Michigan man a success in MS stem cell study; coverage upsets me

My January issue of MSFYI and several Google Alerts also had good news about a small stem cell study.

Here's what the newsletter said:

"Three years after being treated with an experimental procedure that used their own stem cells, a small group of people with early cases of relapsing-remitting MS appear to have either halted or even reversed their course of disability."

The study, conducted at Northwestern University in Chicago, involved 21 people who had "autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, a procedure in which their own blood-forming stem cells were extracted, and then reintroduced into their systems after each person was treated with chemotherapy to kill immune cells in their bone marrow."

The goal to "reset" the immune system seemed to work with most:

• 17 showed improved EDSS scores,
  
• 16 had no relapses after three years,
  
• none have had a worsening of MS symptoms.

Previous studies using stem cells in people with more advanced cases of MS have not been as successful, and some attempts have been fatal due to methods used to kill immune cells. A new technique, believed to be safer, was used in the most recent trial.

The study's lead author, Richard Burt, a Northwestern associate professor, said in media reports that the therapy may not be effective in late-stage MS because too much damage from immune cells had already been done. On the mean, those involved in the newest study had been diagnosed with MS for five years.

A larger trial, with 55 patients in the U.S. and Canada, is now planned for what the Chicago Sun Times said: 'First time we have turned the tide' on MS - Injecting early patients with own stem cells seems to reverse disability: researcher."

The Sun Times is where I also learned that a Michigan man participated in the trial. And that's where my disappointment with the media begins.

I was surprised that I couldn't find the Michigan connection in any of reports on the study in Michigan media. Surely, I'd learn more in local media. (I live in Michigan.)

Here's what the Sun Times said:

Barry Goudy, of Woodhaven, Mich., was one of the success stories. Goudy was diagnosed with MS in 1995. Since his stem-cell injection in 2003, Goudy said he hasn't had the fatigue, blurry vision and weak limbs he used to experience with every relapse. Goudy noticed improvement in his symptoms within six months.

Now, he's back to working full-time at a car dealership and said he doesn't have to get weekly and monthly drug injections anymore to keep his condition in check.

Except, I don't think he lives in Woodhaven. I know he's not working at a car dealership, if he ever did. But details beyond his participation in the study are fuzzy after watching what four TV stations did with a video report featuring Goudy and reading a number of reports in various newspapers and medical journals.

The Journal of the Medical Association did a video report in April 2008. Here's an abstract: AMA report on how stem cells treat autoimmune (and other) conditions, focusing on Barry Goudy - who celebrates 5 years free from Multiple Sclerosis symptoms after treatment. Clinical Trials ongoing...

From the JAMA site:

Barry Goudy learned he had multiple sclerosis in 1995. He was losing feeling in his left leg, and then his vision began to go.

“I went back to my neurologist and said, ‘Tell me how I can fight this,’" Goudy said.

Goudy enrolled in a clinical trial in 2003.

After five days of chemotherapy to destroy his immune cells, doctors used his own stem cells to rebuild his immune system.

He said it worked wonderfully for him.

“I have no symptoms of MS. I do no treatment for MS. I do no shots,” Goudy said.

Researchers reporting in the Journal of the American Medical Association reviewed the outcomes of about 2,500 patients who had stem-cell transplants. They found that it helped many patients with auto-immune diseases and even helped improve heart function for patients who suffered heart attacks.

“It's a whole new approach to these diseases. Rather than just surgery or drugs that you can use, (it is) a cellular approach that seems in many different studies to be benefitting the patient,” said Dr. Richard K. Burt, chief of the Division of Immunotherapy for Autoimmune Diseases at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine.

Unlike embryonic stem cells that can only be collected after the destruction of an embryo, adult stem cells come from a patient’s own blood or bone marrow or another adult’s.

“There's very low risk – less than 1 percent mortality from the procedure,” Burt said.

Goudy now leads an active life, even coaching a hockey team.
“I've had five years of good life. Five years! If I didn't do the transplant, I would probably be in a wheelchair today,” Goudy said.

Last July, Goudy reached the five-year mark. You can read about some of his early MS treatment efforts.

ABC-12 in Flint was among the stations to pick up the JAMA video last winter, including information about Goudy in a report on stem cell research.

WRAL did a report too, using the video.

In 2006, in a radio show he was working in the automobile industry (read the transcript)

He's testified on stem cell research, where some other details are fuzzied up.

I'm fairly sure he's now a hockey coach at a suburban Detroit high school - contract approved in August. I thought about tracking him down - it's that need to know urge. But then realized there's no reason to intrude on his life. I just need to remember to keep question what I see and read on "news" reports.

Related posts:

If I ask, will questions go away?

Old drugs inspire hope for those with MS

Advance newspapers get warning of closure

Over in New Jersey, employees heard the Jersey Journal and some weekly newspapers may close in spring if finances continue the way they are.

The Jersey Journal is an Advance Publication, like The Flint Journal, Ann Arbor News, and the other "Booth" newspapers in Michigan.

The Evening Journal Association announced to its employees today that the company would cease publication of The Jersey Journal and a string of weekly newspapers in Hudson County on April 13, 2009, if its revenue is not sufficient to support the papers' reduced expense plan.

Here's some background.

Does anyone from North Dakota read blogs?

Even " competitors" like to help out from time to time. That's why I have been Tweeting, Friendfeeding and just plain begging in search of someone from North Dakota who willl visit Free From Editors just once so Jim of L-Town who is warming up in California can finally say at least one person from each state has read his blog at least once.

His whining, I mean blogging, about this lapse got me curious about some of my stats. I was surprised to find folks are translating me into Dutch (Flemish), Spanish (Castilian), and Croatian.

And though I'm not cross-checking this against a state or country list, I like watching the cities change. I get Flint, Lapeer, Frankenmuth, Ann Arbor, Troy, a few of the New Jersey, Ohio,Louisiana, Alabama, Massachusetts, New York, and Oregon sites that show up. I've worked with people from those places. I am not surprised by Knoxville or Napier or Washington D.C. I'm Internet buds with people from there. Even Phoenix, Nashville, and Miami makes sense - Girl Scouts, you know.

But Australia? Or New Zeeland? How do you find me?

And do you know anybody from North Dakota who could just read this 49 and once to go.

Let's give Jim of L-Town an easy post to write when he returns to reality from the land of the stars.

Equal time for newspaper lovers

Most of what's written about newspapers these days is doom and gloom. But there are some who are enthusiastic about the medium.

Like Ken Paulson, who was from USA Today, and delivered a speech recently that highlights his belief that it's wrong to pick on the "ipods of the 1980s." After all ...

"there have also been huge layoffs at Home Depot, and no one is predicting the demise of hammers."

His speech is on the National Press Club under the headline of Newspapers are Fact-Checked, Hand-Delivered, No Pop-up Ads. What's Not to Love? Paulson Says.

The speech was picked up the Newspaper Project, the website to balance the doom and gloom of others.

"NewspaperProject.org was launched in 2009 by a small group of newspaper executives to support a constructive exchange of information and ideas about the future of newspapers. While we acknowledge the challenges facing the newspaper industry in today’s rapidly changing media world, we reject the notion that newspapers—and the valuable content that newspaper journalists provide—have no future.

"Unlike websites that feature negative, gloom-and-doom stories about newspapers, this website will be devoted to insightful articles, commentary and research that provide a more balanced perspective on what newspaper companies can do to survive and thrive in the years ahead."

(You didn't miss buy a newspaper day because you were busy chasing down the groundhog, did you?

'Mom cooks me ... like a turkey'

A 4-year-old's heart is breaking because her Mom "doesn't love her anymore."

My heart breaks when I read that her mom put her in the oven and "cooks me like a turkey." I had hoped it was a misguided mother's attempt to get her daughter warm during this cold spell.

