Review: A Higher Loyalty (the Comey book)

A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies, and Leadership by James Comey
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I thoroughly enjoyed this book by the recently departed FBI Director.

Although I expected to be intrigued by the most recent goings on (his firing, and the fallout), I was actually more engaged when listening to his personal and professional life up to that point.

I found the insights into how the FBI works fascinating, while I founds insights as to how DC works (or doesn't) even more bizarre than I expected.

Most importantly, I found James Comey to be honest and credible. He is a man of strong convictions ~ and I liked them. Mostly, I believe him, and have no doubt as to the lack of integrity of the fool that fired him.

View all my reviews

Barcelona Precincts, by Ben Holbrook

Barcelona Precincts: A curated guide to Barcelona’s best shops, eateries, bars and other hangouts

By Ben Holbrook

Travel blogger and author Ben Holbrook has a new book. It's called Barcelona Precincts, and it's stunningly beautiful!

Barcelona Precincts is Holbrook's personal guide to the city’s 12 hottest barrios (neighbourhoods). Anchored with a map, Ben shares his favourite places to eat and drink and shop, topping off each area with an interview with a local.

"Each chapter features beautiful imagery (it nearly killed me photographing the city throughout the blistering summer heat), maps, an interview with a local. This book was a true labour of love and consumed me entirely for much of the year."

"The finished product is something I am immensely proud of. Not only is it a gorgeous object of desire, something that will make a beautiful gift or look seriously sexy on your bookshelf or coffee table, but it’s something I poured my heart and soul into (and plenty of blood, sweat and tears along the way). This is not just a book, but a little slice of my very being...[read more].

Buy the book

amazon.ca
amazon.com
amazon.uk
Hardie Grant - Publisher

Tip: If you buy the print version of the book you can also download a FREE digital version to browse on your smart device ("though I should add that it’s simplified and doesn’t quite have the same magic as the print version," advises Ben).

Follow the author
Barcelona Precincts - book's page on author's website
More Barcelona - on author's website
Biography
@ben_holbrook on Twitter

Related resources
Ben Holbrook's Perfect Day in Barcelona - Homage to BCN
Meet Driftwood Journals Blogger Ben Holbrook - The Culture Trip
Ben Holbrook's articles - The Telegraph

Athens reads

The city of Athens is often overlooked as a destination, but has a lot to offer. I really came to appreciate the city when I rented a flat here for a month.

If your travel takes you through Athens, plan to stay a few days to explore.

Here are a few books worth reading, to get you in the mood:

	Dinner with Persephone: Travels in Greece - by Patricia Storace "I lived in Athens, at the intersection of a prostitute and a saint."  This is how this book begins, a memoir of the author's year in Greece. I truly adored this book. I read it while I was in Greece, and it really gave me great insight into the Greek people, particularly in Athens.
	The Acropolis: The Acropolis Museum - by Katerina Servi The new Acropolis Museum is housed in an amazing building at the foot of the Acropolis, with a stunning view of the Parthenon. This book guides you through the museum, giving interesting information and highlights the most important exhibits. The museum is spectacular to visit - don't miss it!
	Athens: The City Beneath the City: Antiquities from the Metropolitan Railway Excavations - by Liana Parlama, Nicholas Stampolidis During excavations for the Athens metro (built for the 2004 Summer Olympics), many archaeological artifacts were discovered, as highlighted in this book. The contrasts of old/new are quite striking if you view the artifacts (or replicas), at several metro stations.
	Time Out Athens I read this Athens guide cover to cover... not sequentially, but like an explorer... long before I made plans to visit the city. It helped me know I wanted to stay a month, which I did. A bit out of date, but I don't imagine that what made this book special has changed much - just be sure to refer to a current guidebook as well.
	Ancient Athens on 5 Drachmas a Day - by Philip Matyszak Set in Athens in 431 BC (you'll meet Socrates), this book is designed to educate and amuse. This "well-researched yet irreverently unacademic guide" gives context for Athens today. If you like this book, you may be interested to know that the author has written other similar works, including Rome.

Created with the HTML Table Generator

A quarterly box for your cat

Torn between laughing and something bordering on outrage. Well, not quite, but how dense an companies get?

But your cat will like the box...
Creative Commons image chromewaves on Flickr 

A travel magazine has added a whole new feature, launched with great excitement: a quarterly subscription box, that for a mere $89 a quarter - or choose the $39/month option - plus tax (of course), you get your magazine (separate subscription) in a box full of consumer goods meant to inspire you to travel. Free shipping! WTF?!?! Like this makes sense?

