GSD'ville

Last week I spent some time with Ally, Tom, and Graham in the 'ville. It was so great. Tom invited me down for a silent auction/party at Sandbox in the city and we all had such a good time. If we ever get the one-armed pictures from the super sales man, I'll post them - they should be classic.
The next day I was able to spend a little qt with g-man. He was a peach, the perfect subject: happy, mellow, sweet, and saucy. We had a photo shoot before nap time...I'll put more up on facebook. Isn't he a nugget?
xox

Why are we so sick?

Everyone must watch this. I wonder if any of our candidates have?
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/sickaroundtheworld/

From the Frontline website:
In Sick Around the World, FRONTLINE teams up with veteran Washington Post foreign correspondent T.R. Reid to find out how five other capitalist democracies -- the United Kingdom, Japan, Germany, Taiwan and Switzerland -- deliver health care, and what the United States might learn from their successes and their failures.

Reid's first stop is the U.K., where the government-run National Health Service (NHS) is funded through taxes. "Every single person who's born in the U.K. will use the NHS," says Whittington Hospital CEO David Sloman, "and none of them will be presented a bill at any point during that time." Often dismissed in America as "socialized medicine," the NHS is now trying some free-market tactics like "pay-for-performance," where doctors are paid more if they get good results controlling chronic diseases like diabetes. And now patients can choose where they go for medical procedures, forcing hospitals to compete head to head.

While such initiatives have helped reduce waiting times for elective surgeries, Times of London health editor Nigel Hawkes thinks the NHS hasn't made enough progress. "We're now in a world in which people are much more demanding, and I think that the NHS is not very effective at delivering in that modern, market-orientated world."

Reid reports next from Japan, which boasts the second largest economy and the best health statistics in the world. The Japanese go to the doctor three times as often as Americans, have more than twice as many MRI scans, use more drugs, and spend more days in the hospital. Yet Japan spends about half as much on health care per capita as the United States.

One secret to Japan's success? By law, everyone must buy health insurance -- either through an employer or a community plan -- and, unlike in the U.S., insurers cannot turn down a patient for a pre-existing illness, nor are they allowed to make a profit.

Reid's journey then takes him to Germany, the country that invented the concept of a national health care system. For its 80 million people, Germany offers universal health care, including medical, dental, mental health, homeopathy and spa treatment. Professor Karl Lauterbach, a member of the German parliament, describes it as "a system where the rich pay for the poor and where the ill are covered by the healthy." As they do in Japan, medical providers must charge standard prices. This keeps costs down, but it also means physicians in Germany earn between half and two-thirds as much as their U.S. counterparts.

In the 1990s, Taiwan researched many health care systems before settling on one where the government collects the money and pays providers. But the delivery of health care is left to the market. Every person in Taiwan has a "smart card" containing all of his or her relevant health information, and bills are paid automatically. But the Taiwanese are spending too little to sustain their health care system, according to Princeton's Tsung-mei Cheng, who advised the Taiwanese government. "As we speak, the government is borrowing from banks to pay what there isn't enough to pay the providers," she told FRONTLINE.

Reid's last stop is Switzerland, a country which, like Taiwan, set out to reform a system that did not cover all its citizens. In 1994, a national referendum approved a law called LAMal ("the sickness"), which set up a universal health care system that, among other things, restricted insurance companies from making a profit on basic medical care. The Swiss example shows health care reform is possible, even in a highly capitalist country with powerful insurance and pharmaceutical companies.

Today, Swiss politicians from the right and left enthusiastically support universal health care. "Everybody has a right to health care," says Pascal Couchepin, the current president of Switzerland. "It is a profound need for people to be sure that if they are struck by destiny ... they can have a good health system."

Speaking in Tongues

Doodle doesn't do a whole heck of a lot of talking yet. She can communicate for sure: "huh?", "mo mo" ("more," usually accompanied by sign language), "yum yum" (food, milk, or her dummie), and of course, "ma ma" and "da da." We spent some time working on "tee tee" (me), but I am not sure we got too far. 

She does a great job speaking in tongues (and drool), though. All weekend long, her tongue was hanging out of her mouth. It was hard to get a shot of her without it making an appearance. Cute though, eh?
xox

The Moo Turns Four!

Today is Miss Moo's fourth birthday. It is so hard to believe what a big girl she's become. Smart, funny as hell, spirited, spunky, a little bit batty, and a lotta bit cheeky - she's the best. She gives hugs and kisses with generosity and is very tuned in to the feelings of the people around her. There was a time she could tell I was sad and she came to me, put her hand on my shoulder, looked me in the eyes, and said (starting off with a sigh) "Oh, Auntie, everything will be ok." She meant it.

When you ask her how she is she says "I am very well, thank you." Even Emma Willard girls don't have such command of the English language. It is funny to hear a four year old say "well," but she does...every time.

She is a singer. When we skype she sings me songs - looooong songs - about everything and nothing, just on and on, singing about nice alligators and rainbows. I am trying to figure out how to record them so I can share them with the world - the world would love her songs.

She's a great little niece, growing into a neat little lady. On her way to school and learning more and more.

I love watching her, being with her. She (and her sister, of course) makes stress melt away (I am their aunt, not their mother!), makes me realize what's important in life.

I made a "Moo"vie. Here's a chance for you all to see a little bit of her first four years.

xox

Little Feets

I hate my feet but I love the feet of little kids. Plump, smooth, and happy-looking. Not always pretty (are feet ever pretty?) but they sure are cute. I find myself shooting feet a lot. Here are a few pair - can you tell to whom they belong?











Wishing it was summer and my feet could be free again.
xox

Buying Time...

I wrote this entry ages ago (December 12) and was having trouble with the video. I think I've got it this time, though!

OLD:

I have been so excited about taking pictures (when I do) and keep asking everyone I know who has more experience than I do for advice. Two photographers told me to start taking RAW photos instead of JPEGS or TIFFS so I could do more with them in photoshop. Cool! So, I started. But I don't have photoshop yet and it turns out there isn't much you can do with RAW files without the software. I can look at them but no one else can - I can't share them. So, stuck in my computer, waiting for Santa, are beautiful pictures of Mela, Nate, and Conor, of Marina, and even more of my wee girls. So tonight I am experimenting with blogger. Mela posted some movies (adorable Mr. Conor grooving to Robert Marley is by far my favorite) on her blog Wood Times so I thought I would share an old movie clip of Moo. Nine months and walking. 

TODAY:
Still working on photoshop. Wishing I was as talented with the camera and processing as Suz's (amazing) friend Sheye. 
xox

Back for good...I hope

Man, oh man I've been having trouble blogging. I don't get to it every night but lately every time I try to post I learn something new about what I cannot do...or don't yet know how to do. I am learning...slowly.

Things in my neck of the woods have been a-ok. It is strange going through winter after two years without it. I was so excited for snow but now I am over it and I am just cold and confused. We've had a strange winter. In one week it was as cold as -2 (-19C) and as warm as 60 (15.5C)...during the day! Happily, I've managed to avoid getting a cold. Four years and running. Summer and life in the tropics are on my mind, so I thought I'd post a couple pictures of Moo, just out of the pool, slightly sunkissed, and a cute belly shot of Doodle.

Once I figure out how the heck to use photoshop (thank you, Santa!), I will get more timely pictures up.

xox

SB