But that wasn't the goal of the Hamtramck's mom, who also singed her daugter's eyelid with a screwdriver,

I have so many questions. How could the girl stand still long enough for her mother to do that to her face?

How did the mother get her into the oven? Pretend they were acting out a fairytale? Shove her in?

I want to know more. I know that I can't. I fear others will follow the mother's lead.

Why is it still so easy for some to become parents.

It is enough to distract me from the horror of the new mother of 8 babies, who already is mother to six children. It is not the size of this new family or even that all of the kids are under 8. It's the mother and how unlikely it is that she will qualify as a good mother anytime soon.

She's been on disability for at least 5 years - pain from an on-the-job injury prevents her from working and led to her divorce in 2008. (She says depression from pain led to her marriage disolving. Is her ex taking the high road and not sharing his side, or is no one asking him?)

How much did birthing and -- I hope -- taking care of the first six contribute to her disabling pain. Why in the midst of the physical pain and emotional pain of splitting from your husband would you choose to have more children? And what sane medical staff agreed to do the procedure?

Why is it so easy for some to become and stay parents?

It is almost enough to make me want to stop reading the news.

Happy Tweets made me 'pretty' mad

Oops. I learned early this morning two things - I can still jump (to conclusions) and hot buttons stay hot.

It started with a visit to Happy Tweets, where I put in my Twitter name and learned I was "pretty" with a score of 512.

Wait - don't I have the green-haired cartoon as my profile pix? That's pretty? And what's pretty got to do with happy?

See, I am striving to be happy and positive and grateful and even optimistic. I want good health. But pretty stopped being a goal a long time ago. I mean whose defination of pretty reigns supreme? And how come it is usually women who cover up their faces and lips with all those layers.

Now maybe part of the sensitivity is all the hoopla over "He's just not that into you" and Jennifer Aniston's comment on Jay Leno last night that when she was 10, her mom was saying you should never leave the house "without your eyes on." OK - 10? And did anyone ever say that to a male? (iPhone turned Aniston to Boston! and leno doesn't own his own name as an an URL and NBC uses TNT for the address? What does that stand for? The nightly tantrum?)

I digress. How can my tweets reveal that I'm pretty? I went looking for the interpretation, which meant I had to scroll down. That's when I saw the word "happy."

Pretty happy ... on the non iPhone days :-)

Facebook's 25 Things gets noticed by Time, NYT; gives me some attention

Wow, even Time and the New York Times have noticed this 25 things thing which was on Friendfeed -- even has a room there -- and has exploded on Facebook.

The Time article can tell you just how much time - OK, estimated time -- has been spent coming up with these lists. Author says about 10 minutes per list and there's been .... sorry, get that # from Time as I am Iphone blogging tonight so I cannot copy and paste. While you are there, you can also read some of the things the author wishes people would not have said. It's worth a read - and no names are attached, Midgets, why 1 teacher quit, something about middle school - surely that's enough to get you to go look.

Unlike some, I have enjoyed reading most of the lists that I have found on Friendfeed and Facebook. Susan Mernit has helped point out quite a few with ongoing posts that take just one item from each list.

Plus, I have had a grand time just clicking away on lists for folks I barely know or don't know. I didn't realize you could read some notes of non"friends" just by clicking on the word "note" next to their name. The openness depends on how users fix their settings - you can even control access by note. (I'm working on a Facebook privacy post, but that's for a day when I'm using a computer to blog.)

My reading lists of non-friends is fair - Google searches for "25 things you don't know about me" have been sending folks to my January list - the one with the photo of the Japanese bluegrass band. We will see if they come back.

A dozen eggs may make the difference

Sometimes life is not fair. You get yelled at, you want to yell. Or at least get rid of some of your frustations.

In an Everything Changes blog post, Kairol Rosenthal shares "10 truths,"about cancer and includes this:

4. Smash. Put one foot in front of the other, roll with the punches, yell, cry, and break things as needed.

I really liked this recommendation: Smashing a dozen eggs in the shower. She says it is "cheap, satisfyingly messy, yet easy to clean up." I can easily imagine tossing one hard against a shower wall. I can visualize the tension melt away as I plow through a dozen behind a closed door. With the shower running, no one would hear me either.

Yet my family thinks that's a bad idea because they say the eggshells won't go down the drain.

I brought up the idea during a discussion on why there"a a broken glass in the trash. Eggs would be cheaper then breaking glasses or china, I suggest. It is quickly pointed out the breaking was an accidental drop, not a throw. (And if I were an assuming type of gal, I'd say the looks suggest they would never throw china and wonder if I would toss in anger. I only throw when I need more broken china for a mosaic.)

They also don't want me kicking any of the dogs either, even if it is their howling, or yapping or snarling that sends me over the bend.

I guess that leaves blogging and/or journaling. (Yes, journaling on paper and in private so I can keep a few still talking to me. )

You know eggs would be faster. I think I even have a coupon.

Oh, say can you see?

I remember the day being a protective oldest sister changed my world

I accompanied my brother to his at-school eye exam and became quite upset with the doctor who kept asking the same question over and over. Finally, I had enough of the badgering.

"How can he tell you what direction something is pointing when it is just one big blob.?"

Whoops! His exam quickly ended and I was on that seat looking at what clearly was not a blob.

Long story short, i needed glasses.


I remember vividly the day I got glasses and saw individual leaves on a tree, spokes on a bike wheel and words on a chalkboard.

But why didn't I tell someone about my poor eyesight? Who knew it was poor?

At age 7 I thought the world was supposed to be a Monet painting, massive blends of color that left details to the imagination or a upclose investigation. I thought the way things looked in books and on television was part of the magic of the products. (Yes, I sat close to the TV.)

What we live with daily is our reality, our normal. With luck, the reality is good.

Or we find change through the right person or tool at the right time so that our world no longer is an Impressionist painting.
ng

If I ask, will questions go away?

It's another sleepless night (and getting to Seattle remains on the bucket list) so if I out the questions that are inside will they go away? Or will I at least get answers?

Who is the Amanda behind the breast cancer donation fund on the Michigan form?

Was the Michigan man in the stem cell study selling cars, working in a car factory or managing something in an auto company when he was diagnosed with ms? Did he get a buyout? Is his career as a high school hockey coach fulfilling a dream? How much did it cost him to participate in the study?

Does a person come with a set number of hours of eyesight?

If so, is it better to ration how long and on what you use your eyes for or just splurge and do as much as you can now?

Did I burn too many hours on books and computer screens? Was it reading by flashlight under the bedcovers?

If you wait, do some cancerous cells heal on their own?

Do MRIs and the other fancy tools tell us too much today?

Is it lying to say you didn't have a fever if you don't take your temperature?

How long will a scale tell you the right weight?

Why do people without children make scrapbooks? What happens to their scrapbooks when they die?

How do they decide how many days you need to take an antibodic?

Why do I still want more hours in the day, heat in the house and friends to be happy?

What is happy?

Do you still need to use drops to make your eyes wet if you are crying?

Why isn't waking up enough?

Old drugs inspire hope for those with MS

Some good news about multiple sclerosis -there are some possible new uses for old drugs -- one used to treat leukemia and another to treat TB or leprosy -- could help with MS.

It also looks like those who can't face shots may be able to take an oral drug instead of shots

Over on the peer-reviewed Ploson (Public Library of Science, you can read about how Clofazimine could be a "promising immunomodulatory drug candidate for treating a variety of autoimmune disorders," including MS.

But for an "in English" explanation, I like what Julie Stachowiak's says over in her Multiple Sclerosis Blog:

"The drug clofazimine was developed in the 1890s as a treatment for tuberculosis. Clofazimine happens to also interfere with a molecular pathway that controls the immune response. Basically, clofazimine prevents signaling from the exterior of an immune cell into the interior (where it can "rev up" a response). They result? An inhibited immune system that is less likely to attack the myelin and cause the symptoms of multiple sclerosis (in theory)."

