A Week in Tweets


For those of us who are addicted to social media, there are Facebook people and there are Twitter people. While I enjoy keeping up with friends and family on Facebook, I’m much more likely to encounter something new and exciting on Twitter. It’s easier to follow a diverse group of people there than on Facebook, where linkages are based on more traditional relationships.

I also post updates more often on Twitter than on Facebook. I’m less self-censoring there.

I’ve had quite a week, and I thought I would tell the story of it through my Twitter posts, with some editorial amplification. Here goes:

May 8: I’m traveling to Rochacha to see my mom & my doctor. OMG spring is finally here in NNY & it’s gorgeous.
        Note: Excellent music on satellite radio makes the mood even better.

May 8: I retweeted a post by Christopher Hayes of The Nation magazine: Great Mother’s Day column from @KathaPollitt : http://bit.ly/knVrFR

May 9: Just had an MRI of my head. It’s a minimalist concert! My fave part: tunktunktunktunktunktunktunktunk DAHDAHDAHDAHDAHDAHDAHDAH

May 9: This MRI machine had the strongest magnet evah. It made my neck & head feel warn during the scan. :-O

May 9: Just saw my brain scan compared to one done 4 years ago. No changes! WOO HOO!!!

May 9: A friend replied to me with the following: :D great news: You didn’t include a pix, guessing yours looked like this http://imaginaryfriends.typepad.com/neuroscienceart/
My reply: Huge smile here at the link. Best news: nothing lit up from the contrast dye so there’s no active MS in my brain, just old news.

May 11: This week I am dealing with a short deadline, complex, poorly explained task. I’m not alone. Lots of crabby accountants with sharp pencils.
        Note: A new mandate with short notice and only a two week deadline. It normally wouldn’t be a bad time of year to have a big job fall out of the sky, but my counterparts and I have also been dealing with the fallout of a mid-year rescission of funds for a program that is very widespread in our group of non-profit associations. It’s been busy at my desk.

May 11: Verily I say unto you: be wary of sale potatoes, for they shall be green and have soft spots.
        Note: All I wanted was two potatoes in good condition so I could nuke them in the microwave!

May 11: I find myself googling “left occipital meningioma”.
        Note: There was new news after all. A radiologist took a look at my brain scan, and s/he found something that the MS clinic didn’t notice.

A Twitter friend then sent me a flurry of messages. The conversation:
Mydogischelsea: um... I hope everything is OK!
Me: Thanks - I think so. What ever it is, it’s small & probably benign. I’ll be finding out more.
Mydogischelsea: I’ll be thinking of you. My mother has a benign tumor in the back of her head. She’s had 2 surgeries + gamma knife.
Mydogischelsea: But she is doing great. Catching it is the most important thing. And small is good!
Me: Thanks for your kind words! It showed up on a “routine” brainscan for my mild MS. Being referred to a neurosurgeon.
Mydogischelsea: Early detection is key! My mother suffered through a *year* of unbearable headaches before having it checked out.
Mydogischelsea: Anyway, good luck with the neurosurgeon. I’ll be thinking good thoughts.

May 11: I retweeted a post by jayrosen_nyu of NYU: This is something you HAVE to see. The Fracking Song, produced by my students at @studio20nyu. It’s a musical explainer. http://jr.ly/b7yp
        Note: This video proceeded to go viral. My feedback: Great job - very professional & accomplishes its goal.

May 12: @indigodragonfly Congrats on making the big move! Your yarn is frabjous, I think you will do well.
        Note: A yarn dyer in Ontario is going full-time. Her company’s wares are truly gorgeous, and I fully intend to buy some of it one of these days.

May 13: I’m trying to tough out a new development with optimism, but I feel cracked open, like when I was first diagnosed with MS.

May 13: A beautiful spring morning and a beautifully written song are both miracles, and both bringing me close to tears.
        Note: the song is “Head Full Of Doubt/Road Full Of Promise” by the Avett Brothers.
        Yeah. It’s getting to me.

A poet I follow sent me the following message after that tweet:
The nearly infinite branching through all time that enabled us to recognize I & Other, makes every breath a celebration of Luck & JOy.

May 13: “@jayrosen_nyu: “There are some people who don’t wait.” This speech by Robert Krulwich is good. jr.ly/b8sx” shout out to @madsamia
        Note: Do you think that Jay Rosen might be one of my favorites? Robert Krulwich is another favorite, and the speech at the end of the link is excellent. I sent it out to the attention of a young woman who is a friend of my daughter’s, and on her way to becoming a science journalist. She writes very well, discerns what is important, and is part of the speech’s target audience. Her reply to me: Inspirational!

May 13: This friday the 13th turned out pretty well - I got my horrible no-good pencil-stabbing project done ON TIME. Time for a drink!

May 14: My first “Noro join” in my Lanesplitter. Could be a lot worse. yfrog.com/h8lqtfuj
        Note: Tweeted in the car while on our way down to the marina in Chaumont. I’m knitting a skirt in Noro Kureyon, the original color-changing yarn and one of the most beautiful. It is also known for color breaks where instead of one color flowing into another, two different points in the colorway have been joined with a knot. At least the pattern I’m knitting can deal with such incongruity more gracefully than most.

May 14: @mydogischelsea Ouch! Much empathy heading your way, I hope your neck pain eases soon. P.s. I have an appt. in 2 weeks.
        Note: She has a kink in her neck that’s been going on for days.
        Yup, I’m following up on my new news right away. The MS clinic booked an appointment with a neurosurgeon within 24 hours of giving me the news.

May 14: Minuet is in her slip & we’re eating lunch at 11:15. yfrog.com/h4fmtefj
        Note: Our sailboat is in the water! We’ll finish getting her ready to sail next weekend - it was raining lightly today, so not good for installing sails. I took lots of pics, and hope to write a post on the launch of ’11.

And how was your week?

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