploring the salmagundi in the exam room, Dr. Evans greeted us with “How’s the family?” After taking a long time to kindly and thoroughly discuss a salmagundi of cat health topics with us, he sent us home very happy (Joan especially, because he discontinued the irritating eye treatments and said she should heal on her own naturally).

I didn’t take a picture of Dr. Evans to add to this post’s salmagundi, but I found these amongst the salmagundi on the internet:

Here’s what I find on YouTube when I search for “salmagundi.”

What is your favorite among today’s salmagundi of images? I look forward to the salmagundi of comments, below.

A salmagundi of thanks to all those who help me create this daily salmagundi, including YOU!

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* After I published this post, I realized that because my brain is such a salmagundi of thoughts, I had the date wrong. Here’s the correct list for April 20 2023:

I swear I wasn’t smoking pot on 4/20; my mind is just a natural salmagundi.

Categories: definition, personal growth, photojournalism | Tags: April 20 2023, Big Word Day, Boston Animal Hospital, cats, Dr. Jeffrey Evans, funny photos of animals, gratitude, Salmagundi Club NYC, The Daily Bitch Calendar, Twitter | 12 Comments

Day 3762: Salmagundi

Posted on April 20, 2023 by Ann Koplow

This is titled “Salmagundi” because today is Big Word Day* and this blog is my salmagundi of thoughts, feelings, and images.

I didn’t take a picture of Dr. Evans to add to this post’s salmagundi, but I found these amongst the salmagundi on the internet:

Here’s what I find on YouTube when I search for “salmagundi.”

What is your favorite among today’s salmagundi of images? I look forward to the salmagundi of comments, below.

A salmagundi of thanks to all those who help me create this daily salmagundi, including YOU!

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* Today is actually not Big Word Day, but my brain is such a salmagundi that I thought today was the 21st instead of the 20th. Here’s the correct list for today;

Also, in celebration of Look Alike Day, WordPress published two copies of this post. What a salmagundi of mistakes!

Day 3761: Signs

Posted on April 19, 2023 by Ann Koplow

In 2013, my first year of blogging and the year of the Boston Marathon bombing, I wrote a blog post titled “Signs.” Because I often notice signs of healing and other important experiences, I’ve written several blog posts since then about signs (here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here).

What signs do you see in today’s blog post?

Does anyone see signs of badass becoming dumbass in Dominion settling with Fox?

Because of signs that Joan’s eyes are not healing (and perhaps becoming worse), we stopped applying the ointment and are taking her back to the vet today (along with Harley, who is due for his yearly appointment). We’re hoping that the notoriously shy and fretful Harley does not pick up any signs from us about his upcoming stressful experience.

Here’s what I find on YouTube when I search for “signs”:

Thanks to all who read signs with me, including YOU!

Categories: personal growth, photojournalism | Tags: April 19 2023, “12 Genuine Signs of Intelligence You Can’t Fake” by BRAINY DOSE, cats, Dominion-Fox settlement, signs of spring and healing, signs of stress, The Boston Globe, The Boston Marathon, The Daily Bitch Calendar, the South Shore of Boston, Twitter | 15 Comments

Day 3760: What people don’t talk about

Posted on April 18, 2023 by Ann Koplow

Because I’m a psychotherapist, my work includes listening to what people don’t talk about to others in their lives.

What people don’t talk about often causes toxic cycles of judgment, shame, anxiety, depression, and stress.

What people don’t talk about depends on the person and might include

money,
sex,
bodily functions,
politics,
perceived weaknesses,
addictions,
mistakes,
family secrets,
messes,
failures,
accomplishments,
disowned feelings,
differences,
abuse,
racism,
prejudice,
ignorance,
illness,
religion,
losses, and
death.

Do you see what people don’t talk about in my images for today?

Here’s what I find when I search YouTube for “what people don’t talk about.”

What are your thoughts and feelings about what people don’t talk about?

Thanks to all who helped me create this what-people-don’t-talk-about blog, including YOU!