Wait, an even easier explanation is on the John Hopkins press release, starting with the subhead:

"Leprosy medicine holds promise as therapy for autoimmune diseases"

Johns Hopkins pharmacologist Jun O. Liu is quoted saying:

“We never expected that an old antibiotic would hit this target that has been implicated in multiple sclerosis, psoriasis and type 1 diabetes.

Until now, clofazimine’s presumed target was not human cells, but bacteria. But we discovered the drug has a tremendous effect on human immune cells that are heavily involved in both the initiation and execution of an effective immune response.”

The Johns Hopkins researchers uncovered the drug’s latest potential during an ongoing and exhaustive screening of FDA-approved drugs designed to identify new uses for them, according to the press release.

The Hopkins team was specifically hunting for immune system control agents within the Johns Hopkins Drug Library, a collection of more than 3,000 drugs in pharmacies or being tested in phase II clinical trials.

The press release, under the main headline "Teaching old drugs new tricks," goes into detail about the methods the researchers used. It was a lot of work but I'm glad they were so patient. More work to come.

My latest edition of MSFYI from MS Focus had this item on a possible oral drug from Merck:

Oral Drug Cladribine Reduces Relapse Rates in Trial

Another oral medication for MS may be headed toward the FDA approval process after meeting its end-points in a phase III clinical trial.

Cladribine, a drug already approved to treat leukemia, was tested in two dosing levels, both of which reduced relapses seen over one year’s time in people with RRMS when compared to placebo.

More than 1,300 people participated in the CLARITY study. Those in the “low dose” group had 58 percent fewer relapses, compared to those taking placebo; those in the “high dose” group had 55 percent fewer relapses.

Reported side effects included low white blood cell counts as well as headaches and cold-like symptoms.

The Pharmaceutical Business Review said that Elmar Schnee, president of Merck Serono, plans to apply for FDA approval of the drug’s use in MS in mid-2009.

For those with a fear of injections, an oral medication is good news, as so far the only medication that helps prevent relapses is given as injections. Some can be done by the person with MS; some only at a medical faciltity.

It is still hard for me to believe that the first drug known to help prevent MS attacks was approved by the FDA in 1993 - just a year before I was officially diagnosed. I was lucky to get Betasaron and years later Copoxone, which was approved in 1996. I've had fewer side effects from Copoxone and find it fairly easy to do the daily injection.

My knowledge of injections saved us 100-mile round-trip back to the cancer center for a day-after chemo shot. With coaching, my daughter also has joined "Yes, I Can" corps and can give herself a shot now.


By the way, I learned that there were at least 150 MS clinical trials under way in 2008.

You can stay up on the latest with the electronic newsletter from the Multiple Sclerosis Foundation. My mom discovered the quarterly print magazine MS Focus in her doctor's waiting room. I found the monthly e-updates over on the web site. Both are free.

No roll of blogs, but I read 'em

February 3 is Blogroll Amnesty Day, which started off when one blogger wanted to trim his roll of blogs without guilt. Other bloggers thought that was horrible, knowing that links to other blogs are one of the best ways to help folks find new blogs. They followed the lead of this blogger who turned it into a happy occasion by linking to five blogs that had less traffic than their own. (It goes without saying they had to like each of the blogs.) So despite the lack of a blog roll on the website, I can tell you about some of the ones I'm reading.

Mandy from MS Maze put together MS Bloggers at your Fingertips! picking it up from Lisa Emrich of Brass and Ivory who asked MS bloggers to spread Linky Love!

Traffic isn't a big concern in my decision to list some of the blogs I read. Do check out those two MS ones, plus Access Denied - living with multiple sclerosis and A Place to Scream and My journey with Multiple Sclerosis.

I switch diseases here (to cancer) but get inspired by Everything Changes

I still have a thing for libraries so SuperPatron stays on my favorites as does Ed Vielmetti's Vacuum.

And I'm really happy that Susan Mernit blogs a lot more often than she was for awhile.

And I have no idea why, but I am fascinated by the Junky's Wife.

Mmmm. I still remember when getting some co-workers to blog was a chore so it's nice to "keep in touch" via these blogs by folks who once worked or are working at The Flint Journal:

• David Sullivan's That's the Press, Baby
• Jim of L-Town's Free From Editors
• Pat's Blog
• (Tom )Wickham's World
• Todd Seibt and Michael Robb's TeamBoxer
• Doug Pullen
• Paddywack Designs
• Andy Heller
• Theresa Roach's Girl on the Rocks
• Jared Wadley and a bunch of folks combine on It's Just Sports
• Bill Khan and Chris Machniak still do Runners' Finish Line
• Offbeat, where Bryn Mickle picked up Jim Smith's practice of sharing unusual happenings from the crime beat.
• Brenda Brissettee Mata
• Amanda's Life and Times
• DaBlade's Chattering Teeth

(OK, ex- and co-workers who else has decided that blogging isn't the end of the world and is missing from my list?)

Two of my favorite quilt blogs have Flint-area connections - Michigan Quilts and Joe the Blogging Quilter.

Flint Expatriates is in my Flint rss folder because I love learning about this city's yesterdays.

I'd like to tell you about more blogs, I have to go do more research on how a twenty-somethings pays the outrageous price of beating cancer, what can be done with glaucoma and how to kick the blues without seeing another doctor.

Oh yeah. I did write about some of my word-related blogs before, remember Blogs replacing need for editors, talk

What you didn't know I had in common (or not) with 25 who agreed to be FB friends

I twisted and turned and finally spit out another 25 things by looking at what I had in common with Facebook friends who had already a 25 (or more) list because I didn't want to add to anyone's to-do list.

1) Like Norma Z., I love coffee (before noon)

2) Like MBW, I asked my husband out first ... if you count asking "You don't want to go out with me, do you?" because I didn't believe the guy I was with was right about why Larry was suddenly around so much.

3) Like Jim of L-Town, I was the editor of the State News at Michigan State University. My "year" started early and ended late and had lots of ups and downs but taught me lots about running newspapers.

4) Like MWG, I reluctantly did the buyout thing. But it is turning out to be the best thing in the world as it is giving me a chance to mother my cancer-fighting daughter, work virtually with new people and organizations and rediscover passions buried by workaholic tendencies.

5) Like MB, I believe open communication is the best way to solve problems

6) Like EC, I worry a lot about food and believe that health care could be forever changed if we fed people right.

7) Like IC, I find being a parent challenging yet rewarding.

8) Like SC, I spend way a lot of time on news sites (and those dealing with journalism and writing and ... You get the idea... a lot of time)

9) Like CW, I love(d) to take baths to relax, then curl up with a good book. But I only do the book part now because hot baths (and weather) make me limp. (thanks ms).

10) Like AR, I believe democracy is not a spectator sport.

11) Like JWJ, I love bluegrass music. (I didn't know that until I moved to Flint, Michigan.)

12) Unlike BE, I was never fired from a job.

13) Like MH, I booked (and organized) concerts and I can’t go to a show now without picking apart the lighting, sound, stage presence, musicianship, etc. Like, had I been in charge of this weekend's 32nd Ann Arbor Folk Festival, I would have ....

14) Like JR, I sometimes need a hug.

15) Like PB, I sometimes try too many Facebook applications (but it's OK for folks to ignore them.)

16) Like MLJ, I am an Internet junkie.

17) I learned a lot about coaching writrs from Bruce DeSilva, Jack Hart and Don Fry.

18) Like RS, I will copy edit anything and everything before me, which is why I really hate it when I get a brain burp and can't find the perfect words.

19) Like VC, I can read type upside down. (These days, it needs to be large print though)

20) Like GG (who is on Facebook, but I discovered through his Life, Work and the Pursuit of Excellence blog I want to learn something new every day.

