Friday, October 24, 2008
Golfer Seve Ballesteros' brain tumor
The Spanish golfer Seve Ballesteros has undergone surgery for his brain tumor. It turns out he has the same type of tumor as Jane had: an oligoastrocytoma. (We tended to call Jane's tumor an oligodendroglioma-astrocytoma, perhaps because we worked hard to learn to pronounce it.)
I'm happy to see reporting that gets specific about the type of tumor; too often, all brain tumors are lumped together and called "brain cancer," which I think is misleading and oversimplifying.
It sounds from news reports like Ballesteros' surgery went well. We also learn that Ballesteros got a get well message from Spain's Crown Prince Felipe, which is pretty cool. Anything to raise awareness, I say.
The full Associated Press report by Ciaran Giles can be found here.
I'm happy to see reporting that gets specific about the type of tumor; too often, all brain tumors are lumped together and called "brain cancer," which I think is misleading and oversimplifying.
It sounds from news reports like Ballesteros' surgery went well. We also learn that Ballesteros got a get well message from Spain's Crown Prince Felipe, which is pretty cool. Anything to raise awareness, I say.
The full Associated Press report by Ciaran Giles can be found here.
Labels: brain tumor, Jane, medicine, people, Spain
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Mervyn's Demise
I drove past the Mervyn's headquarters on Foothill Boulevard in Hayward yesterday morning around 8:00 a.m. The parking lot was empty, except for a TV truck with its transmitter mast extended. I knew immediately that the local retailer was calling it quits.
I have a bit of a history with Mervyn's (apart from just buying lots of clothes there over the years). As a kid I delivered their advertising circulars for a year or so. Published every week, the ads were distinctive in that they used illustrations rather than photographs of the merchandise. I'd get a bundle of these flyers on Monday after school; I'd roll and rubber-band them, and toss them onto maybe 150 porches in my neighborhood. It was less work than a daily paper route and didn't involve collecting, so it was a great job for me. I don't remember how much I made, but I remember that it was my own money.
When I was at CSUH I did an internship in the PR office at Mervyn's headquarters, working for Lizette Weiss and Joanne Johnston, both of whom subsequently held many distinguished media relations jobs in the Bay Area. This was when Mervyn's had its headquarters in the industrial area of Hayward. It was a fun internship, and it came at a time (1983) when the company was on the move.
Another connection was made when Mervyn's moved its headquarters into the old Capwells' building in downtown Hayward. I had worked in Capwell's for a few years in college, and was glad to hear that the building would get a new life. Though I never went into the building after it became offices, I remember hearing from friends at Sunset Custom Publishing that the escalators were still in place between the two floors. Mervyn's took very good care of a signature piece of property in town, and it will be hard to find another business to take that spot.
Now the building will be vacant again, and an important local business has disappeared. The job losses are sad, of course, but sadder still to me is the idea that a retailer with deep roots here in the East Bay -- and deep personal connections -- is gone.
I have a bit of a history with Mervyn's (apart from just buying lots of clothes there over the years). As a kid I delivered their advertising circulars for a year or so. Published every week, the ads were distinctive in that they used illustrations rather than photographs of the merchandise. I'd get a bundle of these flyers on Monday after school; I'd roll and rubber-band them, and toss them onto maybe 150 porches in my neighborhood. It was less work than a daily paper route and didn't involve collecting, so it was a great job for me. I don't remember how much I made, but I remember that it was my own money.
When I was at CSUH I did an internship in the PR office at Mervyn's headquarters, working for Lizette Weiss and Joanne Johnston, both of whom subsequently held many distinguished media relations jobs in the Bay Area. This was when Mervyn's had its headquarters in the industrial area of Hayward. It was a fun internship, and it came at a time (1983) when the company was on the move.
Another connection was made when Mervyn's moved its headquarters into the old Capwells' building in downtown Hayward. I had worked in Capwell's for a few years in college, and was glad to hear that the building would get a new life. Though I never went into the building after it became offices, I remember hearing from friends at Sunset Custom Publishing that the escalators were still in place between the two floors. Mervyn's took very good care of a signature piece of property in town, and it will be hard to find another business to take that spot.
Now the building will be vacant again, and an important local business has disappeared. The job losses are sad, of course, but sadder still to me is the idea that a retailer with deep roots here in the East Bay -- and deep personal connections -- is gone.
Labels: CSUH, Hayward, jobs, people, personal history, retail, sales, work
Thursday, September 04, 2008
McCain's "My Friends" Tic
On Slate, Paul Collins has explored why John McCain keeps referring to crowds as "my friends," saying that in American political discourse the phrase hearkens back to William Jennings Bryan.