Categories: personal growth, photojournalism, Psychotherapy | Tags: April 18 2023, “We Don’t Talk About Bruno”, bats, cats, family secrets, letting go of shame, Stop & Shop, taboo topics, The Daily Bitch Calendar, Twitter | 16 Comments

Day 3759: Giving a F*ck

Posted on April 17, 2023 by Ann Koplow

As usual, I’ve been giving a f*ck about

climate change,
injustices,
the health and happiness of those I love,
my therapy groups,
blogging, and
helpful books, including this one:

Giving a f*ck might seem more uncomfortable than not giving a f*ck, but I agree with Dr.Wills that it f*cks things up if we don’t accept our feelings.

Actually, Dr. Wills makes a distinction between emotions and feelings — he writes that “emotions come from bodily reactions that are activated by neurotransmitters and hormones. Feelings are our conscious experience of those emotional reactions.” He also states “Feelings are emotions plus a story.” I’m now giving a f*ck about that distinction, because it matters.

For example, I’m giving a f*ck about our cat Joan’s eye problems and how they don’t seem to be improving despite our faithfully administering eye ointment twice a day. When I look at Joan’s eyes, I feel the emotions of fear, sadness, and anger in my body. Then, I notice I’m telling some familiar stories about medical situations that include helplessness, distrust, and and worry that people are making mistakes and innocents are suffering. I can’t control the emotions but I can control the stories I tell about them.

And because you might be giving a f*ck about Joan, know that we are taking her to our giving-a-f*ck vet again this week.

Do you see giving a f*ck in my images for today?

On Nothing Like a Dame Day, the Daily Bitch seems to be giving a f*ck in her own way.

And if you’re giving a f*ck about National Haiku Poetry Day, here’s a haiku about how I’m giving a f*ck about taxes:

April 17th,

Will my payments be in time?

If they aren’t, I’ll live.

Here’s what I find on YouTube when I search for “giving a f*ck”:

As always, I’m giving a f*ck about thanking people who help me blog every day, including YOU!

Categories: personal growth, photojournalism, self help | Tags: April 17 2023, cat eye infection, Dr. Alex Wills, National Haiku Poetry Day, Nothing Like a Dame Day, The Daily Bitch Calendar, the difference between emotions and feelings, The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck, Twitter, Vivi Cafe | 20 Comments

Day 3758: What doesn’t suck

Posted on April 16, 2023 by Ann Koplow

Last night, at the end of That Sucks Day, rather than asking a question on Twitter about what sucks (which our human brains are designed to notice in order to keep us safe), I decided to ask about what doesn’t suck instead.

What doesn’t suck is that many people answered, including these:

What doesn’t suck in the images I captured yesterday?

What doesn’t suck is that it’s World Semicolon Day; I love using semicolons.

What doesn’t suck is that my husband Michael gave me a birthday present of tickets for the Boston Symphony Orchestra; last night we saw a wonderful performance of Ravel, Escaich, and Rachmaninoff.

What doesn’t suck is that Michael and the rest of the audience at Symphony Hall truly appreciated the new and innovative piece by Thierry Escaich. What does suck is that I can’t find a performance of Les Chants de l’aube on YouTube; however, I did find this:

What doesn’t suck is that I get to share my thoughts and feelings here every day; what doesn’t suck is that you show up for that!

Categories: personal growth, photojournalism | Tags: Andris Nelsons, April 16 2023, Boston's Christian Science Center, cat eye infections, gratitude, Symphony Hall, That Sucks Day, The Boston Symphony Orchestra, The Guitar Center, Thierry Escaich, World Semicolon Day | 16 Comments

Day 3757: April 15

Posted on April 15, 2023 by Ann Koplow

April 15 is

tax day in the USA (usually),
the anniversary of the Boston Marathon bombing,
the day my son needs to decide whether he is going to accept a mathematics PhD program offer, and
many other things.

On Take a Wild Guess Day, take a wild guess what I’m going to do next in this blog post.

On April 15, I’m stuck between bad and good on YouTube, searching through videos about April 15.