21) I learned a lot about Flint and Irish music from MK while producing and hosting a music show on Flint's former public radio station.

22) Like RJW, I'm not crazy about talking on the phone. I thought once I left the newsroom, I'd enjoy it more. I don't.

23) Like CC, I started drinking coffee with cream and sugar. I cut both out the first time I successfully lost 100 pounds.

24) Like SH, I don't have a mousepad.


25) Like SM, I enjoyed looking at this meme. My twist was picking out facts in common with people who posted 25 (or more) things about themselves.

(and almost everyone I named here has already produced a list of at least 25 things so I haven't added to anyone's To-Do list. There are two exceptions - one had already been tagged by others so peer pressure would guarantee a finished list as soon as the home repairs are done, I'm thinking; the second has sent me a zillion or more application invites and I miss our early morning or late night chats)

This post first appeared as a Facebook Note, where names, not initials, are used.

Zig-zagging through changing priorities

The marked-up table

A yell for Mom from the kitchen ended a recent nap rather abruptly. Imagine the wild thoughts that ran through my mind as I made it from the bedroom to the kitchen where I found my daughter - a daughter who knows not to put a glass of liquids or hot food directly on the cherry table once owned by her late great-grandmother and now loved by her mother .... a daughter who knows the table pads are less then 3 feet away, placemats even closer and a bagful of read newspapers just across the room.
The crafting whiz was putting together another fleece flower kit and needed to expand a pattern by using wax paper and a printed paper. She carefully traced the basic outlines and then cut out her material. The yell came when she started cleaning up for the day and saw her "light" etching.

A few questions later and I discover she and her boyfriend discussed just covering the etching with a placemat or two, returning to Tennessee and a few other options. But she decided to tell the truth and face me.

She knew I had tried protecting the table over the years. She was the one who broke the thick glass that once covered the table. She knows no meal is served directly on the wood. She has watched me cover the table before using a rotary cutter on the my latest batch of fabrics or clays.

What she didn't expect was me laughing.

At first, I was amazed that a 24-year-old forgot basic lessons of crafting. But then, I was amused at her reaction. After all we've been through lately, a few more scratches in the table hardly matter. Yes, I like nice things and I like them to remain nice.

But I enjoy more the days she has the energy to create fleece flowers, crochet hats, and make her creatures from pom pons.

Besides, there is always a bottle of Old English polish under the sink. She could - and did - make the lines almost disappear with some elbow grease.

Breast cancer search leads to YouTube

A change in the planned treatment of my daughter's stage three breast cancer led to a recent midnight research search to try to understand why. The second surprise of the day is that YouTube just joined on my list of "good" resources for medical research.

We had celebrated being half way through chemo and the success of the treatment so far - you can't feel the lumps anymore. We were surprised by the recommendation for weekly treatments for 12 weeks instead of four biweekly sessions.


We had been warned to be flexible, especially when getting treated at an institution known for its treatment. (The University of Michigan Breast Care Center is one of 21 institutions that make up the National Comprehensive Cancer Network).

And every medical person I've met has cautioned against researching medical conditions on the Internet. But I have a list of sources and, with 30 plus years in the news business, the skills to evaluate information.

But medical videos on YouTube were a first. It was inspiring to watch a video of the chemotherapy drug taxol killing breast cancer cells. Check it out.

Meanwhile, I'm checking out articles like this one in US News and World Report on weekly doses of Taxol Early research says the new routine increases a patient's long term survival.

Oh, and the other good news? Once we get through chemo and surgery, my daughter will be able to get the radiation treatments closer to home ... that's the daily radiation for six weeks - under the current plan.

OK, enough of an update as I need to get back to this week's post treatment distraction: Sex and the City. I'll post more later on my daughter's effort to update me on the 1998-2004 series that aired during my workaholic years.

Blogs replacing need for editors, talk

I'm into reading my feeds the RSS way, but sometimes I love visiting the original sites. The venture can lead me to new places, new ideas and new ideas. So a hop over to Dave Winer's Scripting News then led me to Word Wise's One (Isn't) the Loneliest Number. He gives us 25 phrases to replace with one word. Example:  Replace at all times:with always. I really like these blogs about language and words because I don't often get the chance to talk about this now that I've left the newspaper.

Plus some of the blogs give us the headlines that could easily be featured in Jay Leno's Headlines on Mondays.

So Dan Sartow's Word Wise joins the other "word" blogs I follow:

• Editrix is "for those who think grammar is hot," which is nice when it is cold.
  
• Headsup is self-described as "thorts and comments about editing and the deskly arts." Expect to learn about headlines such as "Patient buried before Cherry filed report to pathologist" in posts with headlines like When zombies handle the paperwork."
  
• Languagehat is about language and I like it just because I never know what I will be reading.
  
• That's the Press, Baby is the only blog I know of that talks about copy editing and department stores. Author David Sullivan and I once worked on the same copy desk so I knew of his fascination with department stores and his skill at copy editing. These days, he also writes often on the future of newspapers.
  
• The Engine Room is by a sub editor (what we in the U.S. call a copy editor) in the UK. I like getting a non-U.S. viewpoint from time to time. Plus he led to me to a book: Grumpy Old Men, the official handbook. Who knew.
  
• Watch Yer Language is from an editor at The Billings-Gazette and led me to
  
• You Don't Say, is by John McIntrye, a "mild-mannered copy editor."
• Words at Work often reminds me of loaded words such as entitlement that a copy editor or editor once helped with (we all need some help, right?)
• Writer Way is written by Karen Anderson, who knows her way around the web so includes posts about wise web practices as well as advice on writing.
  
• Writing Tools.
• A Capital Idea by a Dallas Morning News copy editor talks about commas, grammar and newspapers.
• Mr. ReWrite whose last entry was about Canada geese.
• Words to the Wise has cleared up a number of food-related words for me recently and shared why -0 wasn't wise to use in a headline near math students.

The advantage of leaving RSS behind is I can see the blogs the writers are reading. Here are some from the blogs above that are about words, writing and editing.

• Common Sense Journalism
• Conjugate Visits
• Grammar Police
• Language and Grammar
• Language Log
• Motivated Grammar
• Talk Wordy to Me
• Testy Copy Editors
• The Editor’s Desk
• The Grammar Vandal
• The Slot
• The Word
• The Word Whisperer
• Triangle Grammar Guide
• Word Porn
• Wordfeeder
• Mike Billings' Copy Editing Corner

This fascination with words must be why the family still won't play Scrabble with me. (and yes, I've shared how many games I've lost on the Internet.)

Shut up, listen, and receive ... with grace

I've been thinking a lot lately - all these questions and conflicting answers bubbling up. But the real question should be why am i surprised that answers to the thorniest questions pop up just in time

Today's inspirational reading answered a mess of questions that boil down to two: Should I go to my daughter's chemo treatment and do I accept an unexpected check given for "appreciation."

We don't know where I got the dreaded MRSA infection or the orbital cellulitis. Did it evolve from a sinus infection? Bronchitis? Did I pick up the germs from the hospital where my daughter is being treated for cancer?

The latest medicines seem to make a difference. But then a three-hour yarn and wig shopping trip exhausts me and I don't leave my bed for nearly 30 hours.

Dueling doctors are little help; one reminds me to always avoid hospitals as with multiple sclerosis my immune system is already weak. The other says we will never know where I picked it up from so go and use sanitizer frequently (We buy by the gallon and refill the various packages)

He reminds me to be the mom of a newborn - sleep when they do, eat when they do and accept help from all who offer.

He also also reminds me of my skills of asking questions and how important that is to a 24-year-old fighting cancer
The daughter? She tells me she "has people." (some of those people are lined up for later in the week when I slip away to the 31st Ann Arbor Folk Festival.

