Flesh-Eating Bacteria

Tomorrow, I move into a new apartment; thus, this post will be short.  I do not intend to write a treatise; however, there is something about which I need to provide some education (to the best of my understanding).

This concerns the story of the illness of Amiee Copeland.  I know I will receive criticism for seeming insensitive; however, there are some things folks need to understand.  Her fate is unfortunate; however, I think people forget the circumstances surrounding her fate.

She injured herself using a home made zipline. The injury was a deep cut on her leg, which subsequently became infected from the microbes from the river into which she fell. The infection overwhelmed her body, which resulted in amputations.

Amiee made a foolish decision to use the zipline, and the consequence for her foolishness happened to be the perfect storm of infection.  I would not wish this fate on anyone; however, she took a risk and lost.  No matter how much sympathy I conjure in my mind, I cannot forget that this was the result of a dangerous decision.

Also, this idea of "flesh-eating" bacteria has been blown out of proportion and away from fact.  Despite the name of her condition, the infection is not eating away at her skin, as you would watch mold grow and eat away from a piece of fruit.  Rather, the infection is so severe, her immunity cannot cope with it, which is causing organ system failure.  Amiee's brain, trying to keep her alive, feeds (through bloodflow) what it thinks are the three most important parts of the body:  the heart, lungs, and brain itself.  As a result, circulation to the periphery of her body lessens, resulting in necrosis, which results in the need for amputation.

Do not interpret my post as I don't care about Amiee's situation.  It's unfortunate that this is an experience she has to endure.  However, I think people, in their need to be sympathetic, sometimes forget how the injured arrive at their fate.  Secondly, the scaring of the uninformed (which I imagine, is most of us on this, including myself until recently -- though my knowledge is still limited) with the phrase "flesh-eating bacteria" rather than explaining why amputations are occuring boils my blood.

Feel free to comment.  The next post will be from my new home.

Merchants of Despair

While on Spring Break, I have opportunity to listen to Neal Boortz.  His radio show come on while I'm teaching my first two periods during a regular day.

Today he highlighted a commentary by Bill Whittle (posted below).  I've heard his commentary on Afterburner before.  Usually I agree with his assessments.  The "Merchant of Despair" commentary is completely right.  The general election that will take place on November 6, 2012 is the most important election of my lifetime.  It is imperative that our current president now be allowed four more years of rule.  I encourage you to comment on the video posted below.

A Memory

Memories and I have a curious relationship.  Nothwithstanding the ability to recall general information, my ability to recall the memory of events is limited.  I often say that anything before age 16 or so has dissipated from my mind.  There is partial truth in that.  I'm sure if I concentrated long enough, I would be able to recall life events from those years.  I can recall a few; however, most of my vivid memories (of those I can remember once remembering) are gone.  When a memory seizes me, I take the opportunity to recall as much about it as I can, for I know soon that memory will be degraded and eventually gone.  It is curious how music can aid in the recall of a memory or in some cases enhance (or also distort) the contents of the memory.

One such memory has moved to the front of my mind, and it is from my final summer at VanderCook College of Music.  It is about a female and the brief friendship we forged over a short period of time in Chicago.  We're still friends to this date; however, there in a month there is only so much you can learn about a person to define their friendship in terms of friends you have had for years--but friend, nevertheless.

Before I continue, I have linked YouTube recording of "Motorcycle Drive By".  Listen to it before proceeding.

The lyrics are not that significant, but do have some meaning to the memory.  The tone of this song is what reminds me of the that summer.  We had planned to lie upon the grass outside of VanderCook and look into the trees.  Because of time conflicts, that never came to pass. That was one part of the over all memory of my experience.

Unfortunately (I can speak only for myself), nothing other than friendship (which is significant in itself for reasons that I'll probably describe in a future post) was to come out of our meeting.  While this memory is on the front part of mind, I'm working to recall and memorize meetings and conversations as best I can, for from our brief time together, I learned a great deal about myself.  Socrates has taught me some valuable lessons in my life, one of which is to "Know thyself."  Through this person, I experienced rare moments of introspection and insight, for that I'll be eternally grateful.

This memory is two years old.  Perhaps it is a problem that my mind has conjured it from the depts of my memory.  However, I wonder my mind's purpose was to remind me of the experience of self-discovery rather than the experience of bittersweet events.  Regardless, I'm glad it suraced long enough for me to attend it and relive some of the discovery.

The Next Path

As I posted on Facebook, it is official--I've been accepted for study at Gwinnett Technical College.  I am not resigning my band director position; however, I'm taking the leap to study my other area of interest:  Information Technology (with some Computer Science).

The program into which I've enrolled is the Associate of Applied Science Degree majoring in Networking concentrating in Cisco systems.  I am looking forward to this journey.  I'm unsure where it will end.  Perhaps I'll be on the podium with another skill set, or perhaps I'll leave the podium and begin a new career path.

I'm currently waiting the review of my transcript to see if I am able to exempt core classes, which, holding a Bachelor's and Master's degree, I think I ought.  I'm scheduled to begin classes this summer, and according to the matriculation map I created, I should finish in two years:  Summer 2014.

Unfortunately, I'm going to have to make some time sacrifices to make room for my coursework.  I'll have to weigh my outside of work activities carefully.  Such decisions will be difficult, but after about 5 years of deliberation, I believe my return to school is a wise one.

Introspection

For the past three nights, I have looked at a blank blog post screen.  I feel there are many words to be said, yet there are no acceptable words.  Acceptable does not refer to the actual words but rather refers to what can be available for public consumption.  As much as I want to write in a blog, I cannot control who reads it, and because of that, I feel I must keep my thoughts closely guarded.  At times, this guarding of opinions seems to be in conflict with the "Do not live in fear" tenet of my Code of Ethics.  However, upon examining reality, it would be naive to put everything on display on the Internet.  Perhaps having the wisdom to publish what is necessary is different that living in fear of repercussions.

Over the coming months, I must do some contemplation and introspection about my future.  Such a task will require return to the wisdom of my old master of teaching, Socrates:  "Know thyself."  A side note:  Socrates taught me to teach through questioning.  I credit my use of "why" during teaching sessions to Socrates.  Unfortunately, I'm not well read in Socrates's work; however, those two principals:  "Know thy self" and teaching through questioning have stuck with me.

I digress (and will continue to do so).  As I enter my third decade, I find myself analyzing and reviewing my previous year(s).  This is not new, for I do it often and especially as my personal new year's day comes and goes.  The question of happiness arises.  In most respects I have forgotten what happiness feels like.  I know what it isn't.  I can identify others' experiencing it.  I have the capacity to know and feel the difference between a negative and positive event.  However, I feel no capacity for true happiness.  I know I once had his capacity; however, I have forgotten what it feels like or how to identify it within myself.

This has been true for over a decade and a half.  I cope with the deficiency well (consider the length of time I just mentioned).  However, at times this reality moves to the front of my mind.  For what ever reason, it has been lingering in my conscious thought for longer than normal.  An obvious question may be "what would make you happy?"  I cannot answer that, for I don't think I truly know.  Focusing on this aspect of me with the scurnity required to find a solution is like staring at a beach and focusing on one grain of sand that is of average color.  I either (a) don't know thyself enough to have an answer (b) fear what the answer would be if I truly participated in introspection, or (c) know thyself well enough to know there is no answer.

This pointelss rambling will soon come to a close.  This post is why I haven't written a blog entry in over three weeks or haven't recorded a podcast in over six months.  There is nothing substantive that I can share.