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March 25, 2008
I Love "The Church of 80% Sincerity"
My copy of David Roche's book, "The Church of 80% Sincerity", arrived from Amazon. I started reading it, and could not put it down. I soaked it up. I stuffed it full of little shreds of paper to mark my favorite spots. I underlined. I waved it at people and told them they had to read it. I shoved it into people's hands and offered to lend it. I twittered about it, and obviously I am blogging about it.
This is a wonderful book.
What I have done here, is pull out just a very few of my favorite lines from the book, to let the book speak for itself. I tried very hard to restrain myself, and reserved some of my favorites so that you can discover more wonderful jewels of wit and wisdom when you read the book. This is just a tiny bit of flavor to tantalize you. Please, GO, read this book.
QUOTATIONS & EXCERPTS
'Miracles Not Accepted Here', p. 19
Many time one run, even one successful swing of the bat, would have been sufficient to convince me of the reality of miracles. Apparently, neither normality nor homeruns were possible in my life. Most hideous of all, it seemed God wore a Yankee uniform.
'Random Acts of Cruelty', p. 44
Because that place of fear is where predators and manipulators of all sorts -- sexual, financial, religious, political, warmongering -- come to feed. And that is where cruelty is born -- in fear of not being acceptable, worthy, valued and loved.
'Random Acts of Cruelty', p. 44
I know now that when people turn away, they're not turning away from my face, but from themselves, from their own fears. When they meet me in the light of day, all their fears are pushed onto me in a millisecond. And that's my job, to carry the weight of that fear for them, to carry it so we can all pretend we are normal, if just for a little bit.
'The Priciple of Delayed Understanding', p. 51
Don't worry about not knowing the answer immediately. Don't confuse yourself with Google. For that matter, remember that Google does not know the right answer either; it just spits out information quickly.
'The Basic Motivating Factor', p. 61
Psychologists tell us that the number one fear of all Americans is the fear of public speaking. The fear of death is number 6. (Which is probably why capital punishment does not work too well.)
'The Basic Motivating Factor', p. 68
And there was God. Not God up in the sky, no bearded old alcoholic bipolar man with a rigid smile on his face and a club behind his back. Only community, the feeling of mutual supprt and being in it togehter and the first great glimpse of what my life could be.
'Life as the Mirror', p. 79
My face is an elaborately disguised gift from God. Oh, not a gift I was ecstatic about receiving. Did I open this gift and say, "Ah ... ah! How did you know this is what I wanted, God?" No, it wa smore like, "You shouldn't have."
'Prayer', p. 91
Prayer is not a planned thing. Prayer emerges of its own accord. You are not supposed to play. You are supposed to get out of the way of the prayer that prays itself.
'Prayer', p. 93
God is not fooled by teeth whitener or Botox.
'The Laying On of Hands', p. 99
There are five ways people give and receive love: spending quality time, offering service, giving compliments, giving gifts, and touching.
'The Laying On of Hands', p. 110
I was sitting in the Planetree Library at California Pacific Medical Center, studying anatomy. One of the librarians came up to me as I bent over my books. She said, "I thought you might be interested in this," and set in front of me a booklet entitled The Let's Face It Resource Guide for People With Facial Difference. She quickly walked away. I was angry and embarassed. I brought the booklet home and showed it to Marlena. I told her, "I want nothing to do with this."
[NOTE: David did contact Let's Face It and became a friend of Betsy's. In case you couldn't guess the outcome. :) ]
'Unconditional Love Has Its Conditions', p. 116
The true composition of love: 20 percent feelings, 80 percent action.
'Unconditional Love Has Its Conditions', p. 125
Dr. Christopher Dowd, who performed sclerotherpy on my throat and soft palate and tongue. Before the procedure he talked with me for almost two hours in his office.
'Pitiless', p. 131
Children, however, don't waste too much time on pity. Once they get over any shyness, they get right to the point:
"You are smiling too much."
"What happened to your mouth?"
"What happened to your chin?"
"Where did your chin go?"
What is that stuff on the side of your face?"
"Why is your eye too big?"
"Does your face hurt?"
'Pitiless', p. 134
People do stare. People do ask what happened to my face. Sometimes I'm grouchy. I feel like saying: "You've heard of a bad hair day. Well, I am having a bad face day."
'Pitiless', p. 137
I squatted down in front of Derek. "Derek, were you wondering what happened to my face?" He nodded. "Well, you know that everyone looks different. And this is just the way I look. My face doesn't hurt. I look different, but I am just a regular person. My name is David."
Posted by pfa at 09:21 AM | Comments (0)
March 10, 2008
Let's Face It and Social Technologies, Part 1: Google Video
When UM took on the Let's Face It web site, we always intended to make use of Web 2.0 and social technologies for enriching the site. Unfortunately, the loss of the webmaster for the site last Summer has delayed much of this. With a new webmaster soon to arrive and assistance from one of the hopsital webmasters, we are again ready to get going.
You should be noticing more blog activity, more activity on our del.icio.us account, signs of these being integrated more fully with the web site. In addition, we will be expanding the variety of social media used in the site.
For starters, the video of Betsy speaking here is now available in Google Video. I hope this makes it easier for people to view. I just watched it again myself, and am impressed all over again by Betsy's dynamism as a speaker and a person. I hope you enjoy watching this as much as I have, and find it easier to share with your friends and families.
Posted by pfa at 11:46 AM | Comments (0)
March 06, 2008
Q: I need to know more about cholesterol granuloma
Q: I need to know more about cholesterol granuloma, especially diagnosis and treatment.
A:
This question was unusual in that it concerned a common condition, a not unusual type of benign growth, and that there does not seem to be many patient support groups related to the condition. Normally, we like to offer both consumer health and professional information about a condition, as well as helping people find other "real folk" who have some experience or concern related to the condition. For this topic, there was little quality consumer health information, so we are sharing mostly information for doctors, hoping that this will be helpful.
TERMS:
cholesterol granuloma
This is also known as or distinguished from: cholesteatoma, petrous apicitis, Gradenigo syndrome, Gradenigo's syndrome, giant cholesterol cyst of petrous apex, cholesterol granuloma of petrous apex, petrous apex schwannoma, clivus chordoma, clivus chondrosarcoma, as well as other names and conditions.
SEARCHING:
Here is a sample search for more information performed both in Pubmed (for articles for doctors) and Google (which also brough back mostly articles for doctors).
(cholesterol granuloma OR cholesteatoma) (head OR cranial OR cranium OR facial OR face OR aural OR auditory OR ear) "differential diagnosis"
Pubmed: http://tinyurl.com/3xjyn9
Google: http://tinyurl.com/2tcqa8
CONSUMER HEALTH INFORMATION:
American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery (AAOHNS): Cholesteatoma: http://www.entnet.org/healthinfo/ears/cholesteatoma.cfm
EarSite: Tumors: Cholesteatoma: http://www.earsite.com/tumors/cholesteatoma.html
MedlinePlus: Medical Encyclopedia: Cholesteatoma: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/001050.htm
SUPPORT GROUPS / PATIENT FORUMS:
Cholesteatoma.net: http://www.cholesteatoma.net/
LINKS FOR HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONALS:
eMedicine: Cholesteatoma: http://www.emedicine.com/PED/topic384.htm
eMedicine: Middle Ear, Cholesteatoma: http://www.emedicine.com/ENT/topic220.htm
eMedicine: Skull Base, Petrous Apex, Infection: http://www.emedicine.com/ent/topic243.htm
eMedicine: Skull Base, Petrous Apex, Tumors: http://www.emedicine.com/ENT/topic244.htm
Posted by pfa at 06:39 PM | Comments (1)