$350 a year can go a long way towards a vacation.

It's certainly not green: that box filled with fancy pasta made in Italy, along with gourmet olive oil, some one-of-a-kind wooden spatula (lovely, I'm sure), a little just-add-water herb garden and a boring (or exciting) scarf won't just sprout wings and fly.

Yes, I am a travel agent, and yes, I help people burn jet fuel to hop around the globe... the contradiction is not lost on me.

But here's what I'm thinking:

What a waste of money and resources.

Why not 'sell' contributions to micro-loans or give-a-family-a-goat or literacy abroad? Send me a story about who is being helped. Maybe fund an annual draw for a trip to a village helped? Or something both innovative and inspiring?

Just getting people to give their credit card (on a non-secure webpage no less), contributes nothing to the greater good.

It doesn't get the subscriber any closer to their travel dreams; rather it adds to consumer debt (for many).

It's madness.

PS. Looking for an image to put with this post, I tried 'carrier pigeon'.. and stumbled across a service that will actually carry a letter part way by bird - delivering it to the postal service to take it the rest of the way (along with a pigeon certification). It's called Pigeongram. More here.

WOW Air's Dream Job for 2

WOW Air is hiring for a dream job for 2. Is that you?

WOW Air is looking for a person - and their "best friend" - to visit some of the airline's 38 destinations around the world and document their travels in a digital guide. The job is just 3 months long. You will be paid, will be given an apartment in Reykjavik and, no doubt, will work your ass off!

Application deadline: May 14

Travel Guides announced: May 18
Start Date: June 1, 2018

Considering the "winners" will be announced a mere 4 days after the application deadline, your video application is going to need to be good! They are looking for you to show off your hometown, so get to work!

Where you'll report for work on Day 1

Want the job? Key links:
Now hiring for the world's best summer job
Travel Guide Job Details & Application Process
YouTube Video


Resources
Dream Job Alert: WOW Air Wants to Pay You to Move to Iceland and Travel the World - Mental Floss
Dream job alert: Airline will pay you to travel around the world - Good Morning America

Parikkala Sculpture Park

Creative Commons image mikeancient on Flickr 

Just 3 hours east of Helsinki, tucked next to the Russian border, lies the town of Parikkala.

Creative Commons image
1030333033@N08 on Flickr 

While relatively isolated, the tiny town receives more than its share of visitors, drawn to incredible sculptures created by Veijo Rönkkönen.

Officially known as the Parikkala Sculpture Park, the Veijo Rönkkönen Sculpture Garden is one of Finland's most important examples of contemporary folk art.

"Rönkkönen is more than an installation or a sculpture park; it’s a community, and although some of the artwork is disturbing, the forest is unquestionably quite magical, an amalgamation of many different worlds coming together all in one place." (The Culture Trip)

Creative Commons image 1030333033@N08 on Flickr 

What causes the sometimes 'creepy' reaction is the facial expressions of the concrete statues. Some even have human teeth. The uniqueness of each statue is also what makes the whole collection so special.

"Veijo Rönkkönen was only 16 years old when he started working on his park. Veijo had recently got a job as a press worker in a paper mill in his hometown Parikkala, a job he held for 41 years. With his first pay check, he purchased ten apple tree seedlings and a bag of concrete to create a garden around his family home. For the next fifty years, until his death in 2010, he dedicated all his spare time and money planting flowers and trees and creating hundreds of caricature-like sculptures, mostly of full scale human figures." (Amusing Planet)

Creative Commons image
1030333033@N08 on Flickr 

A recluse who enjoyed his own company and practiced yoga, Veijo continued to live in the family home, adding to his works.

"Veijo Rönkkönen's yard, and the path leading to it, are filled with over 450 statues, 200 of which are self portraits of the artist in Yoga positions he has mastered. The statues have loudspeakers hidden inside them, and the sound effects add to the eeriness of this place." (Oddity Central)

Creative Commons image 1030333033@N08 on Flickr 

While Rönkkönen was happy to share his sculptures, leaving his park open to the public, he never wanted to meet his admirers. Instead, visitors left impressions and notes to him in a guestbook.

Veijo Rönkkönen was recognized with the Finlandia prize in 2007, but sent his brother to collect the prize on his behalf.

Following his death in 2010, Rönkkönen's family sold the site, hoping it would be preserved. The ITE Association is partnering with the new owner, an art lover named Reino Uusitalo, to repair the sculptures and provide guided tours.

