Cell 2 Soul: The Humane Health Care Blog

Marginal Notes: Wanton Proud Irene

 
Wanton Proud Irene

A night of pounding rain has run
The gamut of the course,
While overhead the sky has spun
A spiral orb of force.

We wakened to an early breeze
Disturbing bough and branch,
And jostling petticoats of leaves—
The prelude for the dance. more»

 

Brian T. Maurer has practiced pediatrics as a Physician Assistant for 32 years.  His "Marginal Notes" column appears periodically in the Cell2Soul Blog. The title "Marginal Notes" is taken from a quote by Henry David Thoreau: "I love a broad margin to my life."

Sensei Keiko Fukuda

Banzai!! Banzai!! Banzai!!! to Sensei Keiko Fukuda of San Francisco. She recently became the first woman to earn a 10th degree black belt in judo, at the age of 98. Only three others have this martial arts highest ranking - all men living in Japan. Fukuda started learning judo more than 75 years ago in Japan and still teaches three times a week. Earning this black belt was her lifelong dream.  You can see an inspiring YouTube segment on Sensei Fukuda.

Marginal Notes: A Garden of Verses

 
"Eggplant" ©2011 Brian T. Maurer

We stopped by the white outbuilding on our way home from walking the dog.
Seemingly overnight, the garden had mushroomed.
We stood marveling at the rows of green plants:
Next to the line of marigolds
A jungle of bushy tomato plants rose three feet high;
Cabbage and kale, eggplant and peppers,
Bushy basil and bouquets of parsley,
Anise, cucumbers, pumpkin squash;
All laid out in parallel rows rooted in the rich brown earth.
I stooped to study the plants heavily laden with seed pods.
What an assemblage of fruit, what a harvest of meticulous care!  more»

 

Brian T. Maurer has practiced pediatrics as a Physician Assistant for 32 years.  His "Marginal Notes" column appears periodically in the Cell2Soul Blog. The title "Marginal Notes" is taken from a quote by Henry David Thoreau: "I love a broad margin to my life."

Mindless Summer Slutty Rant

Congratulations to Barbara Nachman, aka The Movie Slut, for her recent  piece, "Raucous at the Movies" which appeared this week in the NY Times.

Ms. Nachman who composes the blog,  "Movie Slut Reviews" writes in the Times, "I am a terrible film critic. I’m indiscriminate about the flicks I watch, and I find something sensational about every one of them, including mindless summer blockbusters.

For me, what happens on the big screen is always a joy. What goes on in the audience, however, is just the opposite. And at this time of the year, when air-conditioned theaters offer a respite from both heat and doldrums, there is a lot going on."

I always turn to Movie Slut Reviews for finding what flick to watch.

Conflict of Interest Statement:  The Movie Slut is my sister.

 

Marginal Notes: Cardinal Flowers at Beaver Brook

 
Cardinal Flowers at Beaver Brook ©Brian T. Maurer

This morning under cirrus skies
We headed north to Beaver Brook;
We dropped below the giant pines
And searched the wooded nook.

We padded down the forest path
Beneath those towering stately trees;
Unbroken silence met our ears—
The stillness of a frieze.

Then suddenly, there in the wood,
Appearing through a break of brush,
The regiment in scarlet stood
Enshrouded by the hush.

The mossy bank had formed the frame
Of redcoats mustered in the stream,
While darting damsels, undistressed,
Displayed their turquoise sheen.

A still-life frozen in the glen,
A masterwork now on display
For any curious passerby
Who traipsed this August day.

 

Brian T. Maurer has practiced pediatrics as a Physician Assistant for 32 years.  His "Marginal Notes" column appears periodically in the Cell2Soul Blog. The title "Marginal Notes" is taken from a quote by Henry David Thoreau: "I love a broad margin to my life."

The Lily (Emily Dickinson)

Through the Dark Sod -- as Education --
The Lily passes sure --
Feels her white foot -- no trepidation --
Her faith -- no fear --

Afterward -- in the Meadow --
Swinging her Beryl Bell --
The Mold-life -- all forgotten -- now --
In Ecstasy -- and Dell --

North Hill, Readesboro, VT August 5, 2011

A Cry from the Head, Heart and Vagina of of Eve Ensler

Eve Ensler is best known for the Vagina Monologues -- but there is more, much more.  Don't miss her virtuoso prose-poem delivered to TED.

Around the World in 80 Diets

In an unusual project, Peter Menzel and Faith D’Alusio, a photographer and writer, traveled the world collecting photos and stories about what people eat in a day. They documented the meager meals of a Masai goat herder, the fast-food diet of an American long-haul trucker and a veritable feast of lamb kebabs and other foods set out by an Iranian bread baker.

The photos, first compiled in the book “What I Eat: Around the World in 80 Diets,” have been selected for an unusual exhibit at the Museum of Science in Boston. The result is an anthropological exploration of the culture of eating that is by turns mouthwatering, repulsive and surprising.

Read full article and see multimedia slide show.

Baruj Benacerraf

I still remember some pathology lectures I heard, as a green freshman at NYU School of Medicine,  in the fall of 1965 by a Venezuelan-born immunologist. They were brilliant and lucid. Baruj Benacerraf died in Boston on August 2.

A refugee in New York, he graduated Columbia in 1942.  "Instead of joining the family business as his parents had hoped, he made plans to study medicine. But every medical school he applied to rejected him — because, he suspected, he was both foreign-born and a Jew."

To read more about this memorable individual see the NY Times Obit.