People
Submitted by cynicsgirl on May 23, 2008 - 9:02am.
I don't know which was worse -- having to hold my foot still for more than half an hour, or wearing headphones that piped an adult contemporary radio station into my ears during that more-than-half-an-hour.
The setting was your basic MRI imaging room, and the story was...well...the story started the day after Mother's Day when I was trying on a pair of shoes my thoughtful husband had given me the day before. One shoe hurt and the other didn't. Couldn't figure out why until I looked down and saw I had a big ole lump on the top of my left foot's big toe, between the joints.
Being the mature (read doctor-avoiding) adult I am, I didn't do anything for another day-and-a-half. Eventually though, some form of common sense prevailed, and I ended up in a podiatrist's office.
It's interesting to be a woman of a certain age and still be able to claim a "first." And this was the first time I'd ever been in a podiatrist's office. I rather enjoyed the small quiet waiting room - just me and the seniors (waiting to get removed whatever it is that seniors get filed off their feet.)
And it was a distinct pleasure to be have an examination that didn't contain the word "stirrups."
The podiatrist sent me off to a nearby facility for an x-ray (because silly insurance wouldn't allow me to take advantage of the machine in the doctor's office) and less than an hour later I was back with my films.
Which showed some sort of bone abnormality. Which meant she wanted me to get an MRI.
Now...here's where the internet comes in. You know the drill. You do a Google search and keep reading every link until you find out that your symptoms mean you have an extremely rare, but ultimately fatal, condition. (Or is that just my game?)
Google didn't let me down, and it didn't take long to find at least 5 bone-cancerous-type things that can affect the big toe. Who knew? Well, the doctor did, I guess. Because in the office when this financially-cautious patient (me) was quizzing her on the need for an MRI, the doctor more or less admitted that the reason for the MRI was to rule out the scary reasons my toe bone looked abnormal.
That's why today found me lying on a table for more than half-an-hour with most of my body in a white tube of magnetic resonance and with the aforementioned Adult Contemporary B101 serenading/torturing me. The tech had asked me what station I wanted to listen to (I requested WXPN) but supposedly she couldn't get that tuned in. Oh well, I think 'XPN is fund-raising this week anyway...although listening to David Dye's membership pitch would have been infinitely better than Rod Stewart's "Downtown Train" (which I still can't get outta my head. Aaaaargh!)
Not the least bit of apprehension on my part regarding the MRI procedure (because the internet also told me my head wouldn't be in the tube.) In fact, I approached the whole thing with a lot of curiosity (and any hour away from the kids is kinda like a mini-vacation.)
What I didn't count on: the harder I tried to keep my foot still, the more it would twitch involuntarily.
Perhaps the tech thought she was being helpful when she announced the time of each series of strange magnetic thumps and beeps -- "This one is four minutes" she would say...and all I could think of is "Must stay perfectly still for FOUR minutes...try and focus on Meatloaf's hypnotic voice...oh no, did I just move my toe when I started to relax?...yikes, that magnetism is kinda tickling my feet(toes twitch)...just one more chorus of Two Outta Three Ain't Bad, and I'll have a 2-second break between sessions to wiggle my toes (calf twitches)..." And so on.
The MRI tube had this little digital timer at the end where I could see the minutes and seconds of each series counting down -- although there was also a laser eye right next to the timer that warned not to stare directly into it (the laser.) Although it didn't seem to be on, I wondered if maybe it was some sort of secret MRI laser that was invisible or something.
See what Adult Contemporary music does to my brain?
It was all a medley of stale music, involuntary muscle movements, and stolen timer glances. With a shot of contrast medium towards the end for good measure.
My idea of a fun afternoon.
Submitted by Albert on April 29, 2008 - 11:07am.
 Above is a shot of several of the volunteers hard at work at a POP planting at 8/Poplar on the 19th. It was a gorgeous day and a ton of volunteers showed up from POP, Teens 4 Good and Greater Philadelphia Federation of Settlements. Young and old alike picked up wheel barrows, shovels, rakes and loads of dirt to plant a multitude of trees, berries and vines. I had my cousin in town for a last minute visit so I couldn't stick around for too long, but I was there for an hour documenting part of the process of planting a small orchard.
