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EndNotes archive for June 2011

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 29, 2011

Princess Diana in 1995 with her two boys. (AP photo)

Forget the tiara ~ Diana remembered

Princess Diana would have turned 50 this month. Newsweek published a story by Tina Brown speculating on Diana's life in 2011, had she lived. She was a young, unsuspecting bride, when she married Charles in 1981. And for all the royal pageantry, her life was…

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Searching for Maxine

My 90-year-old mother's friend, also 90, recently lost her sister-in-law. Her name was Maxine. I've been watching for Maxine's obituary in our newspaper this past week. I've spotted two or three Maxines in that time, but not the Maxine I was searching for. I soon…

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TUESDAY, JUNE 28, 2011

Just sign it

Our column today is about what to say in condolence cards for co-workers in your workplace. What I didn't say in the column was this: When you have the chance to sign a communal card for a co-worker, be it condolence, birthday or retirement, always…

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Losing your mind: Do you want to know?

Spinal fluid tests can now "see" what are possible telltale signs of impending Alzheimer's disease. In a Reuters story about a report in the journal Neurology, the writer explained: Current spinal fluid tests for Alzheimer's look for an imbalance in two proteins: beta amyloid, which…

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MONDAY, JUNE 27, 2011

Sad lives for foreign commenters 

Our blog was filled this morning with spam posted as comments. Here's what it read: shoes 、 T-shirt 、 Sunglass、 Caps&hats 、 Handbags、Jersey The network shopping from the start Please look: tradetrusting One of the editors here said these ads are likely generated by workers…

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SUNDAY, JUNE 26, 2011

To nurture, to keep safe, to love

I can't seem to forget about Frances Swan, the 106-year-old woman discovered by Stevens County sheriff's deputies last month. She was hungry and neglected by her "caregiver." She asked for food and wanted to be taken to a hospital where people would feed her and…

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FRIDAY, JUNE 24, 2011

Peter Falk: Human and angel

Actor Peter Falk died Thursday at 83. Everyone knew him as Detective Columbo in the crime series, but I loved him best in the foreign film Wings of Desire in which he plays an angel who had opted to fall from angelic status and live…

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Our living historians are dying off

The day after my Sunday story about Spokane's "first" real adult soccer team (from the 1950s), a 93-year-old woman called me to tell me that there had, indeed, been an adult team in the early 1900s in Spokane. Indeed, she was right, and even though…

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THURSDAY, JUNE 23, 2011

A swimmer surfaces after plunginginto the Tsunami Swirl pool at Kenwood Cove, Saturday, May 28, 2011, in Salina, Kan. The bright spot in the water was created by sun light shining through the funnel-like slide. (AP Photo/Salina Journal, Tom Dorsey)
 (AP photo)

Deeper dive...paradigm shift

In the decades that I have worked in healthcare, there has been a hit parade of buzz words and phrases: “paradigm shift,” “at-the-end-of-the-day,” “thrown under the bus,”“low-hanging fruit” and…”are we complete?” That last one was from a consultant who brought his own hanger to meetings…

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WEDNESDAY, JUNE 22, 2011

Ryan Dunn (AP)

Jackass way to go  

The Associated Press reported today that Ryan Dunn of reality show Jackass fame was really drink when he died in a car accident last week. Accoring to AP: Dunn's blood-alcohol level was 0.196 at the time of the crash early Monday morning. The report was…

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TUESDAY, JUNE 21, 2011

Louis S. Zamperini, 86, who competed at the 1936 Berlin Olympics and was a World War II POW, attends the Armory Collegiate Invitational at the Armory Track and Field Center in New York, Saturday, Feb. 15, 2003.  (AP)

Who or what determines the unbroken? 

