choke on this

Ever choke on food? I mean seriously choke on food where you needed assistance in order to continue living this human experience? Proof that traumatic events, even not-so-overly-traumatic ones, can stay with us I have a vivid memory of the one day I seriously choked. When I was a kid hanging out at my childhood friend Krista's house (she lived right behind me, so I just had to hop the fence) her mom made some hot dogs for lunch. Lo and behold, I took a bite and it went down the wrong pipe (probably due to being distracted by the deep and intriguing conversation of eight year old girls).. I remember not being able to breathe or cough but remaining strangely calm. Krista's dad acted quickly, moved me to the edge of the deck and performed the Heimlich Maneuver on me dislodging the obstructive meat-like conglomerate from my windpipe. I remember my eyes were teared up but wasn't upset afterwards. Thanks to Mr. M, you are able to read my stupid tales and ranting blogs. And, boy, did that hot dog chunk fly! I couldn't eat hot dogs for a while after that.

Here's some interesting info: 

On this day in 1974, Henry Jay Heimlich published his "Heimlich Maneuver" in the Journal of Emergency Medicine. The article was called "Pop Goes the Café Coronary." Less than three weeks later, the maneuver was used successfully in a restaurant in Bellevue, Washington. As of 2006, the American Red Cross recommends the "five and five" approach: five sharp blows to the back, followed by five abdominal thrusts if the back blows are not effective.
Heimlich's son Peter has dedicated a website to exposing what he calls his father's "50-year history of fraud." He writes: "At age 48, I came to realize that my father was a danger to others and to himself. Since then I've done what I could to bring the facts to public attention in order to expose the 'poison ideas' circulated by my father and his cronies, a motley crew of hacks, quacks, and narco doctors." Among other things, he accuses his father of stealing the "Heimlich maneuver" from a colleague, faking his medical credentials, and deliberately infecting people with malaria to cure them of AIDS, cancer, and Lyme disease.
(The above section from The Writer's Almanac 6.1.2011)

In honor of this day, go choke on something but remember this sign:

happy birthday thelonious monk (borrowed text)

It's the birthday of Thelonious (Sphere) Monk, who was born in Rocky Mount, North Carolina (1917), but grew up in New York City. He started piano lessons as a kid and by age 13, he had won the weekly amateur night contest at the Apollo Theater so many times that he was no longer allowed to compete. In the '40s he started making recordings, and in the '50s he came out with two of his most popular albums, Brilliant Corners and Thelonious Monk with John Coltrane. His most famous compositions include "Round About Midnight," "Straight No Chaser," "Blue Monk," and "Misterioso." (Text from The Writer's Almanac)

a worthy share

from The Writer's Almanac:

It's the birthday of the first American woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize: public health worker, community organizer, and social activist Jane Addams, born to a wealthy Quaker family in Cedarville, Illinois, 150 years ago today (1860).

She suffered from depression and went to Europe, thinking it would help. She visited a settlement house in London, a place that offered social services to the poor. She was deeply impressed by it, and after founding an experimental house like this in England, she returned to the states to establish one on the South Side of Chicago in the 19th Ward, a neighborhood full of poor immigrants from Russia, Greece, Italy, and Germany. It was in an abandoned mansion formerly owned by Charles Hull, and so she called it Hull House. It had a communal kitchen, a day care, a library, and a little bookbinding business.

Women boarded at Hull House, and it was also a neighborhood center, a performing arts center, and a space where book club meetings and classes were held. Two thousand people showed up each week from the area, and Hull House grew to add a dozen more buildings. Addams wrote about it in some of her books, including Twenty Years at Hull House (1910).

Addams was a leader in the women's suffrage movement, fought for immigrants' rights, and lobbied for labor reform. She won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1931.

She's the author of several books, including The Spirit of Youth and the City Streets (1909) and Peace and Bread in Time of War (1922).