Swan Song

Well, folks, it's been real. Do you know what today is? It's February 2nd, that's what. And do you know why that date is significant in my life? You don't? Shame on you. Exactly one year ago today, February 2nd, 2010, I was admitted to Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center. Little did I know that I would be there for five weeks. Little did my family know that for the first week or two, I would be hanging onto life by a thread. So I've decided that this somewhat unsavory anniversary would be a logical time to finally close this blog down. I think it's quite obvious that there have been times of late when I've had difficulty coming up with suitable topics for posts. That said, I hope most of them have been worth your time. I hope you found them either entertaining or enlightening or some combination thereof. On the whole, it's been a lot of fun for me, and definitely theraputic as well. Journaling is well known as a useful tool in therapy, and I don't think I would have been quite as prolific if I knew that the only one that was going to read what I was writing was me. Officially I had fourteen "followers", many of whom read one or two posts and fell by the wayside. Then again, there were some folks who read the blog without officially becoming followers, like Ruthie (hi, Ruthie!). I'm not literally shutting it down, though. If there's a topic that I'm aching to get off my chest, I'm gonna fire up the ol' computer and let 'er rip. I have a feeling if I do that, the blog will be in danger of becoming all about politics, and that'll probably bore you even more than my health stuff did. Maybe I'll concentrate on funny stuff. There's a supposed "humor writer" in one of the Jewish magazines who's so unfunny, it's painful. And yet he seems to be making a living doing it. Or perhaps not. Perhaps he's a really bad plumber or stock broker or salesman and is writing his drivel to try and make ends meet. The sad part is, Jews, for the most part, are pretty funny people. Have you ever noticed that most famous singers are (or maybe I should say "were") Italian (think Frank Sinatra, Al Martino, Dean Martin, Perry Como) and most famous comedians are Jewish (think Mel Brooks, George Burns, Jack Benny, Woody Allen)? Jews carry their angst around with them in their DNA and it's there's a wealth of funny material to be culled from angst. Have you ever noticed that "angst" has four consonants in a row? Have you ever noticed that "Borscht" has five? Have you ever noticed that sometimes I write things that aren't very interesting? Getting back to humor writing, most of what I've read that purports to be funny usually isn't. I've read George Carlin and Woody Allen and found neither of them particulalry funny. David Sedaris*, however, can be quite amusing at times. You won't be guffawing and falling off your chair, but I usually find him fun to read, if not funny. There is a difference, you know. For example, what you're reading right now is neither. So zei gezunt** everyone, and I hope I will too. You might want to check back every so often to see if I've added some brilliance that the cyber-world absolutely could not do without, but so long, farewell, auf wiedersehen, goodbye for now. And don't forget to stop and smell the flowers.
PS Oh! I almost forgot to tell you! As of today, I am officially completely, totally, 100% off Prednisone! Someone say Mazel Tov!

* Here's a link to some David Sedaris quotes, a few of which actually made me laugh out loud. WARNING: This link contains some adult language and subject matter. http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/2849.David_Sedaris

** Zei Gezunt = Be healthy.