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Speaking of Spanish
Every once in a while, I get an urge to try to learn to speak, or at least read Spanish. Recently, Men in Black was on the Telemundo broadcasting network. I tried to watch it but gave up after a few minutes. The dubbing was disappointing because the actors don’t speak Spanish and the dialogue…
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Falling Leaves
The leaves are falling everywhere, including our back yard. Just watching them drop like a snowfall is mesmerizing. It feels like it’s going to snow. Temperatures have been low enough for frost and freeze warnings around here. The mowers were bundled up, wearing stocking caps and gloves yesterday. Fall is Sena’s favorite season. Temperatures are…
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Kindness Is Still Out There
The other day, Sena and I were talking about growing up in Mason City, Iowa. As kids, both of us were the ones who lugged the groceries home. That was back in the days of paper sacks and, for me and her, food stamps. The food stamp program got started during the Great Depression. The…
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Butch Haircut Fixes the Bozo Effect
Sena gave me a butch haircut the other day. What led up to that? About a month ago, I got a haircut at a local shop. Usually Sena cuts my hair (she’s been doing it for decades), but I occasionally go out for a haircut. I was pretty impressed with the guy who asked me…
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Dr. Igor Galynker and The Suicidal Crisis Syndrome
I was looking at my bookshelves and found the copy of the book, “The Suicidal Crisis: Clinical Guide to the Assessment of Imminent Suicide Risk.” It was written by Dr. Igor Galynker. It’s a fit topic for this month because September is National Suicide Prevention Month. This brings back memories. I still have a gift…
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Thoughts on Jack Trice
I was outside doing yard work the day before yesterday and my neighbor across the street walked over to say hello. We got to talking about sports and football came up. His wife stopped watching football because it was so violent—but then switched to watching hockey. He wondered when the Iowa Hawkeye vs Penn State…
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This is National Suicide Prevention Week
Thanks to Dr. H. Steven Moffic for his Psychiatric Times article, “A Psychological Autopsy on My Only Patient Who Died by Suicide.” In it he describes his own experience with a patient who committed suicide. He also reminded us that this is National Suicide Prevention Week. It’s also National Suicide Prevention Month. The quote I’m…
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22nd Anniversary Commemoration of 9/11 Attacks
The 22nd Anniversary Commemoration of the 9/11 attacks and the 1993 World Trade Center will be observed today. I remember where I was on September 9, 2001. I was climbing the stairs at the hospital on my way back to my office. I was on duty on the psychiatry consultation service. I happened to glance…
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Should Doctors Be Funny?
I ran across an interesting Medscape article, “Should Doctors Be Funnier? These MDs Are Real Comedians.” I don’t know if they should be funny, but it probably wouldn’t hurt. I think a sense of humor is a good thing for anyone to have and it’s probably not that hard to develop. There’s even a Wikihow…
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Another Blast from the Past
Today is Labor Day, and I was looking at some of my old blog posts from my previous blog The Practical Psychosomaticist. I found one that I think I haven’t reposted on my current blog called “Going from Plan to Dirt.” It’s a funny post, at least I think so. It draws a comparison between…
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