Category Archives: Stroke

A Trivial Post for Serious People

April 11, 2013Aphasia, Strokericky

Today’s stories are linked by aphasia. I’ve mentioned quite recently that, while I received a bunch of speech therapy both as an in-patient and from the visiting nurse service, this wasn’t connected to speech issues as such:

“Speech” inc. reasoning, organization, speech, swallowing and memory, at least. No doubt all grouped together for good reason. Have to ask.

— Ricky Brown (@ricky_ballboy) November 14, 2012

Regular readers will recall that my home speech therapy stopped abruptly in the wake of my extended soliloquy to the visiting nurse therapist regarding continuity issues in Doctor Who.

Michael Grade enumerates the reasons for cancelling Doctor who in the '80s — “His speech therapy wasn’t cancelled. Just put on ‘hiatus’.”
(Image from kasterborous.com)

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Digesta Plaga #2 – The Wide World of Strokes

April 4, 2013Digest Post, Digesta Plaga, Strokericky

Blogging is, by its nature, a solipsistic exercise.

[solip·sistic adj. Describing an endeavour in which one uses words like “solipsistic”.]

However, you can’t go about examining the nature of life, death and god in every post, so it is good to look outside from time to time. That is to say, it’s time for another digest post, and to look at the Wide World of Strokes.

Billy, your spelling’s awful. And you’re fired.

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Great Scottish Strokes #3

March 4, 2013Great British Strokes, Lists, Podcasts, Strokericky

People love lists, right? Well, according to Rob Fleming, Nick Hornby’s representative in High Fidelity, a certain type of bloke does, anyway. So much so, that Hornby himself was able to get 31 Songs published. That’s a list of 31 songs, natch, with each chapter being a fairly lengthy entry about one of the songs; either why it’s good, its personal resonance, or some other facet of the particular song. It’s pretty good.

These days, list shows are ubiquitous. For example, consider the cheap-o, low-brow filler populated by talking heads with no particular knowledge of their subject, like BBC America’s execrable The Brit List. We saw their 20 sexiest Brits show. Which, as Beth pointed out, had to be filled out by a car. And a candy bar. Amusing middle-aged yet skinny men with good hair from the ’90s didn’t get a look-in, oddly enough. I’m talking about the Guardian’s head music writer, Alexis Petridis, of course. (See blogs passim.)

Alexis Petridis — A specimen of the sexy British man, yesterday

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The Milkman of Human Kindness

February 28, 2013Rehab, Strokericky

Phew! It’s been a long week. Busy, and, honestly, a bit stressful. Last Thursday, I missed a scheduled post post for the first time since starting the blog in early December (which, from what I can gather, isn’t a bad record). Then, Friday was a terrible day. I was a bit strokey getting out of the house, and ended up missing my physical therapy session. Three hours traveling from home to the Ambulatory Care Center, confirming my appointment was screwed, and making the return trip home, all with just my own thoughts for company, was a pretty ugly scene. Thank goodness Beth, with her uncanny ability to know what I need – better probably, than I do myself – was able, eventually, to drag me out of my funk. The trick, in this case, was just to move on from the mental perseveration, reset, and move on to something else. So, although I don’t doubt that there’s a post in my massive Friday breakdown, for once, I’m going to try not to dwell on the unpleasant. Because, as Socrates almost said, “The examined life is not worth living.”

Socrates — The great philosopher perseverates on Espana ’82.

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Old Goths Never Die

February 25, 2013Blog News, Death, Pop Music, Strokericky

Last Thursday, we took a trip to my daughter’s school, where we received a personal tour of class 5K’s recreation of an Egyptian tomb, including the kids’ replicas of artifacts and life-size murals. Very interesting it was, too.

Today's gratuitous Doctor Who reference — *“I am Sutekh the destroyer!”*
Class 5K on Thursday

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The Clonus Horror

February 15, 2013Dr. Who, Strokericky

Hello, Apoplectics! Today’s post comes to you from Gallifrey. Not the home planet of Doctor Who, but the convention celebrating him in Los Angeles. I didn’t expect to be here four months ago! There will be a full report on Monday, I’m sure. Well, full-ish. Days before our departure, there had already been a specific request from a reader to exclude any discussion of The Mile High Club, so I’ll only mention this link, which suggests that the Brits are the most likely nationality to be members of the club. I was hoping to read that William Hartnell, who played the first incarnation of the Time Lord and is well-known among Whovians for the “Billy-fluff”, or muffed line, might have had a stroke. Unfortunately, it seems the cause of his problems was arteriosclerosis, or a stiffening of the arteries. So, in the absence of a Whovian Whook (geddit?!)….

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Reefer Madness

February 11, 2013Healthcare, Strokericky

If you read Time magazine, you may be under the impression that smoking marijuana increases one’s risk of stroke. To quote the relevant article, “[i]n one presentation to the American Stroke Association’s International Stroke Conference, researchers from the University of Auckland in New Zealand found an increased risk of stroke among those smoking marijuana compared to those who did not.”

That's some good gear, man — Researchers at Auckland University, yesterday

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Men, Cybermen and Bionic Men

February 4, 2013Rehab, Strokericky

The search continues for the root cause of my long-standing high blood pressure. So, today, we got up early(ish) for another trip to Methodist Hospital. Which is, apparently, part of the New York Presbyterian Healthcare System. Which makes sense, I suppose, given that there is such a thing as Calvinistic Methodism. Apparently, Calvinistic Methodists constitute the congregation of the Presbyterian Church of Wales. So, Methodist Hospital is like having a tiny part of Wales in Park Slope. Sort of.

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[Almost] 30 Things I Can Do Today That I Couldn’t Do Until Relatively Recently

January 31, 2013Lists, Rehab, Strokericky

Although life continues to return to something at least outwardly resembling normality, it continues to retain aspects of strokiness. Tonight, I’m going to a presentation giving an “overview of the latest interventions and approaches in stroke rehabilitation, like e-stimulation [and] other robotic devices for arms and legs, etc.” [thanks, Avi], and a number of you will probably know how excited I get about e-stim. Hopefully, blog fodder will be forthcoming.

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Apoplexy Live!!!

January 24, 2013Rehab, Strokericky

Today’s blog post is a little different. This Saturday I’ll be doing a reading at the Lost Lit open mic and photography show and reception in Boerum Hill/Downtown Brooklyn. I’d love to invite you all along, but it’s being held in a small space, and there will be twenty writers presenting. So, in lieu of that, here’s a version of what I’ll be reading, on the theme “Lost”. Hope you enjoy….

“If ever an album title was in dire need of an exclamation mark / it surely had to be / Frampton Comes Alive!”

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Apoplectic Me

the scribblings of a bloke who had a stroke…

Category Archives: Stroke

A Trivial Post for Serious People

Digesta Plaga #2 – The Wide World of Strokes

Great Scottish Strokes #3

The Milkman of Human Kindness

Old Goths Never Die

The Clonus Horror

Reefer Madness

Men, Cybermen and Bionic Men

[Almost] 30 Things I Can Do Today That I Couldn’t Do Until Relatively Recently

Apoplexy Live!!!