Book Review: Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides

Middlesex is the story of a hermaphrodite that was raised as a female, then later in life identified as a male. It is, however, more than just an Oprah-esque freak show.

The narrative extends back to the narrators grandparents flee from Greece during an invasion by the Turks, and their immigration to Detroit. There are very compelling descriptions of warfare, and class struggle. It then moves forward to the story of her parents ascent into the middle class. Then it settles into the meat of the story, the narrators troubled experience with puberty.

The characters are all very intriguing and well-developed. It is clear who they are and what their motivations are. The writing style is somewhat whimsical, with the narrator at times stepping out of character in an artful way.

I only gave the book 4 stars because I thought the pacing was off. I was interested in the story throughout, but at times I was really wondering where this was all going and felt on the brink of loosing interest. Mid-way through, as the plot focuses on Cal as a pre-teen, it becomes more engaging.

Overall this is an enjoyable and worthwhile book.

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I’ve been hacked

I just telling the world that my facebook account has been hacked. All is well with it now. Apparently someone changed my password and started to send my friends online chat messages saying that I was mugged in London and need them to send me money. The last time I was in London was on a high school trip to Europe!

It is a bit frightening that this can happen, and it is making me think about my online presence. I enjoy interacting with people online, but how vulnerable am I really? This scam seems pretty benign, assuming that no one was conned…Don’t feel bad if you were, it can happen to anyone! But I could have been on a much larger scale. My money may be at stake, but so is my reputation!

So, anyway, thanks to everyone that alerted me to the scam. Some of you said that you had interesting chats with these people. If you are interested in sharing them, I’d love to hear them….

Thanks,

The REAL James…

Square

Square

Michael Jackson, likely one of 33,000 Americans that will die of an accidental drug overdose this year

I’m probably not alone in thinking that the media is spending way too much time and energy on Michael Jackson. I have never been a fan of his, so maybe i just don’t get it. But is he really worthy of all this attention? Is this attention because of his contributions or because of his eccentricities?

I don’t think it is a big leap to say that Michael Jackson died of an accidental drug overdose. Maybe I’m wrong, but that is the safe bet. I think his escalating treatments for his “insomnia” finally did him in.

It seems that the only reason anyone was interested in Micheal Jackson over the last decade or was his erratic behavior. He sold millions of records and was a phenomenon…in the 80’s. Since then he has been a tabloid mainstay. He was a very self absorbed person by all accounts. He surrounded himself with sycophant staff and manipulated them into keeping his family at bay and procuring large amounts of prescription drugs.

Michael Jackson was amazingly talented, but this does not exempt him from being human. He suffered many of the same ups and downs that we all do. But unlike the rest of us these were exaggerated by being perpetually on display.

He suffered as we all do at some point. Some make note of the fact that he was diagnosed with lupus, which is potentially a very disabling autoimmune disease. But 1.5 million other Americans are also diagnosed with lupus. With his fame, he could have done a lot to raise public awareness of this disease. As far as I know, he did not.

I bet the real reason that Michael Jackson had insomnia was because he was addicted to sedative/hypnotic drugs. As this addiction worsens, those afflicted become increasingly tolerant of the drugs effect, thus requiring larger doses. When larger doses are not available, withdrawal sets in. In the case of Xanax, which he reportedly took 10mg a day (I believe the medical literature would classify this as a shitload) the withdrawal syndrome would be a hyperaroused state. This would manifest as anxiety, agitation, increased heart rate and blood pressure, as well as insomnia. Drug addicts typically are endlessly cycling between intoxication and withdrawal. In Michael Jackson’s case, he had the means and influence to procure insanely large amounts of medications. He even had his own personal anesthesiologist. WTF??

Just because he didn’t have to rob a liquor store to get his fix doesn’t make him any less of a drug addict. I’m convinced that his drug addiction explains his erratic behavior (e.g. dangling a baby over a balcony) and his poor judgment (reckless spending, excessive plastic surgery etc.)

33,000 people die in America each year from an accidental drug overdose. That is about one person every 16 minutes. Michael Jackson may have been one of those people.

Loose Associations Videocast #1

Camp

The Loose Associations Podcast #2

My second Podcast. Just as arbitrary as the first.

Enjoy!

Tinkerbell and my looming mid-life crisis…

Strange, but I found myself very reflective after watching the movie Tinkerbell with my daughters a few weeks ago. In the movie, Tinkerbell’s magic fairy talent was being a tinker. She envied the other fairies that had cool talents like making things grow and altering the weather. As you can imagine, Tinkerbell tries and fails at these jobs. But it all works out in the end when she uses her mad tinkering skills to save the day. She ultimately becomes content with her role and lives out the rest of her fairy life happy with what she has.

Well, here’s what that has to do with me…

I had decided earlier this year that I was going to run a half marathon this summer. In fact, this is something that I have already accomplished once, back in 1999. I’m not sure why I decided to do this again, but it seemed to be a worthy goal.

I enjoy running, and I generally feel good when I do so. But as my training progressed into more frequent and longer runs, I noticed that I was feeling less happy about it. I’d spend most of my free time running, and I had perpetual soreness in my left ankle and right knee.

This is all within what should be expected from a 40 year old man with a bit of a pot belly. The zeitgeist of western society norms would dictate that I suck it up in a “no guts, no glory” blaze of pride and accomplishment. But I asked myself, why am I doing this? What am I trying to prove?

I think that I have always wanted to be good at something; to be admired. I enjoy music, so I play the guitar. I’m not very good at it. I took drum lessons a few years ago, I’m not very good at that either. I have a salt water fish tank that is over-run with algae. I have a blog that is unfocused and inconsistently updated. I seem to ooze mediocrity with everything.

But do I really?

In fact, I’m a good father and a good husband. I am admired and needed by my family. I also think (and have been told by many others) that I’m a good psychiatrist. These are where my talents lie. I’m not setting the world on fire here. Not everyone can be Neil Peart or Lance Armstrong. As I approach my mid-life crisis, I am aware that I need to find a level of comfort with being ordinary.

So I have decided not to run the half marathon. Running should be its own reward, and I should run regularly at moderate levels. My health and well-being will flourish with neither the time commitment nor the aches and pains.

Great. But the thing is, since I have decided this, I haven’t been running very much at all. It can be black and white with me sometimes. I find it difficult to be consistent when I don’t have a definable goal.

I’m not quite sure yet how this is all supposed to work.