Category: reflections

  • In Memory of Leonard Tow, Founder of the Tow Foundation and Humanism in Medicine

    In Memory of Leonard Tow, Founder of the Tow Foundation and Humanism in Medicine

    I just found out that Leonard Tow died on August 10, 2025. In humility, I express my gratitude and respect for his creation of the Tow Foundation, a big part of that being the Humanism in Medicine Award, of which I am one of the many recipients over the years. I hope this great tradition…

  • Pride or Rhetoric? What Would Dr. Melvin P. Sikes Say?

    Pride or Rhetoric? What Would Dr. Melvin P. Sikes Say?

    I noticed the headlines about the DEI flap at The University of Iowa, the one with the official apparently spilling the beans about University of Iowa’s DEI program not going away despite being illegal while maybe being unaware of being filmed. I’m not going to retell the story. However, it does remind me of a…

  • Shout Out to Dr. George Dawson for Post “The Autocratic Approach to Homelessness”

    Shout Out to Dr. George Dawson for Post “The Autocratic Approach to Homelessness”

    I want to give a shout out to Dr. George Dawson for his post today “The Autocratic Approach to Homelessness” in reference to President Trump’s most recent executive order, “Ending Crime and Disorder on America’s Streets.” As a retired psychiatrist, I look back and remember seeing the problem of the homeless mentally ill a lot.…

  • A Small Update to a Pseudo-Rap YouTube Video and a Big Tribute to Dr. Robert G. Robinson

    A Small Update to a Pseudo-Rap YouTube Video and a Big Tribute to Dr. Robert G. Robinson

    I just noticed something about one of my YouTube videos that I made sort of as a combination gag and educational piece about pseudobulbar affect. It needed a couple of updates—one of which is minor and which I should have noticed 10 years ago when I made it. It’s a pseudo-rap performance (badly done, I…

  • The Hummingbird is a Blur!

    The Hummingbird is a Blur!

    Yesterday I noticed a hummingbird hovering about the flower pots on our porch. I hurried to get my point and shoot camera and shot video, through a window as usual and it was getting a little late in the evening too, so light was low.   Can I blame the bird for always looking like…

  • Starting Without the Big Mo Blues Show Today!

    Starting Without the Big Mo Blues Show Today!

    Well, I’ve been waiting all morning for the Big Mo Pod Show and it usually shows up long before now on Saturday morning. In spite of this, Big Mo did say on the blues show last night that the first two songs on the show would be on the pod show and I know what…

  • How Will I Get to Heaven? Rounding at Iowa Podcast: End of life Doulas

    How Will I Get to Heaven? Rounding at Iowa Podcast: End of life Doulas

    I listened to the Rounding@Iowa podcast “End-of-Life Doulas” twice because I’m at that difficult age when I think about my personal death. I don’t think about it at great length, mind you, but when I think about it, I feel afraid. Early mornings tend to be the time I wonder how much time now until…?…

  • Meet Mr. Slim Indigo!

    Meet Mr. Slim Indigo!

    Just like a few days ago, yesterday evening while we were playing cribbage, Sena spied a slim indigo bunting. This one flew right up to our window! It was probably not the same one we first saw. That guy was buff, likely because he’d been branch pressing in the gym. This character was slim and…

  • More Mall Walking for Everyone!

    More Mall Walking for Everyone!

    I don’t get out often to the mall to do mall walking, but I did today. I put on a little over 2.5 miles on my step counter. Mall walking is OK for exercise although I have to drive over there. Right next door to the entrance to the mall is the outdoor entrance to…

  • Big Mo Pod Show: Music of the People

    Big Mo Pod Show: Music of the People

    I caught the Big Mo Pod Show today, “Music of the People” and of course, I listened to his Friday Blues show last night. Big Mo is a bottomless pit of blues music knowledge (as well as other genres) and that takes me back to my wasted youth when I had a short conversation with…