Personally, I wonder if Senator McCain didn't pick up the habit from another source: Criswell.
Personally, I wonder if Senator McCain didn't pick up the habit from another source: Criswell.
Labels: fun, people, politics, words
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Douglas L. Peterson dies
I learned today on the CSUEB View that one of my CSUH professors, Douglas L. Peterson, has died.
The View article says that Prof. Peterson left CSUH in 1977, but I know I had at least one class from him in the early 1980s. I remember one episode very clearly.
I was a young and nervous underclassman, still trying to decide on a major. I had written my first paper for Prof. Peterson's class, and was surprised when he started reading the paper aloud in class one day. (He didn't say who had written it.) He read my thesis paragraph, then looked up over his half glasses and said to the class, "I don't agree with that." My heart sank a little. He read more, then gave another disapproving remark. The pattern repeated. With each of his comments, I'm sure I slumped deeper into my chair. He eventually read the entire paper, taking it apart bit by bit.
When he finished, he looked up and said (I paraphrase), "I didn't agree with much of what this writer said, but he presented his arguments well and thoughtfully. It's a well-written paper. I gave it an A."
It was there and then that I decided to be an English major. That a teacher could put aside his opinions on my ideas and judge my writing on its merits impresses me to this day. It's a goal I aspire to when I edit others.
The View article says that Prof. Peterson left CSUH in 1977, but I know I had at least one class from him in the early 1980s. I remember one episode very clearly.
I was a young and nervous underclassman, still trying to decide on a major. I had written my first paper for Prof. Peterson's class, and was surprised when he started reading the paper aloud in class one day. (He didn't say who had written it.) He read my thesis paragraph, then looked up over his half glasses and said to the class, "I don't agree with that." My heart sank a little. He read more, then gave another disapproving remark. The pattern repeated. With each of his comments, I'm sure I slumped deeper into my chair. He eventually read the entire paper, taking it apart bit by bit.
When he finished, he looked up and said (I paraphrase), "I didn't agree with much of what this writer said, but he presented his arguments well and thoughtfully. It's a well-written paper. I gave it an A."
It was there and then that I decided to be an English major. That a teacher could put aside his opinions on my ideas and judge my writing on its merits impresses me to this day. It's a goal I aspire to when I edit others.
Labels: CSUH, language, obituary, people, writing
Monday, June 16, 2008
Seyed Alavi in SF Chronicle
The San Francisco Chronicle has an article today by Charles Burress about one of Seyed Alavi's public art installations -- specifically, the traffic-signal boxes in Emeryville. The photos are worth checking out, too. As commenters on the article have pointed out, the work isn't new, but nevertheless I'm pleased to see it get some attention.
I'm very happy to own one of Alavi's "Aquamano" prints, called "Loon Song."
I'm very happy to own one of Alavi's "Aquamano" prints, called "Loon Song."
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Ted Kennedy Brain Tumor Coverage
A friend asked me what I thought of the New York Times coverage of Ted Kennedy's brain tumor. I wrote a long, fast email, which I'm also posting here:
They gave the general tumor type (glioma) but not the specifics. There are several types of gliomas, including astrocytomas, glioblastomas, and oligodendrogliomas. Also four grades, from I to IV (the higher the number, the more aggressive). Malignant gliomas are grades III or IV, though so-called "benign" ones still cause lots of trouble because the cranium is an enclosed space and anything that squeezes the brain in that space can cause trouble. Jane's tumor was a mixed astrocytoma-oligodendroglioma, grade III.
They gave the location of Kennedy's tumor as left parietal, and said that area of the brain was involved in sensation, motor control and language. Would have been more accurate to say USUALLY involved in language. Not always. Whether or not often depends on handedness. Jane was left handed, and had her initial tumor in the left occipital and parietal lobes. (Toward the end it spread to the frontal lobes and into the right hemisphere.) Frequently, left-handed people have their language more distributed between the hemispheres than right-handers, but still centered largely in the left hemisphere. Jane had a Wada test that determined that her language was almost entirely in the right hemisphere. (She never did play by the book!) This allowed for a much more aggressive left-hemisphere surgery back in 1998 and 2000.
I have the videotape of Jane's Wada test, by the way -- I remember it as strange and fascinating to watch, but I haven't viewed it in years. I also have a photograph of her open cranium.
One article quoted Keith Black, a neurosurgeon at Cedars-Sinai in LA. He's a rock star among brain surgeons, more famous but NOT more sought after than Jane's surgeon (Mitchel Berger). Keith Black was written up in TIME magazine a decade or so ago, I think.