A midnight comment shows she's hoping I will be there for the planned celebration of part 1 chemo being done. Look out IHOP.

I waver. I justify going. I justify staying home. But then this quote greets me in my morning reading.

[God] comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with which we ourselves are comforted by God.
II Corinthians 1:4

Even before I read the short story, I know I am going - armed with my sanitizer.

Then, the author ends with this prayer:

Lord, I also know how difficult it is to accept help. Give me the grace to set aside my pride and receive the assistance offered by the people you send as channels of comfort
- Alma Barkman

And that short prayer is a reminder to me that the only response to an unexpected check given in appreciation is thank you ... to accept it in the spirit it was given, to accept with grace.

Now, I'm off to write the thank you and pack the "mom bag" of goodies that help distract us from the blood red chemo.

Saying goodbye in public

I think it's classy to say goodbye publicly and Paul Keep, the editor of the Muskegon Chronicle in Michigan, does just that.

A lot of newspapers these days seem to let long-time reporters and editors fade away, never acknowledging they left.

Cookies are safe, kosher, less fat - find the news on Myspace, Facebook and Internet

You'll be happy to know Girl Scout cookies are still kosher even though the label is missing from some boxes- the New York Times reported that. And the peanut butter used in your favorite Girl Scout cookie is safe to eat - the Girl Scouts and the two bakeries quickly rushed out press releases on that. Have you ordered yours yet? (details below)

If you know your ZIPcode you can find Girl Scout cookies.

You can read the press release on the peanut butter warnings and talk to Michele Tompkins at GSUSA if you have questions. Or read the statement from ABC bakeries or Little Brownie Bakeries. Want more proof? Then read what the peanut butter supplier said.

Enough about peanut butter. Thanks to BoyandGirlScouts.com, I can tell you about "Rising costs bite into Girl Scout Cookie portions. Actually, The Dallas Morning News reported:

"Fewer cookies were packaged into Thin Mints, Do-si-dos and Tagalongs boxes this year, and the Lemon Chalet Crème cookies were resized to compensate for the rising cost of baking staples. "

Why? Michelle Tompkins, a Girl Scouts spokeswoman, said:

"In the last year, the cost of flour has jumped 30%, cocoa rose 20% to 30% and baking oil has soared between 40% and nearly 200%. Transportation expenses are up 30% to 40%."

By the way, Girl Scout cookies are found online in plenty of places this year. There's the Girl Scout Cookie Group on Flickr for a variety of photos related to cookies.

There's an application over on Facebook that lets you send virtual cookies to friends. There's the Myspace page authored by a "92-year-old woman from Georgia" for the organization founded in 1912 in Georgia. You can watch video of older cookie ads on the page that's been up a few years.

Girl Scout cookies is more than a fund-raiser. Here are a few of the benefits listed over on the official Girl Scout site:

• Girl Scouts practice life skills like goal setting, money management, and teamwork—and they have fun!
• Customers get a great product and get to support girls in their own community.
• All of the proceeds support Girl Scouting in the local community.

Did I make you hungry?


Want more about Girl Scouts? Try these posts:

• Lifetime commitment gets them talking
  
• Who is leading Girl Scouts now?
  
• If you look, you'll find support

'Lifetime commitment' gets 'em talking

The WAGGGS-L list has been a bit quiet these days as one active participant spent some time in the hospital and others are wrapped up in getting Girl Scout cookie sales started. When I saw this image in the I'm a Girl Scout blog, I thought I'd share it with the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts List. I put on a post headline of "Lifetime commitment" and introduced the link by saying a Tattoo for Girl Scouts.

I thought it was good for a smile. I didn't realize it was going to be so good for discussion too.


I know some folks followed the link because this remark riled a few:

Katie is yet another superstar Girl Scout. Today she came by the office to show off her tattoo (and get a Girl Scout Cookie order form). I'm thinking maybe GSUSA could consider partnering with tattoo shops to offer discounts for lifetime members!

And the next thing you know we're off discussion who has tattoos, was this a "real" tattoo or a temporary one, what they mean, how they hurt to get and a whole lot of other spin outs including motorcycle mamas, lesbians, and piercings.

Some folks speak their minds plainly:

"Just FYI --- I will think less of you if you have tattoos and piercings."

Some ask questions

"....but I don't think I will be adding a tattoo to her collection of Girl Scout things right now. Am I the only one who finds this terribly inappropriate? When did we become Hell's Angels?"

Someone thinks there could be a legal issue:

"The only real issue is the trademark. Will they (GSUSA) make her take it off?"

And some think a Girl Scout trefoil in a discrete place would be the perfect tattoo.'

"Nothing defines me better than Girl Scouting. I have spent more time and been a member longer than any other commitment. Not my marriage, my kids even my profession."

Silly me. I thought it wonderful that an "older" girl was so proud of being a Girl Scout she got a tatoo.

(By the way, I put older in quotes because in Girl Scouts that means someone who isn't a Daisy, Brownie or Junior Girl Scout and is still a girl Girl Scout. You can be a girl Girl Scout until you are 18 years old and to me anyone who is under 19 isn't old. )

Want more about Girl Scouts? Try these posts:

• Cookies are safe, kosher, less fat
  
• Who is leading Girl Scouts now?
  
• If you look, you'll find support

25 things you don't know about me

Lost City Mad Dogs

I've read them at FriendFeed, so I guess I should share some little known facts about adventures that help make me who I am.

1) I read The Whole Internet Guide in 1992, 20 years after I passed a Fortran class (and crashed a mainframe).

2) My favorite camper said he was 10 and from Brazil when I was one of 72 virtual camp counselors at Microsoft's Kids Web Camp '97. (Ask Kari Sable or Janette Toral Reader about the experience.)

3) I booked a Japanese bluegrass band - the Lost City Mad Dogs from Kobe - to play at a Flint, Michigan, festival because I wanted something different. Most fans preferred the year I brought in Bill Monroe. Lost City Mad Dogs came in 1981, I think. I do remember Jumbo Okutani.

4) I drove my roommates nuts when I was "seeing" four Daves at once.

My daughter and I learn to etch
glass at W-camp. I'm the oldest here.

5) In 1998, I camped in a tent in New York with people I met on the Internet at w-camp.. What fun we had.

6) I still like the simplicity of PINE, DOS and Unix.

7) I spoke at length with William Holden when he overheard me dishing Network at the screening in 1976. I believe my ranting started "I'm mad as hell and won't take it anymore" and ended with me wanting to walk out on the film early.

8) My first bylines said my name was Mark because the editor said no one would believe a girl reporting on hockey.

9) I learned it still hurts even if the law says you are right the year I was hit by two buses, a car, and two bikes in separate accidents.

10) I have seen every natural waterfall in Michigan's Upper Peninsula - most of them in one two-week period.

11) I have survived three rounds of Medicare Part D for 2 people and anyone who voted for Part D should be forced to choose a plan for 5 people.

12) A boy gave me his car in high school because he thought mine was unsafe. A Budweiser was painted on the top of the station wagon.

13) The daughter I would never have has a birthday every 4 years as she was born on Feb 29. She weighed 11 pounds that day.

14) I made it to the l's the summer a public librarian issued a challenge to read something new and pointed me to the wall of novels arranged by author.

15) I fell for Dale Chihuly when a glass artist took me to my first glass exhibition.

Film poster

16) I was backstage at Willie Nelson's Fourth of July Picnic in 1980, the day after I was at the premiere of Honeysuckle Rose. It was held on what once was Pedernales Country Club with at least 60,000 people in front of the stage. On the stage, at various times, were Asleep at the Wheel, Merle Haggard, Faron Young, Johnny Paycheck, Ray Price, and, of course, Willie Nelson.

17) Role models include Juliette Low, Mother Maybelle Carter, Helen Keller and Louise May Alcott.

