(Photo credit: rob.knight) Drinking the Kool-Aid has become a metaphor of blind faith, or being committed to an idea without justification. The term references the November 1978 mass suicide, when 912 followers of the Reverend Jim Jones drank a Kool-Aid type beverage laced with cyanide. Brand loyalty is one common manifestation of Drinking the Kool-Aid.… Continue reading Drinking the Kool-Aid
MITCH STURGEON
Author and Blogger
Living With MS
Category: Uncategorized
Is That the Best You’ve Got?
A cacophony of disastrous events has recently plagued Maine. The only reasonable explanation is that Armageddon is upon us- the End Times. Prepare for final judgment. Or not. Yesterday and early this morning we endured Hurricane Sandy, a.k.a The Storm of the Century. I live on the south coast of Maine, where I can see… Continue reading Is That the Best You’ve Got?
Political Advertising- Out of Control
Obama Change (Photo credit: Atlantian5) Here in the United States we have a presidential election in two weeks. We are also voting for just about every other possible position in federal, state, and local government. During these election cycles we take great pride in demonstrating to our children the importance of democracy in action. I… Continue reading Political Advertising- Out of Control
Head Games
I decided to go to the grocery store one day last week while Kim was at work. For the first time in months it was cool enough that I really needed a jacket during the day. But I just couldn’t get the zipper started. My hands refused to cooperate. I had to wonder, did this… Continue reading Head Games
Yesterday, at the End of My Street
Yesterday, I was lounging around on my deck, looking out over the ocean. I noticed a bald eagle sitting on the rocks in the middle of our little cove. I grabbed my camera, put my wheelchair in third gear, zipped the hundred feet or so to the end of our road, and snapped these pictures.… Continue reading Yesterday, at the End of My Street
Adventures in Public Transportation #2
Before I stopped working, I was a proficient airline traveler, even in my wheelchair. My adventures are usually more modest today. Now I’m dabbling in, gulp, city buses. For some first-hand accounts of my business-related wheelchair travels, click here and here. There is a bus system transportation hub only two blocks from our house. Although… Continue reading Adventures in Public Transportation #2
“Remember, There Is Always Someone Worse off Than You:” Is This A Valid Coping Mechanism?
(Photo credit: Wikipedia) We’ve all heard this platitude before, and I wouldn’t blame you if you had some reservations about it. After all, isn’t it a perversion of basic human decency to use another person’s suffering to improve our own circumstances? Shouldn’t the acknowledgment that others are suffering make us feel worse, not better? Does… Continue reading “Remember, There Is Always Someone Worse off Than You:” Is This A Valid Coping Mechanism?
A Lack of Focus
(Photo credit: gullevek) Let me be clear about one thing – having MS absolutely sucks. It has impacted my quality of life in a significantly negative manner. But it’s a fifty steps backward and one step forward situation. This post is about one of those steps forward. Here’s the deal. It’s not that my life… Continue reading A Lack of Focus
The End of Summer
That’s what they call Labor Day Weekend – the unofficial end of the summer season. And what a summer it was for Kim and me. We had long stretches of bright sunny days. Enough rain fell to keep the lawns green, but it seemed like the precipitation occurred only on weekday nights. We enjoyed several… Continue reading The End of Summer
Response to Seymour
(Photo credit: SalFalko) A few weeks ago I received this comment/question at one of my older blog posts. Rather than respond there, where very few people would see it, I thought I would respond here. I was diagnosed with PPMS in NOV 2011. I am a public high school teacher and use a scooter all… Continue reading Response to Seymour