Em

The first conversation I had with my oncologist, we were just talking about his experiences as a doctor (which...awesome, it was very good to get know him a bit) and I ended up asking if people ever decide to not follow his advice. He said yes, and he looked very sad and then he told me that every single one of conversations are going to be with him forever. What a very hard thing that must be...to have someone turn down your advice...to not get chemo, or exit the treatment early, only to come back and find that now the prognosis is much worse and the treatment plan much less clear. It seemed to me that, at least in part, he felt his inability to keep them on the treatment path was a personal failure. I wish I could take that guilt away from him, because it's not his fault. We're all susceptible to simple stories that give us back a sense of control, even if it's an illusion. And sometimes people cannot be convinced...and sometimes that's deadly. I'm very grateful that my worldview meshes well with the most effective paradigms. I didn't get that because I'm smart, I got it by the luck of my upbringing. And if ever a doctor tells you that you need chemo...there will almost certainly be people in your life who tell you that you should try alternatives instead. You. Should. Not. You can and should do acupuncture and restorative yoga and aromatherapy and eat less sugar and whatever other things help you. But do those things AND get the treatment recommended by your oncologist. Cancer patients have control, it's just a different kind of control than we're used to, and it can be disruptive to an identity to submit to that lack of control. But that's just...having a body, and I'm very happy that I get to have a body.

PSA: Just because you’ve been vaccinated DOES NOT MEAN that you just say “please” to the Dread Pirate Roberts and then spend three years being his valet before he secretly retires and you take on a whole new crew and pretend that you are now the real Dread Pirate Roberts.

Biden promised 100M shots in arms in the first 100 days of his administration. Today is the morning of his 58th day and the US has administered more than 99M vaccines. But instead of calling it a win, they upped the goal to 150M months ago.

I love how every generation finds its own special way to do Ponzi schemes and is like, “no, this time it’s different.”