Stay away from my ER: An excerpt. I’m an ER doc. I care for patients. All patients: Those who need to be in the ER; those who don’t; those who wouldn’t be there if they knew better. For them, for you and for fun, I’ve got some tips to keep you happy, safe …
It\’s that time. Christmas music, shoppers looking for deals on things they don\’t need and can\’t afford, an orgy of eating and drinking ruining a year\’s worth of healthy living. Tis\’ the season to be jolly – never mind your bank account, your scale or your liver. After all, you only live once. Moreover, this …
Like many other mornings, yesterday I walked the back roads to the Tha-nin market. It\’s a good two miles through Thai-only neighborhoods. I always get to see exciting things. Monks collecting alms, well-dressed cats, ninja street cleaners, spirit houses with refreshments and gifts. I love markets almost as much as I love museums, especially …
People are again dropping like flies in Dr. Steele\’s ER. She is facing another string of unexplained deaths, but this time it\’s even harder. Why? Because she doesn\’t mind seeing them dead. They are the worst of the worst: wife beaters, child abusers, pet killers, and downright psychopaths that the law failed to punish. …
Our long trip east is over. After ten exciting days in Paris and Greece, then cruising East for seven weeks with 600 of our best friends, we\’re back in Thailand. On the way, we stopped in Israel, Jordan, Oman, Emirates, Qatar, India, and Indonesia to explore. We walked the streets, ate the food, bargained and …
Athens, the second stop on our long trip east, isn\’t Paris. Just as Paris is profoundly Western in its gallic snotty attitude, rich flavor and fastidiousness, Athens belongs to the East. The sun is hotter, the streets narrower, the decibels roar. Neighbors shout at each other from across the street, motorcycles rev their stinky engines, …
I’ve been many places and done many things, but buying a one-way ticket? I’ve only done that once. Twenty-two years ago, when I left Romania with a kid and two suitcases. The second time is now, as we start our long trip east. We’ve been getting ready for weeks. We renewed our wills. I bought …
Mental Health in Today\’s America. “I can’t pee,” he says. \”How come?\” “They froze my urethra! They got mad that I didn’t listen to them. To punish me, they froze my urethra. Now I can’t pee.” “Who froze it?” “The voices.” The voices froze his urethra. He’s a good-looking man. His tan sets off his …
Art is art and money is money, no? Sort of. They’re interchangeable. From Leonardo, who didn\’t have to work for a living, (the Medicis subsidized him to create,) via Van Gogh, who had to use both sides of his canvas because he couldn’t afford to buy another, to the $86 Mil that James Patterson …
I hate Obamacare. The day Obamacare passed, I was livid. I was so angry I stopped talking to my husband, an ardent supporter. I thought this was the most ill-conceived piece of legislation I’d seen. I was right. Obama care was a patch to a national health system crumbling under its own weight. It had …