Just finished Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand, author of the bestselling "Seabiscuit" made into a well-loved movie. Here's a summary of Unbroken, from a New York Times review: In late May 1943, the B-24 carrying the…

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MONDAY, JUNE 20, 2011

Directing the last good-bye: education is here

Lake Washington Technical College offers a unique program for people looking for work outside the box: funeral service education. This program is the first one of its kind in Washington state. Seven people graduated last week with nine more scheduled to finish their program in…

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Photo of Spokane Spokes at soccer championship in Canada in 1962. (Photo courtesy of Anna Hintyesz)

Save old photos

All last week, I worked on a Sunday story about the Spokane Spokes, a Spokane soccer team started in the late 1950s. My brother-in-law, Adam Deutsch, played on the team in 1959. Word got out in Spokane's German-American community that I was working on the…

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FRIDAY, JUNE 17, 2011

Policing ~ with care 

Mental illness plagues many of our homeless neighbors. Their behavior is often interpreted as threatening or at least confusing and bothersome. The Seattle Police Department now has a mental health expert who rides with them, often as the initial contact for a person deemed experiencing…

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Talk about holding a grudge

CathNews USA posted a story today about a Catholic group that has demanded an apology from the Vatican for an offense that happened in 1314. Here's their illustration and an excerpt from the story: The heirs to the Knights Templar have demanded an apology from…

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THURSDAY, JUNE 16, 2011

Request the no-flu seat in airplane

When people complain about air travel. they often include this fear: The chance of picking up a life-threatening illness. It does happen. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently released information about how close you have to be sitting to an infected passenger to…

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Last words: Lose weight?

In this week's EndNotes column in The Spokesman-Review, Cathy did a great job of looking at what's important at the end of a person's life. Relationships matter more than anything else. So, at first read, it seemed a little shallow when Marie Osmond's mom, on…

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TUESDAY, JUNE 14, 2011

Heartbreaker

In the New Yorker this week, there’s a heartbreaking piece called “The Aquarium” by Aleksander Hemon. His baby, Isabel, was diagnosed with a rare, fast-growing brain tumor at 9 months and died within a year. It is profound, honest and raw. Here are two excerpts:…

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SUNDAY, JUNE 12, 2011

A week to remember - dad

This week we look forward to Father's Day - next Sunday. The commercials are filled with images of gleeful children scurrying towards dad with Hallmark cards in hand. Many people do not have the dad of television commercials; some people may not even know their…

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SATURDAY, JUNE 11, 2011

This is cursive, signing off 

As a left-hander, I was often scolded by my elementary school teachers to hold my hand so that my cursive letters would slant correctly. Each report card came home with "N" for my handwriting grade (N= Needs Improvement). For many of today's elementary school students,…

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FRIDAY, JUNE 10, 2011

Shhhh...a secret?

“He who conceals his disease cannot expect to be cured.” ~ Ethiopian Proverb I love this proverb; we conceal our illness, our weakness and often suffer in silence. However, when we make ourselves vulnerable, often answers, healing and support may show up – and offer…

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THURSDAY, JUNE 9, 2011

Bathroom breaks

It's a little embarrassing, perhaps, but one dangerous place in your house is the bathroom. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported today that "In one year, an estimated 234,000 people ages 15 and older were treated in U.S. emergency departments for bathroom-related injuries—an…

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WEDNESDAY, JUNE 8, 2011

Emails from the grave

Just finished my Sunday story on how low long distance charges have resulted in a ho-hum attitude toward those calls. I interviewed a telecommunications expert from South Carolina, Gene Retske, who said within five years phone calls won't be nearly as popular as they have…

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TUESDAY, JUNE 7, 2011

Calling all angel stories

Therese Marszalek, a Christian writer from Deer Park has written several books on miracles in everday life. I wrote a story about her in October when her latest book came out. She emailed several people yesterday with this request which I said I'd pass on…

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Catholic Jedi Academy's Doomsday for Dummies

The Catholic Jedi Academy, a creative group, has put out a nine-minute video titled Doomsday for Dummies. It's a fun and well-done look at the May 21 end-of-the-world prophecy that didn't happen. The video makers, a group that describes itself as "cyber-artificial-pretend-reality called The Catholic…

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Spokesman-Review features writer Rebecca Nappi, along with writer Catherine Johnston of Olympia, Wash., discuss here issues facing aging boomers, seniors and those experiencing serious illness, dying, death and other forms of loss.



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