18) My parents did not think I needed a college degree. I got one anyways.

19) I heard Bob Seger play in a garage (maybe a basement, it was a long time ago.).

20) I can ignore a ringing phone

21) I find it hard to throw away books, wooden spools and records (the black disc kind).

22) I have at least 8 quilts in progress and another 10 or so tops ready to be quilted

23) I believe in the Girl Scout movement

24) I will fire doctors and volunteers, believing that can make the world a better place

25) I want to learn something new everyday.

Frozen in time front pages paint sad reality for hometown newspapers

Just a few newspapers,
not edited by the same
photo editor. Really
See original page

It is the sameness of these newspaper fronts that helps me understand why I am so easily distracted when reading the print product so faithfully delivered to my house.

These images so proudly displayed - I saw them as they happened or on the national TV news.

And the sameness of choices emphasizes how much the leaders of this fading media think alike and not like the communities they live in.

The print edition of my adopted hometown newspaper gives me a few photos and quotes of people who live near me and drove, flew or rode to Washington D.C. to participate.

But I am still hungry to know more about their experiences. So little is there about the people from here.

I think about saving this paper as generations before me saved historic editions

But a look through the inside pages disappoints.
(coding issue - there's more)

There was a time when The Flint Journal would have published pages with the nation's best photos, an at-a-glance box of trivia or dates or ....

Instead, I count the house ads that might have shown me more about this day.

I wonder why I would be motivated to keep this paper beyond the next recycling pickup.

About 800 Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts
answered questions, directed traffic and
helped with festivities.

My print edition teased me with a few words of Obama's speech. There is no reminder that I can read or hear or watch that online at the company website.

Oh wait, that site's redesign is revealed today, removing the comfortableness of familiarity on the day I want the unusual.

Even a search for a package from a Michigan point of view is futile. I would have spent time with that. But I give up when I can't find it quickly.

I would have liked knowing what my governor, my senators, my state leaders and people had done

I would have read updates from the area youth who went. Were there expectations met?

After I finish the print paper, I quickly remember why I need the always online phone with me. I can find the answers I want about culture, national issues and such: Who designed Michelle's dress, how many balls did the couple attend and how many arrests.

I won't learn how many more years the company I hope to collect a pension from can continue to publish keepsake issues not worth keeping.>/span>

freefromeditors: Flint Journal launches new website

freefromeditors: Flint Journal launches new website

Jim shares an opinion on the annual web page update (following the company lead this round)

I hope the comments will soon be Flint ones, otherwise Flint readers should be prepared to read a lot of sports comments.

Some work on searches are needed - my search for a community's news turned up items from another place. But then, I always am tempted to try new links out. I am sure someone in Flint is doing the same and things will get refined

Also on Jim's blog, hints on who is leaving the newspaper.

Bebo was a 5,000+ boo-boo

This one-eye Michigan whiz owes an apology to everyone in my Google address book, including members of e-lists I manage and/or read. I stopped counting at 5,000 possibilities.You see last night I was trying to use my iPhone to clean up some of the zillion (ok, that number is an exaggeration) social network sites I am on when I accidently invited folks to join me on Bebo. I didn't even realize that happened until the acceptances and questions started rolling in.

And then acceptances from people not in my addressbook but on shared lists tipped me off that the goof was a big one (do all things in a big way).

So what is Bebo? It is another networking site - the most popular one in UK and Ireland, third in the U.S., according to Crunchbase.

Bebo was founded in 2004, launched in July 2005, by the couple who founded Ringo and BithdayAlarm.

In March 2008, the pair sold it to AOL (you can login with your AIM account) and AOL has been trying to beef it up. Just the other day, it made it harder to see profiles of people you haven't connected with.

It is popular for music and video -- something the Jonas Brothers used in their bid to be popular in Europe.

You can easily recommend video, music and games to your friends.

There is easy aggregation of Twitter updates and delicious bookmarks. You can check multiple emails - Gmail, yahoo, aol,

Guess I will try for awhile since I invited so many (sure join me at Bebo, where I am mcwflint

Meanwhile a return trip to the doctor says my eye infection is clearing up - the danger of a brain infection passed and no spinal tap needed (big such if relief)

We have added another medicine to the list plus I am to put a hot tea bag on the eye four times a day

No word if green tea or Earl Grey is preferred. It is preferred that I limit my computer time since I'm down to one good eye. (And that doctor isn't even in my address book)

Sent via iPhone (which 'corrects' me all the time ...and I don't
always catch ... sorry)

A deadline might work

Send in the fail whale! The first headline was "perfection or OCD" because I am not sure which prevents me from hitting the publish button here. My New Year challenge was to keep the number of published posts higher then the unpubublished ones. Oops!

I even started a number of posts early, knowing this week would be hectic. I spent several hours polishing yesterday. And yet, you see nothing got published.

I know I have a tendency to want perfection. And that darn Internet distracts so :-) For instance, a simple book review leads to some interesting info about the author which leads to a search ... Or a post inspired by a pep talk for journalists post is "balanced" (influenced by a Twitter) by a look at who else lost newspaper jobs which led to a search for a photo from my early jobs ...

And there you are - I added 3 more posts to the 300 plus waiting editing.

Maybe I do need a deadline. I know unpublished posts were not a problem when I was blogging about that popular American Idol show.
(Oh wait, that involved a paycheck)

I'll do better, I promise myself. I like not working holidays. I like not watching American Idol. I like not attending meetings.

.

A set of thanks due to bye-out (buyout)

What a shame - a buyout offer too good to pass up means journalists of all ages lose the chance to learn from a leader who blogged about the pharmacy industry. And even in leaving, Ed Silverman leaves an example worth following.

I might have missed Ed Silverman's'goodbye', if not for David Cohn, who shared via Google Reader a Beatblogging tribute tagged with this:

“Total bummer. Ed is a good guy and a great blogger.”

Cohn could have added that Silverman was a great beat reporter of the old-fashioned kind. Heck, I think even Jim of L-Town of Free From Editors would have liked him.

In one "exit interview" Silverman shares that his favorite post was about the Pfizer exec who took helicopter rides to and from work.

"It was a “gotcha” moment. It was an old-fashioned journalism gotcha moment. I plead guilty to enjoying that once in a while. And also because it seemed to strike a nerve. Thousands of people found that post and read it for days on end."

I've followed Ed for about a decade - partly due to my interest in medicine and these super-expensive drugs under development for treating multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer's and other diseases. Ed's reporting - shared online at http://nj.com and then in the blog taught me a lot about the pharmaceutical industry.

I guarantee you I was jealous when he got a standalone site and his own URL - http://www.pharmalot.com - something that didn't happen with many Newhouse newspapers.

But I loved learning from Silverman, watching him take on new challenges.

"Three years ago, I suggested a site that could somehow become a go-to destination for news and discussion concerning the pharmaceutical industry. As someone who had covered pharma for a decade, but was itching to do something different, a web site represented not only a next step in gathering and disseminating information, but also an opportunity to get ahead of the curve and move on to another stage in my career."

His hard work paid off with page views and a community.

Patrick Thornton had this to say in the Beat Blogging post:

"Ed Silverman was one of the original beat bloggers.


He was a shining beacon of how to do the practice right. He doggedly reported his beat, often putting in 12+ hour days. And be built from scratch an online juggernaut that won awards, brought in lots of visitors and fomented fantastic discussions about the pharmaceutical industry."

Indeed, anyone who has followed Beat Blogging knows how often Ed Silverman and the blog on the pharmacy industry was praised.

His leaving drew praise in a number of places online, even noted on the Wall Street Journal site in its Health Blog.

I also liked how he pushed to keep learning. You knew from what you read in the blog that he was putting in way more then the expected work day. He kept trying new things, jumping into the beat blogging about a year earlier. The blog effort expanded into Facebook and Twitter. Video, of course - check out the farewell post.