Learn more about the project here. You can donate, via PayPal or check, via the website as well. It's a very cool project and I was there for the initial meeting. My job at PhillyCarShare didn't allow me to do much last year, but now that I'm free of that place, I can take photos and get my hands into the dirt with the rest of the gang.
A flickr set up starting here of the afternoon's planting.
Submitted by SubFive on March 23, 2008 - 12:03pm.
Check out Keystone Duct Cleaning Keystone Duct Cleaning the proffesionals who did the work at our house were both thorough and polite. My husband and I both agreed that the difference was completely unexpected and dramatic; there was a large decrease in dust throughout the house and all of our allergies too. My spend thrift mom got her ducts cleaned and told me she wished she had done it years ago. That's unherd of for her. I have since decided to make it my mission to tell every one about Keystone Duct Cleaning. They also cleaned my dryer vents and sanitized all my ducts. Their number is on their site, www.KeystoneAirCleaners.com, so check'em out.
Submitted by mjohns on March 8, 2008 - 7:35pm.
By Michael Johns
It can be said that modern conservatism knows only two times. There was the time before him and there was the time after him, and those two times could not be more contrasting. In this stark contrast lies his larger-than-life legacy, and let there be no mistake: It is a legacy that will endure the ages.
As word of William F. Buckley, Jr.'s passing reached his many students, admirers and colleagues late last week, it seemed each had an account (some grand, some small) of how this intellectual giant memorably impacted and touched their lives, their vision, and their work. In the aggregate, they tell the story of a man whose immense collective qualities--genius, boldness, industriousness, persuasiveness, and (perhaps least appreciated) kindness and generosity--were without equal in modern American public life. Even in death, Buckley is bringing conservatives together more effectually than many conservative leaders are doing in life. It should surprise no one. To have had the good fortune to have brushed upon Buckley during this life was to leave impressed, inspired, and reinvigorated in the purpose-driven life that he lived admirably and which he cultivated in a whole generation of conservatives who, now in his absence, carry forward his torch.
It may be said too often of the recently deceased, but it must be said emphatically of Buckley: We will not likely see his type again.
Submitted by goldygirly on February 4, 2008 - 2:48pm.
Take a Shot for Love this Valentine's Day at our first ever Valentine's Day Party! This not-to-be-missed event will take place at McFadden's Restaurant and Saloon in Old City Philadelphia, on Thursday, February 14th. Donate your $5 cover to Second Chance Heart Transplant Group and enjoy $1 Well Drinks 9pm-11pm, $1 Miller Lites 9pm-12am, and 1/2 price appetizers until 10pm. Be sure to mention the Kiwanis Club at the door and your donation will go directly towards helping heart transplant patients in need. Celebrate this Valentine's Day at McFadden's and enjoy a night filled with games, contests, and the hottest singles in the area!
Submitted by SaveArdmoreCoalition on December 11, 2007 - 5:08pm.
 (Copyright SaveArdmoreCoalition 2007)
The Save Ardmore Coalition has a new, yet familiar mantra we want citizens to follow: “BE VOCAL, SHOP LOCAL...Discover MORE in ArdMORE”
Make Ardmore your Main Street for the holidays. Shop and dine!
The Save Ardmore Coalition ( SAC) announces its new "BE VOCAL - SHOP LOCAL" campaign. SAC urges all Main Line residents to be vocal in their support for local businesses and to shop in our towns' stores.
To promote community awareness of the need to support our local businesses, SAC will shortly be distributing BE VOCAL - SHOP LOCAL buttons and urging residents to wear them this holiday season and into the months ahead. Without local residents' support, our independently owned stores and businesses can not prosper.
BE VOCAL - SHOP LOCAL buttons will be available at numerous stores in Ardmore for free. Contact comments@saveardmorecoalition.org for more information.
( Copyright SaveArdmoreCoalition2007 in case anyone wants to steal our tag line, we expect properly attributed credit and a donation would be nice too)
Submitted by Karl on November 29, 2007 - 12:05am.
Howard Hall, one of the best writers I have ever known, a long time supporter of Philly Future (without which, there were times these last few years the service would have faltered), a good soul and great person, is celebrating his four year blog anniversary.
Stop by and tell him thanks. Our corner of the web is all the richer for his involvement, talent, and passion.