Curious?

Satisfy your curiosity with this view of the park entrance (on Google Street View).

Creative Commons image mikeancient on Flickr

If you go, why not stay a few days? There is plenty to see and do, including ample birdwatching, Ateljee-Koti Seppo Saukkonen (250 works by the artist), Honkakylä Merchant’s Museum, Museum of Horse-Drawn Vehicles & Agricultural Implements, Parikkala Dairy Museum and the Papinniemi Archaeological Site. (Visit Parikkala)

Resources
Parikkala Sculpture Park - Official Website
THE RÖNKKÖNEN SCULPTURE PARK - Go Finland
The strange Park of Veijo Rönkkönen - Big in Finland
Veijo Rönkkönen Sculpture Garden - Atlas Obscura
The Sculpture Park of Veijo Rönkkönen Is the Weirdest Place in Finland - Oddity Central
Veijo Rönkkönen’s Sculpture Park - Amusing Planet
Recluse Dies, Leaves Behind Hundreds of Secret Sculptures in Finland - The Culture Trip
The Parikkala Sculpture Park Reviews - Trip Advisor (rating 4.5/5)
How to get from Helsinki to Parikkala - Rome2Rio
Cottages and Vacation Rentals nearby - Go Finland
Parikkala Sights and Attractions - Visit Parikkala

Creative Commons image mikeancient on Flickr

Review: Priceless - How I Went Undercover to Rescue the World's Stolen Treasures

Priceless: How I Went Undercover to Rescue the World's Stolen Treasures by Robert K. Wittman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars


As an art lover, I have always been fascinated by stolen art and forgeries. Who did it? Why? How? Where is the work now? Is it hanging on some rich person's wall? (and who does that anyway?!?!). Is it stuffed in a garage somewhere? Did someone stash it somewhere and then die? Can it be covered before it is destroyed and lost forever?

FASCINATING STUFF. If this interests you as much as me, you'll probably enjoy Priceless. It was pretty interesting to learn about how major heists were resolved. It was freaky to learn about works almost recovered and then the opportunity lost due to turf wars and egos. Regardless, listen and you will travel the world in pursuit of lost treasures.

The book was written as a memoir, so it includes the background as to how the FBI's first art sleuth got to his post, which was not what I might have imagined.

It was heartening to learn that the priority was on recovering works first, and catching the bad guys second.

It was equally disheartening to hear about how the art crimes division would fall out of favour, and an intelligent and dedicated agent would be bounced around supervisors that didn't get or appreciate art. But all in all, interesting tales, and a good listen for art and mystery lovers.

View all my reviews

A Merchant's Wife Teatime

I love discovering a new artist. Or a new-to-me artist.

Today it was Boris Kustodiev.

I stumbled across Kustodiev's work, A Merchant's Wife Teatime, when I was searching online for a picture of watermelon seeds! Thank you Google.

Boris Mikhaylovich Kustodiev (1878-1927) was a Russian painter, book illustrator and stage designer. If I have seen his art before, it didn't connect with me, as some of it is quite traditional.

But this image caught my eye. The colours, her rich robes, the cat... how WONDERFUL it is!!

Below are a few other works of his that I like.

Boris Mikhaylovich Kustodiev - Wikipedia

Podcast: Ologies

I have posted before about ologies on my blog (read that ologies post here)... so I was interested to find that there is now a blog named Ologies.

I've subscribed, but not listened yet, but thought I'd post it here, before I forget.

Ologies Podcast - on iTunes
Ologies Podcast blog - Alie Ward
@ologies - on Twitter

The secret on page 101

Great story on As It Happens tonight, and it reminded me of something from my Kamloops days...



This story reminded me of something my mother used to do, when she worked as the "book doctor" at the Kamloops library in the 60's and 70's.

Part of her job was to put the library's rubber stamp on page 101 of every book. If the book was shorter, the stamp went on page 51.

I think it had something to do with people stealing books, then saying it wasn't the library's, that it was a book they owned. As I write that now, it seems illogical, because if that was the case, why would the thief even appear at the library with said book?

Maybe there are librarians out there that know more about this.

Review: The Hunger Games

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I bought The Hunger Games not knowing what to expect, but encouraged by the reviews. I don't often read fantasy, so it's not a category I usually consider, but there was an Audible special, so it was a good time to try something new.