One article rightly says that age has a lot to do with prognosis. Getting a malignant glioma at age 76 is not a good thing. Another article rightly says that the disease is "treatable but not curable."
The articles refer to the disease as brain tumor and not brain cancer. The distinction is subtle; generally, cancers can metastasize to other tissues, but brain tumors cannot. (You can't get a brain tumor in your lungs, but you can get lung cancer in your brain.) Doctors will very rarely say "brain cancer" in my experience, probably because to do so is imprecise, but a lot of brain tumor patients and advocates (I'm not among them) prefer to use the term "cancer" because, I think, it sounds more urgent. A tumor sounds like something that can be sliced off, like a wart. Brain tumors, especially gliomas, tend to have lots of tendrils and stray cells throughout the brain; it's rare that they're encapsulated. (One NYT article said this, in a roundabout way.)
They gave the general tumor type (glioma) but not the specifics. There are several types of gliomas, including astrocytomas, glioblastomas, and oligodendrogliomas. Also four grades, from I to IV (the higher the number, the more aggressive). Malignant gliomas are grades III or IV, though so-called "benign" ones still cause lots of trouble because the cranium is an enclosed space and anything that squeezes the brain in that space can cause trouble. Jane's tumor was a mixed astrocytoma-oligodendroglioma, grade III.
They gave the location of Kennedy's tumor as left parietal, and said that area of the brain was involved in sensation, motor control and language. Would have been more accurate to say USUALLY involved in language. Not always. Whether or not often depends on handedness. Jane was left handed, and had her initial tumor in the left occipital and parietal lobes. (Toward the end it spread to the frontal lobes and into the right hemisphere.) Frequently, left-handed people have their language more distributed between the hemispheres than right-handers, but still centered largely in the left hemisphere. Jane had a Wada test that determined that her language was almost entirely in the right hemisphere. (She never did play by the book!) This allowed for a much more aggressive left-hemisphere surgery back in 1998 and 2000.
I have the videotape of Jane's Wada test, by the way -- I remember it as strange and fascinating to watch, but I haven't viewed it in years. I also have a photograph of her open cranium.
One article quoted Keith Black, a neurosurgeon at Cedars-Sinai in LA. He's a rock star among brain surgeons, more famous but NOT more sought after than Jane's surgeon (Mitchel Berger). Keith Black was written up in TIME magazine a decade or so ago, I think.
One article rightly says that age has a lot to do with prognosis. Getting a malignant glioma at age 76 is not a good thing. Another article rightly says that the disease is "treatable but not curable."
The articles refer to the disease as brain tumor and not brain cancer. The distinction is subtle; generally, cancers can metastasize to other tissues, but brain tumors cannot. (You can't get a brain tumor in your lungs, but you can get lung cancer in your brain.) Doctors will very rarely say "brain cancer" in my experience, probably because to do so is imprecise, but a lot of brain tumor patients and advocates (I'm not among them) prefer to use the term "cancer" because, I think, it sounds more urgent. A tumor sounds like something that can be sliced off, like a wart. Brain tumors, especially gliomas, tend to have lots of tendrils and stray cells throughout the brain; it's rare that they're encapsulated. (One NYT article said this, in a roundabout way.)
Labels: brain tumor, health, Jane, language, medicine, people, politics
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Mountain View (Cemetery) People
I happened across a cool blog today: Michael Colbruno's Mountain View Cemetery Bio Tour. The name says it pretty clearly: Colbruno photographs the graves and gives biographies of prominent people in Oakland's Mountain View Cemetery.
I did some Googling to find out about Mr. Colbruno. I'm not sure if the keeper of this blog is the same Michael Colbruno who is an executive with Clear Channel and a board member of the Chabot Space & Science Center. I'm pretty sure he's the same guy who runs the MikeOpera blog. (If you see this, and it's you, let me know!)
I plan to spend some more time with the blog when I'm able to come up for air. Meanwhile, I was up at Mountain View last night, freshening the flowers on Jane's niche (the heat is already taking its toll) and noticed that the new gates are almost complete.
I did some Googling to find out about Mr. Colbruno. I'm not sure if the keeper of this blog is the same Michael Colbruno who is an executive with Clear Channel and a board member of the Chabot Space & Science Center. I'm pretty sure he's the same guy who runs the MikeOpera blog. (If you see this, and it's you, let me know!)
I plan to spend some more time with the blog when I'm able to come up for air. Meanwhile, I was up at Mountain View last night, freshening the flowers on Jane's niche (the heat is already taking its toll) and noticed that the new gates are almost complete.
Labels: blogs, history, Jane, people
