lornagrl

Lost a blogger friend...

Just got terrible news...fellow blogger Bob Guskind of The Gowanus Lounge (I'd link to it but the site is down at the moment) has passed away. Bob was a big supporter of my photography frequently linking to my images on his site and giving me lots of exposure. 

I learned about his death today from Gothamist and Jake Dobkin's Twitter Feed.  According to Curbed they still do not have details on the cause of death and perhaps I shouldn't do this, but when I was diagnosed nearly two years ago, Bob sent me an encouraging email and told me that he had battled colon cancer a few years back. I wonder if this was the cause (I kind of hope not)   I remember it was encouraging to hear from another cancer patient, one who had gone through it. 

Here is a snippet of the email he sent me and I thought I would share it:

Make the most of the time you've got, which is all any of us can do, really. This tends to work itself out in my case by working my ass off and by trying, here and there, to use my ability to write and communicate to make a little difference, whether it's trying to warn people that the Williamsburg condo they might by could be toxic or trying to make sure that people know that Joe Sitt's real purpose is building 40-story condos rather than roller coasters.

And, when I'm done here, if it turns out that I was one of a large group of people that helped keep an old factory standing in Williamsburg so that kids I'll never know can look up and see it fifty years from now, I'll be okay with that.

You made a HUGE difference Bob. Sleep well my blogger friend...see you on the other side.

::photo credit:Hugh Crawford:::

Unicare Sucks....

I know that I haven't been posting much and a real post is coming soon.  I just want to point you to my friend Nikki who was denied medical coverage because she is taking a (gasp!) anti-depressant.  The story hit a little close to home for me because insurance is going to be a dodgy thing for me for the next...oh..ten years.  No insurance company is going to accept me with a history of breast cancer. 

However, denying somebody because of an anti-depressant is simply ridiculous.  Doctors prescribe these drugs like candy. How can an insurance company reasonably expect that nobody has ever had an anti-depressant prescription?  I used to work in marketing for a pharmaceutical company whose biggest money maker was an anti-depressant and believe me, they spend a lot of money encouraging doctors to whip out those prescription pads.  Pretty soon nobody is going to be able to afford these drugs because they can't get insurance, because they were prescribed an anti-depressant at some point.

I see a pattern forming.

Rest in Peace Lori...

I got sad news this morning.

I learned that Lori Miller passed away this weekend.  I first found Lori's blog a few months ago and she was an inspiration.  She was diagnosed with adenocarcinoma of an unknown primary just seven weeks after her wedding in 2002. 

She started the Too Sexy for my Hair group on Flickr.  I have been posting some of my photos from my 365 Days (the breast cancer edition) series and she had given me encouraging words in August. 

Rest in peace Lori.

btw Lori's husband Cary has an excellent cancer news blog that's loaded with useful information about alternative therapies and cancer research.

Who da thunk it???

It turns out Nikki has a blog.  I didn't know this until I noticed it in my stats. 

logosknitter

..and my friend Liza, of the famous milk quote, launched her blog a few weeks ago.  Take a gander and read her essays about life in Columbia University land on the upper west side.

106th and Amsterdam

Get Human.

It's happened to me and I'm sure it's happened to you.  There is a mistake on your credit card statement, weird charges on your cell phone bill, your PDA is broken and you need tech support. But before you can get any help you must endure endless voice-mail prompts before you can even reach a live person, and even then you will probably need to be transfered a few times before you reach someone even capable of comprehending your plight.

Well now there's gethuman.com !  A useful website chock full of helpful tips on how to circumvent the quagmire that is customer service today!  I am particularly fond of the search-able database where you can look up the exact phone keys to hit to reach a live person at your favorite companies.

Valentine!

  Valentine! 
  Originally uploaded by John©.

A Flickr Valentine from John....

Not to me but I had to post it.

Post Secret...

What's cool right now???

I found this site...

I'm tempted to send them a postcard but the mind boggles at what I would write...

I suggest a visit.