Right from the beginning, I enjoyed the characters and the narration was good. I forgot that I was reading/listening, and just disappeared into the book. The premise was so far from anything I could imagine, there wasn't much opportunity to think about what things meant, or what might happen next. The story clipped along, and what happened next was always a surprise.

I did like how the advanced technology and capabilities of the powers to be were slowly revealed, and I liked the juxtaposition of almost primitive conditions played off the surreal.

I accomplished nothing on my weekend, except drawing while I listened, until I was finished. Total escape, but not so good if you have things to do!

I gather this was #1 in a series (it ended with many unanswered questions), so I'm sure I'll partake of the series. Though will save the next one until I can afford to listen non-stop.

View all my reviews

Review: Code Girls

Code Girls: The Untold Story of the American Women Code Breakers Who Helped Win World War II by Liza Mundy
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Code Girls break the code

Code Girls is an excellent "read" and I'm glad I didn't pass it up.

My mom worked in Communications in WWII (though on the Canadian side of the border), so was always curious about what she really did. There were many parallels with the story of the women in this book, which I enjoyed.

Regardless, it's a fascinating story. The lives these women led, and the very real contribution they made ~ for which they were never recognized ~ made for a good book. The details on how they broke the codes - and how complex they were - largely kept my attention. As I read other reviews before I purchased, I intentionally did not try to keep the women straight, and it was fine.

For the last 1/3 of the book, I was falling asleep with it at night, and although I set the sleep timer, I kept needing to rewind. As a result, I felt the same stories were being told over and over again... I don't know how much of that was repetition, and how much was my dozing off. But the end of the book wrapped up well. Very insightful.

See the great pictures on author Liz Mundy's website

View all my reviews

GlobeIn

I stumbled across this innovativc company today, making a dofference... and allowing others to do the same. Check it out.

Artisan Box Subscription

Every month, GlobeIn brings the world to you in our signature handwoven basket, filled with heart and soul. The soul of craft and of far-away lands; the soul of our artisans, their cultures and the hours of work they’ve put into their creations. What you receive in the mail every month isn’t just a basket; it’s a treasure chest connecting you to the palm trees of Sri Lanka, the sugar cane fields of the Philippines and the desert sun of western India.

Shop

It’s our passion to discover extraordinary, useful finds from all over the globe and share them with you. Our shop features products sourced from direct relationships with artisans as well as vetted partner organizations. From Mexican woven baskets to Ghanaian coasters, each handcrafted good we share with you is remarkably distinct.

Social Good

We are dedicated to supporting artisans from around the world and in developing countries where, after agriculture, artisan goods are the second largest source of employment. By supporting us, you help reduce poverty by giving these artisans and their communities, a global audience. To help you connect with our gifted artisans, every month we highlight one artisan or artisan collective and ask you to crowd-fund their special project.

Creative Commons images 577 on Flickr

GlobeIn website
GlobeIn blog
@globein_world - GlobeIn on Twitter
GlobeIn on Facebook

More from GlobeIn
6 TIPS FOR TAKING AN ECO-CONSCIOUS VACATION
“WITH GLOBEIN, I FEEL LIKE MY MONEY SERVES A PURPOSE”

Yes, I'm an introvert

Yes I am an introvert.

Yes I am shy.

Yes I am sometimes antisocial.

No I’m not stuck up. I’m listening and I’m observing.

I can’t stand small talk but I’ll talk about my interests for hours with anyone who will listen.

I’d rather be at home with a close friend or two than among a big crowd of acquaintances.

Don’t scold me in public.

Don’t embarrass me in public.

Respect that I’m reserved.

If I open myself up to you know that means you’re very special to me.

- unknown, from the Introverts are Awesome Facebook page

Jay Cross

It's been 9 years since I was totally immersed in the learning and development world, and aside of the occassional reflection on now being an elearner (vs creating the stuff), so I rarely think of all the people I used to follow in the industry. In scrolling through my old blog posts tonight, looking for something, I arrived at the beginning, in 2003, and my first posts. I posted a lot about learning and elearning in those days. My curiosity was sparked, and decided to see what one of the more delightful thought leaders was writing about these days: Jay Cross.

What I learned is that Jay passed away in 2015. I'm sorry to hear this. He really contributed a lot, and shaped much of the dialog of the day, so I am sure he is missed.

I met him a couple of times, at conferences, and attended some sessions with him. Always thought provoking, and down to earth. Jay was huge advocate of informal learning, while the industry was going crazy with structured learning.