Submitted by comicenergy on November 11, 2007 - 12:50pm.
Comic Energy presents "Give Thanks To Sketch Comedy" a tribute to the
beloved craft that creates a tremendous amount of laughter.
Plan to be on hand to witness a re-enactment of the first Thanksgiving,
see a Jewish Pizza Shop, Krunkie's still trick-or-treating, the turkey's
revenge, and much much more.
"This show is a combination of the combined effort of our weekly shows at
Tori's with some of my favorite material I have written as of recently which
I am really looking forward to sharing with our crowd", says producer JD Daly.
It's no doubt that Comic Energy has been thriving since being named Philly's #1 Sketch Comedy Troupe, and MyFoxPhilly's Hot List winner for #1 comedy club. The troupe performs an all new 8-sketches
every Tuesday night at Tori's on South Street. Tickets for this weekly event are
available at the door, a resonable $5 entry fee to see Philly's best when it comes
to sketch and local standup comedians.
"Lets Give Thanks To Sketch" is a tribute to sketch comedy, coming from Philadelphia's
original sketch comedy troupe, and if your into comedy this will be one hot ticket!
Plan to be on hand to see some of the funniest sketch comedy you can
ever witness in person. Tickets are available through the Comic Energy website at
www.comicenergy.com...or by calling 215-514-7508.
Thank you for all of your support and we look to see everyone out for a
rockin good time Nov. 24th at Doc Watson's Pub (216 S. 11th
Street)...all of the fun begins at 7pm :)
Submitted by aysworld on October 17, 2007 - 11:01am.
Friday, November 9, 2007
8am-5pm
PA Convention Center
The time has come for us to stop talking about the problems in our neighborhoods and start acting. This year’s conference is inspired by the community activists and youth leaders who work hard to make our neighborhoods places of opportunities where people excel, ideas grow and dreams are realized. By bringing together young people ages 14-21 and adults from around the region, we will begin to create real solutions to the many challenges in our communities. Workshops and interactive sessions will empower youth to effectively address the challenges they face everyday and enhance adults’ capacity to nurture the potential of every youth. We invite everyone, both youth and adults, interested in making a positive and lasting impact in their community to “Step Up!” and “Be the Change”.
**This year’s conference will feature an exciting keynote speech by Ephren W. Taylor, CEO of City Capital Corporation and the youngest African-American CEO of a publicly traded company ever!**
*The conference will also feature a lunchtime comedy performance by Philadelphia’s own Keith from Up Da Block!*
For more information, or to register, visit us online at www.greatsettlements.org or call Amanda at 215-925-7875.
Submitted by DDonsale on September 12, 2007 - 3:34pm.
Weekends are especially exciting when you have your New Yorker friend visiting you! , Somebody who
loves New York and like she said: “I am born and raised in Manhattan”. I responded, I am in love with
Philadelphia because it is a lovely city -- old and new at the same time. The streets are full of history
and there is always a lot to do; events, art, music, great restaurants, great people... and the night life is
absolutely fabulous! Downtown is my favorite place as every day is different and unique. My friend,
Amy doesn’t exactly share this view of Philadelphia and I started wondering are we each so much in love
with some places that we cannot appreciate others?
After two and half hours trip she arrived, so I decided to take her for a nice walk and introduce her the
best cappuccino in the city (according to me, Miss Caffeine). It is from a small Belgium coffee shop in
downtown where the brownie is just perfect delicious-- we couldn’t get enough!
Later, after cappuccinos lattes and brownies, I forced her to appreciate the wonderful architecture of the
buildings at center city. Then we visited the “old city” a place full of life particularly after sunset.
Finally we headed to South Street which to me seems a place for very special people who definitely have
no problem to be themselves and express it through their outfits. Believe me if one day you need to remind
yourself how good you look you definitely should go there!!!.
I should probably confess, as if you hadn’t already suspected, English is not my first language and
although my friends say I speak very well after just two years I think they are just being my friends so
they have to say that. Besides, if they don’t say that I will ask them to help correct the English in my
blog! I already wear out my spell check and grammar check - but I digress, yes.
