Link Sunday

You guys. This weekend has been all kinds of ridiculous. Let's get started.

1. In the midst of celebrating Lesbian Saturday (it was also Advice Saturday, because I am an old sage), I've spent an inordinate amount of time on Everyone is Gay. So adorable and I am feeling all open-minded and stuff, and I want a shirt that says "Love is love is love," if someone could make that happen for me please. Even when my grandparents woke me up today at about 3:45 am with their (surprisingly loud) morning breathing exercises and yoga routine, all I could think was, "You know, they're doing their thing, and that's cool, and I'm doing my thing, and everything is just cooool." In my defense, 3:45 am is not the best time to think coherently.

2. Continuing temporally, I had a real conversation with my grandparents for the first time since they landed on Wednesday. My Hindi speaking skills have faded rather more quickly than I ant to admit, so I mostly listened (shocking!). They went to the library yesterday and basically got every book about cancer and/or the U.S. healthcare system. Here's hoping I can learn by osmosis.

My grandfather was diagnosed with leukemia two years ago and was declared cancer-free about a year ago. We talked about their experience navigating differing diagnoses, expensive treatments, and doctors who said they couldn't do anything more. Then, they went to a doctor of "holistic medicine".

At this point, I have to introduce the Indian definition of homeopathy. It's not what you're thinking--not the water has memory, serial dilutions, bonkers stuff. I have decidedly mixed feelings on all of the above. (See: my previous experience with arsenic-based supplements.) It's more accurately called Ayurveda, and is based on writings in religious texts such as the Vedas and basically lots of passed-down knowledge about the medicinal properties of various plants that are indigenous to the Indus Valley.

Anyway, my grandfather was in the midst of A.L.L. treatment and contracted severe pneumonia on top of that. The doctors were ready to put him on the ventilator. My grandmother started giving him the pills the holistic doctor had prescribed, and he actually improved overnight.

I'm a sucker for peer review. and pharmacology. So when, this morning, they handed me a bottle of plant extract, I started pubmed-ing and found this. Definitely something for me to look into. I've been pretty dismissive of "Eastern" medicine in the past, but it does not make sense to ignore therapies that are based on natural ingredients, just because they weren't synthesized in some lab under fluorescent lights. Will report back with my findings.

3. Oh hey, state politics.

"Does the lack of discussion about women's issues mean the state of women is good?"

hahahahahaha. omg. Yes. Problem solved. Let's all move on.

This commenter particularly disturbed me: "Pick a more timely, relevant and pressing fight, Nick. Triage. Fix the life-threatening problems, and then move on to the next highest problems. This is not the top problem."

Ahem. Please excuse me while I scream, and then vomit.

Women's rights are always an issue.

How many single women can't support their children as a direct result of wage disparities? How many children end up in our broken adoption system because of that?

This is not about a measly 24 cents on the dollar. It is about a class of people who are second-class citizens almost everywhere in the world. It is about a system of thinking and dismissing that has lasted for literally thousands of years. And yes, anonymous commenter, it is a life-or-death issue. Would you rather he wrote the same stale column everyone else is, about gubernatorial campaign financing? Yeah, I can see that killing people.

Oh btw. Why does it have to be solely about life and death? Doesn't quality of life matter?

Anyway. Remember to not have children. An atheist will probably eat them.

4. Weekly you-know-who update. I didn't bother reading this time. Let me know if there's anything particularly outrageous.

5. This music video concerns me. But I like the song, and am still holding out hope for Little J, for some reason. Just please, get new extensions. It looks like something fell in a bucket of bleach, died, and landed on your head.

6. Read about Meredith's language troubles. What a silly bean.