Growing Bolder Community

This very brief poem by Edna St. Millay has been quoted again and again, and heard by millions. I offer it in a musing for those few friends who might read it and see themselves in it. The real message is that a candle that burns at both ends has a shortened life. “My candle burns at both ends; It will not last the night; But ah, my foes, and oh, my friends It gives a lovely light!” -...

The air is crisp and cool, Christmas music blares throughout the entire free world -- and even France. It all signals that a favorite time of the year is upon us, once again: PBS Pledge Week. Every year, I can hardly wait to see what new scheme the PBS people will try to guilt us into coughing up unholy amounts of cash so they can sponsor even more Doo Wop Reunions and also televise stuff...

With all due respect to Ken Burns, I think his days as America's favorite history-teller are numbered. Like many, I was fascinated by his series on the Civil War, baseball and World War II. But, if I'm totally honest, I must confess that sometimes it felt like a chore to get through some of the episodes. So, when my husband recommended that we check out the recent HBO series about John Adams, I...

9 Tips Before THEY Amputate Your Legs Below the Knee! By Dan Wimer, RN, MPLC I am a RN with 22 years of IV knowledge and I have been in the hospital 3 times in the past year. Two of the times I was on the receiving end of poor nursing care. The first stay, in May of 2009, the nurses managed to infect me with Staphylococcus aureus. The nurses at the hospital did not follow established...