Jay's Informal Learning Chart
View full size high quality image

Perhaps what I remember most, and loved, were Jay's observations about the world around him. After each conference he would post photos of odd moments and unusual discoveries he encountered. He always made me think.

RIP Jay.

An Industry Remembers Jay Cross

Why truth matters

Peter Mansbridge's acceptance speech when presented with a lifetime achievement award, standing up against fake news and attacks on journalism. Well said Peter.

Farewell Stephen Hawking

It almost seems like he planned it, Stephen Hawking died on Pi day, the day Albert Einstein was born...3.14.…
@Kilderok on Twitter

It's not the only remarkable date in Hawking's life: he was born on Jan. 8, 1942 ― the 300th anniversary of Galileo’s death.

Reading the Huffington Post's extremely well written story on the passing of Stephen Hawking, I was struck by how his brilliance was hidden by the very things we (society) criticize youth for:

• "Hawking was an indifferent student, preferring to spend his time playing board games and tinkering with computers."
• "He rarely attended lectures and has said that he spent only 1,000 hours on studies during his three years at Oxford, or just an hour a day."

Hawking was given just 2 years to live while he was still a student. An excerpt from the same article:

During a symposium at Cambridge on his 70th birthday, Hawking reflected on how much he struggled to stay motivated after his diagnosis. "Why work so hard for a Ph.D. when you could be dead in two years?"

“Remember to look up at the stars and not down at your feet,” he said. “Try to make sense of what you see and about what makes the universe exist. Be curious. And however difficult life may seem, there is always something you can do, and succeed at. It matters that you don’t just give up.”

Hawking's book, A Brief History of Time, was published in April 1988 and shot him into the limelight. Both a Newsweek magazine cover and a television special described him as "Master of the Universe".

Hawking travelled extensively to promote his work, and reportedly enjoyed partying and dancing into the small hours.

But his schedule left him little time for work and his students, and some colleagues were resentful of the attention Hawking received, feeling it was due to his disability. I personally find this both sad and disturbing.

A Brief History of Time sold an estimated 9 million copies. And, no, I have not read it (yet)...

Trivia:

• Hawking reportedly declined a knighthood.
• On 28 June 2009, as a tongue-in-cheek test of his 1992 conjecture that travel into the past is effectively impossible, Hawking held a party open to all, complete with hors d'oeuvres and iced champagne, but publicised the party only after it was over so that only time-travellers would know to attend; as expected, nobody showed up to the party.
• At the release party for the home video version of the A Brief History of Time, Leonard Nimoy learned that Hawking was interested in appearing on Star Trek. Nimoy made the necessary contact, and Hawking played a holographic simulation of himself in an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation in 1993.
• Also in 1993, Hawking's synthesiser voice was recorded for the Pink Floyd song "Keep Talking".

Resources:
Hawking's website
Stephen Hawking collected news and commentary - The New York Times
Iconic Physicist Stephen Hawking Dies At 76 - Huffington Post

Vexatious litigant

Love it when I hear a word or phrase on the radio or a podcast that is new to me. Today it was "vexatious litigant". The context was a new story about a woman being declared a vexatious litigant. I wasn't really listening to the story, so the details didn't register, but the term did. Google certainly did help me, as I couldn't have guessed the spelling.

vex•a•tious

ADJECTIVE

1 Causing or tending to cause annoyance, frustration, or worry.
‘the vexatious questions posed by software copyrights’

1.1 Law Denoting an action or the bringer of an action that is brought without sufficient grounds for winning, purely to cause annoyance to the defendant.
‘a frivolous or vexatious litigant’
‘No man, let alone a vexatious litigant, has a vested right to bring or continue proceedings which are an abuse of the process of the court.’

Source: Oxford Living Dictionaries

Resources
 'Wasteful' B.C. woman who 'wouldn't take no for an answer' in court banned from suing opponents - the CBC story that started my investigation this morning

My choice of Oxford for my source today is not random. I've recently started listening to the Audible version of "The Professor and the Madman" by Simon Winchester, which tells the very remarkable story behind the Oxford Dictionary.

The Goroka Show

This week I helped a couple book flights to Goroka to visit their daughter. They had timed their visit to take in the annual Goroka festival. The destination is so far off our radar that I had to get IT to add the Goroka Airport code (GKA) to our CRM in order to do my invoice! Needless to say, I was intrigued. Here's what I learned...

The Goroka Show is a well-known tribal gathering and cultural event in Papua New Guinea. It is a Sing-sing held every year close to the country's Independence Day (16 September) in the town of Goroka, the capital of the Eastern Highlands Province.

