I’ve begun doing my blogrun … alphabetically! It’s going to take me several days, and I’m going to need a new prescription for my contacts by the time I get done … ;o)

When I was over visiting the always interesting Barbados Butterfly, I ran across something that I could not easily walk away from. Barb has shared a bit of wisdom that hit me right between the eyes. I hope she doesn’t mind if I share it with all of you.

Denial can be very useful in getting through any difficult or dark days. Sometimes experiences are so terrible that to face them openly is to face more than you can bear. In these situations judicious use of denial can make the world an easier place to live. But denying yourself human emotions is dangerous. Denying reality is dangerous. I’ve never seen value in lying to myself.

Determination and belief in oneself are much more useful than denial. Rather than deny that things are bad, believe that one day they will be better. Believe that time heals all wounds and that one day you will be free. Believe in honesty, truth, justice, freedom, determination, humanity, love and peace. Know that not everyone is your friend. Know that the world can be a harsh place. Accept that at times there is no rhyme or reason. Then plant your feet firmly and face whatever may come your way.

If you aren’t already familiar with her, please do yourself a favor, go to her blog and take a look. She’s colored it with wit, wisdom, and her great talent for portraying the human element in any given situation.

Sometimes it’s hard for me to get out there, and do a full blogrun. My Bloglines usually runs between 300 and 600 unread posts on any given day … and there are plenty of days that I just can not get to them all. I do try to get to most of them at least once a week, and in between, I try to hit each RSS feed and see what’s been posted, even if I don’t get in to leave a comment.

Every now and then, I’ll see that one of my blog friends has just “met” another one of my blog friends, and I’m flabbergasted, because I thought they already knew each other! There are a few bloggers that I had in my sidebar before I lost my last theme. They were each posting Serials, and I was trying to keep a link to the latest segment updated at all times. I just haven’t had time to do that since I put this new theme up, however I thought I’d better get in here and say something - just in case some of you don’t know about these bloggers and their serials …

Dr. Gordon has a novel playing itself out, chapter by chapter, on his blog, and it’s wonderful! It reminds me of Theive’s World, which was the collective work of some of the best known Sci-Fi and Fantasy writers of the time. Dr. Gordon could definitely have been right in there with them. He’s that good. To pick the novel up from chapter one, begin here: Plague Town Anthology

Dr. Hébert also has a story going on his blog - Dr. Hébert’s Medical Gumbo … and he just added an installment today! It’s called The Blistering. Click on the link to get started on it. It just took a very interesting and delightful turn! Bring your sense of humor … and go take it in! On a more serious note, Dr. Hébert’s Katrina posts are linked into my sidebar. Recommended reading … on many levels.

Dr. Grumet - I would never forgive myself if I didn’t mention that he has one series after another going on his blog: “In My Humble Opinion.” Sometimes he makes cry … sometimes he makes me laugh … and he never fails to make me think. The latest one is “Emergency,” and I see that he’s just added a new section to it today, also. We’ll have to pick on Dr. Jordan to try to get him to link the first parts of each of this short stories into his sidebar! :o)

Dr. Bob … although this one is not a work of fiction. Dr. Bob from The Doctor is In is another of our blog friends who writes series. He calls his latest series: “The Path”, and describes it as: “A journal of one fool’s journey, and the faith which found him.” Exquisitely evocative, full of vivid imagery … it draws me like a moth to a flame … and it’s not the only series he’s written …

Dr. Schwab - Just finished a great series on Breast Cancer, and is now working on a new one: “Hospital Politics: The Infamous Memo”. He’s up to part 3! He’s had several series before that … if you haven’t been there yet, you’re missing out on a truly great writer.

Wow … I’m behind again … *blink!*

At the moment, I’m just getting ready to read Dr. Gordon’s “Cherubs in the Land of Lucifer” … (my husband grabbed it as soon as it came in) … and I just recently finished reading “Cutting Remarks“, by Dr. Sidney Schwab. I intend to order Dr. Charles’ book (and would have already, but I couldn’t get it from Amazon) and of course Peggikaye’s, when it comes out! I hope to review each one for you over time … so stay tuned!

Borneo Breezes has written a very interesting post … and has completely captured my imagination.

I don’t want to say too much about it here, because it needs to be ingested in its entirety, and slowly digested, to gather a real sense of the concepts. I will only hint at it with a few quotes …

I have noticed that medical bloggers who by their own admission say frank, critical or sarcastic things seem surprised, […] that some readers react negatively. […] So one gets the impression, intended or not, that one is not supposed to make anything less than laudatory comments at all.

Yes, I’ve noticed that too. If all we’re doing is scratching each other’s back, then what are we achieving, really? I admit that I’m guilty of either not commenting when I disagree, or of leaving a comment couched in the form of polite suggestions. I don’t believe rudeness is ever necessary, much less name calling or ad hominem attacks … but some of the subjects we post really are invitations to dialogue, and as such, we should be willing to embrace the discussions they engender.

For people to change, we need to cultivate a diversity of opinion. […] the discussion that blogs sometimes generate through their comments is perhaps as important as the piece. This in fact makes it better than newspapers

I couldn’t have said it better myself … and I agree. The comments are everything - they’re more than the post. They stretch us - make us aware that there’s more going on beyond our own little parochial dot on the blogosphere. There are other opinions, other ideas … other cultures … we can learn from each other.

In my own posts, I’ve tried to generate discussion in the comments. Yes, I insist on civility … and I don’t allow personal attacks. I also don’t allow extremism to hijack a thread, since I feel that it’s not intended to spark a feeding frenzy … but rather to stimulate the sharing of views in a discussion. As Borneo Breezes wrote: “Obviously there need to be some ground rules, indeed it looks to me like some have already started.” There’s nothing that can’t be discussed with civility … and none of us have all the answers. We’re wasting quite an opportunity when we don’t cultivate the comments of our readers.

And finally - she says that the Medical Blogosphere is in need of a “Medical Meta-Blog.” The very idea makes my heart skip a beat! I wish we were already doing all of this …

Please - go over and take a look at what she has to say. Think about it … mull it over. Blog about it. Let’s make this one happen!

On Tuesday last … the 20th … Dr. Hébert left the following comment on one of my posts:

By the way, I am working on another way to blow off steam — a serial novel. I have already written a chapter. I intend to publish it one chapter at a time. If people don’t like it, I’ll kill it off in a few chapters, but if it is well received, I intend to carry it over about 20 installments, maybe more.

Each chapter will be very short, no more than 500 words. Chapter one comes in at 350. It will be a suspense novel, violent, adulterous, lecherous, and consistently silly. By compressing it so much I hope to make it funnier, and very easy to read. It will be a running joke on my site, for awhile, until I run out of ideas.

The title: “The Blistering.”

I told him that if he did, I would link to it!

Guess what! He did! And here’s my end of the deal!

I haven’t decided if the first person we’re meeting is a hero, or an anti-hero yet … I guess we’ll have to wait and see!

He has a very intriguing start … don’t miss out!