TropicanaBlue's Xanga

The Power of Negative Thinking?

Wed, 02 May 2007 14:01:54 GMT

Friend of mine sent me an article in the New York Times earlier this week called The Power of Negative Thinking. Pretty interesting. It was talking about how everything good that was going on in the VA hospital Walter Reed (which has had so much bad press) came from negative thinking. That positive thinking tends to gloss over bad things that are happening and when that happens, the bad things get overlooked.

Consider how Walter Reed helped lower the death rate for wounded soldiers. It was 25 percent in the first Persian Gulf war; today it is less than 10 percent. Trauma care did not change. Medical personnel are actually stretched thinner than before. But they have tracked weekly data on injuries and survival rates, and actively looked for failures and how to overcome them.

Nothing was too trivial. During a visit with colleagues at Walter Reed early in the Iraq war, I was struck, for example, by their attention to eye-injury statistics. Instead of being proud of saving some soldiers from blindness, the doctors asked a harder, more unnerving question: why had so many injuries occurred? They discovered that the young soldiers weren’t wearing their protective goggles. Too ugly, the soldiers said. So the military switched to cooler-looking Wiley X ballistic eyewear. The soldiers wore their eyegear more consistently, and the eye-injury rate dropped immediately.

Kind of ironic.

Lives

Mon, 12 Feb 2007 15:48:16 GMT

I am trying to get a Second Life, but it is proving to be difficult. I signed up, but I can't access. All I really want to do is make an avatar for myself. Ah, well. Perhaps I should work on my first life. (That is, my actual life.)

What's in a name

Tue, 07 Nov 2006 18:15:55 GMT

A friend of mine came out with a book. I haven't finished reading it, but I am over half way done and I hate it. I think it is awful. I would never buy this for anyone, even me if I weren't supporting a friend. Now I am going to have to say something nice about it to him and his mom et al. What is a friend?

Wednesday, May 18, 2005

Wed, 18 May 2005 20:24:02 GMT

So, it's been a long time. No reason, of course, just didn't feel like updating. Then I forgot about the whole thing. I am sure that tons has been happening, but nothing real, not really.

Keep meaning to do more, but don't.

At least the winter is over.

Friday, November 12, 2004

Fri, 12 Nov 2004 22:43:50 GMT

This is how much mothers annoy their children:

[Michael] Bloomberg's father was a bookkeeper for a dairy who died of heart failure in 1963. After his death, Bloomberg's mother, Charlotte, went to work as a secretary. His parents were never all that consumed with material success, he says, adding that his 92-year-old mother has refused his offers to treat her to a nicer home, preferring to stay in the family split-level in Medford that Bloomberg's parents bought for $11,000 some 50 years ago. Mom, in fact, is still so independent that when she uses a car service at night that's billed to her son, "she sends me a check!" the billionaire says with incredulity. "It drives me crazy."

Can you imagine. I mean, seriously, can you just picture him saying, "Ma, I got it. No, really. Look, I am really really rich. I have more money than almost anyone else in the world. Let me pay for something, please." Do parents have children solely to annoy them?

Thursday, October 07, 2004

Thu, 07 Oct 2004 20:36:00 GMT

Guess what! I got the promised package from Wedding Guy today (that would be the guy I met at that wedding I went to last month or so) and not only did it have copies of his radio show, but an unexpected box of chocolates! Yu-um. It is unfortunate that he lives a thousand miles away from me, but you never know.

I have been going through such a dry spell and then suddenly, BAM! Opportunities presenting itself everywhere. First, Wedding Guy, then my designer friend gave me the email of a client of his. I figure anyone who wears the coolest of the cool has got to have something going on. Then, some very cool friends of my very cool friends has been trying to set me up with some guy they know who at one point was a lawyer, but now does something else.

Now, the last time I went out with someone who used to be a lawyer, it was an unmitigated disappointment. One of the most boring people I have never had a connection with.

If Wedding Guy lived closer, I would concentrate on him, because I only have so much attention to go around and most of it I concentrate on myself. And I hadn't heard from him in awhile so I was pursuing friend of cool friend of cool friend, who today finally emailed me and I also got the chocolate box today. Coincidence. But oo lah lah.

Last weekend, I had absinthe for the first time (not much for unnecessary illegality) and that knocked me on my ASS! I think the stuff is actually poison that makes you drunk and only almost kills you. Seriously, I really didn't have that much and I just about passed out. I fell in love with someone's carpet and refused to get up the rest of the night. Then I was drunk for like 18 more hours. I woke up drunk! Yee ha.

Friday, October 01, 2004

Fri, 01 Oct 2004 21:44:19 GMT

True story: I was walking to work today and suddenly, a small bird with a yellow chest dropped out of the sky, rolled over once and died. I have been thinking about it all day, except I don't know what to think about it. Circle of life...beauty in death...shock and awe.... Who knows?

Wasn't planning on watching the debates last night, but I did anyway. Bush came across better than I thought he would, but I think he is clearly not very bright. So what if he's "the guy next door" (not that I would want him living next door to me)? I don't want the guy that lives next door to me being president. I want someone knowledgable, sharp, smart and good being president.

What I wanted Jim Leher to ask is if it was true that the President was something of a cocaine hound in his younger days. The Republicans are such hypocrites and the Democrats fight fire with rice. Clinton was near crucified because had mj. Some people say that it is the comment that he didn't inhale. The thing is, there is no way that that was a planned remark. None. Why would anyone say anything that stupid unless it were true. There is no better way of showing you don't have the courage of your convictions by smoking mj without inhaling. Come on!

President, if life is so precious, do you now favor repealing the death sentance in Texas?

The super fun thing about the debate is that it is much easier to make a drinking game out of the next debate because I know what to prepare for.

Every time Bush says that something is "hard work," take a shot.

Every time Kerry says something that requires non-linear thinking and Bush pretends not to follow it (e.g., Kerry says that he was for getting rid of Saddam Hussein, just not in the way Bush did it and Bush replies by saying you can't lead troups if all you are saying is this is the wrong war at the wrong place at the wrong time), chug.

Very worried about what is happening in Sudan even though I don't know what to do about it.

That is all for now. Late in the day and I have to make my way home.

Tuesday, September 14, 2004

Tue, 14 Sep 2004 17:38:46 GMT

I LOVED! Garden State by Zach Braff. It is one of the few movies that I have seen that I had no problem paying ten dollars for. Check out his blog at http://www2.foxsearchlight.com/gardenstate/blog/. He reads what you write and he actually is that funny in day to day interactions, apparently.

Monday, September 13, 2004

Mon, 13 Sep 2004 13:54:45 GMT

First Entry and then we'll see. Just playing.