Category: reflections

  • Spring Bloomers!

    Spring Bloomers!

    Yesterday we took our usual walk on the Terry Trueblood Trail. It’s customary as the seasons evolve for us to make sure everything is progressing as it should. It helps to make believe we’re in charge. It’s still spring and flowers are still blooming and birds are still nesting and nurturing new life. There are…

  • Big Mo Pod Show “BluesMore” Today

    Big Mo Pod Show “BluesMore” Today

    So, the Big Mo Pod Show was on just now and I listened to it because I heard the Big Mo Blues Show last night. I just want to mention that I heard Big Mo do an extended version of his comedy bit on Mayree’s hand-battered catfish last night too. I never know when he’s…

  • The Wild West Sandbox of AI Enhancement in Psychiatry!

    The Wild West Sandbox of AI Enhancement in Psychiatry!

    I always find Dr. Moffic’s articles in Psychiatric Times thought-provoking and his latest essay, “Enhancement Psychiatry” is fascinating, especially the part about Artificial Intelligence (AI). I liked the link to the video of Dr. John Luo’s take on AI in psychiatry. That was fascinating. I have my own concerns about AI and dabbled with “talking”…

  • Slow Down, Tithonus

    Slow Down, Tithonus

    What I sometimes don’t like about the X-Files episodes were the esoteric titles. One of them was “Tithonus.” I watched it again last night. It’s about a police photographer named Fellig who claimed to be about 150 years old because he cheated death sometime during the days of Yellow Fever in the U.S. in the…

  • Reasons to Be Proud and Hopeful for the Future

    Reasons to Be Proud and Hopeful for the Future

    As the month of May Mental Health Awareness draws to a close, I reflect a little on the Make It OK calendar items that are salient for me: 3 things I’ve done that I’m most proud of and 3 reasons I’m hopeful for the future. I’ll keep it short. One thing I’m most proud of…

  • So, I Got the Covid-19 Booster Today

    So, I Got the Covid-19 Booster Today

    After giving the Covid-19 summer booster a lot of thought, I got it today. What the heck. I’m an old guy and the experts all agree that the summer surge is real, including the current leaders of the FDA Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (Vinay Prasad, M.D., M.P.H and Martin A. Makary, M.D., M.P.H.).  I read their article…

  • An Anecdote About “Supportive” Psychotherapy

    An Anecdote About “Supportive” Psychotherapy

    I just read Dr. George Dawson’s excellent blog post on supportive psychotherapy (“Supportive Psychotherapy—The Clinical Language of Psychiatry.” If you’re looking for an erudite and humanistic explanation of supportive psychotherapy, I think you’re unlikely to find anything superior to Dr. Dawson’s essay. Now, about my take on “supportive” psychotherapy—there’s a reason why the word supportive…

  • It’s The Clay

    It’s The Clay

    I ran across something quotable in Ray Bradbury’s novel, “Something Wicked This Way Comes.” It’s another one of his books I’ve never read but which I’m reading now. “God, how we get our fingers in each other’s clay.” In the novel, it’s about how two friends influence each other. On the one hand, it’s a…

  • Writing is Dope

    Writing is Dope

    I learned a new slang word from Houston White, the guy who makes that specialty coffee in Minneapolis I blogged about yesterday: Brown Sugar Banana (I’m not a fan, but I admire him just the same). The word is “dope.” That used to be an insult or an illicit drug when I was growing up.…

  • Hearing an Old Song

    Hearing an Old Song

    I have to admit that I’ve been mis-hearing some of the lyrics of one of my favorite songs, “Lean on Me” for the past fifty-odd years since Bill Withers wrote it. It stayed on the top of the charts for more than 3 weeks back in 1972. That was a special time in my life;…