Thanks to all who, like me, have made it to another April 15, including YOU!

Categories: personal growth, photojournalism | Tags: April 15 in history, cats, chocolate bunnies, matzo farfel, misspelled words, spring, Stop & Shop, Take a Wild Guess Day, The Daily Bitch Calendar, Twitter | 16 Comments

Day 3756: Corybantic

Posted on April 14, 2023 by Ann Koplow

Because today is Dictionary Day, what’s your guess for what “corybantic” might mean?

Before you get all corybantic trying to figure that out, here’s the answer:

Yesterday, after I gave a presentation to the nurses at my hospital about my groups which help people be less corybantic in the midst of corybantic circumstances, the power at several Boston hospitals, including mine, went out for several hours. Lest you get corybantic about how that affected patient care, I’ll remind you that hospitals are equipped to deal with such things with emergency generators and back up plans. However, I momentarily got corybantic when I couldn’t access my office computer from home, but then I realized there were work-arounds for that so I could still schedule people for my two online patient groups.

And even though we were afraid that our cat Joan would become corybantic when we put antibiotic ointment in her eyes (wouldn’t you?), the burrito technique I described in yesterdays blog post worked!

I will say that even when I have a corybantic day, blogging and sharing my thoughts with you definitely reduces my corybanticy.

Do you see anything corybantic in my images for today?

How corybantic are you feeling now? Here’s what I find on YouTube when I search for “corybantic.”

Corybantic thanks to all who help me be less corybantic, including YOU!

Categories: definition, personal growth, photojournalism | Tags: April 14 2023, “Corybantic Games”, cats, creativity, Dictionary Day, group therapy, medical problems, power outage, Royal Opera House — Bernstein celebration, The Daily Bitch Calendar, the South Shore of Boston | 16 Comments

Day 3755: So busy

Posted on April 13, 2023 by Ann Koplow

Yesterday, after a day when I was so busy facilitating a group for patients and then a group for health care workers who are so busy they really don’t have time to come to groups, I saw this at our veterinarian’s office:

Today, on my Thursday that is SO busy, I’m going to give a presentation to nurse practitioners at my hospital to encourage them to come to my group even though they’re so busy. I may share today’s Daily Bitch Calendar with them:

I hope you are not so busy that you don’t have time to look at my other so busy images for today.

I’m not so busy, even on my so-busy Thursday, that I can’t include another photo for Plant Appreciation Day.

I was so busy listening to the vet tech explain how to apply antibiotic ointment in both of Joan’s eyes twice a day, that I didn’t take a video of her putting Joan in a “burrito” to prevent her so busy legs from running away. Here is a so busy veterinarian on YouTube explaining how to burrito her cat:

Because my husband Michael makes burritos, I’m hoping he will be able to more easily restrain Joan’s so busy limbs for her twice-daily eye treatments.

Sometimes I’m so busy it takes me a few days to respond to comments, but I still hope you leave one about this so-busy post.

I’m never so busy that I don’t express gratitude to those I appreciate, including YOU!

Categories: personal growth, photojournalism | Tags: April 13 2023, Boston Animal Hospital, cats, group therapy, how to burrito a cat, National Plant Day, reading, Ron Lynch, Swordfish dish, The Daily Bitch Calendar, Twitter | 23 Comments

Day 3754: Miracles

Posted on April 12, 2023 by Ann Koplow

Yesterday, after I watched Jimmy Kimmel Live! and was surprised by the miracle of Jeremy Renner‘s incredible recovery from his snow plow accident , I asked this question about miracles on Twitter:

Here’s the interview that inspired my question about miracles:

Do you see miracles in my other images for today?

Cancelling our noisy and unhelpful thoughts might be a miracle.

Today, after I witness miracles in my therapy group, we’re taking our cat Joan to the vet. If she doesn’t need medicated eye drops, that would be a miracle, and if we can apply eye drops easily, that would be a miracle, too.

What are your thoughts and feelings about miracles?

Thanks to all who help me believe in miracles, including YOU!