Aside – Page 2 – Julie's Bits

Mothers Day

This Sunday is Mothers Day and for the last 30 years, I have been without my mother. For several years after my Mother died, I could barely go near a card store in the month before Mothers Day. If I walked by the card section of a store, my throat would start to close up, my heart would start beating hard as I felt my eyes welling up with tears. I would often have to run out of the store, experiencing some kind of panic attack.

Now, I just avoid card stores and the card aisles of stores most of the time, but the other day, while at Walmart, I cut through the card aisle to get across to the grocery section of the store. I wasn’t thinking about Mothers Day, and there they were….rows of Mothers Day cards. I felt a tug at my heart and an overwhelming flood of grief. Yes, it’s been 30 years, but I’ve never stopped missing her, and I hope I never do, for if I stopped feeling that grief, then I will feel like I have lost her forever.

A few years ago, I participated in a writers’ workshop. Every day, I would receive an email that laid out the topic of the day’s writing. One of the assignments was to write about a day in time I would like to return to and I wrote an essay about my last trip to Jekyll Island with my Mother. The details of the essay are correct. I was pleased with how the essay turned out and I’d like to share it with you in memory of my Mom this Mothers Day. You can read it here (entitled, “A Room With a View”).

The Indigo Bunting is at the feeder

We saw the Indigo Bunting at our feeder for the first time two years ago. We missed them last year, but we’re delighted to see them again this year!

I snapped these pictures while standing at my kitchen window. Thankfully, I have a really great camera that has a nice “window” setting and a great zoom feature.

“Less” by Andrew Sean Greer wins the Pulitzer Prize for 2018

I’ve added the 2018 Pulitzer Prize winner in fiction to the reading list. We’ll be reading it this coming September. Please review the Epilogue reading list for the up-to-date reading list.

SHARED: Flickr bought by SmugMug, which vows to revitalize the photo service

I’ve had a Flickr Pro account for several years now, and I’m glad to read this announcement this afternoon. In the last several months I’ve cleaned up my Flickr account and have started taking pictures with my good camera in my quest to become a better photographer. I’ve been uploading my better pictures to my Flickr account, which you can view here.

“SAN FRANCISCO — Flickr has been snapped up by Silicon Valley photo-sharing and storage company SmugMug, USA TODAY has learned.

SmugMug CEO Don MacAskill told USA TODAY he’s committed to breathing new life into the faded social networking pioneer, which hosted photos and lively interactions long before it became trendy.

SmugMug, an independent, family-run company, will maintain Flickr as a standalone community of amateur and professional photographers and give the long neglected service the focus and resources it deserves, MacAskill said in an exclusive interview.”

SHARED: Facebook knows a ton about your health. Now they want to make money off it. – The Washington Post

I think this is pretty creepy. What do you think?

“Let’s say you like a Facebook page devoted to breast cancer survivors. It has been a useful forum for comparing treatment options with others who have dealt with similar health issues. There’s only one problem: Facebook has now categorized you as a patient, and you constantly receive precisely targeted ads about cancer services available near you. They are showing up on your computer screen at work, for all your co-workers to see, right when you’re up for a big promotion.

Many users experience a version of this scenario when they receive creepily personalized ads while browsing on Facebook. When those ads follow users onto sites outside Facebook, it feels like an invasion of privacy. But how do you regulate data privacy in an age of big-data black boxes?”

Finished Women’s 5K

It was a nice day to be outside and I had fun mostly walking the Women’s 5K on Saturday.

I’ve participated in this 5K many times over the years, but this is the first year my sister has joined me. My sister ran most of it, leaving me to bring up the rear, but next year, I hope to be in good enough shape to run it.

Last year, the 5k was held around Chastain Park, but this year, it was held around Grant Park. The Grant Park course was much easier than the Chastain Park course – not so many hills.

The race is put on by the Atlanta Track Club and at the end every woman is given a medal, a really nice Mizuno tee shirt and a long stemmed rose. I love all of the positive energy I feel when I am standing with all my sister runners & walkers. It’s really a great way to start off a Saturday morning.

Shared: How Profiteers Lure Women Into Often-Unneeded Surgery – The New York Times

I have a dear friend who had mesh implant surgery about 5 years ago, it hasn’t gone well for her. She has regretted her decision and for the last year or so she’s been hounded by one of these law firms to join in their class action lawsuit.

At the time she mentioned that to me, I was suspicious. Generally, lawyers that actively seek out people for class action lawsuits are not necessarily looking out for the plaintiffs…instead they are looking to pad their own pockets with their share of any damages they are able to recover.

After reading this article, I sure hope my friend doesn’t follow through with any lawyer-assisted reversal of her mesh surgery.

“Jerri Plummer was at home in Arkansas, watching television with her three children, when a stranger called to warn that her life was in danger.

The caller identified herself only as Yolanda. She told Ms. Plummer that the vaginal mesh implant supporting her bladder was defective and needed to be removed. If Ms. Plummer didn’t act quickly, the caller urged, she might die.

Ms. Plummer, 49, didn’t ask many questions. Her implant was causing her discomfort, and she was impressed by how much Yolanda knew about her medical history. She was scared. “It was like I had a ticking time bomb inside of me,” she said. Yolanda assured Ms. Plummer that all her expenses would be covered and that she would be set up with a lawyer to help her sue the mesh manufacturer, Boston Scientific.

Days later, court records show, Ms. Plummer was lying on an operating table in a medical office in a shopping mall in Orlando, Fla.”

Continue reading article at The New York Times

Bits & Snips for the week

Michael’s now owns the online business of the now defunct Hancock Fabrics:

“We are excited to share with you that the legacy of Hancock Fabrics will continue, as the Bankruptcy Court has approved the sale of the on-line business of Hancock Fabrics, Inc. and its affiliated entities to Michaels Stores. Today, Michaels operates more than 1,200 stores across the United States and Canada. Michaels also maintains a strong on-line presence and warmly welcomes the customers of HancockFabrics.com to its growing family. With Hancock Fabrics, Michaels now looks to build upon Hancock’s great reputation for providing quality fabric and notions to customers across the country.”

Source: Michaels website