A Sensation Like Pressure

Due to some unfortunate events at work and in my family, my writing has been spotty.
Updates will begin again soon.

Meanwhile, I finally broke down and bought a Kindle. For a year I've had friends pushing me in that direction with cries of "but you like to read so much!"  So many factors went into this decision, including the realization that I would really love to carry some nursing reference books with me to have at work (yeah, I'm a nerd, get over it), and finally acknowledging just how quickly I go through books when I'm on vacation.

 But here's what pushed me over the edge: My friend John blogged about Instapaper. Like John, I already have a Google Reader feed which shows me the latest entries in all the blogs I subscribe to. But Instapaper lets me click a button in my toolbar and archive isolated articles to read later on. I can do this for articles in my Google Reader feed but also for links sent to me through email, or that show up on my Twitter or Facebook feed but that I don't have time to read right away. Then they show up (ad free) on my computer. Then I can drag them onto a Kindle or have them wired there for a small fee. Now I can take it all with me, and I do.

In the meantime please enjoy some suggestions for your reading enjoyment.
You can read them now, or you can Instapaper them for later. (Amazing, right?)

1. Nurse K rants about ER violence and delegation. Nurses everywhere swoon for her logic. Or fear her.
2. My friend Lynn Wilcott wrote this piece on the impending cuts to funding for Planned Parenthood. Dan Savage of Savage Love fame reblogged it because it's so good. Lighthearted but with a serious message.
3. This one's not as lighthearted, but it's a solid medical economics piece that anyone can wrap their mind around. Dr. Atul Gawande discusses how to lower overall health care costs by creating better care for those who use the health system the most.
4. And this one, also from John Perich's blog, I am including with a sly dedication to my "baby" brother who is interviewing for a new job this week. Good luck, kiddo.

Writing with a capital W

As you could tell from yesterday's entry, I started keeping a separate blog for my more colorful/sentimental/personal writing.

Don't worry, 

Don't get excited, it won't feature nitty-gritty livejournal type anecdotes with intriguing titles like "Dreams of Horses," or "Finding Rain".*  I am likewise, not going to be journaling all my secrets into vague poems punctuated by declarations of my current  mood as represented by small animated penguins at the bottom of each entry. **

It's just a place to get back to writer's writing.

For the most part, entries are going to double-post onto MischMash so it doesn't really matter. 

But- if you'd like to subscribe directly to a blog that will be free of promotions for my shows, a blog simply rife with obscure adjectives and the wanton use of adverbs, then go ahead and add Misch'd Connection to your Google Reader, follow me on Blogger, or put it in your bookmark list.

I am far too busy to move all my old posts over to the new blog so if you're hankering to re-read something like my ruminations on leaving Japan, you can just search MischMash using the Google powered bar across the top.

Coming soon.. a blog where I just post things and don't explain how or why I'm posting them....

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* Actual livejournal entries from freshman year of college. Yikes.

** The penguin is dancing! That means I'm excited!!

Thinly Veiled Blog Plugging

My brother, who has not shown much interest in my life since he was 5 years old and thought my Easy Bake Oven was a garage for his Micro Machines, has reminded me that I have not been updating my blog.
And here I thought only my mother and the HR department at work* were reading this site.

I've been writing, but not publishing, actually. The reason?  I haven't been happy with the jumble of nursing, comedy, show promos, personal anecdotes and travel stories that make up the content of my blog.

I'm jealous of blogs with a theme like Rachel Braidman's true-life photos and stories, or Tex's aptly named Weird Nursing Tales. Then there's Carrie Drzik, who has a number of individual blogs including one of my favorites: Carrie Draws Daily. There you'll find her artwork, but you need to travel elsewhere for her music.

I dream of having several specialized blogs one day. But until then, this is where it all comes out.
 I guess that's what makes it a MischMash.

Gorefest is over, I'm starting production for a new mainstage revue at Improv Asylum, and I have a ton of things to say about the current political situation. I've been taking photos of leaves, and I want you to know what I think of my new Netflix account. I'm back. Hold onto your butts.**

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* Dear HR, I am handing in my completed credentialing packet tomorrow by the way. Thanks for the deadline extension!
** Dear HR, that is a quote from Jurassic Park and not a threat against any real or imagined buttocks.

subtle excuses

I think it's boring to begin with "I haven't written in a while," and then trail off into vague excuses. I don't buy "work got crazy," or "I've been so tired."
I mean, unless your work is wrestling bears. Or you're tired from... recreational wrestling of bears. Seriously.

At least give me a good story.

I have no singularly awesome excuse. No all encompassing time sucking life changing event. However I can assure you that neither work nor fatigue has kept me away.

I'm just going to come back in and pick up where I left off. Like Shannon has done in this classy entry.

Excuses and stories aside, I promise I'll update my blog more often now. Especially because the director of nursing at work has requested it. And I tend to do whatever the DON asks*.

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* You know, like show up to work on time. Put my shoes back on. Stop crying and come out of that utility closet....