So we all have our bucket lists. Mine is heavy on parties I want to go to. Not red carpet parties. I've been to those. No, parties like THESE, with people shaking their asses just because they can. For maximum therapeutic value, dance with this video every morning, then tell cancer to frack off. Don't forget your warty nose!
Gene Wilder: the man with the moves
YouTube is all about Gene Wilder today, with his "best of" clips wreathed in loving comments. Lots of cancer-community people, including me, are picturing an uproarious reunion between Wilder and his wife, the great comedian Gilda Radner, who died in 1989 of ovarian cancer. I know, because thus far I've outlived that same cancer, that Gene and Gilda were loved by a generation of fans who are now seeing our own third acts right around the corner. Probably there are many people who don't know that, after Gilda's death, Gene took part in establishing Gilda's Clubs, still thriving and still providing a warm gathering place for folks on the cancer ride, along with their families. Another thing even Gene's fans may not remember: He was never funnier than when he was dancing. Take a look.
Attack of the Vitamix
Hey my people.
So, juicing. Antioxidants. Natural goodness. So easy when the Vitamix demonstrator guy does it. All that cancer-fighting nutrition, and no matter what you throw in, it comes out tasting like bananas.
Today I decided to juice my way to Well Again. I dumped in some ice cubes and a tub of raw spinach and jammed on the power. The noise was awesome; the blending, not so much. Just a grayish band of ice and a swirling green mulch. Still leafy. Where was the whirlpool of ice-creamy goodness climbing the sides of the pitcher?
I shoved the plunger down to speed things up.
THWACK ACK ACK ACK ACK! Instant, terrible uproar, like fighter planes strafing my kitchen. I lunged, hit the Off button, lifted the dripping plunger. A chunk of the tip was gone. A green rivulet oozed down where the pitcher met the base. I had cracked the plastic in a long slash starting all the way up at the old spinach-mulch line.
I cleaned the thing out and made a new blend, which probably contained bits of real blender. On the plus side, it did taste like bananas.
My Well Again list: Lin-Manuel Miranda's "Hamilton"
Why is a hiphop-musical composer in a blog about survivorship? Because artistry like this makes me want to live. If you love musicals, Lin-Manuel Miranda is a genius. If you think musicals bite, Lin-Manuel Miranda is still a genius. In "Hamilton," Miranda sets the story of Founding Father Alexander Hamilton to hiphop. Just opened on Broadway. Sold out through the Second Coming. Not saying I'd kill for a ticket but I'd rough you up pretty good.
Here's the man, previewing it at the White House back in 2009.