POST-BRAIN SURGERY UPDATE

It'll be ten weeks tomorrow since the surgery. I know yesterday was also an anniversary, and I had a list prepared of many of the mistakes and miscalculations and outright lies and distortions that led to the mess this country was in on every level after eight years of the Bush/Cheney administration, especially the six when the Republicans controlled everything, and a list of this administration's many accomplishments in just one year.

But with our cognitively challenged society right now when it comes to politics it seems pointless to even bring it up. If a majority of voters think Republicans are better at protecting our security and winning wars (Eisenhower gave up in Korea and we are still facing the consequences in North Korea, Nixon's party lost Viet Nam AND Cambodia etc.; Reagan made a solid promise he would not abandon Lebanon in its hour of need and after what can be seen as the first suicide attack against the USA in some ways when a Marine barracks in Beirut was blown up and hundreds died he reversed that promise and pulled the Marines out and abandoned Lebanon while choosing much easier targets like the tiny island of Grenada etc.; Bush Senior stopped short of ousting Saddam Hussein from Iraq leaving his son to avenge that oversight so poorly the war there has become the longest in our history and gave rise to a stronger and more widespread terrorist network, not to mention ignored the advice of the Clinton/Gore administration about a coming attack from Al Queda involving airplanes attacking the US etc. so have some responsibility for 9/11!) God bless them.

And if they think the Republicans are better at fixing healthcare, or corporate malfeasance, or the economy (the two greatest financial crises in the last century in this country occurred under Republican administrations), et-endlessly-cetera. God bless'em.

As for me, I'm still having some cerebral troubles, like the ones mentioned in yesterday's post, but I'm still recovering in what I see as miraculous ways. For instance, yesterday I got into rearranging the books in my several book cases while listening to music from the iTunes shuffle on my computer. It made me so happy I decided this might be my idea of heaven.

To pick up a book that I have a deep personal connection to, not just the content but as an object (if not I pass them on) while being surprised by some musical juxtaposition I wasn't expecting (Bing Crosby to Bob Dylan to Lester Young to James Horner to The Band, etc.) and recordings that hold an equally powerful personal connection for me...

especially when only weeks ago I couldn't read or write and had almost no interest in books and couldn't listen to music or only a limited amount etc. etc.

And today I actually did some rearranging on my blog you might have noticed, prompted by my oldest son Miles. It was relatively easy, but I still had a lot of trouble and didn't get it the way I wanted it, but close enough. And it took all day (as did yesterday, I still haven't finished either actually but got tired and took a break, maybe indefinitely!).

But what a miracle it seems to me after these recent weeks to even care about books again (even if I'm still not into reading straight prose books yet) and music (I still have trouble with that too, a CD poet Beth Joselow burned for me for my recovery I still can't get onto my computer in a way that lets me play it). For which I am enormously grateful, as I am for all that the Obama administration has accomplished in one short year, even if I don't like some things still not done or some of the characters he's got working for him (Rham Emmanuel always seemed like the wrong choice for these times and problems). Oh well.

[PS For another brief take on the first year see here and here for another great RJ Eskow take, this one on the Mass. election.]