About 100 tribes arrive to show their music, dance and culture. The festival started in the mid-1950s as an initiative of Australian Kiaps. In recent years it has become a major attraction for both national and international tourists and remains the largest cultural event in Papua New Guinea despite similar shows now being organised in Mount Hagen and other cities around the country.

Creative Commons images Drew Douglas, kabl1992 on Flickr

Resources
Goroka Show website
Goroka Show - 1957 and 1958 (photos)

Review: The Girl from Krakow

The Girl from Krakow by Alex Rosenberg
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I just finished this book, listening on Audible, and can definitely recommend it.

Only towards the end of the book I started wondering about the book's title, because she wasn't actually from Krakow. Poland, yes, but not Krakow. Thanks to Alex Rosenberg's unexpected storyline, I was satisfied to understand by the end.

What an engaging story, and a character so well developed, I was sure she was real. World War II from the perspective of a Jewish woman who survived, in the open, in a disguise of her own creation, was remarkable. An interesting book on so many levels, with stories from Barcelona to Moscow built in. The loves and losses of Rita were brought to life through Michael Page's excellent narration.

Alex Rosenberg - the author's website

View all my reviews

BIG list of museum podcasts

I stumbled across a great blog post the other day, essentially a collection of podcasts by museums around the globe. Whether you're preparing to visit a particular museum, are a podcast-addict or just live a curious life, Hannah Hethmon's hard work collecting all these podcasts, is sure to please.

Hannah Hethmon's BIG list of museum podcasts

Every Museum Podcast in One Big List

My own podcast about Icelandic museums, Museums in Strange Places, has given me the chance to see “behind-the-curtain” in so many amazing museums, and if I’ve learned one thing, it’s that museums are leaving so many of their most human and compelling stories untold. Since it’s through podcasting that I’ve discovered these stories, I started to wonder how museums around the world were using podcasting to have a more intimate platform for telling stories and engaging their audience. To that end, I scoured all the podcasting platforms and reached out to the Twitterverse and Facebook groups to compile the most complete list of podcasts by museums on the internet. 

How the List is Organized (and Who I Left Off)  

I’ve divided the podcasts I’ve found into history museums, science and natural history museum, art museums, and a category for mixed-interest and other museums that don’t fit in the previous groups... [continue reading Every Museum Podcast in One Big List].

Review: The Girl on the Train

The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The Girl on the Train was the first Audible book that I was left feeling that I probably wouldn't have enjoyed as much by physically reading it.

I found the voices of the characters (nice job by the 3 narrators) carried me along, each drawing me into their inner world, and their lens on the story. As it was revealed, anyways. Just like if you were thinking about your day, you'd leave obvious stuff out, because it just IS, the unsaid hung around, waiting to be revealed. Then, ah, the penny would drop... that's what happened there.. and another piece of the puzzle fell into place.

I admit to being more intrigued at the start, when so much was unclear, than later as things became more grisly, but overall, a good story.

A good listen. I'll be on the lookout for Paula Hawkins' other books. Skillful narration by Clare Corbett, Louise Brealey, India Fisher.

View all my reviews

Sickle-cell anaemia

I knew Floyd had a medical condition that, despite his appearance of robust health, could and would see him land in the hospital for very long stretches. I recall that he needed to carry an epi-pen-like device, and also that he did not seem worried at all. I remember asking what I (as a co-worker) needed to know, and he would smile, chuckle and tell me not to worry. I understood this to be a philosophy of living fearlessly in the moment, as opposed to recklessness. I also remember him once telling me that his treating hospital said he had the thickest medical file of all patients they treated. So as shocking as his death was, I knew there were underlying issues.

I have been trying to remember what that was, and found the answer in a comment in FB RIP's: sickle-cell anaemia.

Sickle-cell disease (SCD) is a group of blood disorders typically inherited from a person's parents. The most common type is known as sickle-cell anaemia (SCA). It results in an abnormality in the oxygen-carrying protein haemoglobin (haemoglobin S) found in red blood cells. This leads to a rigid, sickle-like shape under certain circumstances. Problems in sickle cell disease typically begin around 5 to 6 months of age. A number of health problems may develop, such as attacks of pain ("sickle-cell crisis"), anemia, swelling in the hands and feet, bacterial infections, and stroke. Long term pain may develop as people get older. The average life expectancy in the developed world is 40 to 60 years... [continue reading on Wikipedia].