I especially liked that he ends his stay by remembering that his online venture happened because of people I also respect - Jim Willse, John Hassell and Hassan Hodges (Hassell and Hodges also have left the Newhouse newspaper in New Jersey, Hassell moving over to Advance Internet and Hodges moving onto the New York Times. Updated: May 2009, he moved to the Annarbor.com effort.)

It's a sign of the person Ed is that he also recognized the sacrifices made by his wife and kids so that his blog and career could grow.

Oh, and one last thing - he shares lessons learned in a podcast over on Beat blogging.

The interview, as it says on Beat Blogging includes this:

• The reasons why Silverman thought it was time to move on.
  
• Silverman’s role as an aggregator and how it made him more of an editor than a writer.
  
• Key tips for would-be beat bloggers.
  
• What is the fate of Pharmalot? Will the site be retired?
  
• Can you separate Pharmalot from Silverman? Would a Pharmalot without Silverman really be the same blog?

Worth checking out while you're on Beat Blogging is a podcast Ed did on becoming a blogger with a beat. You can expect to keep reading Ed online - he's moving to Elsevier, a publisher of science and health information. That role over at Elsevier Business Intelligence includes him contributing to titles including the Pink Sheet and In Vivo, he told Bnet Pharma in an "exit interview."

It's your bill; check it carefuly

I think I'm getting poked to take the incoming medical bills a bit more seriously. the last add-up was so depressing, but I know from experience and the Internet :-) that it pays to check the bills carefully. My husband sent me an article about a wife saving her husband physically and monetarily and a Facebook status alerts me to a bill fighter who won.

I especially like the comments on Why I don't send a Christmas card to my insurance company. Here's a hint - one part of the family was puzzled when some, but not all, monitoring tests were covered.

In comments, you will find talk about just how big of a gift does a wife who saved the family $1,200 in a cash outlay deserve. With persistence, she was able to learn the unpaid tests were coded wrong and the health insurance company was supposed to pay.

The Good Morning America story was a bit more dramatic, so do check it out.

To save you time (so you can check your bills) here are the nine tips I pulled from Wife saves husband, then saves thousands on their medical bills

• Keep a log of the procedures performed and medicines given.
  
  
• Request an itemized bill
  
  
• Match up the dates (The man was billed for procedures that happened before his attack)
  
  
• Watch out for extra zeros
  
  
• Beware of fat fingers - ie. one medication wad listed 7 times on their bill.
  
  
• Know what's included so you don't get charged separately.
  
  
• Don't pay for medical mistakes
  
  
• Don't be afraid to negotiate - with doctors, not the billing department.
  
  
• You can hire help. There are people who like this type of challenge.
  

I have been trying to find the silver lining in my daughter's fight against breast cancer. I've pointed out how helpful it will be to have these "base" scans of her body in years to come.

This might be a chance for me to redeem myself on the "good mom" list as I never finished her baby book. I am working carefully on her medical book. I've been keeping track of which tests she has had, what medicines she takes and who she sees. It's important, to me, that she not get extra radiation or that we repeat tests. Plus, it is a chance to save money, right.

I've already had the pleasure of decoding some of the bills. In network and out-of-network. Negotiated rates and .... (I'm keeping in mind what I learned from The Stupid Cancer Blog - insurance companies will deny three times because most peoplr wiill pay rather then keep fighting ...check into balance billing as hospitals and others may try to collect higher charges more then negotiated but you might not have to pay above the negotiated amount (I say might as it gets back to in and out of network issue and if you signed an agreement to pay everything)

We got a reminder of how important the lists and spreadsheets can be.Someone called to ask if we needed to work out a payment plan to pay for a test done in early November. We might. But first we need the bill.

Journalism's future: Do, preach, pick

From the Google Reader today, I find some preaching and some doing aimed at saving newspapers, or at least, the news business. Plus, there's a reminder you can help pick out a journalism leader.

First the doing - an effort by some Washington journalists who worked together to cover flooding. Their work is highlighted in Networked link journalism: A revolution quietly begins in Washington state over on Publishing 2.0.

Josh Korr's explanation of a "little inovation for journalism - "few Tweets, a bunch of links, and some like-minded pioneers" includes this:

"That’s how a quiet revolution began in Washington state Wednesday. Four journalists spontaneously launched one of the first experiments in collaborative (or networked) link journalism to cover a major local story.

But it gets better. Those four journalists weren’t in the same newsroom. In fact, they all work for different media companies. And here’s the best part: Some of them have never even met in person."

Click over to see examples of the Twitters and learn more about the effort.

Some preaching - News Content: Newspapers' Future Strategy May be the Aggregation of News Sources - found through Robin Good's Latest News on Master New Media shares these ideas for newsapers from John Blossom.

• Get Better Than Bloggers and Search Engines at Aggregating News
  
• Love Print as a Service, Not as Your Brand
  
• Enable Community-generated News More Effectively (Think sports scores, eye-witness accounts, traffic reports, breaking news alerts)

Blossom, who offers services for publishers and consumers of content services, concludes:

"There's no doubt that many news organizations are hitting the right buttons in making decisions on the future of making money from news, but the pace at which those decisions are being made has left a gaping chasm between the cost of sustaining their greatest revenue-generator - print publishing - and the cost of investing more heavily in online publishing methods that will carry them forward to long-term profitability.

As much as online is the answer, though, I think that it's time for publishers to take a far more radical approach to print as soon as possible. Print will survive and thrive - the only question is, in whose hands? The time to release the medium from the brand is at hand, and it can come none too soon for most news organizations' bottom lines."

Speaking of doing, I wish I was in Texas so I could get to a workshop offered by Baylor University's Institute for Oral History. The Retooling Oral History in a Digital Age Workshop promises to explore how digital tools like audio and video can change the interview.

The effect of the tools on the collection of oral history, or stories, has been on my mind for a long time. It came up again over the holidays as once again I heard many people balking at the idea of their photo being taken or ducking when a video camera turns their way.

How will that reluctance affect what is remembered years from now. I think some answers would come up at that workshop.

(For an explanation of how journalism and oral history relates, check out Kissing Cousins.)

Still got time - today's the last day to help pick tomorrow's journalist.

It hurts to laugh; it helps to prepare

You can laugh or you can prepare for a buyout. Your choice. Free From Editors posts a couple of comics on the day that Erica Smith  tweets the Post-Dispatch is laying off more staff. (More details posted here)

Meanwhile, Steve Daley helps out those pressed with coming up with one more speech for the departing ... or as he says:

"As you may have heard (in the newsroom; at Caribou Coffee; on somebody’s blog), John P. Zenger will be leaving his role as (chief investigative reporter; TV critic; ombudsman) at this newspaper."

Of course, you know most Americans don't believe they'll be laid off. That would only happen to those other people, you know.

At least that's what I read on Silicon Valley Insider:

"79% of adult employees aren't concerned about layoffs in the next six months. And if their company's already gone through layoffs, most respondents figure the next round might take out a coworker or two, but not them.

In fact, most employees actually expect a bonus or a raise in the next 12 months."

So based on that survey from company-reviews site Glassdoor.com, I'm probably wasting Internet resources by sharing this advice from journalists. But some folks who met at Poynter suggest:

If you want it, take it now.

That means copy the names of your sources and their contact information, take home your personal belongings, weed through your files and pack up your desk.

If there are copies of your work that you want, get it now. (A lesson I learned the hard way - can't tell you how many times I wish I had the files I was promised I'd get or the ongoing online access I was promised.)

Clean up

That means make sure anything "remotely personal and/or sensitive" is out of your desk.and off the company computer. That should include copies of performance reviews.

