Notes from the last week

That Morthos Stare writes:

So, death. I'm beginning to think that my increasing experience of dead people and dying people is a stochastic oddity. It's easy to know what to do with the dead and sympathy to the bereaved is not difficult, but the dying? The pragmatist in me says 'We all die' but the realist in me says 'Yes, but most of us aren't aware that it's likely to be in the next few minutes.' I'd be much happier about the world if there weren't people who knew they were dying. Or, at least, I'd be much happier about the world if I didn't know people who knew they were dying. In fact, I'd be much happier about the world if I didn't have to say 'people' but could, instead, say someone. Multiple future fatalities just isn't fair.

Lust. Well, its happening again. I'm so far away from being a Casanova that some days I am resigned to the fate my Mother thinks I will have; dying alone (potentially with Alzhemiers). I'm also impatient, so any time I start the process that moves me away from 'Lived with cats. Died with cats. Excreted by cats three days later' I start being overbearing and usually drive said object of lust away. Usually by this point I'm seeking advice from friends, but every single piece of advice they have ever given me has being totally and utterly useless. The 'Be yourself, except less gay' and 'Why not play up the Hugh Grant angle?' worked wonders. Not in the 'He's now happily engaged to be married' sense but rather the 'And now he's emotionally scarred and she's pretty sure he's a cannibal' way that makes for good anecdotes and a terrible sex life.

Television. I had lunch with a doctor today and she confirmed what I already knew; medical professionals find 'House' laughable. I've somewhat given up on 'House.' It seems to be the same plot every week and why he and his idiot cronies haven't been sued for malpractice I really don't know. It also seems to reinforce some weird stereotypes about medecine, stereotypes we should be working to eradicate. It just isn't true that giving someone the wrong medical proecedure will, more than likely, kill them. Usually it just makes them a little ill or has no effect whatsoever. On 'House' however its usually terrible (except that it doesn't seem to cause much in the way of stress on the cardiovascular system so patients with three botched procedures don't have to worry about heart attacks. Which is nice).

Also, on roughly the same subject, why does everyone persist in believing that Science is an open process and that if a research programme is wrong someone will be out there proving it? Does no one follow the news? Gah.

Next week: I go back to pornography, someone (probably) dies and Richard Dawkins finds God.