Later that day two good friends were laughing having a great time and I thought that it would be a good
idea to go to my favorite park, Rittenhouse Square park. Every woman there has something- a man, a
child, a dog, so if you go there without any of those you will start to feel that you are definitely missing
something in your life. That's exactly how we felt until a woman we were talking with told me that’s
why she had not one but two dogs. Still, I couldn’t help myself thinking am I missing something, I don't
even have a fish much less a dog. Pour me. Then I looked at my perfect Gucci bag and my great (but
uncomfortable) shoes and I thought demy no I am fine, I am still not ready to give up my addictions
HANDBAGS, SHOES, COFFEE AND MEN.
Night arrived and so did we-at a hot spot in Downtown for drinks and dance. Amy complained a little too
loudly for me: no hot man in Philly? (well, that's coming from a woman dating a model). She added:
the good men are taken, the average men are busy, and the rest of them ... (use your imagination, it
wasn't kind). To me, the environment was great -good music, good drinks and I was dancing with the
average men. Meanwhile Amy was having fun conversation with our friend Marcelo mostly at my
expense I learned later. Why is she dancing with the average man? Why is she drinking so much? She
needs a coffee. Suddenly, I was flirting with a good one perfect delicious (like those good brownies) but I
couldn’t get enough. His "sister" was coming at us very fast and with a very angry expression on her
face. I didn't stick around to learn for sure that his "sister" wasn't related to him. Mr. Delicious was
surely just another cheater wanta-be (I think that's an American-English expression) and I had no
quarrel with his girlfriend's attitude.
Amy Marcelo and I left laughing about the incident and making jokes about how men are always
horny. Really, at the end of the day all that matters are good friends that share a good coffee with you
when you need it!!!.
Submitted by Howard on September 3, 2007 - 12:32am.
Just like last week, Will Bunch is once again set to take to the airwaves. And if his pre-show post is any indication, a lot of folks are bound to have opinions on the question he tossed out:
"Is it time to get over 9/11?"
Answer in the comments, or if you're still up for the show (1-3 a.m.), chime in on the air.
Submitted by Howard on August 27, 2007 - 3:47am.
I was driving home shortly before 2 a.m. when I heard a familiar voice on the radio. I soon realized I was hearing the launch of Will Bunch's next career as a talk radio host. That's when I picked up the phone and made my first call to the "Big Talker" in ages.
The experience stirred some thoughts on the future of traditional news media, about which I go into more depth at the smedley log.
Even more eloquent thoughts on the future of the news can be found at Slacktivist, written by another local blogger employed in the field of journalism.
Submitted by Philly Koinonia... on August 22, 2007 - 5:21pm.
What Do You Do After You Pray:
The Church's Response to Gun-Violence in Philadelphia
PHILADELPHIA, PA – With more than 250 murders after the first half of 2007, the city once known as the City of Brotherly Love has instead quickly become known as Kill-a-delphia, forcing many residents to live and operate in fear as a result of the gun-violence inflicting the city.
On Saturday, August 25, 2007, Philly Koinonia Ministries (pronounced koy-no-NEE-yah) will organize its initial effort dealing with this problem, the "2007 Gun-drive and City Fellowship". This will be an outdoor effort beginning at 10 a.m. taking place at the Dorothy Emmanuel Recreation Center, located in the Mt. Airy section of Philadelphia. To effectuate a change in our culture, we must not solely rely on the power of prayer, but also take responsibility with our actions to address the stronghold embattling our city; for our actions speak louder than our words. The organization identifies fear as the stronghold that simultaneously creates gun-violence, and results from gun-violence, and therefore will focus using this effort to present an understanding of God’s love to combat the stronghold of fear dwelling in this city as a result of gun violence; for God is love (1John 4:16) and in love there is no fear (1John 4:18).
In addition to the gun-drive (individuals will receive a gift card in exchange for their gun), this effort will also include an appearance by Mayoral Candidate Michael Nutter; messages given by local Pastors, such as: Bishop Keith W. Reed, Pastor Kevin M. Aiken, Pastor Chandra I. Williams, Pastor Daniel Sutton, Pastor Larry Anderson, Pastor Eric Mason, among others; performances by local choirs and other guest artists; and also a nonprofit/vendor area featuring more than 30 tables of advocates, businesses, and non-profit organizations that offer programs and services related to the focus of this effort.
For more information, please visit www.PhillyKoinonia.org.
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