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Modern Medicine and the Magic 90
Having flown into my tenth decade with some speed, and finding I enjoy the altitude (1), I’ve begun ruminating about getting old. Why, I’ve wondered, have I beaten the odds? Today I’m going to retrace my tracks. Next time I’ll look at the amazing process of aging itself. What was it that allowed […]
Re-reading a Russian novel, after 65 years, Part 2
As I mentioned earlier (1), my first taste of The Brothers Karamazov came more than six decades ago. I swallowed that jumbo novel in big bites, dazzled by Dostoevsky’s grasp of psychology and religion, not to mention his way of dissecting the Russian soul of his time. And the multiple tendrils of his story […]
Re-reading a Russian novel, after 65 years
I read The Brothers Karamazov (here) a long time ago, when I was an undergraduate. By that time I had learned (finally!) that rounding up a cluster of neurons and throwing them into action (with purpose) could be exhilarating. I plowed through that prodigious novel over a three-day weekend. A marathon event! One so dramatic […]
Post Birthday Bliss
My 90th was like no other. Thanks to clever innovations by younger members of my family, readership exploded here yesterday. The blast unleashed a flood of good wishes and made my sweet day even sweeter. As most newcomers may have discovered, this blog is unfocused and hard to classify. I don’t stick to classic medical […]
90 Years Old!!!
Today, I proudly announce, I’ve landed upon an elevated plateau, the one labeled Age 90, the Big NINE O. I saw it coming, of course, but even that advanced warning didn’t diminish the grin-producing pleasure streaking through me as I awakened this morning. I’ve actually arrived! I know of no prizes given to those who […]
Happy New Year, 2022 Version
May this year fill you with cheer and gratitude. May you have fewer Covid worries and more mask-free days. May you enjoy warm, gratifying moments with friends and relatives. May you endure fewer chilling travel restrictions. May you soak up 365 days of simple pleasures. Happy New Year, 2022! I’ve now steadied my blogging legs […]
‘Tis the Season of Joy
Do you get charged up over holidays? For most of them I don’t, but the pair now approaching always key me up in the right way, sharpening my focus on family and friends, and intensifying a feeling of – there’s no better word for it – JOY. I can’t explain what triggers it, but genuine […]
A Harvard Professor and Wuhan
The Wuhan Institute of Virology (See here) has earned its badge of notoriety. Now a prominent Harvard professor is likely to draw attention to another Wuhan establishment, The Wuhan University of Technology (See here). Professor Charles Lieber, a renowned authority on nanotechnology, had a decade-long academic partnership with that Wuhan Technical University. Today a federal […]
My First Year of Blogging, and My Books (Part 2)
Below is the second installment from the beginning of my revised memoir. This part is newly added and does not appear in the original Bending the Twig (See here). As I explained in my previous post, the revised manuscript is as yet unpublished. I was twenty-six when I enrolled in medical school, older than […]
My First Year of Blogging, and My Books
I passed a minor milestone about a month ago. I noted it silently at the time, but, as I said, it was a minor event, so I didn’t even celebrate the occasion with a Manhattan, my favorite drink. What was that minor achievement? Drum roll, please. I completed my first year of blogging with a […]