"Yes, your hard drive will haunt you to your grave, but there's no point in leaving behind a file slugged WHYMYBOSSISAJERK."

The suggestions include remembering award citations, complimentary letters and e-mails from readers and bosses, and other recognitions.

Sharon Stangenes, formerly of the Chicago Tribune, treasures a thank-you letter from then-unknown attorney-author Scott Turow for her profile of him on the eve of publication of his first blockbuster, "Presumed Innocent."

Be prepared to stay in touch

The Poynter group suggests pulling together a list of the personal e-mails and cell phone numbers of colleagues and bosses.

"You never know where they're going to end up, so personal contact information is more valuable than office numbers or e-mails, says Mary Massingale, former newspaper reporter and editor/writer for an education association in Central Illinois

Start working on a new resume - and don't make it just old media.

Begin to think about what you might do other than daily journalism and learn to create resumes that show how your skills translate.

Make sure you have a personal, professional website as part of that. For details on how, where, examples, etc., head to the post pulled together by Judy Start, who took an early retirement in August. Also contributing to that post wereSid Hastings, Denise Lockwood, John Markon, Mary Massingale, Jane Norman, Pete Skiba and Sharon Stangenes.

Email eases some prescription pain

Wow. I leave Michigan for a few months and come back to find out my doctor now emails prescriptions in. Now, if only I coud figure out a way to get appointments and refills by email. Or better yet know in advance when I will
need medical help.
I tried the natural way of getting rid of the achy, can't talk or breathe or hear crud by drowning myself in sleep and liquids. But I gave up and slipped into the doctor's walk-in line after learning the first available appointment was in 8 days. I was shocked that I was seeing a doctor less then 30 minutes after I signed in! The next shock - right after the sting of a few shots - was learning prescriptions on paper were no longer routine.

Actually, I think emailing the prescriptions in is a good idea. It should cut down on misread prescriptions and missing pads. Plus, this way I could go straight home (more sleep) and ask my husband to pick up the drugs later.

I do hope the practice extends to nationwide - especially if the doctor sends the requests directly to the drug plan's mail order place. Think of the paperwork that can be saved on behalf of senior citizens whose only hope of avoiding the Meficare Part D donut hole is using the mail order option.

On the other hand, I feel sorry for any doctor with patients enrolled in a Medicare Part D plan. I finished out my year comparing 52 plans in my mom's ZIP code in the annual gamble of trying to find the one plan that will cover the most drugs she may take in 2009. The fun is starting with a list of 8 drugs she is currently taking. The chosing is a gamble because first you can't really know what drugs are needed and second, the company can drop at time any drug.

Imagine the pain of the doctor's office, though, that needs to keep track of which of the 52 plans each patient with. (oh yeah, seniors get to choose a new plan, effective Jan. 1 every year).

Medicare Part D has become an annual end of the year ritual for me. This year, I only helped with 2 plans and that was enough. The choosing is almost as painful as breathing right now.

Can we all tell 'hey Mabels?'

Hearing 'that's a 'Hey, Mabel' story was high praise from one of my first editors. It meant you had found and written a tale that would be discussed at the dinner table and near the water cooler.

Of course, that praise came when newspapers were delivered in time for dinner, a meal families ate together in early evening. The line was delivered before vending machines with bottled water and break rooms replaced water coolers as standard office equipment. And when was the last time anyone said 'Mabel?'

Good stories still get discussed today. My questions are: Are there too many stories? Does who tells them make a difference?

I once was an avid storyreader, who gravitated to those first person pieces in newspapers and especially in magazines. But recently I realized that even an offer to get the old standby Women's Day for less than a quarter an issue had little appeal.

I fill that need niche with blogs and rss feeds. Now, I can find quilters, crafters and do-it-yourselfers 24/7. Also available are others who share how they cope with ms, elderly parents and twenty-somethings who move back home. I can read one blog or adopt a variety through a service like BlogHer. When I find a story or cause that pulls my heartstrings, I can talk back as well as PayPal some $$.

I can get even more as the Non-profits and businesses I already support seek my stories and then share what they gather from customers, contributors and clients in their appeals, newsletters and magazines I get for my loyalty.

What I think we lose/lost is the collective knowledge that helps form community around geography

We also take on the need to filter, to think for ourselves. We have to be editors as well as readers. Certainly, mass media sometimes was scammed by storytellers who twisted their lines to elicit donations.

Plus I worry about overload - when you can choose to "know" so many stories does it become easier to tune them all out?

If the Boys & Girls Club, the United Way, the YWCA, the Girl Svouts and others use stories to illustrate impact of programming and funding do the tales all blend into one? (I have been a long time critic of how mass media chooses the medical victim of the week to feature. Now, i wonder how a church, VFW and other groups chooses who to support with an suction or fundraising dinner when so many are in need of help. Some Sundays, I am sure my entire congregation is on the sick list and in need of prayers.)

Does the technique of revealing who we are lose power when it becomes the basis for marketing and changing rather them understanding who we are?

No answers. Just questions once more.

(also, please, be patient, as this post was penned on an iPhone as I try to fulfll a resolution of posting at least 5 times a week)

Iphone photo art? Some days are like that ...

After I took the clips to head, I used the iPhone to document the mess. I am hoping someone can tell me how am I taking these pictures. I merely aimed the phone at her lovely shaved head and snapped the shot. It looked fine, so I took a few more. Those came out perfect. In fact, I only discovered the artsy look when I went to email it

Oh yea. This is my second photo in this technique

Help. What am I doing to get it to look this way.

Barber school will not help me or 'client'

For the first time ever, I used the barber shears at the request of a special client who was tired of it falling out. I argued for a strip down the middle but was over ruled.

I cut it all one length; chemo contributed the bald spots.

Shall I stick with caregiving on the local and family level and skip barber school?

Cross that October task off the to-do list because the ONA08 evaluations are done

At the rate I'm going on my to-do list, I'll be making my New Year's Resolutions this spring. But I've finally completed a project I expected to finish months ago.

I'm sure the planners of the 2009 Online News Association Conference are breathing a sigh of relief now that they have 32 pages of comments and workshop evaluations from the 2008 event to guide them.

Those evaluations on paper traveled from Washington DC to Michigan to Indiana to Tennessee to Michigan to Tennessee to Michigan and now back to Washington DC. Part of the transcribed evaluations were lucky enough to be on the thumb drive that didn't survive a parking lot mishap so I got to do some twice (and let me assure you that some journalists have lots to say.)

In some ways, it wasn't easy giving these evaluations up. The perfectionist wanted to compare my spelling of all the folks who signed their evaluations with the conference attendee list.

The perfectionist wanted to put the program description with each set of ratings to make it easy to understand comments, especially the question on how well the session met objectives outlined in the description

The perfectionist wanted one score for each session, instead of merely listing how many evaluators answered each question as "Weak, Fair, Good, Very Good, and Excellent."

Instead, I transcribed the comments, counted the check marks and sent the work on its way.

Generally, folks loved what was offered content wise. The room setup gathered the most complaints. Folks seem to want chairs and tables and plugs for their computers. Some want the rooms warmer.

As I wrap up the detail work for one more conference, I suggest that the organizers of the next event do all that - plus make the forms available online so folks can type in their own comments. Or make everybody print letters at least 1/2 inch tall and with a medium that won't smear in early snowfalls in Tennessee.

Another option would be to consider going to the unconference format - just get everyone to the hotel, gather a ton of computers, projectors and tech tools and let folks meet up and teach each other. No evaluations necessary.

(Seriously, I appreciated that folks realized sometimes our priorities change rapidly. I know way too much about cancer, planning funerals, and the need for better ways to pay for, find and evaluate health care for those under 30 and over 70. Oh yeah, don't drop a thumb drive under the tire of a moving car.)

Next up, I'm hoping to learn better how to ask for help faster and how to say no :)